NEW YEAR’S EVE: 12 GRAPES, CAVA AND—SEITAN?

 

For New Year's Eve: twelve grapes at midnight, bubbly cava for toasting and delicious (vegetarian) food.

I’m planning a vegetarian menu for New Year’s Eve. Got the grapes, got the chilled cava. Now, what food to accompany the occasion?

Cooking for vegetarian friends is always a (pleasurable) challenge. I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen. I like to make tasty food. I want to please my guests with the meals at my table. With that in mind, I bought a block of seitan (in Spanish, it has an accent, seitán), a vegetarian product made from wheat gluten. 

Slices from a block of seitan.

Prepared, ready-to-eat seitan has a remarkably chewy texture, which makes it perfect for using in a dish normally made with meat. For my holiday dinner party, I turned it into a really delicious pâté to serve as an hors d’oeuvre. 

Purchased at a big supermarket, the seitan was labelled “sin lactosa” (no lactose); “ecologico” (organically grown), and “sin azucares, (no sugars). I failed to notice that it did not say “vegan.” When I got a magnifying glass to read the small print of the ingredient list, I realized that the seitan contained egg (as well as sunflower oil, oat flakes, textured soy protein, onion, soy sauce, yeast extract and spices). The egg was not a problem as my guests aren’t vegan. But, best to look at the labels.

Seitan can be used without cooking—slice and put it on a sandwich, for instance. But it is much improved if simmered in a sauce, grilled or fried. Seitan takes up the flavors with which it cooks, so use herbs, spices and aromatics generously. 

Vegetarian pâté made with seitan and mushrooms, served with toasts, crackers and caperberries. This version is coarsely processed.  

Same pâté as above, but processed with caper brine to make a smooth spread. 

Vegetarian Pâté with Seitan

Paté Vegetariano con Seitán

For a luxurious finish, I’ve added butter to this pâté. To keep it vegan, omit the butter and increase the quantity of olive oil. 

8 ounces mushrooms

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

6 ounces prepared seitan

3 tablespoons brandy

Chopped thyme

¼ teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika)

1 ½ ounces softened butter (optional)

1 teaspoon miso paste

1/8 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper

Salt, as needed

Caper brine (optional) or water

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios

Toasts or crackers to accompany

Coarsely chop the mushrooms. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the mushrooms, shallots and garlic. Sauté on medium heat until they are softened and beginning to brown, 5 minutes. Tip the skillet to one side to allow the oil to drain to one side. Skim out the mushrooms and reserve them.

Cut the block of seitan into cubes. Add to the oil in the skillet and fry the seitan, turning, until lightly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of the brandy to the pan and cook off the alcohol. Stir in the thyme and pimentón and remove the pan from the heat.

Place the seitan in a food processor with the miso and butter, if using. Process until seitan is chopped. Add the mushrooms and remaining 1 tablespoon of brandy. Process to desired degree of smoothness. Add pepper and salt, if needed. To make a very smooth and creamy pâté, thin the seitan with caper brine or water. Stir in the pistachios.

Serve the pâté room temperature accompanied by toasts or crackers. Store it, covered and refrigerated.

More recipes for pâtés and terrines:

Partridge and Chicken Pâté.

Ibérico Chicken Liver Pâté.

Fish Pâté.

Monkfish Liver Pâté.

Fish Terrine.

Vegetable Terrine.

Wishing you all the best in the New Year.

COCKTAIL PARTY FOR ONE

 

Home alone for New Year's Eve? A luxurious smoked trout timbale with spinach and a plate of hors d'oeuvres make a fine menu for one or more. Add cava. And hope for good things in 2021. 

How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? In this time of curfews and social distancing, most people will be celebrating—or commiserating, as the case may be—in the solitude of their own homes, with only closest family members. No revelry in the central plaza beneath the church clock tower, nor exchanging kisses; no conga dancing through the streets or sharing a drink from a bottle of bubbly. 

Ok, I confess, it’s several years since I have celebrated the year’s end in the plaza. I’m happy to curl up in my velour robe with something special for dinner and a small bottle of cava. I often fall asleep before the TV announces the midnight bells from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. (This year, there will be no campanada—bell ringing—to reduce the throngs of merry-makers in this time of pandemic.)

Here are some suggestions for a cocktail party for one, or two. A selection of pintxos to start and an opulent smoked trout timbale make a festive New Year’s Eve menu.

Baby bottle of cava for one.

I make a cava cocktail with a baby bottle of cava (it’s called “un benjamín”), a spoonful of grenadine and a spoonful of Cointreau liqueur.

