The greatest hits of the Covid era for the New Year's table

Surely many chefs can boast of the signature dishes they invented this year in their home kitchens. Something just became a matter of pride in front of family and friends, something was posted on the Internet and went to the people. We have selected a few interesting ideas that have gained maximum rave reviews on social networks. These are fairly simple and budgetary dishes; almost everyone who knows how to use a frying pan and other elementary kitchen accessories can cook them at home. And all this is really delicious.

Aguachili, the Mexican answer to Peruvian ceviche (seafood “cooked” in lime juice), became popular around the world during quarantine. This appetizer is prepared almost instantly and does not require any cooking skills at all. You can adjust the sharpness of the sauce to your liking.

Palak jacket is a real super hit. This Indian snack is adored by vegetarians all over the world. And this year the meat-eaters also fell in love with cute cheese-chickpea balls, they are too good. Since the Indian paneer cheese and our Adyghe cheese are practically twin brothers in their qualities, in order to prepare this authentic treat, you just need to find a mixture of garam masala spices (but you can replace it with curry) and chickpea flour (which is excellent replaced by pea or rice).

Korean food in quarantine was also prepared all over the world. Especially often - savory dishes with a combination of butter and honey: chips, nuts, fish. But no one has reached the heights of popularity. By the way, to be honest, there is nothing specifically Korean in this honey-buttered chicken - it's just very tasty and perfect for a New Year's party.

Crispy Potato Spirals - also known as Tornado Potatoes - are the new way to prepare french fries for burgers or fish and chips. These spirals are usually served with ketchup and with beer - and if there are many of them, a hamburger is completely optional!

Banana baked goods - muffins, puddings, cookies - were extremely popular during the quarantine. The boom began in April in the United States and then took over the world. Banana bread recipes were in great demand. Psychologists attribute this to the fact that the baking process itself is soothing and helps relieve stress. Banana also contains B vitamins, which contribute to the production of the hormone of happiness - serotonin, and the substance harman, which causes a feeling of euphoria. A real tasty medicine during a pandemic! Our banana bread works well as a dessert for tea, but you can also make sausage sandwiches with it!

Condensed milk truffles - easier candy than hard to imagine! Not surprisingly, only one blogger who posted this recipe has 27 million views, and there are many such posts. If you wish, you can decorate the truffles with confectionery sprinkles, dried flower petals, or even food-grade gold - after all, New Year's.

Shrimp aguachili.

This appetizer is prepared very quickly and does not require any cooking skills at all.

Serves 6, cooking: 35 min.

What do you need:

• 500-600 g large raw shrimps
• 4 limes
• 2 large green chiles
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small bunch of cilantro
• 1 large long cucumber
• 1 red onion
• salt, freshly ground black pepper
• corn chips for serving

What to do:

1. Peel the shrimp from the shell, remove the intestinal vein. Brush the limes and pat dry. Remove the zest from all the limes with a fine grater. Juice 3 limes. Pour the lime juice over the shrimp, stir well, and refrigerate while the rest is cooking.
2. For the salsa sauce, squeeze out the remaining lime and place in a blender glass along with half the zest. Add coarsely chopped chili, garlic and cilantro and chop until smooth.
3. Cut the red onion into thin half-feathers. Peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut the pulp across into small slices.
4. Drain the juice from the shrimp, pour over the chili salsa, add the onions and cucumbers, season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, with corn chips (or chips).

Honey Butter Chicken

The honey-buttered chicken is delicious and perfect for a New Year's party.

Serves 6, cooking: 50 min.

What do you need:

• 1 whole chicken, 1.5 kg, or the same amount of chicken thighs or wings
• 2 medium C1 eggs
• 100 g of potato starch and flour
• 0.5 tsp baking powder
• salt, freshly ground black pepper
• 1 liter refined corn oil

For the sauce:

• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 100 g butter
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• 50 g sugar

What to do:

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces, do not remove the bones, but chop (cut the wings into phalanges). Place the chicken in a large bowl.
2. Sprinkle chicken with flour, starch, salt, pepper and baking powder. Break the eggs there. Stir with your hands until each bite is covered with the flour mixture.
3. In the largest deep pan, heat the oil to 180 ° C (if the pan is small, you will need to fry in batches). Lay out the chicken, fry over high heat, turning from time to time, until golden brown on all sides, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken into the sieve on the bowl. Let the oil in the skillet get very hot. Return the chicken pieces and cook until crispy brown. Put it back in a sieve - let the excess oil drain.
5. While the chicken is roasting, prepare the sauce: crush, peel and finely chop the garlic. Melt the butter in a deep frying pan, fry the garlic in it, 30–40 sec. Add soy sauce, then sugar and at the very end honey, let it simmer for 1–1.5 minutes.
6. Put the chicken in the resulting sauce and stir until all the chicken pieces are covered with the sauce. Serve immediately.

Banana bread

This banana bread works well as a dessert for tea, but you can also make sausage sandwiches with it! By the way, milk powder in the dough can be replaced with dry vegetable cream substitute.

