New Year's Eve Dinner

We had a quiet New Year's Eve at home this year with just the three of us, but I decided that was no reason not to make a special dinner anyway. Here's what was on the menu:

Butternut Squash Soup
Cranberry-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Blue Cheese Yorkshire Pudding
Green Bean, Walnut and Feta Salad
Pecan Cheesecake Pie
Rossini Bellinis

First the soup, which is a Jamie Oliver recipe (although he insists on calling it pumpkin soup despite the total lack of actual, you know, pumpkin in the soup). I've made it once before--at a Christmas dinner several years ago--and remembered it as one of the best soups I've ever had. That's right, not one of the best soups I've ever made, but one of the best soups I've ever tasted, period.

It's still just as good as I remember, even without the chestnuts, which have been stubbornly unavailable at any stores in my area this year. The key to this soup is the combination of the pancetta and the fresh sage, which mingle to sublime effect. Next time I think I'll puree more than half of the soup in the blender, however, because I like it a bit smoother than Jamie obviously does.

This was my first time attempting a Frenched rack of lamb, although I make lamb chops frequently and have even dabbled in a leg or two over the years. This recipe comes courtesy of Cooking Light and turned out exceptionally well. The breadcrumb mixture seemed in need of some more moisture, so I improvised by adding a few dashes of tawny port. I also used fresh rosemary instead of dried, because who wants dried rosemary? My only gripe is that the breading got a little over brown, so next time I might do well to tent it in foil towards the end of cooking or perhaps place the whole thing on a lower oven rack.

I've never attempted a Yorkshire pudding before and I have to admit that I was more than a little skeptical about this recipe. The batter seemed watery, I was almost certain they would be bland and flavorless, and frankly the whole idea of heating oil-filled muffin tins in the oven sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. But despite my reservations the puddings turned out great. Light, fluffy, perfectly brown and subtly flavored by the blue cheese. Since I'm more worried about carbs than fat because of the hubby's diabetes, I cheated and used two whole eggs rather than an egg and a egg white. The biggest problem is that the scorched oil discolored my muffin pan even more than it was already discolored. The moral of this story? Never, ever, buy non-stick baking pans. I've already added a couple of commercial-quality, aluminized steel pans to my Amazon wish list. You know, the kind that won't rust and can be scrubbed with steel wool if need be.

The green bean salad may become one of my new go-to recipes. It was easy, tasty, and--shockingly--even got a thumbs up from the munchkin, who generally won't touch veggies with a ten-foot pole (amazing what a little feta cheese can do). I bought a pound of the haricots verts from HEB that I like so much and sliced them in half for easier eating. The best thing about this dish is that it can--and in fact should--be made in advance and held in the fridge until you're ready to serve it. I can also attest that it tastes exactly as good the next day.

The pie was, sadly, not an unqualified success. I really only made it because I've been dying to use my new green Emile Henry pie plate (just like the ones Ned has at the Pie Hole!) since before Christmas. Unfortunately, I underestimated the cooking time and it didn't quite set thoroughly. It also browned a bit too much around the edges (use a pie shield, dummy). Despite its imperfections, however, the taste was, I have to say, wonderful. I've always found pecan pie to be just a tad too sweet for my taste. But pecan pie and cream cheese? Heaven. I'll have to give this one another shot and see if I can improve on it. And the pie pan? Gorgeous.



As for the drinks, well, we had a bottle of champagne left over from my birthday, and since neither the hubby nor I actually like champagne, I thought a mixer of some kind was called for. These strawberry bellinis sounded nice, but they were, in fact, only okay. Worse, the strawberry/sugar mixture ended up sticking to everything like bumpy pink superglue. Totally not worth it. Next New Year's I'm just going to buy us a bottle of really nice wine. Possibly a Two Hands shiraz.