Obsidian’s restaurant clients are hard at work whipping up holiday magic in the kitchen. To celebrate this magical time of the year, we’ve asked our favorite chefs to divulge a few of their most popular recipes. We encourage you to mix up a few of your own! 

Celtic Crossing’s Irish Potato Stuffing by Chef Valerie Hawkes
Serves 8
Ingredients:

• 4 cups mashed potatoes 
• 8 ounces of bangers (Irish sausage) ‒ you can use any type of link like sausage, hot dogs, kielbasa or cocktail sausages 
• 4 ounces caramelized onions

Directions:

• Step 1: Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Step 2: Roughly chop the bangers and sauté in butter until slightly brown and crisp.
• Step 3: Mix the mashed potatoes, bangers and onions in a baking dish.
• Step 4: Bake until bubbly around the edges and slightly brown and crisp on top.

South of Beale General Tso’s Cauliflower by Chef Anthony Fenech 

Serves 6

General Tso’s sauce ingredients:

• 3 1/3 cups soy
• 2 1/2 cups sambal
• 7 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 cups rice wine vinegar 
• 1 1/4 cup cornstarch (dissolved in water)

Instructions:

1. Heat all ingredients together while whisking.
2. Bring to a boil or cook until sauce starts to thicken. 

Batter ingredients:

• 8 eggs
• 4 cups water
• 6 cups cornstarch
• 2 cups flour
• 8 tsp baking powder
• 4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs with water in one bowl.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in another bowl.
3. Add eggs and water to dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Preheat fryer or hot oil in a pan to 350 degrees. 
5. Dip cauliflower florets from one head of cauliflower in the batter and drain off any excess before slowly dropping in oil. 
6. Fry for 6-8 minutes, occasionally moving the cauliflower around to ensure florets don’t stick together. 
7. Remove cauliflower from the oil and toss with the sauce in a bowl. 
8. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion. 

Tom’s Tiny Kitchen Pimento Cheese Popovers
Start to finish: 35-40 minutes
Prep time: 5 minutes
Yields 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Pinch kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (plus additional for greasing pan)
• 1/2 cup Tom’s Tiny Kitchen Pimento Cheese

Instructions:

• Step 1: Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Step 2: Add a generous 1/2 teaspoon of butter to each cup of a popover pan or muffin tin.
• Step 3: Put the buttered pan in the oven to warm for one minute.
• Step 4: In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs with a whisk. Add the milk, melted butter, flour and salt, and stir with the whisk just until smooth.
• Step 5: Fold in the pimento cheese, stirring lightly to combine.
• Step 6: Ladle the batter into the heated pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
• Step 7: Bake the popovers for 12-15 minutes at 450 degrees. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and continue to cook for 12-15 more minutes until you reach your desired amount of browning.
• Step 8: Remove the popovers from the oven; immediately take a sharp knife and pierce the top of each popover. This will allow steam to escape and keep your popovers from getting soggy.
• Step 9: Eat immediately or at room temperature. (May be reheated in 350-degree oven for 5 minutes.)