Rosh Hashanah Roundup

Rosh Hashanah falls really early this year beginning the evening of September 4th, right after Labor Day, yikes!

So we’re doing a kind of weird celebration, combining our numerous August birthdays with Rosh Hashanah. This was the only way we could get everyone together in one place anywhere near the holiday. As a result we are having a pre-Rosh Hashanah celebration this coming weekend at my in-laws and then a much smaller gathering on the second night of the holiday at my home.

I think I’ve pretty much got my menu worked out, finally, but in case you’re clamoring for some ideas, here are a few I’ve cooked up (pun intended) over the past years.

Chopped Liver
Tzimmes
Whole Wheat Challah and Apple Stuffed Challah Rolls
Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Soup
My AWESOME Not Too Sweet Honey Cake

L’shanah tova!

Read Full Post »

What’s a Jew to do on Christmas?

There’s no Christmas tree in this house, no wreaths or mistletoe, nor are there twinkling lights adorning our humble home. There is a menorah in the window.

Every year since my husband and I have been together, we skip or have a light breakfast then drive to one of the only places open on Christmas Day for some lunch: the Kosher Deli.

My husband is a creature of habit. Every year he orders the same sandwich, white meat turkey and chopped liver with Russian dressing on a club roll. That is, until today. He shocked me this morning when he said he was going to have pastrami on club with mustard. Apparently he had met his annual chopped liver quota over Rosh Hashanah, since I made the dish for first the first time in many years.

I on the other hand will flit back and forth between pastrami and corned beef. Sometimes I will even do a combo but I generally prefer one or the other. This year corned beef won.

Throw in a few sour pickles (not pictured), a couple of knishes and Dr. Brown’s cream soda and you’ve got yourself a nice traditional Jewish deli feast.

We take our bounty down to a riverfront area not too far from our home and sit in the car watching the waves rush by and the sea gulls catch the wind. Sometimes we’ll even go for a little walk if it’s not bitterly cold. Most importantly, we enjoy our yummy meal and each other’s company.

It is our Christmas Day tradition.

Read Full Post »

Cornbread: Sweet or Savory?

Many a spirited conversation has surrounded this question. Frankly I don’t prefer one over the other, it’s a matter of what I’m making for dinner, which works best with what I’m making for dinner and what my husband is in the mood for with dinner (sometimes he even gets his way LOL!). The sweet vs savory debate is a regional thing, think Mason-Dixon line.

Southerners prefer not to include sugar in their cornbread.

Northerners prefer sugar in their cornbread.

I’ve made many varieties of cornbread over the years, in fact during hurricane Sandy I made it on the stovetop in a cast iron skillet, no oven needed (good thing, since without electricity it was out of commission). But no matter how I make it, sweet or savory, in the oven or on the stove top, my base recipe remains the same. Creature of habit.

So when my mother-in-law asked me to make some mini cornbread muffins for Thanksgiving this year I thought I’d have a little fun and make both a sweet version and a savory version. I’ll be curious to see who likes which. (Mom, if you’re reading this, don’t tell!)

This recipe evolved quite some time ago from a cornmeal package label but at this point it doesn’t really resemble the original recipe much…other than the cornmeal part. It’s incredibly versatile and super easy to make. If you want to keep the mix on hand, simply combine all the dry ingredients minus the ingredient that makes it either sweet or savory – you know, sugar or herb/spice (in this case rosemary) – and store in a container in a cool dry place until ready to use.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy carb for Thanksgiving, this is it.

Ingredients – Base Recipe
1 ¼ cups stone ground cornmeal
1 cup All Purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken
½ cup milk
¼ cup neutral oil like canola or grapeseed
1 large egg

For Savory: Add 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary in with the dry ingredients (Thyme would be nice too).
For Sweet: Add ¼ cup sugar in with the dry ingredients.

Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 400°. Grease your 24 well mini-muffin tin (I use cooking spray) and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk together to blend well.
3. Now you need to make a decision: sweet or savory? If you are going the sweet route add the ¼ cup sugar. If you are going the savory route, add the 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary.
4. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup (that’s what I did) combine the buttermilk, milk, oil and egg; whisk together to blend well.
5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir just until combined. Be careful not to overmix!
6. Using a small ice cream scoop or ladle, pour the batter into the muffin tin.
7. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until lightly golden.
8. Allow to sit in the tin for about five minutes then remove to a wire rack.

Both the sweet and savory are nice served warm but room temperature is perfectly fine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Read Full Post »

What am I, Chopped Liver?

Did ya ever wonder how a seemingly innocuous or even silly conversation can suddenly spawn an idea? Who knew a twitter chat about movie trailers and nightmares – one filled with words like yum and ick – would lead to a blog post about chopped liver. Go figure.

Five days later I’m writing this post and much to my amazement I could not find chicken livers until just a few days ago, (the original conversation happened a few weeks ago), so here you go.

I actually haven’t made this in years; we’re talking about oh eight, ten maybe? No joke. Well it’s not exactly health food, more like a heart attack in a bowl but oh so tasty. Why is that?

