12/26   #526               

NEW YEAR’S EVE NIBBLES

    With New Year’s Eve looming on the horizon, we thought we owed it to our listeners to help them put a touch of class into their year-end celebrations.  This is one party that screams out for champagne and glitz, and what says glamour and luxury more distinctly than caviar?  The real thing (Beluga and Osetra from Russia or Iran) is frightfully expensive, but if you have cultivated a taste for the best, and you intend eating it more or less “straight up”, it can’t be beat.  Domestic “caviar”, more properly sturgeon eggs or the eggs of other fish, is a far more reasonably priced option, particularly if the caviar is intended as an ingredient in something else.

     Here are a few simple serving suggestions for New Year’s Eve hors d’oeuvres.

1.  Caviar Mini-Crepes or blinis:  using your preferred crepe recipe, make small 2 ½” diameter crepes.  Remove from the skillet, cool, then top with a dollop of quality sour cream, and garnish with black and red caviar.

2.  Caviar Deviled Eggs:  scoop yolks out of hardboiled eggs, mix with crème fraiche, chopped dill, lemon juice, and the caviar.  Re-stuff the egg halves and enjoy.

3.  Caviar Stuffed Endive:  Separate out individual endive leaves and stuff with a mixture of sour cream, finely chopped parsley, white pepper, finely sliced lemon zest and a touch of tomato paste for color.  Sprinkle the caviar on top.

4.  Caviar Stuffed Mushroom Caps:  pull stalks off white button mushrooms, chop them up with onion and sauté in butter with a touch of sherry until tender.  Sauté the mushroom caps separately.  Mix the mushroom/onion mixture with some rich plain yogurt, and stuff the mushroom caps (which you can hollow out a little with a sharp knife).  Sprinkle caviar on top.

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