Whether spending New Year’s Eve on the ground with family and friends or in the air with your favorite clients, Air Culinaire Worldwide would like share a menu designed to please everyone on this special occasion.

Appetizer – Mote Caviar and Blini

Ingredients: Mote Caviar and Blini

⅔ cup (160 g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (120 g) buckwheat flour
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) salt
1 teaspoon (5 g) instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 cup (240 mL) warm milk
2 tablespoons (30 g) butter, melted
1 egg, separated

Directions: Mote Caviar and Blini

In large bowl, mix flours, salt and instant yeast, and make a well in the center.
Pour in milk, mixing until smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Stir cooled, melted butter and egg yolk into batter. In a separate bowl, whisk egg white until stiff but not dry. Fold into batter. Cover and let stand 20 minutes.
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Drop quarter-size dollops of dough into pan without crowding. Cook for about 1 minute or until bubbles form and break. Turn and cook for about 30 seconds. Cover blini and keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.
Garnish blini with crème fraiche and caviar. Mote Marine caviar is a sustainable caviar produced in Sarasota, Florida. The mild and smooth texture will melt in your mouth!

Appetizer – Blackened Tuna Feta Crostini

Ingredients: Blackened Tuna Feta Crostini

10 ounces (295 g) fresh tuna
4 teaspoons (20 g) blackened seasoning
1 lemon
½ cup (120 mL) white wine
2 whole tomatoes, peeled and blanched
1 cup (240 g) of crumbled feta cheese
1 baguette, cut into ¼ inch (6 mm) slices
2 tablespoons (30 g) melted butter
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) garlic powder

Directions: Blackened Tuna Feta Crostini

Brush sliced baguette with melted butter and garlic powder. Bake for 7 minutes until toasted, then cool.
Season tuna well with blackened spice. In a pan, heat a little oil and sear tuna for about 4 minutes, then flip.
Once well-seared on both sides, add white wine.
Break tuna into small pieces and add tomatoes.
Cut lemon in half and juice, then add to pan. Reduce until almost all liquid is gone.
Add feta cheese and cool. Once cool, spoon onto crostini and garnish with chives.

Appetizer – Cornmeal-Crusted Oysters with Sriracha Crème

Ingredients: Sriracha crème

½ cup (120 mL) crème fraiche
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Sriracha
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 g) cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon (5 mL) lime juice
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) minced garlic

Directions: Sriracha crème

Mix all ingredients in bowl and set aside. Can be made up to two days ahead.

Ingredients: Cornmeal-Crusted Oysters

1 cup (240 g) cornstarch
¼ cup (60 g) yellow cornmeal
¼ teaspoon (1 g) smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon (1 g) garlic powder
¼ teaspoon (1 g) sea salt
¼ teaspoon (1 g) dried thyme
1 egg
1 tablespoon (15 mL) water
2 cups (480 g) about 20 shucked oysters, drained
Vegetable oil, for frying
Lime slices, for garnish

Directions: Cornmeal-Crusted Oysters

In one bowl add cornstarch, in a second bowl add all dry ingredients, and in a third bowl beat egg with water.
Heat oil to 350 F (177 C).
Place oyster in cornstarch, then into egg and then into cornmeal mixture. Fry until golden-brown. Repeat process until all oysters are ready.
Serve with Sriracha crème.

Soup – White Bean and Cauliflower Soup with Truffle Oil

Ingredients: White Bean and Cauliflower Soup with Truffle Oil

2 quarts (1.9 L) vegetable stock
2 heads cauliflower, leaves and center stem removed, florets separated and stems chopped
2 (16 ounce / 470 g) cans of white beans (cannellini), drained and rinsed
2 medium rustic potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½ inch pieces
1 cup (240 g) chopped onion
¾ cup (180 mL) white wine
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil
2 teaspoons (10 g) salt
1 teaspoon (5 g) freshly-ground white pepper
1 teaspoon (5 g) dried sage
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
White truffle oil
Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions: White Bean and Cauliflower Soup with Truffle Oil

Heat olive oil in pan, add chopped garlic and sauté for about one minute.
Add onions, cauliflower and potatoes; sauté for about five minutes.
Add dried sage and deglaze pan with white wine. Reduce wine to about half, then add stock and cloves. Simmer for about 30 minutes on medium.
Once the soup is at a good constancy, add beans and season with salt and white pepper. Before serving, finely chop rosemary and add to soup.
Bowl soup, add a little truffle oil to the top and garnish with fresh chives.

