New Year’s Day
363 recipes found
Five-spice powder
Vasilopita
Smoked Trout Mousse
Anne Severson’s Gingersnaps
Gingersnaps have long been the workhorse of our family Christmas cookie plate. Oh, sure, there were dalliances with other cookies, trends that came and went. We endured the rum-ball phase, and experiments with questionable fudge recipes. But these gingersnaps, not the sexiest cookie and perhaps not the most delicious, had long been the most reliable cookie, the most universally loved.
Smoked Salmon, Fromage Blanc and Caper Spread
One selling point of smoked salmon is that you don't need to do much to it to get it on the table — but take it a step further and break out of the canape cliché. Here, you’ll whip it up in the food processor with fennel and cream cheese for a light spread. Serve it with baguette slices. It’s a quarter-hour of work for a savory, guest-friendly appetizer. (The New York Times)
Sekihan (Red Bean Sticky Rice)
Steamed sticky rice tinted red with adzuki beans is essential Japanese celebration food, for graduations, festivals, milestone birthdays and even first periods (to the extreme embarrassment of teenage girls). Sekihan is usually one of many dishes on the table, and more than pairing with any particular flavor, it conveys a sense of ceremony. In Japan, it’s not essential to osechi ryori, New Year’s cooking, but for some Japanese and many Japanese-Americans, sekihan is part of welcoming the New Year. This recipe was adapted from Gaye Sasaki Chinn, whose family has been celebrating the Japanese New Year in Seattle for more than a century. The internet is rife with shortcut-recipes for making sekihan in a rice cooker, but if you’re going to make it only for special occasions, it’s worth taking the time to steam the rice, as the Sasakis do.
Crook’s Corner Hoppin’ John
“Everything I do is as authentic as possible, but with my own refinements,” the chef Bill Neal of Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, N.C., told Craig Claiborne in 1985. “I try to make a personal statement.” An example was his hoppin’ John. A typical version of the time consisted basically of cooked peas — black-eyed or crowder — served on a bed of rice; the usual seasonings were only salt, pepper and perhaps a little salt pork. Mr. Neal seasoned his peas with garlic, thyme and bay leaf, and added a garnish of cubed tomatoes, chopped scallions and grated cheese.
Chocolate Extremes (Double Chocolate Cookies)
These provocatively named cookies came to The Times in a 1999 Sunday Magazine article about Mrs. London's Bake Shop, a husband and wife owned bakery in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., known for their sweets. While the name suggests these cookies might veer into the too sweet and too rich category, they do not. Shiny and crackly on top while tender and deeply chocolaty in the center, they're like an ideal brownie in cookie form. They're kind of perfect. (One note: The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate, but feel free to use semisweet or a combination of the two. Also, a sprinkle of flaky sea salt before baking would not be a bad idea.)
Gluten-Free Apple-Almond Tart
This tart is inspired by a recipe by Jacquy Pfeiffer, from his cookbook “The Art of French Pastry.” The apples are caramelized first with sugar and spices, then spread in the pastry, topped with an almond, egg white and sugar topping, and baked.
Whole Wheat Sesame Rings (Simit)
These look like bagels with bigger holes, but the bread is denser and defined by the thick coating of sesame seeds that gives them their delicious flavor. I first encountered simit in Athens, then in Egypt, where they are a popular street food, as they are in Turkey. In the past I have dipped the rings into beaten egg before coating with sesame seeds. But I’ve been looking at various recipes lately and see that many Turkish bakers dip their rings into grape or pomegranate molasses diffused with water before coating. I like this method because it enhances the browning effect during baking and leaves a slightly sweet flavor on the surface of the breads. Turkish bakers also sometimes add a ground mahlab (sour cherry kernels) to their dough for added flavor. One way to ensure that most of the sesame seeds will continue to adhere to the breads after they cool is to brush with egg white when you rotate the pans after 20 minutes of baking. The version I am giving you is made with a combination of semolina, all-purpose and (mostly) whole wheat flour, which is totally inauthentic but nevertheless, delicious. If you want a less dense bread, use half unbleached all purpose flour.
Mini Peppers Stuffed With Tuna and Olive Rillettes
A Provençal-inspired tuna and olive spread with bold flavors. These Provençal-inspired tuna rillettes are a modified version of a tuna tapenade that I posted a few years ago on Recipes for Health. I am using the rillettes as a filling for mini-peppers here, but they are also welcome in a sandwich, on crackers or croutons, or as a filling for other vegetables (cherry tomatoes come to mind). I used a mini-chop to finely chop the olives, garlic and capers, but as in all of this week’s fish rillettes recipes, I urge you to use a fork for the tuna. You don’t want this to be a purée.
New Year's Eve fruit compote
Three-Greens Gratin
This is a Provençal style gratin, or tian, dense with greens and bound with rice and egg. You can play around with the mix of greens; switch out beet greens for spinach, or some of the chard for kale (kale will require a minute or two more of blanching). I have kept the seasonings to a minimum as you have plenty to prep, but a Provençal cook would probably add chopped parsley and perhaps savory or rosemary. You won’t be using the chard ribs here, but keep them to use in other dishes.
Whole Grain Macaroni and Cheese
This is a macaroni and cheese that's not too heavy and benefits mightily from the use of whole-wheat pasta and the addition of broccoli. You can assemble it ahead and bake it when you need it, or bake it ahead and reheat. There are a number of excellent whole wheat macaroni products on the market now. Check out Community Grains and MagNoodles. When you cook the macaroni, be sure to cook it for less time than usual so that it is more al dente; otherwise it will become too soft and may fall apart when you bake it in the final casserole.
Winter Squash, Leek and Farro Gratin With Feta and Mint
A delicious, and simple, winter squash gratin. This tastes like the filling of many Greek winter squash pies I have made, but it is a simpler dish. The squash is roasted, which gives it great depth of flavor. I love the sweetness of the squash against the salty feta, and the chewy farro against the tender squash. Most of the elements for this gratin can be prepared ahead if you want to go about this piecemeal – farro freezes well and keeps for a few days in the refrigerator; roasted squash keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days as well.
Fried Plantains
Cuban-style Suckling Pig (Lechon Asado)
Spicy Steak and Watercress on a Roll
Serve these little steak sandwiches with drinks. Horseradish, thinly sliced jalapeño and peppery watercress all supply a pleasant kick, tempered by sweet butter and sour cream.
Anna Teresa Callen's Lenticchie in Umido
Chicken Waterzooie
Spiced Potted Shrimp
In the history of British cuisine, potting perishable foods — that is, sealing ingredients in a crock under a thin layer of clarified butter — was a way to preserve them. Thanks to modern refrigeration, preservation is no longer the point, but luscious, buttery potted dishes are still popular throughout Britain. Here, diced shrimp are aggressively seasoned with anchovy, celery seed, lemon zest and garlic before being sealed into ramekins. Potted shrimp is a very rich dish, best served in small quantities with hot toast on the side to melt the solidified butter back into a creamy sauce. Or, scoop out the shrimp and butter and mix it with hot pasta to create an instant scampi-like dish.
Four-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Mascarpone, Brie, cream cheese and Parmesan yield the most velvety macaroni and cheese imaginable. This is perfect for a wintry dinner, with a green salad on the side, or as a partner to a golden roast chicken.
Walnut Apricot Bundt Cake
This honey-sweetened cake, with dried apricots, walnuts and a hint of orange, is just sweet enough to serve for dessert. But my favorite place for it is at the breakfast or brunch table, or with afternoon tea.