Oven Bake

Golden Delicious apples, as well as other good baking varieties like Rome Beauty, are a natural choice here.

There are few places where chestnuts are cooked with more style and appreciation than in those states just below New England. Here they are added to a traditional stuffing, enhanced by mushrooms and herbs.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

If you're preparing this dish as a part of your Thanksgiving meal, put this gratin in the oven once the turkey comes out.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This eggplant and lamb casserole, a taverna staple, is known the world over as the Greek national dish. In this lightened version, it's topped with yogurt rather than the customary béchamel sauce. (Moussaka is often made with beef instead of lamb.)

Red onion, capers and fresh dill make nice toppings. Serve the pizza with lemon wedges.

Oysters Rockefeller were created in 1899 by Jules Alciatore of Antoine's in New Orleans to make use of local shellfish and greens. Named for John D. Rockefeller, this classic course is likewise quite rich.

This makes a great dish for brunch or lunch.

Loosely translated from the Yiddish, tzimmes means "a fuss over something," but in culinary terms, it's commonly a casserole of various fruits, vegetables and/or meats.

Bruce Aidells, founder of Aidell's Sausage Company, says, "I first discovered that fennel was a delicious vegetable while enjoying Christmas Eve dinner at the home of a dear friend of mine, the late cooking teacher Loni Kuhn. At her own family's holiday meals, a gratin of fennel, potatoes and cheese was a much appreciated standard. The mild anise flavor of cooked fennel goes particularly well with roast turkey or roast pork, and it has been a regular at my family's holiday table for more than twenty years."

These individual vegetable terrines can be assembled a day ahead.

For a quick sauce to go with the fish, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and chopped fresh dill.

"The day before Thanksgiving, my grandmother would make trays of corn bread for this stuffing," says food writer Janet Fletcher. "We grandkids would crack the pecans for the stuffing; the nuts came from the trees in her back yard."