Poultry

The chef uses Georgia quail in this dish; chicken works well and is easier to buy.

Also known as jook, congee turns up in Chinese households morning, noon, and night. This thick rendition is made heartier with the addition of chicken.

In keeping with the Greek flavor of this dish, James partners it with orzo, a rice-shaped pasta popular in Greek cooking.

(Petto di Anatra "Porchettata") Here, duck is prepared in the manner of porchetta, suckling pig stuffed with garlic and fennel. Serve with the degreased pan juices for extra flavor.

Buy a heavy coconut that has no cracks and that sounds full of liquid when shaken.

Here, you get an entire meal with a single, 45-minute recipe. Udon, Japanese wheat noodles with a chewy, stretchy texture, are available dried in the Asian food section of most supermarkets (along with mirin and chile paste with garlic) or fresh in the produce section. Sliced pineapple or mango sorbet would be an ideal dessert.

This dish is similar to classic Peking duck in the way that it is eaten: Slices of breast meat, crisp skin, scallion, and hoisin sauce are rolled inside pancakes. In a traditional rendition the meat from the duck legs would be stir-fried with vegetables, but here the duck legs are served whole. Be sure to allow three days for this duck to dry in the refrigerator.

"Pease porridge in the pot nine days old" fairly well summarizes the technique of stew preparation in Shakespeare's day. A thick soup would have been left cooking for days at a time, with new vegetables, stock, and bits of leftover meat continually added. This Italian version contains rich duck meat, a delicious and unusual addition to pea soup.

Chinese five-spice powder is available in the spice section of most supermarkets. Serve with: Steamed broccoli and an Asian rice pilaf mix. Dessert: Vanilla ice cream sandwiched between gingersnaps.

Have your butcher skin and bone the turkey thigh. Toss curly endive and radicchio with apple slices and cider vinaigrette for a salad. Orange sorbet with warm chocolate sauce and toasted pecans is a simple ending.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 4 hr We think all turkeys are improved by brining (soaking in salted water), but it's a cumbersome process that few holiday schedules can accommodate. We found kosher turkeys, which are salted during the koshering process, to be just as flavorful and succulent as brined ones, without all the fuss. However, if you'd like to try brining, just stir together 8 quarts water with 2 cups kosher salt in a 5-gallon bucket lined with a large heavy-duty garbage bag, and soak turkey, covered and chilled, 10 hours. If you don't have room in your refrigerator, executive editor John Willoughby recommends brining in a large plastic cooler, using freezer packs to keep the water cool and replacing them as needed.

Add corn biscuits (you can find them in the supermarket refrigerator case) and a romaine, arugula, and radicchio salad with goat cheese. Coffee ice cream drizzled with Kahlúa is a nice dessert.

For convenience, you can use a purchased roast chicken or substitute smoked turkey.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 35 min

A turkey seems simple to prepare but needs extra attention, so make the glaze and stuffing ahead. Wash the bird well, refresh it with an orange and use cooled stuffing! The cooked-turkey temperatures given here are USDA-approved.