Festive but Laid Back: New Year's Eve at Home with Champagne and Caviar

 

Meal Monday 

I've always had New Year's Eve fantasies. Visions of glamorous parties, little black dresses and martini glasses dance in my head. These daydreams include tinkling ice, art deco furnishings, fabulous fashions and accessories. Audrey Hepburn always figures prominently in these midnight cocktail party dreams, snow flurries fall lightly outside and it's all very magical.  

Unfortunately, these fantasies have never been realized. When I was young and single, New Year's sometimes meant a college or grad school party with friends but without glamor or romance. After I got married, we would often share the evening with another couple and eventually with another family whose children's ages matched ours. For the past few years, we have spent the holiday at our very quiet place in the Maine woods, tranquil but -- as the kids are very quick to point out -- boring. 

This year, I sent an email to our close friends and family listing dates we plan to be in Maine over the winter, and inviting people to join us. My sister-in-law and her family (a husband, two daughters and a fiance) responded that they would come up for New Year's weekend. We were very excited. I started planning the menu and the evening right away. 

For cocktails, we mixed sparkling wine with a touch of St. Germain liqueur, and a splash of either fresh pomegranate or grapefruit juice. The hors d'oeuvres were simple but plentiful: grape tomatoes with a dusting of truffle salt, warmed brie topped with fig jam, and thin cucumber rounds topped with a small dollop of plain yogurt and a teaspoon of salmon roe. 

I tend to be better at envisioning hors d'oeuvres, side dishes and desserts than main courses. I usually have to work backwards to find a good entree. Interestingly, because my in-laws keep kosher, I had an easier time planning the main course than if I had no limitations. We decided to go with fish. I made simple stuffed and baked cod fillets that were delicious. I mixed minced garlic, fresh chopped parsley, olive tapenade and a little crumbled feta, then rolled the fish around approximately two tablespoons of the stuffing and baked the rolled fillets in a roasting pan covered with tin foil for about 25 minutes at 350 degree. You'd need more time for thicker fillets and less time for thinner ones, of course. 

For one side dish, I sliced beefsteak tomatoes into thin rounds and patted them dry, then spread each one with a topping of salt, pepper, parsley, chopped walnuts and grated parmesan. I placed those on a cookie sheet and roasted them in the oven at the same time as the fish, until they were halfway dry and the topping was warm and crispy. For another side dish, I made a pot of wild rice mixed with lentils. When people sat down to eat, there were party poppers at their places and round gold candles as a centerpiece. 

Initially, I wanted to make a souffle for dessert, but decided to do something that would be easier to make and would allow me to enjoy the evening. So I made crepes a couple of days in advance and kept them wrapped in wax paper and tin foil in the refrigerator. When it was time for dessert, I warmed them up in the microwave, spread each one with chocolate hazelnut spread and rolled them up. Each portion had two, which I then finished with a scoop of creamy bananas from our new Yonanas machine (this thing is amazing -- it makes bananas taste like ice cream).  

Audrey Hepburn was a no-show, and we did not have a piano player in the corner, but we did have a fabulous time. Happy 2012! 

 

Comments

[Benjamin Schreier]

Sounds like New Year's Eve food was delicious. Sorry we could not send the piano player your way this year.

[Melody Bakeeff]

And to think I spent new year's eve in a non-crowded yet smoky bar getting my eardrums blown out! :-) Yours sounds much lovelier, congrats!