Category Archives: Recipe
How To Celebrate Thanksgivukkah, The Best Holiday Of All Time
This holiday won’t happen again for 70,000 years. (Really.) So celebrate to the max: Manischewitz-brined turkey, pecan pie rugelach, a cornucopia of gelt, and lots more. posted on October 2, 2013 at 11:18am EDT
Christine Byrne BuzzFeed Staff
On Nov. 28, 2013, for the first and only time in any of our lifetimes, the first day of Hanukkah falls on the same day as Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving + Hanukkah = Thanksgivukkah. (Yes, it’s kind of like Sharknado.)
It’s the best thing to happen to American Jews since Larry David’s Thanksgiving rant.
There are already posters and T-shirts on sale. Thanksgivukkah even has its own Facebook page and Twitter account. T-shirts and posters are being sold through Modern Tribe. http://www.moderntribe.com
So BuzzFeed created a Thanksgivukkah menu wth nine original recipes that combine the best foods from both holidays.
Coming up with Thanksgivukkah recipes meant BuzzFeed Food editors asked themselves some important questions, such as: How do you make pumpkin pie Jewish? (Answer: Add rye flour and caraway seeds to the crust, then teach it a Torah portion.) How much sweet potato do you need to add to a noodle kugel to make it taste like Thanksgiving? (A lot, and then some bourbon too.) Does challah make a good turkey stuffing? (OH MY GOODNESS, YES.)
After testing, retesting, and then asking other BuzzFeed writers with less cooking experience to test them again, we are ecstatic with the results.
We know that cooking this entire menu might be unappealing to sane people; it’s just for fun, and the idea is that you can pick and choose the dishes that appeal to you. Feel free to email the BuzzFeed Food editors with any questions.
Plus fun DIY decoration ideas.
BuzzFeed’s DIY editors added some ingenious DIY Thanksgivukkah decoration ideas to the mix — like gold-dipped pumpkins and yarmulkes adorned with buckles.
Happy Thanksgivukkah!
TO START:
POTATO LATKES WITH CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE
Makes 10-15 latkes
These are pretty traditional latkes. Because, while “mashed potato latkes” or “sweet potato marshmallow latkes” might have been interesting, there are some things you just don’t mess with. These skillet-fried potato cakes are topped with cranberry applesauce, though, earning them a place on the Thanksgivukkah menu.
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ cups diced* onions, divided
1 large egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 pounds Russet potatoes
Vegetable oil (for frying)
Sour cream (garnish)
Cranberry Applesauce (garnish)
*To dice means to chop into roughly ¼-inch cubes.
Special Equipment
Food processor with grating attachment
Deep-fry thermometer
PREPARATION
Finely dice the onions. They should be roughly 1/4 inch cubes.
Line a colander with a smooth kitchen towel or cheesecloth.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg and add flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 ¼ cup diced onions (set aside the other 1 ¼ cup for later). Mix to combine.
Set up a food processor with the grater attachment. Peel potatoes and cut lengthwise into pieces small enough to fit into your food processor, working quickly so that the potatoes don’t brown. You can grate potatoes by hand — but it’s obviously a lot easier this way. Grate potatoes and reserved 1 ¼ cup diced onion. Pour the potato-onion mixture out into the towel or cheesecloth set over the colander, wrap the towel around the mixture, and wring out as much liquid as possible. The potatoes should release at least 1 cup of liquid. Pour out the liquid, but save the white potato starch that sticks to the bottom of the bowl.
Add dry potato mixture to the egg/flour mixture, making sure to scrape all potato starch off of the towel and into the mixing bowl. Stir until batter is combined and sticky.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Set a wire rack inside a baking sheet and place it on the counter next to your stovetop.
Heat ½ cup vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Oil should be hot but not smoking, about 375°F. For each latke, take about ¼ cup of batter and flatten it in your palms to about a 2-inch disk. As you do this, squeeze out excess liquid, then place the disk into the oil with a heatproof spatula. Cook latkes about 4 minutes each side, until golden brown. Cook in batches of 4-5 latkes. Between batches, use a slotted spoon to strain any leftover bits of potato mixture out of the oil. Add more oil as needed, making sure to let the oil reheat before dropping the next potato mixture in. Transfer fried latkes to the baking rack, and place in the oven for about 8 minutes, until crispy and deep brown. Garnish with sour cream and cranberry applesauce.
CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE
Serves 10-12
This sauce is the new essential topping for latkes and turkey. It is killer.
Richer than applesauce but less tart than traditional cranberry sauce, this Thanksgivukkah condiment — it’s great with latkes and with turkey — is sweetened with just a little bit of Manischewitz. First, the cranberries are stewed with spices and wine, and then the apples are added near the end to maintain a heartier texture.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup sugar
½ cup Manischewitz Concord Grape wine
4 large Granny Smith apples
PREPARATION
In a medium sauce pot, combine cranberries, spices, sugar, and Manischewitz. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and let things simmer, uncovered, 20minutes.
Peel and core apples, then cut them into large chunks (approximately ½-inch cubes), and add to the cranberry mixture. Don’t cut the apples too far ahead of time or they’ll turn brown and smushy. Cover sauce and continue to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If sauce begins to stick, add water.
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before serving.
THE MEAL:
The star of this Thanksgivukkah feast is a pretty traditional bird, with one twist: It’s brined in Manizchewitz, a super-sweet kosher wine. The sugar helps flavor the turkey, and the deep purple color of the wine darkens the skin of the bird, making it look even more appetizing. Yes, that means PURPLE TURKEY. But only until it’s cooked; in the end it looks normal and tastes amazing.
6 quarts (24 cups) water, divided
1 ½ cups kosher salt
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
10 cloves garlic, crushed
5 sprigs rosemary
10 sprigs thyme
4 lemons, halved
4 oranges, halved
3 750-mL bottles Manischewitz Concord Grape wine
Turkey:
1 18 to 20-lb turkey
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) , at room temp
Special Equipment
5-gallon container (a large cooler or foodsafe bucket)
Roasting rack and pan large enough for turkey
Meat thermometer
PREPARATION
Brine:
Bring 4 cups water with salt, caraway, fennel, and mustard seeds to a gentle boil. Stir to ensure salt has dissolved, then let cool to room temperature. Pour into a 5-gallon container. Add the remaining 20 cups water and all remaining brine ingredients (but not the turkey yet).
