New Years

Serve with potato chips, a heap of tangy coleslaw, and some sweet gherkins. Finish with strawberry ice cream and chocolate cookies. By the way, the filling for these quick sandwiches is delicious on toasted English muffins for breakfast.

Tartines de Caviar à la Crème Aigre Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

We loved L.A. chef Mary Sue Milliken's crisp baked-tortilla crackers in her pool-party menu (August 2000). Here, we invent our own version of them.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

No one seems completely sure where the name Hoppin' John comes from. Variations run from the clearly apocryphal suggestion that this was the name of a waiter at a local restaurant who walked with a limp, to the plausible, a corruption of pois pigeon (pigeon peas in French). Culinary historian Karen Hess in her masterwork, The Carolina Rice Kitchen: The African Connection, offers a twenty-plus page dissertation on everything from the history of the dish to recipe variations to a number of suggestions for the origin of its name, ranging from Malagasy to ancient Arabic. The only thing that all seem to agree on about Hoppin' John is that the dish is emblematic of South Carolina and is composed of rice and black-eyed peas. Many years back I was amazed to discover a startlingly similar dish on the luncheon table at the Dakar home of Senegalese friends. There, the dish was prepared with beef and not smoked pork, but the rice and black-eyed peas were the same. The name of that dish was given as thiébou niébé. There seem to be two variations on Hoppin' John: One calls for the rice to be cooked with the peas. The second calls for the peas and rice to be cooked separately and then mixed together at a final stage prior to serving. I prefer to cook my rice and peas together.

For the start or close of a millennium (or almost any other significant occasion), this is an opulent but fuss-free combination. Purchase the crabs from a busy fishmonger to ensure absolute freshness. Inexpensive caviar (which is often dyed) can turn the dipping sauce gray; invest a little more if you can. Champagne — not too dry — is naturally the beverage of choice.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes of less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

(Roasted Potato Slices with Salt Cod Purée and Roasted Red Pepper)

Here's a delicious new take on smoked salmon.

Like savory shortbread, these are wonderful when paired with wine, salads or soups.

Extra milk makes these potatoes silky-smooth, and truffle oil adds luxurious flavor.

Though the truffles lend a wonderfully rich flavor to the shrimp, they are fairly costly, so you might want to save this dish for special occasions.

For more information about making pâte à choux, see If the Choux Fits...Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 hr

The créme fraîche topping melts fast, so to make the most of its fabulous taste and texture, add it just before eating.

This salmon is wrapped in rice paper, which gets very crisp when sautéed.