APPLE FRITTERS & RICH FUDGE BROWNIES FOR HANUKKAH

IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT


The excitement mounts. Elves bustle from room to room, digging out decorations, hiding gifts, grinning impishly as they slither and slide ever-so discreetly from room to room. Cupped hands around whispering lips, winks and nudges the latest form of communication; the glee is uncontrollable and contagious as the countdown to the first candle begins. Silver and gold flutter through the house creating a festive backdrop, both Christmas and Hanukkah decorations find their way out of drawers and cupboards in abundance and we find ourselves humming old tunes, from Silver Bells to I Had a Little Dreidl to Winter Wonderland. Our favorite holiday movies, Christmas in Connecticut, The Holiday, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Swing Time (really, anything with snow and romance will do!) are pulled off of the shelf and begin to fill the house with the enchanting sounds and flickering images of the holidays. Yes, even How the Grinch Stole Christmas with the magical voice of Boris Karloff makes its seasonal appearance to the still-excited child in each of us.


Though the purse strings are tugged a tad tighter this year, the Scrooge-like tendencies have evaporated faster than one can say “Twas the night before Christmas” or, more appropriately, “Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah”. A Festival of Joy, indeed! As is our habit, we celebrate alone, en famille, just the four of us, and happy we are to do so. During the year, the boys are rarely seen, Simon just returning from a year-and-a-half-long hiatus and working holiday in the States now down in Milan since early November, Clem spending his days at school, out with friends or closeted away in his room, door firmly closed against nosy, chatty parents, working, working, working. Little time for family nonsense, his company and undivided attention is almost as rare as his brother’s. But together we will be, like old times…but better.

Ghosts of Christmasses – and Hanukkahs – past. No Christmas ever crossed our threshold when I was a tot. My secret joy was always being invited next door to help the neighbors decorate their ceiling-high, gorgeous tree. Hours of pleasure was mine as we hung heirloom ornaments, tossed shimmering tinsel and wove garlands in and out among the branches, overabundance in all of its Christmas glory! The bright, chilly afternoons of a Florida December were spent wandering the streets around our house, ogling the crazy, romantic, ethereal and silly decorations, only to return at night under cover of darkness to see entire streets ablaze with lights, dizzy with gaudy baubles and bulbs dangling from palm trees, reindeer and Santas perched atop chimney-less roofs or standing proudly among dancing, prancing elves on green lawns. Life-size crèche scenes brightly illuminated, Snowmen innumerable, at home even in the balmy Florida evenings, grinning in delight at the amazing display of which they are a part, rising up from the dirt and sand like a brilliant phoenix in glorious, blinding Technicolor. And the mystical, eerie, entrancing luminaries dotting the night, lining the street, heralding the celebrations.


Hanukkah was always rather low key, our simple family menorah aglow, a plateful of sizzling latkes, a rambunctious game of dreidl with peanuts or M & M’s passed hand to hand, losers to winner, edible prizes pooled around our impatient fingers itching for our turn to spin the top. One present each night as the candles were lit, gifts we had more than likely helped our mother pick out for ourselves. The greater celebrations were reserved for Sunday School festivities with our friends, exchanging gifts, singing songs, clamoring for a much-coveted role in the yearly play of the story of Hanukkah: the Maccabean fight for Jewish survival against the Assyrian army, the oil that kept the Eternal Light glowing in the destroyed Holy Temple miraculously lasting 8 days and nights instead of the expected one. Christmas carols and Christmas plays filled our public school Decembers, but glory be the year I was the motivating factor in getting permission for our Sixth-grade class to write and perform a play about Hanukkah in front of the entire elementary school. The one year, the festivities I will never forget.


