The classic Chinese dish known as Dragon vs. Phoenix might just be the earliest example of a food fight, except this one takes place between the ingredients on your plate.

Who knows what caused the fierce animosity between the main ingredients -- shrimp and chicken -- in this dish? Perhaps it started off with simple name calling: "You're a shrimp!" would certainly have been countered by, "Oh yeah? Well you're chicken!" It's a short step from there to centuries-long enmity.

Still, there are signs of detente: some recipes are now referring to the dish as Dragon and Phoenix, as in this soup version.

But whatever the outcome, this delicious combination of crisp vegetables and fierce foes will always be a safe bet.

There's an unmistakable moment when you know you've made something really, really good. It's when your guests take that first bite, close their eyes, and nearly swoon with pleasure -- murmuring 'oh my god' or 'wow' as they slowly and reluctantly return to their senses.

As cooks, we live for those moments, don't we?

Well, this recipe is one of those. It's unashamedly chock full of sinful amounts of butter, crab, and Parmigiano Reggiano. But so what? It'll make you forget the past and look forward to a buttery, garlicky, sunshiny future.

And that, my friends, is the best way to start a new year.

(FYI: If the world does end in 2012, it's highly unlikely anyone will be saying to themselves, 'Darn, I wish I hadn't eaten so much real butter.' Just a thought...)

Growing up in an Italian household, holidays were connected with very specific foods -- and a holiday without them was unthinkable. A Christmas without lasagna, for example, would have been the gustatory equivalent of The Year Without a Santa Claus. No Easter Pie on Easter? Someone check the calendar; Easter must be next week!

On New Year's Eve in our house, the traditional 'good luck' dish for the new year was thin spaghetti dressed simply with olive oil, sauteed garlic and... yes, the fearsome, dreaded tinned anchovies. It certainly was a 'good luck' dish -- as in good luck getting us kids to eat it.

Older and wiser now, I've come to appreciate anchovies for their salty, briny intensity of flavor. I even throw together that New Year's Eve 'good luck' dish at other times of the year because it's so easy and so good. Just saute some finely chopped garlic in good olive oil, toss in some cooked angel hair or thin spaghetti, add a few tinned anchovy fillets and toss again. That's all there is to it.

Give it a try this year and it may become a New Year's Eve tradition in your house, too.

This year, I've decided that I'm going to leave those gaudy, breakable Christmas balls in the box and adorn my tree with these beautifully golden Clam and Feta Cheese Puffs instead.

This recipe makes nearly a hundred of these savory little delicacies, so I'll have plenty to decorate with and I'll be able to grab a snack or two every time I pass the tree (which will, no doubt, be quite often.)

Or maybe I'll just leave a plate of these out for Santa and then shake him down for some extra toys when he begs for the recipe. Ho ho ha!

Or I might just make these for a party. They're good for that, too...