New Year's Eve Dinner

So traditionally we have something really easy like oysters on New Year's Eve. But I had some time and decided to cook a *little* bit. As you can see, I *really* need help with my plating skills. I could have done it nicely on a bunch of little plates, but I needed to bring it in on one. Give me a big plate and a bunch of food and it looks, well....like this. But it tasted really good!

The menu is salmon baked in parchment served with sage-roasted carrot-potato blend and braised marinated celery. I was especially happy with the marinated braised celery - braised celery is something that has intrigued me since I was a kid and read about it who-knows-where, but that I'd never cooked until now. It was tangy and not at all slimy. Removing the celery from the broth as it was done (i.e. taking out the smaller pieces first) and putting the beef stock into the marinade was key.

Recipes from back to front:

Braised Marinated Celery
(Adapted from the Blue edition of the Joy of Cooking)
Serves 2 as a side

inside stalks from one bunch celery
1 c beef stock

For the Marinade, mix together:
1/4 t salt
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t cumin
1 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
(mix these, then add:)
1 T of the beef stock you simmered the celery in
1 t lemon juice
2 T olive oil
(mix again)

Use the smaller inside stalks of the celery for this recipe. Cut the larger ones into 3"-4" pieces. Simmer in the stock until done (watch this - you should remove the smaller stalks first so they don't get all mushy and let the larger ones cook a bit longer). Immediately rinse the removed celery with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Put the braised celery in the marinade and let sit 3 hours or so in the fridge. Drain and serve.


Courtney's Sage-Roasted Carrot-Potato Mix

Serves 2

2 large carrots
1 decent-sized potato (type doesn't really matter)
1T pink peppercorns (or pepper to taste)
Decent amount of fresh sage (I used 1-1/2 ounces - no need to remove it from the stem)
salt to taste
ghee or butter to grease foil

Preheat oven or grill to 350.

Chop carrots and potatoes into approximately 1" pieces. Smear the foil where the vegetables will go with ghee or butter. Put vegetables down.

Crush the peppercorns and sprinkle over. Salt to taste if desired. Put sage on top of all.

Wrap with the foil. Bake 40 - 50 min. At this point the veggies should be a bit al dente. Cook them longer if you like your root veggies soft. Remove the sage before serving.


Courtney's Easy Salmon Baked in Parchment

Serves 2

1 8oz salmon fillet (or cod or any similar fish; please use sustainably fished wild stock!)
Approx. 1/4 t paprika
Zest from 1/2 a lemon
Ghee or butter or lard to grease parchment
Capers for garnish

Preheat oven or grill to 275F. (if you make this with the veggies above, reduce the heat in the grill or oven down to 275F after the veggies have cooked 30 minutes and add the salmon after about 40 minutes)

Rip off a piece of parchment big enough to wrap the fish with at least 1-1/2" overlap. Generously coat the middle of the parchment (where the fish will sit) with your fat of choice. Put the fish on, skin side down (if your fish has skin). Dust moderately with paprika and sprinkle with lemon zest (see picture, which for some reason is irritatingly rotated 90 degrees).

Fold the parchment. I have seen instructions to secure with paper clips, but I prefer to tie with string, as you can see in the picture of it sitting in the oven. It doesn't really matter so long as it's not going to open up on the grill or in the oven. Put the package in a greased ovenproof pan (this is insurance both against breakage during cooking and if you spill any juice when you unwrap.

Bake 15-20 minutes. Do not overcook!

Unwrap and serve with juices. Garnish with capers if desired.