America's best chefs to share their favorite recipes and the memories that go with them.

At the end of their workday on Christmas Eve, chefs unbutton their white jackets, hang up their toques, and with a sigh of relief, leave their sous-chefs in charge of the kitchen for a few days. No sooner do they get home than they're often thrust back into a kitchen—one that's small and staffed by amateur helpers, some with tiny hands and huge expectations. But even for the most sophisticated chefs, holiday cooking is not about wowing everyone with the latest ingredients and chicest techniques. It's about re-creating traditional holiday dishes—all those old standbys that affirm a family's shared history, the simple foods they've loved since childhood, those rib roasts and cookies that are always the same no matter how much everything else may change. We asked eight of America's best chefs to share their favorite recipes and the memories that go with them.

Starters

• Chestnut Soup (from Fabio Trabocchi)
• Whipped Salt Cod with Caviar on Steamed Potatoes (from Lydia Shire)

Main Course

• Roasted Prime Rib (from Alfred Portale)
• Apple-Quince Compote (from Alfred Portale)
• Smoked Turkey-Sweet Potato Tamales (from Stephan Pyles)

Sweets

• Fig Cake (from Surbhi Sahni)
• Lane Cake (from Scott Peacock)
• Basler Lackerli (from Gray Kunz)
• Cream Cheese-Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Carrie Nahabedian)

From Oprah.com

Alcohol-Free Basic Eggnog

Ingredients

• 12 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 liter cream
• vanilla
• nutmeg (to garnish)

Directions

1. 
   

   Separate room temperature eggs.

2. 
   

   Beat yolks with half the sugar until creamy.

3. 
   

   Beat whites with half the sugar until peaks hold.

4. 
   

   Beat cream until stiff.

5. 
   

   Fold everything together.

6. 
   

   Add vanilla to taste.

7. 
   

   Refrigerate in covered container at least 24 hours.

8. 
   

   Put in serving bowl, sprinkle with nutmeg.

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Broccoli, Potato and Bacon Quiche

INGREDIENTS
1 bag (19 oz) Green Giant® frozen roasted potatoes with broccoli & cheese sauce
1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box
4 Eggland's Best eggs
2/3 cup whipping cream
7 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled (about 1/3 cup)
1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (4 oz)
1 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/8 teaspoon salt, if desired
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Cook frozen potatoes with broccoli and cheese sauce in microwave as directed on bag.
2. Meanwhile, place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie.
3. In large bowl, beat eggs and whipping cream with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in cooked potato mixture and remaining ingredients except chives. Pour filling into crust-lined plate; spread evenly. Sprinkle chives over filling.
4. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until edge of filling is light golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F. Bake 33 to 43 minutes.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft):

Heat oven to 375°F. Bake 33 to 43 minutes.
Bake-Off is a registered trademark of General Mills ©2009
2009 © and ®/™ of General Mills
Eggland's Best is a registered trademark of Eggland's Best, Inc.

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Roasted plantain crepes

2 ea semi ripe plantains

2 Tb olive oil

Salt & pepper

1 ½ cp flour, sifted

2 ½ cps milk, reserve ½ cup

¼ cp water

3 ea eggs, beaten

1 tsp salt

2 tsp Creole seasoning

2 Tb chopped parsley

1 tsp thyme leaves

¼ cp melted butter

Method:

1. Set oven to 400 deg. Peel plantains and put in roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Remove from oven when tender and add to blender with reserves milk. Puree until smooth.
2. Add milk and water to flour and whisk till smooth. Add beaten eggs to flour mixture and combine. Add seasonings and herbs. Add the plantain puree and combine and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes before use. If too thick just add a little water to thin it out.
3. Using a little butter in heated medium nonstick fry pan, add about 2oz of liquid to pan and swirl around till bottom is covered. When edges of crepe start to brown a little, flip crepe for about 30 seconds then remove.
4. Continue to make more crepes.

Chef Hugh Sinclair

Irie Spice, Inc.

(954) 557-4742

www.iriespice.com

Festive Cranberry-Chicken

What You Need!

1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

1 Tbsp. OSCAR MAYER Real Bacon Bits

3 Tbsp. KRAFT Light Classic Caesar Dressing

1 Tbsp. GREY POUPON Savory Honey Mustard

36 TRISCUIT Rosemary & Olive Oil Cracker

2 romaine lettuce leaves, each torn into 18 pieces

Make It!

COMBINE all ingredients except crackers and lettuce.

REFIGERATE 1 hour.

TOP crackers with lettuce and chicken mixture just before serving.

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Classic Cocktail Meatballs

Prep Time:

20 min

Total Time:

36 min

Makes:

25 servings, 2 meatballs each

What You Need!

2 lb. lean ground beef

1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 cup water

2 eggs

1 jar (12 oz.) grape jelly

1 bottle (12 oz.) chili sauce

Make It!

HEAT oven to 400ºF.

LINE 2 (15x10x1-inch) pans with foil; spray with cooking spray. Mix meat, stuffing mix, water and eggs until blended. Shape into 50 (1-1/2-inch) meatballs; place in prepared pans.

BAKE 16 min. or until done (160ºF). Meanwhile, bring jelly and chili sauce to boil in large saucepan on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

ADD meatballs to sauce; stir to evenly coat.

