10,000 crema recipes

Diced lobster simmered in a sherry cream sauce with mushrooms, peppers, and pimentos, then spooned back into the shell and broiled with Parmesan. Southern fine dining at home.

Creamy sherried lobster bisque for two, made with lobster tails, red potatoes, clam juice, and light sour cream blended silky smooth. An intimate, elegant soup finished with dry sherry and thyme.

Nesselrode pudding pie folds sweetened chestnut puree and candied chestnuts into vanilla-spiked whipped cream and gelatin-set custard. The 19th-century holiday classic in pie form.

This is one of the hottest recipes in New York right now. It was on the menu at Le Caprice and also at the buzzing new gastropub The Breslin. Now that strawberry season is almost over you can substitute raspberries with equally outstanding results.

A wonderfully aromatic pound cake that' great served with berries.

Scallop and green bean terrine is a French mousse of pureed scallops and creme fraiche folded with blanched green beans, baked in a water bath and served with tomato coulis.

Grand Finale chocolate cheesecake with melted Hershey's bar, cocoa, and cream cheese over a buttery almond-graham crust. A dinner-party finisher worthy of its name.

Layered chicken casserole with green beans, water chestnuts, and a creamy sauce of chicken soup, mayo, and lemon juice, baked bubbly under melted cheddar. Comfort food in six ingredients.

Silky white chocolate cheesecake on a chocolate wafer crust with a raspberry puree swirled through the filling and spooned on top. A gorgeous, berry-marbled stunner.

Summer pudding-style fruit cake lined with sponge cake and packed with kirsch-soaked strawberries, blackberries, cherries, and currants. Chilled overnight and unmolded.

Silky fettuccine tossed in a rich cream sauce with smoked salmon, fresh dill, a splash of vodka, and a shower of Parmesan. Elegant enough for date night, easy enough for a Tuesday.

The victual of choice to be served with vodka is of course caviar but other kinds of seafood and various salty morsels are also good choices.

Bajan black bean soup from Barbados: dried black beans simmered with a ham hock, fragrant with allspice and lemon, finished with cream and an optional splash of dark rum. Caribbean comfort in a bowl.

Smoked salmon and a soft poached egg piled onto a fluffy baked potato, drizzled with chive and white wine sour cream sauce, then crowned with caviar. A fast, elegant brunch plate.

Chicken Veronique sautés boneless breasts in butter with mushrooms, scallions, and white wine, then finishes in a silky cream sauce studded with seedless grapes. A classic French bistro dish that feels fancy but cooks in one skillet.

A tender and delicious bread made with cornmeal, light cream and sweet bell peppers.