5 delicious holiday recipes to try from Vancouver chefs

Food and the holidays go hand in hand. But answering the question of what to make for said festivities can sometimes be a seasonal stressor.

To help ease the pressure, we asked five Vancouver chefs and restaurants teams to dish up a few recipe ideas.

From a delicious welcome drink to delightful chocolate tarts, there’s a recipe to fit every holiday gathering menu. (You’re welcome).

Grant Sceney’s Hot Buttered Rum

Recipe by: Grant Sceney, beverage director, Botanist Bar

1 cup (250 mL) softened butter

4 cups (1000 mL) brown sugar

1 tbsp (15 mL) ground nutmeg, heaping

1 tbsp (15 mL) cinnamon, heaping

2 oz (60 mL) spiced or aged rum (per cup)

3.5 oz (100 mL) boiling water (per cup)

1 cinnamon stick (per cup)

Add butter, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon to a bowl and mix well. For each cup of Hot Buttered Rum, add 1 tablespoon of butter mixture to a glass and top with rum and boiling water. Mix with a cinnamon stick, let cool a few minutes and enjoy.

Note: This butter mixture can make about 25 servings of Hot Buttered Rum. Butter mixture can be kept in the fridge for up to three weeks.

Saikyo Miso Sablefish

Recipe by: Lupe Villanueva, head kitchen chef, Minami

14 oz (396 g) sablefish (portioned later)

1 lb (454g) Saikyo miso

4 tbsp (60 mL) mirin

2 tsp (10 mL) soy sauce

2/3 cup (160 mL) cooking sake

1 tsp (5 mL) ground white pepper

1 tsp (5 mL) kosher salt

In a bowl, combine Saikyo miso, mirin, soy sauce, cooking sake, salt and white pepper. White miso with a pinch of sugar can be substituted if Saikyo miso is unavailable.

Portion sablefish into four pieces and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours. You can vacuum seal the marinated fish and marinate longer for more flavour.

Before baking, broil the sablefish skin side down and when the saikyo starts to caramelize flip and finish baking at 400 F for 12 to 16 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 140F to 150F.

Makes 4 servings.

Purple Barley and sansai vegetables

2 cups (500 mL) purple barley

1 lb (454 g) blanched and squeezed mountain vegetables

2.5 tbsp (37.5 ml) tbsp minced shallots

Salt and pepper to taste

An easy side dish to pair with the sablefish is a purple barley and sansai vegetables. Sansai means mountain vegetables and can be substituted with almost any combination of sweet potato vines, bamboo shoots, flowering fern, wood ear, nameko mushrooms.

Cook purple barley (can be replaced with farro or other Heirloom grain), stain any excess water and combine blanched squeezed vegetables and minced shallots, season.

Duck Roast with all the Fixings

Recipe by: Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson, chef-partner, Published on Main

Duck breast

Dry-aged duck crown

Kosher salt

Honey (I prefer unpasteurized floral honey, or use your favourite local honey)

Spice Mix

1 tbsp (15 mL) black pepper (toasted, cracked/coarsely ground)

1 tbsp (15 mL) coriander seed (toasted, cracked/coarsely ground)

1 tbsp (15 mL) fennel seed (toasted, cracked/coarsely ground)

1 tsp (5 mL) szechuan peppercorn (toasted, cracked/coarsely ground)

2 mandarin peels (dried, ground fine in a spice grinder)

1 lemon peel (dried, ground fine in a spice grinder)

1 tsp (5 mL) fennel pollen

1 tbsp (15 mL) sumac (ground)

Liberally salt duck with kosher salt.

Duck breast roasted on the Crown is something that comes across as a daunting and intimidating task, but is actually very simple. If you can pull this off, you will certainly impress, and its one of the most delicious things you can bang out very quickly at home.

A benefit of its short cooking time also gives you lots of opportunity to serve up a bounty of tasty sides. I cooked this at home a few weeks ago for company and I had dinner on the table from start to finish in under 35 minutes.

We buy our ducks already aged a few weeks from Legends Haul. If you are buying a whole duck, it’s worth getting a week or two out to confit the legs, and let the crown age.

Much of the sides can be prepped ahead of time and warmed or “finished” as you are waiting for the duck to rest.

Method

Preheat oven to 450F. Coat breast with honey and cook for 6 minutes.

Add another coat of honey and a generous amount of the spice mix, coating evenly. Cook for another 6 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to rest 15 minutes in a nice warm place. Carve duck breasts from the crown, and quickly flash in the oven to bring back to temperature. Slice thinly and serve with a spiced duck jus.

