New Years

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman's book the A Return To Cooking. To read more about Ripert, click here. This is a hugely luxurious dish, with the sweet flesh of the scallops enhanced by a sauce flavored and thickened with caviar. The dish is rich and creamy, sweet and salty. And it's very easy to make. The sauce base is clam juice, cream, and butter. The scallops are poached for just a minute or two, and caviar is added to the sauce just before serving. That is the only tricky and critical part of this dish: You must be careful to heat the sauce gently once the caviar has been added, bringing it just up to heat without letting it boil. It is, after all, an egg-thickened sauce, and you must be careful of overcooking eggs in this sauce or the caviar will turn hard and white. Treat it as the delicate product it is. Or, as Eric would put it, "Don't whisk it like an idiot. You must be extremely gentle."

If you substitute regular bread crumbs for the panko, the coating will be heavier and the texture denser. In this recipe, the peas are soaked but not precooked before grinding, much like in a falafel.

When selecting the Champagne for this cocktail, we wanted something moderately dry but with a hint of sweetness. Demi-sec (a French term meaning "half dry") Champagnes and sparkling wines provide the perfect balance.

Look for pomegranate juice in the juice aisle or fresh juice section of the supermarket.

Sweet and tangy kumquats make this sparkling cocktail extra special.

Unlike southern-style slow-cooked collards, this blanched and quickly sautéed version has a bit of chew.

Oysters Rockefeller were created in 1899 by Jules Alciatore of Antoine's restaurant, in New Orleans, to make use of local shellfish and greens. Named for John D. Rockefeller, this classic first course is likewise rich. Though Louisiana oysters tend to be quite large, it's best to use small ones, such as Kumamoto or Prince Edward Island, for this recipe. The oysters themselves (not the shells) should be no more than 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Larry Leichtman of Phoenix, Arizona, writes: "Thirteen years ago, I sold my business in Los Angeles and moved to Phoenix. One of the first things my neighbors discovered about me was that I love to cook. We get together often, and I'm usually the one in the kitchen. Being the cook means never having to do the dishes." Serve with crackers or baguette rounds.

Use fresh oysters if you can; note that the recipe also tested well using oysters packed in jars. If the oysters are very large, cut them in half.

We chose to garnish our cocktail with Seckel or Forelle pear slices because of their small size — they fit perfectly in the Champagne flutes. Be sure to lower the slices slowly into the flute or the Champagne will bubble over.

If you can't find fraises des bois liqueur in your local liquor store, you can substitute cassis or Chambord, though the cocktail will taste somewhat different.

The truffled fries are an inspired, luxurious accompaniment.

Charles Alfonso of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, writes: "One of my favorite local restaurants is Dish Osteria and Bar, a place I discovered a few months ago. The food is so good that I go back nearly every weekend. The best dish I've had so far is the duck with polenta and lingonberry sauce." The restaurant serves the duck with a side of rapini sautéed in garlic and olive oil.

This recipe sponsored by Black Swan Vineyards