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Curried Pumpkin couscous pilaf w/ beef tips in pumpkin molasses sauce

Couscous

3 Tb olive oil

1 Tb curry powder

¼ cp finely diced onions

1 Tb finely diced garlic

3 cps pumpkin, small dice

1 tsp ground coriander

1 box packaged couscous

2 cp chicken stock

Salt & pepper to taste

Zest & juice of one lemon

2 Tb chopped cilantro leaves

Beef

1 tsp ground all spice

1 Tb ginger powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 ½ lb sirloin tips, 1” cubed

¼ cp olive oil, divided

Salt & pepper to taste

Molasses sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cp diced onions

2 Tb mined garlic

2 cps diced pumpkin

1 Tb thyme leaves

1 ea cinnamon stick

2 tbsp flour

4 cps beef stock

1 cp molasses

½ cp brown sugar

½ ea scotch bonnet chili pepper

2 Tb tomato paste

Method:

Season the beef with the spice mix and half the oil. Marinate for at least an hour. On medium heat, add oil and sauté beef to the brown lightly, then remove from heat.

For Sauce, on medium heat sauté onions with garlic for about 2 min then add the thyme leaves and sauté for about 30 seconds before adding pumpkin. Sauté ingredients for about 3 min then dust with flour. Blend flour into mixture then add remaining ingredients. Stir well and let liquid come to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Reduce liquid until it thickens then add reserved beef and cook for about 20 minutes.

On medium heat, sauté curry powder while stirring for about 30 seconds. Add onions and garlic and sauté for about 1 minute then add the pumpkin and coriander spice. Season with salt & pepper then mix in couscous and stir well until grains of couscous are coated then add chicken stock. Let come to a simmer then remove from heat. And sit covered for about 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and add chopped cilantro before serving. Serve the molasses beef over the couscous.

Chef Hugh Sinclair

Irie Spice, Inc.

(954) 557-4742

www.iriespice.com

Coconut Boniato flan w/ toasted coconut shavings

8 – 10 servings

1 ea Dried coconut, cracked and drained. Reserve the meat and water.
1 ½ cp sugar
1 ½ cp or 15 oz can of coconut milk
1 cp milk
1 cp peeled and grated Boniato
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
1 tsp finely chopped scotch bonnet pepper
¼ cp Captain Morgan’s Spiced rum
¾ cp sugar
6 ea eggs
2 -3 cps coconut shavings
2 Tb sugar

Method:
1. Heat oven to 350 deg. Heat about 12 cups of water also
2. Using the back of the chef knife, crack the coconut in the middle over a bowl. Strain the liquid from the coconut through a fine sieve along with a piece of cheese cloth. Reserve the liquid. Crack the shell of the coconut some more and remove the meat. Using a vegetable peeler, begin shaving the pieces of coconut on the sides. Place shavings on a half sheet pan with parchment paper and sprinkle sugar over them. Place in oven and toast until just light golden brown. Remove and cool on rack.
3. On medium heat in medium sauce pan, add the sugar with ¼ cp of the reserved coconut water. Cook the sugar until it is a light caramel color. Remove from heat and add about 2 table spoons of caramel in 6 ounce ramekins. Quickly twirl the ramekin around to coat the side of the ramekin a little. Easier to do one ramekin at a time so caramel doesn’t harden. If the caramel in pot hardens, reheat quickly and continue.
4. While caramel is cooking add the next twelve ingredients to a blender and puree for about 10 – 15 seconds. Ladle four ounces of liquid in each prepared ramekin. Set ramekins in a baking pan and pour hot water to halfway up the ramekins. Place in oven for about 50 minutes or until a pick comes out clean. Remove from oven and bath and let cool. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
5. To plate, run a small pairing knife around the rim of a ramekin and place a plate atop the ramekin. Invert the plate and remove the ramekin so the flan comes out. Garnish with some coconut shavings on top of flan.

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Herbed roasted Chicken

Herbed roasted Chicken:

10 -12 servings

2 ea sticks of butter, softened

2 Tb dried parsley

2 Tb dried thyme

2 Tb dried rosemary, finely chopped

3 ea cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 Tb ground black pepper

1 Tb ground coriander

1 Tb garlic powder

1 Tb old bay seasoning

3 Tb salt

1 ea large roasting chicken, 8 – 10 lbs

¼ cp olive oil

1 ea whole onion, quartered

1 ea whole orange, quartered

4 ea sprigs thyme

2 ea sprigs rosemary

6 ea whole garlic cloves

3 cps pineapple juice

3 Tb brown sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425º.

2. Combine well the first 5 ingredients in small bowl and reserve. Repeat this process for the next 5 ingredients.

3. Remove any giblets from inside chicken. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels then rub the bird down with the olive oil. Season the bird with the dry season mix inside and out and also beneath the skin by the breast meat.

4. Now rub the bird down with the softened butter herb mix making sure to get some under the skin by the breast. Insert the next five ingredients in the cavity of the bird.

5. Fold the tips of the wings down and tie the ends of the legs together.

6. Place bird in roasting pan with raised rack and place into the oven. Mix the last two ingredients and reserve

7. Keep temp at 425º for about 15 minutes then reduce the temp to 325º. Base bird every 30 minutes with pineapple juice and any oils from the bird in the pan. Keep cooking until the internal temp of the chicken is 160º. The temp of the bird will go up to the desired 165º after being removed from oven. Rest the chicken rest for about 15 minutes before cutting into it.

8. Note: If chicken starts to get darker than you would like, cover with foil until the end of cooking process. This dish goes well with some great mashed potatoes or honey mustard roasted potatoes

Chef Irie (954) 557-4742 www.iriespice.com twitter.com/chefirie Facebook @ Chef Irie