Sonoma County cooks recall their family favorite holiday dishes

Unlike Thanksgiving, the Christmas table can vary widely from family to family, with favorite dishes passed down from the Old World to the New or from one culture to another, sometimes through marriage.

Depending on your ancestry and the predilection of your own taste buds, you can cross many borders while developing a standard repertoire of winter holiday must-haves.

We surveyed four of Wine Country’s chefs and growers to discover their most iconic Christmas dishes. The result is a delectable smorgasbord that ranges from a traditional Midwestern Rib Roast to Italian sausage stuffing, Southern beignets to a Creamy Rice Pudding, traditionally served in Sweden on Christmas Eve.

If your holiday table has room for another tradition, you may want to incorporate one or more of these dishes into your own menus, for Christmas Eve, morning or afternoon. Who knows? Maybe they will be so successful that you’ll have to bring them back, year after year.

_____

Shelly Kaldunski, chef/instructor for the Santa Rosa Junior College’s Culinary Arts Program, grew up in Sebastopol celebrating the holiday Italian-style, with a big feast on Christmas Eve.

“Turkey, ham, ravioli -- we had all of it, and the turkey was always stuffed,” she said. “In the past 10 years, on the weekend before Thanksgiving, we make the sausage that we’re going to use for the Thanksgiving and Christmas stuffing.”

The family makes their own sausage with oregano, garlic, rosemary and fennel seeds, plus some kind of olives. “My grandmother always put in black olives,” she said. “But I’ll put in the Castelvetrano Sicilian olives.”

If you don’t want to make your own, you can purchase high-quality sausage to make the stuffing, which calls for day-old bread such as ciabatta; mushrooms, onions and celery sweated in butter; eggs and chicken stock for moisture; plus lots of spinach.

“ I just eat stuffing sandwiches after the holidays, because it has everything: meat, greens and carbs,” she said. “Throw a little cranberry on there, and it’s perfect.”

On Christmas morning, Kaldunski pays tribute to her Eastern European roots by making a Chocolate Babka to dunk into coffee.

“It’s like a brioche dough, and you lace it with chocolate and cinnamon, and proof it and bake it,” she said. “With coffee, that’s all you need.”

Her recipe for Chocolate Babka is found in “Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook,” for which Kaldunski served as stylist and contributor.

_____

Growing up outside of Sweden, chef Helena Gustavsson-Giesea of Station 1870 in Santa Rosa used to decorate her Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, which is also the big night for eating in that country.

“We do the Julbord, a Christmas smorgasbord,” she said. “It always had the Christmas ham and the meatballs and the beef ribs and the side salads, warm and cold, and herring and eggs. We also do the gravlax and the smoked salmon.”

The smorgasbord is divided in three parts, with cold appetizers to start, then the warm table with entrées, followed by the dessert table, laden with candies, puddings, fruit compote and cookies.

One of the traditional Christmas puddings begins as a morning rice porridge, which is given to Santa with a shot of schnapps on Christmas Eve. The leftover porridge is mixed with vanilla, sugar and whipped cream and served as a dessert, topped with fruit and berries.

“It’s got a tapioca feel to it,” said Gustavsson-Giesea. “The rice is creamy.”

At Christmas time, the chef misses the glow of candles in her native land, and the fresh snow glistening in the morning sunlight.

“It’s a time when we socialize a lot,” she said. “We go to Christmas concerts and do a lot of activities, like ice skating on the lakes and cross-country skiing.”

_____

Healdsburg Shed co-owner Cindy Daniel of Healdsburg grew up in Louisiana, where she used to make beignets following the recipe of her childhood friend’s mother.

“We used to eat them elsewhere, but at home, we used her recipe,” she said. “It came from a book I still use, called ‘Talk About Good’ from the Junior League.”

On Christmas Eve, Daniel starts making the dough for the beignets. In the morning, all she has to do is roll them out, cut and fry them.

