Mouth-Watering Meal For New Year
Why not accompany the bubbly with a fine New Year's Eve supper that won't break the bank?
Bull Run restaurant's Herb Wilson is the latest chef to take the The Saturday Early Show's Chef on a Shoestring challenge. He created a special $60 New Year's Eve menu for six.
And the New York-based chef didn't disappoint. He created a menu of dill blini with salmon caviar; black-eyed pea soup; red wine braised oxtails with roasted carrots; and caramelized crepes with baby bananas and vanilla ice cream.
Terminology:
Blini: (BLEE-nee): Hailing from Russia, blini (singular - blin) are small yeast-raised pancakes that are classically served with sour cream and caviar or smoked salmon. Blini are traditionally made with buckwheat flour, although lighter versions combine buckwheat and wheat flours.
Caviar: This elegant and expensive appetizer is simply sieved and lightly salted fish roe (eggs). Sturgeon roe is premium and considered the "true" caviar. Salmon roe is inexpensive.
Oxtail: The oxtail was once really from an ox, but today the term generally refers to beef or veal tail. Though it's quite bony, this cut of meat is very flavorful. Because it can be extremely tough (depending on the age of the animal), oxtail requires long, slow braising. It's often used for stews or soups such as the hearty English classic oxtail soup, which includes vegetables, barley and herbs. Oxtail soup is often flavored with sherry or Madeira.
RECIPES
Dill Blini With Salmon Caviar
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 whole eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon butter, melted
1 bunch dill
1 cup whole milk
1 cup sour cream
7 ounces of salmon roe
1/4 cup of water
A pinch of salt
Method
Blanch dill in salted water for approximately 1 minute. (Reserve a few dill stems for garnish). Then shock dill in an ice water bath. Puree in a high-speed blender until smooth with 1/4 cup water. Set aside.
Method for Blini:
Puree flour, eggs, milk, baking powder, salt and dill puree in a food processor until smooth. Add melted butter. Puree again. Drop batter into "silver dollar size" pancakes in a non-stick frying pan.
When slightly cool, garnish each pancake with a teaspoon of sour cream, a teaspoon of caviar and sprig of dill.
Black-eyed Pea Soup
Ingredients
1/2 pound or 1 bag of dried black-eyed peas
1 bunch snow pea leaves or pea tendrils
1/2 pound of smoked bacon, cut in small dice, 1/4 inch
1/2 celery stalk, cut in small dice, 1/4 inch
1 red pepper, cut in small dice, 1/4 inch
1 carrot, cut in small dice, 1/4 inch
1 yellow pepper, cut in small dice, 1/4 inch
1 quart chicken broth
1 smoked ham hock
1 teaspoon garlic, thinly sliced
Method
Soak black-eyed peas overnight in water. The next day, boil black-eyed peas with ham hock until tender. Do not strain. Add chicken broth to pea mixture to make the soup the consistency of broth. Sautee bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and sautee vegetables in bacon fat. Add the sautéed carrots, red peppers, celery, pea leaves, sliced garlic, and bacon to the soup before serving.
Red Wine Braised Oxtail with Swiss Chard and Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
1 bottle of inexpensive red table wine
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, washed and cut in quarters
1 bunch carrots, cut into small dice, 1/4 inch
10 pounds of oxtail, cleaned and trimmed into 2-inch cut
1 head of garlic
1/2 stalk of celery, cut into small dice, 1/4 inch
1/2 Spanish onion, cut into small dice, 1/4 inch
1 pod star anise
1 quart veal stock
4 ripe plum tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Drop tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds to loosen skin. Peel and seed tomatoes, then bake them at 200 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours.
- Let cool. Cut into quarters.
- Marinate oxtails overnight in 1/2 bottle of red wine, 1/2 of the carrots, 1/4 diced onions, 1/2 chopped garlic, 1/2 diced celery and star anise. Reserve liquid.
- Season oxtails with salt and pepper and brown in a pot with one teaspoon of olive oil. Pour off excess fat. Add veal stock and marinade (reserved liquid). Bring veal stock and marinade to a boil, then place pot in oven and cook at 400 degrees F until very tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove carrots after 1/2 hour (set aside) and continue cooking.
- Dice carrots (removed earlier).
- Remove oxtails and strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer. Add remainder of diced carrots, Swiss chard and tomatoes to strained oxtail mixture. Put oxtails back into broth. Adjust seasoning and serve hot.
Caramelized Crepes with Baby Bananas and Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
12 ripe baby bananas, peeled and sliced length-wise
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cups of sugar
1 1/4 cups of water
2 whole eggs
1/4 cup banana juice
1 tablespoon crushed cashews
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons dark or light rum
Method
Start by bringing 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil until sugar is golden brown (caramelized). Set aside. Then add heavy cream very slowly. Carefully, whisk vigorously by hand. Add rum. Chill mixture.
Method for Crepes:
Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, flour and melted butter. Then strain mixture
through a fine mesh strainer to eliminate lumps. Pour a very thin layer of batter into a
pre-heated non-stick pan to make the crepes.
Cook baby bananas in a sauté pan with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water until caramelized, then add 1 tablespoon of rum.
Spoon warm bananas over crepes. Bring caramel sauce made previously to room temperature. Drizzle the sauce, banana juice, and chopped cashews over the crepes, then top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.