We’ve brought the quiet, low-key, intimate family tradition into our own home. Once or twice we’ve had friends over, offering gifts, explaining the rituals and introducing them to traditional – and not-so traditional Hanukkah foods and dishes amid the warm glow of the flickering flames. But normally we celebrate amongst ourselves, just the four of us. We excitedly exchange gifts, enjoy meals of latkes and sweet and sour chicken, play board games and watch films. And just talk and laugh together, the true joy and meaning of the holidays. And I love to cook and bake. Happily, we rarely have guests…happily because I am random, without rhyme or reason when it comes to my holiday cooking and baking. I will prepare piles of cookies, tin upon tin of sweet cakes and breads, macarons and truffles to please an army. Yet I cook and bake when the whim comes upon me, pulling out flour and apples, sugar and eggs, potatoes and cinnamon when the mood strikes and creating from morning to night. Then I may not cook or bake again for days or weeks. If I must prepare a complete meal for a certain number of people, for a particular date, an approaching hour, my nerves fray, my brain sizzles and I panic. But for my little family or as gifts for friends, the holiday goodies, the festive treats come rolling out of the door, the oven in an almost continuous display. Just like the gifts I buy for my family.

Hanukkah is the holiday not only to cook and bake but to fry as well! Sizzling potato pancakes; cheese latkes both savory and sweet; donuts of all types, shapes and sizes; chicken or fish, breaded and slid into bubbling oil; anything and everything is good as long as it is fried, the oil a reminder and celebration of the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days and nights instead of one, keeping alive the Holy Temple’s Eternal Flame after the Temple’s destruction while new oil was prepared. And these fried Hanukkah treats are almost always served up with something sugary and fruity: jam nestled inside fluffy donuts, a generous dollop of homemade applesauce or other fruit compotes atop fritters, pancakes and latkes both savory and sweet; chicken bathed in luscious, glistening sweet & sour sauce and rugelach, our favorite cookies, find a favorite jelly or bits of chocolate rolled up in the decadent, cheesy, moist crescent of dough. Add to the equation tiny sacks of chocolate Hanukkah gelt, candy coins wrapped in shiny gold tinfoil, and you truly have a Hanukkah to remember.


For our first night of Hanukkah, I turned to Jewish food maven Jayne Cohen’s Jewish Holiday Cooking, the updated version of her first cookbook The Gefilte Variations, a book I have loved and cooked out of for years. A Food Lover’s Treasury of Classics and Improvisations is the oh-so appropriate subtitle of Jewish Holiday Cooking; this book is filled with more than 200 fabulous recipes inspired by Jewish holiday dishes from communities and cuisines around the world, both Ashkenazi and Sephardi. Jayne offers scrumptious contemporary renditions of traditional dishes and creative, exciting reinterpretations, twists on the classics, as well. Her beautiful stories, her luscious, mouthwatering descriptions, tales of her childhood and growing up in a Jewish household, as well as concise, entertaining, informative explanations of each holiday and the rituals and traditions surrounding those holidays make this book more than delightful to cook from as well as simply to read. The perfect gift, the perfect holiday companion for any Jewish – or non-Jewish – kitchen.


This is one of my holiday go-to cookbooks… I make Jayne’s Hungarian Chocolate Walnut Torte and her Hazelnut Macaroons, her stunning Snapper Filets in Pistachio-Matzoh Crust and her Lemon Fried Chicken over Tart Salad every single Passover; her Almond Challah has graced many a Rosh Hoshana, the Jewish New Year, celebratory dinner table; her Chopped Chicken Livers, one of my favorite foods, is just like my dad used to make! And this year, for Hanukkah, I decided that it was time to make her Apple Fritters (among others). They were perfect, the beer batter coating was light and crisp (although to be perfectly honest, not the easiest thing for me to photograph!), the apple slices nestled inside delicate, meltingly tender and sweet with just a hint of cinnamon. And to top it all off, I spooned dollops of just the batter into the sizzling oil for light, crispy fritters – without apples! Delicious and sweet!


I also had to make her Rich Fudge Brownies. One can tell by the photographs just how dark and gooey these are. Perfect, fudgy texture, deliciously chocolate, the perfect brownie!

N.B. Jewish Holiday Cooking was a gift to me from the author herself, and I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for her kindness in both the book and her kind words. A very Happy Hanukkah to Jayne and her family! But the decision to write about the book was my own and all views and opinions are my own.

