New Year's Eve is a time for good cheer, family, friends and feasting. All over the world, it's a chance to celebrate the rich bounty of winter and the spirit of good eating.
When I think of a New Year’s dinner, I think of a hearty roast: winter vegetables, a nice hearty soup and a refreshing salad to cut through the richness of the meal. I don’t like to hold back on the good stuff either! Cheese, meats, bacon — rich, slightly fatty food that has a luxurious and fairly decadent flavour and mouth feel is what I’m looking to recreate for my guests when I’m cooking them a feast such as this.
While I love to experiment with techniques and flavour combinations, this is a time for keeping things classic in a way. And I like to serve this meal in a community feast style, so everyone can help themselves and share bits here and there, thereby leaving me with more time to entertain my guests.
Start off with a nice hearty soup and some hot fresh bread and butter. A roast pumpkin, a creamy mushroom or even a cabbage and potato soup with smoky bacon or some pancetta added to the soup base is perfect.
As for the roast, well it’s really a matter of preference here. I love a classic roast chicken with a sausage and prune stuffing and a rich port or fruity red wine gravy with some roasted carrots, leeks and mushrooms served straight in the roasting pan. I would also serve a hot potato bake like a dauphinoise or a shepherd’s pie for a little extra meatiness to the meal.
For the salad, nothing too fancy: just good quality mixed greens with olives and maybe some pickled onions and tomato with simple lemon oil and honey dressing alongside it. Also, I do like to serve red grapes, a couple of nice cheeses like camembert, a blue cheese and a salty one like feta to contrast the sweeter tones of the meal.
What I find great about a menu like this is that it’s easy to put together. Once all my prep is done, I simply bung the roast and veg into the oven. The soup I make in advance and just reheat before serving. The salad can be tossed at the table, and the rest simply placed on a nice cheese board. Of course, no New Year's feast is complete without plenty of alcohol to bring in the New Year. To get your guests in the right spirit and make your New Year’s dinner all the more memorable and celebratory!
Roasted baby carrots, leeks and mushrooms
Ingredients
15 baby carrots
2 packets of mushrooms
4 to 5 tender leeks
Salt and pepper
A generous glug of extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
5 to 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
A large knob of butter
1 glass vegetable stock
A swig of white wine or apple juice
Method
1 Blanch the carrots and leeks in boiling water till fairly tender. Remove and refresh in cold water, then leave to steam dry.
2 Place carrots, leeks and halved mushrooms in a roasting tray, scatter the herbs over them and drizzle with the olive oil. Season well and mix gently to coat the vegetables evenly. Leave aside while you preheat your oven.
3 Preheat your oven to 180 C, roast the veg for fifteen minutes till lightly golden. Then add the stock, wine and butter, and shake the tray a couple of times to spread everything evenly. Place back in the oven and roast for a further ten minutes till the veg is soft and golden with a rich concentrated jus of the stock and wine.
4 Check seasoning once again and serve.
Former model Aditya Bal is a self-taught chef who started cooking just 6 years ago, gaining his kitchen experience by working in a clutch of Goan restaurants. He has published The Chakh Le India: Cookbook , based on a popular show with the same name, that he hosts on NDTV Good Times.
