Dupuy Dish

Perhaps more stressful than the present shopping, holiday dinner hopping, and running around to different family gatherings for the Christmas Holidays is narrowing down plans for New Year’s Eve. So often my husband and I have ended up at some big party downtown or at someone’s home with all sorts of anticipation for starting the new year with a bang. But in actuality, most of those events turn out to be dissappointingly anti-climactic.

In recent years we’ve had better luck inviting some of our near and dear friends over for a plain old cookout with sausages on the grill, a well-stocked bucket of beer, and a big old crock pot of chili con queso (you can’t go wrong with a pot of melted cheese…) It’s usually a nice, relaxing evening, where we all indulge in good food and dare each other to try to make it to midnight. It all pretty much ends at about 12:02 when the ball drops at Times Square and our weary-eyed friends stage a mass exodus back to their homes and toasty beds.

This year, most of our friends had other plans, which left Myers and I to fend for ourselves. We thought about joining one of the many NYE celebrations at a downtown restaurant. (I was leaning towards FINO…) But opted instead to have a little NYE kitchen challenge of our own. The goal: A 4-course meal including an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. Each of us would draw 2 courses from a hat and plan accordingly. The wine: 2006 Etude Pinot Noir, Templar Single Vineyard.

A few days before the big day, we made our selections. I drew appetizer and dessert. Myers drew salad and entree. We shopped the day before to find the freshest ingredients possible. And on the afternoon of December 31, 2009, we said goodbye to 2009 by turning our kitchen into a disaster and spending the evening in culinary bliss. It was one of the most memorable New Year’s Eves on record–except for that one year in Paris…

The Menu:

Appetizer: Toasted Polenta Rounds with Garlic-Chive Goat Cheese and Spicy

Roasted Red Pepper or Lavender Sauteed Mushrooms

Salad: Greens with Pomegranate, Avocado, Grapefruit, and Toasted Almonds

Entrée: Yogurt-Rosemary Lamb Kabobs

Dessert: Chocolate Bread Pudding served with Guinness-Molasses Ice Cream

I’ll give recipes below, but the measurements won’t be exact. We were cooking for two, after all. But most of this is pretty common sense.

Appetizer: Toasted Polenta Rounds with Garlic-Chive Goat Cheese and Spicy Roasted Red Pepper or Lavender Sauteed Mushrooms

I had recently had a similar appetizer over the Christmas holidays only the original was a simple toasted baguette slice with a smear of goat cheese and a regular roasted pepper. While Myers and I certainly enjoyed them, that appetizer stuck with me (for weeks) as something I just had to add a little pep to… So I did. My friend, Susan Hewlitt gave me the idea for putting this on toasted polenta rounds as well as the sauteed mushrooms. For the most part, this appetizer came together in my head and I just kept tasting it into fruition on the stove top…

Polenta (you can make this yourself, or by pre-made in a plastic tube, which makes it super simple to just slice into little rounds for toasting.)

Make 1/4 inch individual-sized rounds of polenta. Place on a broiling rack in the oven at 375 to 400 degrees and slowly toast these. You want the polenta to dry out a little so it’s more like a toasted crostini. (About 20 minutes or until golden.)

Roasted Red Pepper – These are so much better from scratch….

Red Bell Pepper, Red chili pepper flakes, Olive oil

• Half and seed the pepper. Place the pepper on baking sheet . (Place foil on the sheet for easier clean up.) Drizzle each side of the pepper with olive oil and chili flakes. (Make sure the flakes get on the inside as the outside of the pepper will later be stripped of its skin.) Sprinkle with a little salt.
• Place the pepper in an oven at 375 degrees until it looses all of its structure and looks as if it’s melting. (About 15 minutes or so…)
• Let the pepper cool. Then carefully take the skin off of the outside. Slice into thin strips and set aside.

Goat cheese (at least 4 ounces, more if you’re entertaining more people)

• In a mini food processor, combine goat cheese with 1 clove garlic, 1-2 tablespoons chopped chives (to taste), 1-2 teaspoons of lemon (to taste), 1 tablespoon of cream or milk (to make the cheese creamier), Dash of salt.

Sauteed Mushrooms – At the last minute I added a Lavender blend from Lavande Texas. The added aroma and flavor was spot on and gave this buttery condiment a hint of the Provence countryside…

• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and olive oil into a skillet.
• Add a handful of sliced crimini or baby bella mushrooms and sautee in the skillet until the mushrooms break down and look puny.
• Add a tiny dash of cream and a tiny dash of sherry vinegar for flavor and richness.
• Sprinkle about 1-2 teaspoons of Lavande Lavender Rub for flavor. (This rub has salt, pepper, and lavender in it, so no need for any other seasoning.)

Assemble:

Take the toasted polenta rounds and spread a judicious amount of goat cheese on each. Then top with either the roasted peppers or the mushrooms. Serve with a Citadelle Gin Martini with a couple of olives.

Salad: Greens with Pomegranate, Avocado, Grapefruit, and Toasted Almonds

Pomegranate seeds are the best part of this dish. Breaking into a pomegranate is like getting a glimpse of heaven. Each little red shiny seed is bursting with a spritual experience. I would suggest Butter Lettuce for this recipe. We had organic green leaf lettuce on hand, so we used that instead.

I would suggest making individual salads rather than making it in one big bowl. It makes me cringe to watch people make a big salad and toss all the fun stuff to the very bottom.

Place desired amount of lettuce into each bowl. Add slices of avocado, a handful of pomegranate seeds, grapefruit supremes (which means slices of grapefruit without the bitter pulp. Wiki it for directions.), and a handful of warm toasted almonds.

• Drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Entrée: Yogurt-Rosemary Lamb Kabobs

Myers found this online from an Ina Garten recipe and it turned out to be fabulous. The yogurt breaks the lamb down to a perfect tenderness and the rosemary is a perfect flavor compliment. We marinated the lamb for about 8 hours. The recipe asks for longer. I personally don’t like putty-textured meat, so it’s up to you.

Instead of re-typing the recipe, you can find it here.

Dessert: Chocolate Bread Pudding served with Guinness-Molasses Ice Cream

Full disclosure, I found this concept on a recent evening out with our friends, the Russells. We managed to squeeze in to Mulberry, a hip little Austin wine bar, despite the monstrous crowd brought in from a Willie Nelson concert across the street. On a weekend night, it’s tough to get into this tiny place, but the wine list is great and the food is even better. This is a dessert we had that evening and I was determined to recreate it at home. I think I came pretty close. Myers ate it for breakfast the next morning, so I think it must have turned out pretty good.

Chocolate Bread Pudding – this is from an AllRecipes recipe online. I adapted it a little bit to serve 4 instead of 8. Also, this suggests letting it sit overnight. I made it 4 hours prior to serving and it was fantastic. It’s up to you.

• The recipe calls for a French baguette, but I think Challah bread is much better.
• If you half this recipe, it only needs to cook for 30-40 minutes, rather than 40 to 50.

Guinness Molasses Ice Cream – Had to wing this a little bit. But it worked!

12 oz. Guinness

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup molasses

1 tablespoon Mexican Vanilla

6 egg yolks

• In a large saucepan, simmer the Guinness until reduced for about 8-10 minutes. Add the cream, milk, vanilla, and sugar to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, but do not scald. Remove from the heat.
• Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, to the hot cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
• Pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.