Christmas
1676 recipes found
Pernil
Perhaps the best known and most coveted dish from Puerto Rico, pernil is a positively sumptuous preparation for pork shoulder. It’s marinated (ideally overnight) in garlic, citrus and herbs, then slow-roasted on high heat to achieve a crisp chicharrón, or skin. Traditionally, it’s prepared for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but for those of us in the diaspora, it’s made for most special occasions. Shoulder is also a relatively inexpensive cut of meat, and it yields a lot of servings, leading to exciting leftovers. This recipe is deeply indebted to the chef Maricel Presilla and her recipe in “Gran Cocina Latina,” her cookbook published in 2012. Her method is a foolproof way to get that chicharrón as well as tender meat that falls off the bone. It’s blessed by her brilliance. (Watch the video of Von Diaz making pernil here.)
Cranberry-Orange Jelly
This is the cranberry sauce for cooks who secretly (or not so secretly) like the kind that comes in a can, a quivering ruby mass with an unexpected dash of orange and spice. Guests can scoop it out of a pretty glass bowl, but it’s more fun to unmold it onto a cake plate and serve it in slices. Make sure the water your use to unmold your jelly is quite hot, not just warm. The idea is to melt the outer jelly layer just enough so that the whole mold can slip right out.
Easy Cornbread-Brown Butter Stuffing
For many people, Thanksgiving is one big excuse to eat lots of stuffing. This one is particularly easy to make. Prepare cornbread using any recipe you'd like, then let it sit out until it gets a little stale. Crumble it into large pieces and then sauté with aromatics in deeply browned butter. Be sure to really let the butter brown: that's where much of the flavor is. Drizzle any remaining brown butter over the top of the stuffing once you've transferred it to the baking dish — that will make the top nice and crispy.
Root Beer Ham
Despite its regal countenance, a glazed holiday ham is surprisingly easy to cook — though “cook” is misleading here, as most supermarket hams already come fully cooked and just need to be heated through in the oven. Here, a bone-in half ham (try not to get the spiral-sliced kind, which can dry out easily) gently bakes in an aromatic pool of shallots, bay leaves and root beer, a variation on the Southern classic made with cola. The root beer braising liquid is reduced with brown sugar and Dijon into a sticky glaze that lacquers the scored ham with caramelized luster. Save the braising liquid and serve alongside to spoon onto slices for even more flavor and juiciness.
Raisin Cinnamon Roll Wreath
Perfume the house and decorate the table with this whimsical wreath made of buttery, sweet cinnamon rolls. Arranging the rolls into a ring makes it easy to tear away individual servings. The extra protein in bread flour yields a sturdier dough that’s easier to shape, but all-purpose flour works too. If you assemble these a day ahead and refrigerate them overnight before baking them the next morning, be sure to let the rolls rise three-quarters of the way before placing them in the fridge. A few hours before baking, allow them to come to room temperature on the counter. Have fun, and complete the wreath decoration with dehydrated orange wheels, cinnamon sticks, sugar-dusted cranberries or even a red ribbon bow.
Brown Sugar Layer Cake With Cranberry Buttercream
An easy cranberry jam lends its naturally pink hue and pleasantly tart flavor to this stunning cake. It's also tucked between the layers of a fluffy brown sugar buttermilk cake for an extra hit of cranberry and gorgeous color. You'll have enough jam for the buttercream and cake filling, plus some extra for your morning toast or oatmeal. This recipe might seem like a lot of steps, but you can also make and store the jam in the refrigerator up to about a week in advance. For best results and the fluffiest cake, make sure all of the cake ingredients are at room temperature before forging ahead.
Roast Turkey With Orange and Sage
The butter, massaged under the bird's skin, does a lot to help keep the breast meat moist, and the juice and wine in the pan below the bird create a deliciously steamy environment for the roasting. The combination leads to an interesting outcome: a bird that crisps up nicely not at the beginning of cooking, but at the end. The sweet-savory drippings make for excellent gravy.
Turkey Gravy
Here is a simple, elegant pan gravy that lends itself well to cooking in the very pan in which you've roasted your turkey. It calls for whisking flour with the fat in the bottom of the pan to create a light roux (no lumps!), then hitting it with stock and wine, salt and pepper. Some may wish to add cream, or other spices. Decant the gravy into a warmed boat or beaker, rather than into a cold one, and serve immediately.
Vegan Mushroom Make-Ahead Gravy
This excellent vegan gravy features caramelized mushrooms and a little soy sauce for depth of flavor, making it good enough to serve to your meat-eating guests, too. Just be sure to use a good-quality vegetable stock, preferably one you’ve made yourself. You can simmer the gravy up to five days ahead and store it in the fridge. Reheat just before serving.
Mashed Potato Casserole
This casserole may upset some mashed potato purists, but take heart: one bite and they'll be won over. The genius of this recipe, besides its utter deliciousness, is that it can be made the day before, or even two. Cook the potatoes, assemble the casserole, wrap tightly and store it in the refrigerator. When dinnertime comes, dust it with the cheese, butter and bread crumbs and bake the whole thing off. (And for everything you need to know to make perfect potatoes, visit our potato guide.)
Beef Wellington
In this British classic, tender beef fillet is blanketed with browned mushrooms and shallots, then wrapped in layers of prosciutto and buttery puff pastry before being baked until golden and flaky on the outside, juicy and rare within. Worthy of the most elegant, blow-out meal, save this one for Christmas, New Year’s Eve or your next big birthday. One thing to note: You really do need a full pound of puff pastry here to cover all the meat, so if your package weighs less (some brands weigh 12 ounces), you’ll need to supplement with another package.
Coquito
Coquito, which means “little coconut” in Spanish, is an eggnog-like mixture of coconut milk, eggs, sweetened condensed milk and rum or pitorro, a sort of moonshine rum. Coconut and rum cocktails are made throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, but coquito is unique to Puerto Rico. This recipe, which is adapted from the 1975 cookbook “Puerto Rican Cookery” by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, was created by her husband, who tended bar during the couple’s holiday parties at their home in San Juan. His recipe calls for shelling and pressing fresh coconuts to make your own coconut cream, but canned coconut cream makes an excellent substitute.
Fancy Canned Cranberries
The ultimate high-low condiment your table didn’t know it was missing. These dressed-up canned cranberries become tart, juicy and a little bit savory thanks to some fresh citrus, thinly sliced red onion and a little flaky salt. With or without whole berries suspended in them? That’s dealer’s choice, but the rounds will be much easier to slice without them.
Roasted Halibut With Mussel Butter Sauce
This is a stunning seafood main course that needs only a side dish, such as braised fennel or orzo salad, and some crusty bread served alongside for a delicious dinner party. Halibut is a mild yet buttery and rich fish with firm, meaty flesh. Here, the fish is wrapped in seaweed, which imparts subtle sea flavor and keeps the fish tender and juicy while it roasts. Mussels are steamed open in a bath of clam juice and kelp broth, releasing their flavorful juices into the liquid, which becomes a silky sauce. Earthy saffron adds depth and beautiful color, and just enough butter and cream round out the sauce without making it too heavy. For a festive presentation, top the fish with vibrant salmon roe, which look like jewels and offer pops of brininess.
Saratoga Holiday Cocktail
This festive drink is based on the Saratoga cocktail, a riff on a Manhattan that first appeared in Jerry Thomas’s “The Bar-Tender’s Guide” in 1862. It’s named after the New York State resort town famous for its mineral springs. This version incorporates brandied dried fruit, which carries notes of citrus and warming spices. The bitters help bring out the currant and cranberry notes in the fruit. Garnish with a twist of orange or a grating of nutmeg.
Cranberry Crumb Muffins
In these tender muffins, a crunchy topping adds nice textural contrast, and supertart cranberries keep the sweetness balanced. Fresh or frozen cranberries work well, but if using frozen cranberries, do not thaw them before they go into the batter. The batter may seem extra stiff from the cold berries, but it will bake up just fine. (They may need an extra minute or two in the oven.) Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or a mix of the three would be lovely. If you use berries, you can expect some color streaking, but they will taste great. Chopped up in-season peaches or plums would be tasty, too. Use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop to portion muffin batter into the prepared pan: It’s easy, quick and helps to keep the muffins the same size.
Peppermint Saltine Toffee Bark
A cross between a cookie and candy, classic saltine toffee is made by pouring a quickly made brown sugar caramel over a layer of salty crackers, baking it, then coating the whole thing with chocolate. This version uses a copious amount of bittersweet chocolate for the topping, which helps offset the sweetness of the toffee mixture. (Note that the higher the cacao percentage, the less sweet this treat will be.) The crushed candy cane topping makes this perfect for tucking into a holiday cookie box, but you can make it anytime of year. Toasted nuts, shredded coconut, dried fruit, colorful dragees and chopped candied ginger would all make excellent alternatives.