“The day is totally messy, with presents and paper all over, and one thing on to the next. It’s just the four of us on Christmas Day, and we pad around all day,” she said, of her husband, Doug, and two sons.

When her two sons were in elementary school, the family went off and lived in Paris for a few months in the winter, and they became addicted to a thick, French sipping chocolate, which she now serves with the beignets.

“It’s made with cocoa powder and melted chocolate and whipped cream,” she said. “It’s very indulgent.”

_____

Heath Thomson cooks dinners at the farms and wineries of Wine Country with his Metes and Bounds pop-up eatery, but on Christmas day, he will be at his parents’ home in Woodside, helping cook a traditional Standing Rib Roast with Horseradish Cream.

“My mother grew up having that for Christmas dinner in Chicago ... and I did as well,” he said. “We usually have dinner around 3 p.m., and we just sit around for hours, and it’s so nice and relaxing.”

The key to this simple but satisfying dish is to source a good-quality beef from a butcher such as Thistle Meats of Petaluma.

“A standing rib roast is such a special, prime cut,” he said. “I like to get a big roast, with at least five ribs.”

Thomson pulls the meat out of the fridge first thing in the morning, and lets rise to room temperature all the way through. Then he seasons the meat with salt, black pepper and some lightly toasted cumin seed that’s been ground in a mortar and pestle, to lend a savory, smoky flavor.

Although it can be started in a 450-degree oven, the chef prefers to sear the beef in a Weber barbecue, over coals that have been scooped around the exterior.

“I blast it in there for half an hour, to get a nice crust from the outside,” he said. “Then I put it in a slow oven, at 275 degrees... If you cook it slow like that, then it’s really cooked evenly all the way through.”

After tenting the roast in tin foil and letting it rest, he carves the meat and throws the bones back into a 450-degree oven, to crisp up the fat.

For a sauce, he grates some fresh horseradish root and blends it with Bellwether creme fraiche.

“I put a ton of horseradish in there,” he said. “Your hands are aching by the time you are done.”

_____

The following recipes is from Heath Thomson of Metes and Bounds, a roving chef who serves dinners at North Bay farms and wineries.

Standing Rib Roast of Beef

Serves 10

1 large Standing Rib Roast (4-6 bones, 8-12 pounds)

4 tablespoons salt

3 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

Whole cumin seed, to taste

Good olive oil

Oak from old wine barrels or almond wood

The evening before: Warm whole cumin seed and black peppercorns in a pan, stirring with your fingers until nice and warm, but not hot. Transfer to a mortar and pestle, let cool.

Season the rib roast liberally with salt

Crush and grind the cumin and black pepper to a course grit, not a fine powder

Rub the cumin and black pepper all over the rib roast

Cover the rib roast loosely with plastic wrap and put it back in the refrigerator for the night

Day of: Remove the rib roast in the morning and set it on the counter to come to room temperature.

Grab a glass of wine and go outside to light the barbecue. I like to use Almond wood or oak from old wine barrels. Get the fire going strong and let it burn down to coals.

Meanwhile, set your oven to 325 and get a roasting pan and rack ready

Rub the beef with a scant amount of olive oil, just enough to cover all surfaces

When the coals are still very hot but without flame, rake the coals to the perimeter of the barbecue, leaving a space in the center without coals. Place the rib roast in the center of the barbecue with no coals directly underneath it. Pop the lid back on the barbecue and get back to sipping your wine and taking in the view.

Let the rib roast sizzle on the barbecue for about 30 minutes until it has a nice dark crust.

Transfer the rib roast from the barbecue to the roasting rack and set it in the oven. Cook the roast in the oven until the internal temp reaches:

For rare- 118 (10 minutes per pound after the sear on the barbecue

For medium- 130 (14 minutes per pound after the sear on the BBQ)

For well done- 150 (18 minutes per pound after the sear on the BBQ)

Note: with such a large piece of meat, don’t be afraid to take it out at a slightly lower temp than you are used to for smaller cuts. If rested properly, the internal temp will come up and the juices will stabilize inside. I take mine out of the oven when the internal temp is 118.

