The year is coming to an end and so is the first season of Cooking with Chef Johnny Vee, The New Mexican's series of web-based culinary classes.

To celebrate the holidays — and the completion of 18 previous videos — we've let Johnny out of the kitchen this week to visit with Michel Darmon, food and beverage director at Terra, the signature restaurant at Tesuque's Encantado resort. Sitting at the lovely bar adjacent to the restaurant, the two talked of many things — an off-the-menu celebratory cocktail to ring in the New Year; a special, luxe hors d'ouevre that won't break the bank to pair with it; and a seasonal drink to warm the body as well as the spirit.

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The first drink, which Darmon called a "Prickly Shampoo," is a blend of Corso Azul Tequila Reposado, bright pink prickly-pear purée, a bit of cranberry juice to deepend the color and sweeten the drink and some lime to pull it all together. Once set before a guest, the glass is topped off with a short pour of Gruet sparkling wine.

Darmon was only recently introduced to prickly-pear purée, he said, and found the its color, flavor and connection to the local landscape intriguing. The Gruet, too, is a local product — but the drink's name is an import. "Have a glass of shampoo," Darmon said, was slang for "Have a glass of champagne" in his British parents' set.

You won't find the Prickly Shampoo on the menu at Terra or the bar; the drink was created especially for the restaurant's New Year's Eve celebrations (two seatings at two different prices, call 505-946-5800 for details). But the appetizer Darmon selected to pair with the drink — a smoked ruby trout salad — is available for the winter season, so if you don't want to try making it at home, you can find it on the bar menu at Terra.

The smoky notes in the tequila in the Shampoo, Darmon said, complements the smoked fish in the appetizer. Smoked fish is often served over the holidays in Europe, particularly in eastern Europe, he noted.

Although the celeriac remoulade that surrounds the fish is a classic French crudité, Terra's preparation is more Creole in spirit, Darmon said, using egg and mustard instead of mayonnaise to bind the thinly sliced root vegetable, with an added kick from espelette, a Basque chile pepper.

To add to the luxuriousness, flavor and texture of the starter, Darmon scattered chipotle-infused caviar around the dish. The caviar, prepared to chef Charles Dale's specifications by California-based Tsar Nicoulai, is made from non-endangered trout eggs and available from the company's Web site (www.tsarnicoulai.com) for those who would like to prepare the dish exactly as it's served at the Terra bar. (Home cooks in a hurry can substitute other American trout or salmon caviars, available at several markets around Santa Fe, for the chipotle-infused variation — and buy their trout already smoked to cut out the smoke-it-yourself step.)

The second drink Johnny Vee shared with Darmon is the "Hot Fairy," also on Terra's winter bar menu. A blend of housemade hot chocolate, absinthe and Baileys Irish Cream topped with half-whipped cream and a scattering of hot chile flakes, the drink is a perfect après-ski (or hike) warmer — and could even stand in for dessert, perhaps with a bizcochito or two.

For a first-hand look at both of the drinks and the appetizer, log onto www.etastesantafe.com.

PRICKLY SHAMPOO
(Makes 1 drink)

1/2 ounce prickly pear purée
1 ounce cranberry juice
1/2 ounce Rose's lime juice
2-1/2 ounces reposado tequila
Lemon twist

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker, Add scoop of ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into well-chilled cocktail glass. Add floater of Gruet blanc de blanc sparkling wine and garnish with fresh-cut lemon twist.

TERRA'S HOT FAIRY
(Makes 1 drink)

1 ounce Baileys Irish Cream
1/2 ounce Swiss absinthe
4-1/2 ounces high-quality hot chocolate
Half-whipped heavy cream
Red-chile flakes

Combine Baileys, absinthe and hot chocolate and pour into mug. Top with cream and a sprinkle of red-chile flakes

Serve immediately.

SMOKED TROUT SALAD WITH CELERY REMOULADE
AND TERRA CHIPOTLE CAVIAR
(Serves 4)

For the trout (if you choose to make rather than buy it):
1 pound ruby trout (about
2 filets)
1 cup sugar in the raw
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup Madeira wine
One orange, zest only, grated

Mix together the salt, sugar, grated orange peel and Madeira wine. Coat the trout with the mixture and refrigerate for 1 hour. Rinse the trout off with water.

Set up a smoker on your stovetop with a cast-iron skillet fitted with a trivet; a stainless-steel strainer will also work. Line the bottom of the pan with a half-cup of hickory or mesquite chips. Turn on the flame to medium under the skillet and light the wood chips with a match.

Place the trout on the trivet, and cover the pan tightly with a heavy lid or aluminum foil. "Hot smoke" the trout for 10-15 minutes, or until done. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the hibiscus vinaigrette:
1/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Bring water to a boil and allow hibiscus flowers to steep for five minutes. Strain and reserve the hibiscus water. Blend with rest of ingredients.

For the remoulade sauce:
2 egg yolks
Juice of one lemon 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 anchovies packed in oil (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon espelette (optional)
1-1/2 cups olive oil
2 tablespoons small capers
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

In a small food processor or a blender, blend the egg yolks with all the ingredients except the oil, capers and parsley, on medium-low speed until smooth. Slowly add the oil until emulsified. Remove to a bowl, adjust the salt if necessary, and stir in capers and chopped parsley.

To serve the salad:
1 cup watercress (approximately 1 bunch), most of stem removed
1 pound celery root, peeled and julienned on a mandoline
2 ounces Chipotle Caviar (or substitute trout or salmon roe)

Make a small mound of watercress in the center of each of four plates. Toss the celery root with a 1/2 cup of remoulade sauce (reserve the rest for another time), and dress over the watercress. Remove the skin from the smoked trout, and break into 16 large pieces. Loosely arrange the trout around the celery root. Make a line of caviar on each side of the salad, drizzle with the hibiscus vinaigrette, and serve.