- [Announcer] This program was funded in part by The Forest at Duke, a retirement community in the heart of Durham, North Carolina.

With more than 350 residents, The Forest at Duke presents residents with ongoing opportunities to keep growing.

- When it's time to pick out recipes that celebrate our holidays, we turn first to our own recipe boxes, full of nostalgia and tradition.

But it's also fun to add a few new dishes to the mix for fresh inspiration.

Today, I'm sharing four of my favorites that I prepare each year for friends and family.

[carefree music] I am Sheri Castle.

I write cookbooks, I write for food magazines.

I cook, I teach, and I collect stories, and my favorite stories are the ones behind our best loved home recipes.

That smells good.

You think bears are gonna come?

- Probably out here.

- Oh, that's awesome.

I will go out and explore from the ground up, the best ingredients that go into some of our most beloved family recipes.

It's all about the food, the flavors, and finding "The Key Ingredient."

[carefree music] You know, a sometimes overlooked wonderful holiday meal is breakfast.

I love a savory bread pudding, which is my take on a breakfast casserole.

It is so easy.

Let me show you how I get started.

So what I'm going to do is I am going to make an egg base, basically a custard, and that was four eggs, and this is heavy cream, and I'm going to whisk them together.

And of course, we have to make sure that there's plenty of delicious seasoning in there.

So there's gonna be salt, some fresh garlic, and then there's going to be some dried spices.

Now what I have on my little plate here is mustard powder, fresh nutmeg, show you a trick on that in a second, a little bit of cayenne, and plenty of black pepper.

Now about that nutmeg, this is how nutmeg comes.

It's actually a little tree nut, and hard.

And all you do is take a little zester and grate directly into your recipe.

This smell is like the smell of the holidays to me, and it is so good in this savory egg mixture.

And then I have a little bit of fresh herbs as well.

I have some fresh sage and some fresh thyme.

Whisk it all together, and then I'm gonna add bread cubes.

Now you want a really good crusty, dense bread, like an Italian loaf, or a French loaf, or even a country loaf.

And here are my bread cubes.

Now I don't take the crust off.

I like that little bit of a rustic look, and I want them in large bite-sized pieces.

And this wonderful crusty bread is going to soak up some of this egg custard, and start softening.

And so I'm gonna give it a little bit of a turn right here, and I'm gonna let this sit for 10 minutes, and then we're gonna build a casserole.

So while my bread was soaking in that egg mixture, I got my other ingredients together, and now I'm going to assemble them in a beautifully buttered baking dish.

Look how simple this is.

I'm gonna take about half of my bread.

and you do not have to be super precise.

Just eyeball about half of the bread and put it in your baking dish.

Spread it around a little bit.

And then I am going to put in some cubed ham, just good deli ham that you've put in nice big cubes.

And this is spinach, frozen spinach.

It actually works better than the fresh leafy kind you would use in a salad.

So when you thaw your spinach, I want you to squeeze all of the liquid out of it that you possibly can because you don't want that excess liquid in your egg dish.

And then we have here some freshly shredded Asiago cheese.

Sprinkle about half of that in.

And then this is crumbled goat cheese, a chef style, a beautifully tangy, creamy, delightful goat cheese.

And we're gonna sprinkle all of that in there as well.

And guess what?

I'm gonna do it again.

I'm going to take the rest of my bread, put that on top, [carefree music] and if your bread kind of piled up, just move it around with your spoon.

And then we're gonna add the rest of our ham.

Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle.

The rest of our spinach.

Isn't this pretty?

I love this burst of green in here.

It's not only delicious, it really gives some color and freshness to all of this.

And the last of our Asiago.

[carefree music] And now we've got a tiny bit of our egg custard left, and we're just gonna pour that around the outside, letting it trickle down in there.

I'm gonna scrape out every good drop.

And now I have Parmesan.

I love Parmesan on the top of a savory casserole.

It adds a little saltiness, tons of flavor, and it browns beautifully.

So this is gonna look great when it comes out of the oven.

And that's it.

All I'm gonna do now is cover it either with a lid or a piece of plastic wrap, and I'm gonna put this in the refrigerator.

This needs to refrigerate for at least four hours, but you know what, it works overnight.

I love this, the night before the big breakfast, all I have to do is tuck it in the fridge, and the next morning, just pop it in the oven while I make a pot of coffee.

So one thing that makes this breakfast casserole a little bit different and a lot more interesting is I serve it with a warm sauce, a warm, savory sauce, and it is so easy.

I'm starting with marinara sauce.

Yes, a jar of good marinara because we all know we keep that in our pantry.

And to that, I'm gonna doctor it up a little bit.

This is some finely chopped, roasted, sweet bell pepper.

