What if New Year’s finger foods were the turning point of your dinner?
Once Christmas is over, it’s time to think about New Year’s Eve dinner. Still with Christmas leftovers to recycle into new recipes and a full belly, for New Year’s Day you want more conviviality than walking the 100 meters between the fridge and the kitchen. The smartest strategy we suggest is prepare the bases and fillings in advance and leave only the assembly and crunchiness to the last minute. It is the logic ofholiday aperitif: single portions, things you eat with your hands and recipes that hold up well even if prepared the night before.
What are the golden rules for New Year’s Eve finger food?
- Always separate crunchy and creamy: the bread/crouton/canape goes stuffed just before servingor isolated on a fat base, such as butter.
- Let the creams rest: pâtés and mousses improve after a few hours in the fridge.
- Choose recipes that come “from the fridge”: small glasses, stuffed eggs, meatballs, savory cheesecake, and so on.
- Keep the assembly as a finale: 10–15 minutes before, garnish and go.
How to organize the preparation? The timing
- Night before: prepare mousse, pâté, Russian salad, cheesecake, meatballs, cream puff fillings and vol-au-vents. Then, everything should be stored in the fridge, well covered.
- Morning of the 31st: portion the glasses, prepare “dry” trays (cut bread, ready bases), check the space in the fridge.
- Last 15 minutes: toast/regenerate where needed, fill canapés and cream puffs, complete with herbs and topping.
How to avoid the most common mistake: beautiful canapés… and then sad ones?
The biggest enemy of New Year’s Eve finger food, and in general, ishumidity: a perfect canapé is saved with a creamy cushion between bread and sauce and with the principle of filling it late. If you want to prepare in advance, prepare the cut bread, creams and toppings in separate containers and assembled at the end. And then… cheers!
