Chanukah starts in about two weeks and it’s time to start thinking about what to serve. Around here, the most common Chanukah food is latkes (click here for my latke post and recipes) followed closely by Sufganiyot (or Jambusters locally — click here ).
Of course, any fried foods would be good — homemade potato chips, fried chicken, apple fritters, fish and chips, etc. What are you planning on cooking for Chanuka?
Shana tova! Happy new year!
It’s funny how things work out. 11 months ago (oy!) I posted about my plans to move (soon!) and start working on my next cookbook. I’m still not officially in my new home, but I have basically moved in and will be able to start work on the new book after this month of holidays. But I don’t want you to think I haven’t done anything over the last year.
Instead of starting a new book, I was lucky enough to have to do some new work on my old book. Confusing, right? What happened was the Canadian publisher was out of Soup – A Kosher Collection and it was getting hard to get copies from the American publisher, so thankfully, Whitecap decided it was time to publish the 2nd edition of Soup. With the decision to publish a new edition I was given the opportunity to include more recipes and the talented people at Whitecap produced some beautiful new photos as well.
In Canada you can start looking for copies in local bookstores, or click here to pre-order from Amazon.ca or here to check the status at Chapters/Indigo.
In the US, you can pre-order from Amazon.com here.
And the first review is in — click here to read it.
We’re only in the first week of 5772 and we’re off to a good start. May the rest of the year be a healthy, happy, sweet and prosperous one for everybody!
Tags: Books, Kosher, Kosher Collection, Soup
I love salads. Leafy greens tossed with a light vinaigrette as a starter, whole-meal salads with chicken or steak and chunky vegetables or something in-between. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area with great farmers markets, now’s the time to take a stroll and see what’s available for your salad bowl.
For lunch today I made one of my favorites.
Romaine lettuce, toasted almonds, roasted/steamed beets, sweet white onion, cranberry/pecan goat cheese and a mandarin/lemon dressing.
First, the beets need to be cooked. My favorite way to do them is to cut the leaves off (use them in a soup or saute them for dinner), wash well and wrap in a couple of layers of aluminum foil. Then they go into a 400 F oven for 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours — timing will depend on the size of the beets. They’re done when a skewer or a thin knife can be inserted with little to no resistance. Take them out of the oven and leave them, wrapped in the foil for about 15 minutes, or until they’ve cooled enough to handle. If you’ve got them, put on some gloves and rub the beets — the skins should slip right off. If not, use a paring knife to help them along. Slice the beets, put them into a bowl and into the fridge to chill. You can cook these and keep them in the fridge, covered, for a few days.
I used romaine lettuce because that’s what I had in the fridge but you can use anything you like. Just wash and dry well, tear it into bite size pieces (using a knife to cut the lettuce will make it rust faster than tearing). Top the lettuce with some thinly sliced white (or red) onion, toasted almond slivers, chilled beets and cheese. More often than not, I have a package of my favourite Israeli sheep feta in my fridge and the tangy, creamy cheese is perfect for this type of salad. Today I had a delicious log of pecan/cranberry goat cheese in the fridge, so that’s what I used.
Finally, drizzle the salad with citrus vinaigrette and serve.
Citrus Vinaigrette — Makes enough for 4-6 servings
3 Tbsp. mandarin (or orange) juice
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch black pepper
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. Dijon (or grainy) mustart
1/4 cup canola or other light oil
Whisk all ingredients together and taste, adjusting salt and pepper if necessary.
I’m spending the week sharing my Passover cooking at http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/138251-eg-foodblog-pam-r-2011/
Stop by, see what I’m cooking — ask questions!
Chag Sameach!
According to my blog statistics, a lot of people are getting here because they are looking for a recipe for Mushroom and Onion Kugel. I do have a recipe for said kugel on this blog, but it’s for a kugel I make for Rosh Hashana. That one is made with egg noodles.
Since people are looking for it, I thought it would be a good idea to share my recipe for my Passover Mushroom & Onion Kugel. It’s very similar — simple and tasty, but uses farfel (broken up matzo) rather than noodles. Can be made ahead and freezes well.
Passover Mushroom and Onion Farfel Kugel (from Passover – A Kosher Collection)
If I had to choose (and it would be hard to decide) I think this might be my favourite kugel. Button and crimini mushrooms often get the short end of the stick, but I love them and this kugel shows them off.
