New Years Eve Dinner

New Years Eve was upon us and it was time to pull out all the stops for dinner. Well, sort of. The wife and I decided to avoid the crowded nightlife, expensive prix fix restaurant menus and chill at home. After all, many of our newly unwrapped presents were food related: Panini press, various cookbooks, and kitchen tools, all ready to be christened. But what to make? There was no shortage of ideas given the thousands of recipes at our disposal from our 'Christmas Cookbooks' alone. In the end something simple rather than sophisticated and stately seemed to fit our mood. Low key was the phrase of the night. Sometimes all you need is a piece of perfectly cooked meat and some ruffage to satisfy. Such a meal would come in the form of Chicken Roulade with a salad of baby romaine, feta, and a rasberry balsamic vinagarette.

This was my first attempt at a roulade. It sounds complex and fancy, "rooo- Laaaaahhhhd," but it's really nothing more than a thin cut of meat rolled around a cheese, vegetable, or in this variation, sage. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the roulade came from the super big, ultra comprehensive, Italian Bible of cookbooks: Silver Spoon. The book boasts over 2000 recipes, but the chicken roulade was calling my name. Any recipe that includes pancetta is a friend of mine. This porky wonder will always have a place at my dinner table. The thin fatty pieces of italian bacon were wrapped around a gently pounded chicken breast. Inside the breast were just a couple fresh, fragrant sage leaves, salt and pepper. After a little browning and a quick 15 minutes or so in the pan, it was time to throw down. We stared at our plates with wide-eyed ravenous intent until we could no longer hold back. Much to our delight it turned out pretty well. The crispy pancetta worked well with the tender chicken breast and the clean herbal sage helped to brighten the dish a bit. Simple, tasty, and start to finish the meal took about 45 minutes to prepare. It was exactly the type of hassle-free dinner on the last night of 2007 that I needed. The night ended on a high note with a spirited game of scrabble, a good flick, "Hot Fuzz," and super awesome peppermint bark courtesy of my beautiful wife. Not a bad way to wind down the year.

Happy New Year!