Chrissy Teigen And John Legend Share 12 Days Of Chexmas 2021 And Holiday Recipes - Exclusive Interview
Queen of your cravings, Chrissy Teigen, and her husband (maybe you've heard of the Grammy Award-winning John Legend?) have their holiday food priorities straight. There is, the two reveal in this exclusive interview with Mashed, almost zero — zilch — room to maneuver. For example, it is a truth universally acknowledged in the Teigen-Legend household that Beef Wellington is the only main dish worth making for Christmas dinner. As Legend once gushed to his YouTube followers, "It's juicy and flavorful ... it tastes so good, we have it every year, and hopefully we'll continue to have it." Yup, Beef Wellington is on the menu this year too. Chrissy has got some hacks for you, should you want to add a Gordon Ramsay-Esque flare to your holiday feast. Teigen and Legend also follow Hallmark-worthy holiday breakfast tradition that'll make you think you had an invite to their Beverly Hills estate on Christmas morning.
Didn't get summoned to dine with Chrissy, John, Miles, and Luna over the winter holidays? You can celebrate another holiday custom with them. Like years prior, Teigen and Legend have teamed up with Chex Cereal for "12 Days of Chexmas." In this interview with Mashed, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend spill on their favorite Chex party mix creations, holiday food faux pas in the Teigen-Legend household, the family's non-negotiable Christmas customs, and finally take a stand on one of the biggest holiday drink debates of our time.
The one thing Chrissy Teigen and John Legend won't do during the holidays
What is the biggest holiday seasons food faux pas you can commit in the Teigen-Legend household?
Chrissy Teigen: Oh, goodness. We don't try to set too many rules when it comes to the holidays. I think I love keeping things very traditional, I don't like a lot of change when it comes to the holidays, whether it be like a stuffing that's been too fancied up, or...
John Legend: Yeah. Don't try to introduce too much room for error into your recipe.
Chrissy: Yeah, no newness for the holidays.
John: You've seen all the Twitter memes of aunties being mad that someone put some extra ingredients in the mac and cheese. I think it's a good time to keep it traditional.
Chrissy: Yes, I agree.
John: You can experiment on other days that don't have that kind of pressure.
Chrissy: The holidays are no time for experimenting! Winning recipes only. It's the big game day, you don't just try new things, do your old place.
John: Yes, you do old faithfuls.
Chrissy: Yes.
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's holiday dish must-haves
Talking about old faithfuls, Chrissy, you're a side person. If you had to choose one side, and one side dish only for your Christmas spread, what would it be?
Chrissy: Oh, dear!
John: How dare you call my wife a side chick!
Chrissy: I want to ... Oh my God. Goodness, my mom's scalloped potatoes for sure, those were always my big ... That would definitely be my final meal in general –
John: It could be a meal on its own, it's grand.
Chrissy: That's why I would pick it, because it has the protein, it's got potatoes, it's got cream, and it's not like a lot of those scalloped potatoes recipes that are very ... Listen, I agree that cheese makes everything better, but this is the one thing in my life that cheese doesn't make it better. It just needs that creaminess, and use that smoky bacon, and it's just so delicious.
John: It's really perfect, truly.
Chrissy: Thank you.
We're super curious about your Christmas morning breakfast traditions.
Chrissy: Oh, Christmas morning breakfast. Definitely pancakes.
John: Pancakes, I think that's the key.
Chrissy: I mean, I love making my Dutch babies, because especially if you're having a family over. You wake up early because it needs room temperature milk, it's key in it. So, you got to take the milk out early, but you could just make a triple batch of batter or something, and make them as you can go for people, and it's not something that you have to watch that's on the stovetop, it's a baked pancake. So, you pour the batter into a cast-iron skillet or something, pop it in the oven, watch it do this beautiful puff to the top of the oven. Then when you take it out, it falls, and people can kind of... You set up a little bar for them with berries, and powdered sugar, and maple syrup, and lemon, and whatever people would want to put on it. It's such a delicious alternative way to do pancakes, that don't take much watching or much fuss, it's really cool.