Serves 6, cooking: 1 h + 2 h.

What do you need:

• 1 medium very ripe banana
• 350 g flour
• 2 tbsp. l. milk powder
• 70 ml fresh whole milk
• 1 medium egg C1
• 40 g butter + a little more for lubrication
• 30 g sugar
• 4 g dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt

What to do:

1. Sift flour with dry milk and salt, add yeast and sugar, stir until smooth.
2. In another bowl, mash the peeled banana into smooth puree, add fresh milk and egg, stir until smooth.
3. Put the banana mixture in the dry mass and knead into a smooth elastic dough, adding soft butter at the very end. Form the dough into a ball, place in a clean bowl and leave in a warm place for 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 180 ° C. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts, wrinkle, form 2 balls, cover with foil, leave for 10 minutes. Oil 2 molds measuring 22x6x10 cm.
5. Roll each ball of dough into an oval about 20 cm wide. Roll into a roll, pinch the open edges. Cut the roll crosswise into pieces about 2 cm wide (you do not need to cut through to the end). Put the cut rolls in prepared forms, cover with plastic foil, leave to rise for 1 hour.
6. Bake in the center of the oven for 17–20 minutes. Grease hot bread with butter. Serve lukewarm, but cool completely.

Crispy potato spirals

Crispy Potato Spirals are a new way to prepare french fries for burgers or fish and chips. These spirals are usually served with ketchup and beer.

Serves 4, preparation: 1 tsp

What do you need:

• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 medium egg C1
• 3 tbsp. l. milk
• 2 tbsp. l. grated parmesan
• 3 tbsp. l. potato starch
• salt, freshly ground black pepper
• deep fat oil

What to do:

1. Wash the potatoes with a brush, place in a pot of boiling salted water and cook until soft, 30 minutes. Then rinse with cold water.
2. Peel the potatoes and mash them. Add all the other ingredients to it, except for the oil, mix until smooth.
3. Transfer the potato mixture to a piping bag with a fine round nozzle. In a non-stick skillet, heat the oil to a layer of 1.5 cm.
4. Gently squeeze the potato mass into the pan in a thin strip, at the same time laying it in a spiral shape - from the center to the edge.
5. Fry the potato spirals on both sides until firm golden brown, turning over a couple of times. Put the finished spirals on a sieve so that the glass has excess oil. Serve hot.

Palak kofta, spinach and cheese balls

This Indian cheese and chickpea ball appetizer is very popular with vegetarians. To make this treat, you need to find a garam masala spice mix (or substitute curry for it) and chickpea flour (which is a great substitute for pea or rice flour).

Serves 6, cooking: 45 min.

What do you need:

• 200 g spinach leaves
• 170 g paneer (Adyghe cheese)
• 2 small boiled potatoes
• 30 g cashews
• 1 small onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2.5-3 cm fresh ginger root
• 1 small green chili
• 50 g chickpea or pea flour
• vegetable oil for deep fat
• 0.5 tsp spice mixture garam masala
• corn starch for crumbling
• salt
• curry sauce and tomato sauce for serving

What to do:

1. Peel and chop onion, garlic, chili and ginger. Fry in 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, 1 min.
2. Add the spinach, cover and cook until the leaves are wavy, 2 minutes. Grind the contents of the pan and the cashews with a blender in mashed potatoes.
3. Grate potatoes and cheese on a fine grater, mix with spinach puree, chickpea flour, salt and spices. You should have a thick, well-molded mass. Put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Pour vegetable oil into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Sprinkle cornstarch on a plate.
5. Take a piece of spinach the size of a plum, roll into a neat ball, roll in starch. When the oil heats up to 170 ° C, dip several balls into it at the same time, shaking off excess starch from them. Fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the finished jacket on crumpled paper towels. Serve warm with curry and tomato sauce.

Condensed milk truffles

Condensed milk truffles - easier candy than hard to imagine! If you wish, you can decorate the truffles with confectionery sprinkles, dried flower petals, or even edible gold.

Serves 10-12, cooking: 20 min + 2 h.

What do you need:

• 240 g condensed milk
• 180-200 g sugar-free cocoa powder
• 0.3 tsp. ginger powder, vanilla, ground cardamom and cinnamon

What to do:

1. Mix 100 g cocoa powder with ginger powder, ground cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla.
2. Heat the condensed milk to a near boil. Pour the cocoa mixture in portions, stirring thoroughly with a spatula each time. As a result, you should have a plastic mass.
3. Cover a small square shape with plastic wrap so that the edges hang down, lay out the resulting mass and smooth out thoroughly. Cover with hanging edges and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
4. Place the chocolate square on the board sprinkled with cocoa powder. Heat a knife and cut the layer into 2.5–3 cm squares. Sprinkle with cocoa powder.
5. Form into square truffles with rounded corners by dipping in cocoa powder to prevent sticking. Place on parchment, dust thickly with cocoa powder and let stand for a while, then transfer to a serving plate or dish.