Turkey sandwiches are a Thanksgiving classic, but sometimes bread just isn't what you're looking for. Potato croquettes made of leftover mashed potatoes, filled with the classic sweet and savory combination of turkey and cranberry, are coated with breadcrumbs and fried until crisp. More

—Chef Tom Valenti, excerpt from You Don't Have to Be Diabetic to Love This Cookbook [Flickr: 3liz4]... More

If you're thinking of buying gravy-in-a-jar, wait! This recipe is about as simple as it gets, and will give you results that are vastly superior to the store-bought sludge. To improve your gravy even further, just follow the simple guidelines... More

Note: dried or fresh fruits and nuts can be folded into the stuffing along with the bread cubes if desired in step 3. Stuffing can be prepared through step 3 and placed in greased casserole dish the day before. Remove... More

This Sweet Potato Sausage Stuffing from Lyniece North Talmadge's The Sweet Potato Lover's Cookbook is pretty incredible in that it combines three Thanksgiving sides into one—cornbread stuffing plus sausage stuffing plus mashed sweet potatoes. The combo is a savory-sweet-meaty-bready Thanksgiving explosion, ideal for stuffing the bird or as a dressing, cooked on its own. More

The good news is that the dish is comparatively light for Turkey Day, and the spuds themselves cook beautifully. Essentially braised in vegetable broth and milk, they hold their shapes well and come out in creamy, tender little disk. The texture is a nice alternative to standard mashed potatoes, especially if you're serving multiple mushy sides. More

Par-cooking the potatoes in water between 135 and 170°F activates an enzyme that converts their starch into maltose, making them extra flavorful and sweet.... More

The key to super fluffy mashed potatoes is to remove as much starch from the spuds as possible. We accomplish this by peeling and dicing them before rinsing them in water and boiling them just until cooked. After cooking, they... More

If you like your potatoes rich and creamy instead of fluffy, the key is to allow them to retain some of their starch by cooking them directly in their jackets. Using a ricer followed by a whip in a stand... More

When I'm trying to pinch pennies, I often turn to random grains from the bulk bin of my grocery store. One cup goes a long way, and you're hard pressed to find any accoutrements that push a grain dish into the land of the lavish. But humble as grains may be, there's still something a little surprising about serving barley in place of rice, or bulgur instead of standard pasta. More