Turkey:
Remove turkey from its packaging and discard any excess liquid that leaks out. Your turkey probably has a bag inside of it containing its giblets and neck; discard giblets but put the neck in an airtight container and refrigerate to use for turkey stock. Then, submerge turkey in brine, making sure that it is completely covered (it doesn’t matter if it’s breast-side up or breast side down). Refrigerate for 24-36 hours. If brine doesn’t completely cover your turkey, flip the turkey over halfway through to ensure even brining.
Preheat oven to 500°F, with a single rack on the lowest rung.
Take turkey out of brine and dry thoroughly — inside and out — with paper towels. Then start with new paper towels and dry it again, inside and out. Let turkey sit out until it is room temperature, about an hour, then rub your room-temperature butter all over the turkey.
Place turkey on a roasting rack, breast side down. Cook in the 500°F oven for 30 minutes, or until skin on top starts to brown. After 30 minutes, flip your bird, turn the oven down to 350°F and cook turkey breast side up for 3 – 3 ½ hours, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. You can check this by taking the turkey out of the oven after 2 hours and 45 minutes and inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. If the skin of your turkey starts to burn, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the part that is burning.
Once the thigh meat temperature reaches 165°F, remove from the oven and let rest on a cutting board for at least 20 minutes before carving.
TURKEY GRAVY
Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS
Drippings from roasted turkey
¼ cup Manischewitz Concord Grape wine
3 cups homemade turkey stock (or canned chicken broth)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
Special Equipment
Fine mesh strainer
PREPARATION
Take turkey out of the roasting pan and set it aside on a carving block. Pour as much of the turkey drippings as you can out of the pan and into a heatproof container or bowl (plenty will remain stuck to the bottom), and reserve these drippings. Place the roasting pan across two burners over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or metal spatula for about 15 seconds to loosen any brown bits stuck to the bottom. Strain the mixture into a heatproof container, discarding burnt bits, and add enough of the reserved drippings so that you have a total of 1 cup. Discard the rest. Put drippings in a small saucepan over low heat, and add flour. Whisk the mixture constantly over low heat for about 2 minutes, until mixture is sticky and paste-like. Whisk vigorously and continuously. Note: The mixture will be VERY dark. Don’t be alarmed; this is what will color your gravy, and we promise it won’t taste burnt.
Slowly pour in turkey stock, whisking continuously. Add herbs and cook on low, whisking occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Take gravy off the heat and remove the herbs (take out the whole sprigs; thyme leaves may fall off the sprig and into your gravy, which is OK).
Serve immediately. Gravy will continue to thicken as it cools.
Shortcut Turkey Stock
This is the easy way to make every dish on your Thanksgiving table taste a million times better. posted on October 2, 2013 at 11:14am EDT
Makes about 6 cups
INGREDIENTS
1 turkey neck, reserved from whole raw turkey
1 ½ cups chopped onion, from about 2 onions
¾ cup chopped carrot, from about 2 carrots
¾ cup chopped celery, from about 2 celery stalks
½ cup dry white wine*
12 cups (96 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon Canola oil
*The wine doesn’t have to be fancy, but it shouldn’t be super gross, either: Don’t use a wine you wouldn’t want to drink.
Special equipment
Fine mesh strainer
PREPARATION
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add turkey neck and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Cook neck on both sides until golden brown but not burned (about 3 minutes each side). Turn heat down to medium-low and add onion, carrot, celery, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add white wine and stir constantly for about 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and 1 teaspoon salt, then turn heat up to medium-high and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 2 hours, or until liquid has reduced by roughly half.
Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a large heatproof container. Discard turkey neck and vegetables, and let stock cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Use your Shortcut Turkey Stock in stuffing, gravy, or any recipe that calls for homemade or store-bought broth.
SWEET POTATO BOURBON NOODLE KUGEL
Serves 10-12
A mash-up of noodle kugel and sweet potato pie, this dish is a soufflé-like casserole with a pretty serious bourbon kick. And don’t skimp on the pecan-cornflake topping; it adds crowd-pleasing crunch to a dish that most non-Jews tend to roll their eyes at.
INGREDIENTS
Casserole
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1.5 lbs)
4 tablespoons bourbon
one 1-lb package wide egg noodles
6 eggs
¼ cup brown sugar
1 ½ lb full-fat cottage cheese
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to salt water for noodles
Topping
2 cups corn flakes
1 cup whole shelled pecan halves, coarsely chopped
¼ cup unsalted butter (½ stick)
¼ cup brown sugar
Special Equipment
Food processor or blender
9×13-inch baking dish
Aluminum foil
Gallon-sized Ziploc bag
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Wrap sweet potatoes individually in foil and roast in the oven until soft and completely cooked through, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let the potatoes cool inside the foil for at least an hour, then peel them by hand. The skin will slide right off. Puree with the bourbon in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. This should yield about 3 cups of puree. If you yield more than 3 cups, set the excess aside for another use or discard. (If you want, you can do this ahead and refrigerate the puree for up to 2 days.)
Lower oven to 350°F.
In a pot of heavily salted water, cook the egg noodles al dente (about 5 minutes, or 2 minutes less than the package directions say). Pour into a colander to drain, running cold water over the noodles until they are cool to stop the cooking. Drain thoroughly.
In a very large bowl, beat eggs, then add brown sugar and beat just until combined. Add cottage cheese, melted butter, and the sweet potato puree, then mix with a rubber spatula until combined. Finally, add salt and the cooked noodles, and mix with a spatula until combined.
Pour noodle mixture into a 9×13” baking dish, flattening the top with a spatula. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. (if noodles start to brown during this time, cover your baking dish with foil).
While kugel is baking, prepare the pecan topping: First, put the cornflakes in a Ziploc bag and crush with your hands. The cornflakes should be in small pieces, but not dust. Next, brown butter in a medium saucepan. Turn off the heat and immediately add sugar, cornflakes, and pecans and stir with a spatula until just combined.
After it has baked for the full 50 minutes, remove kugel from the oven and sprinkle pecan mixture on top in an even layer. Bake, uncovered, for another 30 minutes, or until set. If pecans start to brown before kugel is set, cover with foil.
Serve immediately.
ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH PASTRAMI AND PICKLED RED ONION
Serves 8-10
You’ve probably noticed that BuzzFeed’s Thanksgivukkah is not kosher. (Because honestly, Thanksgiving is not possible without butter), but pork and shellfish have no place on a Jewish holiday table. Instead of bacon, these Brussels sprouts are flavored with pastrami, and a hefty sprinkling of pickled red onions adds color and crunch.
INGREDIENTS
Pickled Onions:
1 medium red onion, finely diced*
2 cups rice wine vinegar**
½ cup sugar
¼ cup salt
Brussels Sprouts:
¼ cup unsalted butter (½ stick)
½ pound deli pastrami, thinly sliced
5 pounds Brussels sprouts, halved
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
*To dice means to chop into roughly ¼-inch cubes.
**Rice wine vinegar is NOT the same as rice wine. You can find rice wine vinegar in the Asian section of your local grocery store, or with the other vinegars. Make sure you get rice wine VINEGAR, not rice wine. And, get the “unseasoned” kind (the seasoned stuff has added sugar and other weird stuff).
PREPARATION
For Pickled Onions:
Bring rice wine vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Add sugar and salt, and stir until dissolved. Turn off heat and let mixture cool for about 5 minutes. Put diced onion in a large heatproof container, and pour vinegar mixture over. When mixture is room temperature, refrigerate for at least a day.
For Brussels Sprouts:
To prep Brussels sprouts, cut a small bit off the end of each sprout. Then, cut sprouts into quarters (if your sprouts are really small, cut them in half).
Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut pastrami into strips roughly ¼ inch wide and 2 inches long.
Melt butter in a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add pastrami and cook over medium heat until browned fat has rendered out, about 3 minutes. Don’t worry if the pastrami doesn’t brown evenly; you’re doing this to get the pastrami flavor into the butter, not to crisp the meat. Pour pastrami and fat into a large heatproof mixing bowl. Add Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Line two large baking sheets with foil and spread Brussels sprouts out on them in a single layer. Don’t crowd the pans. Roast for 35 minutes, removing pans from the oven at the 20 minute mark to move the Brussels sprouts around a little, then rotating the pans from top to bottom rack before putting them back in the oven for the remaining 15 minutes. Brussels sprouts will be dark brown and crispy around the edges.
Strain the pickled red onions and reserve ½ cup of pickling liquid. As soon as the Brussels sprouts come out of the oven, toss them with the red onions and the ¼ cup of liquid while they’re still warm. Serve immediately.
CHALLAH-APPLE STUFFING
Serves 10-12
Stuffing is bread soaked in loads of butter. Challah stuffing is extra-rich, eggy bread soaked in loads of butter. Need I say more?
INGREDIENTS
2 1-lb loaves challah It’s fine if they’re a little crushed.
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onion
2 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples
8 sprigs thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
6 sprigs marjoram, leaves picked and finely chopped
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
Note: To dice means to chop into roughly ½-inch cubes.
Special Equipment
Aluminum Foil
9×13-inch baking dish
PREPARATION
Cut challah into 1-inch cubes and let cubes sit out in a bowl or on a baking tray, uncovered, for at least six hours to make them stale. Alternatively, you can dry bread in a 250°F oven by laying cubes in a single layer on baking sheets and baking for about 30 minutes, or until bread is dry but not toasted (it should not start to brown at all).
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large saute pan, melt butter over medium-low heat, then add onions and celery. Add three teaspoons of salt and ground pepper to taste, and cook until onions are soft, about 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, start peeling your apples. You can’t do this too far ahead of time, because apples oxidize (AKA turn brown and get gross) if you leave them sitting around, raw and unpeeled, for too long. Dice them the same size as your onions and celery. Add apples and herbs and cook until apples are soft, about 5 minutes more.
In a large bowl, combine challah cubes, cooked vegetables in butter, and chicken broth. Mix until the bread is saturated with liquid, and everything is evenly mixed. Press stuffing into a 9×13-inch baking dish and cover with foil. No need to grease your dish. There’s plenty of butter in there. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes, then remove the foil, raise your oven to 450°F, and cook stuffing uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, or until the top starts to brown slightly. Cool 10 minutes, then serve.
HORSERADISH CHIVE MASHED POTATOES
Serves 10-12
Perfect mashed potatoes are a given on Thanksgiving, but sometimes they can feel a little heavy. These are still super decadent, but the addition of horseradish and chives — a common Jewish deli combination — adds some tartness that brightens them up a little bit. These are tangy, creamy and even more addictive than regular mashed potatoes, so please proceed with caution.
INGREDIENTS
1 whole head of garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
1 cup heavy cream
3 teaspoons kosher salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 bunch chives
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
Special Equipment
Aluminum foil
Electric hand mixer (not essential)
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the top off of the head of garlic, and peel away the outermost layer of papery skin. Place on a square of aluminum foil, and drizzle with olive oil and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and roast about 45 minutes, until soft. Let cool for about an hour, still wrapped in foil. Then, squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of the skin, and mix with a fork until paste-like.
Peel potatoes and cut into 1” cubes. Put potato cubes in a large pot and cover by 2” with cold, unsalted water, then put pot on the stove and bring to a boil. If you use salted water to boil potatoes, they get grainy and start to disintegrate.
Meanwhile, finely slice the chives. Boil potatoes until they are fork tender — this should take 40-60 minutes — then drain completely.
While potatoes are still hot, put them in a large mixing bowl and add butter, cream, horseradish, roasted garlic, and most of the sliced chives. Season with salt and pepper. Beat with an electric mixer on low for about a minute, then on high for 2 more minutes until smooth and fluffy.
Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with remaining chives, and serve immediately.
FOR DESSERT:
RYE PUMPKIN PYE
Serves 8-10
“Ummm…. how do you make pie Jewish?” Admittedly, it was tough. The answer? Pour old-school pumpkin filling into a rye and caraway-studded shortbread crust. The verdict? Just, wow.
