As we did the rest of the holidays in this dread year 2011, we’ll be celebrating its good riddance quietly, with a few friends. If you are in need of inspiration, however, consider the links that make up my fantasy NYE party:
- Blini made with local buckwheat flour, with a simple topping of caviar and crème fraîche.
- Deep-fried braised octopus exactly like the one at Izakaya Meiji, dusted with salt and Sichuan pepper.
- Tiny kale, pecorino, and anchovy crostini (extra garlic, please).
- Pickled salmon, using a fattier Pacific (vs. Atlantic) salmon like king, and served with the onions in a big jar.
- Ruby red shredded raw beet and carrot salad (I’d add an apple).
- Warm, simple lentil salad served with either ham or salmon and red sauerkraut.
- Cracked crab done with Ryan’s method of very hot roasting after pouring a vinaigrette over the meat (I’d use champagne vinaigrette with just a tiny bit of shallots).
- Mont-blanc chestnut squiggles with mounds of whipped cream (or perhaps more elegantly served, comme ça).
- Supremed oranges macerated in Grand Marnier, or even better, Lapsang Souchong-smoky orange Qi liqueur.
- Gougères or Stilton walnut crackers with glasses of port.
Culinaria Eugenius 