In 1910, French pastry chef Louis Durand de Paris-Brest (above), created a ring of golden, puffed choux pastry filled with praline cream, named after a cycling race that runs between Paris and the port city of Brest, in northwestern France. . Claire Saffitz brought us a recipe for this ethereal treat, just in time to wrap up a spectacular holiday meal.
Ending the year with a dessert named after a race is fitting. In this last week of December, we have entered the final stretch of the festive marathon that kicks off on Thanksgiving and runs from one Christmas party to the next until the champagne corks fly to mark the end of the old year and the start of the new year. to announce. the new. I spent the last week of this lovely sprint celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas with family and dear friends in Los Angeles where I got to pick Meyer lemons off the tree. (I was lucky to do this, as much of the country experienced freezing temperatures, high winds, and dangerous snowfall.)
I put those fragrant lemons to good use by beating them into a bright yellow curd that we ate with Mexican bride cakes at the end of a holiday dinner. The meal started with Key lime gin gimlets, also made from backyard fruit, then moved on to rare roast beef, buttery mashed potatoes, roasted spiced cauliflower, and a big bowl of garlic puntarelle for a crunchy, green balance. That same menu would work well for a small New Year’s Eve dinner.
Larger eruptions, however, call for nibble-friendly snacks. I’m a fan of avocado nachos, perhaps alongside a platter of warm ham sandwiches, speckled with poppy seeds and melted Swiss cheese. You can never go wrong with chips and caviar dip on New Year’s Eve, or a double helping of shrimp cocktail to feed a crowd. And if the temperatures are still freezing where you are, mugs of hot grog will warm everyone’s minds and bones.
Maybe a New Year’s brunch is more your thing? You can make poached eggs in a skillet served with cinnamon crumble muffins and a bowl of minty fruit salad. Or start the year off right with a golden brown puff pastry from Gruyère and a side of bacon from the airfryer.
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We have lost so many great souls this year, including author Elspeth Barker. She was an irresistible eccentric and her novel ‘O Caledonia’, as author Ali Smith put it in The Times, is ‘one of the least known novels of the 20th century’. I listened to the audiobook with my daughter and it is a dark fable with a hero who dies in the beginning. I like a dark story in the deep winter. It feels like a piece with the sky.
“O Caledonia” was re-released in the United States in 2022, which was a great year for new novels. DailyExpertNews Book Review staffers have put together a list of their favorites, and I’d love to hear which books have delighted you this year. I’m at hellomelissa.. As for me, I’m sure I’ll spend much of 2023 reading my way through 2022.
Sam will be back on Friday. See you next year!
