Family recipes and traditions are what make the holidays special for so many of us. 

It’s the cherished old recipes, passed through the generations, that are part of our own history. The pineapple-glazed ham that’s only made on Christmas, the cherry cream pie mom learned to make from her mom and she from her own mom and on and on it goes. Food and recipes bind us and make the holiday season even more meaningful.

Knowing what others make for the holidays is such fun. Learning a friend’s or neighbor’s traditions gives us a window into their world. So this year, TulsaPeople asked some of Tulsa’s best chefs about their favorite Christmas recipes and traditions. You might just want to try one of these and make it your own.

Nico Williams’ Appalachian Allspiced Sweet Potato Souffle

Through her nonprofit, Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness, Nico Williams (Cherokee) works to educate people on American Indian wellness by feeding

both body and soul. The 100% Indigenous women-led group provides catering

and classes on wellness practices to the Tulsa area. 

Williams shared a recipe, using Indigenous ingredients, that’s a take on the classic sweet potato casserole.

Appalachian Allspiced Sweet Potato Souffle

Make 9 servings

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground spicebush berry (aka Appalachian allspice; regular allspice can be substituted)
• 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash sweet potatoes. Arrange sweet potatoes on the baking sheet, with room between each. Roast until very tender. (You should be able to poke a skewer through each potato with no resistance.) Baking time will depend on the size of the sweet potatoes; start to check them after 40 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and set aside until they are cool enough to handle. Peel each potato — the peels should easily pull away from the flesh inside. Alternatively, you can slice each sweet potato in half and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish.

Into the bowl of sweet potatoes, add the butter, maple syrup, eggs, cinnamon, ground spicebush berry, ancho chile powder and salt. Use a hand mixer to beat the sweet potato mixture until smooth and well-incorporated. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan.

In a medium bowl, combine all the topping ingredients and toss together until everything is evenly coated. Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the sweet potato mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the sweet potato batter is cooked through (should reach 160 degrees in the center), and the topping is golden and toasted.

Manny Mendez’s Oaxacan Style Pork Tamales

Manny Mendez, executive chef of 3 Sirens Restaurant Group, thinks about food day and night. He creates and perfects the menus at the restaurants, including Bramble, Bird and the Bottle, and Holé Molé.

Christmastime is no different except it’s his own family’s holiday menu that he’s perfecting.

It’s Mendez’s favorite holiday because it’s time for family to spend together.

For him, it wouldn’t be Christmas without champurrado, a traditional Mexican drink made with Mexican chocolate, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract and piloncillo (unprocessed cane sugar). Mendez says it’s something his grandma made every year as soon as the weather turned cold — and always for Christmas.

Another childhood favorite is pork tamales. For his tamales, Mendez simmers tender pieces of pork in a red chile sauce, then wraps it in masa dough.

For a Christmas dessert, Mendez loves bunuelos. These fried discs of dough are dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

“They are crispy, crunchy and very delicious,” he says.

Oaxacan Style Pork Tamales

Makes 10-12 servings

• 6 ounces lard, divided
• Salt, to taste
• 5 cups masa harina
• 3/4 cup warm chicken broth, divided
• 1/2 ancho chile pepper (stems, seeds and veins removed)
• 1/2 mulato chile pepper (stems, seeds and veins removed)
• 1/2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 pinch crushed dried oregano
• 1/2 pound cooked and shredded pork butt 
• 10 banana leaves, softened

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat 4 ounces lard until creamy. Add salt and continue beating for a few minutes. Add masa harina and beat well until combined. Add chicken broth, 1/8 cup at a time, beating until masa has a smooth and workable consistency similar to cookie dough, about 1/2 cup of broth total. 

In a blender, combine ancho chile pepper, mulato chile pepper, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano; blend until smooth.

Heat the remaining 2 ounces of lard in a skillet and cook pepper sauce until lightly thickened, 3-5 minutes. Add shredded pork and a little of the remaining chicken broth. Cook over low heat until pork filling has thickened, about 10 minutes.

Spread 2-3 tablespoons masa mixture onto 1 banana leaf, filling it up to 2 inches from the bottom and 1/4 inch from the top. Add 1 tablespoon of the pork filling in the center of the masa mixture. Fold sides of banana leaf together, one over the other. Fold the bottom of the banana leaf over the seam of the 2 folded sides and tie together with kitchen string. Repeat with remaining banana leaves.

Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add tamales with the open side up and cook until filling is heated through and separates from the leaf, about 1 1/2-2 hours.

Ben Alexander’s Prime Rib

On Thanksgiving and Christmas, Ben Alexander’s kitchen at McNellie’s Group is closed. He and his family usually eat their Christmas dinner at Mandarin Taste, a restaurant known for its authentic Szechuan cuisine and Szechuan Hot Pot.

That said, Alexander’s favorite holiday dish is prime rib, and he’s given us his best tips to wow your family on Christmas.

“It’s super easy to make and you can season it a few days ahead of time. Actually, it’s best if you season it ahead of time so that the salts and seasonings have a chance to really penetrate the meat,” says Alexander, who earlier this year was named a James Beard Award Semifinalist for Outstanding Chef Southwest.

This creates a pellicle, or skin, on the outside that creates an amazing crust, he says. And it’s important to let it refrigerate uncovered so that the outside dries out.

