New Year's 4-course menu - inspiration for New Year's Eve

With New Year's Eve approaching, we present a four-course New Year's menu. There is no guarantee that our own New Year's Eve menu will be exactly but we've been experimenting with some cooking over the last few weeks, and here's a suggestion that might inspire or spark some ideas. Let us know how you plan your New Year's menu!

New Year's menu with 4 dishes

Here is our proposal for a four-course New Year's menu:

• Slices for the pre-drink: Crusts or rye crisps with batter
• Appetiser: Prawn soup on prawn shells
• Main course: Double marinated pork fillet with baked sweet potatoes
• Dessert: Rhubarb compote with ice cream and cream

Slices for the pre-drink: Crusts or rye crisps with batter

An easy and tasty way to serve pre-dinner drinks is with scrambled potatoes, which can be prepared well in advance. Our current favourites are artichoke sauce, gruyere cream and homemade Skagen sauce, which we prefer to serve in "rye crisps" instead of classic crusts. You can find the recipes at the link below.

Appetiser: Prawn soup on prawn shells

Soup as a starter is never wrong! One of our favourites is shrimp soup, which is made with shrimp shells.

You need (for 2 people)

• A carrot
• One yellow onion
• 1/3 fennel
• 600 grams of prawns
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• Cajun pepper
• A dash of olive oil
• 1.5 dl of white wine
• 6 dl of water
• 3 dl cooking cream
• Salt and pepper
• A lemon
• Brandy
• Fish broth
• Pointed cabbage and dill

Do the following

1. Peel the fresh prawns.
2. Cut the carrot, fennel and onion into small pieces.
3. In a large saucepan, fry the carrot pieces, chopped onion, tomato paste, one third of the fennel and the prawn shells in a little olive oil.
4. Add the water, fish stock cube and white wine and cook for about 12 minutes. (Do not overcook, as the shrimp shells may give off a bitter flavour).
5. Strain the prawn shells and vegetables.
6. Pour in the cooking cream and simmer for five to 8 minutes.
7. Now season with salt and pepper, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and some brandy if you have it at home. You should feel lemon, heat and strength in a lovely balance. Throw in lobster stock too if you. want multiple flavours from seafood.
8. Serve in deep plates or small bowls. Add fresh prawns to the soup and decorate with them. You can also quick-fry the cabbage and mix it into the bottom of the soup with the prawns.

Main course: Double marinated pork fillet with baked sweet potatoes

A dish that we experimented with during the week, and which was fantastic was double-marinated pork fillet with baked sweet potatoes. We found several recipes for double marinating online, made our own version and tried the combination with the sweet potato on our own. Very, very good! Since the pork fillet is served cold, you can prepare everything but the sweet potato well in advance. Practical!

You will need

• Pork fillet (we used Iberico)
• Sweet potatoes (one per person)
• Red onion

Marinade 1

• Garlic, grated or chopped (2 cloves)
• Water (1 dl)
• White wine (2 dl)
• Olive oil (1 dl)
• Timyan

Marinade 2

• Garlic, grated or chopped (1 clove)
• Red chilli
• Soya (3 tbsp)
• Balsamic vinegar (1.5 dl)
• Parsley
• Salt and pepper

Feta cheese spread (for about 4 people)

• Turkish or Greek yoghurt (2 dl)
• Feta cheese (150 grams)
• Olive oil (2 tbsp)
• Garlic, grated (one clove)
• Parsley
• Salt and pepper

Do the following

The day before: Marinate the meat in marinade 1. Mix the ingredients for the marinade and leave the meat to rest, preferably overnight.

Earlier that day: Preheat the oven to 150-170 degrees. Remove the pork fillet from the marinade and cook it in the oven, using an oven thermometer, until it has an internal temperature of about 65 degrees. Stir together the ingredients for marinade 2. Place the hot meat in the marinade and leave it in the fridge for a few hours.

Cut the meat into thin slices and place on a serving dish. Drizzle some of the marinade over the meat.

The feta cheese spread: Crumble the feta cheese into a bowl. Mix in the yoghurt and grated garlic. Finely chop and mix in the parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Just in time for dinner: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Split the sweet potatoes lengthwise, place them skin side up on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. Take them out, turn them over, brush with oil again and bake for another 15 minutes.

When serving: Arrange the potato halves, skin side down, on top of the feta cheese spread. Sprinkle with parsley and red onion, or serve the red onion as a garnish.

Dessert: Rhubarb compote with ice cream and cream

Desserts aren't really our strong point, but after a good meal there's nothing wrong with a sweet ending. This will be a repeat favourite. Both of us love rhubarb, and even if the season is not right for the fresh version, you can always use the frozen version. This dessert is also super simple, which suits us.

You need (2 servings)

• 3 digestive biscuits
• 2 rhubarb sticks
• A little butter or margarine for frying
• Half a cup of caster sugar
• 1 dl whipped cream
• Some vanilla ice cream
• Strawberries and/or raspberries
• Possibly a few sprigs of lemon balm

Do the following

1. Cut the rhubarb into centimetre-sized pieces.
2. Fry the rhubarb in butter and sugar for about five minutes. Then leave it to cool.
3. Crumble the digestive biscuits and arrange the biscuits, rhubarb, cream and ice cream in small dessert bowls or glasses.
4. Top with a few raspberries and/or some sliced strawberries.
5. Decorate with a few sprigs of lemon balm, if desired. Serve!

More suggestions for a 4-course New Year menu?

Do you have any other suggestions for a four-course New Year's menu? Feel free to share!