In the kitchen: Cocktails and festive nibbles for your New Year's gathering

Newsletter: In the kitchen: Cocktails and festive nibbles for your New Year’s gathering

Dec. 28, 2016 3 AM PT

Happy New Year, fellow cooks. We’re just about there. Whether you’re looking to celebrate the fact that you’ve survived the year, or are perhaps looking forward to the potential and possibilities the coming year may bring, we have some fun recipes and ideas to help you out.

In addition to helping with your New Year’s festivities, we have some great recipes to help you celebrate the last few nights of Hanukkah (can you ever have too many latke recipes?). Marcus Samuelsson also stopped by the Test Kitchen recently to demonstrate his recipe for brown butter biscuits topped with bird funk and chicken liver butter, if you’re looking for the perfect breakfast idea for a lazy New Year’s morning.

— Noelle Carter

FANCY CHEESE PUFFS AND OTHER NEW YEAR’S NIBBLES

Keep the guests sated and merry during your holiday festivities with some creative and tempting nibbles. We’ve collected some of our favorite appetizer recipes — fancy cheese puffs (gougères)? — from our Recipe Database to help you plan your celebrations.

Looking for New Year's appetizer ideas? Consider gougères. You can make them ahead of time.

SALUTE YOUR HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS WITH THESE FESTIVE COCKTAILS

Ring in the New Year with one of our favorite cocktail recipes, be it something bubbly, a festive punch or more than one creative take on eggnog. Check out the recipes for some of our favorite libations.

This luscious eggnog gets an extra kick from star anise. Variations include rum, tequila, whiskey, gin and more.

TURKISH INSPIRATION FOR YOUR HANUKKAH GATHERINGS

For Hanukkah this year, food writers Faye and Yakir Levy turn to Turkish influences for their recipe spread. Zucchini latkes with feta and dill, bulgur meatballs with a tomato pepper sauce, lentil latkes with chard yogurt sauce and cheese cigars — dill-flavored feta wrapped in thick filo dough and fried — make for a delicious way to celebrate the season.

Cheese cigars are dill-flavored feta wrapped in thick filo dough and fried.

MARCUS SAMUELSSON ON HIS NEW ‘RED ROOSTER’ COOKBOOK

With his latest cookbook, Marcus Samuelsson celebrates the neighborhood of Harlem, home to his Red Rooster restaurant, which he opened in the fall of 2010. His new book, “The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem,” focuses on the restaurant and the food, people and neighborhood it reflects. Recently, Samuelsson visited the Los Angeles Times to chat with food editor Amy Scattergood about the book, and to cook a couple of new recipes from the book. One bite, and you’ll be making his brown butter biscuits and bird funk with chicken liver butter again and again.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson talks about the inspiration for his restaurant in the heart of Harlem, the Red Rooster. He describes the restaurant as a vibrant and rich epicenter of color, culture and flavor.

WHIPPED CREAM SHORTAGE? NO PROBLEM

Perhaps you’ve heard about the whipped cream shortage of 2016, where an accident in August curbed the production of nitrous oxide, which is used to aerate canned whipped cream. But don’t worry. Homemade whipped cream is easy to whip up. One dollop of the homemade stuff and you might find you never crave storebought again.