Stuffing

Maple syrup in the corn bread adds a touch of New England to this traditional stuffing. The leftover bread is also nice with scrambled eggs or omelets.

Most supermarkets have at least one type of spiced sausage. If you don't have the time to make cornbread, it usually is sold at BBQ restaurants and diners. This recipe is an accompaniment for Maple Ginger Roasted Turkey.

Pennsylvania is now a national center for cultivated exotic or "specialty" mushrooms like shiitake and crimini, but early colonists found plenty of familiar wild mushrooms growing free for the picking in the forests of their new world. The tradition finds expression in this mushroom-lover's dressing, which blends both wild and cultivated fungi for maximum flavor.

Inspired by the cooking of the American South—and absolutely delicious.

One of two stuffings (see also the Apple and Sausage Stuffing) developed by Barbara Shinn and David Page of Home restaurant in New York. This dish features large cubes of French bread and a custardy texture. To ensure a crisply browned top, the stuffing should be baked separately from the turkey.

Two shortcuts — prepared chestnuts and a purchased corn bread stuffing base — add to the appeal of this recipe from chef and Aidells Sausage Company founder Bruce Aidells.

Sourdough bread complements the Italian flavors in this stuffing from Bruce Aidells.

Caramelized pears plus dried apricots, cranberries, and prunes add intense fruit flavor to this stuffing from Rochelle Palermo Torres, a freelance recipe developer and cooking teacher.

Multi-grain breads can vary widely in density. As a result, the 10 cups diced bread called for below may weigh a little more or less than 1 pound. We preferred a light-textured seven-grain bread for this stuffing.

The sweet bread called for here was introduced to Hawaii by nineteenth-century Portuguese immigrants. The stuffing can also be cooked inside the turkey, provided the bird is roasted immediately after being stuffed. For more flavor, rub the turkey with a mixture of salt and pepper and two tablespoons each of sesame oil, orange juice and lime juice, and let it marinate overnight.

Whether cooked in the pan or in the bird, this stuffing has great down-home flavor.

At Thanksgiving, rice stuffings are standard on many southern tables. This one, a combination of white rice and wild rice, gets more regional notes from collard greens, pecans and ham.

Jim Fobel, cookbook author, says, "My mother always added lots of sage and nutmeg to her stuffing. I loved those flavors when I was a kid, and I still put them in the stuffings that I make today."

Many people consider stuffing the best part of a Thanksgiving meal, and they can be quite particular about it — some like it dense and moist from the turkey juices, others fluffy and browned from the oven. We've made sure everyone will be satisfied: This recipe makes enough stuffing for the turkey and the onions, with plenty left over for another baking dish of stuffing. You can easily adapt the recipe to suit vegetarian guests — simply eliminate the bacon (use olive oil instead of bacon fat for sautéing the vegetables) and substitute vegetable stock for the turkey stock. Active time: 2 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr

If this stuffing is to be baked inside the holiday turkey, reduce the amount of chicken broth to 2 1/4 cups.