Nut Free

This side dish is equally good with steak, broiled fish, or seared lamb chops.

No patience for a traditional brine? The dry brine is applied directly to the turkey's skin for a few hours, delivering big flavor (thank the salt!) and less hassle.

This recipe is ripe for reinvention; use different breads and add-ins to vary the flavor.

Diminutive and sweet hakurei turnips are in season and perfect for this dish; find them at farmers' markets.

We make lots of things from scratch on Thanksgiving, but pumpkin purée isn't one of them.

A splash of brandy—plus orange zest and juice—in the doughnut batter complements the fruity jam filling perfectly. Try it with any preserve, pastry cream, or sugar coating you like.

This zabaione (zabaglione) and lemongrass ice cream dessert is adapted from Chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. It is his unique take on a lemon tart, served upside down and smashed. According to Chef Bottura, "this dessert pokes fun at our daily striving for perfection and pristine beauty. I love the dynamics of a lemon tart but hate all the fuss—cream decorations and stubborn crusts. To get around all that nonsense, we purposefully crushed our tart. Of course, it isn’t just a one-liner but full of flavored experience from the most fragile crust to the peaks of tart, sour, sweet, cured, and candied lemon on the plate." This recipe makes 2 large tarts: You can make 2 and freeze 1 (keeping all elements separate in the freezer and assembling just before serving) or you can halve the ingredients.

Vegan (when made with agave nectar or sugar) This trick will alter and augment your cooking: Pour boiling water over sliced or diced red onions, then transfer them to a solution of vinegar, sweetener, and salt. The onions will brighten into a gaudy shade of purplish-pink and will keep indefinitely, mysteriously retaining their bright color and crisp texture. rather than slice, the onions, if they are headed for one of the cold soups.) You can vary the cut of the onions—and also the amounts of sweet and salt. Use as a dramatically colorful and refreshing tiara atop dinner plates, open-faced sandwiches, salads, cheeses, grilled tofu, or fish—anything savory. I use these often as an ingredient in cold soups and saladitas. (Mince, rather than slice, the onions, if they are headed for one of the cold soups.) • Use a very sharp knife or a food processor with a thin slicing attachment to cut the onions most easily.

Cookbook author and culinary pro Molly Stevens created this recipe exclusively for Epicurious. A wet turkey can be slow to brown, so for the best results, remove the turkey from the brine 8 to 12 hours before you plan to roast, pat it dry, and let it sit in the refrigerator, uncovered to dry the surface. If you don't have time to let it air-dry, do your best to thoroughly dry the surface after brining. Rubbing the skin with butter or oil will also encourage browning. Keep in mind that it's best not to stuff a brined turkey, because the juices will concentrate in the cavity and overseason your stuffing. Instead, cook your stuffing in a baking dish alongside the turkey. See our Complete Guide to Brining for more on wet and dry brining.

Vegan The simplest saladitas in my repertoire are the ones that pair a single fruit with just one fresh herb. These are as flexible as they are easy. Extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lemon or lime juice, and salt and pepper are all optional. A small pile of Pickled Red Onions is always welcome on top. Make these shortly before serving.

This request and recipe originally appeared in the "You Asked for It" section of the February 1961 issue of Gourmet magazine. It was reprised later in the online series "The Way We Cooked: Vintage Gourmet." Q. I could not locate any recipes for whale steak in your cookbooks. Miss Armida Formichelli
Arlington, Massachusetts A. Mostly because we couldn't locate a whale—and still haven't. But if you find one, we have a recipe.

Cookbook author and culinary pro Molly Stevens created this recipe exclusively for Epicurious. Dry brining involves sprinkling salt over the entire surface of a turkey and letting it sit for at least 12 hours and up to 2 days. It may look like a lot of salt, but keep in mind that the salt won't remain on the outside of the turkey and there needs to be enough salt to penetrate the entire thickness of the bird. Keep in mind that it's best not to stuff a brined turkey, because the juices will concentrate in the cavity and overseason your stuffing. Instead, cook your stuffing in a baking dish alongside the turkey. See our Complete Guide to Brining for more on wet and dry brining.

Are you in love with a hard-core carnivore who simply won't touch the green stuff? Well, here's the perfect way to get your sweetie to eat less meaty. He'll never notice the veggies in this beef lover's delight. He probably also won't notice that the meat in his taco contains zinc, niacin, and vitamin B12, essential vitamins and minerals for robust health. Shh… it'll be our little secret.

I originally designed this recipe for wild snow geese, and because many of California's snow geese spend their summers on Wrangel Island, near Siberia, it seemed fitting to give the stew a Russian feel. But of course the legs of any goose or duck, wild or domesticated, will work here. It's important to remove the meat from the bones before you serve this stew, otherwise everyone will be picking through their bowls for small, sharp objects. It takes only a few minutes, and your family and friends will thank you for it. This stew keeps well in the fridge for a week, though the grain in it will continue to swell over time, absorbing moisture and making this more like a French potage. It also freezes well.

This is an insanely easy cake to make. It goes together in just minutes and tastes awesome: a touch ducky—more so if you use wild duck fat—sweet, but not overly so, with a little hit of rosemary to even things out. I originally made this as a sort of stunt, but it's so good I've put it into the regular rotation. If you like a sweeter cake, up the sugar to a full cup, and if you hate rosemary, skip it or sub in lemon verbena, sage, or winter savory. Serve the cake with fruit and maybe a little whipped cream. A sweet dessert white wine, like a vin santo or a Sauternes, is a perfect choice.

This is my standard duck or goose stock. It is the stock that I call for in the recipes in this book. In other words, you need to make lots. Every time you get a carcass, save it for stock. If you don’t have a lot of ducks around at one time, save them up for future rounds of stock making. You can chop up the carcasses before freezing, so they take up less space. Make this stock when you have a day off, as it takes all day. The good news is that you will be rewarded with 4 quarts or more of rich stock that is a perfect base for stews, soups, or wintertime risottos or polenta—or even eaten on its own as a clear soup.

Spruce up your fruit spread by adding this flavorful dip from CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS®. Try this Vanilla-Cinnamon Fruit Dip recipe today!