A Sweet and Savory Season

Stacey Brugeman

In anticipation of the six-week holiday season that is the magical yet chaotic finale to every year, we turned to some of Denver's best chefs for a little menu inspiration, asking for their favorite holiday recipe. Whether you feature these storied dishes on your holiday table or use them to refuel on the maddening days in between, the family memories and ethnic traditions that go along with each will inspire not only your menu, but your spirit.

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Giancarlo Macchiarella Locanda del Borgo

Pasta con le sarde, as it is known in Italian, is made all over Sicily, especially during the holidays. "In each small city, in each small town, the execution and ingredients varied a little," says Macchiarella. Here, he shares a version from his hometown of Palermo.

Sicilian Pasta with Sardines

4 servings

2 Tablespoons Kosher salt

1 fennel bulb, cut into Â¼-inch sticks, feathery greenery reserved

Â½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1Â½ cups yellow onion, julienned

4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed in fresh water

2 pounds fresh sardines, deheaded, deboned, and filleted by a fishmonger

1 cup dry white wine

10 saffron strands or Â½ teaspoon powdered saffron diluted in 1 cup hot water

Â½ Tablespoon tomato paste

3 Tablespoons pine nuts

3 Tablespoons dried currants or raisins, soaked and drained

Â¾ pound dried bucatini or perciatelli pasta

3 Tablespoons bread crumbs, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a stockpot over high heat, bring six quarts of water and the salt to a boil. Add the fennel sticks and greenery and blanch, cooking about five minutes. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the fennel. Set the pot of cooking water aside.

3. Pour the oil into a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the anchovies and sauté until the onions are translucent and begin to brown. Meanwhile, look over the sardines and pick out any small bones that remain. Add sardine fillets to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until they begin to break into pieces, about four minutes. Add the wine, saffron and tomato paste and cook until the mixture thickens, about five minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add pine nuts and currants or raisins and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

4. Bring the pot of fennel water back to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente, about eight minutes. Drain the pasta and add half the sardine sauce to it, stirring the two together over high heat. Place the pasta in a glass baking dish, add the remaining sauce and top with toasted breadcrumbs.

5. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes before serving.

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Jennifer Jasinski

Rioja, Bistro Vendôme

"It's not Christmas without Tom and Jerrys," says Jasinski, who learned to make this classic Christmas cocktail from her grandmother. Darling, as she was known, would serve the hot drink in Santa Claus mugs.

Darling's Tom and Jerrys

12 servings

4 large eggs, separated

3Â½ cups powdered sugar

1 gallon whole milk

12 ounces brandy, bourbon, or rum Freshly grated or ground nutmeg

1. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. In a small bowl, beat yolks until thick and creamy. Add the yolks to the whites and beat together until well blended. Gradually add the powdered sugar until thoroughly combined.

2. In a stockpot, gently heat milk over medium heat. Do not allow to boil.

3. Pour one ounce of liquor into each of 12 mugs. Add two to three tablespoons of batter and mix well. Fill with warmed milk and top with a touch of nutmeg.

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Kevin Taylor

Restaurant Kevin Taylor, Pallettes, Limelight, Prima, Kevin Taylor's at the Opera House

Every holiday season, Taylor keeps an Irish tradition alive by making potato-leek soup, though potatoes and leeks are about the only thing traditional about it. In a nod to contemporary French cuisine, this once humble meal includes celeriac, savoy cabbage, pureed chive juice and a sliver of fresh black truffle.

Potato-Leek Soup with Black Truffle and Chive Juice

6 to 8 servings

15 chives

2 white potatoes, diced

1 small, firm celeriac, diced

2 leeks, diced

1 ounce slab bacon, diced

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

8 cups chicken broth

Â¼ head savoy cabbage, julienned

1 fresh black truffle

1. Bring a sauté pan filled halfway with water to a boil. Add chives and blanch, cooking just until they brighten in color, about a minute or two. Remove from the boiling water immediately and place in an ice-water bath. Drain chives and put them in a blender. Add Â¼ cup of the blanching water and puree until smooth. Season with Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Set chive juice aside until ready to use.

2. Bring a sauté pan filled with fresh water to a boil and blanch then shock the potatoes. Repeat with the celeriac, the leeks and the bacon. Drain the vegetables and bacon. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat and gently cook potato and celeriac for about 10 minutes. Add the leeks and continue cooking until all are just tender. Meanwhile, in a small pan, sauté the bacon in its own fat until crunchy.

3. In a stockpot, heat the chicken broth to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and place it in a soup terrine.

