Chef's favorites
Holiday specials that some of the area's best-known chefs serve at home
Christine Barbour, H-T Food Fare
December 17, 2003

Pity the poor chef. The festive season that lures so many of us to the kitchen to cook for family and friends is a mixed blessing for him or her — a busman’s holiday with a vengeance. When most of us punch our time clock, lock our office door or turn off the computer, it’s quitting time. Not so for the professional chef who, when feast-time calls, has the alternative of going out to eat, hoping a friend or spouse will cook, or putting that apron right back on and heading for the stove.

I’ve asked five of Bloomington’s top chefs to say something about how they handle the holiday cooking challenge by sharing with us a recipe from their family’s holiday table and a short story of what it means to them. We’ve been hearing a lot of my voice in this column over the year. I’m going to shut up now. Let’s listen to them. Happy holidays to you all.

David Tallent

Chef, Restaurant Tallent, 620 W. Kirkwood Ave., 330-9801.
 

This is a recipe from the first Thanksgiving at culinary school, and also the first time I had prepared the entire meal. Krissy (Dave’s wife and general manager of Restaurant Tallent) and I had some friends from school who had not left New York for the holiday. I started two days before and cooked like crazy in between class and work. One of my friends worked in a wine shop so he brought over several wonderful wines and we ate and drank till late into the evening. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again the following year as a kind of last gathering before we all graduated in January and went on our separate ways.

Caramelized Winter Squash Salad

Use an assortment of winter squashes, such as two butternut squash, two acorn squash, one kabocha and one cheese pumpkin.

2 cups fresh cranberries

2 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

2 stems sage, 4 stems thyme, rosemary

(chop leaves, reserving stems)

4-5 tablespoons butter

½ cup olive oil

Peel the squash and cut into large dice.

Mince the shallot and garlic, wash the cranberries.

Heat a large sauté pan and put in 1 tablespoon olive oil and about ½ tablespoon butter. Sauté the squash in small batches on as many sides as possible on medium-high heat until it caramelizes. Use more oil and butter as necessary. Preheat a large roasting pan in a 350 degree oven. Add the squash, garlic, shallots and herb stems to the pan and roast in the oven until the tip of a knife slides in and out of the vegetables easily. At this point remove the herb stems, add the cranberries and the chopped herbs and mix them into the squash mixture. Do this on top of the stove on medium-high heat. The cranberries should cook in 2-3 minutes, giving up all their juices. Salt and pepper after caramelizing the squash and then adjust again after adding the cranberries. Serve on a platter or in a large bowl. The squash will be very soft and maybe falling apart a bit. Serves seven to eight.

Tad DeLay

Chef and co-owner of The Limestone Grille with his wife, Linda Ripperger.  2920 E. Covenanter Drive, 335-8110.

My husband Tad’s favorite family recipe is the Butterscotch Pie made by his great-great grandmother, Wanetta Seitz. Born in 1863, Seitz traveled extensively, smoked a pipe and wore knickers — truly a woman ahead of her time!

She and her husband opened Seitz’s Restaurant in Greensburg, around 1885. Ma and Pa Seitz (as they were known) lived above the restaurant and raised six children there. The Seitz family owned and operated the restaurant for 69 years. After her husband’s death, Ma Seitz ran the restaurant herself, eventually with the help of one of her sons. In her later years (she lived to be 95) she could be seen sitting at the cash register collecting the money.

Customers would come from all over for a piece of Ma Seitz’s Butterscotch Pie. Tad’s mother, Joy DeLay, remembers going to the restaurant with her mother, Grandma Richey, and in turn she brought her son Tad.

Lunch or dinner always ended with a rich slice of butterscotch pie.

Ma Seitz’s Butterscotch Pie

1 cup old fashioned dark brown sugar

½ cup butter or margarine

2 egg yolks (beaten)

¼ cup milk

Baked pastry shell

6 large egg whites

1½ cups super fine sugar

Melt butter and sugar in heavy

(iron) skillet. Mix thoroughly and cool. Add egg yolks and milk.

Cook until thick, stirring constantly.

Pour mixture into baked pastry shell.

Make meringue. Whip the egg whites by hand or mixer adding a small dash of salt or a few drops of lemon juice before you whip.

Whip on medium to high speed.

When the white are holding a nice shape gradually add 1 cup of the sugar and keep beating for one minute. The mixture should be stiff and shiny. Fold in the remaining half cup of sugar at the end to make a tender meringue. Top pie with meringue, put in oven and brown.

Michael Cassady

Chef and owner of Michael’s Uptown Cafe, 102 E. Kirkw ood, 339-0900.

Quite honestly, I prefer to call my home cooking “simple.” Because I have six sons, I was forced to re-evaluate my home cooking style. During my boys’ early years, they were not much for gourmet cuisine. Also, my wife, Crystal, is an excellent cook, so she plays an important role in the Cassady home cooking execution. More times than not, after I’ve spent long hours at the cafe, I prefer to hit the couch and drink some wine rather than face the heat of the home kitchen stove.

However, I still love the breakfast thing — my idea of holiday breakfast cooking fun is Eggs Benedict, Creme Brulee French Toast, Michael’s Home Fries and a pitcher of Bloody Marys.

Creme Brulee French Toast

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1 (8 or 9-inch) loaf Challah bread

5 eggs

1½ cups half and half

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon Grand Marnier Liqueur

¼ teaspoon salt

Melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over a moderate heat. Pour into a 13-by-9-by-2 inch baking dish. Cut six 1-inch thick) slices of bread, trim crusts. Arrange slices in one layer, squeezing to fit. In another bowl, whisk eggs, half and half, vanilla, Grand Marnier, and salt. Pour mixture evenly over bread. Chill bread mixture covered at least 8 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring bread mix to room temperature. Bake uncovered 35-40 minutes until golden. Serves six.

From La Maison Inn, Gourmet Magazine, July, 1998.

Richelle Wylie

Executive Chef, The Scholars Inn, 717 College Ave., 332-1892.

This is my favorite holiday food recipe.

Ever since I can remember, my mom made this dish over Thanksgiving and Christmas (my dad grew up with this recipe here in

Bloomington, though it originally was imported from the south by one of my aunt’s boyfriends). Even though I often helped her assemble the dish (as I was always the kitchen helper growing up — my calling I guess!) I was squeamish about handling raw oysters and never tasted the dish until I was in college. My dad would always say “you don’t know what you are missing,” but I didn’t have the courage to try it until my palate matured. When I did taste it, I too fell in love with the dish which is really simple in ingredients and preparation but goes so wonderfully with the entire holiday meal.

Oyster Dressing

2 cups Saltine cracker crumbs

½ cup butter (melted)

½ cup oyster liquid

¼ cup half and half

1 pint oysters (sort over and remove any hard areas)—reserve the liquid salt and pepper to taste

Mix the cracker crumbs and the melted butter, set aside. Combine the oyster liquid with the half and half, set aside. Put a thin layer of the crumb mixture in the bottom of a greased oven-proof dish. Cover with half of the oysters, season and add half of the cream-oyster liquid. Repeat and top with the crumb mixture. Never make more than two layers. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Martin Frannea

Executive Chef, Truffles, 1131 College Mall Road, 330-1111.

My oldest sister married a New Mexico native 15 years ago. This preparation was a tradition in his family and soon became a holiday tradition in my own simply because of its absolute divinity.
 

We would usually savor this dish the night before Christmas in Santa Fe.

Whenever I visit my sister and her family, I always carry an extra suitcase so I can bring home as much red chile puree as she will give me. The chilies are harvested every August across Southern New Mexico and roasted on the spot. Countless family purchasing agents buy up as much as they can afford and take it home to puree and freeze for use during the next year.

When the harvest is not so good, the resulting shortage causes some serious problems among the family’s chile enthusiasts.

Those not fortunate enough to have family members on the spot can buy this type of chile (called Chimayo, but usually labeled “New Mexico Red Chilies”) at specialty groceries (try Sahara Mart) or through mail-order.

Remove the stems and seeds from the dried peppers and puree in a blender with a little water until a smooth paste is formed. A canned variety of this sauce is often available in most grocery stores.

New Mexico Red Chile Enchiladas

18 corn tortillas

1 quart New Mexico (Chimayo) red chilé puree

1 pound Monterey Jack cheese or queso fresca, grated

1 cup onion, yellow or white, small diced

6 eggs

Heat the chilé puree in a large frying pan until hot but not simmering at all. Submerge the tortillas in the sauce one by one. In a second frying pan, fry the eggs and reserve. When the tortillas have softened somewhat, lay one in the center of each of six serving plates.

Sprinkle with some grated cheese and diced onions. Repeat this process one more time and top with the last six tortillas and the remaining chile sauce.

Top each triple stack with one of the fried eggs and serve.