• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Recipe Index
  • About Le Chef's Wife
  • Press
  • Contact

Le Chef's Wife logo

  • Start Here
  • Soup Sunday
  • Riviera Recipes
  • Entertaining
  • Boutique
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Recipe Index
  • About Le Chef's Wife
  • Salad Saturday
  • Start Here
  • Soup Sunday
  • Riviera Recipes
  • Baking
  • Family Meals
  • Entertaining
  • Boutique
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Food » Entertaining

    December 30, 2020

    French Themed New Year's Eve at home

    It goes without saying that New Year's Eve this year will be very different for most people. Many of us will be ringing in the New Year from home. To be honest, it is exactly how I have always loved to celebrate the holiday and this year is no exception. After the year we have had you can bet that I will be dressing up and raising a glass to bid 2020 Adieu! I love the elegance of a French Themed New Year's Eve party at home. Here is how we will be celebrating :

    Classic French themed New Year’s Eve at home ingredients:

    1. Champagne
    2.  Oysters
    3. Salmon
    4. Foie Gras
    5. Cheese
    6. Macarons

    Le Champagne

    A must! The French enjoy Champagne all year round, but New Year’s Eve is truly a time to drink Champagne all night long!  Now, in France, there is a much larger selection of Champagne at varying prices than is available in North America. For those of us who do not want to spend a fortune on Champagne for the evening, I suggest starting the party with a “Kir Royal”.  Splash a little bit of Crème de Cassis (available at any liquor store) into a glass of dry sparkling wine, et voilà! You have yourself an elegant and festive cocktail that feels oh so French. If you live in Northern Virginia, you probably love Total Wine as much as I do. We always have a few bottles of La Margerie Champagne stocked in our house – incredibly tasty and under 40$

    Oysters
    Oysters with mignonette

    Les Huitres

    The French love their oysters and swear by the ones from Brittany and the West Coast of France. Fortunately, we have a wide variety of exceptional oysters available to us in North America. You should have seen Le Chef’s face when I brought him to Vancouver for the first time to try Kusshi Oysters! Ooh la la! He was in Chef’s Heaven!

    I recommend preparing 6-8 oysters per person and please, do yourself a favor and enlist the help of strong friends or family members with good knife skills and lots of patience to help shuck the oysters before the party begins. You don’t want to be alone in the kitchen wielding an oyster knife and splattering bits of shell and brine all over your best party outfit. Oysters take time, plan accordingly and then put the little rascals on ice while you pour yourself a glass of champagne.

    Le Saumon

    Smoked Salmon
    Smoked Salmon

    There is something so beautiful about a slice of smoked salmon on a perfect little blinis with a dollop of crème fraîche. The richness of the food marries perfectly with crisp, dry champagne. You can either buy ready-made blinis at the grocery store or else they can be made in advance. Essentially, they are small, bite-sized pancakes that are served chilled. Top each pancake with a slice of smoked salmon and finish with a dollop of crème fraîche (or sour cream). Now, here is where you can get creative! Arrange the smoked salmon pancakes out on a tray and then alternate the garnishes. Perhaps you want to add some fennel on top?  A mini slice of lemon? Caviar? Amusez-vous!

    Le Foie Gras

    Mousse de Canard, Smoked Salmon and Cheese

    Un grand Classique! Finding good Foie-Gras is difficult in North America, but not impossible. Go to the deli selection of the finest grocery store in your area and look for a jar of “Foie Gras Cuit” (cooked foie gras). Some specialty butcher shops also carry good foie gras that they make themselves. Some places no longer carry Foie Gras, in which case Duck or Chicken Liver Mousse is an agreeable alternative. Place the Foie Gras on a cutting board surrounded by an assortment of crackers and some fig jam, et voilà!

