We decided at the last minute to have people over for New Year’s Eve. I had a Costco Christmas so I kind of wanted to cook. Since we were only having two couples over I thought I could go swanky and have multiple courses. Here’s the menu:
Bellinis
Appetizers
Pastry Bites with feta and caramelized onions
Cucumber with smoked salmon and dill cream cheese
Soup Course
Shrimp Bisque
Homemade Onion Rolls
Salad
Spring Greens with raspberries and sugared pecans with raspberry vinaigrette
Entree
Stone Crab Claws
Thyme and Salt Crusted Prime Rib
Green Beans with Shallots and Almonds
Double Stuffed Red Potatoes
Dessert Trio
Tiny Rum Cakes
Peppermint Mousse in Chocolate Cups
Cherry Tarts
I had been watching the food channel non-stop and must have seen Giada De Laurentis make three or four kinds of Bellinis. They looked easy and since they were made with champagne it seemed like a perfect New Year’s Eve drink. I assigned S.O. to the pureeing of the peaches. Not so smooth. Chunky bellinis are not the new taste sensation! I don’t think Giada chews hers. Later I found this 3 2 1 recipe for bellinis which I tested at a friend’s house. They have sophisticated taste so they weren’t fans but I liked it. 3 parts champagne, 2 parts peach nectar (I used well pureed peaches) and 1 part peach schnapps.
I got the idea of crab claws stuck in my head. Bristol Farm had king crab claws for $39 a pound! Ummm out of my league but the stone crab claws were actually affordable. They looked nice but didn’t come out of the shells! New Years Day I boiled them with some Old Bay seasoning and the crab came out much easier when they were warm.
I made the shrimp bisque from scratch. It took more time than it was really worth. I didn’t want that canned soup taste though.
Shrimp Bisque
· 1 Tablespoon butter
· ¼ cup onion, finely diced
· ¼ cup celery, finely diced
· ¼ cup carrot, finely diced
· 1 15-ounce can tomatoes, cut up in pieces (use the juice for another dish)
· 2 Tablespoons olive oil
· 1 pound shrimp in the shell
· 1 tsp Old Bay
· 1 Bay leaf
· 1 tsp thyme
· 1 tsp Emeril’s Essence
· 5 cups water
· 4 Tablespoons raw rice
· 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
· ½ cup heavy cream
· salt and pepper
· ½ cup Sherry
In a skillet, sauté the onion, celery, and carrot in the butter for 5 minutes, until the vegetable are soft, not brown. Add the tomato pieces and sauté for another 5 minutes. Scrape out into a bowl and reserve. In the same pan, heat the olive oil then add the whole shrimp and water. Cook until the shells are red about 4-5 minutes. Peel the cooled shrimp, separating the shells and the meat, and toss the shells into the cooking soup. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and, partially covered, simmer for 20 minutes. When the soup has finished cooking, puree in a blender, solids first (take out the shells), then strain back into the pot. Take half of the reserved shrimp, puree them in the blender (slowly adding enough hot stock to completely emulsify them)--and pour them into the pot. Enrich the soup by whisking in the softened butter the cream and the Sherry, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Let sit, for flavors to blend, until ready to serve. When ready to serve, sauté the remaining shrimp. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with the shrimp.
I made my old standby onion rolls. These are made like cinnamon rolls only using caramelized onions. I think they were a hit.
Poppy-Seed Caramelized Onion Rolls
Dough
1 TB sugar
¼ cup warm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
½ cup buttermilk
3 TB room temp butter
1 egg
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ - 3 cups flour
I dump everything into my bread maker and let it rise for an hour.
Filling
2 TB unsalted butter
2 TB vegetable oil
2 medium sized onions – chopped
1 TB poppy seeds
Heat oil and butter. Add onion and sauté on low stirring constantly for 20-30 minutes until the onions turn slightly tan. Let cool.
Roll out dough on floured surface into 16 x 10 inch rectangle. Spread with onion filling leaving ½ inch border along one long edge. Starting with long side where filling is even with the edge, roll dough up jelly roll style. Pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 rolls. Dental floss works great for this. If you want smaller rolls make the roll longer and skinnier and cut more than 12. Let them rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Cook at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden. Cooking time varies on the size of the rolls.
It seems that I always add candied pecans to my salads. I have a great way to candy pecans that I perfected in the office microwave.
Take ½ cup pecans cover with water and drain. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and mix in.
Microwave for a minute or two. Watch it carefully or it will burn. When the sugar boils take out and stir and check the syrup. When it reaches hard crack stage pour out the nuts onto foil (Quick Release is wonderful). Cool and you’re done!
SO cooked the prime rib to perfection with a salt and thyme crust.
For dessert I wanted to use a Christmas present of tiny bundt pans so I made rum cakes in them. My recipe is very easy because it uses a cake mix. The little cakes have more surface area to absorb the butter rum sugar mixture than a big cake.
Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
½ cup each rum, water, oil
4 eggs
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix (I didn’t have this and the cakes came out fine – with the pudding they would have been moister of course)
½ cup chopped walnuts
Mix everything together and pour into greased pans. Sprinkle with walnuts. Bake at 325 for 60 minutes in a large bundt pan. 15 minutes in the tiny pans
Rum Sauce
Heat 1 cup sugar, ½ cup butter and ½ cup rum until the sugar dissolves. Pour over hot cake(s)
After the cake(s) has absorbed the syrup unmold them. I made a crunch crust by baking the little cakes for about 5 minutes. They were very addictive since they were so small.
Peppermint Mousse CupsIngredients:
· 1 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (¾ cup chocolate melts and ¾ cup dark chocolate chips worked great for me)
· 1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips
· 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
· 1 cup whipping cream
· 2 drops of red food color
· 2 tablespoons crushed candy canes (about 6 miniature candy canes)
Directions:
Line 24 mini muffin cups with petit four paper cups. I melt chocolate in the microwave. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the chocolate into each paper cup. I have some chocolate molds that work well too. With back of small measuring spoon, spread chocolate up sides to within 1/8 inch of the top. Chocolate should be warm enough to spread. Refrigerate about 20 minutes or until completely set.
Meanwhile, in a small microwavable bowl, microwave vanilla baking chips uncovered on High for 1 minute. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the whipping cream, microwave about 30 seconds longer or until chips are melted. Stir in peppermint extract and food color. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Carefully remove paper cups from chocolate cups, or un mold the chocolate from molds.
In a medium bowl beat remaining whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold melted vanilla chip mixture into whipped cream. Spoon or pipe whipped cream mixture into chocolate cups. Refrigerate until serving. Just before serving sprinkle with candy.
I actually made these without the white chocolate the first time – couldn’t find the recipe at a critical moment.I used a bit of gelatin, diluted with water, to keep them set up. They were very light and airy.
