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