John: They present very well.
Chrissy: They present very well, people are like, "Oh what!"
John: They put them in the oven, it's like a magic trick.
Chrissy: Yeah, it's gorgeous, and it's beautiful, and it's so tasty, I grew up eating them. Some people call them German pancakes, Dutch babies, Swedish pancakes.
John: Swedish.
Chrissy: Yes. There's a reason why so many different people are trying to claim this delicious-
John: So many countries.
Chrissy: It's that good.
The chef Chrissy Teigen and John Legend want to cook them dinner
Who's is the one chef is that you want to cook you dinner?
John: Chrissy Teigen!
Chrissy: No! I would say Obama's [chef]. That would be pretty cool, the Hawaiian fusion, delicious!
John: Oh yeah, the one that did his birthday party, that was so good.
Chrissy: That would be a dream come true. I mean, that would be incredible.
John: Maybe we need to know his name.
Chrissy: We should learn his or her name. I think it's her!
John: His or her name!
Chrissy: It's a her. But goodness, yeah.
John: Who else?
Chrissy: Even just...
John: Well, we love David Chang. He is –
Chrissy: Frank Prisinzano, from Frank's in New York, we love so much. To me, he is just ... The recipes that he posts, and they're so simple but beautifully done. Fried eggs with chopped...
John: Who's our go-to for our holiday meals? Like, who gave us our Beef Wellington recipe or something?
Chrissy: Tyler Florence is my favorite.
Chrissy Teigen's one Beef Wellington mistake
Are you guys doing Beef Wellington again this year for Christmas?
John: Yes, we love it.
Chrissy: We are. It's just, I used to be so scared of it because it seemed like such a fancy restaurant thing, but once I learned you could use pre-made crust...
John: Phyllo dough.
Chrissy: Or, I'm sorry, phyllo dough. Well, I'm sorry. It just made it so much less daunting and challenging to me, and yeah, I was very excited to... Yeah, puff pastry is just, it's game-changing to just buy the pre-made puff pastry. So, it's hard to go wrong, and when you slice into it, and you can personalize it, which is fun, by cutting out little shapes, and the extra puff pastry that you get, and adding that with an egg wash to the top of it, and it just becomes such a beautiful full that you created. It's so wonderful.
For all the Gordon Ramsey followers that we have, do you have any tips for mastering the meat-part of the Beef Wellington?
Chrissy: I mean, well, the way that Tyler writes it, it's pretty spot on. It even has not much watching involved, it really is a thing. And plus, John might tell, you have to be open that different parts of the Wellington are going to cook differently. So the ends are going to cook first, and those are going to be for the people that like more towards the well-done, and the center is going to be the most rare. So there's just — across the board — especially if you're feeding people with all different ways they like their meat, I think a Beef Wellington is so perfect, because you give the people who like well-done the ends, my mom would take that centerpiece that's just red and it's ...
But yeah, I had this fear of it from Gordon Ramsay. I had a fear of risotto, and Beef Wellington, because I was always like, "Oh no, he's always yelling at people, and they're always doing it wrong," and they're-
John: And crab cakes!
Chrissy: And they're real chefs, so I'm scared to make it. But then, I realized that it is possible, it's fun to accomplish something like that.
John: We've never messed it up though, so I'm like, well how would one mess it up?
Chrissy: I did mess it up once.
John: No!
Chrissy: Yes. I remember I didn't cook the mushrooms.
John: But it didn't taste messed up.
Chrissy: It was watery, because they didn't, yeah.
John: It didn't taste messed up though, it was delicious. And we like a medium-rare.
Chrissy: But it's one of those things that once you get, you just get it forever, and it's very fun to do, and you'll be super proud of yourself.
John: And I love it, I want to have it every Christmas.
Chrissy: Yeah, it's great.
The holiday classic Chrissy Teigen has never tried
How about eggnog for your family? The great eggnog debate, is it a yea or a nay?
Chrissy: I've never had it before. It wouldn't be something that I wouldn't have liked though, for sure.
