If you plan to make all four courses from the New Year’s Eve menu, be sure to give yourself enough time. The vinaigrette can be made ahead of time, and you can plate and cover the cucumber salads until dinner. Although making the entire meal is fairly labor intensive, a little help from your dinner guests will go a long way. Besides, everyone always hangs out in the kitchen at dinner parties, so you might as well put your friends to work! Each dish is also wonderful on its own and could be served on separate occasions with different side dishes.
That Kielbasa Thing
Olive oil
1 package kielbasa, sliced into 11/2-inch-thick pieces
1 large onion, sliced thickly
2–3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried savory
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. crushed bay leaves, or 1 whole bay leaf
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans, drained
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 large bunch of kale, thoroughly washed, excess water shaken off, and roughly chopped
1 tbsp. sugar (optional)
Additional salt and pepper to taste
Heat a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat in the bottom of a stockpot or large pan. Add the kielbasa pieces and sauté until lightly browned. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and all the herbs and spices, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add the salt and pepper. Add the entire can of tomatoes with the juice, leaving the tomatoes whole, and the beans and chicken stock. When this comes to a hearty simmer, begin adding the kale, one handful at a time, covering the pot after each addition so that the kale will wilt down and give you room to add more. When the kale has softened enough, you may gently stir the pot, incorporating the kale into the broth. Cover the pot and turn the heat down to a light simmer. Let the dish cook for at least an hour. The kale will lose its bright green color, but will soften beautifully. Taste the broth and add up to 1 tablespoon of sugar if needed. Depending on the brand of canned tomatoes you use, there may be a higher level of acidity than you’d like, and the sugar will sweeten any sourness. Reseason with salt and pepper.
Although good on the first day, this dish is best made a day ahead. Reheat the entire dish over medium-high heat and then turn the stove down to low. You can leave the dish on low for a bit, but be careful not to overcook the kale, since it can break down entirely and ruin the dish. Chloe likes this served over rice or with a big piece of crusty French bread.
Note: If you have fresh herbs available, you may certainly substitute those for the dried herbs, but make sure to triple the amounts.
Josh’s Curry
Olive oil
11/2 medium onions, sliced thickly
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed with the flat of a knife
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 pinch cayenne
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-inch-thick pieces
1 large potato, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tbsp. butter
1 red pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 pork chops, bone-in or boneless, about 3/4 inch thick
Salt, pepper, and sugar to taste
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
Heat a skillet deep enough to hold all of your ingredients over medium-high heat. Coat the bottom of the skillet with a little olive oil, and sauté the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add all of the herbs and spices, and continue sautéing for another few minutes to toast them and bring out their flavor. Add the carrots and potatoes, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the butter, red pepper, coconut milk, and chicken broth. Bring the dish to a simmer, and then turn the heat down to low. Cover and let this cook for 45 minutes.
About 10 minutes before the vegetables and sauce are done, heat a separate skillet on medium-high heat. Dust the pork chops liberally with salt, pepper, and sugar, and lay flat in the skillet. Check after 4 minutes, and when they are nicely browned, flip them over and cook on the other side. Sprinkle each pork chop with 3–4 drops of sesame oil. Make sure they are thoroughly cooked through before serving.
Serve the pork chops with a hearty amount of the vegetables and curry sauce over them. This is a great dish with any kind of rice and a simple side salad.
JOSH’S NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER
Baby Greens Wrapped in English Cucumber
2 large English cucumbers
4 handfuls mesclun mix
6–8 oz. fresh enoki mushrooms
Tools: at least one cylinder, about 4 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep
Cut the cucumber into 4 paper-thin slices. You may use a mandoline to cut the slices. If not, you can certainly use a knife, but make sure that the slices are thin enough to bend easily. Place a cylinder in the center of an individual serving plate. Line the inside of each cylinder with one or two cucumber slices, depending on the length of the cucumber. Fill with a good handful of your mesclun mix, making sure the cylinder is full, but that the greens are not packed tightly. Cut off the bottom of each enoki mushroom, leaving the stem long. Using two fingers, gently make openings in the greens and insert the mushroom stems. Separate the mushroom tops to give each one the appearance of a crown. Slowly and delicately remove the cylinder from the salad, keeping the nice round shape. Drizzle a bit of the sesame-honey dressing over the salad, and pour more decoratively on the plate around the salad.
Sesame-Honey Vinaigrette
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup sesame oil
3/4 cup salad oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. orange juice
2 tbsp. honey
1/2 tbsp. minced ginger
1/4 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. black sesame seeds
2 tsp. white sesame seeds
Combine all ingredients and let rest for at least half an hour before serving. This makes about two cups of vinaigrette, but if you are going to the trouble of making your own dressing, you might as well make a little extra to store in the fridge!
Seared Shrimp with Corn Polenta and Sweet Corn Sauce
It takes a few steps to make this dish, but it is really very simple to put together!
Corn Polenta
3 ears corn
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
Salt
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pepper
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup instant polenta
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Remove husks from all the ears of corn. Hold one ear vertically on a cutting board and, using a sharp paring knife, slice off the kernels from top to bottom. Repeat with the other two ears of corn so that you have about two cups of corn kernels. Heat a sauté pan on high heat with the olive oil and 1 tbsp. of the butter. Toss the corn kernels in and season with 1/2 tsp. of salt. Cook for a minute and a half, stirring occasionally, and then set aside.
In a medium pot, bring the chicken stock, 1 tablespoon of the butter, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg just to a boil. Whisk in the polenta and stir well until thoroughly incorporated. Keeping the heat on medium-high, add the sautéed kernels of corn and the Parmesan cheese. Check the seasoning, and add more salt and pepper if needed. Turn the heat down to low and set aside until serving.
