Chefs' Holiday Table

Local chefs share their favorite family recipes

By Janice Binkert | Dec. 5, 2020

One might imagine that professional chefs go all out for holiday meals at home with family, preparing all manner of elaborate festive fare, plated and garnished exquisitely. That’s not always the case, most say, but when they do cook on these occasions, what is more important to them than getting fancy is sourcing as many ingredients as possible locally — just as they do when they cook in their respective restaurants. And looking back on fond memories of holidays past, the four highly talented chefs featured here admitted that sometimes at those gatherings, instead of being in the kitchen, they’ve often just sat back and enjoyed their family’s’ traditional holiday specialties — be they simple or sophisticated — prepared by their parents, aunts, uncles or grandmas! 

ROSA MARINA SALAD (pictured above)
(Servings vary)
From Stephanie Wiitala, co-owner/chef with partner Jonathan Dayton of S2S Sugar 2 Salt in Traverse City

“As long as I can remember, there has always been a big beautiful bowl of Rosa Marina salad at our Christmas dinner table. My mom got the recipe from my Aunt Marilee, and she has a 40-year-old typewritten recipe card signed by her to prove it. You can make it ahead the day before, which is convenient around the holidays. When I grew up and had my own home, my mom passed this recipe on to me, and I have played with it over the years, substituting fresh, seasonal local fruits. As a professional chef, I love to use recipes as an inspiration and make them my own by changing things up. However, with this recipe, I admit that the original way my mom has always made it is still my favorite. I guess that’s what makes it so special.”

Ingredients
8 ounces orzo pasta, (similar to a pasta called Rosa Marina)

2 eggs,

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon fruit juice from canned fruit (or apple juice if using other fruit)

11-ounce can mandarin oranges, well-drained

1 16-ounce can chunk pineapple, well-drained (my mom says to drain it overnight if possible). You can substitute other fruits like apples, pears, blueberries, or peaches if you like — about 24 ounces total of fruit (approximately 2 cups)

1 16-ounce carton of Cool Whip (I never buy this, so I use 1½ cups of heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks, with ¼ cup sugar added at the end.) 

Procedure
Boil orzo pasta about 8–10 minutes or until al dente. Drain completely and set aside.

Mix eggs, sugar, salt, flour, and fruit juice in a small saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring with a whisk the whole time until thickened and the consistency of pudding (don’t walk away while making this). Remove from heat and set aside until cooled. 

Mix the cooked orzo into the cooled pudding, put into a large sealed container, and chill overnight in the refrigerator if making the day before, or for at least 2–3 hours. 

Remove chilled orzo/pudding mix from the refrigerator and fold in drained mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, and Cool Whip (or whipped cream). Put back into the refrigerator to chill for another hour before serving. Choose a pretty clear glass bowl to serve and enjoy!

 
GRAMMA K’S MAPLE WALNUT MERINGUE CAKE
(Servings vary)
From Jennifer Blakeslee, co-owner/chef with Eric Patterson of The Cooks’ House in Traverse City

“My Gramma Kilbourn would be thrilled that I am sharing this recipe. She was an amazing woman and a wonderful cook, always cooking up a storm. She added delight to our holidays and to every other family gathering with her personality and culinary treats. Gramma K lived to be 100 years old. We found this old magazine picture in with her recipe cards after she passed away — that’s what this cake looked like when she made it. My cousin Cassy, who lives in Colorado, and I have been reminiscing about her even more with the holidays coming up, and this special recipe is always part of the conversation. It’s a bit of a project to make but totally worth it!”

Ingredients
1¾ cups walnut pieces

¾ cups maple syrup, divided (we prefer any of the maple syrups from BLiS Gourmet)

4 large egg whites at room temperature, to ensure proper whipping (source the eggs locally if possible)

½ cup sugar

¾ cups light brown sugar, packed

2½ cups whipping cream (we think the cream from Hilhof Dairy is the best in the area)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bourbon or whiskey to taste (we really like the whiskeys from Iron Fish, Ethanology, or Mammoth distilleries here in northern Michigan)

Procedure
Toss walnut pieces with ¼ cup maple syrup and spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast in a 350-degree oven until browned; this will take 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool down, and chop finely with a knife. Turn the oven down to 275 degrees. 

In a large bowl or in a stand mixer, whip the egg whites until foamy. Once they are foamy, start to pour the sugars into egg whites while whipping on medium-high speed. Once the sugars have all been added, continue to whip until stiff peaks form. (You have just made meringue - congratulations!) Set aside.

Draw three 9-inch circles on a piece of parchment paper. Put the parchment paper onto a sheet pan. Fill a pastry bag with a plain tip with some of the meringue. Starting about ½ inch inside of the first circle, pipe a nice fat spiral around the circle until you reach the middle. Continue to do this until all three circles have spirals in them. If you don’t have a pastry bag, just spread the meringue using a spatula.

Put the sheet pan into the oven and bake for one hour. Depending on your oven, the meringue may get a little brown; don’t panic, it will be fine. Let the baked meringue rest on a wire rack on the counter until completely cool, and I mean completely cool. If they are even a little warm, the whipped cream you will be placing on top of them in the next step will melt and make a big mess.

