Lisa and I had a small get-together with some of my college friends and her high school friends on New Year's Eve. I usually try to serve something special on New Year's. Apparently I'm not the only one. At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the checkout line at Citarella was so long it wound all the way through the store and out the front door. The wait at the fish counter was about an hour. It took me about an hour and a half to get two lobsters, some Wellfleet oysters, and a 2-oz. tin of Osetra caviar. Fairway was almost as crazy, but the cash-only express lanes were quick as usual. Plus, they had some killer wild mushrooms this week: hard-to-find and super fresh.

I took my first shot at butter-poached lobster Wednesday night. This method, pioneered by Thomas Keller at the French Laundry and since plagiarized by hautes cuisiniers across the country, requires you to plunge the lobsters in boiling water just long enough to kill them (30 seconds or less), extract their meat, and cook it in beurre monté (butter that has been emulsified with water as it is melted so it doesn't separate).

Although the results were tasty, I made at least two mistakes. First, although I got the claws out in one piece, I forgot to remove the blade of cartilage from the center of the larger part of the claw. Lobster isn't supposed to be crunchy. Second, I either cooked the lobster too long or heated the butter too much, because the meat was as firm as that of a boiled lobster, and the whole idea of butter poaching is to keep the meat tender and soft. Oh well. Nobody but me seemed to mind, so I can't be too disappointed. The full New Year's Eve menu can be found below.

Happy New Year everybody. Have a great 2004.

New Year's Eve Menu

Wellfleet Oysters on the Half-Shell
Crepe of Duck Confit, Shredded Green Onions and Chinese Barbecue Sauce
Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Parmesan-Cream Sauce
Butter-Poached Lobster with Potato Gratin, Asparagus Tips, and Saffron-Vanilla Butter Sauce
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

At Midnight:
Osetra Caviar with Blinis and Crème Fraîche
Champagne