Sour Cream

A thoroughly modern take on the classic baked potato with sour cream.

Truklji These unusual dumplings — fashioned with noodle dough — make a refined dish that isn't at all heavy.

There may be no better way for a yeast-phobic (or time-pressed) cook to put a fetching basket of fresh bread on the table. The secret is a biscuit dough so simple to make and handle that you'll find yourself baking these twists for weekday family meals as well as special dinners.

Hard-boiled eggs, sour cream, and onion are traditional accompaniments for caviar. In this longtime staple of community cookbooks, they are turned into a shallow cake and spread with caviar. We used supermarket lumpfish caviar, but if you're feeling flush, use the good stuff, or even Japanese tobiko (flying-fish roe).

Lewis Rossman of Half Moon Bay, California, writes: "I'm a chef, and Mediterranean is probably the best way to describe the kind of cooking I do at my restaurant, Cetrella. There's an emphasis on seafood, plus several dishes inspired by places I've visited like Provence and Catalonia. This is one of my favorite recipes from the menu. It also happens to be the thing I make at home all the time."

Three gifts in one: a mini cheesecake, the pan it comes in, and a jar of homemade caramel sauce on the side. Keep in mind that the cakes need to chill overnight.

It's hard to improve upon the honest goodness of mashed potatoes, but here scallions and brown butter do the trick. The scallions provide sweetness, and the brown butter adds a beguiling nuttiness.

This dish was the surprise of the year. The ingredients might seem ordinary, but trust us — it's fantastic.

Every visitor to Paumanok Vineyards enjoys a warm welcome from owners Ursula and Charles Massoud. She learned viticulture in her parents' vineyards in Germany; he taught himself to make wine when his job with IBM took the family to the Middle East. Ursula, who is known for her outstanding comfort food, pairs Paumanok's semi-dry Riesling with an onion tart she makes at harvest time. "It's traditional in my hometown to serve it when the Riesling juice is still fermenting. The sweetness of the onions matches the sweetness of the new wine."

What to drink: Try these with a lightly chilled Oregon Pinot Gris.

This is the ultimate party dish because you can add it to your spread in no time flat. Almost everything for this mini meal comes out of a bag or a can, but brightening up the dish with some fresh cilantro makes it taste and look really fresh. A few minutes in the microwave makes everything warm and gooey.

The little green chile makes an appearance in the burger and in its creamy ranch sauce. What to drink: Chateau Souverain 2002 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley ($22).