Whip the cream until just a wee bit past medium peaks, and then fold in the remaining ½ cup of the maple syrup, the vanilla, and all but about ⅓ cup of the finely chopped walnuts (the reserved ⅓ cup walnuts will be sprinkled on top of the cake when finished). 

Place a circle of meringue on a plate. Sprinkle some whiskey on the meringue and spoon ⅓ of the whipped cream on top. Spread the cream up to about ½ inch from the edge. Place the next meringue on top, press gently to help seal it, and top with more whiskey and whipped cream. Repeat for the last layer. Once the last bit of whipped cream has been added to the top of the cake, gently smooth it out with a spatula. Sprinkle the reserved walnuts on top.

Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least one hour or ideally, overnight. The reason for this is the meringue will need to soften to make it easier to slice. 

UNCLE GREG’S EGG BAKE
(Serves about 6)
From Adam McMarlin, owner/chef of Wren in Suttons Bay

"Most of the foods our family makes and serves during the holidays are different every year, but the one thing that always appears on the table on Christmas morning is this dish from my wife’s uncle Greg. I had never heard of “egg bake” before I moved here, so when my wife said we were going to her parents for that, I didn’t really know what to expect. In the end, I made sure we left with the recipe. (I’m a big fan of casseroles in general.) Uncle Greg is jovially enthusiastic about food, so he and I have gotten on really well ever since I first met my wife’s family. He’s always really interested in what we’re doing at the restaurant, and he makes the best pickles I’ve ever had!"

Ingredients
5–6 English muffins

1 pound breakfast sausage (Uncle Greg uses commercially made sausage that comes in a plastic tube, but if you have a butcher shop that makes its own sausage (like Maxbauer or Burritt’s in Traverse City), feel free to get it there — mild or hot Italian sausage works well, too.

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

8 ounces shredded sharp or mild cheddar cheese (You can use commercially produced cheddar or buy your favorite from your local cheese monger, like The Cheese Lady in Traverse City)

10 eggs

½ cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
Spray or butter a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Roughly tear up English muffins and line bottom of baking dish with them.

Sauté sausage until no longer pink, breaking it up with a spatula as you go. When fully cooked, drain sausage (reserve fat) and allow to cool. When cool, spread a layer of sausage over the English muffins. 

Dice and sauté the bell pepper and onion in some of the reserved fat. Drain, allow to cool, and then layer over the sausage. Layer the shredded cheese over the veggies.

Whisk the eggs well with milk and season with salt and pepper. Pour eggs carefully over the mixture in the baking dish. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

Take the baking dish out in the morning and sit at room temperature for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake, covered, for 50 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes. 

HERB ROASTED PRIME RIB
(Serves 4)
From Chef Guillaume Hazaël-Massieux, chef/owner of Restaurant La Bécasse in Burdickville

“I grew up in Guadeloupe, and my parents really enjoyed good food. At the holidays, being French, we would always have champagne, which pairs well with almost everything. Christmas Eve dinner started with appetizers like oysters on the half shell, smoked or cured salmon with crème fraîche and blinis, and a foie gras terrine. The main course was traditionally a standing prime rib roast accompanied by al dente green beans in garlic and butter, and always served with a gratin Dauphinois (which is now also on our restaurant menu). The next course was a green salad and a cheese assortment, and dessert was the classic French yule log. We ate the leftovers on Christmas Day! I have continued those holiday traditions with my family here in the USA.”

Ingredients
4-pound standing prime rib, bone-in

salt and pepper, to taste 

½ pound butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon crushed coriander seeds

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Procedure
Remove prime rib from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix butter, garlic, thyme, coriander, and parsley together. Season the meat, then coat with the herb butter.

Place meat on a rack in a roasting pan, bone side down, and roast on the middle rack of the oven, basting with herb butter every 5-10 minutes, for approximately 45 minutes, or until cooked to your taste — medium rare is recommended (about 125-130 degrees on an instant-read meat thermometer). Then, leaving the meat on the same oven rack, turn on the broiler and broil for 10-15 minutes to crisp the outside of the prime rib and caramelize the meat. 

Remove meat from oven and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes before carving. Serve with gratin Dauphinois. 

*** Pro Cuisine To Go ***

While you’ll be on your own preparing these chefs’ family recipes at home, you can have some of them cook for you when you order takeout from their restaurants!  

S2S Sugar 2 Salt
S2S/2GO call-ahead take-away and curbside program, pickup 9am–2pm Friday through Sunday. (231) 492-4616, sugar2salt.com (check website for weekly updates on menus and times).

The Cooks’ House
Check Facebook for the latest take-away menu and order before 6:00pm the day before you want to pick up. Pickup time is 4pm–6pm. Happy hour to go for two people is also available. (231) 946-8700, cookshousetc.com

Wren
Wren is not currently doing take-away, but rather using the opportunity during this slower time of year to make some improvements to the restaurant that will further enhance the dining experience for future guests. Watch their website and Facebook page for possible changes and updates ahead. (231) 271-1175, wrensuttonsbay.com

La Bécasse
Open Wednesday through Saturday for take-away pickup from 4:00pm –7:00pm (last order must be placed by 6 6pm). Regular menu (where you’ll find that famous gratin Dauphinois), take-and-bake menu, and happy hour to go. (231) 334-3944, restaurantlabecasse.com