ITALIAN APPLE FRITTERS
From Jewish Home Cooking by Jayne Cohen


6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/3-inch rings
6 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla
½ tsp ground cinnamon
3 large eggs at room temperature, separated
3 Tbs mild olive, canola or avocado oil
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
Salt
1 ½ cups beer
Canola oil for frying
Confectioner’s sugar, brown sugar or maple sugar for sprinkling

* I used Royal Gala apples and as I noticed too late I had run out of brown sugar I used granulated white sugar.


Put the apple slices in a large, resealable plastic bag and add the brown sugar, the vanilla and the cinnamon. Seal the bag then move the apple slices around in the bag until the seasonings are evenly distributed. Let the apples macerate at room temperature for about 1 hour.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with the oil until well blended. In anther bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the yolks, alternating with the beer, squooshing the batter up against the side of the bowl to break up any lumps. Stir the batter until smooth. Let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°F (about 100°C) if you want to bring all of the fritters to the table at the same time instead of serving and eating them right from the pan as they are done.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into the batter until there are no more lumps of whites.

In a large, heavy skillet (do not use nonstick!), heat ½ inch of oil over medium heat until gently sizzling (about 360°F/180°C). Dip the apple rings one at a time into the batter making sure it is completely coated, then letting the excess batter drip off before slipping it into the hot oil. Fry in batches, about 5 rings at a time so you don’t crowd the pan, until golden brown on each side, the fritter is puffed and the apple inside is tender and cooked through. Use two spatulas or one spatula and a large spoon to turn them.

Line a serving plate or large ovenproof platter with crushed paper towels. Serve the fritters immediately, sprinkled with one kind of sugar or another or, less desirably, keep warm on a rack placed over the platter in a low oven (in one layer) until all of the fritters are done and ready to be brought to the table.

RICH FUDGE BROWNIES
From Jewish Holiday Cooking by Jayne Cohen


1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup granulated bight brown sugar
16 Tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled; ¾ cup mild oil; or 16 Tbs unsalted kosher-for-Passover margarine
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla or 2 tsps coffee liqueur
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
½ cup matzoh cake meal (if you don’t have matzoh cake meal, try flour)
1 ½ tsps finely ground espresso coffee or instant espresso powder
¼ tsp salt (omit if using margarine)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease or line with parchment an 11 x 7-inch rectangular or 9-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the white and brown sugars with the melted butter, oil, or margarine. Add the eggs and vanilla or coffee liqueur and beat until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, stir together cocoa, cake meal, coffee and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and blend until smooth.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes. Do not overcook: the brownies should be moist. They are done when the batter is just set, the to dry to the touch but no crust has yet formed around the edges. A toothpick inserted halfway between the center and the edges of the pan should come out just about clean; a toothpick inserted in the center will emerge with some batter still clinging to it. The size and material of the pan will affect cooking time, so begin checking after about 20 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a rack and let stand until cook. Cut into squares

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CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO PECAN TORTE

I’M LISTENING…


I am occasionally accused, wrongly so, I might add, of not listening. Or, worse, of being “têtue comme une mule”, headstrong and going my own way, not adapting to the necessities of the situation, of refusing to understand the needs and requirements of those around me. This usually, under normal circumstances, has to do with our sons. Yes, he has told me time and again that I speak to our sons as if they were daughters, explaining where no explanation is required, using too many words where one sharp No! would suffice. Of appealing to their better judgment, their feelings as sons, reasoning with them when all that I should be doing is setting down the law, our law, and giving them the iron eye if they attempt to argue. I negotiate, plead, understand, and, according to others, cave in. Instead of listening to him.


