Gourmet

Transform your picnic into un pique-nique to remember with this elegant arrangement of tangy potato salad, peas gently mashed with marjoram, and salty ham softly set in parsleyed gelatin.

This is the sort of food that seems too messy for a picnic. But a jar captures the juicy flavors of a Mexican shrimp cocktail.

As the pumpkin roasts, its skin becomes gorgeously burnished, while inside, slices of baguette, Gruyère, and Emmental coalesce into a rich, velvety concoction that is utterly fabulous served with a scoop of tender pumpkin flesh.

Food editor Shelley Wiseman thinks sweet potatoes are naturally sweet enough when caramelized in the oven, so she eschewed brown sugar and "savorized" them instead with garlic oil. Sage leaves—too potent and fuzzy to eat fresh but mellow when fried—serve as a lovely garnish for this autumnal side dish.

In this chutney-like compote, quince lends a ripe-pear creaminess, and pearl onions a lush sweetness, to tart cranberries.

Dressing up jarred eggplant and canned tuna results in an incredibly lusty lunch. An easy tomato and mint salad spooned on top adds just the right touch of fresh acidity.

This supple homemade dough rolls beautifully into a solid base and laces into a pretty lattice top.

You can’t go wrong with a traditional bread stuffing, especially when it’s enlivened with fresh sage and celery leaves. Broad chunks of baguette, golden and crisp on top, soak up turkey stock and buttery juices from the sautéed onions and celery.

Though these delicately spiced soufflés reach toward the skies, they capture the fragrant earthiness of pumpkin.

Cumin makes this easy stir-fry exceptionally fragrant, while the last-minute addition of celery leaves creates a counterpoint of aromatic freshness.

We gave the old liver-and-onions routine a contemporary twist with mild scallions and crisp pancetta. Sherry-butter sauce adds finesse and roundness of flavor.

To make the most of the turkey's giblets and neck, we first brown them to give the resulting stock (and later, gravy) depth of flavor.

We had to forgo apple pie for this quick menu, but this deconstructed take is just as satisfying and very sophisticated.

When steeped overnight in a grappa syrup, dried fruits plump up with juices that infuse a moist, cakey almond filling in a golden crust.

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.

Folding fruit into guacamole is an inspired tradition in Mexican cooking. Tropical mangoes are a natural pairing, their silky flesh adding a subtle tartness to creamy avocado. To herald the holiday season, pomegranate seeds flash bright red against the guacamole's cilantro-flecked green. Head over here for our guide to how to cut a pomegranate.

Executive food editor Kemp Minifie brought the idea for this restorative pasta from her own home. Everyone in the test kitchen loved the briny intensity of feta and olives offset by sweet currants and slightly bitter chard. The garlic doesn’t stay crisp for long, so be sure to serve immediately.

These saucy shrimp spiked with cinnamon, allspice, and feta quickly disappeared in our test kitchen. Have plenty of bread on hand for sopping up the juices.