Sweet Corn Sauce
6 ears corn
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme, or 1 tbsp. fresh thyme
3 tb
sp. parmesan cheese
Remove the husks and stems from the ears of corn. Grate each ear lengthwise against a grater to produce a chunky but milky corn puree. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan or pot, combine all ingredients except for the cheese, and bring to a nice simmer. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and mix until well incorporated. Set aside while you cook the shrimp.
Shrimp
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
20 large shrimp, or 16 jumbo (U12) shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Season the shrimp with the salt and pepper.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the butter has begun to foam, toss the shrimp in. Stir as needed until the shrimp have turned pink and are thoroughly cooked through, about five minutes.
To serve: In the center of each plate, ladle out a generous serving of the corn polenta. Place 4 or 5 shrimp on top of the polenta and then spoon the sweet corn sauce over the shrimp. If you are using fresh thyme, you can garnish the dish with a small sprig of the herb.
Stilton Potato Cake
5 large potatoes, washed and peeled, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
4–6 oz. Stilton cheese, crumbled
3 tbsp. chopped parsley
Salt and white pepper
3 cups heavy cream
2 eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 × 9-inch baking pan and layer the bottom of the pan with potato slices. Sprinkle on some of the Stilton and the parsley, and then add a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. Repeat the layering process, beginning with the potatoes, until you have filled the baking dish. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small pan and remove from heat. Temper the beaten eggs by adding a small amount of the hot cream and whisking until incorporated. Slowly add the rest of the cream, whisking as you go. Pour this mixture evenly over the potatoes and bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes or until the cream sauce is bubbling and the potatoes are tender.
Roasted Baby Vegetables
Depending on where you shop, you may or may not be able to find true “baby” vegetables, but you can simply buy larger sizes of your favorites and cut them down into roughly one-inch chunks. For this dish, you can use whatever vegetables you choose and select from the best of the season, but you’ll want to select hard, dense vegetables (butternut squash, carrots) as opposed to softer ones (summer squash, tomatoes). If you are making the Stilton Potato Cake, you can pop your tray of vegetables in to cook with it.
Recommended Vegetables
All of your vegetables need to be well washed, peeled, and destemmed. Use any or all of the following to total about four cups:
Baby carrots (not the prepackaged, bagged ones)
Cauliflower florets
Butternut or acorn squash
Baby onions or any larger onions
Baby or regular-sized beets
Brussels sprouts, sliced in half
Celery root
Parsnips
Beets
Other ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. each salt and pepper Optional: 3 sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme or both, or
2 tsp. of dried herbs
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Once you have your vegetable selection prepared and cut into uniform sizes, simply toss them in a bowl and mix with generous amounts olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs if you are using them. If using fresh herbs, you can simply add the whole stems without removing the leaves. Spread your vegetables out on a baking sheet and cook them in the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes until just tender but not mushy.
Grilled Steak with Peppercorn Sauce
4 steaks, any good cut, for example, tenderloin, sirloin, or rib eye
Salt, pepper, and sugar to season
Whenever Josh is cooking a simple meat dish, he begins by generously coating each meat portion with a good dusting of salt, pepper, and sugar. This dusting gives a delicious crust. About twenty minutes before serving dinner, grill the steaks. If it is not grilling season where you are, or if you do not have a stove-top grill, you may certainly sear the steaks in a skillet set over medium-high heat. After cooking, set the steaks aside while you make the sauce.
Peppercorn Sauce
1 cup Madeira wine
2 tbsp. ground tricolored peppercorns
1 beef bouillon cube
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. cornstarch
Pour the Madeira and the peppercorns into a skillet and set the pan over medium heat. If you’ve cooked your steaks in a skillet, you can use that pan for the sauce. Bring to a simmer and reduce the wine down to a syrup. Add your beef base or bouillon cube, water, and the bay leaf and bring this back up to a simmer. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch with a little bit of water, so that you have a thick liquid, and then add this to the sauce. Remove from heat and pour over steaks. Serve with the Stilton Potato Cake and Roasted Baby Vegetables.
Banana Three Way
Eggroll Cups
1 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. Chinese five-spice powder
Canola oil
4 eggroll skins
Mix the sugar and the five-spice powder together. In a deep skillet or pan, heat around four inches of canola oil over medium-high heat. Measure the temperature of the oil with a cooking thermometer. When the oil reaches 350°, lay an eggroll skin in the oil and press down with the bottom of a ladle, forming a cup shape. Hold in the oil for 2 to 3 minutes until nicely browned. Gently remove and dust with the sugar and five-spice powder mixture. Set aside. Repeat with the other three egg roll skins.
Chocolate Rum Sauce
1/4 cup dark rum
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup bittersweet chocolate
Add the rum to a saucepan and reduce to about half, over medium-high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until well combined. Set aside.
Banana Chantilly
1 pint heavy cream
1 tsp. banana extract
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
Put all ingredients in a large bowl and, using a hand blender, mix at high speed until you have a fluffy, whipped cream. Set aside while you cook the bananas.
Sautéed Bananas
1 tbsp. butter
2 bananas, sliced
1 tbsp. sugar
Heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the banana slices and toss in approximately 1 tablespoon of sugar or enough to coat the bananas well. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes and remove from heat.
Plating the Banana Three Way: Banana or vanilla ice cream. For each serving, put 1 tablespoon of the Banana Chantilly in the center of a plate and place an eggroll cup on top. Fill with ice cream and pour one-fourth of the sautéed bananas on top and then a good dollop of the chantilly. Drizzle with the rum sauce, pouring a bit around the plate as well.
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