Stars' Favorite Holiday Dishes

"This recipe is from my great Aunt Ruthie and one of my favorite things my mom made when I was growing up."

Ingredients:
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped white mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 6 slices day-old white bread, cubed
• 1 cup cooked wild rice
• ½ cup each dried cranberries, dark raisins, chopped walnuts
• 2½ cups chicken broth, divided
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 Cornish hens (about 1¼ lb. each)
• 1½ cups apricot-flavored brandy
• 2 sprigs each rosemary, sage and basil
• 1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained

Directions:
1 Preheat over to 375°F. 2 In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter; add onion, celery, mushrooms, garlic and poultry seasoning. Cook until vegetables have softened, about 8 minutes. 3 In large bowl, combine bread, rice, cranberries, raisins and walnuts. Stir in vegetable mixture. Add 1 cup broth and mix. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve 2 cups mixture for stuffing hens. 4 Lightly grease 9"x9" baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into dish. Cover with foil; bake 30 minutes. 5 Meanwhile, in measuring cup, combine remaining broth and brandy. Set aside. 6 Discard neck and giblets; season hen cavities with salt and pepper. Stuff each with ½ cup stuffing. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Arrange breast side up, on rack in roasting pan. Pour in half of brandy mixture; scatter herbs and oranges around poultry. Roast for 30 minutes basting occasionally. 7 Pour 1 cup brandy mixture into roasting pan. Continue roasting 15 to 20 minutes, or until thermometer inserted in hens registers 175°F. 8 Transfer to cutting board; let stand 10 minutes. Remove rack from pan and pour in remaining ½ cup brandy mixture. 9 Deglaze pan over high heat, scraping up brown bits. Toss herbs. Transfer liquid to saucepan and bring to boil until slightly thickened, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 8.

"When we're in Mexico, we eat differently-a lot of fish, grilled cactus and definitely more guacamole."

Ingredients:
• 4 ripe avocados, halved, pitted and peeled
• 2 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 small serrano chile, seeded and chopped (optional)
• Salt to taste

Directions:
1 Coarsely mash the avocados. 2 In a bowl combine mashed avocados, tomatoes, onion and lime juice. 3 Stir in chile (if using). Season with salt. 4 Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.

"This earthy, hearty mushroom risotto is a perfect comfort food."

Ingredients:
• 9½ cups chicken stock
• 2 handfuls dried porcini mushrooms
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 small onions, peeled and chopped
• 3 celery sticks, peeled and chopped
• 3 cups risotto rice (about 1½ lb.)
• 1 cup vermouth or white wine
• 6 large handfuls wild mushrooms (chanterelle, shitake, black trumpet or oyster), cleaned and sliced
• Salt to taste
• 5 sprigs fresh chervil, tarragon or parsley
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 handfuls freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for serving

Directions:
1 Heat stock in saucepan and keep on low simmer. 2 Place porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour in just enough hot stock to cover. Leave for a couple of minutes until softened. Remove mushrooms from stock and chop, reserving soaking liquid. 3 In large pan heat a splash of oil; add onions and celery. Slowly fry for at least 10 minutes, then turn up heat and add rice. 4 Stir in vermouth or wine. 5 Pour mushroom liquid through a sieve into pan. Add chopped porcini, pinch of salt and a ladle of hot stock. 6 Turn heat down to simmer and add more stock, stirring and massaging starch out of rice; allow each ladleful to be absorbed before adding next. Continue until rice is soft but with a slight "bite," about 30 minutes. 7 While rice is cooking, heat a griddle pan and grill wild mushrooms until soft. Put mushrooms into bowl and add chopped herbs, a pinch of salt and lemon juice: toss. Set aside. 8 Remove risotto pan from heat. Stir in butter and cheese. Put a lid on pan and leave risotto to relax for 3 minutes. 9 Add salt, pepper and cheese to taste. 10 Serve topped with wild mushrooms, grated cheese and a drizzle of oil. Serves 8.

"I love Thanksgiving. What could be better than a holiday devoted to eating?"

Ingredients:
amp#149; 3 lbs. French green beans
amp#149; 3 tbsp unsalted butter
amp#149; 2 shallots, minced
amp#149; 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced
amp#149; 1y tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
amp#149; 1y tsp kosher salt
amp#149; ¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1 Bring a large pot of hot water to a boil over high heat. Add green beans and cook 2 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare an ice-water bath (ice and cold water in a big bowl). Drain boiled beans and plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Drain. (This step can be done a day before; refrigerate beans until ready to cook.) 2 In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 2 minutes. Add beans, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Cook until beans are heated through, about 5 minutes.

"It's just so fun to listen to music and be in the kitchen all day creating this beautiful meal that everyone will eat together."

Ingredients:
• 8 6 oz. salmon fillets
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup grade-B maple syrup

Directions:
1 Rinse and dry salmon fillets; rub each with lemon wedge. Brush 2 tsp oil on the flesh side of salmon (to help seasoning adhere). 2 In bowl, mix nutmeg, cinnamon, garlic powder, salt, onion powder and black pepper. Sprinkle each fillet with spice mix; let sit covered in fridge for 1 hour. 3 Heat skillet and coat bottom with 2 tsp oil. 4 When oil is hot, place salmon in skillet, flesh side down, and cook over high heat for about 4 minutes or until brown. Turn over and cook for an additional 4 minutes. 5 In a saucepan, mix together soy sauce and maple syrup over medium heat until sauce is think enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 7 to 10 minutes). 6 Drizzle sauce over salmon fillets and serve. Serves 8.

"To satisfy everyone, I serve more side dishes than we need, but that just means more leftovers!"

Ingredients:
• 2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1½ cups heavy cream
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
• Salt and pepper
• 2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1½ tsp orange zest

Directions:
1 Bring 6 cups salted water to boil in large saucepan. 2 Add Yukon Gold potatoes and bay leaf. Simmer, covered, until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 min.; drain. Discard bay leaf. Return potatoes to pan. 3 Meanwhile, bring 6 cups salted water to boil in another large saucepan. Add sweet potatoes. Simmer, covered, until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 min.; drain. Return potatoes to pan. 4 While potatoes are cooking, heat heavy cream, butter and garlic in medium saucepan. 5 Mash Yukon Gold potatoes with hand masher, adding half the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper. 6 Mash sweet potatoes. 7 Stir in mashed bananas, remaining cream mixture, honey, cinnamon and orange zest. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, gently fold both batches of potatoes together to combine. Serves 8-10.

"These cookies are a Hispanic tradition I definitely want to pass down to other generations."

Ingredients:
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2/3 cups butter-flavored shortening
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup, plus 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 325°F. 2 In a saucepan bring to a boil cinnamon sticks and 1½ cups water. Let cool. Discard cinnamon sticks. Refrigerate liquid until chilled. 3 In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 4 In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening, vanilla, ½ cup sugar and ¼ cup cinnamon "tea" until light and fluffy. Stir in flour mixture. 5 Roll dough into 1" balls. Place 2" apart on baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until slightly browned around edges. 6 In bowl combine 2 tbsp sugar and ground cinnamon. Dip cookies while still warm in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Makes 3 dozen.