Fall

Adorable Seckel pears are on display in this showpiece, but the essence of pear permeates the entire tart. Musky, honeyed Bartletts are juiced into white wine, creating a poaching liquid for the Seckels. Doubly infused with pear, that syrup becomes the base for the poire William-spiked pastry cream and glaze.

No matter how fast you prepare Thanksgiving dinner, you must have gravy, and you must have stuffing. And both need homemade turkey stock. This one is fast, even with the time it takes to brown the giblets, neck, and wing tips. You can mostly ignore it while it simmers, but you won’t be able to deny its enriching, ennobling presence in your finished gravy and stuffing.

You can’t go wrong with a traditional bread stuffing, especially when it’s enlivened with fresh sage and celery leaves. Broad chunks of baguette, golden and crisp on top, soak up turkey stock and buttery juices from the sautéed onions and celery.

Instead of traditional baked pasta, we broiled mozzarella-topped penne and sausage to get that bubbly melted cheese everyone loves, minus a lot of oven time.

Though these delicately spiced soufflés reach toward the skies, they capture the fragrant earthiness of pumpkin.

What started as an arepa recipe evolved into a play on traditional American corn-bread stuffing. Chorizo takes the place of fresh sausage, and garlic adds punch to a buttery base. Imagine all of the classic textures with Latino flavors—it’s that good.

Just right for breakfast on the go, these muffins are subtly spiced, fluffy, and speckled with plenty of golden raisins.

Your guests will wonder what makes this purée so silky. You can either look away demurely, hoarding your secret, or confess that it’s parsnips. Here, the floral subtlety of these ivory tubers is bolstered by the bite of whole Brussels sprouts leaves.

Truth be told, it’s hard to reinvent the Thanksgiving wheel year after year. But this crust—anise seeds baked into sweet pastry dough—is a little kiss of Italian spice; it takes pumpkin pie to a whole new level.

Nothing evokes the fall season like a plate of pork chops and apples, but we upped the ante with spicy horseradish, which adds new verve to this timeless dish.

Test kitchen director Ruth Cousineau wanted something very simple but very savory to add to her Thanksgiving green beans. Bacon and chestnuts turned out to be a perfect pairing for the vegetable, as the latter picks up the smoky flavor of the former. With the widespread availability of bottled roasted chestnuts, these additions are an easy way to make a standard side dish something special.

Made from an amber dessert wine, Moscatel vinegar has apricot overtones and a faint, complex acidity. When food editor Maggie Ruggiero, who developed this menu, discovered it, she called it her “white-balsamic-vinegar fantasy” and was dying to use it in something. Parsnips were in season, and their earthiness paired beautifully with this vinegar. In this easy agrodolce, the parsnips become caramelized and infused with an intriguing sweetness.

When food editor Shelley Wiseman was asked to develop a recipe for an over-the-top turkey, she began by rubbing truffle butter under its skin. "It’s a cheap shot," she admitted, "but it’s damn delicious." We all agreed—it’s the best turkey most of us have ever tasted. The butter, an excellent carrier of that unmistakable truffle flavor, moistens the turkey’s meat and crisps its skin during a high-heat roast. For this splendid centerpiece, a nuanced French shallot-wine sauce is just the thing.

Cranberries, pears, and apples form a sweetly irresistible autumn trinity beneath a crisp oat topping.

Anyone who swears by wet stuffing is likely to sidle over to the dry camp after a taste of this Thanksgiving classic. Beneath a crunchy crust is an amalgam of yielding bread, meaty chestnuts, and softened celery, apple, and leeks.

For this gratin recipe, food editor Paul Grimes drew inspiration from the Alsace region of France, where it is common to pair preserved meats with sauerkraut.

A light variation that’s a nice counterpoint to the many rich dishes on the Thanksgiving table.

This dish has an ideal combination of flavors and textures: soft and crunchy; sweet and nutty.

Forget marshmallows with the yams this year. Instead, use them to make the topping for this cheesecake. Because the cheesecake needs to chill overnight, be sure to begin one day ahead.