A Designer Feast

Want to add a little zest to traditional holiday dishes? The folks at ABC’s The Chew know how to spice up the usual fare so that nobody is left feeling underwhelmed, but dinner guests still get the warm fuzzy feelings traditional cooking can give.

In The Chew: Food. Life. Fun., celebrity chefs Carla Hall and Michael Symon share three mouthwatering recipes so you, too, can host a designer holiday feast! Hall’s pan-seared turkey with gremolata offers a time-saving method of carving up holiday turkey that cuts the cooking time by two-thirds and makes the bird easier to store in your fridge. Meanwhile, Michael Symon’s fried Brussels sprouts get rid of any nose-scrunching cabbage-y bitterness and his chocolate pumpkin pie adds a new level of decadence to the classic American dish. Check out their recipes and start cooking your own designer feast this holiday season!

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  Pan-seared Turkey with Gremolata

  I might never have come up with this recipe if my car hadn’t broken down on the way to a catering job. My client was looking forward to me cooking turkey at her home. She was psyched about the house filling up with the aroma of it roasting in the oven. Well, it took so long to get the car fixed that by the time I arrived at her house, I wouldn’t have been able to cook and serve dinner until very late. And then I remembered how often I have been told that you can think of a turkey as a big chicken, so I cut it into parts: wing, drumstick, thigh, breast. It cut down the cooking time by two-thirds, and everyone really liked the way we rescued the holiday. — Carla Hall

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  Brussels Sprouts á la “Russ” with Walnuts and Capers

  I think one of the reasons I started doing 5-in-5 is my father-in-law, Russ. Whenever I am in the kitchen making anything — Russ will wander into the kitchen and start picking off the plate. My way to deal with this is to get as much done as I can before he shows. Then I chill out until we’re ready to make last-minute dishes. Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables for the holidays. In most of the country, they’re one of the few green vegetables that you can still buy fresh and locally. Many people have included them on their holiday menu, roasting them in the oven, maybe with some diced apples and bacon. I prefer to fry them. They get very golden brown outside. Their sugars come out and get rid of any funky cabbage-y bitterness. — Michael Symon

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  Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

  I would rather have the holidays without turkey than to skip pumpkin pie. It’s my favorite thing. Carla tells me people feel that way about sweet potato pie in the South, but I’m a pumpkin guy all the way. I can’t imagine doing without it. But, being the kind of chef that I am, you know how I like to take traditional recipes and give them a little twist. Well, here we have a pumpkin pie enriched with rich melted chocolate. A new classic, if I do say so myself. — Michael Symon

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Excerpted with permission from The Chew: Food. Life. Fun. by ABC’s The Chew. Copyright 2012 Hyperion/ABC. Published by Hyperion. Available wherever books are sold. All Rights Reserved.