Can't decide what dishes to cook for the New Year to surprise your guests? It's time to experiment with the New Year's menu, discovering the talent of an exotic chef. At the same time, all the recipes will be quite budgetary and quick to prepare.
Such a traditional family holiday as New Year always gathers many guests at the table. And a good housewife has to try to surprise friends and relatives with her recipes. Therefore, when deciding what dishes to cook for the New Year, it is worth giving preference to non-traditional recipes, the preparation of which will not take much time and effort.
Let's try to compose a complete New Year's menu that any housewife can easily prepare without the help of household members. To do this, we will take the best recipes for hot dishes and salads for the New Year, not forgetting about the festive dessert and drinks.
Hot recipes for the New Year
It so happens that before the hot dishes are served, guests often have time to gorge themselves on snacks and salads. Therefore, all the efforts of the hostess with standing for many hours at the stove are not justified. No one has the strength and room in their stomach to taste Peking duck or another grand overseas dish with a sauce with expensive ingredients and a dozen spices. Therefore, the best solution would be to opt for hot snacks from familiar products in an unusual design.
Spiced baked potato accordions
While the oven is warming up (up to 200 degrees), you need to peel the potatoes and make transverse cuts on it with a sharp knife, not reaching the opposite edge, so that the accordion does not fall apart. Melt butter in heated vegetable oil, add chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Spread the spice mixture well on all the cuts and sides of the potatoes and place on a baking sheet, also treated with oil. Before closing the oven, put one bay leaf in each potato and bake for half an hour.
Chicken kebab on a leg
To prepare fragrant kebabs, it is enough to chop the kebab and add garlic, bell pepper to the minced meat, chop the greens, salt and pepper. Leave the meat mixture in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Divide the minced meat into parts and stick it on a cinnamon stick on one side, imitating a chicken leg. If you have a grill pan or mini-barbecue, then you need to fry the kebab until golden brown. You can also bake kebabs in the oven.
Salad recipes for the New Year
To cook an exotic dish, it is not at all necessary to buy expensive imported products. Even if the festive table is planned to be made large, then one hearty and light salad will be enough, provided that several options for appetizers on skewers or in tartlets are served on the table.
Provencal Nizoise salad with tuna
First, make the sauce by chopping the basil and garlic and mixing all the ingredients with a whisk or fork. Cook the beans (5 minutes in boiling water), then discard them in a colander and rinse. Fry the crushed garlic clove and beans in a skillet with oil. Transfer the beans to a bowl, let cool, and drizzle with olive oil, wine vinegar and lemon juice. Disassemble lettuce leaves, rinse and tear them with your hands, cut tomatoes into thin slices, onions into rings, bell peppers into cubes. Boil the eggs, cool and cut into quarters. Rinse the anchovy fillets with water. In each salad bowl, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, beans and peppers are first laid out. Repeat this sequence several times and pour over everything with the prepared sauce. Layer tuna, eggs, olives and anchovies in layers before serving the nizoise. Sprinkle lemon juice on the salad.
New Year's salad with pineapple and ham
Knead boiled eggs and boiled potatoes with a fork. Chop the ham, pineapple and onion. Rub the apple peeled from the peel and core on a coarse grater. We spread a layer of potatoes, spread mayonnaise on top, put onions on top, sprinkle the salad with salt and pepper. We make a layer of ham and distribute mayonnaise on top. Next comes one layer of apples and eggs and a layer of mayonnaise. Pineapple is stacked before repeating all layers. At the final stage, the salad is covered with an egg, then a layer of mayonnaise and garnished with chopped walnuts.
New Year's dessert of strawberries and champagne
Cooking a cake, which may not even reach a feast that lasts until late at night, is at least inappropriate. But a light jelly fruit dessert is perfect for guests.
Put sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan of water (300 ml), heat until the sugar dissolves and strain the syrup through cheesecloth, separating the zest. Mix lemon juice and gelatin, leave for 5 minutes, place mixture in water bath until gelatin dissolves. Stir the prepared gelatin syrup, add 50 g of blended strawberry puree and champagne to it. Take your dessert glasses, fill them halfway with chopped berries and top with the fruit gelatin mixture. Refrigerate dessert for 5 hours. Garnish with fresh strawberries before serving.
New Year drinks recipes
For a moment, forget about the snow outside the window and freezing temperatures will help exotic New Year's cocktails.
New Year's punch
Chop the fruit, mix all the liquid ingredients. Serve in glasses over ice.
Spicy sangria
Heat cognac, honey, chopped dried fruits and cranberries over low heat. Let the drink brew, add wine, stir and refrigerate for one day. Dilute with soda before serving and serve over ice.
