Seven holiday cookbook recipes (2024)

Read USA TODAY's Carol Memmott's holiday cookbook picks. Then read recipes from each of the books:

Roast Prime Rib of Beef from Canal House Cooks Every Day by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

Serves 8–10

We favor roasting large cuts of meat at a low temperature; the gentle heat cooks them evenly throughout (which means beautifully rosy-pink slices of beef).

1 prime rib roast of beef, 8–12 pounds, tied between the ribs
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°. Generously season the roast all over with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy skillet large enough to accommodate the roast and sear the meaty sides until they are nicely browned, 5–10 minutes. Transfer the roast to a large roasting pan, rib side down, and roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 120° for rare, 130°–135° for medium-rare, or 140° for medium, 3–4½ hours. Transfer the roast beef to a carving board or a warm serving platter and let it rest for 30 minutes. Remove the string before carving.

Excerpted from Canal House Cooks Every Day by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton/Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC

Avocado tartine with cucumber and sesame seeds from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

Serves 2

Back when I was a vegetarian, when it was time to go out with friends I always insisted that our restaurant choices not be limited by my dietary rules. This may sound as if I was playing the part of a martyr — "Don't worry about me, I'll just eat the lettuce that comes under the fried chicken!"— the thing was, I held in my head a detailed map of all the great dishes nobody notices on a menu unless they're looking, and I could eat anywhere. At steakhouses, I'd eagerly anticipate the garlic-buttery broiled mushroom caps, flawless asparagus spears, and just about anything they could do with potatoes. At French bistros, I'd eat leafy green salads and just about anything that promised to contain goat cheese, leeks, or haricots verts. And at sushi restaurants, I ordered avocado- cucumber rolls, and believe to this day that anyone who does not is missing out.

That's the inspiration behind my own fussy hack on avocado toast. Classic avocado toast is hardly a recipe— you simply toast bread, smash up some avocado on it with a fork, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a few drops of olive oil. But this is the way I make it when I miss that sushi roll. Inspired by the gorgeous, rhythmic sushi- bar preparation, I lay out delicate avocado slices — but, seriously, no reason not to just mash it up if you're (I hope) a tad less obsessive than me. What comes after that is a cucumber caviar of sorts, though I promise, it's hardly fancy, just a finely chopped cucumber dressed with rice vinegar and nutty toasted sesame oil with lots of black and white sesame seeds on top. It's crunchy, creamy, nutty, and one of my favorite mid -afternoon snacks.

One 6- inch length of baguette
1 avocado, halved, pit removed
½ cup (85 grams) minced seedless cucumber (about ¼ of an English cucumber)
1½ teaspoons rice vinegar
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds, toasted (optional)

Split your bread into top and bottom halves, and toast the halves. Arrange slices of, or mash, half your avocado on each toasted baguette half. Stir together the cucumber, vinegar, sesame oil, and salt. Dollop half the cucumber salad on top of each bread half. Sprinkle with mixture of seeds, if using. Adjust seasonings to taste— I often find that I want a few more drops of rice vinegar, or another pinch of salt. Eat immediately.

Traditional Madeleines from Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller & Sebastien Rouxel

Makes 12 Madeleines

¼ cup + 3 ½ tablespoons (68 grams) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon (2.2 grams) baking powder
¼ teaspoon (0.6 grams) kosher salt
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (83 grams) eggs
¼ cup + 1 ¼ teaspoons (55 grams) granulated sugar
2.3 ounces (66 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for the pan
2 teaspoons (9 grams) dark brown sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons (9 grams) clover honey
1 to 2 drops lemon oil (optional)

You'll need a 12-mold madeleine pan and a pastry bag with a ½-inch plain tip (optional).To get the classic bubble on the madeleines, baking in a convection oven is preferable. Place the flour in a medium bowl and sift in the baking powder. Add the salt and whisk together. Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and mix on medium-high speed for about 1 minute, warming the bowl gently as needed to dissolve the sugar. Increase the speed to high and whip for about 4 minutes, until the color lightens and the batter doubles in volume.

Meanwhile, heat the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking, to dissolve the sugar, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and fold in half the dry ingredients, then fold in the remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any dry ingredients that may have settled there. Pour the warm butter mixture over the batter, add the lemon oil, if using, and fold until the mixture is incorporated and the batter is smooth. Place the batter in a covered container and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (convection or standard). Brush the madeleine pan with butter. Refrigerate or freeze the pan to harden the butter. Transfer the batter to the pastry bag, or use a spoon. Pipe or spoon the batter into the molds (20 grams/1 generous tablespoon each). Tap the bottom of the pan against the work surface to smooth the top of the batter.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes in a convection oven, 8 to 9 minutes in a standard oven, until the tops are lightly browned and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. (The bottoms of the madeleines will brown more quickly than the tops, so keep the tops on the lighter side.) Immediately unmold the madeleines and cool on a cooling rack. The madeleines are best the day they are baked, but they can be stored in a covered container for up to 1 day.

Earl Grey Tea Loaf from Jamie's Great Britain by Jamie Oliver

When I put this old-fashioned, humble fruit loaf through the rigorous recipe-testing process I always use for these books, the feedback on it was remarkable. Yes, the dried fruit in it is exciting and lovely, but I think it's the Early Grey tea-infused syrup that makes people do a complete double take. I guess it's not surprising – everyone knows we Brits love our tea! If you make this, I hope you get the same great response I've had.

