American

A great-tasting hash that gets its kick from the combination of Maytag blue cheese, spicy sausage, red bell pepper and beets.

Food writer Janet Fletcher says, "During my childhood, the only salad on the Thanksgiving buffet was an old-fashioned Waldorf with chopped apples, celery, walnuts and mayonnaise. Frankly, I don’t miss it. This contemporary salad has the walnuts and the crunch, but is much fresher and far more inviting."

Joe Martin was both a hero and a mentor to me. He was an old-fashioned New Orleans kitchen guy who never had national fame as a chef, but he could cook better than a lot of household names. Not only that, he was a great teacher, developing an army of everyday workers who were the backbone of good food served all over town. The funny thing is, for all the people he taught, he never wrote down his best dishes. He used to make this one hunched over like it was a big secret. I pieced the recipe together from some of the guys he taught. Joe, if you're looking down on this dish from someplace where the work isn't so hard, I hope you don't think we're leaving something out!

Alice Waters, who opened Chez Panisse in 1971, took salads to new heights with unusual, farm-fresh greens; she also popularized the use of goat cheese, which was being made by Laura Chenel not far from the Berkeley restaurant. Those ingredients come together in this delicious salad.

Pumpkin is one of those tastes you either love or hate, so there is no point in half-measures. Its earthy flavor should not be overwhelmed by molasses or too much spice, particularly mace. If you’re a pumpkin lover, when you bite into a piece of pumpkin pie, you want to taste pumpkin. In this recipe, I cook the pumpkin and spices before baking, which makes for a more mellow and pleasing flavor. Puréeing the pumpkin in a food processor produces an unusually silky texture. The crunchy bottom crust is the result of creating a layer of gingersnaps and ground pecans to absorb any excess liquid from the filling, and also of baking the pie directly on the floor of the oven.

Dr. James Henry Salisbury might have been the first of the protein-diet doctors, proclaiming in 1888 that humankind's maladies were caused by too much starchy food. His solution? Chopped lean meat, or hamburger steak. To hide the "liver-y" taste of hamburger, he recommended adding horseradish, mustard or Worcestershire sauce. By the 1900s, Salisbury steak was a staple menu item, often served with mushroom gravy or smothered in onions. This version, inspired by today’s southwestern cooking, has terrific flavor.

Michael McLaughlin, cookbook author, says, "Not all Thanksgiving traditions originated decades ago. This recent addition to my holiday menu lineup was inspired by my move to Santa Fe. With locally grown green chilies readily available and pine nuts growing on piñon trees right outside my back door, a southwestern-style stuffing incorporating both ingredients seemed a natural. The tequila-soaked raisins are a sweet surprise." Make the corn bread a day ahead.

This classic chocolate cake gets its unlikely moniker from its color--the same as the deep, rich soil that lines Old Man River. It's usually made in a single-layer rectangular baking pan, but we dressed ours up and fashioned it into a layer cake.

If there is any "magic" to our cooking, it's in seasoning mixes such as this. With this mixture, we try to unmask the depth of flavor in our native seafood, not overpower it. We want every bite to display a full flavor profile, so we liberally sprinkle seasoning on the entire piece of fish. That means both sides. Make a decent-sized batch of this mixture so it will always be handy, then rub it or sprinkle it on the food. Remember, mixtures such as this cost very little to make yourself but quite a lot if you buy them at retail.

Jim Fobel, cookbook author, says, "During my high school years, I always had two Thanksgiving dinners: one with my family at midday, and another later at the home of my girlfriend, Susie Mednick. Her mother cooked the turkey on a bed of caramelized onions, which mixed with the turkey drippings to produce the best gravy I’ve ever tasted. This gravy features those onions along with my mother's favored seasonings: sage and nutmeg." Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

Nourishing and quick to make, this one-pot meal is perfect for a workday supper. Make the tomato soup ahead, then reheat it and poach the eggs just before serving. For this dish, I like to use medium eggs or, for an even more special touch, quail eggs if I can get them.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

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This recipe was created to accompany <epi:recipeLink ="14220">Grilled Shellfish and Potato Salad with Avacado Salsa, Scallion Oil, and Plum Coulis</epi:recipeLink>.<P> Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Shortbread cookie crust meets airy filling.

Canned chipotle chilies — which give this dish a smoky depth — are available at Latin American markets and many supermarkets. Top the chili with chopped cilantro and green onions, and serve sides of corn bread and spinach salad. For dessert, try lemon sherbet with sugar cookies.

At the turn of the century, folks were feeling devilish, no longer satisfied with angel food cake, the evangelical treat of the late 1800s. They wanted chocolate and plenty of it, and devil's food cake filled the bill.