Recipes

Your Holiday Party Strategy Is a Large-Format, Set-It-and-Forget-It Main

A big hunk of protein is definitely the way to go.
Image may contain Food Pork Cutlery and Fork
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski

This year’s holiday must-have: centerpiece dishes that you can set out—and more or less forget about. When you’re hosting a party, the last thing you want is to find yourself stuck in the kitchen while your guests mingle and drink and...get hungry. These easygoing help-yourself recipes are large-format, impressive, and stand the test of time (a.k.a. they’re as good two hours later as when you set them out). That means you can relax, graze, and go back for more, as can everyone else.

  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal Seasoning Sesame and Platter
    Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    1/5

    Chicken and Bacon Choucroute With Potato Salad

    This chicken-meets-bacon-meets-sausage-meets-sauerkraut showstopper takes only 25 minutes in the oven.

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  • Image may contain Food Human Person Meal Supper Dinner Dish Pizza Plant and Produce
    Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    2/5

    Jerk-Spiced Duck

    Duck has an unfair reputation for being fussy, but not this sticky-spiced, finger-licking-good version.

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  • Image may contain Blade Weapon Knife Weaponry Plant Food Dish Meal Seasoning Animal Seafood Sea Life and Lobster
    3/5

    Citrus-and-Dill Gravlax

    Many gravlax recipes will instruct you to drain, turn, and babysit the fish while it cures. Not this one: Set it and forget it.

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  • A Christmas table set with a roast beef being sliced in the center.
    PHOTO BY ALEX LAU, FOOD STYLING BY REBECCA JURKEVICH, PROP STYLING BY KALEN KAMINSKI
    4/5

    Slow Roast Beef

    Reverse-searing results in a perfectly cooked roast beef with a mouthwatering crust.

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  • Image may contain Food Pork Cutlery and Fork
    Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    5/5

    Pineapple-Glazed Ham

    We spiked the glaze for our retro-chic version of 1950s-style ham with hot sauce and apple cider vinegar to cut through the sweetness.

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Chris Morocco is the food director of Bon Appétit and Epicurious, overseeing the Test Kitchen team and the recipes they develop. With a career that spans nearly 20 years in publishing, Chris has worked for brands such as Vogue, Real Simple, Food & Wine, and most notably BA, where he ... Read More
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