New Years

These come out extra-crispy when you use a pizza stone. If you don’t have one, a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet works well; invert it so that you can remove the pizza easily.

With a little planning, this addictive treat can be easily thrown together at the last minute. Infuse the honey up to 24 hours in advance and arrange the blue cheese on crackers several hours ahead of time. Then, just before serving, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with scallions. Blue cheese can be tricky to cut into slices. Freezing will make it firmer and much easier to slice.

This fresh chutney combines pineapple with a recent Parisian obsession—mangoes—for a vibrant counterpoint to rich pâté.

Neal Fraser, Executive Chef and co-owner of Grace and BLD in Los Angeles, shared this recipe with Epicurious. The dish is perfect for entertaining, since the endive and celery root flans can be made ahead and reheated. The garlic nage should be made shortly before serving and kept warm while you quickly sear the turbot. A shaving of earthy black truffles finishes the dish. "Grating them on top makes them soft and allows their perfume to stand out," says Fraser.

Laden with suitcases full of caviar, a thank-you gift from the Shah of Iran for cooking at his palace in 1978, Louis Outhier returned to France in need of a recipe that called for such extravagance. Oeufs au caviar was the result, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Outhier's young protégé at the time, still serves the dish at his namesake New York City restaurant. Layered inside an eggshell, warm scrambled eggs and cold cream are accented with a regal dollop of caviar.

Crêpe Bundles with Caviar and Sour Cream Innovative and self-taught, Barry Wine redefined American haute cuisine at New York City's Quilted Giraffe in the 1980s. His iconic—and most copied—dish was the bite-size beggars’ purse, a chive-tied crêpe bundle filled with caviar and crème fraîche. We've turned it into a first course and added chives and brown butter to the crêpe batter.

With sustainability in mind, we taste-tested a variety of domestic caviars. Trout roe had the pop and brininess we were looking for—and it was especially pretty.

If you only have time for a dessert after the kids are in bed, try something elegant and expedient, like poached pears. This recipe works best with pink champagne.

Russian blinis traditionally call for yeast, but our mini-pancake version is blissfully easy. Use as much or as little caviar as you like, depending on how indulgent you're feeling.

Champagne always brings sparkle to the holidays.

"There is a dish that originated in Charleston called Hoppin' John," Edna Lewis writes in In Pursuit of Flavor, "which we had never heard of in Virginia." This (along with the fact that she found black-eyed peas a little dull) goes a long way toward explaining why she decided to gussy up its scrupulous simplicity—virtually unchanged through the centuries—with tomatoes. Well, nobody's perfect. Here you'll find the real thing, traditionally eaten on New Year's Day for good luck. Serve it with extra black-eyes and their pot liquor on the side to add more moisture, as well as a platter of Simmered Greens .

Bubbly with benefits? Ginger may help prevent cancer by halting abnormal cell growth. (We'll take two!)

Tarama (or taramasalata) is a Greek spread traditionally made with carp roe, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, milk, olive oil, and seasonings. Here, smoked salmon adds an extra dose of flavor.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Rick Tramonto's book Fantastico! I unabashedly love beef tartare and yes, this is my favorite crostini, particularly because I gild the lily with a drizzle of truffle oil! Steak tartare has been around for a good long time, and according to legend, its name refers to the Tartars, the nomads who roamed eastern Europe, for a time under the leadership of Attila the Hun. Fierce and bloodthirsty, the Tartars purportedly ate raw meat for strength. Tartars were Huns, but "beef hun" just doesn't have the panache of beef, or steak, tartare. If you've never had beef tartare, try it my way; then make it your way by omitting what you may not like such as capers, Worcestershire sauce, or anchovies. But don't fool with the beef. Buy the best you can from a reputable butcher. I use prime beef when possible, but because it is sometimes hard to find, I may turn to high-quality choice beef instead.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Jean Anderson's book A Love Affair with Southern Cooking. Pickled oysters are a cocktail favorite wherever oysters are fresh, plump, and flavorful, meaning most of the South. The hostesses I know like to mound them in small crystal bowls, top them off with a little of the pickling liquid, and pass with toothpicks so that guests can "go spearfishing." Though the red serranos add color, I suggest sprigging the bowl with fresh dill umbels or sprigs of Italian parsley. Come to think of it, small fennel umbels would also be attractive and appropriate. Note: Because cooking clouds the oyster liquid, I pour it through a coffee filter–-lined sieve directly onto the oysters and spices. Makes for a prettier presentation at serving time.

Collards are normally associated with long, slow cooking, but cutting them into thin strips reduces cooking time dramatically. The result is a bright, lively flavor that will make you realize these greens are more versatile than most people think.

Perfect for a Sunday-afternoon baking project, these light, crisp crackers take an hour to make (okay, maybe longer if you have a little helper).