Wine

Goes great with: Stir-fried snow peas, green beans, sliced zucchini, and fresh basil. What to drink: New Zealand or Oregon Pinot Noir.

The most floral and flirty cocktail we've had this year.

Zuppa di Cozze Come la Fanno a Bosa Like other coastal towns on Sardinia, Bosa also has an excellent maritime cuisine. An example is this excellent mussels soup. Two ingredients unique to it are the grated sheep's milk cheese that cooks along with the mussels, deepening their flavor, and the bread crumbs—some Sardinian cooks use couscous instead—that add texture and density to the mussel juices.

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.

These mussels are a snap to prepare, and make a hearty meal when paired with a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the rich tomato broth. Be sure to buy your mussels the day you make this dish, as they don't keep well at home.

This tender chuck roast makes two meals. Most of the meat is sliced and served with onion gravy, accompanied by egg noodles, and the rest gets shredded and saved for a warm beef salad . You might want to round out the first meal with a green salad or sautéed spinach.

The warm vinaigrette is a pan sauce that comes together in minutes.

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.

Agrodolce, an Italian sweet-and-sour sauce, combines vinegar and sugar. For tender results, be sure to peel off any leathery outer layers from the shallots.

If you're also making the slow-cooked onion salad , you can cook the cauliflower for this recipe while your onions finish roasting. Steam the mussels and cod after the onions are done, just before assembling your salad.

Sliced strawberries infuse raspberry brandy with fresh berry flavor, and the strained liqueur is topped off with Champagne.