Ingredients

1/2 pound pitted fresh or frozen sour cherries (2 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons fresh yuzu juice or 2 tablespoons each of fresh tangerine and lime juices
One 750-milliliter bottle plus 2 cups chilled brut Champagne
Ice

Directions

1. Puree the cherries in a food processor. Pass the puree through a fine strainer set over a small saucepan, pressing on the solids; you should have 1/2 cup of juice.
2. Stir in the sugar and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.
3. In a large pitcher, combine the sweetened cherry juice with the yuzu juice. Slowly pour in the Champagne. Serve the Bellinis over ice.

Makes 10 drinks.

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Ingredients

1/2 cup beer, like Tecate
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh jalapeño (or 1/4 cup pickled jalapeño slices), minced
1 16-ounce can refried beans
1 10-ounce can Ro-tel diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 16-ounce package Velveeta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 green onion, sliced, for garnish
Tortilla chips

Directions

1. In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine beer, cumin, dried oregano, garlic, and jalapeño. Bring to simmer over medium heat.
2. Add beans and Ro-tel; stir until heated through.
3. Add Velveeta cheese; stir until cheese melts, about 5 to 8 minutes. If the dip is too thick, thin with a little beer.
4. Stir in cilantro. Transfer to bowl. Serve warm with tortilla chips.

Serves 8 to 10.

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Ingredients

1 Tbs. breadcrumbs
8 oz. capellini or other thin, spaghetti-like pasta
6 large outer leaves of savoy cabbage, or more if needed
2 cups chopped tomatoes plus 1 large tomato
30 black olives, chopped, preferably kalamata
1 Tbs. large capers
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. fresh sweet basil, minced
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Minced parsley for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray deep 10-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray, and dust with breadcrumbs.
2. Bring large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil, and cook pasta about 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and set aside in large mixing bowl.
3. Trim off any tough ribs at base of each cabbage leaf, and cook leaves in boiling water about 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove from water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.
4. Line pie plate with cabbage leaves, using scissors to trim leaves evenly along rim of dish. Make sure to overlap leaves so they completely cover bottom.
5. Combine cooked pasta, chopped tomatoes, olives, capers, garlic, olive oil, sweet basil and pepper in large mixing bowl, and toss together. Place pasta mixture into lined pie plate, and pat down firmly with wooden spoon or spatula.
6. Cut tomato into thin slices, and arrange evenly over top of filling. Scatter grated cheese evenly over tomatoes.
7. Bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on rack. Garnish with minced parsley, and serve at room temperature.

Serves 8-10.

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