I have been scolded for joking where jokes fall flat, teasing those who have no sense of humor whatsoever, but yet I can’t help myself. On and on I go, making light of a situation or trying to coax out a smile only to be stared at blankly or downright ignored. Or of opening my mouth when I should just keep quiet, letting off steam, which only makes the room hotter instead of listening to the unstated “just let it pass!” I have been accused of throwing money out the window by continuing to buy certain foodstuffs, cheeses or cookies or flavors of this or that because I haven’t listened when I was sternly informed that no one liked them. But how many times can they tell me how much they love something, how delicious it is, before I am to understand that what is really being said is “I don’t like this so please don’t ever buy it again”? I listen but I obviously don’t hear! I am admonished for letting my mind wander during discussions of money or politics or films or agendas, of claiming at some later date that it was never said, plans or appointments never spoken of. Or denounced for thinking of other things while an argument rages around me or a powwow is in full force demanding my participation.

But they are wrong, for I do listen. I am sensitive to the wants of others. Their desires and requests are always uppermost in my thoughts, driving me to purchase this food or that, or fighting against my own personal beliefs or, worse, those automatic reflexes of the woman that I am, that I have become. I suffer from neither stubbornness nor self-will, from inflexibility or disregard. I neither misinterpret nor do I purposefully make decisions based on idle supposition. I listen and I try, yes I do.

I admit that my head is often in the clouds, full of fluff. I am quite often oblivious to the world at large. My work, my writing is all consuming and if spoken to while in the middle of a thought, a paragraph, a sentence I simply will not hear. Nose and brain deep inside a book and everything else just disappears. I cannot focus on two things at once and when I put my mind to something the rest simply floats lazily around my head like butterflies on a warm day, gently tapping against my skull, like a dull, monotonous buzz, a fuzzy background noise lulling me to sleep. Sometimes I just ignore what is said as something superfluous to my own beliefs or to whatever it is I must focus on in the here and now. Food trends or famous people, a must-read article or touted event, the happenings of some far away place that simply have no interest for me must make way for what is nearer and dearer. Idle blather or teen ramblings don’t grab my attention nor do statements that I just find, well, useless. But as for all the rest, well, I know for a fact that sometimes they claim to have told me something that was just never uttered or enlightened me of certain facts that just rubbed against the grain, asked me to behave in a way that was just impossible for me. Or simply my lack of reaction fed their belief that I didn’t hear, that I was somewhere else.


Yet some things said and repeated definitely do make an impression even if it takes me some time to sit up and notice, a few jostlings of the old noggin to arouse me to action. It may just take time for the idea to be absorbed before popping up to the surface or it may be hidden somewhere, nestled deep inside the mysterious folds of gray matter before stimulation causes sparks to fly, igniting the nerveways, finally registering and causing me to respond. But when I notice that my traffic jumps, that my popularity soars whenever I post something rich, decadent and chocolatey I do eventually acknowledge it. I must! When you raise the hue and cry about what turns you on, what flavors drive you so wild that you drop to your knees and beg for more, yes indeed I listen. And as my one desire is to make you happy, I do everything in my power to indulge your every whim, satisfy your pleasure, fulfill your wants. Cherry, orange, almond, blueberry may excite and send us into a passionate state of ecstasy, but nothing inspires, nothing thrills like the addition of a mere spoonful or two of deep, dark, bitter, earthy espresso. It turns a simple chocolate cake into something elegant, adult, heady with flavor and mystery. Or lighten it into a creamy, smooth, delicate mocha and watch eyes light up, heads turn, smiles of utmost satisfaction steal across and lighten even the most hardened expression.

Well, dear readers, I have listened.


Another Passover dessert. I couldn’t resist. The others, the Berry Mascarpone Cheesecake on a Chocolate Sponge Base and the Chocolate Almond Torte with Cherries, disappeared in record time! But let us push all the berries of spring aside for a moment, those light, feminine accessories, and satisfy our deeper appetite, our craving, our predilection, nay, weakness for that most adult of flavor combinations, that earthy bite of espresso and dark just-bitter chocolate. Oh so very adult, we feel as if we are delving into a world of sin or wicked pleasure, pampering ourselves as the children look on enviously from afar. Well, go ahead and share if you dare, for this cake is much too good to keep all to yourself. Or shall I say it is too good to share? But, then again, maybe you aren’t listening….


