Cranberry

The bright, tender fruit of Fuyu persimmons mellows the intensity of cranberries while lending this sauce a beautiful jewel-like hue. Using Fuyus, which can be eaten hard or soft, removes the guesswork of finding ripe fruit.

This sauce, a mix of everyday and exotic, provides a sweet and tart contrast to rich meat or poultry.

This is a sweet dessert compote — it does not go with the turkey. The oranges are cooked to make sure all the bitterness is released, so it's important that they're sliced very thin — an extremely sharp thin-bladed knife is best for the task.

This chutney, which would be at home in India or England, goes well with turkey, pork, or venison.

An Italian salad of squash, chicory, pancetta, and chestnuts gets an American spin from a tart cranberry vinaigrette.

This is also very good served hot.

This dish was inspired by pain au chocolat, a chocolate-stuffed croissant that is adored by both children and adults in France. Cranberries have been added-perfect for a Christmas brunch.

A quick bread that's full of seasonal flavors.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Tart, raw cranberries and horseradish add plenty of zip here. Begin preparing this at least a day before serving.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 3 hr The walnuts in this recipe aren't crucial to its success — some of us like these buns with nuts, others prefer them without. So the choice is yours.