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"I prepare a huge Christmas Eve feast for 40 to 50 family and friends, and every year I'm like, 'What am I doing? What is this?' " says Kimmel. "It takes a good four days of my week off to prepare for it, and then the place is a disaster afterward. I do all the planning and most of the cooking myself." He also makes sure he's got vegetarian options for girlfriend Sarah Silverman. "I made a six-cheese lasagna last year that everybody loved," he says.
The annual extravaganza is inspired by Kimmel's memories of childhood family dinners in his native Brooklyn. "My grandmother was a great, great cook. I feel like I'm carrying on a family tradition."
Cioppino (Italian Bouillabaisse)
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 (16 oz. each) cans of tomatoes
1½ cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
2 large bay leaves, pierced
2 tbsp. minced parsley
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. basil
¼ tsp. pepper
2 cups red wine
5 lobsters, cut in half, or 10 lobster tails
40 clams, in shell
20 mussels, in shell
2 lbs. scallops
4 lbs. large shrimp
1. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, using large Dutch oven with high lid. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaves, salt, pepper and basil. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, 2 hours.
2. While sauc simmers, scrub mussels thoroughly with stiff brush, wash clams under running water and rinse several times to remove sand. Peel and devein shrimp.
3. Stir wine into sauce. Add shrimp and lobsters. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Place scallops carefully in sauce. Layer clams and mussels on top of mixture. Cover and steam 10 minutes or until shells are fully opened. Ladle into large deep soup bowls and serve with crusty French bread.
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Zeppoles
Makes 20 to 242 cups water
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
8 eggs
3 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. plus 2 quarts canola oil, for frying
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup best quality strawberry jam
1. Place water, salt and butter in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to boil. Have a whisk and a wooden spoon ready.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and dump the flour in all at once, whisking it all in. Return to burner, start stirring with a spoon. Cook, stirring constantly, until the dough starts to pull easily from the sides of pan and forms a ball, about 3 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir until tepid, 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring in each one completely before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla. Cool completely.
4. Line two cookie sheets with parchment and oil the paper with olive oil. Line another tray with several layers of paper towels.
5. In a 4- to 6-quart pan, heat oil to 375ºF. over medium heat. Place dough into a pastry bag with a 1-in. round tip and pipe 2-in. rings onto the trays, as many as can fit. When all the dough is used, refrigerate the dough rings until chilled.
6. Using a spatula, slide circles of dough into hot oil, four or five at a time, and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, carefully flipping to cook on each side. Remove each batch as it is finished and drain on the paper towels.
7. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar while still hot.
8. Place strawberry jam in a small saucepan over medium heat and warm gently. Serve zeppole warm or at room temperature with the warmed jam on the side.
Reprinted from Mario Batali Holiday Food by Mario Batali. Copyright © 2000. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc.
