I remember my mother would begin to bake Christmas cookies the day after Thanksgiving. She would fill shoeboxes with tissue paper, then fill the shoeboxes with her assortment of Italian cookies (to fiercely compete with her sisters!). I loved to sneak frozen butterhorns for a snack and she always made plenty!
Butterhorn Cookies
Butterhorn cookies are a timeless holiday classic, rooted in European baking traditions and beloved for their delicate, crescent shape, tender texture and fillings or fruit jam or toasted nuts with sugar.
My family recipe is made with butter, sour cream and egg yolks-lots of yummy fat-so these cookies are tender.
Often finished with a light coating of powdered sugar, butterhorns are understated yet elegant and a staple on any holiday cookie tray.
Making Butterhorn Cookies
Prep Time: 60 min
Cooking Time: 20 min
Yield: 4 portions
Ingredients
1 Cup Butter, room temperature
2 Cups AP Flour, sifted
1 Cup Sour cream
1 ea. Egg yolk
Filling
2 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1 Cup Walnuts, toasted and peeled (in a clean side towel); chopped
1 Cup Sugar
How to Prepare Butterhorn cookies
Step 1 Making the butterhorn dough
Place the butter, flour and sour cream into the mixing bowl. Using the paddle, blend to a coarse mixture. It will resemble a pie dough, it's important to keep the dough cold but the butter should be very small.
Add the egg yolk, incorporate gently to avoid developing gluten (a chewy dough). Let the dough rest, covered for 30 minutes.
Step 2 Rolling out and cutting
Roll the dough into 4 even balls. Flatten with a rolling pin into a disk and let rest for 10 minutes. If the kitchen is warm, place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
To toast walnuts, place onto a sheet pan, toast and then place into a clean towel. Rub vigorously to loosen the skins. Separate the nuts away from the skin; discard the skin.
While the dough is resting, mix the chopped, toasted walnuts, cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl, reserve.
There are several ways to roll and cut the triangles:
Roll the disk to a 1/8th inch thick circle or 3 inch by 8 inch rectangle; cut into 8 wedges like cutting a pizza pie. You'll need to keep the surface lightly floured to avoid sticking and be sure the dough is cool.
It's not a problem if the edges are a little uneven, when you roll inwards the edges are no longer seen.
When the disks are cut, sprinkle with the sugar-walnut blend.
Roll the disks firmly from the wider, outside of the circle, into the center, making a croissant shape.
Step 3 Baking
Curl slightly and place on a sheet pan with parchment. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon, walnut sugar.
note: I like to double the sheet trays to help avoid the bottom of the butterhorn cookies from getting too brown.
Bake at 350° F for about 20 minutes until nicely browned and tender.
Enjoy
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Years ago I traveled around the south for a few weeks researching some of the amazing foods of each region. In Charleston, I was introduced to a local pig farmer, Tank Jackson who manages Holy City Hogs. Tank and his wife raise heritage breed pigs and distribute the pigs around the country. He offers on-site cooking whole pig roasts, primal cuts and sausages, and I believe he produces the best pork in the country.
Years ago, while working as a chef in a busy continental restaurant, we featured grilled, fresh swordfish on the menu—finished with a generous spoonful of herbed compound butter and capers. It was popular and delicious. One afternoon, a seafood purveyor stopped by with a sample of frozen swordfish steaks, fully thawed and ready for evaluation. Curious, we grilled it side by side with the “fresh” swordfish we had been serving—fish we believed to be of high quality. The result was surprising. The frozen swordfish was superior—firmer, cleaner in flavor, and more consistent in texture. In contrast, our “fresh” fish, likely several days out of the water, lacked the same integrity. It was a defining moment and an important reminder: in many cases, properly handled and quickly frozen seafood can offer better quality than fish labeled as fresh. For chefs, understanding sourcing and handling is just as critical as technique—especially with a product as prized as swordfish.
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The name "caponata" itself has a fascinating origin story. One popular theory suggests it derives from capone, the Sicilian word for mahi-mahi. Historically, wealthy Sicilian aristocrats enjoyed a sweet-and-sour fish dish. Because seafood was too expensive for the working class, local home cooks substituted fish with affordable, meaty eggplant. Over time, this creative peasant food evolved into the beloved antipasto we celebrate today, often rounded out with celery, olives, and capers.
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The legendary New York-style cheesecake was famously popularized by Lindy’s Restaurant , an iconic Theater District deli opened in 1921 by German-immigrant Leo "Lindy" Lindemann and his wife Clara . A NY-style cheesecake has a dense but velvety cream cheese base, citrus zest, and a distinct cookie-dough pastry crus t. For years, I took the bus into NYC to work in amazing restaurant kitchens. On one bus ride I met and became friends with a manager at the legendary Lindy’s Restaurant. One day, he did the ultimate honor: he shared the closely guarded, original cheesecake recipe with me. This new recipe is directly inspired by that legendary Lindy’s classic, capturing its iconic velvety richness and signature flavor profile, but re-engineered for a modern, protein-packed lifestyle. Why This Recipe Delivers High-protein swap : Cottage cheese provides a clean, protein-packed base that replaces heavy fats without sacrificing richness. Silky texture : Blending the batter thoroughly ensures a velvety smooth consistency that rivals any NY-style cake. Savory-approved : Simple, foolproof assembly that requires no pastry-chef precision to get a perfect bake every time.
One of the great pleasures of my career is spending time each year working as a Culinary Educator aboard a cruise ship alongside my wife. She teaches baking & pastry while I focus on savory cooking and culinary techniques. Our travels take us to fascinating ports around the world, providing opportunities to explore local markets and study regional cuisines. I have a particular affection for the Mediterranean and always make it a point to seek out local variations of pesto, one of the world's great culinary treasures. One evening aboard ship, the pasta station served rigatoni with a choice of pesto, marinara, or Alfredo sauce. The cook prepared each order by reheating the pasta in hot water and then finishing it briefly in a sauté pan with the selected sauce. I watched in disbelief as he prepared to heat the pesto exactly the same way. "Horror!" flashed through my mind. Pesto is not a cooked sauce. Heating it aggressively dulls the fresh basil aroma, darkens its vibrant color, and diminishes the delicate flavors of basil, garlic, pine nuts, and extra virgin olive oil that make pesto so special. I may have startled the cook when I quickly called out, "Please don't cook my pesto!" Instead, I asked him to simply toss the hot rigatoni with the pesto off the heat, allowing the warmth of the pasta to gently release the fragrance and flavor of the basil. The result was exactly as pesto was intended to be enjoyed—fresh, vibrant, aromatic, and unmistakably Mediterranean.
As chefs, we spend years mastering sauté work. I remember my early days working the sauté station for lunch in a French restaurant in NYC. We served over one hundred guests in an hour-and the food was excellent — a dozen hot pans on the flat top, stocks simmering, mise en place of freshly chopped herbs, minced shallots, butter for mounting into sauces à la minute. There is rhythm to good sauté cooking. You learn quickly that great sauté work is not about rushing — it is about organization and control .