Pintxos are the Basque version of tapas—small bites skewered on cocktail sticks. 

Gilda--Pintxo of Olive, Anchovy and Pickled Pepper

The Gilda is the primordial pintxo in San Sebastian. It consists of olives, anchovies and pickled green chilies (guindillas, similar to Italian peperoncini) on toothpicks. The tapa was supposedly invented in the early 1950s to immortalize Rita Hayworth in the film of the same name—Hayworth being “hot,” “salty,” “smooth.” The gastronomical equivalent of an Oscar is called the Gilda de Oro—the “golden Gilda,” awarded for the best pintxo. 

Spear olives, anchovies and pickled peppers on cocktail sticks for a Gilda.

Three pintxos--top, cubes of salchichón, goat cheese and beet; center, the Gilda with anchovy, pickled pepper and olives, and, right, Ibérico ham with sherried figs.

Pintxo of Ibérico Ham and Figs

Cut the figs in half or, for large ones, quarters. Put them in a small bowl and add just enough fino Sherry to cover them. Macerate the figs 2 hours.

Remove the figs from the Sherry (save it for use in cooking) and pat them dry. Skewer on picks with folded slices of Ibérico ham or paleta (shoulder-ham).

Smoked Trout Timbale

Pastel de Trucha Ahumada

Line timbale molds with spinach or chard leaves.

Smoked trout timbale is light like soufflé but ever-so-rich and satisfying.

Preceded by pintxos, this rich and savory flan would be a lovely late supper for one or two, accompanied by cava. Or, double the recipe and serve it as a starter for an elegant dinner for four. (If you’re doubling the recipe, use only 1 egg.)

Bake the trout mixture in individual molds lined with spinach leaves. Unmolded, they can be served warm or chilled. I used metal flan cups. Oven-safe glass ramekins, ceramic custard cups or timbale molds can be used. Set them in a pan and add boiling water to come half way up the sides of the molds. 

Smoked salmon or whitefish or cooked shrimp can be substituted for the smoked trout.

Makes 2 (1-cup) timbales.

Chard leaves for molds.

4 ounces skinless, boneless smoked trout, chopped

1 large egg, separated

½ tablespoon Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Pinch of hot pimentón (paprika) or cayenne

2 teaspoons chopped chives

½ cup chilled whipping cream

Olive oil for baking cups

2 fresh spinach or chard leaves

½ cup cooked and chopped spinach

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Baby salad leaves, to serve

Combine the smoked trout, egg white, yogurt and lemon juice in a blender and blend until fairly smooth (a few lumps are fine). Place in a bowl. Stir in the pimentón and chopped chives. (Smoked fish is naturally salty, so the mixture probably needs no additional salt.)

Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Gradually fold the cream into the trout mixture.

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Oil two (1-cup) molds.

Line mold with leaf.

Bring a small pan of water to a boil. Dip the spinach or chard leaves into it for a few seconds, to wilt the leaves. Remove, drain and pat them dry. Cut away and discard the stems. Line the bottoms of the molds with the leaves, shiny-sides down.

Squeeze excess moisture from the chopped spinach and place it in a small bowl. Add half the egg yolk (1 tablespoon), salt and pepper. Mix well.

Use a ¼-cup measure to dip the trout mixture into each of the molds. Divide the spinach in half and spread it on each of the trout. Divide the remaining trout mixture between the two molds. Rap them sharply on the countertop to settle the mixture. 

Set the molds in a baking dish and pour in boiling water to come half way op the sides of the molds. Place a sheet of baking parchment on top of them. Bake the timbales until a thin skewer comes out clean, 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let the molds set in the hot water for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the molds with a thin knife and invert them onto individual plates. Serve with a few salad leaves. (If timbales are to be chilled, unmold them onto an oiled plate and cover before refrigerating.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR.     FELIZ AÑO NUEVO.

More cocktails here.

More ideas for what to serve for a cocktail party:

Cheese Puffs.

Quail Eggs Stuffed with Tapenade.

Batter-Fried Shrimp.

More New Year's Eve menus:

Consommé of Quail and Wild Mushrooms.

Salmon with Cava Sauce and Grapes.

Duck Breast with Clementine Sauce.

BREAK OUT THE BUBBLY!

Get ready for New Year’s Eve! Pop open a bottle of bubbly and get your twelve grapes in hand. At midnight, you eat a grape on each stroke of the bells, to assure a year of good fortune ahead. Pour the festive cava and proffer a toast to future sparkles. 

A sparkling dish for New Year's Eve--roasted salmon with cava sauce and grapes.

