Poultry

In January, we published a classic mole poblano that takes 3 1/2 hours to make — but a respectable version of the revered dish can also be had in much less time.

In this version of cassoulet, garlic-crumb topping is served on the side. Rather than acting as a thickener, the crumbs give our brothy version of the dish a crisp layer of texture.

Long, slow cooking is the key to these tender, juicy birds, braised in an autumnal mix of apples, cider, and caramelized onion. If pheasant is hard to come by, you can substitute chicken.

These tiny birds, stuffed with creamy goat cheese, make fun yet elegant turkey stand-ins. Since the quail are small and there's not much meat on each one, plan on serving guests two to three per person, and encourage them to chew the meat off the bones rather than trying to cut it off with a knife and fork.

Slow-roasting a duck may take hours, but the result is velvety meat covered by a layer of gloriously crisp and salty skin. The herbed garlic and fennel filling melts into an aromatic confit during cooking.

Ted Allen created this recipe for Epicurious as part of a Thanksgiving menu. For Allen's tips on throwing a Thanksgiving party, click here. You can marinate the turkey in brine, as specified here, or you can skip that step and just rub the pieces with butter, salt, pepper, and herbs. I wouldn't skip it, though — brining is the best thing ever to happen to turkey, producing lovely, moist meat, beautifully seasoned through and through.

This soup combines two separate recipes attributed to the agriculturalist and linguist Varro. As a remedy it could be drunk to aid the digestion, and it also served as a soup with the chicken included. I choose to leave the meat in, to give some texture to the soup. The dish is quite unusual in not using fish sauce. The sweet/savoury balance is surprisingly good.

An update of duck à l'orange, this recipe replaces whole duck with Muscovy duck breasts, and the syrupy orange glaze of yore with a red-wine sauce and tart-sweet candied kumquats.

Shake up your standard skewer with a smoky, tangy marinade created by Elissa Meadow, chef-owner of Solar Harvest in Beverly Hills, California. This recipe fills 40 percent of your daily potassium needs and supplies vitamins C and B6, as well.

Instead of pairing shrimp with sausage, we've taken this spicy gumbo in a more sophisticated direction by adding duck meat.

This variation on vitello tonnato retains the Mediterranean feel of the classic veal dish without all the fuss, and the arresting dark spiral created by the black-olive tapenade filling makes the dish special enough for entertaining.

Don't be surprised when this colorful, kid-friendly meal is also a hit with adults.

The tangy honey-vinegar sauce that tops this crisp-skinned chicken is also great on pork, duck, or even a meaty fish.

If using chicken halves, ask the butcher to bone them for you.