New Year's Eve 2010 Dinner

A real pine Christmas tree makes all the difference. The subtle scent of fresh pine permeated the home, intertwining with the smell of delicious home cooked food, just enveloped us when we stepped into N&S's domicile. S is Swede, so there are lots of Swedish influence in the food.

We started with Glogg, a traditional Swedish mulled wine, which was absolutely delightful with raisins and almonds. Paired it with ginger thins, and I could tell it was going to be a great evening. This was followed by a glass of sparkling pinot noir Joy (no calling it champagne since all the sparkling wines we had for the night were not produced in the town of Champagne) with raspberries. Interesting.

The food! Oh the glorious food. They have outdone themselves with the spread. Chili hotdog with sour cream was surprisingly good. I would never have thought chili sausage could be so yummy with sour cream. Home baked lingonberry bread with a fresh wedge of gouda.

The flank steak was superb and it was the first dish to be gone. S made it using the Sous Vide method and it was such a marvel. Every part of the steak was equally tender and juicy due to the vacuum cooking style. Apparently sous vide is commonly used for massive cooking in restaurant/hotel/caterer kitchens.

My favorite dish of the evening - brussels sprouts with turkey bacon and chestnuts. I never liked brussels sprouts as they tend to be bitter and overcooked. But after tasting other friends' method of cooking it with bacon and chestnuts, I became a convert. Somehow they were not overcooked or bitter, instead they were crunchy and sweet. Who would have thought brussels sprouts could taste so good.

Lamb chops with herbs, salad with quail eggs, cubed cheese, tomatoes and greens, Swedish starter with smoked salmon, caviar and sour cream and gherkins on mini pancake and homemade coleslaw.

A jar of home made pickles, asparagus drizzled with balsamic vinegar, baked penne with ricotta and baby potatoes with fresh rosemary.

Dessert - reconstructed chocolate cake from Bengawan Solo. S sliced the cake and added chocolate ganache all over it and topped it with strawberries and raspberries. What a smart way of making dessert. It so happened that we could see the top of Marina Bay Sands from the apartment, so we got to see the fireworks which were set off when 2011 arrived. We had more sparkling wine and dessert wine and port to end the evening.

It was a certainly an evening of excellent company, fantastic food, awesome conversation and rocking good times.

2010 left with a bang and 2011 entered with much joy and laughter.

I love my friends, both old and new, far and near. Thank you for the many years, days and hours of knowing each other and may there be many more to come.