Potato

These barbecue-flavored potatoes, from Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q in San Antonio, Texas, are terrific with grilled ribs, chicken, or beef.

Cubed and cooked simply with small white onions, Yukon Gold potatoes are combined with crème fraîche and butter while hot.

For a variation, you could throw in a cup of cooked vegetables left over from Thanksgiving to add texture to this creamy chowder. Serve the soup with chowder crackers, along with a spinach and pear salad. Purchased apple turnovers would make an ideal dessert.

Choose attractive oval-shaped sweet potatoes for the nicest presentation here.

Cremini mushrooms or their mature form, portobellos—or both—can be used in this side dish from Cory Schreiber's new cookbook, Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest (Ten Speed Press).

Soaking the red onion in cold water mellows its strong flavor.

Active time: 5 min Start to finish: 40 min

Buttermilk and lemon juice add some tang; carrots and celery add crunch.

Frozen artichokes simplify this recipe, which is inspired by one from cookbook author Paula Wolfert.

What is unusual about this recipe is the conspicuous absence of garlic and the addition of artichokes to the roasting pan. Christos Koukoutsis, from the small village of Doloi, was adamant about the garlic when he explained to me how to make his village's Easter specialty. Olive oil—lots of it—is essential.

The Mediterranean fish soup bourride is something like a bouillabaisse but has a consistency more like stew. Instead of putting the aïoli directly into the soup, as is traditional, Adams likes to dollop it onto toasts.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

Yukon Gold potatoes cut into one-inch pieces can be substituted.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr