Sweet Potato Blintzes with Farmer's Cheese

My son is officially in toddlerdom, especially when it comes to meal time. Things that were once beloved now are given to the dog or belong to the floor (which then goes to the dog). Sometimes within one meal a food goes from being bad to good to bad again (mac and cheese is not a floor food!). It’s hard, especially when you worked hard on something, but it’s all worth the effort in turning my child into a foodie.

These were a hit on dinner 1 and breakfast 1 and less so for dinner 2. The sauce, which is I changed to blueberry because it is a food he still very much enjoys, was always popular. So despite the potential of the dog getting a fabulous meal, I’d say these are worth the time and, as a bonus, freeze really nicely. Adults can have some too and they taste extra great when you save them from the floor.

I’m including the original cranberry syrup recipe as I made it for the first set and it really is quite good. If you decide to go the blueberry route, cut the sugar in half.

Sweet Potato Blintzes with Farmer’s Cheese via The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook:

Yield 16 blintzes

Wrappers-

1½ c. milk (whole is great, other fat levels are also fine)

6 large eggs

1½ c. all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. table salt

1 Tb. melted butter or neutral oil, for brushing the pan, plus additional for cooking blintzes  

Filling-

About 4 medium sweet potatoes

2 c. farmer’s cheese

2 large egg yolks

¼ c. sugar

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Few fresh gratings of nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Cranberry syrup-

2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries

¼ c. orange juice

½ c. sugar

Make the wrapper batter by combining all wrapper ingredients except for butter or oil in a blender. Pour the batter into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or up to 2 days.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes on a tray for about 40 minutes, until soft. Let them cool in their skins. Once they’re cool, peel the sweet potatoes and mash them or run them through a potato ricer.

Preheat a medium skillet or crepe pan over medium-high heat. I don’t have a crepe pan. You probably don’t either. Don’t sweat it, your skillet is fine. Once it’s heated, brush the pan lightly with melted butter or oil. Pour ¼ cup batter into the skillet, swirling it until it evenly coats the bottom, and cook, undisturbed, until the bottom is golden and the top is set, about 2 minutes. No need to flip them. The key here is even heat and just a little bit of grease in your pan. Sounds complicated and come out perfect. Transfer the wrapper to a paper-towel-covered plate, cooked side down. Continue with the remaining batter.

Once the sweet potato puree is cool, stir in the farmer’s cheese, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

If you plan to freeze these, do so before the browning step. They’ll taste great if you wait.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Put an ever-so-slightly heaped ¼ cup of filling in the center of each wrapper, and fold the opposite sides of wrapper over filling until they barely touch. If you had to read that 14 times like I did, it means take the two vertical sides of the wrapper. It’ll make sense in a second. Pull the end of the crepe nearest to you over the filling (away from you), and roll the rest of the way, to completely enclose filling, forming elongated, egg-roll-shaped packets. Reheat with the remaining blintzes and filling. Reheat your crepe skillet - or a larger one, if you want to cook more blintzes are a time - over medium heat and add more butter or oil to coat the pan. Place a few blintzes, seam side down, in a skillet, and cook them until they are golden brown and crisp, for about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer them to a baking sheet, and keep them warm in the over until they are ready to serve.

Now make the syrup. In a saucepan, over medium heat, simmer the cranberries, orange juice, and sugar together until the berries burst, about 7 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes more. Strain the syrup into a bowl.

Serve the blintzes warm with a drizzle of cranberry syrup and/or a dollop of sour cream.

If you’re lucky, your toddler will eat them and make you feel so proud. If not, they are also great in your own mouth.   

Reuben Dip

 November is usually a big month for me posting recipes. This one - not so much. In my defense I've been very busy. And when I'm not busy, I've been very lazy. I'll try to make it up to you in December. This Saturday my friend Chelsea is coming down from Seattle so we can start test driving wedding cakes for Corey. And my parents are coming to visit for Chrisannukah, so there should be some good stuff from that.

This recipe comes from my dear friend Lisa and Aaron and I made it shortly after his second batch of corned beef was done. It is perfect for parties and especially perfect for parties that involve watching football. Lisa made this on Monday and shared while we watched the Saints win at a house full of Louisiana natives and had bellies full of gumbo. This is all about getting good quality corned beef (homemade if you can get it).

Reuben Dip from Noble Pig:

Makes enough for at least 6 snacky football fans

½ lb. diced corned beef
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ c. sour cream
1 c. swiss cheese, grated
1 c. sauerkraut, drained well
1 Tb. ketchup (we subbed out the ketchup for Aaron’s Russian dressing)
1 Tb. spicy brown mustard
Rye crackers or toasts for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Place in a greased baking dish (we used a brownie pan) and bake until dip is browned and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

This is so good. It’s the reuben sandwich you can share.

Reuben Sandwiches

It seems a little weird to post sandwich recipes (I know I’ve done it before) because sandwiches are flexible and easy to make. These are also easy, but man, so worth posting a recipe. Even if you don’t like big hunks of meat (like me), you may want to give these sandwiches a shot. They are classic deli style and wonderful. And make the Russian dressing. It’s just not the same with thousand island.

Reuben Sandwiches from Lobel’s Meat Bible:

Serves 2

½ lb. thinly sliced corned beef, at room temperature

3 Tb. corned beef cooking liquid

4 slices Jewish-style rye bread

4 Tb. Russian dressing, plus more for serving (recipe follows)

3 oz. good quality Swiss cheese, thinly sliced, at room temperature

1 c. sauerkraut, drained and blotted dry, at room temperature

4 Tb. unsalted butter

Russian Dressing:

Makes about 2/3 c.

½ c. mayonnaise

¼ c. chili sauce or ketchup

½ tsp. prepared horseradish

½ tsp. fresh lemon juice

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tb. minced red onion

1 Tb. minced dill pickle

Moisten and heat up meat if you are making the sandwiches later than right after the beef is done. You can do this in the oven or the microwave if you’re sando craving is killing you.

Smear one side of each bread slice with 1 tablespoon of the Russian dressing. Dive the cheese between two of the slices. Neatly top each portion of cheese with half of the hot corned beef, followed by half of the sauerkraut, distributing them just to the edges of the bread. Top with the two remaining slices of dressed bread.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in an 8-10” heavy skillet over medium-low heat. When the foam subsides, add the sandwiches, cheese-side down, and weight them regularly with the back of a spatula. You want to compact the sandwich without crushing it. Cook gently until the first side is a rich golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.

Remove the sandwiches to a plate and melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Return the sandwiches to the skillet and cook the second side, without weighting them, until golden brown and the cheese has melted. Flip the sandwich back and forth a few more times to completely melt the cheese without burning the toast, if necessary. This also crisps the first side, which can get soft. Cut the sandwiches in half with a sharp knife. Serve with more Russian dressing on the side, if desired.

And a pickle! You need to have a pickle. These are SO (!) good! Kirst is a meat fan and I think she went to meat sandwich heaven.   

Noodle Apple Kugel

I was invited to my very first seder over Passover (I missed this in the past somehow) and was responsible for dessert. I couldn’t get kugel out of my head, even though my mom informed me that it is more of a side than a dessert. I had to do it. The reason I found out about the side part at all was because I called to ask which was better: noodle or matzo kugel. The answer was a resounding noodle. Side or no, Passover or no, this is a good way to end a meal. The original had raisins, which I left out.

Noodle Apple Kugel from the 2nd Ave. Deli Cookbook:

Serves 8

1 lb. medium egg noodles
4 c. peeled, cored McIntosh apples, sliced into 1” pieces ¼” thick (I went for Pippins because they looked gorgeous at the market and are right in between sweet and tart)
1¼ tsp. cinnamon
3 Tb. unsalted butter
2 Tb. sugar
1 c. sour cream
1 c. creamed cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. salt
Butter for dotting top of kugel

Fill a large stockpot three-quarter full with water, and bring to a vigorous boil. Toss in noodles, and cook 5 to 7 minutes until al dente. They say rinse your noodles. I shuddered. Don’t rinse your noodles. Ever. Drain and set aside.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss apple slices with cinnamon. Melt butter in a large skillet, and sauté apples on moderate heat for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sugar and sauté for 1 minute more. Refrigerate mixture to cool.

In a large bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese, eggs, and salt. Gently fold in noodles and apples.

Pour noodle mixture into a greased baking pan, dot with butter, and baked for 1 hour or until top is golden brown.

This is tasty, but dense. Parts of it were a little too noodle heavy for me. Manischewitz egg noodles come in 12 oz. packages, so adding in the extra 4 oz. to meet the recipe was part of the problem. I’d recommended upping the apples and the sauce and reducing the noodles to get a creamy base. That’s what I’ll do next time I tackle this one. Overall, though, it’s a good compliment to a meal.

Rosh Hashanah Honey Apple Tart

Shana tova! It's Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Jewish New Year. This is the time when we celebrate the sweetness of life, traditionally through the use of apples and honey. If you search for "apple honey" in Google, the first article that comes up is this one, which explains the importance of apples and honey not only to the New Year, but to the Jewish people in general. Rosh Hashanah signifies the beginning of the High Holy Days, which deal heavily on repentance, ending with Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur involves fasting, so I won't have any recipes for that unless I come up with an awesome breaking the fast meal for this year.

But Rosh Hashanah does involve food and some of my favorites! Apples and honey are an amazing combination and I thought that making a tart would be a great way to celebrate. It's simple because of the use of galette dough and delicious because it's apples and honey. I think everyone will love it, even on non holidays.

Rosh Hashanah Honey Apple Tart:

Makes one 12" tart

1 full recipe galette dough
4 apples, Braeburn or Fuji, peeled, cored, and sliced very thin
½ c. plus 3 Tb. honey, divided
3 Tb. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tb. flour
2 Tb. cinnamon
1 Tb. allspice
½ tsp. lemon juice
2 Tb. lavender infused honey (optional. I get it at the Farmer's Market)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter until slightly browned. I do this because I really like the nutty flavor of browned butter and it combines very well with apples. Mix butter with ½ cup of honey. Stir in with apples. Mix in lemon juice, spices, and flour.

Press chilled dough into tart pan and fill with apple mixture. Place on middle rack of oven and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Drizzle additional honey over entire tart, serve, and enjoy the sweetness of a new year!

The galette dough is perfect for this as it comes together so quickly and is always perfectly flaky. If you choose to use the lavender honey, it is a perfect complement to the other spices in the tart. By slicing the apples so thin, the apple to honey ratio per bite is increased and you really taste the combination with each bite. I hope you all have a happy, healthy, sweet New Year, whether you're Jewish or not.

Yogurt Cream Cheese

There’s a note in my Deli cookbook that mentions how great it would be to have a brunch where everything, from the lox to the bagels to the cream cheese, is homemade. So that’s what I decided to do. Also, the cream cheese recipe is on the opposite page from the lox, so it’s kind of just right there, asking to be made. This is a half-size recipe.

Yogurt-Cream Cheese from Deli:

Makes about 5 oz.

1 qt. yogurt
Salt (optional)
Flavoring of your choice




Line a sieve or colander with a long piece of doubled damp cheesecloth and place in over a large bowl. Dump in the yogurt, fold the cheesecloth over to cover well, and leave in a cool part of your kitchen for 24 hours. Every once in a while, pour off the liquid that accumulates in the bowl.


At the end of the 24-hour period, pick up the wrapped ball of yogurt cheese and squeeze it over the bowl to extract any remaining liquid. Place the cheese in a bowl and mix in the salt to taste (although it is perfectly delicious with no salt at all) and – if you wish – the flavoring of your choice. I went with salt and no additional flavorings. At first I thought I hadn’t added enough salt and then I thought I had added too much. It turned out to be just fine, but be careful! Refrigerate for several hours before serving. If the yogurt is fresh to begin with, the cream cheese will keep for weeks.

I did like this, but mostly as a layering device to go with the lox and bagels. On its own (and why would you eat just cream cheese on its own anyway?), it wasn’t bad, just not amazing. Part of this is likely due to the fact that I used Nancy’s organic non-fat yogurt. I love, love, LOVE Nancy’s, but it does have a very distinct taste and tang to it, which definitely comes through in the cream cheese. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does change the flavor profile quite a bit. However, it worked really well with the bagels and lox and I am glad I made everything on my own. I was filled with pride, just like the book said.

Home-Cured Lox

What is a bagel without lox? Well, a lot of things, but it’s better with lox. As I mentioned in the bagel post, my dad made lox whenever my grandma came to town with her box o’ bagels. Being in Alaska, we had lots of access to good fish, particularly my favorite for lox, sockeye (or red) salmon. When talking to my folks about Jew brunch, I was asked what brought it on. The answer is simple: I saw a beautiful piece of sockeye for a decent price at the store and decided to go for it. So why is lox second in my postings if it was the impetuous for the whole brunch? Because the bagel entry took longer to type and it’s the base for the bagel sandwich. That’s why. Make this. You will be so pleased.

Home-Cured Lox from Deli:

¼ c. kosher salt
¼ c. sugar
1-2 Tb. freshly ground pepper
1½ lb. salmon fillet in one piece, with skin


Combine the salt, sugar, and pepper. Spread half the mixture on the bottom of a shallow glass baking dish of a size to hold the salmon comfortably. Remove any small bones left in the salmon. Dry the salmon well with paper towels. Rub the skin side with a little bit of the remaining salt-sugar mixture. Rub the rest of the mixture into the other side of the fish. Place the fish, skin side down, in the glass dish. Cover well with plastic wrap.


Place another dish on top of the salmon. Cover with a cutting board and place a weight on the board – a clean brick or some heavy canned goods (obviously I like green beans). Refrigerate for 72 hours. Every 12 hours, remove the weights, unwrap the fish, and baste with the liquid that has accumulated in the dish. Then re-wrap, re-cover, and return to the refrigerator.


At the end of the 3-day period, remove the fish from the dish and scrape off the remaining pepper. Or try to and then give up when not that much comes off. Dry, wrap well in plastic wrap, and return to the refrigerator for one more day.


To serve, place skin side down on a cutting board. With a thin, sharp carving knife, slice thinly on the diagonal, detaching flesh from the skin as you slice. Serve with bagels, cream cheese, tomatoes, and sliced sweet onion.


There would have been more to serve, but I kept eating it while slicing it off the fish. It’s kind of hard not to eat it with the smell of bagels in the oven and the anticipation of a feast on your mind. Plus, lox is ridiculously delicious. This is probably one of things I have made that I am most proud of. It came out exactly the way I wanted it to. I suppose it was a good thing I was eating so much of it because lox does not keep for long. It gets slimy after a few days, so invite some friends over and eat it up.

But what did this lox rest on? Well, of course it was cream cheese, but not store bought. Up next, the conclusion of Jew brunch!

Bagels

I have been a lifelong bagel eater and pretty much a lifelong bagel snob. My folks are from NYC and my grandma still lives in Brooklyn. Every summer when she would come visit us in Alaska, she’d bring along a big box of crunchy, chewy, perfect Brooklyn bagels and bialys. My dad would make lox and we’d have a fantastic spread. The day the last bagel was gone was always a sad one. Years later, my dad took to making bagels, with some helpful hints from a Brooklyn bagel baker (I love alliteration), and they were awesome. So of course before I made these, I called him to let him know I was going to do it. I also let him know that these were a grand part of my Jewish brunch. I think I did him proud. The recipe below is the half recipe, except for the salt and sugar amounts listed as they are primarily for the water bath for the bagels.

Bagels from Deli:

Makes 8-9 bagels (I got 9)

1 Tb. or 1 package dried yeast
1 c. warm water (100-115 degrees)
3 Tb. kosher salt
3 c. bread flour
4 Tb. sugar
1 egg
Kosher salt
Dried onion
Fresh garlic, chopped
Poppy seeds

Combine the yeast and warm water in a large bowl. Stir with a fork or a small whisk. Add ½ Tb. salt. Stir in all of the flour, one cup at a time. Use a whisk until the mixture becomes stiff, then switch to a wooden spoon. Or use your stand mixer. Whichever.

Use a handful of flour to flour your work surface. Turn the dough out and knead rhythmically and vigorously, add more flour as you knead, until the dough is smooth, springy, nonsticky, and elastic. I did almost all of this in my Kitchenaid, turning it out and kneading it by hand at the end, but I just had to post the original instructions because I find them so hilariously in-depth. This dough should be quite stiff. It is kneaded sufficiently when you can pole it with your finger and the indentation springs back. Total kneading time will be 10 to 15 minutes.

Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest while you wash, dry, and oil the bowl. Knead the dough a few more turns, then form it into a ball and place in the bowl. Turn to coat with oil. Cover the bowl and put it in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in bulk, about 1 hour. It has risen sufficiently when you can poke a finger in the dough (there’s lots of finger pokin’ in this recipe!) and the hole remains after about 5 minutes. Poke very gently or the dough will collapse.


When doubled, flour your first and punch the dough down. Knead a few times, then allow to rest for a few minutes. Divide the dough into 8-9 equal pieces. As you work with one piece, keep the remainder covered with a kitchen towel. Spread another towel out on a clean work surface. Roll each piece of dough between your hands to form a smooth ball. Flatten slightly and use your thumb to form a hole in the center about 1” in diameter (more pokin’!). Place finished circles on towel-covered surface.

Cover bagels lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes, until puffy, but not quite doubled. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine 5 quarts of water, the sugar, and the remaining salt. Bring to a boil. Definitely do this right after letting the bagels rise again. It took forever to come to a boil. Have one large or two small baking sheets lightly greased and ready to go.


Adjust the water bath to remain at a gentle boil. Four or five at a time, drop the bagels into the water. Cook for 3 minutes, turn with tongs, and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes on the second side. Remove with a skimmer or slotted spoon, and place briefly back on the towel to drain. Place on baking sheet. The whole process is similar to the one you use to make pretzels, so I felt very comfortable doing this. It’s really easy anyway.





Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush on the top of each bagel with this mixture, and sprinkle with kosher salt, poppy seeds, or the chopped garlic. Or all of the above. Or none. Or anything else you can think of. I made one salt, two poppy seed, two plain, and four garlic. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and crusty. Remove from baking sheets and let cool on racks. According to the original recipe, these freeze beautifully, which is something I considered before going for the half recipe.

These were fantastic. Not as crunchy as I would have liked all the way around, but the bottoms were great. The best part, though, is that my dad is going to look this recipe over (he has the same book) and tell me his modifications and secrets. So they’ll be even better next time! These went really well with the next two parts of Jew brunch, which are coming up next, and tomato and sliced red onion. I forgot to get capers (boo on me!). To take out a bit of the bite of the red onion, I soaked them in water briefly.

Anyway, on to the rest of brunch!

Challah-Apple Stuffing

This is basically the same stuffing I made last year, but this time there were no issues. The reason I didn’t post it for Thanksgiving ’08 was due to the fact that the stuffing kept drying out and I continued to add things to it, so while really delicious in the end, I had no idea what was actually in it or at least not well enough to tell other people about it.

I’m marking this down as vegetarian even though I used chicken stock. I used about half veggie stock and my intention had been to solely use veggie stock, but I didn’t defrost quite enough. Make your challah for this at least a few days ahead of time to cube it and dry it out. I skip the glaze and poppy seeds when making it for stuffing. I modified the original recipe heavily (it calls for pecans, raisins, and mushrooms, among other things and uses corn oil instead of butter), so this one is quite different from what’s in the book. I think it’s amazing. You can replace the butter with olive oil or another tasty oil if you’d like, but I think the butter gives it great taste.

Challah-Apple Stuffing modified from 2nd Ave. Deli:

13 c. challah, cubed (pretty much one loaf)
3 tart apples (Jonagold, McIntosh, or Granny Smith work well), cored and chopped
3 c. onion, chopped
2 c. celery, chopped
1-2 Tb. seasonings (I used a bit of sage, rosemary, oregano, and ground pepper)
About 6 Tb. unsalted butter
1½ - 2 c. veggie stock



In a very large skillet (I use my wok), heat 2 tablespoons of butter, add onion and celery and sauté until onion is brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Add another 2 tablespoons of butter, and sauté apples until lightly browned.



Add onion and celery back to the skillet, mix together and add in challah. Stir around until well mixed. Sprinkle in stock, making sure all of the bread is moistened. Add seasonings and toss stuffing. Add in a bit more butter, stir until melted. Toss mix until everything is warm and delicious. Transfer to a bowl and serve.



Seriously, this is so very tasty. I love the heck out of it. The apples and the challah are perfect friends. I know this is technically dressing and not stuffing, but whatever it is, it’s good.

Braised Turkey Legs

I love turkey. Though at Thanksgiving I tend to be more of a sides girl, I do love having just a bit of the meat. Aaron’s really into turkey legs, especially after he had one at this fair in Minnesota while we were visiting his sister. We have been looking for them off and on at grocery stores since November and finally a couple of weeks ago, we found them! So we tossed them in the freezer while trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I realized I had a recipe on my ambitious list and a few days ago, I went for it.

This is actually a fairly simple recipe and the only thing you really need to invest is time. So I sat downstairs near the oven and watched Top Model while basting every 20 minutes. What a fabulous way to spend an evening. These are super tasty and if you can find turkey legs, I say go for it! This is a half recipe and slightly modified on the gravy bit.

Brasied Turkey Legs from The 2nd Avenue Deli Cookbook:

Serves 2 with leftovers

1 Tb. garlic powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. pepper
3 turkey legs
1 c.-ish chopped onion
½ c.-ish chopped celery
Poultry chop spices to taste
Handful of flour
Chunk of butter

In a bowl, mix garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Rub turkey legs with the mixture, covering them thoroughly. Place legs on a platter and refrigerate from at least 4 hours. I did mine overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chopped onion and celery in a baking dish at least 2 inches deep and large enough to hold all of the legs. Place turkey legs on top of vegetables, add 1 inch of water, and bake for 45 minutes, basting about every 20 minutes with pan juices.

Turn legs, reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees, and bake for another 45 minutes (still basting occasionally), or until the legs are well browned and meat is cooked and tender. I did the full 45 and they were perfectly cooked. Remove from oven, and turn oven temperature to warm. Remove turkey legs to a platter, and strain pan juices into a saucepan. Discard celery and onion, retaining 2 cups of pan juices in the saucepan. Return turkey legs to baking dish and keep them warm in the oven while you prepare the gravy.

The original recipe had you use a browning sauce/gravy base, but I decided to just go for the gusto and make my own gravy for the very first time ever. I add some poultry seasoning to the pan juices, threw in a chunk of butter and added flour until it looked the right consistency and simmered this over low heat. I have never made gravy before, but I’ve seen my dad do it a number of times, so though I was just guessing, it seemed right. And it was! I was super impressed with myself.



Remove turkey legs from oven and spoon gravy over it. There is also a suggestion in the book that you can have them cold and though I didn’t, Aaron tried it and said that it was quite tasty, but better warm. We had ours with some fabulous mashed potatoes and green beans.

Latkes

Latkes are all about tradition. Fried potato pancakes are an important part of Chanukah, as they are made with oil and the whole holiday is about oil. You can learn more about Chanukah here. It’s my favorite holiday and though minor in the scheme of Judaism, it’s still really fun. Some of my most treasured childhood memories revolve around playing dreidel with fake Mexican money with my brother (the money is a whole different story), while my folks fried up delicious latkes for dinner. As I got older, I helped with the arduous task of grating all those potatoes. There are a few different ways to do these. The way I learned was from my dad who learned from his grandmother. This is a Jewish peasant style that resembles hash browns. While I do love hash browns, these are so much better.

Since this week was Chanukah, I had a latke party with my friends. They came over and I cooked and we ate and it was wonderful. My favorite part of holidays are spending them with people you love and eating good food.

Important notes for making these: drain, drain, drain. The grated potato will be very watery and you want to drain all of the water out or you’ll end up with mushy pancakes. It’s a pain, but so worth it. One of my deli (Deli by Sue Krietzman) cookbooks describes making latkes like becoming a slave to the stove, which is so true, but the results are worth it. Another thing worth pointing out is that your fire alarm will go off. All the oil gets a bit smoky. I cannot remember a single year in all my life where the fire alarm didn’t beep at least once. It’s part of the tradition.

Latkes from my dad:

Serves 6

6 potatoes
2 eggs
1 onion
1½ tsp. kosher salt
½ c. matzoh meal
Oil!

A general rule, according to my pops, is for every 6 potatoes, you need 2 eggs and 1 onion.

Peel the potatoes and onion. Grate the potatoes and onion into one bowl. Drain it. Drain it again. Drain it until you’re really sure it’s drained. Then do it again.



In a separate bowl, beat eggs and mix in salt and matzoh meal. Add this mixture to the drained grated potato and onion mix.



Pour oil into a pan. Make sure it’s hot! Start it on high, watch it and then turn it down. According to the Deli cookbook, you should drop a large dollop of the latke mix into the pan and flatten with a spoon. This never works out well for me. I get two pans going and form patties in my hand, which helps to drain more liquid from it, and throw them into the pans. I usually try to have at least 6 cooking at a time. Then I rinse off my hands, flip and repeat.

It takes a couple of minutes on each side. You’ll know they’re done when golden brown and crisp. You’ll need a lot of oil and to keep greasing the pans. Take your time. The stovetop owns you until they’re all done.



Serve immediately with sour cream and applesauce.



They were a big hit, as always, and that’s why I make them every year. With all the grating and everything, they are just so dang good and worth the time.

Challah

Challah is a family tradition. Before I made it myself, I knew how to do it. For years I watched my mom beat and knead and braid the dough. It’s in my blood, as she would say. This is the very first yeast bread I ever made all by myself. I love it! The way it feels, the way it smells. I love baking bread in general, but challah is something special. When I dig into the dough and knead it out, I feel my foremothers. I feel them kneading this same bread as they have done for generations. The book the recipe came from is out of print, but not too hard to find. I found it through half.com in 2002 so I could have one just like my mom. It’s by Sue Krietzman.

This loaf I made for the stuffing I’m doing on Thanksgiving. Fortunately, this makes a gigantic loaf, so I have some left over for sandwiches and such. I always do the half size recipe I learned from my mom. I can’t even imagine how ridiculously gigantic a full size recipe of challah would be. Challah is also amazing for French toast, so if you can manage, save some for that. Oooh! Or garlic bread. Yum!

Temperature is really important. All of your ingredients should be room temperature. The water needs to be the right temp so you don’t kill the yeast. Your house, or at least the kitchen, should be warm and not muggy. Also, remove any rings or jewelry before getting started. Your hands will get messy.

Challah is a really easy bread and great for your first foray into yeast breads. It comes together really easily and the results are always phenomenal.

From Deli: 101 New York-style deli dishes from chopped liver to cheesecake (half size with notes from my mom and me)

1 big fat Tb. yeast, room temperature
1¼ c. warm water (100-115 degrees)
1 Tb. honey
½ Tb. kosher salt
1/8 c. oil (I use olive)
4 c. flour (My favorite kind is King Arthur flour. I used their bread flour for this one)
2 eggs
[Yolk with 1 tsp. warm water]
[Poppy seeds]

I omitted the final two ingredients, which make for a very beautiful, shiny crust, as this loaf is destined for stuffing.

Combine yeast and water in a large bowl. I use my Kitchen Aid bowl as I do the dough in the mixer. So much easier! Wait 5 minutes. This is to make sure your yeast is still active. If it is, it’s really obvious after about 5 minutes. It should be foamy and alive. I think it’s really fun to watch, but I’m really into bread.

Stir in honey, salt, oil and 1 cup of flour. An easy trick with honey is to always grease whatever you’re using, in this case a tablespoon, with oil before adding the honey. Instead of sticking, it falls right out and you get the full amount. I do this part by hand and then move it to the mixer. I mix it on about speed 3.

Add eggs.

Add flour ½ cup at a time. I wait until the last ½ cup is incorporated into the dough before adding more. This prevents making a huge mess. If still sticky, add more flour. If you’re doing it in a mixer, it’s ready when the dough pulls away from the bowl.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface (I use my clean countertop as it doesn’t move around) and knead for 5 minutes if lots of kneading was done in the mixer. If doing it by hand, knead for about 15 minutes. You can knead it all in the mixer, but I prefer to finish it by hand. Dough is ready when smooth, satiny and lively. It’s really obvious when it gets to this point. As the Deli book says “It is easy to work with, and feels about as smooth as a baby’s tushy.” I love my deli cookbooks. If it is still sticky, add more flour. The dough has been kneaded sufficiently when two lightly poked finger holes spring back. Let the dough rest, covered, while you wash, dry, and oil the large bowl.





Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl. Turn it so that it is coated with oil. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap (I do both, as per my dad) and place in a warm, draft-free place until the dough has doubled in bulk, about 1½ hours. To check for proper rising, gently poke two holes in risen dough and leave for 5 minutes. If the holes remain, the dough is ready.

Flour your first and punch down the dough. Turn out and knead a few times. Then let it rest, covered for a few minutes.

Preheat oven to warm and place baking sheet on stove to warm. Grease warm sheet.

Divide the dough into three equal parts. The book has two with a top braid, but that always falls off for me, so I just skip it. Roll balls into snaked. Braid dough, starting in the middle and braiding out each way. Pinch ends under.



Place on sheet and cover dough with cloth to double in bulk, about ½ hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (the book says 400, but I think that’s for the monumental, ridiculous loaf).

Here you would mix your egg yolk with warm water to make a glaze and brush it over the dough and liberally add the poppy seeds. It looks really nice and if this bread is just for bread, do it. It’s worth it.



Bake for 45 minutes. Check at 30 minutes. When golden brown and a knuckle thump on the bottom produces a hollow sound, it’s done. Mine is usually done at 30 minutes. Let sit for 15-30 minutes, and then serve. Although my mom says this, I always snag a piece or two warm. It’s great by itself, or with butter or honey. As the Deli book says “Be careful or it will vanish before it even cools.”

Chicken Soup and Matzoh Balls

It’s been cold in Portland since I’ve been back from Europe. So I decided to make chicken soup and matzoh balls. I’ve talked for years about doing this and just never got around to it. Using that initiative, I made myself do it. After all, I am Jewish and chicken soup is Jewish penicillin. It’s something I should know how to make.

When it comes to cooking, I always assume it’s going to be amazing and I won’t have any trouble making it. It’s this ridiculous overconfidence that allows me to make complicated things on whims. It usually works out. Even when cooking with a whole chicken for the first time and coming across my very first parsnip.

I busted out my 2nd Ave Deli Cookbook by Sharon Lebewohl and Rena Bulkin, which my husband bought for me when I misplaced my other deli cookbook. It’s really well written and funny and I recommend it to anyway who wants to make deli food. I did run into a few hiccups while making this, like Safeway selling me a partially frozen chicken that I had to spend time defrosting the rest of the way. Other than that though, this came out really, really tasty.

Chicken Soup from The 2nd Ave Deli Cookbook:

Serves 8

1 pound chicken parts
2 stalks celery, including leafy tops, cut into 3-inch pieces
1 whole chicken, thoroughly rinsed
Salt to rub inside chicken [I used kosher]
1 large whole onion, unpeeled (find one with a firm, golden-brown peel)
1 large whole carrot, peeled
1 medium whole parsnip, peeled
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper [I probably used more like ½-¾ teaspoon]
1 bunch of dill, clean and tied with a string

I also added about 5 cloves of garlic. I did say I love garlic.

Note: The Deli’s recipe calls for both a whole chicken plus 1 pound of chicken parts. You can, however, use just 1 large chicken and cut off the wings, the neck, and a leg to use as parts. [This is what I did. Do not add the liver to the pot. Cook it up and give it to your dog or something.]



Pour 12 cups of cold water into a large stockpot, and throw in the chicken parts and celery. Bring to a boil. While water is heating, rub the inside of the whole chicken with salt.

Add the chicken to the pot, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Test chicken with a fork to see if it’s tender and fully cooked. I had to cook mine for another 10-15 minutes to get nice, tender chicken. Remove it from the pot, and set aside on a large platter. Leave chicken parts in the pot.



Add onion, carrot, parsnip, salt and pepper. Let soup simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The recipe is very non-specific about what to do with the veggies. Since you’ll be straining everything out in the end anyway, you can cut some of them down a bit. I cut my onion in half. As for my garlic addition, I lightly crushed 3 cloves and tossed them in as well.



When chicken cools, remove skin and bones and cut into bite sized pieces. You can add it to the soup, just before serving, or save it for chicken salad. I had enough for both the soup and a snack chicken salad for when I got hungry while cooking. Strain the soup, and discard everything solid except the carrot. You can keep whatever veggies you actually want in the soup and cut them up along with the carrot to add to it instead of throwing them all out.

Drop in the dill for a minute just before serving and remove. Add salt and pepper to taste. Slice carrot and toss into soup. Also add the chicken pieces if desired. Add cooked noodles, rice, kasha or matzo balls.

This makes a ton of soup. When you’re done eating, let the rest of the soup cool, skim off the fat and refrigerate or freeze the rest. I refrigerated half and froze the other. When having some of the soup the next day, like all soups, it was even better. It could’ve lasted all week, but we just kept eating it!

While the soup was cooking, I got working on the matzoh balls. My husband doesn’t eat matzoh balls, so I made a half recipe, again from 2nd Ave Deli, and cooked up some noodles for him. This is the half recipe with my modifications. I ended up with 10 of them.

½ tablespoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/6 cup olive oil [the book says schmaltz, but I don’t have this nor do I want to make rendered chicken fat. I checked with my dad – olive oil is okay]
1/8 teaspoon pepper [this is the half size. It could really use a lot more.]
½ tablespoon baking powder
½ plus 1/6 cups matzo meal

Fill a large, wide stockpot three-quarters full of water, add ½ tablespoon of water, and bring to a rapid boil. If you’re doing a full recipe, it’s really important to have a wide stockpot. The balls need room to float while they’re cooking.

While water is boiling, crack eggs into a large bowl and beat thoroughly. Beat in oil, rest of salt, pepper and baking powder. Slowly fold in matzo meal, mixing
vigorously until completely blended.

Wet hands and, folding the mixture in your palms, shape perfect balls about 1¼ inches in diameter (they will double in size when cooked). Gently place the matzo balls in the boiling water, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place 1 or 2 in each bowl of soup. Serve immediately.





These came out so very good. They were fluffy and not too dense. Pretty dang close to perfect. When my parents came to visit the weekend after I made them, my dad told me I had done a very good job. But more pepper. My dad’s a pepper on everything guy, but I totally agree. Do not skimp on the spices for these.
Posted by Becca at 11:36 AM