Local chef Regina Charboneau will show the country how to ring in the New Year Southern-style when she appears on NBC’s weekend &uot;Today&uot; show Sunday.

During the broadcast from New York City, Charboneau will prepare traditional Southern recipes believed to bring good luck if eaten on New Year’s Day.

But Charboneau has put her own twist on the fare, which includes much more than cabbage and black-eyed peas.

Included on the menu are cabbage with vinaigrette (a sign of money to come), roast prime rib of pork with turnips and yams (pork is a sign of good luck) and peas flavored with apple-smoked bacon and jalapenos (symbolizing silver coins).

A complete ingredient list and recipes for Charboneau’s New Year’s Day menu are available at reginaskitchen.com.

NBC has called on Charboneau’s culinary expertise in the past when featuring Southern cooking, and she recently appeared on a San Francisco cooking show to promote her new book, &uot;A Collection of Seasonal Menus from Regina’s Kitchen.&uot;

A Natchez native, Charboneau has always had a love of food. After studing at La Varenne in Paris, she opened several restaurants, from Regina’s in Anchorage, Alaska, to Biscuit & Blues in San Francisco. She helped her brother, Peter Trosclair, open Biscuits & Blues on Main Street in Natchez which features her own famous butter biscuits and her brother’s barbeque.

Returning home recently, Charboneau is now the general manager and Chef du Cuisine at Monmouth Plantation, which was just named the No. 4 small luxury hotel in North America by Cond\u00E9 Nast magazine.

Charboneau has a simple answer for why people are fascinated by Southern food.

&uot;Because it’s good stuff,&uot; she said. Also, people today are generally more open to new experiences when it comes to food, she said.

&uot;When you can now get risotto and mangos at the Natchez Wal-Mart, you know things are changing,&uot; she said, laughing. &uot;People are much more experimental now.&uot;

Charboneau said she believes it almost impossible to separate Southern cooking from Southern culture. &uot;The people are just as colorful as the food,&uot; she said.

It’s for that reason Charboneau said she is grateful to be back in Natchez where she has the opportunity to oversee &uot;a property I would be proud of in New York.&uot;

&uot;I hope everybody in Natchez realizes what they have there,&uot; she said.

And Natchez is proud of Charboneau. Doris Ann Benoist, director of sales at Monmouth Plantation, said they are pleased to have Monmouth represented so well.

&uot;We’re really excited about this; it’s going to be great, not only for Monmouth, but for all of Natchez.&uot;

Benoist said she is anxiously awaiting Sunday morning’s broadcast. &uot;I told (Charboneau) ‘don’t worry about a thing, I have the VCR ready to go!’&uot;

Charboneau’s mother, former City Clerk Frances Trosclair, is also proud of her daughter’s notariety.

&uot;I’m just so proud of her having this opportunity and it’s always wonderful when anyone has a chance to promote Natchez,&uot;&160;Trosclair said.