Holiday Hosting with Easton Porter Group

We’re thrilled to feature a special collection of holiday hosting tips from team leaders and recipes straight from the kitchens of our talented Executive Chefs. Featuring key members from our Charleston and Charlottesville properties, each contribution brings a unique flair to the table, offering insights and culinary delights that will elevate your holiday gatherings to new heights. Enjoy a holiday season filled with the warmth of community and the shared pleasure of exceptional hospitality!

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It’s hard to ring in the holidays without wanting a few bottles of bubbles to go around! Champagne is a natural choice but I’ve been looking for similar alternatives to change things up and have been a little obsessed with Michael Cruse’s Brut Tradition NV. Cruse is a small producer of unique California wines based in Petaluma. Though known for working with off-the-beaten-path varieties – such as Valdigue, Tannat, and St. Laurent – this cuvée leans to the more “traditional”, with roughly 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot noir. His first project, launched in 2008 was a sparkling wine called ‘Ultramarine’ which has since reached cult status. The Brut ‘Tradition’ is a chance to experience Michael’s brilliance in sparkling wine production without searching for a unicorn. The light autolytic aromas and flavors give a savory nuttiness and depth while the otherwise bright and tense structure makes this a versatile choice to toast to the holidays on its own or pair with the multitude of flavors around the holiday table!

As fun as holiday festivities can be, preparation is key to making your holiday shindig a success! I recommend creating a menu. Start by creating a detailed menu of all the dishes you plan to serve during the holiday season. Once your menu is complete, break it down into categories, such as appetizers, side dishes, main courses, and desserts. This will help you organize your cooking tasks. When organizing your cooking needs and planning your party, the most important tip is to identify make-ahead items. Look through your menu and identify which dishes can be prepared or partially cooked in advance without compromising their quality. Foods like casseroles, sauces, soups, and desserts often improve in flavor when made ahead of time. Even items like mashed potatoes are great the following afternoon! The “day of” cooking should be limited to proteins. Once you’ve identified your make-ahead dishes, create a cooking schedule. Decide when you’ll prepare each item and note down the day and time. Be realistic about the time each task will take, and allocate extra time for unexpected delays. Last but not least, utilize your freezer by tightly wrapping pre-cooked (and cooled!) items like pie crusts, bread rolls, and some types of cookies. Your freezer can be your best friend during the holiday season! Holiday hosting can be a big task, but by preparing for your party and staying organized, you are sure to be the host with the most!

“My Dad’s” Eggplant Parm- I love to make this dish on cold nights for large groups. It is so warm and satisfying with a quick homemade Pomodoro sauce and lots of cheese. It’s something he made for holiday dinners that brings me back to my childhood.

Ingredients

For the sauce-

In a sauce pot add 1/4 cup olive oil, anchovies, garlic and chili flake. Slowly cook on medium heat, pressing the anchovies with a wooden spoon and letting them melt into the olive oil. Allow the garlic to just get a touch of color and the basil to get crispy. Slowly add in the tomatoes and begin to crush them with a potato masher or large fork. Add a 1/2 cup of water and cook on medium-low stirring every few minutes. Remember to keep some crusty bread nearby to taste the sauce every so often. after 45 minutes the sauce will be done and cool to room temperature.

For the eggplant-

Heat your oil to 375 degrees in a shallow fry pan or cast iron pan filled about 2 inches high (leave at least 2 inches above the oil so it doesn’t overflow). Set up a breading station starting with flour first, egg wash then panko breadcrumbs. After salting the eggplant for 10 minutes it should be a little wet, begin to bread them starting with flour then egg wash then finish in the panko. Cook the eggplant on both sides until golden brown and crispy and lay on paper towels or a rack to dry. Season the warm eggplant with a little salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Begin building the dish in your favorite casserole starting with a layer of sauce, then eggplant then sauce, slices of fresh mozzarella then parmesan cheese. In total, you should have three layers. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 -30 minutes until the cheese has some color. Top with a bit more parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves. 

Who doesn’t absolutely love Mac and Cheese around the holidays? Something about the comfort of pasta and cheese that you can not get from anything else! Anyone can make a basic mac and cheese but try this jazzy version of a pimento cheese recipe. This makes more pimento cheese than necessary for the recipe so please eat the extra while the mac and cheese is baking or freeze for a later date! This is also a dish you can make the day before and then bake the day of!

Pimento Cheese Mac N Cheese

Ingredients
1 pound of short pasta of choice (elbow, farfalle, shells), cooked
2 cups pimento cheese (recipe follows)
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup milk
1 egg
1 cup garlic bread crumbs
*You can use garlic croutons and crush in a food processor.

Method
Preheat oven to the 375℉.
Place everything except for bread crumbs in a mixing bowl and season to taste with salt.
Put Mac N Cheese in a 9”x9” deep baking dish. Top with garlic bread crumbs.
Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven and top with garlic bread crumbs, and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Pimento Cheese Ingredients

1 cup canned pimentos, minced and squeezed of all liquid
½ cup cream cheese, softened
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
2 tablespoons minced shallots +¼ cup minced (to fold in at the end)
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (best to shred yourself rather than buying pre-shredded cheese) + 1 cup to fold in at the end

1 cup mayo
1.5 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method
Place everything (except the cheese and shallots that were set aside) in a food processor and pulse until combined. Salt to taste. Fold in extra shallots and cheese.

Crème brûlée is one of my all-time favorite simple desserts. It is infinitely customizable, Holiday spices can be changed out with just about any other flavoring (dry spices, or alcohol-based flavorings work best as the extra moisture will quickly come out when heating in the saucepan), and toppings can be anything from shaved chocolate, drizzled caramel, toasted nuts, to fresh fruits, or preserves. It is a simple combination of three ingredients brought together with a perfect ratio (12 egg yolks, 6oz sugar, 1 quart heavy cream). Variations of this have been around for hundreds of years in the form of Custards, Baked Egg Creams, and an abundance of other dishes. French Vanilla Ice Cream is one of my favorite, simple sweet treats but during the cold months, I switch over to this crème brûlée. It goes well after all of the traditional holiday meals, and can be topped ahead of time and simply pulled out of the fridge and served as easily as slices of cake.

Holiday Spice Crème Brûlée

Ingredients

Step by Step

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put heavy cream into a medium saucepan. Place on stove over medium-low heat. Cover. Put ginger, cinnamon, vanilla bean, allspice, and cloves in a pot. Bring to 135 degrees, do not scald or boil!!

Meanwhile, set up a deep-sided baking dish with ceramic or glass souffle cups inside. 3-4 oz cups work best

2. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, and 6 oz. sugar. Mix until well combined.

3. Strain spices out of hot cream. Temper egg mixture. While the cream is still hot, using a small ladle SLOWLY add about 1/4 of the hot cream to the egg and sugar in the mixing bowl. Be sure to continuously stir the egg mix while adding.

4. Add all of the egg mixture from the bowl, to the cream in a sauce pan. place on low heat, constantly stirring until mixture starts to thicken, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, and strain the mixture into a pitcher or bowl.

5. Fill souffle cups 2/3 full with egg/cream/sugar mixture. Fill a baking dish with water, so the water level is even with the cream mixture in the souffle cups. Place tray in the oven, bake for 35-40 minutes, check that contents appear to jiggle, then remove from oven. Let souffle cups rest in the baking dish for 20 minutes.

6. Remove souffle cups from the baking dish, cover, and refrigerate.

To Serve

Unwrap the souffle cup. Put a thin coating of sugar to cover the top. Using a food-safe blow torch, held 2-3 inches from the sugar topping, move the flame back and forth to brown the sugar on top. Garnish with berries, fruit preserves, or cookie crumbs.

Look Difficult? Don’t Want To Use A Torch Inside?

To simplify the process in your mind, think of it as making a hot mix in a saucepan(cream, flavoring agents, in this case holiday spices), and a room temp mix in a bowl( egg yolks, and sugar). You then add a portion of the hot mix to the bowl. Then add all contents of the bowl to the saucepan, stirring the whole time. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan to monitor temperatures throughout the process. I always pour the finished creme through a fine wire strainer, to achieve a silky texture.

Some of you may not be comfortable with the blowtorch part. Totally cool. Just skip that part, call it a Baked Sweet Cream, and substitute a drizzle of something sweet and thick over the top. Balsamic reduction is a favorite, as is Caramel. Or just go right for the preserve toppings, with a sprinkle of brown sugar.

This is a recipe that becomes much simpler each time you make it.

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We hope these shared moments have inspired you to infuse your celebrations with a touch of our company’s spirit and innovation. Thank you for letting us be a part of your festive traditions, and here’s to a new year filled with warmth, creativity, and culinary excellence. Happy holidays from all of us at Easton Porter Group!