New Year's Eve: Antipasti Tips & a Festive Cocktail

Happy New Year! It’s New Year’s Eve, and you know what that means: it’s time for hors d’oeuvres and cocktails!

By New Year’s Eve, everyone has been so busy with the holiday rush, I wanted to keep it simple this year, so instead of providing a recipe, I’m providing some helpful tips for a dish that requires minimal effort but promises maximum enjoyment!

If you’re not much of a cooking pro, or even if you are a cooking pro who needs a break, an antipasti platter is the perfect dish for any celebration. Antipasto (the singular form of the plural noun antipasti) is Italian for “before the meal,” and an antipasti platter traditionally consists of a variety of meats, cheeses, olives, and pickled vegetables and is served before a meal. There is no singular traditional antipasti platter, as antipasti vary by region in Italy. Therefore, you can do just about anything you want when building your own antipasti platter! The rules are absolutely flexible, but I have provided you with a few helpful tips for making a successful antipasti splash.

Antipasti Tips:

Meat is traditional but not required. However, if you do choose to serve meat, make sure to include at least two or three selections. (Recommended: Pepperoni, salami, smoked sausage)

Olives and pickled vegetables are a MUST. No self-respecting antipasti platter would dare be seen without an assortment of olives, pickled peppers, cornichons, or other vinegary accoutrements.

Cheese is also a MUST. Make sure to include at least two or three cheese selections on your platter, preferably a variety of hard and soft cheeses.

Condiments are good. Make sure to have a *good* extra virgin olive oil and a *good* balsamic vinegar on hand for guests to dress their antipasti selections. (For my fellow Southerners, having hot sauce and/or pepper sauce on hand might also be a good idea!)

Keep your serving platter large and simple but elegant. A large white platter or a large wooden cutting board is perfect for an antipasti platter; either selection is simple and stylish while letting the antipasti selections themselves be the eye-catching star of the show.

Don’t forget the carbs! Make sure to serve tasty crackers or crostini that guests can top with their antipasti selections. I like to make my own crostini by taking a slender baguette, cutting it into ½-inch thick slices, drizzling them with olive oil, and baking them at 350 for 5-10 minutes or until they are light and crispy. 

Our antipasti platter this year consists of smoked sausage, artichoke hearts, pickled okra, sliced tomatoes, olives, banana pepper rings, giardiniera, Vallagret cheese, cheddar cheese, and pepperoni.

 Now, of course, no New Year’s celebration would be complete without a fancy cocktail, and this one is my absolute favorite. Sweet, flowery, and bubbly, it’s the perfect celebratory beverage, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

The Fizzy Flower

2 parts sparkling wine

1 part Cathead honeysuckle vodka

1 part elderflower liqueur

Serve in chilled champagne glasses. May garnish with strawberries. 

Happy New Year!

 

Enjoy!

 

Easy & Versatile Chicken Pot Pie

Who doesn’t love chicken pot pie? It’s the perfect comfort food for this time of year (or any time of the year, really). This is my tried-and-true recipe, and it’s always a hit!

While it may not be entirely fair to refer to my version of this dish as a “pie,” seeing as there is no bottom crust, and the top crust is comprised of puff pastry, I think my version is just as good if not better than a standard pie. It's easy to prepare (considering the most difficult part is chopping vegetables!), there is a generous amount of tasty filling, and when that pastry soaks up the sauce from the filling, it is marvelously delicious!

The true beauty of this recipe, however, is that it is incredibly versatile. You can add additional vegetables if you wish, such as peas or broccoli, or you add an extra dimension of flavor with a bit of parsley, tarragon, or thyme. You can really utilize this recipe as a base for a variety of dishes. If you aren’t in the mood for a pot pie, you can serve the filling as a creamy chicken soup, or you can serve it over rice or noodles (per my mom’s suggestion). You can give this dish any personal spin you like and truly make it your own.