Ben’s hot tip: During the holiday season beef prices always go up. To bypass this, buy your ribeye early or be a part of Prairie Creek Farms’ Cattle Club for grass-fed pasture-raised beef in Kellyville. If you’re feeling fancy, go for the 100% wagyu from Grand Cattle Co. in Adair.

Ben Alexander’s Prime Rib

Make 10-12 servings

• 1 10-pound prime ribeye
• 1/2 cup kosher salt (Morton’s preferred)
• 1/4 cup course ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon flavor enhancer (MSG)
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic (this is different than garlic powder)
• 1 tablespoon granulated onion (this is different than onion powder)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup minced fresh thyme

Mix all spices and herbs together and rub the prime ribeye heavily with seasoing mix. 

Let the ribeye sit uncovered for at least 6 hours, but it’s best at 24 hours, on a wire rack in your refrigerator. 

Two hours before cooking, pull the ribeye out and let it come to room temperature.

Light up your preferred smoker setup and get the temperature to 225-275 degrees.

Cook until internal temperature reaches 115 for cool red center. Add 10 more degrees for medium rare, and so on and so forth.

Heat oven to highest temperature and cook the ribeye for 10 minutes.

Let it rest for no less than 15 minutes. Carve and serve.

Note from Alexander on the cooking procedure: “I like to use my Hasty Bake Barrel Smoker. I get my charcoal and heat up to 250-275 degrees, then place my prime rib on the top grate. I use a Firebird thermometer and cook it slow and low until the internal temperature hits 115 degrees. That takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I will then take it out of the smoker and fire up my oven as hot as it will go, 500 degrees preferably. Cooking it for about 10 minutes, then taking it out of the oven and letting it rest for no less than 15 minutes. Carve, serve with au jus, creamy horseradish, and finishing salt like Maldon salt.”

Au Jus

“The best way to make au jus is to put a pan on a lower rack in the smoker while cooking to collect the juices. Then fortify the juices with beef stock or broth. I like to add some onions, garlic and thyme to my au jus,” Alexander says. 

Creamy Horseradish

• 1 cup pressed and drained spicy prepared horseradish. (I prefer Atomic Brand.)
• 1 cup mayonnaise (I prefer Duke’s. I’m from Richmond, Virginia, and we aren’t allowed to eat any other brand of mayo.)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• Juice from half a lemon
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Pinch of white pepper
• 1/4 minced chives (optional)

Mix all ingredients and let sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. The flavors will change and meld together over time.

Alexandra Coppinger’s Beef Daube with Macaronade Pasta

You might know Alexandra Coppinger from her one-of-a-kind pies and pastries at Common Tart. And while there’s always pie served at Coppinger’s family holidays, she’s shared with us one of her family’s favorite savory holiday dishes.

“Gift giving is truly our family’s love language. The gift exchange time has been known to carry on for several hours. My mom has always had a very specific reason for purchasing each gift, and we have joked for years that all her gifts include a ‘story.’ Well the joke is on us, because we have now become the same type of story-telling gift givers,” Coppinger says.

After a slow and relaxing Christmas morning, it’s time to eat. And one of the family’s food traditions is a Beef Daube with Macaronade Pasta, a French peasant dish similar to stew that her mom makes every year for dinner.

“This Christmas tradition may be simple, and far from flashy, but our time together is deeply meaningful to each of us. So while this dish may have simple and humble roots, its richness and fully bodied flavor is the perfect accompaniment to our Christmas Day,” she says.

Beef Daube with Macaronade Pasta

Makes 4-6 servings 

• 2 1/2-3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 3-inch pieces. 
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and chopped into half-inch pieces 
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• 4 cups cranberry juice 
• 32-ounce can diced tomatoes 
• 1 head of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
• Bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, 4 sprigs rosemary, 4 sprigs thyme — tie these herbs together with kitchen twine)

In a large stock pot, heat oil, add meat and brown on all sides. Make sure to season the meat with salt and pepper once it is in the pan. When pieces are browned, remove from pan.

Add carrots into the stock pot and cook until slightly tender. Season with salt and pepper. 

Add the browned meat back in with the cooked carrots, then add in the cranberry juice, tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes and bouquet garni. 

Bring to a simmer, then tightly cover and cook in a preheated 325-degree oven for 3-4 hours. 

Check the daube every hour and give it a gentle stir. 

Remove from oven, remove bouquet garni and cool down to room temperature. 

Keep covered and place in fridge overnight. 

Two hours before serving, pull out of fridge and skim off the fat while the daube is still cold. 

Place on the stove and bring to a simmer. Leave the daube covered and continue simmering for 2 hours. 

Prepare your macaronade pasta and serve alongside the Beef Daube. 

Macaronade Pasta 

• 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing 
• 8 ounces penne pasta 
• Salt
• 1/2 cup Gruyere cheese 
• 1/2 cup “daube sauce”
• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs 
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a gratin dish. 

Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Drain, then toss with the cheese and “daube sauce.” 

Place into the gratin dish, and cover with breadcrumbs, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then dot with the 2 tablespoons butter. 

Bake for 15 minutes.

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Thank you to Magpie for table styling and the Studio at Kirkendall Design for providing the shoot location.