Fall

Delicious when served hot, this pasta dish is made for the culinarily creative—feel free to use your favorite mushrooms for a recipe all your own.

Fuyu persimmons look like orange tomatoes and have a melon-like texture. Many farmers' markets and supermarkets carry them from October through December.

Beware of packaging announcing a product is "100 percent wheat" — this designation can be used on foods made with refined wheat flour. To be sure of a product's nutritional value, read labels carefully: The first ingredient should be a whole-grain product. Check the fiber content — if the product doesn't contain a minimum of three grams per slice, you are probably dealing with an impostor.

The ultimate dish for a cold winter day, this hearty pie couldn't be more satisfying. Picard uses venison along with pork to create an amazingly tender and sauce-rich filling.

Remarkably easy, but pretty and elegant enough for a dinner party.

A coarse grating of pecorino cheese adds a little creaminess and tang to this dish, but it's equally delicious without it.

Celery root (also called celeriac) is one of autumn's most delicious—but least appreciated—vegetables. Here it adds fresh celery flavor to this velvety first-course soup.

Instead of relying on fat for flavor, this fresh side dish uses varied tastes and textures to impress guests: crisp, peppery arugula; tart, crunchy pomegranate seeds; and rich, slightly sweet pecans. It's nutritious, too, with pecans contributing monosaturated fat (the good kind) and pomegranates providing a good dose of fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants.

Why, we wondered, should traditional bread stuffing have to use white bread? Rye and pumpernickel stand up much better to the sweet caramelized onions and earthy turnips in this very autumnal version.

Easily made with puff pastry, these light, thin apple tarts provide just the right amount of dessert. The skins get added to the syrupy glaze, enhancing the tarts with a bit of sweetness and the faintest blush of pink.

Sweet and tart, this robust fruit ice cream is a perfect finish for any holiday feast.

This meltingly tender jelly is to that stuff in the can what a fine Barolo is to supermarket cooking wine.

It is critical that you use smoked — not regular—paprika in this dish. Whether you use sweet or hot, you will end up with irresistible sweet potatoes.