This is truly a stunning cake! Perfect for Passover, it is fabulous all year round for any occasion. Not at all like other Passover cakes, this is both moist yet cakey and feather light. The pecans are less aggressive in flavor than almonds, less bitter than walnuts and the dash of espresso gives the cake just a warm hint of coffee. This must be my absolute favorite Passover treat, one that I continue to make all year round. Go on, try it. Listen to Mama…


CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO PECAN TORTE
A recipe adapted, twisted, tweaked and personalized from Jayne Cohen’s marvelous cookbook The Gefilte Variations.

¾ cup (150 g) sugar, divided
½ cup (125 ml) water
6 oz (175 g) fine-quality, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate or a combination of the two *
6 large eggs, separated
Pinch salt
1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups (150 – 180 g) pecan halves
3 Tbs matzoh cake meal
1 ½ tsps fine instant espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla


* I used Lindt 70% dark chocolate, 100 grams Doux or mild semisweet and 75 grams dark bittersweet

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Set rack to lower third of the oven. Line a 9-inch (23 cm) cake pan with parchment paper.

In a small, heavy-bottom saucepan, combine and heat ½ cup (100 g) of the sugar and the ½ cup (125 ml) water over medium heat just until it comes to a boil and the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

Separate the eggs very carefully. Place the whites in a large, very clean, grease-free mixing bowl, preferably plastic or metal if possible, with a pinch of salt. Place the yolks in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Grind the pecans with the remaining sugar and the matzoh meal in a food processor; do this in 2 batches if using a small processor. Stir the ground ingredients and the espresso powder in with the beaten egg yolks. Stir in the cooled chocolate and the vanilla until the batter is smooth and well blended.

Using very clean beaters, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt on low speed for 30 seconds then increase speed to high and beat the whites until stiff peaks form and hold and the whites feel thick like marshmallow cream when touched. Using a spatula, fold about a quarter of the whites into the chocolate batter to lighten, then fold in the rest of the whites in two additions, incorporating them gently but firmly, scooping up from the bottom and around the sides, folding over as you turn the bowl with your other hand. Fold only until no more white lumps are visible; do not overfold.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, smooth the surface then bake for about 30 minutes or until set yet still slightly gooey in the center. The top should have a pale, matte appearance. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, carefully slide a knife blade around the sides to loosen the cake and turn out onto a cake platter. Be very careful as the surface may crack and crumble a bit around the edges. The center will have sunk slightly in the center.


This cake is perfect eaten as is or serve with whipped cream, ice cream or fruit.

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QUICHES, KUGELS, and COUSCOUS by Joan Nathan

PART II: La Culture Quiche (It’s all French to Me)


A multi-cultural marriage is nothing if it isn’t a life of concession and compromise. I showed up on my wedding day wrapped in a cloak of family heritage, carrying a bagful of traditions and joined my lot to a man with a different set of unmatched luggage. Religious beliefs (spiced, for one of us, by a very large pinch of skepticism), holidays and festivals, national pride, habits and ideas of the way things should work have been put to the test, talked over, played with, balanced out. Some points have been conceded, rituals pared back, concessions made, certain traditions eliminated and others adopted and all in the name of a happy marriage and what simply works best in the country and culture where we set up house and unpack the suitcases.

And nowhere is this more obvious than in our culinary traditions. We may travel the world, move from one country to another, experiment with this dish or that, but one thing we all carry with us, the one aspect of our culture that generations of immigrants have kept close to their hearts, loathe to leave behind, is our cuisine and the rituals that surround it. And as our grandmothers and great-grandmothers before us adapted their Old World recipes to New World ingredients, new cooking methods and a new life, we try and prepare our childhood and family favorites, the traditional dishes of our ancestors, the celebratory and festive meals as we know them yet are often inspired by a new culture or simply by necessity to adapt, change, transform. Over time we merge recipes, toss in a new spice or herb, lighten an otherwise heavy dish or blend cultural influences and in the process we end up creating an entirely new and very personal culinary repertoire.