Glazed Ham
This is the ham that led directly to whatever childhood memory caused someone to combine ham and pineapple on a pizza. The sweet, slightly fiery and herbaceous crust on this salty haunch practically calls out for a garnish of caramelized pineapple, if not a spray of maraschino cherries. Others may reverse course and apply mustard. Either way, it is good to serve with a nutty wild rice or potatoes au grain, something with backbone.
Two-Tone Ginger Custard Pie
This silky, spiced custard is especially dreamy inside a crisp, flaky crust. Some custard pies use eggs as a binder — this one uses flour for a thick custard that always sets perfectly, creating a flat surface that’s ideal for a dusting of sugar. This striking design requires just a sheet of paper and a sifter, while the topping itself is ground freeze-dried mangoes and strawberries mixed with confectioners’ sugar. You can find the freeze-dried fruit at most grocery stores and health-food stores, where they are often grouped with the nuts and dried fruit. The pie can be made up to 1 day ahead, but for the cleanest look, it’s best to apply the sugar within 2 hours of serving; beyond that, the sugar will eventually absorb moisture from the pie and begin to change color. But even if you skip the topping, the filling is beyond delicious all on its own.
Fig and Cherry Cookie Pies
Similar to cucidati, the Italian fig cookies traditionally served at Christmastime, these adorable mini pies are filled with dried figs, dried cherries and almonds, then topped with a pretty almond-flavored glaze. But unlike most cucidati recipes, this one calls for softening the dried fruit in simmering water before it is puréed with nuts and spices. Sometimes dried fruit from the store comes without a drop of moisture left in it, so rehydrating it helps bring back some softness and ensures that the filling doesn’t rob moisture from the pastry as it bakes.
Feast of the Seven Fishes Pie
A velvety fish pie, filled with chunks of seafood in a delicate sauce, is classic cold-weather comfort food in the British Isles. This seafood pie is fancier than most. It’s got a buttery puff pastry topping that turns golden and crunchy as it bakes. And it’s brimming with seven varieties of fish, including scallops and shrimp, to make it festive enough to serve for a blowout Christmas Eve meal, like the Italian-American celebration Feast of the Seven Fishes. That said, if you’d rather keep things simpler, using just two or three kinds of fish still results in a stunning pie. Alaskan wild pollock, a mild, flaky fish that’s becoming more and more available in seafood markets, is a lovely and sustainable choice, as is Pacific cod.
Warak Dawali (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
Stuffed grape leaves are so prevalent across the Arab world and the Mediterranean that it can seem like there are as many variations as there are families. This recipe is for traditional Levantine versions existing in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, which generally have a warmly spiced beef and rice filling, are rich from being cooked with either meat at the bottom of the pot or chicken broth, and involve stuffed grape leaves that are rolled fairly thin and long. It’s a hallmark of any celebratory or holiday table, and perfect served with a side of plain yogurt. Though they are time-consuming, warak dawali are a very fun project to embark on with family or friends, and leftovers store wonderfully, up to 3 days in the fridge or a couple of months in the freezer.
Peppermint Brownies
These crowd-pleasing treats start with a dense, chewy brownie that’s topped with a layer of creamy peppermint filling, dark chocolate glaze, and a sprinkle of crushed peppermints. For the cleanest slices, chill the finished brownies thoroughly, then use a warm knife to slice them. Dip the knife blade into hot water and wipe it dry with a kitchen towel between each cut, and you’ll be rewarded with clean layers of chocolate, peppermint and glaze. It’s fine to sub chocolate chips for the chopped chocolate, just make sure they are fully melted before proceeding.
Stuffed Ham, Southern Maryland Style
There are as many recipes for southern Maryland stuffed ham as there are families in St. Mary’s County. It shows up on Christmas and Easter tables, and at almost every community fund-raising supper. This recipe, compiled from cooks whose families have been making it for generations, uses raw stuffing and is spiced with plenty of black and red pepper. Because the ham boils for so long, the spiciness will mellow. The most challenging part is the finding the ham itself. Corned hams — which are simply fresh hams that have been cured in salt or brine — aren’t usually in the grocery meat case, and butchers will often require advance orders. Corning your own fresh ham is not hard, but it can take several days and turns this into even more of a project.