Annual New Years at the Snyders. 85% of the my last 28 last New Years Eve have been with Larry and Melinda Snyder. The gig is we get together at their house and cook a fabulous dinner together. And this year was no exception. We started off with hummus from Lotsa Pasta and toasted pita bread and pimento cheese spread from Morris Deli (a.k.a Karem Deebs) and mini pretzels. We watched an unbelievable performance by the Indiana Hoosiers as they defeated #2 ranked Ohio State - previously this year they knocked of then #1 ranked Kentucky, the Hoosier program is back! In case you are wondering Larry, Melinda and I attended IU together in the early 70's.
Larry open up a bottle of Papa Van Winkle 20 year old bourbon to get our evening started off on a proper note. It had faint hints of vanila and great depth and a clean finish.
During the game I tried a new technique for an appetizer. Himalayan Salt Block NY Strip steak and roasted mini zucchini.
You trim the fat off the strip steak and cut it into .5" strips about 1.5" long. Season with olive oil, granulated garlic, granulated onion and black pepper and a little wine - NO SALT, as it block of salt will provide enough.
Slice the mini zucchini in half lengthwise and season with olive oil, thyme, granulated garlic and fresh cracked pepper.
Proceedure:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place salt block on a sheet pan and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully alternate the slices of zucchini and beef on the salt block and place back in the oven. Cook for 2 minutes and flip the zucchini and beef and continue cooking 2-3 minutes until done.
The salt flavor is dominate but it is not overly salty. The meat came out moist and very tender and the zucchini was al dente and nicely flavored. I will keep playing with this technique, keep watching blog for further details!
For the main course Larry had made some crusty bread with sprinkle corn meal which was fabulous. I brought over some risotto and butternut squash lasagna that I had previously made. Melinda made a light salad of leaf lettuce, sauteed pears, gorgonzola and balsamic vinegar, I sauteed some hericort verde with butter and almonds and Larry sauteed some large shrimp in olive oil, butter and white wine. Another fantastic meal was created! We had a Terrenos wine from Argentinian producer Crios, which was very light and slightly tart and went very well with the meal.We let this great meal sit for a few hour and then right before the New Year we had some mini desserts from Helen Friedman - chocolate fudge brownie, peanut butter chocolate something or other, carrot cake and a couple of other great desserts. These put me over the edge! Wow they were intense. Chocolate, sweet and rich. You can guess where I went next.
We toasted the New Year with the Papa's neat and watched Dick Clark (I hope for the last time) bring in the New Year.
WISHING EVERYONE A HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
