12 chefs of Christmas on your table

The Best Dressed Chicken 12 Chefs of Christmas are back again, and starting next week, they will be serving up sure-to-please gourmet dinners valued at $100,000 for 12 lucky winners.

On the exciting roster, which includes six new chefs, are Ansel Beason, Charissa Henry, Colin Hylton, Oji Jaja, Allison Porter Smalling, Anna-Kay Tomlinson, Ravi Anne, Lorraine Fung, Celeste Gordon, Brian Lumley, Jacqui Tyson and Michele Williams.

Four of these extraordinary chefs have decided to share their favourite Christmas recipes to help you create an innovative and show-stopping dinner for family and friends this holiday.

Recipes:

Chef Charissa Henry, Pink Apron Jamaica: The Best Dressed Chicken Ham Potato Chowder

Ingredients

1 cup The Best Dressed Chicken Ham, diced

4 slices bacon, diced

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1tsp Scotch bonnet pepper, finely chopped

11/2 cups sweetcorn

2tsp fresh thyme leaves

2tbs all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

2 medium-size potatoes, peeled and diced

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium high. Aadd bacon and cook until brown and crispy for about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat and add garlic and onion, and stir frequently, until onions have become translucent. Add corn, thyme and pepper and stir for 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Whisk in flour until lightly browned then gradually add milk. Whisk constantly until slightly thickened and stir in potatoes.

4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. Stir in ham, salt and pepper, to taste. If the chowder is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.

 

Serve immediately, garnished with bacon and shredded cheddar cheese.

Serves 4.

Chef Allison Porter Smalling, Ally's Kitchen: Plantain and Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

2 ripe plantains, finely chopped

11/2 lbs pumpkin

2 leeks

3 medium onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2tbs olive oil

2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

Black pepper and Scotch Bonnet pepper, to taste

METHOD

1. Cut the pumpkin into halves, place in a baking dish and rub with olive oil and black pepper.

2. Place in oven at 350?F and cover with foil.

3. Blend the baked pumpkin and the rest of the ingredients except the plantain in a food processor.

4. Add the mixture to a pot on low heat for 20 minutes and add plantain half way through and smooth it out.

5. Whisk the soup until it is smooth and fluffy.

Serves 4 to 6.

Chef Allison Porter Smalling's Sorrel Glazed Chutney Salmon

Ingredients

Four skin-on 6oz salmon

2tbs lemon juice

1 large onion, sliced

1 medium sweet pepper

2 sprigs thyme, finely chopped

2tsp of sorrel chutney

1tbs dill weed

6-8 garlic cloves

2tbs virgin olive oil

11/2 tsp of complete seasoning

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375?F.

2. Line and rim a baking tray with foil and brush it with olive oil.

3. Lay half of the garlic and onions on the baking sheet then place salmon on top.

4. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and rub the mixture on the salmon and add the remaining garlic and onions on top of the salmon and drizzle with olive oil.

5. Cover with foil and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes until the salmon is lightly coloured.

6. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Serves 6.

Chef Michele Williams, Moveable Feast Caterers: Macaroni and Cheese Baked with The Best Dressed Chicken Ham

Ingredients:

1 cup diced The Best Dressed Chicken Ham

1lb macaroni, boiled and drained

2tbs butter or margarine

2 bs flour

1 cup milk

225 g cheddar cheese, grated

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1-2 sprigs scallion, finely chopped

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

2 medium bell peppers, diced

3 eggs

Cracked black pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

Method

1.In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter or margarine, add flour and mix.

2. Using a whisk, slowly stir mixture while adding milk until smooth and creamy.

3. Fold in 2/3 of grated cheese, onion, scallion, and bell peppers.

4. Crack eggs into cheese sauce, briskly stir and add herbs, salt and black pepper to taste and pour sauce over cooked pasta.

5. Butter a medium casserole dish and pour pasta with cheese sauce and top with remaining grated cheese.

6. Bake in oven at 350?F for 35 to 40 minutes and the top should be golden brown in colour.

Serves 10.

Chef Ansel Beason, Tryall Club: The Best Dressed Chicken Festive Stuffed Roaster

Ingredients

One 6 to 8 pound The Best Dressed Chicken Roaster

5 cups hard dough brown bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cup sweet potato, half cooked and diced

1/2 lb Hamilton's Smokehouse Jerk Sausage, diced

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup onion, diced

1/2 cup red pepper, diced

1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced

2tsp butter

2tsp fresh tarragon, chopped

2tsp garlic, chopped

1tsp chicken seasoning

11/2 cups barbecue sauce

2tsp jerk sauce

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Method

1. In a large skillet, add butter and sautÈ garlic until golden brown.

2. Add sausage, onion, celery, red pepper, green pepper and cook thoroughly.

3. Place bread in a large bowl and add sausage mixture and stir in sweet potato, chicken seasoning, tarragon, salt and black pepper to taste.

4. Add enough chicken broth to make the stuffing moist.

5. Mix jerk sauce with barbecue sauce and season roaster.

6. Spoon stuffing into cavity of roaster loosely, then place with breast side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan with 1 cup of chicken broth around roaster.

7. Bake uncovered in an oven at 350?F for 21/2 to 3 hours or until a thermometer reads 180?F.

Serves 4 to 6.