this is completely on a different tangent - not a seated 5 course meal, but when thirschfeld first posted this I thought it would make a great NYE dinner, maybe with some lobster tails, too:
http://food52.com/recipes/8024_mixed_platter
Latkes with smoked salmon creme fresh and Cavier- crisp white, sav blanc
Froi gras with balsamic and cherry syrup over arugula - light red, Pinot noir possible
Osso bucco with cheesy spinach risotto and redwine jus - full red, zin
Cheese platter, a taleggio or other creamy cheese, a parm or other hard cheese with a drizzle of honey and a sheeps cheese, grapes on the side for midnight! - cava
I'm with pierino on the fois-gras and caviar,but I would choose one or the other cause I would include a shrimp-cocktail...I know it's tacky and old fashioned,but I loooove it.It could become a theme,Tacky Decadence,hahaha!Salad:some baby leaves and sprouts,along some pungent cheese and lentils(for good luck and lots of money,they say!)on vinagrete.A nice tenderloin with potatoes noisette...keeping up with the Tacky Decadence theme or a nest of a single strip of wide papardelle and zucchini.You could add a fois gras sauce if you decide for the caviar as an entrée.For dessert something boozy and chocolaty...mousse or soufflé or "pavé" wich is something we do in Brazil:Mix melted dark chocolate on a cream made with butter,egg youlks and confectioners sugar you beat till clear.Dip lady fingers cookies in some rum or Port and make layers alternating cream and cookies ending with the cream.Leave it in the fridge for at least 12 hours before serving.(How do you like it for the Tacky Decadence theme?)And about the wine...considering it is New Years Eve,and you're not on a budget...I would go with Champagne all around.Decadence raised to a higher level.Live a little!
Oh,you must include some green grapes!At midnight you eat 3 of them and for each one you make a wish...In my family we add them to the glasses for the midnight toast.For good luck in 2013!!!
For me, NYE is about luxury...we have the traditional beans, greens and cornbread on the 1st...to guarantee prosperity (and be able to afford the blw out dinner a year later!). ...sucking oysters isn't a problem. Have a great knife, a glove and somebody all lined up to do it....
The barefoot bubbly is good...I like it as well as a good prosecco...
A mess 'o collard green for NYE can be a PITA to clean and get all the sand off.
My grandmother, and mother, used put those bunches of collards in the washing machine (laundry machine). Filled it up with water with some white vinegar..and moved it around by hand to aggitate. it.
Then turn the analog knob to spin dry. You have a big ol salad spinner in your laundry room...unless you have one those digatal things that wont submit to interruptions; or a horizontal one.
New years if filled with tradition. Beans for luck (some put a coin in the beans for a prize...the "king of the bean", or trip to the dentist...collards or other leafy greens to symbolize money. (not that ever worked for me).
Ham for health and being feed for the new year.....(with left overs).
Seafood---well I don't why that's traditional...maybe because cold water oysters, crabs are available and elegant and work very well with ice cold vodka.
Speaking to Sam's point about "coins", lentils are traditional New Year's fare in various cultures for precisely that reason---sometimes with sliced sausage. In Sam's part of the world Hoppin' John is also traditional. Personally I prefer to serve those things on New Year's Day rather than on the Eve. Something for those people who stumble in with a hang over.
Sam and Pierino...you guys set the bar pretty high...I'd have to include airfare in my budget to fly you guys in! So Pierino...you're a stickler about the champagne but caviar from California? Details, please. Could you do a trio of oysters? One raw with the mignonette, one rockafeller and maybe a cornmeal dusted fried one?
I almost hate to say it...but the sparkling wine (Kirkland brand) is very very good crisp and dry. The "barefoot" california sparkling wine (dry) is also very good.
I hate overly sweet Champagne. I did have a bottle of (can't remember the year) of Dom P. in early 90's. (I think a a 80's vintage) that was very crisp and dry..good with seafood and crisp. But frankly...the Kirkland or Bearfoot for a 10 buck bottle is very good. Unless you're showing off the label. (g).
You could simple for the seafood course. I personally like the oyster Rockefeller. But Stone Crab with a mustard sauce is good. (but messy).
Failing that crab legs lightly steam(the frozen crab legs are always precooked and just need rewarming)..with clarified butter. Okay that's very messy.
And if you don't know how to shuck oysters...trust me...don't try on NYE. You'll not only hurt yourself and think WTF was thinking about. (unless you have a good glove and oyster knife)..a fine point..but if you haven't shucked oysters before it'll take you into WTF how do you really do this territory.
