Spicing up your holiday recipes

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It’s that time of year again, the season for eating good food, and likely too much of it. Boulder Weekly asked some of our prominent local chefs for their favorite holiday recipes. Here’s what they came up with:

In Mateo’s kitchen:

Braised Colorado Beef Short Rib from chef Kelly Kingsford of Mateo.

6 12 oz. beef short ribs

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large carrots, peeled and rough chopped

2 celery stalks, rough-chopped

1 large onion, rough-chopped

2 leeks, washed and rough-chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

5 whole garlic cloves

2 cups Burgundy red wine

1 16 oz. can of tomatoes, rough chopped, juices reserved

2 cups roasted chicken stock

4 sprigs of thyme

4 sprigs of rosemary

3 bay leaves

1/4 lb. of bacon, chopped and rendered into lardons

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Set oven temperature at 375. Season ribs on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat the olive oil. Brown the ribs on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Remove from pan and set aside on a plate. Add carrots, celery, onion, leeks and garlic to the pan. Cook over medium heat until soft, around five minutes. Add the red wine and deglaze the fond from the bottom of the pan. Reduce for four minutes. Add tomato and tomato juice, chicken stock and all herbs to the pan. Bring the liquid and vegetables to a boil and return the ribs to the pan. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 2.5 hours or until the meat is very tender and falling from the bone. Remove the ribs from the pan. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and reduce the liquid by half. Add the bacon lardons and swirl in the butter. Serve the ribs over roasted root vegetables, soft polenta or mashed potatoes and pour the baconladen jus over the top. Serves six.

Enjoy!

In SALT’s Kitchen:

Forest Mushroom Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding from chef Kevin Kidd of SALT.

3 pounds bread, stale is preferable

3 cups heavy cream

9 egg yolks

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

3/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, sautéed

3/4 pound oyster mushrooms, sauteed

2 yellow onions, caramelized

¼ cup parsley, fine-chopped Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325. Take the bread and cut off all crust with a serrated knife, discard crusts. Tear into pieces. In a large mixing bowl combine cream, egg yolks, garlic, Parmesan and salt until the entire custard base is uniform in appearance. Taste the mixture for salt, noting that the liquid should be slightly salty, since the custard base will work to season the entire dish. Add the pre-cooked mushrooms, onions and parsley. Finally add the bread, working it like a sponge to soak up the liquid. The mixture should be slightly soggy, but not dripping wet. Depending on which type of bread you choose to use, you may need additional bread to balance the dish. On the other hand, if the mixture appears too dry, you may need to add a little more custard base. Once the bread pudding is adjusted, pour into buttered 8-by-12-inch baking pan, cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil. Bake for one hour, or until you can stick a toothpick into the center and it comes out clean. Remove from oven, discard paper and foil top and allow bread pudding to cool for 5-10 minutes. This sets the custard.

Cut and enjoy as a side dish, or as a main course.

In Colterra’s Kitchen:

Colterra Tomato Soup from executive chef Michael Drazsnzak of Colterra

1 large yellow onion, peeled, mediumdice

3 large carrots, peeled, medium-dice

2 32 oz. cans San Marzano canned plum tomatoes

1/2 lb. whole butter, unsalted Kosher salt to taste Extra virgin olive oil

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat four tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat.

Add diced onions and carrots and sweat until the onions are translucent. Add tomatoes and juice from both cans of tomatoes and stir. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low; simmer on low for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Fill a blender pitcher half full with the tomato soup, add 1/4 of the butter, and puree on high until perfectly smooth. Transfer the pureed soup into a clean saucepot. Repeat until all the soup has been pureed. Season to taste with kosher salt.

Optional: serve piping hot with Haystack Mountain Chevre grilled cheese sandwiches and a drizzle of high quality extra virgin olive oil.

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