New Years Day Menu

A Fabulous Carved Buffet

For a successful party, a New Years Day Menu should ideally be casual in style, use seasonal produce and above all, be easy to prepare! For those reasons, I like to serve a carved buffet on such occasions. After all the stress and work associated with catering for guests over Thanksgiving, and Christmas, this should be an opportunity to really relax with friends and family.

Apart from the salads and potatoes, virtually all of this menu can be prepared well ahead of time and frozen or refrigerated. Try to leave as little preparation as possible for New Year's Day itself.

What I particularly like about this buffet style New Years Day Menu is that it is perfect for an informal party where guests can arrive and leave at a time that suits them. Just give them say a two hour time slot when the buffet will be available. Once the food has been at room temperature for a couple of hours, remove it to the refrigerator. Late arriving guests can always be served from there.

Quantity wise, one whole salmon, one baked ham and two quiches will be enough to comfortably feed 20 to 30 guests.

Below you will find links to all of the recipes for this New Years Day Menu along with planning notes and approximate timetable.

Carved Buffet Menu

PLANNING NOTES & TIMETABLE

Up to 2 Weeks Ahead.......

• Prepare and freeze the chocolate truffles.
  

• Prepare and freeze the chicken liver pâté.

Up to 2 Days Ahead........

• Prepare and refrigerate the hummus.
  

• Prepare the garlic butter for the garlic bread and refrigerate.
  

• Prepare the pastry base for the apple pie, wrap and freeze.
  

• Prepare the streusel topping for the apple pie. Refrigerate.
  

• Bake and glaze the ham. Once completely cold, refrigerate.

The Day Before........

• Bake the salmon. Once completely cold, cover and refrigerate.
  

• Prepare the sherry trifle but don't decorate with the cream yet. Cover and refrigerate.
  

• Prepare and bake the pastry cases for the quiche Lorraine.
  

• Prepare the croutons and dressing for the Caesar salad. Refrigerate the dressing.
  

• Prepare and bake the cheese palmiers.

A Few Hours Before......

• Fill and bake the quiche Lorraines.
  

• Assemble the garlic bread.
  

• Prepare and refrigerate the Waldorf salad.
  

• Prepare and bake the apple streusel pie.
  

• Whip the cream and decorate the trifle. Refrigerate until required.

Now that most of this New Years Day Menu is complete, make sure that the buffet table is properly dressed and prepared with enough cutlery, plates, napkins, dressings and accompaniments.

About 90 minutes Before Serving.........

• Bake the potatoes.
  

• Remove the skin from the salmon and decorate with slices of lemon, cucumber and watercress. Refrigerate until required.
  

• Wash the salad leaves, drain thoroughly, pop into a plastic sealable bag and leave in the refrigerator to crisp up.

Last Minute.......

• Prepare the Caesar salad and green salad.
  

• Bake the garlic bread.
  

• And finally, lay the food out on your best platters and dishes using as much flourish as you can summon up! I like to carve some portions of the ham and the salmon so that guests find it easier to serve themselves.

Now you can relax......and enjoy yourself!

This New Years Day Menu would also be suitable for many other occasions such as a wedding celebration Thanksgiving, Easter. A carved buffet is a great deal easier to prepare for large numbers than would be a formal sit-down meal. But for the safety of your guests, please do not leave to food at room temperature for more than two hours.

To go from my New Years Day Menu to
My Formal New Year's Dinner Menu
CLICK HERE