Poultry

Serve with: Baby red potatoes (tossed in olive oil and roasted alongside the hen) and buttered green beans. Dessert: A Key lime pie from the bakery.

Start marinating the chicken four to six hours ahead. Pour frosty Pilsners or a chilled Chenin Blanc.

A blend of cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon gives this dish its Moroccan flair.

Paulette Sexton of Tustin, California, writes: "Although I've loved to cook since I was a kid, I didn't really hone my kitchen skills until my husband and I started entertaining frequently. When we were first married, we had dinner parties several times a week — it got to the point where people would call me around 4:30 in the afternoon and ask, 'What's for dinner?' We're still having people over and we're still informal, especially in the summer. Everyone sits around the large island in our kitchen, drinking wine and eating appetizers. Usually there's grilled chicken or fish or a simple main-course salad for dinner. It's our favorite menu." Paulette likes to use chicken thighs because they stay so moist. Her barbecue sauce is also great on ribs.

You can substitute skinless boneless chicken breasts for the veal cutlets. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 35 min

The vinegar in this gravy gives it an appealing tartness. Round off the meal with cranberry sauce and steamed broccoli. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

The gravy is a refined, delicious sauce in this duo from Barbara Shinn and David Page, co-owners of Home restaurant in New York and co-authors of Recipes from Home.

This light and spicy sauce is especially good on chicken. For convenience, you can mix the spices ahead, then add the vinegar just before using.

For a quick and easy meal, grill some vegetables — like red onions, bell peppers and eggplant — alongside the chicken. Sharpen your chopping skills and learn how to joint a whole chicken with our technique videos.

If most of the coconut sauces you've encountered have been heavy and cloying, this one — light and frothy, with delicate flavor — will be a delicious surprise. It would also be perfect for spicing up poached skinless boneless chicken. This recipe is an accompaniment for Pistachio Sea Bass with Crab Salad and Coconut Sauce .

Lorraine Stevenski of Clearwater, Florida, writes: "As a kid growing up in an Italian family, I loved being in the kitchen. But I didn't become serious about cooking until I got married and had my own kitchen to experiment in. My husband and I lived in Queens, New York, within walking distance of many Greek, Italian, and Spanish food shops. The new foods I discovered there inspired my passion for cooking." Panko is available in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets.

Brining ensures moist, succulent meat, and this recipe from Bruce Aidells, chef and founder of Aidells Sausage Company, could not be easier or more low-tech. The special equipment required? Two 30-gallon plastic bags and one very large (16-quart) bowl that will fit in the fridge. You'll want to get started a day ahead, because the turkey is brined for 18 to 20 hours. Stuffing this turkey is not recommended; the brine remaining in the meat may soak into the stuffing during roasting.

The deep garnet glaze, made with pomegranate molasses, adds a richly piquant, sweet-tart depth of flavor to the turkey.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 40 min