4 Tbsp. | 60 mL olive oil
1 lb. | 454 g yellow onions, peeled and diced small (2 medium)
2 tsp. | 10 mL salt
1/2 tsp. | 2 mL black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. | 680 g button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups | 355 mL water
8 oz. | 225 g farfel (4 cups | 950 mL)
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 375 F | 190 C.
Place a large frying pan or a pot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the onions, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes or until soft and golden brown.
Add the mushrooms and cook another 6-8 minutes, or until they’ve all cooked and have shrunk by about half. We’re not trying to brown the mushrooms at all, just cook them.
Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 minute.
Put the farfel in a large mixing bowl. Pour the mushroom/onion mixture over the farfel and stir to mix. Let rest for about half an hour or until cooled completely. and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Once cooled, add the eggs and stir to combine. Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 11-inch | 20 x 27.5-cm pan.
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and firm.
I often hear people complain about heavy foods at Passover. It’s true – with menus that include chopped liver, brisket and kugels it can weigh you down. And while I like to serve traditional foods during the holidays, there are a lot more options that people don’t associate with Passover menus.
For meals that include these heavier dishes, I always make sure to include a fresh, crisp salad and fresh fruit for desserts. I also make sure that the week has plenty of lighter meals – a fritatta with salad or maybe my favorite Mediterranean Black Cod served with steamed vegetables.
For a lighter, fresh Passover, here are a couple of my favorite salad recipes (from my cookbook Passover – A Kosher Collection).
Watermelon & Feta Salad
This is one of my favorite salads. For a different version, replace the mint with basil and the lime juice with balsamic vinegar.
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL olive oil
1/4 tsp. | 1 mL black pepper
6 cups | 1.4 L watermelon, seedless, cit into 1-inch | 2.5-cm cubes
4 oz. | 115 g feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL fresh mint, finely sliced
3 oz. | 85 g red onion, peeled and thinly sliced (1/2 small)
Mix the lime juice, olive oil and black pepper together in a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently mix together.
Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Can be made several hours in advance. If you do make it ahead. pour off any excess liquid and taste, checking for seasoning before serving.
Jicima Slaw
This is a great alternative to classic coleslaw. It’s crisp, light and flavourful.
1 1/2 lbs. | 680 g jicima, peeled and julienned (1 medium)
3 oz. | 85 g carrots, peeled and shredded (2 small)
3 oz. | 85 g yellow pepper, cored, seeded and cut into a thin julienne (1/2 medium)
3 oz. | 85 g orange pepper, cored, seeded and cut into a thin julienne (1/2 medium)
1 oz. | 28 g green onions, thinly sliced (2 large)
3 oz. | 85 g white onion, peeled and sliced paper thin (1/2 small)
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL grapeseed oil (or light olive oil)
1 tsp. | 5 mL salt
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL honey
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp. | 1 mL black pepper
Put all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and toss together.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to blend together.
Can be made 4-6 hours before serving.
With Passover less than two weeks away, it’s time to make some serious decisions. The most important decision, in my opinion, is what kind of charoset to make. I love charoset. I like that charoset being passed around the table means dinner is about to start. I love that charoset is symbolic — it’s there to remind us of the mortar used by the Jewish slaves in Egypt to build cities. And I really love charoset because it’s delicious.
When I was growing up, charoset was always a mixture of shredded apples, cinnamon, honey, chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans) and some sweet red wine. Nobody in my family used a precise recipe — we just added what looked right and kept tasting and adjusting until it was perfect.
Eventually I started experimenting and came up with some different flavour combinations that I really liked. Now I have a few charoset recipes that I love. Here’s my recipe for date charoset. I like it so much I make a double batch to use it on matzo throughout the week (great for breakfast!).
Date Charoset
2 oz. | 55 g walnuts (1/2 cup | 120 mL)
8 oz. | 225 g pitted dates (1 cup | 235 mL)
3 oz. | 85 g golden raisins (1/2 cup | 120 mL)
1/2 tsp. | 2 mL dried ginger
1/2 tsp. | 2 mL cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL sweet red wine
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL fresh orange juice
1/4 tsp. | 1 mL orange zest
Toast the nuts. Preheat the oven to 350 F | 175 C. Spread the nuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 8-9 minuets, or until golden brown. Cool.