INGREDIENTS
Crust:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (¾ stick), cut into ¼-inch cubes
5 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup rye flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons caraway seeds, ground in spice grinder or with mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling:
2 large eggs
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
one 15-oz. can pumpkin puree
one 12-oz. can evaporated milk
Special Equipment
Spice grinder or mortar and pestle
9-inch pie dish
PREPARATION
For Crust:
Let butter sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes, until soft but not melting. With the back of a fork, cut together butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl until mixture is smooth with no lumps and the sugar is completely incorporated. Add the egg yolks and stir to combine, then add flours, caraway, and salt. Mix until the mixture is crumbly (all ingredients should be combined, but the mixture will have a slightly sandy, not sticky texture), then press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake crust about 10 minutes, just until it starts to brown.
Filling and Assembly:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, honey, spices, salt, and pumpkin puree, and whisk until combined. Slowly add evaporated milk, whisking just until combined.
Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil, then pour the pumpkin mixture in. Try not to press the foil down too firmly onto the crust or it will stick. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temp to 350°F and cook another 50 minutes, until filling is set. Cool before serving.
PECAN PIE RUGELACH
Makes 32 cookies
Some traditional rugelach recipes already call for pecans. But it’s the light corn syrup that sets these apart. They taste exactly like pecan pie — only bite-sized.
INGREDIENTS
Dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 8 pieces
½ cup cream cheese (4 oz), cut into 4 pieces
Filling:
2 cups shelled pecan halves
¼ cup unsalted butter (½ stick), cut into 4 pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup corn syrup
½ cup dark brown sugar
Egg wash:
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Special equipment
Electric hand mixer
Plastic wrap
2 cookie sheets
parchment paper
rolling pin
pizza cutter (not essential)
PREPARATION
Dough:
Let butter and cream cheese sit out at room temperature for 10 minutes, so that they are still cool but slightly soft. Combine flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl; mix on a low speed just until combined. Scatter butter and cream cheese pieces over the top of the flour mixture, and beat on medium speed until dough is the texture of cottage cheese, still slightly crumbly. Use your hands to divide the dough into 2 equal pieces, then roll each piece into a ball. Flatten each ball into a disk about 1 inch thick and 4 inches in diameter, then wrap each one separately in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to 1 day.
Filling:
Using a knife, finely chop pecans and put in a medium mixing bowl. (Do NOT chop the nuts in a food processor. You want the pecans to be chopped but still coarse, and a food processor will turn them into nut butter.)
In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter by adding all 4 pieces at once and constantly stirring with a heatproof spatula until completely melted. Continue to stir or swirl the pan as butter starts to bubble and foam. When the foam subsides slightly and butter turns a light brown color, take it off the heat immediately and add it to the chopped pecans. Add vanilla extract, corn syrup, and brown sugar, and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Beat egg yolk with the tablespoon of water and set aside.
When dough is chilled, unwrap one disk onto a lightly floured surface, and roll with a rolling pin into a 12-inch circle. It is important to have an even, symmetrical circle, so trim any excess. If dough gets too soft during rolling, lay it on one of the lined baking sheets and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes, until slightly chilled. Once the dough is rolled out, sprinkle half of the pecan mixture on top of the dough, all the way to the edges of the circle, making sure the mixture is evenly distributed. With a pizza cutter (or a knife), cut dough into 16 equal slices. Roll each slice from the outside in (starting at the wide end and rolling towards the point), placing each roll onto the cookie sheet as you go. Repeat this process with the other disk of dough.
Use a pastry brush to coat the top of each cookie with the egg-water mixture.
Bake rugelach for 20 minutes until golden, turning the cookie sheet halfway through baking. Cookies are done when they are slightly golden brown. Don’t worry about the filling spreading; that’s the corn syrup (ESSENTIAL to the pecan pie taste). When cookies are slightly cool, you can break that extra filling right off and put it into your mouth. Cool completely before serving.
ROSH HASHANAH WISHES
I got this from the Hadassah web site. Hope you enjoy the recipe and have a wonderful year to come.
Love
Jerry & Nadyne
Rosh Hashanah: More Than Just a Happy New Year
As we wish everyone a “sweet New Year” and snack on delicious apples dipped in honey, we might be tempted to believe that Rosh Hashanah is strictly a holiday of happiness and celebration. But in truth, the Jewish New Year, observed on the first and second days of Tishrei, is actually a dual-natured holiday – at once joyous and solemn, celebratory and introspective. Indeed, while the community certainly rejoices at the beginning of a new calendar, the holiday is rife with customs encouraging more serious introspection and personal change. Rosh Hashanah ushers in the Ten Days of Repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. According to tradition, it is during these days that God considers our actions and judges us. Throughout this period, we are encouraged to conduct a heshbon hanefesh, or to take personal stock, by honestly evaluating the choices we have made over the past year and making resolutions for improvement. Rosh Hashanah is about giving ourselves the time and opportunity to think about our actions and improve ourselves through acts of repentance, prayer, and good deeds. Ultimately, we can strive to renew ourselves along with the renewal of the yearly cycle.
Taiglach – for a Sweet New Year!!
Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
4 ½ lbs. honey
Dash of ginger
Marachino cherries cut up
Ground walnuts
Mix eggs, flour, baking powder.
Roll out on floured board – like small tubes
Cut into small pieces
Boil all honey, all sugar, and ginger in a large pot on low heat. Be careful it does not boil over the top.
Bring to a brisk boil, throw in cut pieces – judge the right amount at one time, don’t throw all in at once.
Take out pieces with a slotted spoon (drain off honey) once they are like small balls and a medium tan color.
Put balls onto an aluminum foil pie plate, making a mound of the balls, sprinkling nuts and cherries in between each level.
SOME INTERESTING ROSH HASHANA RECIPES
EDITOR’S NOTE: These recipes are from an article in the Hadassah magazine, and reflect the mixed traditions of cookbook author and chef Louisa Shafia, the daughter of a Persian Muslim father and a Jewish Ashkenazic mother. Contributed by Nadyne Weissman.
When I met up with Brooklyn-based author and chef Louisa Shafia, she was on her way to an East Village restaurant to prepare for a dinner she was cooking in support of her latest book, The New Persian Kitchen (Ten Speed Press). Tall, slender and elegant, Shafia’s long fingers were tipped by a true kitchen habitué’s unvarnished nails. “I’ll be rolling pastries all day if you need to find me,” she said with an easy smile.
