Simmer

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.

Classic stuffed cabbage is a time-consuming endeavor. This unorthodox version, which uses dried cranberries and a combination of beef and pork, is much easier—and, we like to think, even better.

Rum and apples go hand in hand, especially when the rum is in a scoop of ice cream melting over the apples in a pie.

For too long, vegetarians have passed the turkey-gravy boat at the table and swallowed spuds plain. No longer. The rich accompaniment to these creamy smashed potatoes is bolstered by soy sauce, which adds a welcome dose of umami to the vegetable stock. Fragrant with roasted garlic, this gravy delivers.

To the traditional orange-cranberry combination, we’ve added Mediterranean touches: dates for their honeylike sweetness and a splash of balsamic vinegar to balance the flavors.

Sturdy forest-green collards provide the wrapping for buttery, juicy mushrooms. Elegance comes easily when it comes to these bundles, since they can be assembled a day ahead.

We love the contrast of sliced almonds and golden-brown cauliflower against the risotto’s Brie-amplified creaminess.

Chinese Rice Porridge with Turkey and Ginger

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.

Throw everything in the pan, and voilà! Cranberry sauce. It’s just five ingredients simmering on the stove, but it tastes beguilingly complex. Tangerine juice and zest, fresh ginger, and plump golden raisins add a citrusy, spicy sweetness to tart, bursting cranberries.

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.

Open a cold beer and dig in to this heap of potatoes, corn, and shrimp for a taste of Louisiana summer.

Simmering the cobs lends depth to a cool essence-of-corn soup, enhanced with a swirl of sour cream and a sprinkling of chives.

Be well this fall: Have one bowl and you'll spoon up nearly three quarters of your daily requirement for vitamin C.

This herb lends an unexpected hint of mint to bean dishes. For a change, feel free to swap in lowfat feta for the olives.

Inspired by a dessert served at Le Bistro Paul Bert, in Paris, we used Indian spices to restyle this elegant classic custard. It takes its French name ("eggs in the snow") from the lightly poached dollops of meringue that top it.

Evocative of cassoulet but so much easier, this bean soup manages to be both rugged and elegant. No part of the confit duck legs goes to waste: The bones add savor to the beans, the meat goes into the soup, and the crisped skin makes a delectable garnish. Flambéing the Armagnac before adding it to the pot takes the edge off the alcohol while leaving behind the deep flavor of the barrel.