When I was a caterer, I served mountains of caviar at parties...and at my own soirées, too!  More than once I was faced with what to do with a pound or so of leftover caviar.  Obviously, the answer was to make a pile of blini and invite friends over for an indulgent meal.  If you are lucky enough to have some caviar for your New Year's Eve celebration, try this authentic recipe made with buckwheat flour and sour cream.  And remember, these are pancakes that should not be served hot.  In fact, the heat would warm the cold caviar.  So make them a few hours ahead of serving, but keep them at room temperature.  With some sparkling wine to wash it all down, blini and caviar are a fine way to bring in the new year.  

Here's a way to take a good thing and make it better...at least in my opinion.  I don't have any blue cheese haters in my group of friends (I simply ask them to fill out a simple form with food likes and dislikes--only kidding), so this is a big hit whenever I serve it.  When you want a show-stopping main course to serve with a great bottle of red wine, I don't think you can do any better than this recipe.  Now, if you have friends who are challenged (if not offended!) by blue cheese, make the Rib Roast au Jus instead.  Remember, than unless you get your hands on USDA Grade Prime meat, which is unlikely unless you have ordered it well ahead from the best butcher in town, it isn't really Prime Rib Roast.  You are probably roasting a Choice Grade cut, and that is just fine.  

Yesterday, when I was on Martha Stewart Radio with my buddy Sandy Gluck, the subject of meatball lasagna came up. What makes Christmas meatball different is that the ground meat not simply added to the sauce, but rolled into small meatballs first.  I hadn't made it since testing for I LOVE MEATBALLS, and my mouth started to water as I described the recipe.  Now, I have already planned my Christmas dinner (roast pork of some kind), but I will find room for this delectable pasta on the table sometime during the holiday week.  

For a guy who has created hundreds (if not thousands...it's true!) recipes over the years, it is difficult to choose my favorite recipes.  But, this roast pork, which I created for the folks at Driscoll's Berries, is up at the top of the list.  It is absolutely perfect for the holidays.  The roast can be wrapped in the pancetta a day ahead and roasted just before dinner, and the pan deglazed with the premade sweet and savory sauce.  Blackberries are not a traditional holiday ingredient, but they are in season in California and you will find plump, sweet purple berries in your market this week.  They add an element of surprise to the classic holiday roast.