Salad – Charred Romaine with Pomegranate Dressing

Ingredients: Charred Romaine with Pomegranate Dressing

½ cup (120 mL) fresh or bottled pomegranate juice
¼ cup (60 mL) red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon (15 mL) agave
1 tablespoon (15 mL) of honey
½ cup (120 mL) olive oil (not extra-virgin) or sunflower oil
Salt and pepper
Pomegranate seeds, for garnish

Directions: Charred Romaine with Pomegranate Dressing

Wash and dry three heads of romaine and cut into thirds.
Heat skillet with a little olive oil and char romaine lettuce for about two minutes.
Place in center of plate, add dressing over top. Add fresh goat cheese and pomegranate seeds.

Entrée – Dijon Rack of Lamb with Mint Jerez Sherry Glaze

Ingredients: Dijon Rack of Lamb with Mint Jerez Sherry Glaze

1 ½ (360 g) cups fine bread crumbs
3 tablespoons (45 g) finely-chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon (15 g) finely-chopped fresh mint
1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 g) minced fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) salt
¼ teaspoon (1 g) black pepper
3 ½ tablespoons (52 mL) olive oil
3 cups (720 mL) of Jerez sherry vinegar
1 stick of butter
2 sprigs of mint finely shopped
3 frenched racks of lamb (8 ribs and 1 ½ pounds each rack), trimmed of all but a thin layer of fat, then brought to room temperature
2 tablespoons (30 g) Dijon mustard

Directions: Dijon Rack of Lamb with Mint Jerez Sherry Glaze

Stir together bread crumbs, parsley, mint, rosemary, salt and pepper in a bowl, then drizzle with 2 ½ tablespoons (37.5 mL) oil and toss until combined well.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 400 F (205 C).
Season lamb with salt and pepper. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown lamb 1 rack at a time, turning once, about 4 minutes per rack. Transfer to a 13x9x2-inch roasting pan, arranging fatty sides up.
Spread fatty sides of each rack with 2 teaspoons (10 g) mustard. Divide breadcrumb mixture into 3 portions. Put each portion over mustard coating on each rack, gently pressing to adhere.
Roast lamb about 20 to 25 minutes until thermometer, inserted diagonally 2 inches (5 cm) into center (do not touch bone), registers 130 F (55 C) for medium-rare, and transfer to cutting board. Let stand 10 minutes, then cut into chops.
For sherry vinegar sauce, add vinegar in sauce pan and reduce by half. Reduce heat and add cold butter cubes slowly while stirring until dissolved. Add mint.

Dessert – Champagne Sorbet

Ingredients: Champagne Sorbet

4 cups (960 mL) water
1 cup (240 g) sugar
1 bottle Brut Champagne
⅓ cup (80 mL) orange juice
1 tablespoon (15 g) grated orange rind, from 1 orange
6 strawberries, for garnish

Directions – Champagne Sorbet

Heat water with sugar until it comes to a rolling boil. Boil for 6 minutes. Make sure all sugar is dissolved.
Add bottle of Champagne and heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Stir in orange juice and grated orange rind. Allow mixture to cool, or refrigerate overnight.
Pour mixture into ice cream maker or sorbet machine, and process until sorbet is softly-frozen, not hard.
Serve immediately. Garnish with strawberries.

Have a Happy New Year!

Questions?

If you have any questions about this recipe, contact me at jdetloff@airculinaire.com. For questions about in-flight catering, contact weborders@airculinaire.com.

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