Fruit

Both bright from the fresh limes and buttery from the diced avocados, this sauce adds color and flavor to broiled fish, roast chicken, or huevos rancheros.

As a rule, every dough you make should contain salt—it complements the sweetness in your filling—and this buttery shortbread is no exception. Using salt in the crust and the filling helps create balance among the sweet, the bitter (from the lemon peel), and the acidic notes (from the fresh lemon juice).

Spoon this spicy and acidic sauce over a steak salad, serve alongside pan-fried chicken, or try it on a taco.

Buy thinly sliced beef at Korean markets, or ask your butcher to cut it for you.

WHAT: White wine infused with cardamom and star anise, as well as the more traditional triumvirate of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and amped up with pear brandy.
HOW: A slice of Asian pear is added to each drink as a garnish—the pear softens slightly as it absorbs the warm booze and makes for a yummy treat once you've sipped the last of the wine.
WHY WE LOVE IT: Like a delicate warm sangria, this drink is the perfect accompaniment to a cozy evening indoors.

Delicate, crumbly little thumbprints that are the perfect combination of sweet and savory—a cheese plate wrapped into one crunchy little morsel.

NVA: Mangoes originated in India, but today they are loved in cuisines all over the world. The Sanskrit word for mango is amra, meaning "of the people." I think barbecue means "of the people" in America so I have united them here. Justin and I demonstrate this dish at mango festivals from time to time. The bonus: We always bring a bowl of it premade so that the guests can have a taste. That means the batch we make up on stage comes home. You'll be left with half of the BBQ sauce from this recipe, but you'll be pleased as you can use it on any kind of thing in the world that you might barbecue. It is outrageously good on a burger.

Southerners are especially clever about using up breads, raisins, and other dried fruits going stale. This frugal bread pudding—elegant enough for a party—is a case in point. The bread to use is firm-textured white bread (a.k.a. farm-style bread). I think raisin bread would be equally delicious though I've never tried it. And if I do, I'll omit the raisins or use half the amount called for. Tip: Only top-quality bourbon or sour mash whiskey will do for the sauce. Cheap brands lack flavor.

"Hey. Hey. I'm Frank, the Conch Salad Man. I'll sell you the world's best conch salad!" He was holding a huge white pickle bucket brimming with his conch salad. With no more explanation than that, he reached in and gave me a paper cup full. I tipped back a mixture of finely diced conch, tomatoes, red onions, Scotch bonnets, bell peppers, celery, citrus juices and herbs. The flavors of the sea were in there, too. Living in Key West was my culinary university; I never needed more formal training. The place was filled with honest, in-your-face flavors that came from the Cuban, Bahamian and African-American residents and wanderers who passed through. I didn't move to Key West to re-invent the cuisine—I came to find a home. In the process, I found a path to both. In this recipe, you will taste the foundation of each.

Pico de gallo, also known as salsa Mexicana, has become a common sight on tables in the U.S. and it's easy to see why. The mixture of raw, chopped ingredients improves just about any meal with its lively acidity, lip-tingling heat, and crisp texture. This version is a riff on the classic that swaps lemon for lime to great effect. Whenever I take a bite I have a heretical thought: This is so delicious that maybe we Mexicans should use only lemons!

If you're sharing the holiday with a smaller group, we highly recommend a Thanksgiving turkey breast. You'll still end up with plenty of leftovers for what many consider the best perk of Thanksgiving: the day-after turkey sandwiches.

The sunny yellow color of egg bread adds a visual warmth to classic bread stuffing. This stuffing, interspersed with nubbins of sage-laced breakfast sausage and studded with tart cherries and toasted pecans, is so memorable, we guarantee it will be talked about wistfully long after the turkey carcass has turned into soup. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of our Gourmet Modern Menu for Thanksgiving for 2 or 20. Menu also includes: Citrus-Sage Roast Turkey with Gravy (whole turkey or breast ); Roasted Butternut Squash Ribbons with Arugula, Pancetta, and Hazelnut Salad; Mashed Potato and Cauliflower Gratin; Cabernet-Cranberry Sauce with Figs; and for dessert, Apple Crostata with Spiced Caramel Sauce .

Do you love apple pie, but feel stuck in a classic-pie rut at Thanksgiving? Bake outside the box this year with the Italian version, known as crostata. Unlike typical American pie pastry, crostata pastry is similar to cookie dough, so instead of being flaky, it bakes up like a crisp, chewy sugar cookie. Drizzle slices with warm spiced caramel sauce, and you just might count yourself among the crostata converts. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of our Gourmet Modern Menu for Thanksgiving for 2 or 20. Menu also includes: Citrus-Sage Roast Turkey with Gravy (whole turkey or breast ); Roasted Butternut Squash Ribbons with Arugula, Pancetta, and Hazelnut Salad; Mashed Potato and Cauliflower Gratin; Cabernet-Cranberry Sauce with Figs; and Challah, Sausage, and Dried Cherry Stuffing .

Sage is to turkey what cinnamon is to apples; they go together like bread and butter. The seasoned butter on this bird is a bright and herbal mix of chopped sage leaves and fresh orange and lemon zest, which bathes the breast with the essence of the Thanksgiving aroma. For the all-important gravy, we offer two homemade options for stock, as well as store-bought chicken broth. We can't rave enough about the gravy made from the brown turkey stock. Trust us when we say it produces the most soul-satisfying sauce, and because it's not dependent on the giblets from your turkey, it can be made weeks ahead and frozen. If you're hosting a smaller group for Thanksgiving this year, such as a group of four, or perhaps even just the two of you, we suggest forgoing the whole bird for a turkey breast with the same prep. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of our Gourmet Modern Menu for Thanksgiving for 2 or 20. Menu also includes: Roasted Butternut Squash Ribbons with Arugula, Pancetta, and Hazelnut Salad; Mashed Potato and Cauliflower Gratin; Cabernet-Cranberry Sauce with Figs; Challah, Sausage, and Dried Cherry Stuffing; and for dessert, Apple Crostata with Spiced Caramel Sauce .

Who knew Cabernet and cranberries would make such a dynamic duo? Add dried figs (plumped in the Cabernet ahead of time), and you end up with a winey, fruity fig bar, minus the cookie. This sauce is so fine, you'll be spooning leftovers on ice cream or slathering it on toast in place of jam. It's worth buying extra cranberries and freezing them so you can make more to last you through the winter. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of our Gourmet Modern Menu for Thanksgiving for 2 or 20. Menu also includes: Citrus-Sage Roast Turkey with Gravy (whole turkey or breast ); Roasted Butternut Squash Ribbons with Arugula, Pancetta, and Hazelnut Salad; Mashed Potato and Cauliflower Gratin; Challah, Sausage, and Dried Cherry Stuffing; and for dessert, Apple Crostata with Spiced Caramel Sauce .

Tapioca, like semolina, is one of those things that a school kitchen could have turned you off for life. I couldn't eat it for years, having been force-fed it at primary school aged six, with tinned jam, as it oozed like frogspawn out of the bowl and I wept and retched. For years I had the same malicious feeling toward beets and mashed potatoes, which were instant and came in lumpy granules. My teacher and I had a silent war every lunchtime; a war that eventually came to an end after my parents removed me from the school. Made to your own wont, in your own kitchen, tapioca is ambrosial, and worth being a grown-up for, as is semolina. This could also be a pudding, not a breakfast, just don't serve it with dog food–like tinned jam. Try a lovely homemade compote instead.

With a tropical flair really sweetens things up. Chop fruit in advance; assemble day of. Done!