Make this recipe for salmon with cava sauce and grapes and you’ll have a good excuse to open the bubbly way before midnight! You’ll need less than a cup of cava for the sauce—the rest is for sipping with dinner.

Cava is Spanish sparkling wine.

What is cava? Cava is the official denominación de origen (DO) label for Spanish sparkling wine made by the same process as Champagne. No, don’t call it “champagne” or “champán,” because Champagne is a region of France and the wine made there has its official denomination.

The word “cava” comes from the Catalan word for “cellar.” Most cava—but not all—comes from Catalonia (85 percent), in particular, the Penedes region. Carbonated wine—vino espumoso—is not cava and does not have DO.

Cava ranges from extremely dry, with virtually no residual sugars—brut nature—to semi-sec, or “medium-dry,” which is actually medium-sweet. Serve dry cava with tapas, with soup and with seafood and poultry entrées. Serve the sweeter ones with dessert—especially with turrón, almond nougat candy, after a holiday meal.

A gorgeous sauce for salmon, made with cava and finished with cream. (Pictured with roasted grapes and a side of purple potatoes.)

This recipe makes enough of the gorgeous cava sauce for one, two, three or four servings of salmon. If you’re dining alone, save the remainder of the sauce for another meal. (I sautéed shrimp in a skillet, added the sauce and poured the mixture over cooked pasta.)

The salmon fillets can be poached, pan-fried or roasted. I like the quick and easy roasting method—once the oven is up to 500ºF, the fish needs only six to eight minutes to cook. Be sure to have dinner plates heated. Lift salmon out of the pan onto plates and spoon the hot sauce over.

Vinalopó grapes, uvas de la suerte.

Adding grapes to the sauce is one way to ingest your uvas de la suerte—midnight’s twelve grapes of good luck. I’ve used both golden Vinalopó grapes and red ones. The Vinalopó grapes (DO Uva de Mesa Embolsada de Vinalopó) come from Alicante province, where they are grown enclosed in paper bags that protect them from insects, birds and burning sun. Maturing slowly, the protected grapes ripen in time for the winter holidays.  It’s estimated that about 2 million kilograms of these grapes will be consumed on New Year’s Eve!

Salmon with Cava Sauce and Grapes
Salmón al Cava con Uvas

Allow about 6 ounces of salmon per person. The fillets should be approximately 1 inch thick. The recipe makes enough sauce for 4 servings.

6-ounce fillets of salmon (1 fillet per person)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Whole grapes
3 shallots, minced
1 cup shrimp-shell stock or fish stock
½ cup dry cava
2/3 cup cream
Peeled grapes

Sprinkle the fillets of salmon with salt and pepper. Allow them to come to room temperature. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet and place the salmon on it. Drizzle additional oil over the fillets. Place a few grapes (2 or 3 per fillet) around the salmon.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan and sauté the shallots for 3 minutes. Do not let them brown. Add the shrimp or fish stock and the cava. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the cream to the saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer the sauce until it is somewhat thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the grapes to the pan and keep the sauce warm.

Preheat oven to 500ºF.

Probe to test doneness.

Place the salmon in the oven and roast until the flesh separates easily when probed with a skewer, 6 to 8 minutes. Thinner fillets will take less time than thick-cut pieces.

Place the fillets and roasted grapes on heated dinner plates. Spoon the sauce with some of the peeled grapes over the salmon.

Fat red grapes are great for roasting--but too big to be swallowed on the 12 strokes of midnight. 

Here’s to a sparkling New Year! Feliz año nuevo!

More recipes for New Year’s Eve:
Black-Eyed Peas with Tomato Sofrito.
Pears in Cava with Fresh Cheese.
Consommé with Quail and Wild Mushrooms.
Duck Breast with Clementine Sauce.

WHAT'S ON THE MENU FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE?

Deeply flavorful quail broth with wild mushrooms and sautéed quail breast.

In Spain, New Year’s Eve is an occasion for la cena de noche vieja, a late supper with the whole family. After the midnight bells, when it’s customary to swallow 12 grapes to assure good fortune in the new year, the younger ones go out to party until the wee hours.

The festive menu might include a platter of mariscos, shellfish such as shrimp, crayfish, crabs, clams; a special soup, such as a consommé or a crema, cream soup; a meat dish such as pork tenderloin; a tart or parfait for dessert, and, of course, more turrón, almond nougat and marzipan, accompanied by cava, Spanish bubbly.

