Hooray for Hamentaschen!

My fondest memory of Purim is being at a Purim party at my synagogue when I was about 9 or 10, and my best friend's dad got sooo drunk when we were reading the Megillah (the story of Purim). My friend's dad was a very quiet, reserved man (and was also slightly more religious than I was familiar with) and to see him drunk was the shock of shockers.

The reason he was drunk was because when you are reading the Megillah, you are supposed to drink and make lots of noise every time the name "Hamen" is read (he's the villian in the story). And the reason we eat hamentaschen (translation: Hamen's pockets), is to symbolically destroy his memory. And they are triangles is because it seems Hamen wore a triangular-shaped hat (how fashionable!).

Anywho, unfortunately I don't really have a personal story behind hamentashen other than that are yummy, and I'm sick of spending $5 for 6 of them at Whole Foods. Guess what? I like mine better, though the ones at Whole Foods are definitely prettier (the picture at the top is of one of the good ones that I made...scroll down for a glimpse at how most of the rest of the gang came out).

Note: I found this dough really, really sticky and it was hard to work quickly with it, which is why I think my cookies were so sad looking in the end. If they were colder when they went into the oven, maybe they wouldn't have collapsed as much.

Apricot Hamentaschen
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cold butter
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup apricot preserves

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and baking powder. Then, using a pastry blender (or 2 knives in a criss-crossing motion), cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients, until the mixture resembles a crumb consistency.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in to larger bowl and mix until the dough creates a ball. Add extra flour one tablespoon at a time if dough is too sticky. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly flour your work surface, and roll out 1/4 of the dough to 1/8" thickness. Cut into rounds using a cookie cutter or drinking glass (I used a 4" drinking glass). Spoon 1 teaspoon of apricot preserves into the center of each round. Bring up the edges to create 3 sides, and pinch corners together (wet your fingers if the dough won't stay closed). Places formed cookies 2" apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is used.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown the bottom and on corners. Transfer to a wire rack immediately.

Yields 24 cookies (using a 3"round cookie cutter; I got 20 with a 4" glass)

You don't have to Challah!

Or do you? After last week's adventure with yeast (Soft Pretzels), I was game for the next yeasty challenge.

Did you know that the term challah isn't actually the loaf of bread that we associate it with? The word challah actually refers to a small piece of dough (about one-tenth of the total amount of diuhg) that is removed prior to shaping your loaf. A blessing is said over the dough and that small ball of dough is then discarded or burnt in the oven that the bread will bake in. In biblical times, the small ball of dough was given as a tac to the Jewish priesthood. (Thank you WIki, for clarifying all this for me!)

I found this recipe in The New York Times Jewish Cookbook. This cookbook has several challah recipes, I settled on a rather unconventional one: Bejma (Tunisian Triangular Challah). It wasn't my first choice, but one recipe needed 8 hours to rise (who has that kind of time?), the other called for way too much sugar, and the third one's instructions were 2 whole pages long. So I opted for the Bejma,which really didn't seem much different from the others. Flour, eggs, yeast, salt, sugar, oil..... they all had the same ingredients.

Final result: a little dense. Challah should be light and airy...and slightly sweet. I halved this recipe and made two loaves out of the dough. One as a traditional bejma, and the 2nd a traditional Jewish braided loaf. The bejma was actually denser than the braid, probably because the balls are thicker than the strands in the braid. Next tme I'll try one of the other recipes my cookbook ahs to offer, but this bread certainly won't go to waste. French toast, anyone?

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
7 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoons of the sugar in 1 cup of the water in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir into the yeast mixture 3 of the eggs, oil, salt, and the remaining water and sugar. Slowly knead in enough flour to make a soft, tacky dough. Using your hands or a dough hook on the mixer, knead for 10 minutes or until smooth. Turn the dough out onto a floured board, place in a greased bowl, and let rise, covered, for 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and divide into 9 rounds about the size of tennis balls. Place 3 rounds together on a greased cookie sheet, touching, to form a triangle. Repeat with remaining dough. Let rise, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Beat the remaining egg with a little water and brush the dough. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden and loaves sound hollow.

Yields 3 loaves (8 servings per loaf)


WW info: 3 points per slice.

Latke vs. Latke

Some are fried; some are roasted .... can you tell which are which?

Latkes don't have to be unhealthy, you know. The ingredients aren't bad, its the frying that will do you in. I prepared the mixture (per weight watchers core so I could indulge myself as much as possible) but fried half and roasted half (again, so I could partake in the Hanukkah deliciousness without the fat and calories). The roasted ones were just OK. Nothing takes the place of a fried potato latke.

1 medium onion, grated
3 large all-purpose potatoes, grated
1/4 cup matzoh meal*
1/4 cup egg substitute
cooking spray

*If following WW Core, substitute matzoh meal with oats (quick or old-fashioned), ground in food processor to flour-like texture.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Grate onion and potatoes and squeeze as much moisture out of them as possible. Mix in a large bowl with ground oats and egg. Add more egg if the 1/4 cup doesn't seem to coat and bind the potatoes.

Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray and create 12 pancakes, each made up of 1/3 cup of the mixture. Spray tops of each pancake ightly with cooking spray and place sheets on center rack in oven. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Yields 12 latkes.

WW info:
flex - 1 point per latke
core - all included (if oatmeal is used)

Beef Brisket

What people don't know is that the eleventh commandment is "Thou shalt eat brisket." You can't really screw this recipe up, unless you undercook the meat. The longer it cooks, the softer it gets, which is the opposite of how cooking meat usually works. I've incorporated a combination of a few different recipes to make my own creation. Its a little my mom's, a little my mother-in-law's, and a little my mom's best friend's. It's the best. I promise.

24 ounces tomato juice
1 (12 ounce) jar of Heinz chili sauce
1 Tbsp white horseradish
1 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 (3 pound) beef brisket, trimmed
3 large carrots, chopped
1 1/2 - 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first 7 ingredients (save for half the chili sauce) together in a large bowl. Place half the onions and garlic in a large roasting pan (like this one, with a tight lid). Pour about 1/2 the liquid over the onions and garlic. Place the brisket over this and the remaining onions and garlic on top. Pour the rest of the liquid over the brisket and cover tightly. Place in oven and cook for one hour.

After one hour, turn the oven down to 325 degrees. Add the carrots and return to oven. Cook for an additional hour. After the second hour, quarter potatoes and add to roasting pan. If there isn't enough liquid to cover all the contents of the roasting pan now, add water to the remaining chili sauce in the jar and shake vigorously. Add as needed to make sure all contents are covered in liquid. Cook for an additional hour (time based on a 3 pound brisket; approximate 1 hour cooking time per pound of meat)

Remove from oven and let stand to come to room temperature before slicing. Best if made one or two days ahead of time.

Yields 8-10 servings (2 slices of brisket and 1 1/2 cups of potatoes and carrots)


WW info:
7 points per serving.

What am I, Chopped Liver?

If you squint, it looks like refried beans with some hard-boiled egg mixed in.
Hmm...that's even grosser than chopped liver!

Undoubtedly, the "grossest" item in my blog....but only gross if you don't like chopped liver! It's like comfort food for me. Anything Jewish and traditional is comforting to me. This is my first time making it and it came out great!

1 pound chicken liver
2 large onions
6 hard-boiled eggs
1 tablespoon chicken fat
salt to taste
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise

Chop one onion into small pieces and place in a large frying pan with chicken fat. Turn heat to medium-high and start to cook until onions are translucent. Drain liquid from liver in strainer and add to onions. Stir well and cover, leaving the lid tilted to vent out steam. You'll want all the liquid to cook off. Reduce heat to medium-low, stirring occasionally.

If after 15 minutes there is still too much liquid, remove lid. Cook until liver is cooked through (liver is cooked when it will break with the edge of a spoon). Remove when cooked through and place in a bowl and allow to come down to room temperature. Do not proceed when warm.

Chop remaining onion into small pieces and place in a wooden bowl. Separate egg whites and egg yolks. Add egg whites to bowl with onions. Using a mezzaluna (mincing knife), cut egg whites and onions together. When they are finely chopped, add cooled liver and onions and continue to cut together until well blended. Add salt and mayonnaise slowly and mix with a fork until desired consistency is reached.

Crumble egg yolks on top and mix with a fork until well blended.

Matzoh Ball Soup

Ok, this recipe is half homemade like your grandma would make, and half Sandra Lee! I've always made matzoh balls by cheating (read: canned chicken broth and matzoh ball mix) since the first time I tried to make them from scratch, it was a total bust. Bu that was like 8 years ago and this time I was feeling inspired to at least try to get half of it done the right way. I'm not quite ready to jump into homemade chicken soup, but I was all about the matzoh balls. I even googled "perfect matzoh balls" for tips.

End result: yummy, fluffy balls. ;)

Matzoh Balls
4 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon shmaltz (chicken fat)
1 cup unsalted matzoh meal
1/2 teapsoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Soup
4 quarts low sodium, fat free chicken broth
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
1 (4 ounce) chicken breast

Beat egg whites in a bowl until fluffy (not stiff, just fluffy) and beat egg yolks and shmaltz in a separate bowl. Add yolk mixture to whites and stir well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Place mixture in refrigerator for an hour.

Add all soup ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cover. When chicken breast is cooked through, remove and shred. Add shredded chicken back to the soup.

Using a tablespoon, measure out matzoh ball mix and roll into balls. Do not compact the balls to much. Drop into simmering soup. Cover pot, but vent lid. Simmer for about 45 minutes.

Yields about 20 matzoh balls.

WW info: 3 points per serving.