Christma
9 recipes found
Sweet Potato Layer Cake
Taking an old recipe and making it new, without compromising its comfort and nostalgia, can be a real joy. Howard Conyers Jr., a legacy sweet potato farmer in South Carolina, did what all good minds do: He got creative with what he had an abundance of. Using his mother Hallie’s carrot cake recipe, he replaced the grated carrots with sweet potatoes, introducing a deep and warm flavor to a classic recipe. The sweet potatoes play well with the spices, bringing in an appealing vegetal note that is a true delight with the cream cheese frosting. This is an easy cake to put together for a lazy Sunday, yet it feels regal and elegant enough for special occasions.
Smoked Salmon Without a Smoker
Cold-smoking salmon is a time-honored tradition in Indigenous communities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, as well as other cold regions where wild salmon runs. The days-long process of infusing the fish with wood smoke without heating it is a tricky one that requires a smokehouse. To replicate the subtle smokiness and tender chew, this recipe cures the fish using a dry brine seasoned with coffee beans, smoked paprika and mezcal, ingredients that bear the scent of fire. A fillet of uniform thickness will yield a consistent firmness, while a tapered one will have thin ends that become like jerky. If you’re concerned about uncooked salmon, you can start with flash-frozen fish, thawing it thoroughly and patting it dry before curing, or you can cook the salmon after it’s been cured.
Pignoli Cookies
Pignoli cookies are the royalty of Italian cookies, not only because they’re encrusted in toasty pine nuts on the outside and feature next-level chewiness on the inside, but also because pignoli (pine nuts, for the unacquainted) and almond paste aren’t the cheapest ingredients on the shelf. They’re worth the investment, though, especially in a recipe as simple as this one, which is adapted from my cookbook “Let’s Party” (Union Square & Co., 2025).
Nonalcoholic Negroni
It can be difficult to find a nonalcoholic version of the classic Negroni that captures the complex flavor notes without involving the use of pricy nonalcoholic spirits. This recipe, adapted from my cookbook “Let’s Party” (Union Square & Co., 2025), cracks the code by using a common pantry ingredient: hibiscus tea. It features grapefruit juice for bitterness, tea for floral and tannic notes, a little sugar for sweetness and black peppercorns for that subtle, satisfying tingle.
Charred Broccoli With Anchovy Vinaigrette
Adapted from my cookbook “Let’s Party” (Union Square & Co., 2025), this recipe is a celebration of charring food to extreme crispiness, embracing the briny flavor of anchovies and eating giant chunks of cheese. Peeling the tough outer layer from the broccoli allows you to cut extra-long florets that reach about halfway down the stem; deeply charring them gives them an almost smoky flavor. Cutting the Parmesan into large chunks instead of grating it gives the dish bulky, textural bites. A bold anchovy vinaigrette gives everything a bright and briny coating.
Roast Squash With Crispy Chickpeas and Feta
When it comes to squash recipes, butternut tends to get most of the attention. This recipe, adapted from my cookbook “Let’s Party” (Union Square & Co., 2025), is an unabashed celebration of the lesser-used members of the squash family: delicata, acorn and kabocha. When roasted, all three have a dense and creamy texture, with stunning orange flesh that looks gorgeous stacked on a platter. Roasted chickpeas add a crispy crunch, and a mixture of lightly pickled shallots, cooling mint and salty feta will make you see squash in a whole new light.
Pommes Dauphinoises (Creamy Potato Gratin)
A perfect dish to ease the transition from summer to fall to winter, this satisfying and comforting gratin can easily be the centerpiece of your meal, served with a bright, plucky salad and some roasted vegetables. As the colder months approach, it can be served more traditionally as a side dish to braised or roasted meat, providing a truly sturdy winter or autumn meal. However you choose to serve it, it brings a sophisticated yet superbly cozy touch to any table.
Broiler-Popped Oysters With Tomato Butter
These oysters taste like pizza, all thanks to a simple tomato butter loaded with garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper. In this recipe, adapted from my cookbook "Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook" (Knopf, 2023), you still go through the motions of shucking, but start by broiling the oysters, which makes them give up their tight grip and open right up. Then all you need is a butter knife to release them from their shells, so think of this as oyster shucking with training wheels on. Each opened oyster is crowned with the tomato butter before another quick trip under the broiler to get bubbly and browned. Serve with crusty bread to sop up all the briny, garlicky sauce.
Spice-Forward Coquito
This Puerto Rican holiday drink is filled with aromatics and spices—som traditional, some not—for the most delicious, balanced, complex coquito.