The holidays put our team at the Local Palate into the cooking spirit. From mid-November through the new year, we’re excitedly sharing the cocktails we’re pouring, baking projects we’re taking on, what’s going on the grill, and easy-yet-impressive appetizers for any holiday party. During this time of year, we pull out all the stops to elevate our favorite recipes through the best of the best ingredients. From Virginia oysters to Carolina Gold rice and even Louisiana caviar, these products from the Local Palate Marketplace help us zhuzh up the holiday menu.
Breakfast and Brunch
The only thing better than shredded potatoes fried to crispy, golden perfection is loading them up with crème fraîche, smoked salmon, and caviar. We like using Lousiana-made Spicy Cajun Caviar to pack spicy umami flavors onto each rosti. The caviar is hand-harvested from choupique fish in the Atchafalaya Basin.
The Local Palate Marketplace’s most popular recipe in 2021, these sausage pinwheels were a holiday mainstay recipe for Rob McDaniel, the chef and co-owner of Helen in Birmingham, Alabama. They require only five ingredients to prepare. We make them with maple bacon breakfast sausage from Pine Street Market, based in Georgia. The result is salty-sweet artisan sausage spiraled in layers of flaky dough.
Christmas Cocktails and Appetizers
Amaro Averna is a popular Italian bitter digestif. In this Christmas cocktail, it’s used to balance the sweetening agents of the cherries and maple syrup, along with the lemon juice for a touch of sour. This recipe keeps it classy with Pappy and Company Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pure Maple Syrup, which complements the toasty, oaky notes of the bourbon in the cocktail.
Play up the elements of a roaring fireside with this spicy gin cocktail. It uses Bourbon Smoked Sugar to create a smoky simple syrup that is well-suited for the heat in the Gesus Palomino Candied Jalapeño Cocktail Syrup.
Whether it’s a holiday party or the predinner cocktail hour, a substantial platter of meat and cheese is always a good idea. This is the time to show off the good stuff: farmstead cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy, Pine Street Market speck, Lowcountry honey from Apis Mercantile, and a dealer’s choice of crunchy Sugar-Toasted Butter Toffee Virginia Peanuts from Feridies.
Dinner Mains and Sides
Whether you call it “dressing” or “stuffing,” this savory side is a staple for Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings. The recipe upgrades its ingredients by using cornbread for a slightly sweet and nutty flavor and jarred oysters sourced from the Rappahannock River in Virginia.
Remember those glazed carrots from the buffet spreads of yesteryear? We toss carrots in a glaze made from AR’s Hot Southern Honey (the Hot-Hot one) and garlic butter, which makes them rich, peppery, and lightly sweet.
Christmas dinner gets all the attention, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about the New Year’s menu. Set your table for luck in 2023 with this Hoppin’ John salad, which pairs humble black-eyed peas with savory pork belly pieces and Carolina Gold rice.
Desserts
Follow up the holiday dinner with this showstopper dessert. Chocolate, pecans, and caramel all taste better with a hefty dose of bourbon flavor. This recipe uses Bourbon Barrel Foods’ Bourbon-Smoked Pecan Halves and Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Vanilla to compliment the round, butterscotch flavors of the caramel and the nuts. If you’re short on time, you can always use small-batch Salted Caramel Sauce from Catbird Craft Sauce Co.