A celebrated practitioner of vegetable-based cuisine, Shafia—whose first book, Lucid Food (Ten Speed Press), explored the seasonality of nature’s bounty—uses her sophomore effort to reconnect with a powerful yet partially unexplored part of her heritage. The daughter of a Persian Muslim physician father and Ashkenazic Jewish librarian mother, the Philadelphia-born Shafia grew up in a house of mixed traditions, though she identifies as Jewish.
In addition to an Ashkenazic repertoire that included standards like latkes and chicken soup, Shafia’s mother learned to cook colorful, flavorful Persian dishes, occasionally serving them for holiday meals and special occasions. Distinguished by heady flourishes like tart-sweet pomegranate, fragrant rose petals, musky saffron and pucker-inducing dried limes, Persian cuisine is often considered the most sophisticated in the Middle East, reflected in a near-obsession with fresh ingredients and the copious use of herbs and produce.
In her newest book, Shafia sheds light on the Persian Jewish community’s 2,500-year history in Iran, making it the oldest outside Israel. In 539 B.C.E., Cyrus the Great emancipated Persia’s enslaved Jewish population, facilitated their return to Israel and funded the rebuilding of the Holy Temple.
Similar to many Jewish cuisines with roots in North African and Arab countries, Persian Jewish specialties often hew close to the originals, adopting a Jewish patina with a small change, such as the omission of yogurt or the occasion on which they are served; the fact that Muslims eschew pork makes the food even more practical for kosher cooks.
Shafia’s recipe for Sweet Rice with Carrots and Nuts would be a welcome addition to your Rosh Hashana table, as would Fesenjan, the classic Persian sweet-and-tart stew made with pomegranates, walnuts and chicken.
Sweet Rice with Carrots and Nuts
Serves 6 to 8.
2 cups white basmati rice, soaked in cold water for 1 hour
3 cups water
Sea salt
2 TBs butter or unrefined coconut oil, at room temperature
3 TBs unrefined coconut oil
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 scant cups grated carrots (about 3 large carrots)
1/2 cup slivered or coarsely chopped almonds, toasted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped, plus 1 TB for garnish
Grated zest of 1 large orange
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp saffron, ground and steeped in 1 TB hot water
1. Drain the rice and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear.
2. In a stockpot, combine the 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Add the rice, return to a boil, then turn down the heat to its lowest setting. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice rest for 5 minutes, then dot with the butter or coconut oil and fluff with a fork. The rice should be dry and fluffy.
3. While the rice cooks, heat a small skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion in the coconut oil for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the carrots, almonds, cinnamon, cardamom and turmeric, and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender. Add 1/2 cup pistachios, the orange zest and the honey and cook for about 2 minutes, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.
4. Scoop the rice into a large bowl. Add the carrot mixture and drizzle in the saffron. Mix gently and season with salt. Garnish with the remaining 1 TB pistachios.
Fesenjan
Serves 4.
1 TB grapeseed or vegetable oil
Salt
2 lbs bone-in chicken legs or breasts, skinned
2 onions, finely diced
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup pomegranate molasses (widely available online)
2 tsps salt
2 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup peeled and grated raw red beets
Pomegranate seeds for garnish
1. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Sear chicken until well browned, 6-7 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add onions to skillet and cook on medium heat until lightly browned, 15 minutes. Stir in walnuts, pomegranate molasses and salt, to taste.
3. Add stock, bring to a boil and return chicken to skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked, 25 minutes. Uncover, stir in beets and cook until thickened an additional 15-20 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
4. Remove chicken with tongs and cut into halves or thirds. Place on a platter and cover with sauce. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.
CHICKEN SOUP CHALLENGE
Well, we’ve had the battle of the Matzoh Brie and the brisket, and the what-makes-the-best-latkes debate. Inspired by Student Rabbi Miriam Farber’s sermon, I thought it might be fun to propose a Chicken Soup Challenge. What makes the best Jewish penicillin, that stuff of legend and lore? How do you get that great chicken flavor, that perfect texture, that delicate balance of vegetables and herbs and flavorful broth, that steaming bowl of goodness memories are made of and rhapsodic essays are written about, the comfort kids come home to from far flung places, the tried-and-true recipe that brings a tear to many a young bride’s eye when her husband says, “That’s not how Mom used to make it.” Please submit your top secret recipes. We promise we’ll keep them to ourselves.
Joy Breslauer, editor@aitzchaim.com
A PASSOVER RECIPE AS EASY AS MATZO PIE (FROM WWW.NPR.ORG)
A Passover Recipe As Easy As Matzo Pie
by Deena Prichep
April 13, 2011
Alex Trimble for NPR
Toward the opening of the Passover Seder, participants point to the matzo on the table, and announce: “This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are needy come and celebrate Passover.” It’s a lovely sentiment, remembering the struggles of previous generations of Jews, and opening your home to all those who suffer to this day. But bread of affliction? No more.
While matzo — a cracker-like unleavened bread — harkens back to a time of slavery and fleeing without time for loaves to fully rise, it has come a long way from hardship fare. Matzo is now coated with crunchy caramel, or dipped in chocolate, or dredged in nuts (or, rapturously, sometimes all three at once). Ground into meal, it’s mixed with oil or schmaltz (chicken fat) and shaped into feather-light matzo balls (or, depending on your tastes and the kitchen skills of your family matriarch, somewhat denser, more-toothsome-yet-equally-beloved “sinkers”). And, if you’re lucky enough to come from a Sephardic background, it’s formed into minas.
Minas, also known as meginas or mehinas, are layered matzo pies, found in Jewish cuisine from Egypt to Turkey to the Isle of Rhodes. Sheets of stiff matzo crackers are softened with water until pliable, then layered with savory fillings and baked, yielding something akin to a Passover-friendly, Ottoman-inflected take on lasagna.
Mina fillings run the gamut, from herb-flecked lamb pies to meltingly soft stewed eggplant, many of them similar to the savory turnovers (bourekas, samboussek, etc.) found throughout the Sephardic world.
Minas can be cut small and served as appetizers (part of the ever-delicious mezze tradition), offered as part of a spread of dishes or served as main dish showstoppers. Vegetable minas are especially beloved as the often-hard-to-find traditional vegetarian Passover entree.
A search for mina recipes, however, can yield something of a mixed bag. Many Sephardic recipes become Americanized over time, with lamb giving way to beef, frozen spinach replacing fresh, and warm spices and fresh herbs falling by the wayside.
