Roast

The sweet, sour and spice combination, is common all over the Mediterranean and is often found in Catalan cuisine, especially with poultry and game birds. Serve this impressive main course with crisp roasted potatoes and a dry white Penedès wine.

Roasting tones down the sharpness of the fennel and enhances the sweetness of the pears in this salad. The pears also combine with balsamic vinegar to make a delicious dressing without much added fat.

A simply spectacular main-course. Ask the butcher to grind any pork trimmings to use in the stuffing. Either hard cider or Pinot Noir would be delicious alongside.

Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

Turkey Stuffed with Chestnuts and Prunes This is definitely my favorite way to do turkey because it never comes out dry. My wife, Susi, is always upset when she sees me prepare this abstract-looking sausage of a gobbler, but she's happy when she eats the tender and succulent meat and stuffing, all encased in a crisp and well-seasoned skin. The advantages of this method are twofold: it's in the oven only for an hour, freeing up cooking space for other dishes; and carving is simplicity itself — just cut straight through, like a regular roast.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 hr Though fig leaves keep the fish moist and make for a great presentation, it's also delicious without them. (Note that fig leaves are not edible.)

Francoise preferred not to share her specific recipe with me, but she gave me enough hints so that I could make this version of roestis, (which means twice cooked in the Jura dialect) which closely resembles the delicious dish I had at La Grangette. Try this with thick slices of gently smoked ham and a white Arbois, from the Jura, or another buttery white wine.

This duck recipe is unusually light and delicate.

Ken Hom likes to dry his duck the traditional way: He hangs it in front of a fan at cool room temperature for 1 day. In keeping with U.S. food-safety standards, we've adapted his technique for the refrigerator, with excellent results. The Pekin (Long Island) duck available in the U.S. has a thicker layer of fat than the French variety, but we were still able to roast away most of the fat layer, leaving mahogany-colored crisp skin. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 3 1/2 days

Wild rice and winter squash are perfect with this easy and elegant entrée.

Whole-wheat spaghetti can replace the soba noodles used here.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Pour a chilled dry Gewürztraminer to accompany the salad and offer crusty bread throughout dinner.

If the excess fat essential to this recipe has been trimmed away from the tail end, ask your butcher for some extra chicken fat, which will be used to help brown and crisp the skin. Uncork a California Pinot Noir. See how to cut up a whole chicken (also called "jointing a chicken") in our streaming technique video.

Vinegar and mustard give the dressing in this salad an assertive flavor that contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the beets.