New Year’s Day Brunch

Published on Monday, December 18, 2006, by CHOW Food Team / Edit Post

New Year’s Day Brunch

NEW
YEAR'S DAY
BRUNCH

AN EASY, MAKE-AHEAD MENU
TO SHARE WITH FRIENDS

FOOD

DRINK

The ball has dropped. The toasts have been toasted, the kisses kissed, the countdown counted down. Maybe there are overflowing ashtrays, broken glass, a dress balled up in a corner where you left it. Or maybe just two champagne glasses in front of the TV. How you spend New Year’s Eve is up to you; how you spend New Year’s Day, leave to CHOW.

New Year’s Eve is renowned for its excess, yet New Year’s Day gets short shrift, relegated to hangover recovery. This year, celebrate it. This make-ahead buffet allows you to live it up the night before and wake up to a ready-to-eat festive brunch. So whether you find yourself facing a visit from the in-laws or are the designated sleepover house, this spread will take care of a crowd. (Though it never hurts to toss in some good luck.)

Our brunch is engineered to cover all the bases of a good hangover meal: starch, carbs, eggs, and something sweet. Of course, you need not have indulgent party plans as an excuse; simple, make-ahead preparation is welcome any time. There’s a bubbly cocktail for those needing to cut the edge, and three variations of Bloody Marys for anyone who wants something a little stronger. If your guests are DIY types, you can set up a Bloody Mary bar with all the fixings so that they can doctor their drinks themselves.

SHOPPING LIST
View and print
shopping list

VIDEO
How to
Set Up a Buffet

Pre-Fête

Sure, everything can be made ahead, but in what order, you ask? Here are rough guidelines:

Up to a Week Ahead

  • The jalapeños for the Bloody Mary bar can be pickled.
  • The ginger vodka and chile tequila can be infused.
  • The salsa verde and vinaigrette can be made, and the nonperishable groceries can be purchased.

Up to 36 Hours Ahead

  • You can make the dough for the caramel rolls.
  • Sear the steak and cook the beans for the salad.
  • Mix the base for the strata.
  • Parboil the potatoes and sweet potatoes for the home fries.
  • Marinate the mango (sans mint).
  • Mix the grapefruit base for the cocktail.
  • Set up the buffet and the Bloody Mary bar.

All that’s left for the day of is combining the salad, throwing things in the oven, and lighting one burner to finish the hash. Before you get started, print out our shopping list to make sure you’ve got everything, and to set the morning-after mood, turn to our music mix.

RELATED STORIES
This Year I Will…
The Ten: Hangover Cures
Good Luck with That

PARTY MUSIC
Download the iMix

ALLEntertaining
POST A COMMENT |9 Comments

COMMENT

  • Im with Frenetica. Mostly though, I think it's the photo.

  • I can't find this morning's recipes from Ms. Lee for black-eyed peas; collard greens; and prune cake for New Year's Day. Looked good, but I've spent too much time on this website and not found it.

  • I'm from South Carolina and if someone served me pork and sauerkraut on New Years Day, I'd order Dominos. The tradition, for my family is black eyed peas with a dime cooked in it. Whom ever get the dime has good luck the reast of the year, and cornbread with lots of butter. Or, hoppin john, dime included in that as well.

  • I second that frenetica!

  • New Years Eve about midnight and New Years Day we eat Pork and Sauerkraut for good luck and wealth in the coming year. I like beef hot dogs with Heinz ketchup with sauerkraut too. I have also picked up eating black eyed peas, corn bread and 12 grapes at midnight (one for every chime on the clock) too. It is the superstition/tradition that I like to follow. We don't eat chicken, turkey or any foul...+READ

    New Years Eve about midnight and New Years Day we eat Pork and Sauerkraut for good luck and wealth in the coming year. I like beef hot dogs with Heinz ketchup with sauerkraut too. I have also picked up eating black eyed peas, corn bread and 12 grapes at midnight (one for every chime on the clock) too. It is the superstition/tradition that I like to follow. We don't eat chicken, turkey or any foul as that is bad luck-scratching for money all year. Who knows if they are true or not but I still do them. I have a friend that her family eats: roast beef, pork, cabbage, pasta and fish.

    So what do you eat special that day? I like learning new traditions.

    The buffet looks good to me but I would still need my traditional foods that day too..-COLLAPSE

  • hey, mercyteapot: tradition? since when is pork and sauerkraut EVERYONE's tradition? i'm asian, and that isnt a tradition my family holds..... maybe they dont focus so much on that b/c it isnt applicable to everyone. there are other cultures in the world you know......

  • The colors look very retro.

  • Hmmm... even though the recipes themselves sound good, what about a nod to tradition here? I can't imagine a New Year's Day without pork and sauerkraut, and I know many others who need a ham and/or hoppin' john to celebrate this day.

  • I'm a little disappointed by this feature. I normally love your recipes. But I can't imagine waking up with a roaring hangover and wanting to eat a single dish from this spread, esp. the mango. Also, the photo looks kind of grim. Sorry.