To find truly exciting minas, I checked with the experts. Jennifer Abadi comes from a family of Syrian Jews with a rich culinary history, detailed in her cookbook A Fistful of Lentils, and has been researching Sephardic Passover recipes for several years. She found mina variations from Italian, Greek and Egyptian traditions, bright with fresh herbs and varying slightly across the regions.
About The Author
Deena Prichep is a Portland, Ore.-based freelance print and radio journalist. Her stories on topics ranging from urban agriculture to gefilte fish have appeared on The Splendid Table, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Marketplace, Voice of America, The Environment Report, Salon.com, The Northwest News Network and Culinate.com, and in The Oregonian and Portland Monthly. She chronicles her cooking experiments at Mostly Foodstuffs.
She kindly shared a recipe for a Turkish mina de carne, featuring a rich filling of oniony lamb and beef in tomato sauce, perked up with handfuls of fresh parsley and dill. I adapted my own favorite spinach-feta pie filling as well, adding extra moisture in the form of not-traditional-but-oh-so-creamy cottage cheese, to account for the matzo’s tendency to sop up liquid.
And because Passover also celebrates the coming spring, I pulled together two fillings celebrating the new crops. A Roman-inspired potato-artichoke filling is simmered with saffron and studded with peas, then topped with punchy parsley-lemon-garlic gremolata. Leeks, which are often fried up as fritters at Sephardic Seders (the beloved keftes de prasa), are sauteed with spring asparagus, then given a sunny lift with fresh mint and lemon zest.
Whatever the filling, the basic template is the same: Moisten sheets of matzo with water and set them aside for a few minutes to absorb the liquid and soften. The pliable sheets are then layered with your filling of choice — most of these recipes use three layers of matzo, although Abadi’s large and saucy mina is best made with four. The top layer of matzo is glazed with a beaten egg, to give the finished dish a burnished shine.
After a good bake, the mina is allowed to set for a few minutes, and then devoured. Matzo is certainly no longer a bread of affliction.
- Basic Mina Template
- Roman-Inspired Potato, Pea And Artichoke Filling With Gremolata
- Leek And Asparagus Filling With Mint And Lemon
- Spinach And Feta Filling With Fresh Dill
- Mina De Carne Filling
by Deena Prichep
Any type of filling can be used with these basic instructions for making a layered matzo pie.
Makes one 8- or 9-inch mina
4 to 6 sheets matzo (depending on the size of your casserole dish — an 8-inch dish will require fewer than a 9-inch dish)
1 recipe filling of choice (all fillings can be prepared up to a day in advance)
1 large egg, beaten with a pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and oil an 8- or 9-inch square casserole dish. You can use equivalent casserole dishes of other shapes if desired — which might involve a little more breaking and reassembling of matzo to cover the dish.
Soften the matzo sheets, either by dipping them in a dish of water or running them under the faucet, until they are just starting to soften (you don’t want to oversoak, or they’ll become mushy). Set aside in a clean dish towel for about 5 minutes, then check to see that they have become somewhat bendable. If not, moisten them further and set them aside for another few minutes to absorb.
When the matzo is ready, cover the entire bottom of the baking dish with a layer of matzo (you will have to break some matzo in pieces to fill in the gaps). Gently spread half of the filling over the matzo. Top with another layer of matzo, then the remaining filling and then a final layer of matzo. Pour the beaten egg over the top, and spread to evenly glaze the top layer of matzo. Bake until the matzo is golden and the filling is hot and set, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool and set for 15 minutes, then serve.
by Deena Prichep
Italian Jewish cuisine does a wonderful job of celebrating the foods of spring, often lightly stewing them up with just a bit of seasoning such as saffron. In this mina, artichoke bottoms (fresh or frozen) are simmered with an equal amount of potatoes and studded with peas. Gremolata, a pungent mixture of lemon zest, garlic and fresh parsley, is not common to Sephardic cuisine (you’re more likely to see it accompanying the Milanese osso buco), but it does a lovely job of bringing a bright note to the oven-cooked mina. Makes filling for an 8- or 9-inch mina
INGREDIENTS:
Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound artichoke bottoms, cut into thick slices
1 pound waxy red or yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into rough chunks
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 hefty pinch saffron
Salt and white pepper, to taste
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen (no need to thaw or precook)
INGREDIENTS:
Gremolata
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
*Frozen artichoke bottoms are available in Middle Eastern markets. Jarred artichoke bottoms are available at some supermarkets. Make sure they are plain, not marinated.
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, saute for 1 minute and add the sliced artichoke bottoms. Saute until the garlic colors to a light brown. Add the potatoes, broth and saffron. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat until it is just high enough to maintain a simmer. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are falling-apart tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
When the potatoes are done, mash the entire mixture with a potato masher (or fork, if you don’t have one) until everything is reduced to a rough mash, with no pieces larger than bite-size. The mixture should be much looser than standard mashed potatoes, somewhere just shy of soupy. You can add more broth (or simmer some off) as needed. Season to taste with salt and white pepper — depending on the saltiness of the broth, salt may not be needed. Stir in the peas. Proceed with the Basic Mina Template recipe.
When the mina is out of the oven, mix together all of the gremolata ingredients, and bring to the table for diners to sprinkle over their mina as desired. A hot sauce such as harissa also is nice.
by Deena Prichep
Sephardic Jews make leek fritters (keftes de prasa) for holidays from Rosh Hashanah to Passover to Hanukkah. Here the beloved leeks are combined with spears of asparagus, and the whole mixture is perked up with lemon zest and fresh mint. If you’d like to serve this for a dairy-free kosher meat meal, simply swap out the cottage cheese for an equal amount of moist mashed potatoes. Makes filling for an 8- or 9-inch mina
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 to 5 small leeks, or 2 to 3 large, thinly sliced and washed free of all dirt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bunch asparagus, washed, tough stems snapped off and sliced into 1-inch lengths
1 small bunch fresh mint, finely chopped (a scant 1/4 cup)
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated black pepper to taste
1 cup cottage cheese (for dairy-free, substitute an equal amount of very moist — borderline soupy — mashed potatoes)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium flame. Add the leeks, sprinkle with the salt and saute until they totally soften but do not color, about 10 minutes. Add the asparagus, cook for an additional minute until they just begin to turn bright green, then turn off the heat (they’ll cook further in the oven). Add the mint and lemon zest, black pepper to taste and additional salt if needed. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then add the cottage cheese and eggs, stirring to combine, and proceed with the Basic Mina Template recipe.
