Easy New Year's Eve Recipes

"I do think New Year's resolutions can't technically be expected to begin on New Year's Day, don't you? Since, because it's an extension of New Year's Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll, and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system...

...Also dieting on New Year's Day isn't a good idea as you can't eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover. I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January, the second."―Helen Fielding in 'Bridget Jones's Diary'.

Swear by Bridget's words of wisdom do you? Well, it would be incorrect to not consider the handsome helpings of food gorged down and the abysmal gallons of liquor lapped up before and during New Year's Day.

Food is an integral part of any form of celebration, and thus it is rather important to make a meal ceremonious on special occasions, especially if it is the last meal of the year. So, here are some scrumptious and yet easy recipes that'll leave all and sundry craving for more!

Ingredients
♦ Mozzarella balls, 16 oz.
♦ Eggs, 3 (whipped)
♦ Vegetable oil, 3 cups
♦ Fine breadcrumbs, 1 cup
♦ Tomato sauce to taste

Procedure
For this food recipe, dip the balls in the whipped eggs and then coat them well with breadcrumbs. Next, heat the oil on a high flame and deep-fry the balls carefully until they become golden brownish in color.

Allow the balls to rest on butter paper or tissues for sometime for the excess oil to get soaked up. Garnish with parsley and present with hot and spicy tomato sauce. Easy and finger-lickin' good!

Ingredients
♦ Tiny shrimp, 4 oz.
♦ Cream cheese, 8 oz.
♦ Scallions, 2 (minced)
♦ Lemon juice, 2 tbsp. (freshly squeezed)
♦ Cocktail sauce, 12 oz.
♦ Hot sauce, a dash

Procedure
One of the easy recipes to make, commingle the shrimp as well as the minced scallions in a bowl. Next, blend in the cream cheese, hot sauce, and a dollop of lemon juice together, all frothy and soft.

Pile the shrimp motley as well as the crème mixture in a nice rounded mound-like shape. Cover it with an upside down, deep bowl and chill it for about 45 minutes. Take it out once it's nice and firm, splash some cocktail sauce on it and tu peut server sa.

Ingredients
♦ Deviled ham/smoked turkey/smoked chicken, 16 oz.
♦ Cream cheese, 18 oz.
♦ Pepper to taste
♦ Onion, ½ (very finely chopped)
♦ Celery/triangular toast crusts/crackers

Procedure
Just toss everything together in a large bowl and mix. Voila! It's ready. Just place small proportions on the toast crusts or crackers or celery and serve.

Ingredients
♦ Pacific Halibut, 3 pounds (skinned and slivered in to 2 inch wide strips)
♦ Chicken/fish/vegetable broth, 2½ cups (with reduced sodium levels)
♦ Large onions, 3 (Sliced)
♦ Durum wheat couscous, 1½ cup
♦ Extra virgin olive oil, 5 tbsp.
♦ Butter, 3 tbsp.
♦ Raisins, 1 cup (soaked in hot water and then drained)

♦ Canola oil, 2 tbsp.
♦ Saffron threads, 10
♦ Almonds, ¾ cup (finely splintered)
♦ Nutmeg, ½ tsp.
♦ Allspice, ½ tsp.
♦ Turmeric, 1 tsp.
♦ Ginger, 1 tsp. (crushed)
♦ Cinnamon, 1 tsp
♦ Sugar, 1 tbsp.
♦ Salt, 2½ tsp.
♦ Pepper to taste

Procedure
Grind the saffron threads into a fine powder with some added salt, and then mix it with all the other spices―cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, turmeric, and pepper. Add the oil, and a dash of butter in a saucepan on a moderate flame and add the spices mixture to it.

Keep sautéing until frothy, and then add the finely sliced onions, some sugar, and the raisins. Let it cook for 15 minutes until the onions become brown, then add 1½ cup of broth and the fish to it and cook it for another 15 minutes. Change sides of the fish 2 to 3 times while cooking. Sprinkle some pepper on top, cover, and remove from flame.

Next, heat up some more oil in a frypan and introduce the sliced almonds to it when hot. Sauté until brown and remove. Now add the rest of the broth and olive oil, and bring to a simmer, and then add the couscous and stir.

Turn off the flame and set it aside for 7 to 8 minutes. Finally, place a small mound of couscous on each plate, topped with a small helping of fish and onion tfaya and garnish with almonds.

Ingredients
♦ Peach Puree, 3 oz.
♦ Champagne, 6 oz.

Procedure
To make this extremely simple Italian champagne cocktail, christened after Giovanni Bellini, the renowned artist, all you need to do is add the peach puree to a flute and then very gradually decant the champagne into it. This drink has remained a hit ever since its inception in Venice, at Harry's Bar in the 1940s, by barkeeper Giuseppe Cipriani.

Ingredients
♦ Ginger ale, 2 quarts
♦ Lemonade, 12 oz.
♦ Cranberry juice, 1 quart
♦ Orange juice, 1 cup
♦ Oranges
♦ Water, 8 cups

Procedure
Simply mix all the liquors, except the ale, and refrigerate. Dash some ale just prior to serving and use orange slices to decorate.

These recipes do not take a lot of time to cook up. You can even try these in case of a sudden guest visit on that special night! Happy cooking and enjoy the party!