New Year's Eve Dinner

Happy New Year!

There's no better way to ring in the new year then to end the old one with a bang. I spent New Year's Eve with my girlfriend and we made a romantic home cooked meal before heading off to meet with friends to watch the ball drop in Time Square.

Our dinner consisted of beautifully pan seared Prime Rib Steaks with a Creamy Red Wine Reduction Sauce, Sauteed New Red Potatoes, Parsley Lime Rice, and Sauteed Bell Peppers and Red Onions. Recipes below.

I seared the steaks for about 4-5 minutes per side. I didn't really worry about them being too dry because prime rib cuts have a high fat content. Just had to make sure to let it get to room temperature so everything cooks evenly and then added some salt and pepper right before cooking.

Creamy Red Wine Reduction Sauce

Melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan and add some chopped red onions. Sauteed until the onions begin to caramelize and then add 1/4 the bottle of red wine. Let it bubble and cook off the alcohol. Give it a few minutes to reduce and then stir in light cream. The more liquid you have the more cream you'll need to add to thicken the sauce. I used the "Project Happiness Syrah" from Oreana Winery that I bought at Trader Joe's.

Sauteed New Red Potatoes

Clean the potatoes and then boil them for about 20 minutes or until a fork can easily go through them. Fish them out of the water and cut them in half. Melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan and sprinkle in some rosemary leaves to let the oils mix with the butter. I used the dried rosemary. Add the potatoes and sauteed for about a minute. Make sure to coat the potatoes in the butter and rosemary.

Parsley Lime Rice

Ok I know it's usually supposed to be cilantro lime rice but I didn't have any cilantro on hand and the two herbs are quite similar anyway. Make 2 cups of rice in a rice cooker to make things easier. Pinch off all the parsley leaves and discard the stems. Roll up all the leaves into a tube shape and slice across to cut the parsley into smaller pieces. Mix well with the freshly cooked rice. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan. Dump the rice into the pan and mix to coat well. Roll a lime between your palm and the counter. This somehow gives you more juice. Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice all over the rice. I then used a sea salt grinder and added a bit all around. Mix it well one last time.

Sauteed Bell Peppers and Red Onions

Cut up the peppers and onions into bite sized pieces. Sauteed with a little bit of oil or butter until peppers turn translucent and onions begin to caramelize. This is optional but before plating this I added a dash of authentic sriracha sauce that my girlfriend's friend brought back from Thailand for me.