Put all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the charoset reaches a texture you like. I like to pulse it until it is mostly paste, with some small chunks remaining. If you like it chunkier, stop pulsing before it gets too smooth.
Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Makes 1 1/2 cups | 355 mL
* Adapted from my book, Passover – A Kosher Collection
After a wonderful vacation, I arrived home to a stack of Passover price-lists from my suppliers. Lots of people are surprised to hear that I’m working on Passover orders before we even start thinking about Purim — but that’s how it works. On the other hand, some customers have already started asking if the matzo has arrived yet!
For the last two weeks I’ve been going through the price lists. I’ve been comparing prices and trying to find the best deals for our customers. It’s exciting to see that there are some new products available — hopefully they won’t disappoint.
After the orders get faxed and emailed in this week and next, we’ll be working on our prepared food order form. Each year we cook and bake for 100+ families over Passover. Then the trucks will start rolling in with orders and right after Purim we’ll turn the store over for Pesach (all chometz gets packed up and the entire store gets stocked with KFP items).
Just thinking about this exhausts me.
Have you started thinking about Passover yet?
I’ve been thinking about the latkes I’ll be frying for Chanukah this year. I spend days and days making latkes. As often happens, when I start thinking about a holiday food it brings back memories of the foods I enjoyed as a kid. I grew up with traditional foods prepared by my mother and grandmothers and though I will always love them, I also like throwing new twists at old favourites.
As I was thinking about using sweet potato, leeks, zucchini, mushroom and maybe some blue potatoes in latkes, the blue potatoes reminded me of my Baba’s (grandmother) blue latkes. No, Baba didn’t use blue potatoes like I was planning. Her pancakes were made from red, waxy potatoes that had turned a purplish-blue as the starches oxidized after they were finely grated. Some people add white vinegar to the potatoes to stop the oxidizing but I always grate the onions first and let their juices keep the potatoes from discoloring. Baba went au natural and we ate them as they were — and loved them! But, if I want blue latkes I’ll use those blue potatoes.
Here are a few of my favourite latke recipes. While I love, love, love potato latkes, it’s nice to have a few variations to have throughout the holiday. Try one or all of them.
Remember – Chanukah is a holiday that calls for eating things fried with oil. So I use oil to pan-fry all of the latkes. If you are looking for a lighter version, you can spray a non-stick frying-pan with vegetable spray – but be warned – the results will not be the same. For crisp on the outside, soft on the inside latkes use the oil. (You are commemorating a miracle!)
Some latke pointers that I shared a couple of years ago and thought it’s time to share again:
Wild Rice and Mushroom Latkes
Sauté onions for 2-3 minutes in oil over medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released their juices and are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain and cool.
Place the cooled mushrooms and onions in a mixing bowl and add the salt, pepper, eggs and flour. Mix well.
Heat oil in a frying pan and carefully spoon heaping tablespoons of the mixture into the oil. Fry for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown and set.
Drain and serve.
Makes 16-18
It’s hard to believe that Chanukah is just around the corner — but it will be here next week. Around here, we usually celebrate Chanukah in the depths of winter and thankfully we’ve had a few solid days of snow so we’re all set for this year.
The most common food for Chanukah is probably the potato latke. Crisp potato and onion pancakes fried in oil and served with sour cream or apple sauce. There is nothing wrong with a good potato latke, and I am sure I’ll be frying up hundreds, but that’s not your only option.
First of all, you can do all sorts of interesting latke recipes and I’ll be sharing a few of my favourites here, before the holiday starts. But you know, I think any good, fried food could be considered a good Chanukah dish.
In Winnipeg, as in Israel, sufganiot or jambusters or jelly-doughnuts are a treat often served for Chanukah. Or at least they have been for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, boxes of sufganiot were always brought into school at Chanukah and my mother would always picked some up for us at the bakery.
The typical jelly doughnut around here is usually filled with a fruit filling, but you can go crazy and fill them with all sorts of things. In Israel they do go crazy and you can find many interesting fillings. How about caramel? Maybe a chocolate or mocha filling. Green tea? Sure.
If you’d like to try making some yourself, a few years ago I put up a step-by-step how-to demonstration at eGullet.org. The demo includes pictures so you can see how easy the process is — and make them yourself!
Click here for the demo.