And then I have a little smoked paprika, kind of amplifies the roasty goodness of that pepper.

And I have some brown sugar because we know that tomato-y things like a little sweet.

And then I have some sherry vinegar 'cause we know tomato-y things like a little acidity too.

And just by adding those simple things, I am turning this marinara into this gorgeous, smoky, smooth, delicious, sweet and tangy sauce that is gonna set off that bread pudding like you can't believe.

It's so good.

So as soon as my gorgeous savory bread pudding came out of the oven, I could not wait to cut a big serving to put on my plate.

Let me describe this for you.

The middle, where all that cheese and cream and the eggy goodness is, it's very soft and tender, but those brown toasty bits, with that Parmesan on that crusty bread, is like really great cheese toast.

It's a wonderful combination of textures and flavors, and all it needs now is a little bit of that great, vibrant red, beautiful sauce that tastes as good as it looks.

Isn't this pretty on top of all this good stuff?

And now, I cannot wait to taste this.

[carefree music] Oh my goodness, this is so good.

It reminds me of why I love this recipe so much.

It makes me so happy to make this recipe every year and it's gonna make me so happy when you make it for your next holiday breakfast.

[upbeat music] So when I'm looking for a go-to holiday recipe that's gonna see me throughout the season, and for that, I go to this gorgeous dip that is made with roasted red peppers and delicious spices, and it is called muhammara.

It's a Middle Eastern recipe, and every cook has their own little version for it, and I am excited to share my take on it with you.

[upbeat music] Look at these caramelized onions.

Now I'm gonna put a few more things in the pan to continue building our base.

I have a generous amount of chopped garlic, and I have some brown sugar, and two glorious spices.

The first is a spice blend, called garam masala.

We are adding all kinds of flavor in that one spoonful.

I'm also adding a really high quality chili powder.

It can be ancho, it can be Chipotle, it can be whatever you like, but you know, no matter which one you add, make sure it is fragrant.

And then I'm going to put in a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.

You can add a little, you can add a lot, depending on your personal preference for heat level.

And what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna stir all this in and I'm gonna let that brown sugar melt, and I'm going to let the heat bloom those spices to bring out the best in their flavor.

Oh wow, that smells so good.

I love it when baking spices and our cooking spices hit that oil and you smell their perfume.

I am going to transfer this into a food processor, and then I am going to add some chopped roasted red pepper.

So into the food processor they go.

And then I'm going to add walnuts.

This dip is thickened by walnuts.

I love the effect, their crunch, their little bit of flavor in there.

I have fresh lemon juice for a bit of bright citrus.

And of course, I have the zest from that lemon because that zest has more flavor than even the juice, and then this is pomegranate molasses.

I love pomegranate molasses.

All that is is pomegranate juice, you know that beautiful ruby red, sweet tart juice that is cooked down until it is as thick as honey or syrup?

It is essential to the beautiful, sweet, tart flavor of this dip.

[blender rumbling] Take the lid off and scrape down one time, and then pulse, [blender rumbles] and this is great.

Let me show you how this looks on the end of my spoon.

So it's all pulverized and you can tell that things are combined, but you can see those tiny little bits of the pepper and the onion and the walnut, so it's not too soft.

There's still gonna be some bite to it, but it's completely incorporated.

I would like for this to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, but when I serve it, it tastes best at room temperature, which is another reason it's the great party recipe, 'cause you don't have to worry about keeping it ice cold.

And that's how easy this is.

Everything we put in here was flavor packed, and when it comes together, this is one of the best dips you're ever gonna make.

So I have put my dip in a beautiful serving piece, and now I'm gonna add a few little things right at the end.

This is some really good olive oil, just a little drizzle over the top, and then a little bit more of that delicious, tangy, beautiful pomegranate molasses.

And to continue with pomegranates, these are fresh pomegranate seeds, actually the word is aril, but we all know the beautiful, juicy, delicious crunch, and bright flavor of these.

It always reminds me of putting some sort of great edible sequin on top of this.

Now you can serve this with crackers, you can spread it on little finger sandwiches, but I really like pita bread with this.

This is a Middle Eastern dip, so this bread is just right.

Let me make myself a cute little plate here, making sure I get some of the oil, some of the pomegranate molasses, and a few of those pomegranate arils.

My little bit of bread.

Spread it right on there.

I love this so much.

Mm, I love a good dip.

People understand dip, they look forward to it.

There is no way that they can anticipate just how delicious this one is.

Everything you could want for a holiday party dish, muhammara, put it in your recipe box.

Put some on some pita, have a little party, okay?

[upbeat music] I love looking back at recipes that have been part of every holiday season I can remember.