4. Place the vegetables and bacon in the center of each soup bowl. Lay a small amount of the julienne cabbage next to the vegetables. Using a truffle slicer or a fine cheese grater, garnish each with one truffle slice. Place five small dots of chive juice around the cabbage and vegetables and serve, pouring the broth into each bowl tableside.

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Troy Guard

TAG restaurant (coming Feb. 2009)

Growing up on Oahu, Guard celebrated Thanksgiving with a Huli-Huli Turkey ("huli means "turn"). "We would put the turkey on a spit that would turn round and round for hours," he says. Using indigenous Kaiwe wood, Guard's dad built a fire in the ground, but barbeque guru Steven Raichlen recommends Weber's rotisserie attachment and an indirect wood fire in your kettle grill.

Huli-Huli Turkey

12 servings

About 20 garlic cloves, Â½ cup finely chopped, 1 cup smashed

Â½ cup peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger, plus 1 cup coarsely chopped

2 cups low-sodium soy sauce

1Â½ cups Hawaiian or cane sugar

1Â¼ cups Hawaiian sea salt

3 gallons water

Â¼ cup freshly ground black pepper

Â½ cup Hawaiian chiles (or Â¾ cup serrano chiles)

1 green onion, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 six-inch pieces sugar cane, chopped

2 granny smith apples, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

4 ti or banana leaves

1 20-pound turkey, rinsed, giblets removed

1. To make marinade, add Â½ cup finely chopped garlic, Â½ cup finely chopped ginger, soy sauce and sugar to a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat to let cool. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Place 1 cup of salt and 3 gallons of water into a cooler and stir until the salt has dissolved. Add black pepper, 1 cup smashed garlic, 1 cup coarsely chopped ginger, chiles, green onion, yellow onion, sugar cane, apples, celery, carrots and banana leaves. Add the turkey, cover with ice, and set it in a cool place to brine overnight.

3. Place a drip pan in the center of a kettle grill and, using any hot-burning wood that adds flavor in its smoke, build and light a large fire. Meanwhile, take the turkey out of the water bath and rub with Â¼ cup of remaining sea salt. Once wood has burned down about halfway and bright orange embers are piping hot and glowing, place the turkey on the spit. Be certain the logs are not flaming, or the turkey will burn.

4. Bring the marinade to room temperature and brush the turkey with it every 30 minutes.

5. After about four hours, test the temperature of the turkey leg. Once it reaches 170 degrees, remove the turkey from the spit and serve.

NOTE: The turkey can be cooked in a 350-degree oven. Roast four to five hours, until the leg reaches 170 degrees, basting every 30 minutes. Increase temperature as the leg approaches 170 degrees, roasting at 400 degrees for the final 15 minutes.

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John Broening

Duo

Broening once celebrated Thanksgiving playing Truth or Dare with recovering alcoholics; another was spent in a converted garage with hairdressers. With such unconventional memories, it was no surprise he offered an unconventional entrée: pan-roasted quail. Studded with fresh fall sage and dried cranberry chutney, however, this recipe feels just as November as turkey.

Pan-Roasted Quail with Dried Cranberry Chutney

4 servings

3 cups dried cranberries

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup orange juice

Finely grated zest of 2 oranges

3 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Â¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

4 tablespoons canola oil

8 semi-boneless quail

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Â½ cup chopped scallions

Handful fresh sage

1. In a small nonreactive pot, combine cranberries, vinegar, orange juice and zest, ginger and cayenne pepper. Cover and cook over gentle heat until thick, about 25 minutes. Transfer to food processor and pulse. Spoon chutney into stainless-steel bowl, add lemon juice and chill.

2. In two large, heavy-bottomed sauté pans, heat the oil. Meanwhile, season the quail on both sides with salt, pepper and cumin. Once the oil is smoking, place two quail in each pan and fry them on one side until golden brown, about five minutes. Turn them and brown the other side, about 4 minutes. Add the butter, scallions and sage to both pans and baste with the butter for 30 seconds.

3. Transfer quail to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and allow to rest for four minutes before serving with the chutney.

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Amy Vitale & Dustin Barrett

Tables

Husband-and-wife team Barrett and Vitale spend every Thanksgiving at his family's east Texas ranch. The house is overtaken by relatives and neighbors, all of whom demand this dish. Any blue cheese will do, but we recommend all-American Maytag.

Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Gratin (photo p. 53)

8 to 10 servings

3 large eggs

1 quart heavy whipping cream

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

4 cups blue cheese crumbles

1 handful fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

3 to 4 butternut squash, peeled and sliced almost potato-chip thin

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Whisk together eggs, cream, salt and pepper. Fold in cheeses. Add the thinly sliced squash and turn to coat.

