What’s Cooking for Christmas

Move aside, Christmas ham.

Local chefs are recommending some of their best holiday-inspired dishes, leaving the traditional holiday meat off their list of favorites and hanging it out to dry.

But there will be fruitcake, of course.

To help kick off the Christmas holiday, co-owner Dorothy Stabile suggests starting the day with a fresh batch of cinnamon and sugar apples baking in the oven.

“It smells good on Christmas morning and it tastes great,” the New Baltimore bakery co-owner said. “It’s something light to eat before a big meal.”

Baked Apples

Directions:

Core the apples. Fill cored apples with a mixture of butter, cinnamon and sugar (white or brown). Place filled apples on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until thoroughly cooked.

“Stick something in the apples until they feel like they are done,” Stabile advised. “Then bring them out, put them in serving dishes and that’s it. It’s quick and easy.”

Although she varies the holiday dishes she serves each year, Stabile said sweet potatoes are an “absolute must” to bring to the dinner table during Christmastime.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

3 cans sweet potatoes

1 stick butter

1–1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Directions:

Drain sweet potatoes, reserving some of the liquid. Mix 1 melted stick of butter with 1–1 1/2 cups brown sugar, until the consistency is similar to syrup. If more liquid is needed, use the reserved liquid from the canned sweet potatoes. If desired, add raisins or pecans to the mixture. Place sweet potatoes in baking dish and pour butter and brown sugar mixture over potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

“Then, about 10 or 15 minutes before taking it out, I put marshmallows on top,” Stabile noted. “Let the marshmallows brown, watching it carefully so they don’t burn.”

Other holiday snacks and desserts

Elizabeth Tripicchio, a manager with five years of baking experience, shared recipes for a few of the eatery’s most popular treats during the holidays.

While preparing fresh-baked goods Monday at the bakery on Jefferson Avenue in Chesterfield Township, Tripicchio offered a helpful tip for bakers to use year-round.

“If you bake anything with eggs in the recipe, add an extra egg,” she suggested. “It makes whatever you’re baking fluffier, last longer and have a softer texture.”

Tripicchio, 17, created her own recipe for preparing and baking the perfect banana bread to serve during the holiday season.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

Pinch of cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed, overripe bananas or 3 overripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Pecan Crescent Cookies

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:

2 cups butter, softened

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 cups flour

2 cups pecans, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make into crescents. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Let cool and add powdered sugar.

Christmas Date Cookies – Italian Filling

Makes 2 dozen

Filling Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/3 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 2/3 cups dates, chopped

Directions:

Chop dates. Mix and cook on stove over low heat. Stir often until they reach the consistency of marmalade. If desired, add 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Let cool before using.

Claudio Tripicchio of Sorelle Bakery offered up his recipe for a mango fruitcake that will likely fit in well with any Christmas spread.

Pineapple can be used in the bread instead of mango, and chopped cherries can be a sweet addition to the mix, he noted.

Fruitcake/Mango Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups fresh mango, chopped

1/2 cup dates

1/2 cup walnuts, or 1/2 cup macadamia nuts

2 1/2-3 cups flour

Directions:

Bake at 350-375 degrees until middle of loaf is dry. The bread is ready to take out of the oven when an inserted toothpick comes out dry.

Chef shares Italian holiday recipe

Chef Angelina Grillo of Grillo’s International Market in New Baltimore shared her recipe for a thick, silky pudding prepared with Italian short-grain rice.

Italian Arborio Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1 cup water

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup Italian Arborio rice

2 cups whole milk

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Few dashes ground nutmeg

1/2 imported cinnamon stick, or a few dashes ground cinnamon

Zest of 1/2 orange (If you don't have a zester, you can put the orange peel in the food processor with a little bit of water)

Whipped cream, for serving

Heavy cream, if needed

Dried fruits, optional

Directions:

Bring water, salt and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add rice, return to a boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Stir occasionally and cook until rice has absorbed the water, but is still al dente, or for 15 minutes. Bring milk, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and orange peel to a simmer in a separate saucepan. Add the cooked rice and cook at a simmer over medium-low heat until rice absorbs most of the milk and mixture starts to get thick and silky, or for 10 to 15 minutes. Add dry fruits or nuts, if desired. Transfer pudding to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator until cool and set. If mixture is too thick, you can thin it down a little with some half and half or heavy cream. Serve with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon or a little orange zest.