And for me, that is a coconut cake.

When I was little, my grandmother was the baker, but over the years, it became my responsibility and privilege to make the cake for the family, and it is now my pleasure to share my recipe with you.

[bright music] So when it comes to making a cake, one of the things that you can do that ensures it will turn out as good as can be is to be careful when you do your measurements.

Rather than dipping your measuring cup, take a spoon and actually spoon the flour into the measuring cup.

This means that you're not accidentally cramming too much flour in there and adding more to the recipe than you thought.

Then just take a straight edge, level it off, and there you have exactly the amount you need.

The next step is going to be adding leavening.

Now for this cake, that is a combination of baking powder and salt.

And then I'm gonna whisk my dry ingredients to make sure that that leavening is evenly distributed all the way through.

So for the next step, I'm going to be using a mixer.

So the first thing I'm gonna put in here is some butter.

So I'm gonna drop my butter in my mixer, turn on the mixer for a few seconds to make sure that that butter is good and creamy before I add anything else.

So when you have your butter nice and creamy, you're going to gradually add your sugar.

I'm gonna do it about a quarter of a cup at a time, making sure that the mixture turns out really smooth and creamy.

Once all of your sugar's in there, this is when you're gonna crank up the machine to high speed and let it whirl around for four minutes.

It's tempting to say, "Oh, it doesn't need that long," but you want to put air in your batter now.

We're gonna let the machine do the work for four full minutes.

[mixer whirring] So once the sugar and the butter are thick and creamy, it'll feel like cake frosting between your fingers, and then you know it's time to add the eggs.

A recipe will always say to add the eggs one at a time so that each one can blend in.

[bright music] So after each time you add an egg, you're gonna turn your mixer back on to medium speed and you wanna blend until you cannot see the egg in the batter anymore.

[mixer whirring] And that's it.

That's four eggs.

So now it's time to add our liquid ingredient and our flour.

This cake calls for whole milk, which I have here, and I'm also gonna put in the flavorings.

I have three for this recipe.

One is vanilla, the second is a little bit of almond extract, and the third thing is a little bit of coconut extract.

That's gonna boost the coconut flavor in the cake layers to echo what's gonna be going on in the frosting.

So just to make sure it mixes evenly, I like to pour my extracts into the milk.

And now I am going to alternately add my dry ingredients with my milk.

So I'm gonna add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with half of the milk.

So you always start with dry and you end with dry to make sure you have a creamy, well-combined batter.

And you wanna make sure that every bit is going into the batter.

One more turn of the mixer.

[mixer whirs] And that's it.

Once your batter is smooth, your batter is finished.

It is ready to go in our cake pans.

So here are my cake pans, which I have already greased and floured.

Now all I have to do is to put my batter in and you want to equally divide it between the pans.

And then I'm going to take my spatula and spread it out toward the edges.

The heat of the oven is gonna give you some spreading also.

I like to give it a little bit of a start at being even in the pans before it goes in the oven.

So now these are ready to go in the oven, a preheated oven.

So your oven is hot and it's ready to put the pans in.

[quiet bright music] So the next step in our cake is going to be this delicious cream cheese buttercream.

The first thing I'm gonna add to my mixer is cream cheese, a whole block of it.

And then I'm gonna add some butter and we're going to cream this together until it's smooth.

Add cream of coconut, and we're gonna put in a good amount of it just to add a little bit more flavor.

And speaking of flavor, I'm gonna put in a couple of drops of my coconut extract.

And now a little bit more mixing until it's smooth.

And the very last thing we have to add is some powdered sugar.

Now I do sift this, so I'm going to start out by putting about half of my powdered sugar, get it good and smooth, and then, we're gonna eyeball the rest.

How do you know when you've added enough powdered sugar?

It'll look just like cake frosting.

As you can tell, the cake layers are out of the oven, and I let them cool in the pan for a few minutes and then I turned them out on a wire rack so that they could cool completely.

So I put my first layer on here.

I'm using a little bit of coconut milk to add that last layer of flavor.

And now I'm going to take some of our wonderful buttercream and I'm gonna add enough to cover the top of the cake.

I'm going to add a good layer of my fresh unsweetened coconut in the middle, and then I'm gonna put the flaked coconut on the outside.

And then our next layer goes on top.

Now you want to press it just a little bit to help it adhere, and then just cover the outside with your buttercream.

I usually start on the sides, and don't worry too much about whether it's looking a little bit messy at this point.

You just want to make sure that all of the cake is covered.

Some bakers call this a skim coat or a crumb coat.

Some people that do home improvement would say, we're just priming the walls now.

So now that the cake is frosted, while the frosting is still soft and a little bit tacky, we're going to add the coconut.