3. Fill buttered, medium-large rectangular baking dish with squash mixture. To create a water bath, place the squash-filled baking dish in a larger baking dish. Add enough warm water to the larger dish so it's about halfway up the sides of the inner dish. Cover the gratin with plastic wrap, then foil.

4. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 1Â½ hours. Remove plastic wrap and foil and continue cooking until the gratin is golden brown on top.

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Frank Bonanno

Mizuna, Luca D'Italia,

Osteria Marco

Every Christmas, Bonanno returns to the New Jersey house where he grew up, bringing specialty ingredients from his Denver kitchens. One year, he went home with house-cured bacalao (salt cod) and made this Ligurian stew. "My maternal grandparents are from Northern Italy," he says, "plus, I just like the foods of Liguria." It was such a hit he's made it every year since.

Ligurian Christmas Stew

with Bacalao (salt cod)

10 servings

5 pounds salt cod

2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

2 white onions, julienned

1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced

7 cloves garlic, smashed

2 cups kalamata olives, pitted and quartered

2 cups dry white wine

2 16-ounce cans of San Marzano tomatoes

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

Juice from 2 lemons

4 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh mint, torn into small pieces

10 ounces unsalted butter

1. The day before making the stew, place the pieces of fish in a nonreactive container and fill with enough cold water to cover the cod by two inches. Every few hours (except overnight), drain the dish and refill it with fresh, cold water. Just before using, rinse each piece of cod under cold water, dry well, and cut the fish into two-inch cubes.

2. To a very large pot over medium heat, add olive oil, onion, fennel, garlic and olives and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Do not brown. Add cod and cook for five minutes. Add wine and cook until the contents have reduced by half.

3. Reduce the heat to low, stir in tomatoes and red pepper and cook until the fish starts to fall apart, about 30 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, herbs and butter and cook for five minutes. If needed, season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve the stew in a large bowl with a drizzle of good extra-virgin olive oil and crispy bread.

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Aaron Whitcomb

Strings

Whitcomb loves corn bread. Here he takes this early-American staple and lightens it, using plenty of flour and baking powder. "I serve it any chance I get," he says, but it seems especially fitting on a Thanksgiving menu.

Corn Griddle Cake

16 to 24 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour

1Â¼ cup granulated sugar

1 cup corn meal

3 Tablespoons baking powder

1Â½ teaspoons Kosher salt

5 large eggs

2 cups milk

Â¾ cup canola oil

2 cups clarified butter

1. Preheat convection oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, milk and oil and stir until well combined.

3. Pour butter into a large metal baking dish and spoon the batter in. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, approximately 20 minutes.

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Alex Gurevich

Café Bisque, Limón, The Arvada Grill

Gurevich watched his grandmother (Bubba) make this Jewish holiday dessert in her kitchen in what is now Belarus. He's changed it a bit, but on a visit to the States, Bubba blessed his Taiglach as better than hers. "She couldn't stop crying," he says. While it's is typically associated with Rosh Hashanah, he makes it for Hanukkah.

"Bubba's" Taiglach

12 to 14 slices

2Â¼ cups unsifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Â½ cup canola oil

4 large eggs

Â¾ cup brown sugar

Â½ cup sugar

1Â½ teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Â½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably fresh-grated

2 cups honey, preferably an organic local gold

Â½ cup hazelnuts, chopped

Â½ cup shelled pistachios, chopped

1 cup poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add oil and eggs. Mix.

3. Knead mixture to make a soft dough. Working with your hands, roll out long ropes of dough, about Â¾ inch in diameter and 12 inches long. Finish them by rolling on a clean counter that has been dusted with flour. Cut the ropes into small pieces, about Â½ inch wide. Place pieces on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

4. In a large anodized aluminum stockpot, combine brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg and honey and cook over high heat just until it boils. Reduce to medium heat. Drop the cooled pieces of baked dough into the honey mixture and stir using a slotted metal spoon. Cover and cook five minutes. Stir in the nuts and cook, uncovered, for an additional three to five minutes before removing from the heat. Watch the clock closely; do not overcook.

5. Leaving remaining honey in the pan, use a slotted spoon to turn the hot dough pieces onto a dry surface and let sit for two minutes. Dip your hands into an ice-water bath and use them to gently press the dough balls into a rectangular block that is about three inches tall, nine inches wide and 12 inches long. There will be spaces and crevices between the balls. Drizzle with the remaining honey mixture and sprinkle all over with poppy seeds. Let cool.

6. Once cool, trim the ends and corners and gently slice into 12 to 14 pieces. Serve slices with Russian Caravan tea