This deeply flavorful quail and mushroom consommé just might fit the bill for your party menu. I have served it as a welcoming libation for a holiday buffet party on a blustery winter day. In lieu of canapés, I passed the soup in demitasse cups with the sautéed breast meat and mushrooms speared on toothpicks. I’ve also served the soup as a starter for a smaller dinner party. It’s satisfying without being filling and you can vary the garnishes.

Serve consommé in cups as an apperitif.

Begin preparations for the consommé at least one day and up to 3 days before serving. Any wild or cultivated mushroom can be used—cêpes are divine, oyster mushrooms are fine. “Clarifying stock” maybe sounds like a cheffy thing to do, but it’s pretty simple and the results are really satisfying. A short-cut, if you don’t want to bother, is to bring the carcasses to a boil, drain them and rinse in running water to remove impurities that will cloud the broth, before putting them to cook.

Boning out the quail breasts is fast and easy. Use a small sharp knife to slit down along the ridge of the breastbone. Cut through the skin at the neck and release the half-breast where the wing is attached. Cut away the other half-breast in the same manner. Leave the skin attached to the breasts.

Brandy de Jerez (brandy aged in Sherry casks in Jerez de la Frontera where Sherry is made) lends a deep, mellow flavor to the soup. Dry fino or amontillado Sherry could be used instead. Sherry is the perfect wine to accompany the consommé.

Vary the garnishes--here with a poached quail's egg.

Consommé of Quail and Wild Mushrooms
Caldillo de Codorniz y Setas

Serves 12-16 as an appertif or 6-8 as a soup course.

Quail--easy to remove breasts.

6-8 quail (2 ¼-2 ½ pounds), breasts removed
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ yellow onion, unpeeled
12 ounces wild or cultivated mushrooms
12 cups chicken stock
1 sliced leek
2 sliced carrots
1 stalk celery
½ cup chopped tomato
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Sprig of thyme or ½ teaspoon dry thyme
2 bay leaves
Sprigs or stems of parsley
2 egg whites and crushed egg shells to clarify the broth
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup Brandy de Jerez
1 ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Optional garnishes
1 cup shredded baby spinach leaves
Poached or hard-cooked quail eggs
Chopped scallions


Preheat oven to 400º.

Wrap the boned quail breasts in plastic wrap and refrigerate them until shortly before serving. Spread the remaining quail carcasses in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. Place the unskinned onion in the pan with the quail and roast, turning quail occasionally, until well browned, about 45 minutes.

Transfer quail and onion to a large soup pot. Add ¼ cup water to the roasting pan and scrape up all the drippings. Add them to the soup pot.

Set aside 2 ounces (about 1/3 cup) of mushroom caps or slices to finish the soup. Chop the remainder and add them to the soup pot with the chicken stock, leek, carrots, celery, tomato, salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaves, and parsley. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam that rises to the top. Cover and simmer the broth 1 ½ hours. Remove and cool slightly.

Strain the broth in a colander, pressing on the solids to extract all the liquid. Discard the solids. (You may want to separate the legs and serve them with vinaigrette.) Cool the broth, then refrigerate, covered, at least 12 hours or up to 2 days.

Skim off and discard the fat from the top of the broth. Strain the broth into a clean soup pot and add the egg whites and crushed eggshells.  Place on a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the broth begins to simmer. Lower heat so it barely simmers for 15 minutes, without stirring, rotating the pot a quarter of a turn at intervals. Keep a close watch so the broth never boils. As the egg white cooks and floats to the top it will carry along solids that cloud the broth. Remove from heat and allow to stand 10 minutes.

Line a colander with 4 thicknesses of damp cheesecloth and place it over a clean pot. Gently push the egg-white froth to one side and carefully ladle the broth into the colander. Discard the foam.

Shortly before serving, place the pot of clarified broth on a medium heat and add the brandy. Bring to a simmer.

Sprinkle the quail breasts with salt and pepper. Heat the virgin olive oil in a skillet and sauté the breasts, skin side down, on a medium heat until browned, about 1 minute. Turn and sauté 1 minute on the other side. Breasts will be pink in the center. Remove and keep them warm.

Sauté the reserved mushroom caps or slices in the same oil, about 1 minute on each side.

When the broth begins to boil, lower heat so that it simmers and add the shredded spinach. Cook 2 minutes until spinach is wilted.

Serve the consommé in small (½-cup) cups with the breast and mushroom cap speared on a toothpick or in shallow soup bowls with the sliced breast and mushroom placed in the bowls. Add poached or hard-cooked and peeled quail eggs, if desired.

HERE'S HOPING FOR GOOD FORTUNE IN 2012

Black-eyed peas, the Spanish way.