Joan Nathan’s newest cookbook, Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous (My Search for Jewish Cooking in France) is all about this culinary phenomenon. Just flip through the book and you will see a seemingly incomprehensible mish-mash of French, Yiddish, North African words and recipes. But look closer and you will see a fascinating blend of communities, origins, styles and flavors and once you read her culinary history of the Jews in France you’ll understand completely. “Even though some of the oldest Jewish recipes have been subsumed into French regional cuisine, you can often recognize ancient cooking in the dishes the Jews are serving today,” Ms. Nathan explains. She goes on to show that “between intermarriage, travel, expulsion, changing food ways, and different waves of immigration, it is often difficult to trace with precision the path of Jewish cooking in France.” Their history is a complex one and reflected in their delicious and diverse yet wholly traditional dishes.


My own cooking is a perfect example of this cultural fusion: Latkes are served every Hanukkah but now have that special touch of caramelized shallots. Passover finds us enjoying Matzoh Brei like my mom made but now it is served with a luscious slice of smoked salmon and a dollop of crème fraîche. An Alsatian fish choucroute now makes a fabulously festive holiday meal paired with a dense, golden Challah. And that Challah, the sweet brioche-like bread traditionally baked, braided and eaten every Shabbat eve, pairs so well with a good, nutty French comté or salty Roquefort and a tad stale makes a dynamite Pain Perdu, French toast. And now, thanks to Joan Nathan’s fabulous Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous, on we go. My recipe index for holidays as well as every day has just gotten thicker, my discovery of a whole panoply of new flavors and dishes adds zest to my cooking. Her intriguing look at the evolution of French Jewish cooking illustrates this merging of cultural influences, the blending of religious and secular components, the marriage of Jewish and French all leading to the creation of a tantalizing, original yet still thoroughly traditional cuisine unique to the Jews of France. The history Ms. Nathan recounts as well as the fantastic, mouth-watering array of recipes is fascinating not only to the Jewish cooks among us but will appeal to everyone. Why? Across the world and over time most cuisines have traveled, evolved and been transformed into the foods and dishes we recognize today. Each culture holds their traditions dear and close to the heart but revels in the gustatory changes that time and movement allows for.


Once again, I have chosen 3 recipes from this wonderful book and, once again, we were absolutely delighted with each of them. The first is a North African-inspired Chicken dish tangy with cured black olives and preserved lemons with an unusual touch of honey and simmered in a very French white wine, cultural fusion at its best. My husband selected the second recipe: a French cake or quick bread filled with fresh goat cheese and comté, redolent of mint and studded with either chopped dried apricots (Ms. Nathan’s version) or dried cranberries (my version). And finally, a dessert. I knew that I couldn’t go for very long without delving into her fabulous selection of sweet treats and I stumbled upon one that is doubly perfect: Gâteau de Hannouka, a Polish Hanukkah Apple Cake. As we are right in the middle of Hanukkah celebrations, I wanted to make something special for this festive occasion, but I also knew that any cake with apples is a favorite of my husband’s. A slice of my Jewish heritage served up with something ooh-la-la so French.


Now, on my previous post I offered you all three recipes for Joan Nathan’s Chicken with Apples and Cinnamon, the French Potato Salad with Shallots and Parsley and the Parisian Pletzl. But I can’t give all of her recipes away, now can I? I have decided to share with you one of the recipes yet my opinion of all three.


QUICK GOAT CHEESE BREAD with Mint and Apricots

A savory bread definitely meant to be eaten fresh from the oven, this Goat Cheese Bread – or cake, as the French would call it – is chock full of not only crumbled fresh goat cheese but nutty Comté, Gruyère or Cheddar cheese as well, whichever you prefer. While the recipe calls for chopped dried apricots, I preferred to use a cup of dried cranberries, which added a marvelous tangy sweetness to offset and compliment the nuttiness of the cheese. A handful of fresh or dried mint adds something fresh and colorful to this beautiful bread. A wonderful treat to serve simply alongside a salad or a bowl of soup for a complete meal. As easy and quick to put together as the name indicates, this bread has found its way onto my “bake-me-often” list of recipes.