You know, nothing works better than your fingers.

Take coconut and press it onto the side and go all the way around the edge, and once you have the sides covered, the rest can go on top.

And that's it.

Now comes the easiest and maybe the hardest part, which is to cover it and put it in the refrigerator for one, maybe two days, so that everything can settle in.

[bright music] And now it's time for the big reveal.

Let's cut into this.

You know, the wonderful Julia Child once said that any party without a cake was just a meeting.

So I think, to ensure the success of your next party, you should make this coconut cake.

It's time for me to take a bite.

[buoyant music] You know, this cake is tender, the layers are moist, there is coconut in three different ways throughout it.

It is a winner.

You should make this.

It's easy, it's impressive, and then you get to eat cake.

[buoyant music] So one of my favorite things about holiday cooking is the memory of all the other gatherings where I have made a beloved family recipe.

One of them that's gonna be in my repertoire every year are my delectable warm crab bites with creamy remoulade sauce.

Let me show you how I do that.

[playful music] I'm starting out with a block of cream cheese, just good cream cheese, and I set this out early enough that it's good and soft.

And then I'm going to put in just a dab of sour cream, and I am going to put in one whole egg.

Now, one of the things that makes these crab cakes so delicious is there's not a lot of binder.

There's not a lot of bread that's going to interfere with that great crab flavor.

So I'm gonna take my mixer and I'm just gonna gently blend these together until it's smooth.

You could do this on low speed and you'll see when your cream cheese is good and soft, this comes together quickly.

And the idea is for the egg to be smooth.

It's okay if there's still a few small pieces of cream cheese.

So take that out, and you won't need this mixer again.

Everything else is by hand.

So now I'm gonna start building the flavor in these great crab cakes.

I am putting in a little bit of Old Bay, that wonderful classic seasoning, a little salt, and a big pinch of cayenne.

I'm gonna put in a few finely chopped chives, a little bit of finely grated Parmesan cheese, saving some for a little bit later, and then this is my secret.

I am putting in fresh citrus, which is gonna give not only a little bit of color, but a beautiful fresh burst of flavor.

So there's an orange, and a little bit of lemon.

[buoyant music] And then give this a quick stir to fold it in.

Now I'm going to be using jumbo lump crab, which is a very special thing, but if you are having trouble finding the jumbo lump, you can use a slightly smaller crab.

But you know, for the holidays, is there anything more delicious than these big, beautiful lumps of crab?

Now this crab came from the seafood department.

It's not from a can, and that's important.

You're gonna use the freshest crab you can find to make sure that these are plump, delicious, and holiday-worthy.

I'm just gonna fold this in.

All right, next step, muffin tin.

These are not fried, they're baked.

It's gonna make them golden and crisp and delicious.

So here is my topping.

These are panko breadcrumbs, those good dry, not too fine.

If you use the super fine breadcrumbs, you're not gonna be happy with the outside.

So go with the panko.

That last little bit of those finely chopped chives that I saved, [dishes clink] and the rest of that finely grated Parmesan cheese.

And then once I have this mixed together, this is melted butter, and it's important to melt the butter shortly before you use it.

The idea is to make all of these crumbs moist, but you don't wanna turn 'em clumpy.

So let me see how this is coming along.

You could always add more, but you sure can't take it back out.

I'm gonna go ahead and put the rest of that in there.

All right, now I'm gonna make myself a little assembly line.

This is so clever.

I'm taking my handy dandy little scoop.

This is a one ounce scoop, and look what I'm gonna do.

And I am gonna take a scoop of that crab meat, And then with my fingers, I'm going to gently coat it in those crumbs.

You can use your fingers to kind of make sure that these turn out into a little ball, about the size of a ping pong ball, but don't squish 'em too much, we're just coating these.

And I'm gonna fill every one of these 24 little wells with one of these crab cakes.

[holiday bells ring] [carefree music] And that's it, all 24 little crab cakes in our cute, mini muffin tin.

Now we're gonna pop 'em in the oven.

[pan clatters] [carefree music] Friends, look at these.

Are these not the cutest things?

Who could have guessed that a mini muffin tin is the key to not only the tastiest holiday crab bites you've ever had, they're the easiest too.

Now they are warm, so you can give people a plate, but guests can also just go by and pick one up.

I promise that this will be the key recipe for your holiday entertaining all season long.

We all know when it comes down to it, joy, memories, and food with people we love is the key ingredient to any holiday.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [gentle theme music] - [Announcer] This program was funded in part by The Forest at Duke, a retirement community in the heart of Durham, North Carolina.

With more than 350 residents, The Forest at Duke presents residents with ongoing opportunities to keep growing.

[bright music]