A Perfect Appetizer For New Year's...Smoked Salmon Cake

This recipe from Martha Stewart combines traditional partners such as pumpernickel bread, smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumbers, in a beautifully presented cake "iced" with more cream cheese.  If you are asked to bring an appetizer and want to make a splash with little work make this!


Ingredients


Serves 8 to 10

3 eight-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped

2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

2 loaves pumpernickel bread, cut into 16 half-inch slices, with crusts

1 pound smoked salmon, thinly sliced

1 1/2 seedless cucumbers, thinly sliced into 1/8-inch slices, patted dry, plus more for decorating sides of cake

1/2 cup creme fraiche

2 1/2 ounces salmon roe

1 ounce black caviar

Lemon wedges, for garnish


Directions


1.In a small bowl, combine eight ounce cream cheese, red onion, capers, dill, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, and stir until smooth. Lay four bread slices on a clean work surface; trim 1/4 inch from all sides of slices. Spread 1 tablespoon cream-cheese mixture on top of one slice, and layer with smoked salmon and cucumber (try not to overlap cucumber slices). Spread another thin layer of the cream-cheese mixture on top. Repeat with two more bread slices.

2.Neatly stack prepared slices, filling side up, squaring the sides with your hands; top with the fourth bread slice. Repeat with remaining bread and filling to create three more stacks in this way.

3.Transfer stacks to a serving platter with their long sides touching. In a small bowl, combine remaining 16 ounces cream cheese and creme fraiche until smooth. Using offset spatula, spread mixture evenly over assembled cake. Refrigerate, covered, two hours or overnight.

4.Before serving, arrange overlapping cucumber slices around base of cake; spoon salmon roe and caviar along the top, and sprinkle with dill. Garnish the platter with lemon wedges

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Recipe Marthastewart.com:

Spiced Pecans

Make some this weekend to serve at Christmas and New Years or give away as gifts!


Ingredients

4 tsp. salt


1/2 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. each ground white pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice (or 4 tsp. quatre épices)

4 cups pecan halves (about 12 oz.)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup dark maple syrup (or 1/2 cup regular maple syrup



Directions

Up to two weeks ahead: Heat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, toss together the salt, cayenne, white pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Add the pecans and toss well. Drizzle the melted butter over the pecans and mix well. Turn out onto a rimmed baking sheet, scraping any spices and butter from the bowl and spreading the nuts into one layer. Bake until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally, about 9 min. Drizzle the maple syrup over the nuts, stir to combine, and bake about 10 min. longer, until the nuts turn glossy and slightly dark. Let the nuts cool in the pan for 30 min. and then scrape the nuts and any maple drippings into a bowl; break up any large clusters.

These can be stored in ziplock bags in the freezer.

A Cozy New Year's Eve at the Lake

Ralph Lauren does country chic like no one else!  Look a these pictures of his new line Indian Cove Lodge inspired by the beauty of the Great Adirondacks lodges.  I would order every room for my house on the lake, including the dogs! Just imagine the New Year's Eve menu over in Lindaraxa's Garden served at this table...  pure Nirvana!

...and brunch on New Year's Day!

We can all dream, n'est ce pas? and who knows, maybe someday we'll win the lottery!

13th Annual Polar Bear Swim on Lake Lanier

13 years ago a Canadian tradition moved south to Lake Lanier. The Lake Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club started with a Canadian coach Tony Hall who thought it would be fun to copy the real Canadian Polar Bear Plunge, where people cut a hole in the ice and jump through.

60 brave people attended that first New Years Day event and 13 years later organizers expect over 200.

The next installment of the Polar Bear Swim is at 2 p.m. on January 1 and is being held at the Olympic Venue at Clarks Bridge Park .

The event is a fun way to start the year but is also a fund raiser for the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club . The event raises several thousand dollars each year to pay the club's bills and support young athletes.

Gainesville's Polar Bear Swim has been held in a variety of weather over the years. Sometimes temperatures have been warm and around 60, while other times more normal, in the 40s and 50s. One year when there was actually a thin layer of ice on the lake when it came time to jump.

Jumpers can enter various competitions including best costume and best jump.

Reprinted from lakelanier.com
Photo: National Geographic

A Budget-Friendly New Year's Eve Bash - Fine Cooking Menu

Caviar, lobster, and truffles? That's so 1999. Still, you want to celebrate making it through the oughts. This hors d'oeuvres menu for sixteen does it in style without going overboard. The five appetizers coax big flavors out of inexpensive ingredients (like caramelized onions) while putting the spotlight on splurge items (like shrimp). To keep your booze budget in check, choose one signature cocktail like these not-too-sweet, not-too-dry rosemary gin fizzes, and round it out as needed with beer and wine.


To serve 16, you'll need to double the spinach dip and toast points, and make additional cocktails (though one batch of rosemary syrup should be enough). The shopping list reflects the scaled-up amounts.

Menu

Poached Shrimp with Spicy Mayo and Garlic Breadcrumbs

Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Caramelized Onion & Thyme Tarts

Cucumber Rounds with Hummus & Yogurt

Endive Spears with Sweet Potato, Bacon & Chives

Toast Points

Rosemary’s Pink Diamond Fizz

For Shopping List, Timeline and Recipes go to:


A Budget-Friendly New Year's Eve Bash - Fine Cooking Menu

Gravlax...A Delightful First Course for New Year's!

If you want a simple appetizer for New Year's or a simple light lunch year round, this is it!

Serves 8 – 10



Ingredients

2 tbsp. white peppercorns

1 tbsp. fennel seeds

1 tbsp. caraway seeds

2⁄3 cup kosher salt

1⁄3 cup sugar

2-lb. center-cut, skin-on salmon filet

1 cup dill sprigs, plus 1/3 cup chopped dill

1⁄4 cup aquavit (optional)

Mustard-Dill Sauce


Directions


1. In a small food processor, pulse peppercorns, fennel seeds, and caraway seeds until coarsely ground; combine with salt and sugar. Stretch plastic wrap over a plate; sprinkle with half the salt mixture. Place salmon filet on top, flesh side up. Cover with remaining salt mixture, dill sprigs, and aquavit.

2. Fold plastic wrap ends around salmon; wrap tightly with more plastic wrap. Refrigerate the fish on the plate for 48–72 hours, turning the package every 12 hours and using your fingers to redistribute the herb-and-spice-infused brine that accumulates as the salt pulls moisture from the salmon. The gravlax should be firm to the touch at the thickest part when fully cured.

3. Unwrap salmon, discarding the spices, dill, and brine. Rinse the filet under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Cover a large plate with the chopped dill. Firmly press the flesh side of the gravlax into the dill to coat it evenly.

4. Place gravlax skin side down on a board. With a long, narrow-bladed knife (use a granton slicer if you have one; the divots along the blade make for smoother, more uniform slices), slice gravlax against grain, on the diagonal, into thin pieces. Serve with mustard–dill sauce or on knäckebröd with minced onion. Refrigerate any remaining gravlax, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 weeks.

Mustard Dill Sauce


2 tbsp. dijon mustard

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. heavy cream

1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh dill


1. Whisk together dijon mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, and sugar in a medium bowl. While whisking, slowly drizzle in olive oil until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk heavy cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream and dill into the mustard sauce.


MAKES 2⁄3 CUP



This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #112