Holiday Recipes From Our Team!
The Table is Set!
As you might imagine from our client list, the JS2 PR team is very enthusiastic about cooking and baking for our loved ones—especially when it comes to the winter holidays. We’re constantly inspired by the world-class chefs, restaurants, purveyors, hotels, and organizations we’re proud to represent, and are always excited to share the delicious recipes we encounter.
This year, we’re excited to gather in person with family and friends and make new memories, share wonderful meals, and experience wholeheartedly what we’ve all missed so much. As we began our holiday preparations, our team started reminiscing about the special signature dishes we make for the holidays, and quickly realized we had a bounty of goodness to share with our readers! We hope you enjoy the JS2 family’s most-requested recipes, and discover a new favorite for your festive feast.
Kevin
Bon Appétit’s Best Green Bean Casserole
Green bean casserole was the only dish I could make back in college. A roommate showed me how to make it, and since I was usually away from my family, I would eat with friends (and never wanted to show up empty-handed). I made this recipe for Thanksgiving again this year, but it’s a great Christmas side as well, and a fantastic go-to recipe for potlucks and other special meals. If you can only make one side dish, make this one.
Green Bean Casserole
Kate
Just Add Salt’s Apple Spice Cake
This cake is the first baking recipe I think of once the holiday season arrives. My aunt is an incredible chef and has grown her love for cooking and baking into her blog, Just Add Salt (@justaddsalt), and hopefully a cookbook soon! Prior to her J.A.S. days, we would print and file all her drafts and finalized recipes, and bring out our favorites each year. Since the apple spice cake’s creation, it has become a staple in my life. I share it at dinner parties and bake it as a holiday gift for teachers. The cake is light and fluffy, with a delicious and decadent caramel sauce that soaks deliciously into each bite.
Preparation
Emely
This rice smells like the holidays to me, and has always been a staple on our table for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. My mom found this recipe once in an old Spanish cookbook she inherited from my great-grandmother and made it one day for the family. It has since become a favorite at our gatherings. We follow this recipe and add one step: Dice up a large tomato and cook it along with the onions and bell peppers before adding the rice. Once you combine the rice with the rest of the ingredients, pour it all into an oven-safe dish and top with as much grated parmesan cheese as you like. Place in a 325°F oven for about 15 minutes—just enough for the top to get crispy and golden-brown.
Spanish Rice
Alex
Noodle kugel is a traditional Jewish holiday dish that I always made with my mom growing up. As a kid, I was in charge of crushing the cornflake cereal and adding it as the topping, which was THE MOST FUN job. I like to cook kugel for family and friends because it’s unusual, easy to put together, and I usually have most of the ingredients already in my pantry and fridge. I love my mom’s recipe the most because she adds cottage cheese instead of cream cheese, which gives the kugel a lighter texture (similar to ricotta). A touch of sugar and cinnamon makes it just a little bit sweet. This crispy, fluffy, savory, and sweet casserole is perfect for slicing into squares and sharing during the holidays!
Kugel
Jeff
James Beard’s Filet Mignon Marinade
My mother has used this recipe since it appeared in the New York Times in the early 1970’s. Instead of a turkey or ham with traditional seasonings, we’ve enjoyed this variation from the legendary chef, cookbook author, educator, and television personality James Beard every Christmas since. Mom always uses filet mignon instead of the recommended London Broil, flank, or skirt steak, and roasts it in the oven, but when I make it (a few times a year—not just for Christmas), I grill it California-style. It’s always a hit, and so delicious.
A few notes from my kitchen: I add a few dashes of Tabasco and lots of freshly ground black pepper and typically omit the orange zest. James Beard recipe doesn’t go into much detail, but I pulled this from Epicurious (which also recommends using filet):
Trim the filet well. Combine soy sauce, garlic, and sherry and olive oil in a large bowl. Place filet in the bowl. Turn a number of times, and let it marinate for several hours or overnight, turning a few times.
Place the filet on a rack, and roast in a 350°F oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the meat thermometer registers 120°F (for rare). Baste with the marinade several times during the roasting.
Remove from the oven, and let it rest for several minutes before serving on a hot platter. Pour pan juices over the filet.
Filet Mignon
Christina
Hazelnut Nutella Sandwich Cookies
We love these thin, crispy cookies with chunks of crushed hazelnuts and a smooth, rich layer of Nutella between them. These have been my go-to Christmas cookies since my first Christmas at home with my husband. The first year we made them, we poured ourselves into this project not realizing at first just how many sheets of cookies we would need to bake in order to assemble dozens of sandwichcookies for friends and family. This annual baking tradition has been interrupted only in years when new babies have taken over our home, and will be back for another round this year. They’re great with coffee or a scoop of your favorite ice cream.
Hazelnut Nutella Sandwich Cookies (Photo courtesy of Christina Gilmour)