Shhh I save shells from raw oysters--bleach, scrub and clean them..and use the shelled product in the pint jars for oysters Rockefeller using those shells for a device..cleaned
Lorigoldsby, caviar from farm raised sturgeon from the Sacramento river is quite good. One label is Tsar Nicolai. Imported caviar, beluga etc. from the Caspian Sea should be avoided because the Russians and Iranians have nearly destroyed the fishery.
A trio of oysters sounds great to me, especially if they are different sizes. I'd go with kumamoto, belon and maybe olympia. These are all farmed sustainably in the Pacific Northwest.
Foie gras smuggled in from some un-benighted state.
California caviar.
Oysters accompanied by simple shallot, white vinegar mignionette with a little dash of horse radish.
Standing rib roast---more horseradish. Momofuku style brussels sprouts.
I'm with Sam on the sorbet.
Wines; prosecco, sauvignon blanc, Spanish rioja, French champagne (there is no such thing as California champagne).
Seafood first course. Oysters..either raw or Rockefeller.
Or caviar and martinis.
A light clear soup. A salad.
Potato Latkes with sour cream or apple sauce.
Main course...Collard Greens (or Kale), black eyed peas, and ham (or braised pork bellies).
A fruit sorbet for desert with a good desert wine or Brandy.
19 Comments
http://food52.com/recipes/8024_mixed_platter
Latkes with smoked salmon creme fresh and Cavier- crisp white, sav blanc
Froi gras with balsamic and cherry syrup over arugula - light red, Pinot noir possible
Osso bucco with cheesy spinach risotto and redwine jus - full red, zin
Cheese platter, a taleggio or other creamy cheese, a parm or other hard cheese with a drizzle of honey and a sheeps cheese, grapes on the side for midnight!
- cava
Yes, I started and ended with bubbles! It is NYE!
Butter-poached venison backstrap medallions on toast with a little lemony parsley garnish. A big, jammy California red.
A big butterhead lettuce salad with green goddess dressing, paper-thin radish slices, and pomegranate arils.
Standing rib roast with duxelles gravy. Continue the CA red.
Cheese plate feat. Winnamere, Stilton, and a tangy, plain chèvre. Bubbly.
The barefoot bubbly is good...I like it as well as a good prosecco...
A mess 'o collard green for NYE can be a PITA to clean and get all the sand off.
My grandmother, and mother, used put those bunches of collards in the washing machine (laundry machine). Filled it up with water with some white vinegar..and moved it around by hand to aggitate. it.
Then turn the analog knob to spin dry. You have a big ol salad spinner in your laundry room...unless you have one those digatal things that wont submit to interruptions; or a horizontal one.
Ham for health and being feed for the new year.....(with left overs).
Seafood---well I don't why that's traditional...maybe because cold water oysters, crabs are available and elegant and work very well with ice cold vodka.
Soft poached organic egg covered with leek and parsnip strained soup.
Fresh spot prawns with a butter leaf salad.
Braised pork belly (or short ribs) on a bed of creamed peaches-and-cream corn.
Fresh sabayon with blackberries, grand dame in flutes.
Tomorrow I will probably pick five different dishes.
I hate overly sweet Champagne. I did have a bottle of (can't remember the year) of Dom P. in early 90's. (I think a a 80's vintage) that was very crisp and dry..good with seafood and crisp. But frankly...the Kirkland or Bearfoot for a 10 buck bottle is very good. Unless you're showing off the label. (g).
Failing that crab legs lightly steam(the frozen crab legs are always precooked and just need rewarming)..with clarified butter. Okay that's very messy.
And if you don't know how to shuck oysters...trust me...don't try on NYE. You'll not only hurt yourself and think WTF was thinking about. (unless you have a good glove and oyster knife)..a fine point..but if you haven't shucked oysters before it'll take you into WTF how do you really do this territory.
Shhh I save shells from raw oysters--bleach, scrub and clean them..and use the shelled product in the pint jars for oysters Rockefeller using those shells for a device..cleaned
A trio of oysters sounds great to me, especially if they are different sizes. I'd go with kumamoto, belon and maybe olympia. These are all farmed sustainably in the Pacific Northwest.
California caviar.
Oysters accompanied by simple shallot, white vinegar mignionette with a little dash of horse radish.
Standing rib roast---more horseradish. Momofuku style brussels sprouts.
I'm with Sam on the sorbet.
Wines; prosecco, sauvignon blanc, Spanish rioja, French champagne (there is no such thing as California champagne).
Or caviar and martinis.
A light clear soup. A salad.
Potato Latkes with sour cream or apple sauce.
Main course...Collard Greens (or Kale), black eyed peas, and ham (or braised pork bellies).
A fruit sorbet for desert with a good desert wine or Brandy.