Easy & Versatile Chicken Pot Pie

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded*

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 potato, peeled and diced

4 tbs. butter

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 tbs. flour

2 cups chicken broth*

1 frozen sheet of puff pastry 

*Tip: I like to boil my chicken until it is thoroughly cooked, then allow it to cool and shred it by hand. While the chicken is cooling, I add a bit of salt to the boiling liquid, let it reduce a bit, and then reserve 2 cups to utilize as the chicken broth for this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the puff pastry from its packaging, and allow it to thaw but not reach room temperature; it should still be chilled when used. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter on medium-high heat. Add the celery, onion, salt, and pepper, and sautee for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft, and the onion is translucent. Add the flour, and cook the mixture for one minute longer. Then, add the chicken broth, stirring vigorously. Add the carrot and potato. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and the carrot and potato have become tender. Add the shredded chicken, then remove from heat, and reserve.

Cut your puff pastry to fit the top of your baking dish. (I recommend using a round, 9” deep dish.) You can do this easily by placing your baking dish upside down over the pastry dough, pressing it into the dough, and the cutting along the indentation made by the dish. Pour the reserved chicken mixture into your baking dish and top with the prepared pastry. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes, and serve.

Tip: You can cut your leftover puff pastry into squares or strips and bake them on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Then, you can use them as croutons or dipping strips for your pot pie. 

Puff pastry makes everything better! 

 

The absolute epitome of comfort food!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Old-Fashioned Cheese Straws

No Southern celebration would be complete without the ubiquitous cheese straw. Whether it’s a tea party, wedding reception, or awards luncheon, the cheese straw will usually make a fashionable appearance. While many old-fashioned recipes have fallen out of vogue in recent years, the simple yet sophisticated cheese straw has surprisingly managed to grow in popularity, and we’re all the better for it, in my opinion.

Now that we’re in the midst of the holiday season, I felt compelled to create a batch of these savory delights and share my recipe with you. If you perform enough research, you will find that practically every family in the South possesses their own cheese straw recipe that has been handed down for generations, and a simple Google search will reveal that modern cooks have tweaked and refined the basic cheese straw in a multitude of ways to suit their own tastes. I choose to keep my recipe very simple and straightforward, allowing anyone to put his or her own individual touch on it. If you like a spicy cheese straw, feel free to add cayenne pepper or Creole seasoning. Want a zestier cheese straw? Go wild with Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder! As long as you keep the basic components of this recipe, you can tweak the seasoning in any way you desire.

Here are a few additional tips: I use a cookie press to create my cheese straws, but if you don’t own one, then please don’t feel as if you have to rush out and purchase one for this recipe. You can also pipe your cheese straws using a pastry bag or free form them by hand. Using a sharp cheddar will impart a more full-bodied flavor, and grating your own cheese (as opposed to purchasing the pre-grated stuff) will yield a more uniform dough, as cheese that has been freshly-grated by hand will be much more pliable. Happy holiday cooking!

Old-Fashioned Cheese Straws

3 cups grated cheddar cheese*

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups self-rising flour

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. paprika

*I recommend using a sharp cheddar. Not only is it the traditional cheese of choice, but it also imparts a fuller, bolder flavor.

**If you prefer a spicy cheese straw, you can add ½ tsp. of cayenne pepper or Creole seasoning.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine cheese, butter, salt, and paprika in a large mixing bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined. Continue to beat the mixture, adding flour gradually until all of it has been thoroughly incorporated.

There are multiple options for preparing the straws. If you have a cookie press, prepare the press with a star disc, fill the canister with dough, and press the straws in roughly three-inch strips. You can also fit a pastry bag with a large star tip to create the straws. Additionally, you can free form the straws by hand. If you wish to roll out the dough and cut strips, make sure to chill it beforehand so that it is easier to work with.

Place the straws on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes or until the straws are light and crispy. This recipe makes many cheese straws, so you will probably have to bake them in several batches. If upon cooling you find that the straws are underdone or not crispy enough for your liking, you can place them back on the parchment-lined baking sheet and continue to bake them until they are fully done, checking on their progress every two or three minutes. 

(Elegant cheesy goodness, served on my mom's Christmas china that we've been using as far back as I can remember!)

 

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!