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Hartsdale Chef Shares Delicious Holiday Recipes

HARTSDALE, N.Y. — Want to impress your in-laws this Christmas with some top-notch cooking? Hartsdale resident and retired professional chef Tomas Saez has you covered.

Bake some scrumptious wrapped apples for your family this Christmas with Hartsdale chef Tomas Saez's recipes.

Bake some scrumptious wrapped apples for your family this Christmas with Hartsdale chef Tomas Saez's recipes.

Photo Credit: Tomas Saez
Cook a lamb lyonnaise feast for your family this Christmas with Hartsdale chef Tomas Saez's recipes.

Cook a lamb lyonnaise feast for your family this Christmas with Hartsdale chef Tomas Saez's recipes.

Photo Credit: Tomas Saez

Saez frequently shares his expert knowledge on cuisine, which he learned from his chef experience in Spain, at a cooking program held by the Greenburgh Public Library. Here are some of his holiday recipes that are sure to please your family's taste buds.

All courses serve six to eight people.

Appetizer: Cream of Chestnuts Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb. of chestnuts
  • 3 quarts of chicken stock
  • 1/4 lb. of beef rib
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 potato, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tsp. of sugar
  • A pinch of salt and pepper
  • Croutons
  • 1/3 cup of heavy cream

Preparation: Skin and shell Chestnuts. Place chestnuts in a saucepan large enough to fill up three-quarters height. Cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt, heat to boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and cool. When chestnuts are cold, peel with a sharp pointed knife.

Put chestnuts with stock, vegetables and rib in a fitting stock pan or kettle, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, let it simmer for 45 minutes until the rib is cooked. Remove rib and dice it, put aside the meat for garnishing the soup. Put soup in a blender for 1 minute, taste for salt and adjust.

If a thicker soup is desired, bring soup to a slow boil, mix a little corn starch with cold water and slowly add to soup for desired consistency, for a thinner soup add more broth or cream.

Serve hot with croutons, beef rib cubes and a swirl of cream.

Entree: Lamb Lyonnaise Ingredients:

  • Three 6-oz. lamb meats, cubed
  • 4 onions, peeled and sliced
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 tbsp. of olive oil
  • 2 tbsp. of vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. of fresh rosemary
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 12 small red bliss potatoes
  • 1/3 cup of red wine
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 tbsp. of flour
  • 1 tbsp. of corn starch
  • Toasted French bread

Preparation: Heat a large pot with oil. Season lamb cubes with corn starch, flour,  salt and pepper. Bring heat on pot at medium and add lamb, whole cloves of garlic, onions and cook for 30 minutes, add tomatoes, wine, water, let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Add potatoes, vinegar, rosemary, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 35 minutes until potatoes are done. Taste and adjust for salt.

Serve with toasted French bread.

Dessert: Wrapped Apples Ingredients:

  • 6 apples, peeled and cored
  • 2 sheets of puff pastry
  • 2/3 cup of sugar
  • 1 tsp. of ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. of ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. of grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. of vanilla powder or liquid
  • 1/3 cup of butter, soft
  • 1 cup of rum-flavored whipped cream
  • 1 baking sheet

Preparation: Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Mix sugar with spices, use half of the mix to rub apples and reserve the rest to sprinkle on puff pastry crust.

Cut puff pastry sheets in 6 pieces large enough to wrap the whole apple. This dough will stretch to fit the size of the apples. Wrap each apple with dough rub with butter and rest of spices. Place in baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes at 375 degrees and reduce to 325 degrees for another 18 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

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