As if you aren’t busy enough decorating the house, caring for visiting family, and trying to find the perfect gift, holiday dinner parties are the last thing you have the energy to prepare for. Celebrity chefs at popular restaurants have upped the ante with their gorgeous and unique plates, but some have been generous enough to share their secrets for easy prep-to-plate recipes to help you find the time to join the holiday fun.
Try these easy celebrity chef recipes for this holiday season to make meals at home taste like something from a celebrity restaurant.
Try this menu top to bottom to find that much needed time for you and your family during the holidays, or as a menu for a nice winter date night.
1. Chef Daniel Boulud’s Braised Carrots with Thyme:  Wait. Carrots as an appetizer? Yes. You haven’t tried these. Thyme and carrots have a natural affinity for one another that makes these flavors best friends. Trust us. Braise, sauté, or our personal favorite: oven roasted. For a real treat, add brown sugar or maple syrup to the carrots in the oven for an extra burst of savory caramelization.
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2. Chef Joël Robuchon’s Two-Mushroom Velouté with Crème Fraîche: The hardest thing about this dish is the French pronunciation. Once you get that down you can impress your friends with this super easy soup. Velouté is the French term for brown gravy. Add crème fraîche (the whipped cream of cheeses) and voilà :  an earthy, savory variation of the standard cream of mushroom soup.
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3. 3-Ingredient Turkey with Sage and Orange: As part of a three-ingredient series, this dish from Epicurious.com is an easy way to mix up a Thanksgiving tradition. Sage, a classic cold-weather herb, is brightened by the juxtaposition of the sweet and tangy orange.
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4. Bratäpfel mit Walnusseis:  Say what? Translation:  walnut stuffed baked apple in a white wine bath. We’re leaving France and heading east to Germany for this boozy dessert. No holiday is complete without apple somewhere and this three-ingredient dessert is an easy toss-in-the-oven type that lets you schmooze after a scrumptious dinner.
5. Cran Royale:Â What better way to end the night than with a much-deserved cocktail? This menu hasn’t used the holiday staple of cranberries yet, but for good reason. Fifteen minutes gives you a homemade cranberry syrup to personalize this classically-flavored cocktail for the holidays.
What are your secret survival recipes for the holidays? Share them below.