by Deena Prichep
In most spanakopita recipes, the goal is to drain off excess liquid before it makes crisp phyllo dough soggy. In minas, the matzo does a fine job of absorbing excess liquid, and you can use fresh spinach without worry. This recipe is unabashedly cheesy, tangy with feta and snappy with fresh dill. Makes filling for an 8- or 9-inch mina
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1 small bunch fresh dill, finely chopped (a scant 1/4 cup)
1/4 red or yellow onion, or 2 scallions, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 small bunch spinach, washed, dried, and roughly chopped
DIRECTIONS:
Mix together the cottage and feta cheeses, dill and onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper — it should be somewhat strongly seasoned, since it’ll be mixed with the spinach, but be careful as the feta will add a lot of salt. Mix in the eggs. Add the spinach, by handfuls, stirring until the mixture is well combined. Proceed with the Basic Mina Template recipe.
This Turkish-style mina with ground beef, lamb and crushed tomatoes is from Jennifer Abadi, author of A Fistful of Lentils (Harvard Common Press, 2002). Because it makes a large amount of savory filling, it’s best to use a larger 9-inch square pan and 4 layers of matzo instead of 3. Simply soften two additional sheets, layer the matzo, then 1/3 of filling and repeat, topping with the final matzo layer. Abadi also recommends having additional prepared tomato sauce for serving leftovers if desired, as the sauce tends to absorb as the mina sits. Makes filling for a 9-inch mina
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions (about 3 medium onions)
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground lamb
2 teaspoons kosher salt, or more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dill leaves
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (about 3 cups)
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
Prepared tomato sauce (optional — see note above)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute, or until it is hot but not smoking. Add the chopped onions and cook until soft and somewhat transparent, 7 to 10 minutes.
Add the ground beef, ground lamb, salt, black pepper and sugar and cook until brown, about 10 minutes (stir occasionally and mash with a fork to cook pieces).
Lower to medium heat, add the chopped parsley and dill, and mix well. Cook 5 minutes.
Pour in the crushed tomatoes and mix well. Bring to a slow boil over high heat and cook 3 minutes, then lower the heat to medium and cook an additional 7 to 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Mix in the beaten eggs and proceed with the Basic Mina Template recipe.
©2013 NPR
CRISPY POTATO LATKES
CRISPY POTATO LATKES
Published November 1, 2012. From Cook’s Illustrated.
For truly crisp latkes, we had to eliminate the one thing potatoes are loaded with.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We wanted latkes that were light and not greasy, with buttery soft interiors surrounded by a shatteringly crisp outer shell. To achieve all of these goals, we needed to remove as much water as possible from the potato shreds by wringing them out in a kitchen towel and to minimize the release of what remained by microwaving the shreds briefly to cause the starches in the potatoes to form a gel. With the water taken care of, the latkes crisped up quickly and absorbed minimal oil. (
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH
We prefer shredding the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater, but you can also use the large shredding disk of a food processor; cut the potatoes into 2-inch lengths first so you are left with short shreds. Serve with applesauce and sour cream.
INGREDIENTS
• 2pounds russet potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed, and shredded
• 1/2cup grated onion
• Salt and pepper
• 2large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2teaspoons minced fresh parsley
• Vegetable oil
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees. Toss potatoes, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt in bowl. Place half of potato mixture in center of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible, reserving liquid in liquid measuring cup. Transfer drained potato mixture to second bowl and repeat process with remaining potato mixture. Set potato liquid aside and let stand so starch settles to bottom, at least 5 minutes.
2. Cover potato mixture and microwave until just warmed through but not hot, 1 to 2 minutes, stirring mixture with fork every 30 seconds. Spread potato mixture evenly over second rimmed baking sheet and let cool for 10 minutes. Don’t wash out bowl.
3. Pour off water from reserved potato liquid, leaving potato starch in measuring cup. Add eggs and stir until smooth. Return cooled potato mixture to bowl. Add parsley, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and potato starch mixture and toss until evenly combined.
4. Set wire rack in clean rimmed baking sheet and line with triple layer of paper towels. Heat 1/4-inch depth of oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking (350 degrees). Place 1/4-cup mound of potato mixture in oil and press with nonstick spatula into 1/3-inch-thick disk. Repeat until 5 latkes are in pan. Cook, adjusting heat so fat bubbles around latke edges, until golden brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn and continue cooking until golden brown on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Drain on paper towels and transfer to baking sheet in oven. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, adding oil to maintain 1/4-inch depth and returning oil to 350 degrees between batches. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.
5. TO MAKE AHEAD: Cooled latkes can be covered loosely with plastic wrap and held at room temperature for up to 4 hours. Alternatively, they can be frozen on baking sheet until firm, transferred to zipper-lock bag, and frozen for up to 1 month. Reheat latkes in 375-degree oven until crisp and hot, 3 minutes per side for room-temperature latkes and 6 minutes per side for frozen latkes.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUFFLE
Butternut Squash Souffle
Ingredients
3 cups cubed peeled butternut squash
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/4 cup crushed honey nut toasted whole grain oat cereal
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Coat 1-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place butternut squash in microwave-safe bowl with a little water, microwave until soft, 6-8 minutes. Drain and mash.
3. In prepared dish, combine mashed squash, sugar, milk, vanilla, salt, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and egg, mixing well. Combine cereal and brown sugar. Sprinkle on top. Bake 20 minutes or until set.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Holly Clegg’s Too Hot in the Kitchen: Secrets to Sizzle at Any Age (2010).
Nutritional Info (per serving)
- Calories 162
- Fat 2g
- Saturated Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 53mg
- Sodium 61mg
- Carbohydrates 35g
- Fiber 3g
- Sugars 21g
- Protein 4g
KREPLACH
Kreplach are small pasta dough triangles filled with ground meat or mashed potatoes. Similar to dumplings, they are sometimes called Jewish ravioli or Jewish wonton. Sometimes kreplach is boiled and served in soup. Other times kreplach is fried and served as a side dish. It is customary to eat kreplach before the Yom Kippur fast, on the last day of Sukkot, and on Purim.