It brought back memories of spending time with my mom during the holidays cooking like crazy. One of the things she would do at this time of year is make chopped liver. We would chop and mix everything by hand. My mom had this beat up old wooden bowl she would use exclusively for making chopped liver and she had this chopper that looks like a single blade mezzaluna. She’d stand there and chop away and when I was old enough she’d let me help, always checking to make sure the consistency was just right.

The bowl eventually cracked which is too bad because if she knew what I now know about caring for wooden kitchen tools I’d bet she’d still have it. Well, she now uses a food processor and so do I and the chopper is now part of my collection of kitchen tools.

In any case I suppose between that conversation and Rosh Hashanah being right around the corner at that time, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. So I made chopped liver.

I guess once every eight to ten years isn’t too bad, right?

And listen, don’t go trying to make this “healthy, it ain’t gonna work. If your going to make chopped liver, then make it already and don’t make a habit out of it, okay? Good.

Now, it’s not a complicated thing to make. I hard boil some eggs ahead of time and bring them to room temp while I’m working on the rest of the recipe. I recommend 1 to 2 because it really depends on how much volume you have left after cooking the livers. So I start with one, give it a taste then add the second if I think it’s needed. You don’t want the egg to dominate but you do want the richness.

You should really plan on making this the day before you intend to serve. The flavor needs time to develop and most importantly, don’t overdo the salt and pepper the day you make it! It will be more pronounced the next day so err on the side of caution and re-season after it’s sits in the refrigerator overnight.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons schmaltz (chicken fat) or safflower oil
1 pound chicken livers (not cow!)
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1-2 hard boiled large eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Rinse the chicken livers and pat them dry.
2. In a large fry or saute pan, add 1 tablespoon of either schmaltz or oil cook the livers, in batches if necessary. You don’t want to over crowd the pan. They should be cooked through with a little bit of pink left in the center. Set aside to cool in a bowl, leaving the fat in the pan.

3. Add additional fat to pan if needed and saute the onions in all the livery goodness until they are nicely caramelized. Add the onions to the livers and allow to cool a bit.

4. When no longer very hot, add the livers, onions and one egg to the food processor and pulse until chopped but not mushy. Season cautiously with salt and pepper. (Sorry, forgot to take a picture of this step – bad me)
5. Store in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. Taste before serving and re-season if needed.
6. Serve with crackers or matzoh.

FYI:Chopped liver is great on a sandwich with turkey and tomato, oh and the movie that started all this? Possession.

Read Full Post »

Such a Tzimmes!

You need to say the title with the appropriate accent. See, now it makes sense.

One of the traditional side dishes my mom always makes for Rosh Hashanah is Tzimmes. It’s also part of an expression she liked using when I was growing up, “what are you making such a tzimmes out of it!” In other words, what are you making such a fuss/project/big deal out of whatever “it” was at the time. I’m sure it was just me being overly dramatic…it’s a girl thing.

Basically tzimmes is a stew made from sweet root vegetables and dried fruit that is cooked down slowly in a sweet liquid until everything is tender and juicy. Traditionally (at least in my family), it is mostly of carrots, with some parsnip, prunes, raisins and dried apricots. The carrots, cut into rounds like coins, are supposed to represent good fortune.

Me, not that I wouldn’t like some good fortune, I minimize the carrots because frankly I don’t care for them cooked. Blasphemy!

Raw yes, cooked, not so much. I’ve tweaked the recipe over the years and will no doubt continue to do so but for the most part I have subbed out most of the carrots with sweet potato, added apples, figs sautéed onions and some spices.

The veggies and fruit cook in a sweet syrup made of brown sugar and honey. What could be bad? And like my honey cake, I use buckwheat honey in my tzimmes. You can use whatever you have on hand but trust me, this honey adds a richness to the flavor that only the dark rich maltiness of buckwheat honey can provide.

One of the best parts of this recipe is it can be made a day or two ahead and reheated. Just make sure you take it our of the refrigerator at least an hour before you plan to reheat it.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil of choice (I use either canola or safflower)
1 large onion cut into thin half rounds
3 not too thick parsnips, cut into rounds
2 large carrots, cut into rounds
1 large sweet potato cut into chunks
1 3/4 cups water, vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
1/4 cup buckwheat honey (or whatever you have on hand)
1 granny smith apple, pealed, cored and cut into chunks
2 1/2 ounces apricots
4 ounces prunes
4 ounces figs

Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat one tablespoon oil in a large skillet, add the onions and sauté until they are translucent but not browned – approximately 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the carrots and parsnips and sauté about 3- 5 minutes.
4. Add the sweet potato and sauté for another 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the water or broth and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
6. Remove the veggies to the prepared casserole with a slotted spoon.
7. Add the brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, ginger and salt to the skillet and return to a boil.
8. Add the apple, apricots, prunes, figs and simmer until the liquid becomes slightly syrupy about 5 minutes.
9. Pour the fruit and liquid carefully over the veggies. Cover with foil and place in the over for about 1 – 1 1/2 hours or until the the veggies are soft.

NOTE: To Reheat, cover with foil and place in a 350 degree oven. if you would like to brown the top, for the last 10 minutes of cooking uncover it and sprinkle with a little additional brown sugar.

Read Full Post »