Spaetzle

1 tbsp (15 mL) grainy dijon

1 tbsp (15 mL) smooth dijon

5 eggs

2 cups (500 mL) milk

1 tbsp (15 mL) salt

1 tbsp (15 mL) toasted caraway

4 cups (1000 mL) all-purpose flour

Combine mustards with eggs and combine until smooth and homogenous. Add milk and combine well. Add flour, salt, and caraway and mix until no lumps remain.

Allow the dough to rest for 30-40 minutes before cooking.

Bring a wide pot/brasier of water to a boil, salty like the ocean. Poach the spaetzle until they float, cooling down in ice water. Google the technique, I use a perforated pan, but have been partial to the old-school cutting board technique. Great recipe for the repertoire.

To reheat, add a healthy amount of butter to a large saute pan, and when it’s nice and brown and foamy and aromatic, add spaetzle in batches, frying until golden brown, seasoning with salt as needed. Finish with lemon juice, and fresh chopped soft herbs.

Creamed Kale

Shallot cream

4 shallots, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups (500 mL) cream

2 bunches parsley, blanched

1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard

1 tsp (5 ml) your favourite hot sauce

Cook shallot and garlic until soft and aromatic Add cream and cook until reduced by half. Blend with remaining ingredients, adjust seasoning with salt.

2 bunches Lacinato kale (chiffonade)

Shallot cream

Saute kale with oil and salt until wilted and aromatic. Add cream and allow to combine. Adjust seasoning with salt and lemon juice.

Black Truffle Chocolate Tart

Recipe by: Savoury Chef Food

Chocolate Shell Dough

2/3 cup (150 g) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (140 g) white sugar

1 large egg (room temp)

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

2 1/4 cups (275 g) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (50 g) Dutch cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix butter and sugar together by hand. Slowly incorporate egg and mix to combine. Sift together flour, salt and cocoa powder. Add to above and mix until combined.

Form dough into a ball, wrap with cling film and refrigerate 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 4 mm. Using a 5-inch round cutter, cut the dough and lay gently into 4-inch tart shells. Trim excess and place in freezer for 30 minutes.

Place tart shells onto a baking sheet and bake on the centre rack for 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate cream

2/3 cup (160 mL) whipping cream

1/4 cup (50 g) dark chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (65 g) milk chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp (30 mL) unsalted butter

1 large egg (room temperature)

Bring cream to a boil. Remove from heat, add chocolates and mix until fully melted and combined. Allow to cool slightly then add egg and butter and mix to combine. Pour mixture into pre-baked tart shells (fill to 2/3).

Bake at 325F for 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool until set.

Black Truffle Ganache

1/3 cup (80 mL) whole milk

1 3/4 cup (430 mL) whipping cream

1/2 cup (100 g) dark chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (60 g) milk chocolate, chopped

3/4 tsp (3 mL) black truffle oil

Bring milk and cream to a boil. Remove from heat, add chocolates and mix until fully melted and combined. Add truffle oil and mix until combined.

Assembly

Pour black truffle ganache into tart shells to fill remaining space. Garnish with shaved dark chocolate and a sprinkle of flaked sea salt. Serve at room temperature.

Yields 4 four-inch tarts

Egg Tart

Recipe by: Calia Pacle

2 egg yolks 

1 can (300 mL) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (354 mL) evaporated milk

1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla extract

30 pre-made frozen tart shells 

Filipino egg tarts are a staple in my household when it comes to having a sweet treat. I love making these for any gathering to serve to my guests because it’s affordable, simple and delicious.

Something I’ve done to elevate these traditional tarts is creating a brûléed top that gives that luxurious look and taste at home.

To make, separate the egg yolks and egg whites leaving the yolks in a medium-sized bowl. 

Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix in sweetened condensed milk. Once combined, add in evaporated milk and vanilla extract. 

Use a fine sieve or strainer and strain mixture into a liquid measuring cup for easy pouring later. 

Prepare tart shell, no need to defrost. Line them up on a sheet pan. 

Slowly pour mixture into the unbaked shells. Pour enough that there is still a ½ cm gap from the top, don’t over fill. 

When everything is all poured, bake in a 325F oven for 20-25 mins or until the outside of the tart shells is a golden colour. Another indication to show when it’s done is when you slightly wiggle the sheet pan of tarts the middle of the custard is no longer moving. 

Take out of the oven and cool completely on the counter. Once fully cooled it’s time to brûlée (optional). Sprinkle a light coat of granulated sugar on top of the custard and torch the top until golden.

Yields 30 2.5-inch tarts.