Happy New Year, everybody! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

I missed my chance to lock in good luck for the coming year, Spanish style, by eating one grape on each bong of the midnight bells. Years ago, standing in the village plaza as the church clock chimed, I choked trying to swallow all 12 grapes on top of a quantity of cava (bubbly). Since then I avoid the grape ritual, either by surreptitiously eating them in advance of midnight or, like last night, just forgetting to buy any grapes.

But, a bit of superstition lurks, so today I am cooking black-eyed peas, the favored dish in the American South for New Year’s Day.

(For a traditional Spanish morning-after cure, have a look at the garlic soup recipe in this blog posting.)


The Spanish way with black-eyed peas is not so different from the southern one. The legumes are especially delicious cooked with fatty pork, pork belly or sausages. Nevertheless, if you prefer a vegetarian version, just omit the meat and add additional olive oil.

Add vegetables, as desired, to the pot—carrots or pumpkin, chard or cabbage, cut-up potatoes.

Char-roasted garlic cloves.

The black-eyed peas have a whopping whole head of garlic, but it is char-roasted before adding to the pot. This technique makes it easy to peel the individual cloves and gives the garlic a mild, nutty flavor.








Black-Eyed Peas with Tomato Sofrito
Potaje de Carillas con Sofrito

Serves 4.

2 cups dried black-eyed peas (14 ounces), soaked in water 8 to12 hours
½ cup sliced leek
1 cup sliced carrots or pumpkin
2 bay leaves
1 head garlic, char-roasted (see instructions below)
Pork, pork belly or ham hocks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
Red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)
1 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped tomato
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Pinch of ground cloves
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon wine vinegar

Drain the soaked black-eyed peas and place them in a pot with 6 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil and skim off the froth. Add the leek, carrots, bay leaves, cloves of char-roasted garlic and pork or ham hocks. Cover and simmer the peas 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion and pepper 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes and pimentón and immediately add the tomato. Season with salt, cumin, oregano, parsley, cloves, and pepper. Cook the sofrito 8 minutes.

Add ½ cup cold water to the black-eyed peas. Bring again to a boil and stir in the sofrito. Cover and simmer until peas are very tender, 60 to 90 minutes.

Stir in the vinegar and cook 5 minutes longer.

Char garlic over flame.

To roast a whole head of garlic: Spear the head of garlic on a fork or grasp  it with tongs and hold over a gas flame (or put under the broiler), turning, until it is charred. Peel the garlic cloves, rinse in running water and add them to the stew.

GARLIC SOUP FOR THE MORNING-AFTER

Are you needing a morning-after cure? Spain—a great land for partying—takes very seriously the day-after resaca, hangover. The prescription begins with churros y chocolate, fried fritters and thick, dark hot chocolate, to finish the late-night revelry before heading home to bed.

The next day, several robust soups are touted as sure-fire cures for what ails you. One is sopa de picadillo, an enriched chicken-ham broth with chopped bits of ham, egg and croutons. But nothing works as well as sopa de ajo, garlic soup.   

Garlic soup starts where French onion soup leaves off. Huge flavor, simple to prepare, rustic and real. Although every region has its rendition of garlic soup, the Castillian one is the best known.

From the Puerta del Sol in Madrid to the village plaza, the custom on New Year’s Eve is to eat twelve grapes, one at each of the twelve midnight bells, thus guaranteeing a year of good fortune.

I didn’t go to town last night to join revelers in the plaza to welcome in the new year. I enjoyed a quiet dinner at home by the fire with friends and a bottle of cava. Charlotte brought grapes picked from her vines, still sweet. A movie on cable TV. So, today, the first day of 2010, I’m feeling just fine, but still thinking about that great garlic soup.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! — ¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!


Castillian Garlic Soup
Sopa de Ajo Castellana

Serves 4.

½  pound baguette, sliced ½  inch thick (18-20 slices)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 ounces diced ham or bacon (optional)
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika)
¼  teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups chicken broth
Salt to taste
4 eggs

Toast the bread and set aside.

In a large cazuela (earthenware casserole) heat the olive oil. Add the diced ham and chopped garlic and sauté until the garlic begins to take on color, about four minutes. Stir in the pimentón and cumin and immediately add the broth. Add salt to taste.

Add the toasted bread to the cazuela. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes. The bread should begin to break up in the broth.

With the soup bubbling, break each egg into a saucer and slide it onto the top of the soup. Cover and let the eggs poach until the whites are set and yolks still liquid, about 4 minutes. Serve the soup in the same cazuela.