Happy Holidays, Frienjis! (The Alt-Weekly, Issue No. 8, Friday, December 19, 2025) (Patreon)

Notes, News, and Nerdiness from JKLA World HQ

Hello fellow kitchen nerds! It’s been another wild week as me and the folks here at JKLA World Headquarters try and get all our work done before we head out for the christmas break (we’ll be offline between Christmas and New Year, and I hope you all get a chance to take a well-deserved break to digest the past year and get excited for the new one as well).

My week started with a couple of days spent in Los Angeles where the folks at Our Place and I have been cooking, testing, and brainstorming up a… storm. It was great to get some more face-to-face time with such a creative, passionate team ane work on a couple of new projects that have been over a year in development. I absolutely love the Titanium Pro line of heat-proof nonstick pans that I’ve been working with them on (you can see a side-by-side comparison of those pans against teflon and cast iron here), but the one I’m most excited about is yet to come.

I can’t reveal what it is until mid-January, but I can tell you that it has truly revolutionized a pan that I’ve used virtually daily for over 25 years. I can’t wait to share it with you.

The true highlight of my week was a trip on the Kingston Ferry to attend a charity holiday variety show by Production Manager Lena Davidson's band Allswell at the Kingston Firehouse Theater. Spirits were high, the young and old alike were dancing and singing along, and it felt like a moment of real celebration with a friend, co-worker, and wonderful human being who has completely transformed the way I approach my work.

Thanks for a wonderful year to Lena, Erin, Kari, David and David, Kim, Michael, Alex, and all the folks at JKLA World HQ who make this job such a joy.

What I’m Cooking

This recipe for pan-seared tenderloin with soy yuzu-butter pan sauce will give you the ins and outs of a classic restaurant technique and to add some fun new flavors to it.

Padma Lakshmi came over to my place to talk about her new book, Padma’s All-American, and cook some sesame noodles inspired by Chinese, Mexican, and Indian flavors.

And coming up after the holidays, you can expect a few fun dishes, including a classic Korean stew that’s perfect for cold weather, the original recipe for tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes) that predates the chili broth-simmered version by a couple hundred years, a tasty and decadent tortilla-based breakfast sandwich, and a hearty pasta bake.

Holiday Dinner for You and Yours

In the U.S., is there truly a traditional Christmas dinner? It’s hard to say. Unlike Thanksgiving—which has definite, settled staples—Christmas is more of a mathematical equation that goes something like: Festive centerpiece (typically a protein) + Starchy side(s) of your choice + veg on the side, for an attempt at good health. No matter how you’ll be filling in your Christmas Day dinner, trust that any of the following recipes will be able to hold their own at the table!

Whatever winter holidays you celebrate (or don’t), I hope you all have at least a few moments of peace and restoration before the new year.

A holly jolly protein:

My Christmas main changes every year—but at least every other year, I (read: my mom) need to see a big, dry-aged hunk of prime rib on my table. This reverse-sear prime rib will get you the best results if you plan on doing the same.

If your family is all about the poultry, this roast turkey or roast chicken will help you serve up a photo-worthy full bird. Those recipes are time-tested and guaranteed to give you crisp skin, tender leg meat, and juicy white meat.

And let’s not forget the ham—this protein is hard to mess up and easy to make delicious. Try this maple-glazed spiral ham or, for an even more foolproof high-tech approach, this sous vide ham with a balsamic brown sugar glaze.

For a photo-worthy centerpiece, consider a porchetta. This slow-roasted, fennel-scented, juicy pork wrapped in crispy skin will make the carnivores in your life happy. You can also use a similar method on a turkey (also known as the humble turchetta). I’m not going to lie: It’s a project that requires some time, patience, and dexterity, but your patience will be rewarded with a gorgeous (and delicious) centerpiece.

Do any of our Frienjis eat meatloaf on Christmas? If so, consider this streamlined recipe, adapted from my book, The Food Lab.

Starches as the main:

Lasagna is a traditional Christmas meal for many. This all-day lasagna is time consuming, but worth the effort.

My friend Daniel Gritzer has a fantastic classic baked mac and cheese recipe.

In Rome, gnocchi is traditional served on Thursdays. If you’ll be participating next Thursday, this gnocchi with peas and mushrooms or this sage caramelized and squash gnocchi are solid options.

Starches on the side:

Crispy on the outside. Light and fluffy on the inside. You know what time it is: These are the best roasted potatoes ever. Read the method on Serious Eats or watch me make them on NYT Cooking’s YouTube channel.

Heavy cream and cheese are good friends around the Christmas season, and these hasselback potatoes just get it.

And if your protein of choice requires gravy, don’t forget about the mashed potatoes. My recipe for ultra-fluffy mash takes you through the starchy science of it all!

And some veg (for the aforementioned attempt at good health):

Brussels sprouts are absolutely essential at Christmas for me. Deep fry them, roast them, sear them—whatever it takes to get them on the table.

These crisp, blistered Sichuan dry-fried green beans will bring some much needed heat.

This roasted pear salad with endive, blue cheese, and hazelnut is another staple for my family’s Christmas meal, but if you need a make-ahead option, this roasted squash and kale salad will fit the bill.

My Christmas this year is going to be a small one—just me, the kids, Tessa, and my parents—so we’ll likely keep the meal reasonably small, but if you really want to go all-out as I’ve done in some Christmases past, here are a couple blow-out options:

Caviar turns any event into a major celebration, and while it is an expensive choice, there are a number of more moderately-priced options available these days. Read my guide to tasting and shopping for caviar here.

Last year we paired caviar with Bugles (yes, bugles), a dab of crème fraîche and chives to great effect, but it also goes wonderfully with Pringles, little blini, regular old potato chips, or even slurped straight off the back of your thumb.

I know there are some folks squeamish about foie gras, but just like any animal product, it all depends on the quality of the farm. In the U.S., at least, foie gras production is extremely limited to a handful of small family farms. I’ve personally visited and inspected La Belle farms in upstate New York and wrote about my thoughts here. I seek out their products when I want a taste of that sweet, fatty treat, whether pan-seared or cured into a torchon.

My grandfather Koji pased away several years ago, but his favorite Christmas treat was lobster. (Actually, as an organic chemist, his favorite Christmas treat was to explain to us how the lobster’s carotenoid pigments are revealed as heat breaks down the crustacyanin that tints them blue/black when alive). He always insisted that roasting lobster makes it more flavorful than boiling or steaming, and after testing it, I found that he is right. Here is my method for taking a lobster all the way from cooked to perfectly roasted.

You can also find more side and dessert options on a previous iteration of the Alt-Weekly that was released leading up to Thanksgiving.

Thank You 

Thank you again for joining me as a Frienji of Kenji here on Patreon. I want my content here to serve you and your needs in the kitchen. Comment down below what recipes, techniques, or topics you’d like to see me cover! Happy holidays, and happy new year.