Potato

Start this early in the day or the night before. Chilling the chicken uncovered for several hours makes the skin crispy when roasted.

Formaggio Crucolo Fuso con Speck e Patate What makes this dish so exceptional is Crucolo, a semisoft cow's-milk cheese, sweet and creamy like a fresh Asiago, that's made by a single producer in Trentino's Valsugana Valley. The region's speck, which comes from the hind leg of the pig, combines Italian salting and drying techniques with the smoke-curing common in Austria, where speck is more like bacon.

Editor's note: This recipe was created by Erika Lenkert, author of the book, The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining. For Lenkert's tips on throwing a last-minute New Year's Eve party, click here. When it comes to entertaining I'm a selective cheapskate. I thrive on figuring out how to get the most bang out of minimal bucks for things like decor, so that I can splurge on a few fantastic ingredients, like high-quality American caviar for this dish. When throwing a party I love doing something really easy that looks and tastes fabulous. This is one such example — a hearty scoop of American caviar atop a bite of petite potato salad inside a shot or martini glass. If using shot glasses, serve it with mini plastic spoons, which can be found at ice cream stores. For martini glasses, go with teaspoons or demitasse spoons.

It is said that eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day will bring good luck. Here's a fresh take on the southern dish traditionally made with salt pork (we've subbed in andouille sausage) and served over rice.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Marcus Samuelsson's book, Aquavit : And the New Scandinavian Cuisine Salads like this one are part of the Swedish smorgasbord enjoyed on special occasions such as New Year's. Called skagen in Swedish, this salad is named for a Danish fishing village across the river from Sweden. It's a very traditional dish that appears on every smorgasbord table in the country. Here is our version, which includes smoked salmon, shrimp, and crabmeat. It makes a great lunch served with crusty French bread or whole-grain crispbread.

This creamy-crispy take on mashed potatoes, similar to a giant latke, is ideal for a dinner party because it can be assembled ahead.

With different hues of orange and gold, this dish makes a great holiday side.

Lefse Enjoyed year-round, these soft flatbreads are especially common during holidays. For many Norwegians, and members of Norwegian communities such as those in the Midwestern United States, making lefse symbolizes the start of the Christmas season. They can be either sweet or savory: On the Christmas Eve buffet, they often accompany lutefisk (preserved cod) and pork ribs, but as a snack, they're popular rolled up, spread with butter, and sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar. Lefse are traditionally made using special grooved rolling pins; large, superheated griddles; and long wooden spatulas. However, we found that a regular rolling pin, a 10-inch cast iron skillet, a pastry bench scraper, and a thin metal spatula worked just fine. Cooking the potatoes thoroughly and using a ricer or food mill will ensure that there will be no lumps in the potato dough.

Rest assured that your guests won't leave your party feeling hungry — these omeletlike hors d'oeuvres, not to be confused with Mexican flour tortillas, are as hearty as they are delicious.

Traditionally piped through a pastry bag into rosettes to garnish a roast, this classic French potato mixture is here transformed into a rich casserole that can be prepared in advance and is still the perfect match for a prime rib roast.

A good roast potato isn't about showing off or about striving desperately to impress. Nor is it a difficult thing to achieve, but I can't pretend it isn't a high pressure zone. You either get it right or you don't, and anything less than perfect is a disappointment. It's brutal but it's the truth.

Called Jewish wontons or raviolis, kreplach are pasta dumplings, usually triangular in shape, filled with minced meat, onion-spiced potatoes, or cheese. Kreplach carries a lot of lofty symbolism; its triangular shape represents Judaism's three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Equally lofty: the Jewish momma who can roll her kreplach dough to optimum thinness (so that, according to Sam Levenson, "a tempting bit of their buried treasure should show through"). If the wrappers are not paper-thin, your kreplach will taste like "craplach." However, though we've included wrappers in this recipe, there's really no reason to knock yourself out making them. Just purchase wonton wrappers in a Chinese food store or supermarket, and making kreplach becomes a cinch. There's even a kosher brand called Nasoya, available in many supermarkets; look for it near the tofu.