New Years

New England tradition is behind this hearty soup supper. A mixture of tangy cheddar, Port wine and Dijon mustard produces a terrific spread to nibble on while the chowder is cooking. Pour Sauvignon Blanc throughout the meal.

A sophisticated yet simple dip that is wonderful with toast triangles, crackers or some assorted raw vegetables.

This recipe was created to accompany other canapés: Shrimp Canapés , Cheese Canapés and Smoked Mackerel Canapés .

Here's a modern spin on blini, the buckwheat pancakes that are a classic for caviar. Also topping them with smoked salmon is a delightful way to gild the lily.

This recipe was created to accompany other canapés: Cheese Canapés , Pickled Herring Canapés and Smoked Mackerel Canapés .

That renewal of my acquaintance with marrow led to the invention of a canapé or sandwich filling that I believe to be without a peer as an accompaniment for cocktails. In the beginning I produced small batches, but they vanished with such unbelievable rapidity that I was forced to make them larger and larger. I pass on the recipe willingly, for the good of the human race, which has too long suffered from canapés that either adhere distressingly to the roof of the mouth or result in unsightly toothpicks scattered on the floor.

The large amount of chocolate glaze called for in this recipe makes the dipping process easier. (The leftover glaze is an excellent sauce for ice cream.)

The classic — and amazingly easy — French sauce made with butter and wine gets a glamorous makeover with Champagne. Feel free to use less-expensive sparkling wine for cooking, but keep the blanc de blancs flowing as an accompaniment.

We used smoked bocconcini (small mozzarella balls) for this recipe, but you may substitute unsmoked bocconcini or smoked or unsmoked regular mozzarella, cut into slices and quartered.

We thought of this dish as a main course for lunch, but it would also be great for dinner, particularly with grilled steak. (Serves four as a starter or side dish.)

By the seventies, Julia Child, through her books and television shows, had made French food accessible, and the Cuisinart, introduced in 1973, made many of the cuisine’s more complicated techniques quick and simple. As a result, pâté became increasingly popular, and remains so today.

This recipe originally accompanied Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze .

Neen Gow, New Year's Cake, is the most important cake eaten on New Year's — the main ingredient, glutinous rice flour, is a symbol of cohesiveness. The egg-dipped, pan-fried slices have a mellow sweetness and are slightly chewy from glutinous rice flour. Mama remembers watching her grandmother's servants scraping the slab brown candy, peen tong, for this cake, which is the traditional technique. Brown candy is a kind of sugar that is sold by the slab in 1-pound packages and is also available loose in bins in some Chinese markets. The slabs are about 5 inches long, 1 1/4 inches wide, and a scant 1/2 inch thick. The scraping of the sugar is extremely labor-intensive, so some cooks dissolve the slabs of sugar in water, which is less authentic but much easier to prepare. Be sure to use glutinous rice flour here, not regular rice flour! See the introduction to Turnip Cake for how to serve and store this New Year's Cake.

The original recipe for oysters Rockefeller, created at the New Orleans restaurant Antoine's in 1899, remains a secret to this day. The appetizer, oysters topped with a mixture of finely chopped greens and copious amounts of butter and then baked in their shells, was considered so rich that it had to be named after the richest man of the day, John D. Rockefeller. A few years later, no self-respecting restaurateur would be without his own version on the menu. This lighter take features spinach, watercress, green onions and grated Parmesan.

Domestic golden whitefish roe, much of which comes from the Great Lakes region, can also be used.

The pasta and sauce cook simultaneously (so two cooks can divide and conquer), for a total of about ten minutes, start to finish. Serve with your best bottle of bubbly.

This is a very quick recipe to make; just remember to start marinating the salmon the day ahead. You can easily half or double the amounts.