Serves 12

6 Earl Grey tea bags
14 oz dried fruit, such as raisins, golden raisins, cherries, cranberries
1 orange
1 large free-range egg
1 ½ cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon quality pumpkin pie spice
1 whole nutmeg, for grating
1 lemon
Wensleydale cheese, to serve

Put 4 of the tea bags into a measuring jug and add 1¼ cups of boiling water. Leave to brew for a few minutes, then remove the tea bags. Put the dried fruit into a large mixing bowl, grate over the zest of the orange and pour over the hot tea. Give it a good stir, then cover and leave to one side for a few hours, ideally overnight – so the fruit swells and soaks up all the tea.

When the fruit is completely rehydrated, preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 4-cup loaf pan with parchment paper– the easiest way to do this is to use one piece to line the sides and bottom, then a long strip to cover the ends of the tin.

Whisk the egg and add to the bowl of fruit along with 1 cup of the sugar. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice and a few good gratings of nutmeg and squeeze in the juice of the orange. Mix until you have a dough-like consistency (it might seem a little bit dry, but it'll be fine). Spoon the mixture into your lined pan and bake in the oven for around 1 hour 10 minutes, or until cooked through. To test it, poke a skewer or a co*cktail stick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's cooked; if not, give it a few more minutes.

Meanwhile make your syrup. Put the 2 remaining tea bags into a pan with ¾ cup of water and the zest and juice of the lemon. Gently bring to the boil, removing the tea bags after a couple of minutes. Add the remaining ½ cup sugar and bring back to the boil without stirring – keep it on a medium he at so that you have a steady boil for around 5 to 10 minutes, or until the mixture has reduced by half and you have a lovely golden syrup. Pour this into a jug.

As soon as the loaf comes out of the oven, use a co*cktail stick or a skewer to make lots of little holes in the top, then pour the syrup all over it. Once the syrup has been absorbed, transfer the loaf to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Serve with a cup of tea and some butter, or with a few glasses of sherry and a nice Wensleydale cheese as an after-dinner treat.

Excerpted from Jamie's Great Britain by Jamie Oliver.

Grilled Rib Eyes with Watercress, Blue Cheese & Radish Salad from Michael Symon's Carnivore by Michael Symon

Serves 4

Rib eye is my absolute favorite cut of beef: It's fatty, tender, and delicious. At my restaurants, we age USDA prime rib eyes for 24 to 30 days. The process results in an incredibly juicy, flavorful steak. These chops are best grilled over lump charcoal, as nothing compares to the taste that comes from cooking over live fire. If you don't have access to a live-fire grill, a powerful gas grill will do. I like to pair grilled rib eye with a crisp watercress and radish salad to cut through the fatty richness. And what goes better with beef than some good, earthy blue cheese?

4 (1-pound) beef rib-eye steaks, preferably dry-aged
USDA prime
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 cup champagne vinegar
3 tablespoons minced shallot
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups sliced radishes
4 cups watercress
2 cups crumbled blue cheese, preferably Wisconsin

Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high. Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Grill the steaks to the desired doneness, 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Remove from the grill and let rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the vinegar, shallot, honey, Dijon mustard, and ½ teaspoon salt. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Add the radishes and watercress to the dressing and toss to combine. Sprinkle the blue cheese over the top. To serve, divide the watercress salad and the steaks among 4 plates.

Excerpted from Michael Symon's Carnivore by Michael Symon.

Latkes from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Serves 4, makes 12 latkes

5 1/2 cups / 600 g peeled and grated fairly waxy potatoes such as Yukon Gold
2 3/4 cups / 300 g peeled and grated parsnips
2/3 cup / 30 g chives, finely chopped
4 egg whites
2 tbsp cornstarch
5 tbsp / 80 g unsalted butter
6 1/2 tbsp / 100 ml sunflower oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sour cream, to serve

Rinse the potato in a large bowl of cold water. Drain in a colander, squeeze out any excess water, and then spread the potato out on a clean kitchen towel to dry completely.

In a large bowl, mix together the potato, parsnip, chives, egg whites, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt, and plenty of black pepper.

Heat half the butter and half the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Use your hands to pick out portions of about 2 tablespoons of the latke mix, squeeze firmly to remove some of the liquid, and shape into thin patties about 3/8 inch / 1 cm thick and 3 1/4 inches / 8 cm in diameter. Carefully place as many latkes as you can comfortably fit in the pan, push them down gently, and level them with the back of a spoon. Fry over medium-high heat for 3 minutes on each side. The latkes need to be completely brown on the outside. Remove the fried latkes from the oil, place on paper towels, and keep warm while you cook the rest. Add the remaining butter and oil as needed. Serve at once with sour cream on the side.

Excerpted from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.

Star of David Blue Velvet Cupcakes from Sweet Celebrations by Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne

Makes 12 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
3¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1¾ cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons blue food color
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2½ tablespoons sifted cocoa powder
1½ cups whole milk
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Vanilla cream cheese frosting

For the decoration:
¼ pound dark blue fondant
fondant roller
Star of David cookie cutter

For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper baking cups.
Sift together the flour and salt in a bowl, and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
Using a whisk, beat together the blue food color, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Add to the mixer bowl and mix until incorporated.
Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by one third of the milk, and mix slowly until incorporated. Add the final third of the flour mixture, followed by the final third of the milk, and mix on low speed until incorporated.
In a small bowl, add the baking soda to the apple cider vinegar. Add the fizzing mixture to the batter, and mix until just incorporated.
Using a standard-size ice cream scoop, fill each baking cup so that it is two-thirds full. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Frost each cupcake with a signature swirl of vanilla cream cheese frosting.

To make the fondant Stars of David:
Roll out the fondant. Using the cookie cutter, cut out 12 blue stars. Let harden and place a single star on top of each cupcake.

Excerpted from Sweet Celebrations by Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne.