New Years

Now that imported caviar is no longer available, the domestic stuff is all the rage. Paired with lemon oil (sold at many markets), it's the ultimate garnish.

Moderately priced avruga caviar (smoked herring roe from Spain) gives cooks a chance to throw caution to the wind and experiment. Stephen Harris purées it into a slate-gray emulsion, bringing visual drama and a smoky flavor to delicate salmon. Fleur de sel is a good substitute for his house-made sea salt.

Preserved lemon, an essential ingredient in Moroccan cooking, is made by pickling lemons in salt, lemon juice, and olive oil. Here, preserving just the peel (begin at least a day ahead) is an easy way to add an exciting note to the crème fraäche.

Truffles add luxurious appeal, but the ravioli are fantastic without them.

Editor's Note: This recipe was originally part of a menu by Bobby Flay for a backyard barbecue. For the complete menu and Flay's tips on throwing a party, click here. I was taught to grill oysters on one of my trips to the Pacific Northwest. This is one of those dishes where organization is imperative. Because the oysters cook for only a few minutes, you've got to have the garnishes ready before you put the shells on the grill. The mango pico de gallo and the red chile horseradish are hot and sweet on your tongue. If you think that the red chile horseradish looks too spicy, don't worry, for the sweet mango provides just the right cooling sensation. The oysters actually "pop" when they are cooked and make for a great presentation.

Truffles are pressure-cooked during the canning process, which causes them to release some of their water content. Using just a bit of this truffle juice in a vinaigrette will impart a delicious woodsy flavor.

If you use canned truffles and plan to serve these omelets with the mesclun salad with truffle vinaigrette , be sure to save any juice for the dressing.

We recommend using a good-quality California or Spanish sparkling wine for this punch. Both are widely available and less expensive than Champagne.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Harumi's Japanese Cooking , by Harumi Kurihara. To read more about Harumi, click here. Mentaiko Spaghettini This is one of the most popular types of pasta in Japan and is a great example of how a foreign ingredient has been adapted to Japanese taste. I think you will find it quite an eye opener.

Requiring just a few ingredients and minimal cooking, this hors d'oeuvre is the epitome of elegant simplicity.

Magret duck breasts come from Moulard ducks; you can also use smaller Muscovy duck breasts. Both are available at some supermarkets or at dartagnan.com.

A little blanching and sautéing is all it takes to tenderize the collard greens for this easy Moroccan-inspired dish.

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).

Each low-cal helping serves up heart-friendly flavonoids (found in the skin).

Before tasting the oysters served by Tadashi Ono at New York's Matsuri, I was convinced that the best oyster is a naked one. But there is something magical about the way frozen ponzu brings out the sweetness of a plump oyster; add the crunch of tobiko and you have something absolutely extraordinary. In our version, we serve the oysters on a bed of seaweed to keep them flat and to retain their liquor. If you can't find seaweed, substitute a bed of uncooked sushi rice. Traditional ponzu (a soy citrus sauce) is made with fish stock (dashi), but we used a kelp broth instead because we found the stock too heavy.

Serve this with plenty of crusty bread.

Cooking collards slowly is the traditional approach in the South, producing tender greens and the bonus of pot likker, the pale green pork-flavored broth left in the pot after the collards are served up. Many people sip a small cup of the pot likker as a cure for the common cold, while others dunk their corn muffins in it.

In this elegant introduction to dinner, oysters are paired with Champagne grapes, whose sweet juice balances the sharpness of the vinegar in the mignonnette.