Why do Jews eat kreplach on Purim?
Some say that kreplach, stuffed cabbage and other foods with fillings are eaten on Purim because the hidden filling is reminiscent of the surprises and secret meanings wrapped up inside the Purim story.
Another explanation for the Purim kreplach eating tradition centers on the chopped meat in the kreplach. Jews in Eastern Europe began to eat food that had been chopped or beaten on Purim to be consistent with the Purim tradition to make noise, stomp feet, clap hands whenever Haman’s name is mentioned during the reading of the Book of Esther.
A final explanation for why Jews eat kreplach on Purim comes from Alfred J. Kolatch’s The Jewish Book of Why. Kolatch writes that the kreplach’s triangular shape symbolizes the three Jewish patriarch (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). And it was from her antecedents that Esther derived the strength she needed to save the Jews from annihilation in Persia.
KREPLACH
by Sharon Lebewohl and Rena Bulkin
From The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook
Ingredients
Wrappers:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons cold water
1 egg, beaten, for binding kreplach
1 tablespoon salt
<Meat filling:
2 tablespoons corn oil
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 pound chopmeat
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Potato filling:
2 tablespoons corn oil
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon finely chopped or crushed fresh garlic
1 egg yolk
1 cup cooked mashed potato
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced scallions
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cheese filling:
1 cup farmer cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
Preparation: Prepare 1 of the 3 fillings and refrigerate before you begin preparing dough:
Meat Filling
1. Heat corn oil in a skillet; sauté onions until nicely browned, remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Add meat to the pan and sauté on high heat, stirring frequently until all meat is browned. Put the onions back in, and sauté with meat, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Let cool.
2. In a bowl, thoroughly mix meat-onion mixture with all remaining ingredients.
Potato Filling
1. Heat corn oil in a skillet, and sauté onions until nicely browned. At the last minute, add garlic, which browns quickly.
2. In a large bowl, combine onion-garlic mixture with all other ingredients, and blend thoroughly.
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and blend thoroughly.
Make wrappers and cook:
1. Sift flour and 1 teaspoon salt into a large bowl, and create a well in the center.
2. Pour eggs into the well, and, wetting your hands, knead into a dough. Add water, and continue kneading until dough is smooth. Roll dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. On a well-floured board, roll dough as close as possible to paper-thinness with a floured rolling pin. Cut into 2-inch squares. You can roll each individual square a bit thinner before you fill it. Have bowl with beaten egg, a teaspoon, and filling at hand.
4. Place a flatware teaspoon of filling in the center of the square and fold diagonally to create a triangle. Seal sides with egg mixture.
5. Bring a pot of water to a vigorous boil, add 1 tablespoon salt, drop in the kreplach, and cook for 20 minutes. Serve in chicken soup or, for dairy fillings, with sour cream and fried onions. Makes about 30.
Variations:
Easy Kreplach
Kreplach is much easier to make if you start out with commercial wonton skins for wrappers.
Ingredients:
1½ cup cooked chicken
¼ cupchopped onion
2 tablespoons schmaltz
Grivens, (if you have any)
Salt and Pepper
1 pack Won ton skins
Directions:
Place 1 teaspoon of meat filling in center of each won ton skin and fold into triangles. Pinch sides together. It helps to moisten the edges so they will form a better seal. Let stand on floured surface for 15 minutes to prevent sticking or opening during cooking. Drop into boiling salted water or soup. Cook about 15 minutes. Also good deep-fried. Makes about 15.
Cherry Kreplach
These are traditional at Shavuot, which happily occurs when cherries are in season. Instead of using canned cherries, stew a pound of fresh cherries in 1 cup water and sugar to taste. Don’t overcook them.
Kreplach are given different shapes in different places. Polish Jews often fold them into ear-shaped pieces (uzhki), while others shape them like ravioli. When the dough pockets are made in half-moons, they are called cherry varnishkes. To make pareve cherry kreplach, boil the cherry syrup with 2 teaspoons cornstarch until thickened, then let cool before using.
dough: pareve; filling: dairy
Ingredients: (serves 8)
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
about 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Filling and topping
1 can (16 ounces) pitted sweet cherries
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
Method:
1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the water until smooth. Gradually add 3 cups of the flour and the salt and sugar, beating constantly to form a stiff dough.
2. Sprinkle your work surface generously with flour. Turn out the dough, and knead thoroughly, adding more flour if necessary, until it no longer sticks to your hands or the work surface.
3. Cover dough with a damp cloth and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
4. Roll out dough on a floured surface and use a wine glass or cookie cutter to cut out 3-inch rounds of dough.
5. Drain the cherries and place 2 cherries on each round. Fold the dough in half like a turnover.
6. Moisten the edges and pinch them together, or press with the tines of a fork to seal.
7. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the kreplach and bring back to a boil.
8. Reduce heat to prevent the water from boiling over, then increase heat again and cook for 5 minutes.
9. Drain the kreplach, then serve with sour cream and cinnamon. If pareve, serve sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.
LATKES
You’re Doing It All Wrong — How to Make Latkes
Make latkes the right way. Leslie Jonath of Chronicle Books is an avid latke maker. Here she shows you the right way to make your favorite Hannukah food. Video by CHOW.com.
CHEESE LATKES
recipe from “Spice & Spirit, The Complete Kosher Jewish Cookbook of the Lubavitch Women:
Contributed by Helen Cherry
3 eggs 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk 5 Tbl sugar
1 cup drained cottage cheese 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup oil
1 tsp baking powder
Place eggs, milk, cottage cheese, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar & vanilla in bowl & mix til smooth.
Heat oil in frying pan (if using nonstick pan, use less oil). Drop batter by spoonfuls into hot oil.
Fry til brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels & continue til all batter is used. Keep warm until serving.
Serve with sour cream or applesauce.
From Joy Breslauer: One of my favorite places to look for recipes is about.com.
TSIMMES
From Nadyne: Jerry & I made a recipe very similar to this one (minus the prunes) this weekend. It was delicious.
http://m.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Tzimmes-Root-Vegetable-Stew
From Joy: Here’s where I find some of my best recipes.
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The Aitz Chaim Ram's Horn 