Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Easy Menu for New Years Eve

I plan to have a few people over for New Year's Eve  and want to keep it simple.  The menu is so easy to prepare with the help of my husband!  Because I want to keep it simple, I'm only preparing two of the dishes and plan to purchase a cheese and vegetable platter.



New Year’s Eve Main Dish
The Best Barbecue Wings
The Barbecue Sauce:
1 slice bacon
1 bunch of fresh thyme
extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped (I use more, just cause I like garlic)
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablesp. red or white wine vinegar
1 tablesp. dry mustard
1 teasp. ground cumin
1 teasp. paprika (not the sharp type)
black pepper
First Street Chicken Party Wings, sold in a 4 lb bag for $7.00 (that’s only $1.75 a pound)
Thaw the wings 
To make the sauce:
Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle.  Heat about 2 tablesp. of oil in a large sauce pan over low to medium heat.  Add the thyme and cook slowly for 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste.  Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly for 5 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove bacon bundle.
While sauce in simmering, heat outside grill to medium heat.  
Make sure that your grill has a thin coating of oil on the grates to help prevent the wings from sticking to grates.  Coat the wings lightly with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on wings and grill for 10 minutes (5minutes each side).  Preheat kitchen oven to 375 degrees F.  
Take the grilled chicken and place on cookie sheets covered with non-stick foil. Remove 1 cup of sauce from simmering pot and brush wings with this.  Place in oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes (until done!) 
Place wings on platter and serve with remaining sauce.

Along with this:

BLACK BEAN SALSA

2 cans drained black beans
1/3 cup small diced red pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped purple onion
1/4 cup small chopped unpeeled cucumber
2  tablesp. small diced celery
2  tablesp. minced jalepeno pepper (deseeded)
1  tablesp. chopped fresh basil
2  tablesp. olive oil
2  tablesp. tomato juice (or 1/2 cup salsa)
2  tablesp. red wine vinegar
1  tablesp. lemon juice
1 1/2 teasp. chopped fresh thyme
1/2    teasp. ground cumin
1/2    teasp. chili powder
1/4    teasp. salt
1/4    teasp. pepper
1 crushed clove of garlic
Mission Tortilla Chips (selected varieties, 22 OZ. @ $1.99 at Smart & Final)
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.  Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.  Check seasonings and adjust to taste.  This dish will last one week refrigerated.  Prep time: 30 minutes, no cook time!
Enjoy this tasty Sala & chips with Shasta Soda (varieties on sale for $0.59 at Smart and Final) (Limit 10)

What are you planning to serve for your New Year's Eve gathering?

Happy New Year!!!! 






1 comment:

Chelsea said...

Hmmm that all sounds delicious!
I'm not planning on serving anything! haha I did a big Christmas Eve dinner, so New Years is my night to go out!