    Le Fromage

    Plateau de fromage
    Cheese platter for two - simple but delicious - the focus is on quality not quantity

    A well designed cheese platter is an art form. But like many things French, if you understand the guidelines it is easy to excel! I usually aim for 3-6 cheeses on my cheese board and a nice mix of soft to hard cheeses, with varying degrees of staunch. The French are less enthused by lots of condiments on a cheese board and really just like to keep it simple. Good cheese, crusty baguette (you can easily make your own with my baking baguettes for beginners recipe) and maybe some honey and fig jam as accents, c’est tout!

     Start with a good fresh Chèvre (Chèvre Frais) then add a hard but mild cheese such as a Tome de Savoie or a Comte. Now add a strong cheddar or a Mimolette. Place a spoon in to a Mont D’Or. Add a wheel of ripe Camembert and finish it all with a slab of Roquefort! Most importantly, cheeses need to be room temperature. Make sure to take them out an hour before you plan to serve them. Yes, the place may smell of cheese, but oh! what cheese!

    Les Macarons

    Macarons
    Ladurée Macarons

    Last, but certainly not least, give yourself a gift and order “Une tour de Macarons”, or Macaron Tower, from a pastry shop. The multi-colored pastel pastry morsels will be a family favorite and are immediately Instagram-worthy. Macarons have become very popular in recent years and I have even seen Macarons available at Safeway! A more budget friendly way to serve Macarons is also to buy them individually and then arrange them on plates of different heights on your table (an afternoon tea stand works beautifully as well) Now, there are Macarons, and then there are Ladurée Macarons. If there is a Ladurée in your area I invite you to go and taste the difference. These macarons melt in your mouth and are not too sweet.

    Et voilà! As you can see, hosting an elegant New Year’s Eve party “à la Française” is less about being a Michelin starred Chef and more about assembling the right ingredients.

    French onion Soup

    If you are looking for a more informal feel for this New Year's Eve - Classic French recipes such as French Onion Soup Gratinée or Cheese Fondue are so much fun, especially with kids!

    I encourage you to host your own French themed New Year’s Eve party at home and tell me all about it!

    Au plaisir,

    *This blog post was derived from a post I first wrote for Pearls Lace and Grace blog at https://pearlslaceandgrace.com/2016/12/28/a-fabulously-chic-french-new-years-eve/

    « Authentic Swiss Cheese Fondue
    Vin Chaud au Grand Marnier Recipe »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. microgreens suppliers in hyderabad says

      January 06, 2021 at 12:20 pm

      I’m not that much of an internet reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back down the road.

      Reply
      • lechefswife says

        January 06, 2021 at 1:01 pm

        That is the nicest thing to read. Thank you SO MUCH for the encouragement. I am so appreciative. Bonne Journée!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    Bonjour. If you are looking for French Recipes, made simple, you are in the right place! I translate the fancy cooking of my French Chef husband into easy-to-follow recipes that busy people with no culinary training, like me, can cook. From French Baguettes to French Riviera classic recipes, I invite you to learn French cooking with me.

    More about me →


    Follow Me On

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube


    Popular

    • Nicoise salad - tomatoes, artichokes, capers, cucumbers olives and capers with tunaNicoise salad - tomatoes, artichokes, capers, cucumbers olives and capers with tuna
      French Summer Salads
    • merguez sandwich with piperade sauce and taboulemerguez sandwich with piperade sauce and taboule
      Merguez Sandwich
    • taboule salad with cous cous and vegetables close uptaboule salad with cous cous and vegetables close up
      Taboulé: Couscous Salad
    • fig and ham tartinefig and ham tartine
      Fig and Prosciutto Tartine


    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    My Favorites

    • homemade French baguettes piled up on a striped cotton towl
    • Branzino on a plate with Vierge Sauce made of tomatoes, capers, shallots, olives and basil
    • Le Chef's Wife in her kitchen in front of a row of pots and pans

    Search

    Follow

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Featured In


    Copyright © 2020 Brunch Pro on the Brunch Pro Theme