John: I like it, I don't ever really crave it, but it's like, it kind of is nostalgic. And it reminds you that it's Christmas, and all that stuff, and–
Chrissy: It's right up my alley, but it also just screams hangovers for me.
John: Yeah. Well, you don't have to spike it. You can have a virgin eggnog.
Chrissy: Is there? I thought it was only alcoholic.
John: No, you can buy just the eggnog and just drink it. But most people put rum or something in there.
Chrissy: Oh, no. I'd rather be on a mission if I were going to choke down eggnog, but not the fun.
Now, you are a stockings family.
Chrissy: Yes.
John: Oh yes, we are.
Are there any edible treats that always go in your Christmas stockings?
Chrissy: Oh my goodness, always. I mean, the kids are at the perfect age to where they can really appreciate funny little cute things in their stockings. It doesn't necessarily have to be anything fancy. For us, we love homemade goods. I think stockings should be funny, and cute, and tasty. And, honestly, Chex Party Mix to do in a cute little Mason jar, and be able to stuff into a stocking. Or [Chex Party Mix] with a cute little piece of twine, and a candy cane tied around it, to me, is an adorable thing to be able to give, and to make that with your kids. [To] use Chex cereal to create something so creative and fun with the kids is really something special. And it's something we love to do now more than ever. I'm in the kitchen baking for people, and really finding my love of using homemade goods as my gift, I really enjoy that now.
John: Yeah. And it's a way to just give love to people, and you can give them stuff that you order online or whatever, but it doesn't have that same heart to it. And when you can create it yourself, and send it out to people you love, it's pretty cool.
Chrissy and John talk this year's 12 Days of Chexmas
Now, your holiday dining traditions must have changed, with two small kids. How have your Chex Party Mix recipes have changed, what have Luna and Miles contributed to the recipes this year?
John: Well, we experiment with our Chex Party Mix creations. So Chrissy's done more savory ones. We've done [them] for the Super Bowl. We love just having fun with it and being creative. And I think you start with the Chex cereal, and then you just go with your imagination and your taste buds take you.
Chrissy: I know, ever since I discovered just the wide range of seasonings, and popcorn seasonings, it makes it so much more fun to add that melted butter to your Chex cereal, and then do whatever you wish with it. After the Chex cereal, everything is the party, so you get to just add in anything you want afterward, and it's just so much fun. I do tend to lean towards savory ones, John is a big peanut butter chocolate fan, and a big Muddy Buddy fan. I love using Chex cereal to make my hot cocoa cookies. It's just always been in our lives since we were children, honestly, so it's really fun to be able to show our kids these recipes that we love so much too. And there's no way to go wrong, it's just fun.
We've heard that people can get a specially curated gift from you guys? From the boxes of Chex cereal?
John: Oh yes, they can. Well, everything's at 12DaysofChexmas.com, you can get the recipe to make your Chex the Party Mix, you can get some gift ideas from us, but also, we've curated a little gift list that people can win if they enter the sweepstakes there at the website. And so if they go there, they can get my album, they can get Chrissy's cookbook, they can get some of Chrissy's kitchenware, some apparel, all kinds of good gifts that we've curated for them. And the only way they can get it is if they go to12DaysofChexmas.com.
Chrissy, Luna and Miles put their own twist on the Original Chex Party Mix. You can try their recipe by mixing Corn Chex cereal, mixed nuts, bite-size pretzels, bagel chips, marshmallows, popcorn, mini peanut butter cups, caramel cubes and white chocolate flakes. Top with melted butter and Worcestershire sauce. Mix together and then bake on a roasting pan in the oven for an hour — stirring every 15 minutes.
You can find Chrissy & John's Specially Curated 12 Days of Chexmas Holiday Countdown and other Chex holiday recipes, as well as hosting hacks, crafts, a gift guide, and be entered for a chance to win John and Chrissy's Ultimate Holiday Gift Haul valued at over $500, by scanning QR codes on limited-edition holiday boxes of Chex cereal or by heading directly to 12daysofchexmas.com.