When the internal temp is where you like it, remove it from the oven, and set it in a warm place in your kitchen. Tent the roast with tin foil and let it rest for 30 minutes.

If you want to make gravy, place the rack on a platter and use the roasting pan to make the gravy.

When you are ready to carve, filet the entire loin off the ribs while keeping the rack in one piece. This will make carving much easier.

Turn oven temp back up to 450 and use the convection fan if you have one. Cut between each rib and pop them in the hot oven to get crispy

Slice the beautiful rib roast into nice thick slices and serve.

___

Note: I like to serve this rib roast with horseradish crema, potato and butternut squash gratin and some sautéed greens.

Horseradish Crema

2 cups crème fraiche (I like Bellwether Farms)

1 6 to 8-inch fresh horseradish root

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Coarse ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Place 2 cups crème fraiche into a mixing bowl.

Peel the fresh horseradish. Using a microplane, grate the horseradish into the crème fraiche. Stir to combine.

Add 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, loads of coarse ground black pepper, and salt to taste. Place a big dollop on each slice of beef.

___

The following recipe is from Chef Helena Gustavsson-Giesea of Station 1870 in Santa Rosa. The first recipe is for a hot cereal, and the second is for a dessert made from the leftovers.

Creamy Rice Cereal

Makes 2 to 3 cups

2 cups short-grain rice, such as arborio or sushi rice

1 cinnamon stick

½ teaspoon sea salt

3 cups water

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 cups whole milk

For dessert:

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 vanilla bean pod

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

Simmer the rice, cinnamon, sea salt and water for about 10 minutes, or until the water has evaporated. Stir and make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom. Add the sugar, butter and whole milk. Stir again. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes, or until rice is soft. Serve as a hot cereal with raisins, sugar, ground cinnamon and cold milk.

For dessert: Slit the vanilla bean pod lengthwise and scrape seeds into whipping cream. Whip cream with sugar until fluffy and thick. Fold the whipped cream into the leftover, chilled creamy rice and mix until it has a nice consistency. Serve with berries or orange slices on top.

___

This recipe from Cindy Daniel is taken from “Talk About Good! Le Livre de la Cuisine de Lafayette,” published by the Junior League of Lafayette, La. It is from Marguerite Lyle, her best friend’s mother, who always had a pot of coffee on the stove.

New Orleans Doughnuts

Makes about 5 dozen doughnuts

1 package active dry yeast

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

7 cups all-purpose flour

1½ cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup undiluted evaporated milk

¼ cup soft butter

Oil for frying

Confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over water; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt, eggs and milk. Blend with a rotary beater. Add four cups of the flour; beat until smooth. Add butter and beat in remaining flour. Cover and chill overnight.

Roll out on floured board to ? inch thickness. Cut into 2½-inch squares. Deep fry at 360 degrees 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned on each side. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle heavily with confectioners’ sugar.

Note: Dough keeps well in refrigerator for several days. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and punch down occasionally.

___

“This hot chocolate is very rich and can easily serve more than four,” Daniel wrote. “We usually prepare it in the morning ... it can be allowed to sit and re-warmed for a second serving later in the day. We like to serve it in small, cafe au lait bowls.”

Parisian-Style Hot Chocolate

Makes 4 to 8 servings

4 cups whole milk

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (best quality), finely chopped

4 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)

1 pint heavy cream, whipped

Fleur de sel

Heat 2 cups of the milk in a medium-sized saucepan. Once the milk is warm, whisk in the chocolate until melted. Add the remaining 2 cups of milk, stirring until the mixture is steaming hot. Take care to prevent the mixture from boiling over.

Taste and add brown sugar, if desired. Serve in coffee cups or small bowls. Add a pinch of fleur de sel and top with whipped cream.

Staff writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com