HONEY-COATED BAKED CHICKEN with Preserved Lemon

Although Ms. Nathan offers us a more straight-forward traditional Moroccan Chicken with Olives and Preserved Lemons, I decided to make her Honey-Coated Baked Chicken with Preserved Lemons which is more of a fusion dish, combining “a Moroccan flavor to classic French roasted chicken.” I loved the addition of sweet honey – I am crazy about sweet & sour meat dishes – and found that baking the chicken simmering in honey and wine produced fragrant, extremely tender meat. As my own baking dish is smaller than the recommended 9 x 13-inch casserole, I used less chicken and therefore cut back the preserved lemons from 4 to 3. We still found that the flavor of these citrons confits was too strong and next time I make this dish – which I definitely will – I will use only two preserved lemons. And after I had made the Chicken with Apples and Honey I learned my lesson and poured only enough of the liquid over the chicken to come about 2/3 the way up, allowing the surface of the pieces to stay above the liquid in order to brown. A gorgeous, flavorful dish to serve simply with couscous.


GÂTEAU de HANNOUKA (Polish Hanukkah Apple Cake)

A whole lot of apples for not a lot of batter makes for one delicious cake. This recipe calls for vegetable oil which 1) makes it perfect for Hanukkah as foods cooked in or with oil are traditional, 2) makes this cake parve, allowed with either meat or dairy meals following the laws of Kashrut and 3) makes for one super moist yet extremely light cake. I made this apple-filled, cinnamon-infused cake in my dad’s old, original Bundt cake pan as Ms. Nathan does but the amount of apples in the batter makes it a tad difficult to hold together attractively (as if Jews ever cared about food being attractive as long as it is fabulously delicious!). The next time I will find a 9 x 13-inch baking pan so I can simply slice and lift out huge squares of it to serve along with a cup of coffee. JP gave this fruity cake a two thumbs up and called it really, really good. And it is. Overflowing with chunks of sweet and tart apples tossed in cinnamon, the cake is moist, tender and absolutely delicious. I can just picture my Bubbe, my grandma, asking for seconds. And thirds. Well, so did my French husband.


1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the pan
5 apples (3 Fuji and 2 Granny Smith or Reines-des-Reinettes, or any combination of sweet and tart apples which, when baked, become meltingly tender yet hold their shape), peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch (1 cm) cubes, about 6 cups of chunks
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon *
1/3 cup walnut halves, roughly chopped **
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbs chopped almonds (I used 2 Tbs ground almonds)
1 ¼ cups + 2 Tbs sugar, divided
4 large eggs
¼ tsp almond extract

* I had no lemons so I eliminated this. I tossed about a teaspoon of vanilla extract with the cinnamon and apples instead.
** As JP cannot eat walnuts, I did not add them and found the nutless version perfect!

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease either a Bundt pan or a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Toss the cubed apples with the zest and juice of the lemon*, the walnuts** and the cinnamon together in a large bowl.

Pulse (in a food processor) or mix (with an electric hand mixer) together the flour, baking powder, salt, chopped or ground almonds and 1 ¼ cups of the sugar together. With the processor or mixer running, gradually pour in the eggs, oil and almond extract, processing or mixing just until well blended.

Spoon 1/3 of the batter over the bottom of the prepared pan. Scatter the apples on top then cover the apples with the remaining batter, smoothing. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons (you’ll need less if using a Bundt pan) evenly over the top of the cake.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until golden and cooked through. The cake will take the shorter amount of time if using the shallower baking pan than in the Bundt pan.


Allow to completely cool on a cooling rack before loosening the cake and turning it out of the pan.

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QUICHES, KUGELS, and COUSCOUS By Joan Nathan

PART I: MY KUGEL CULTURE


When I was contacted about receiving a copy of Joan Nathan’s newest cookbook, I was very excited! I recently inherited my brother’s copy of The New American Cooking and had fallen in love with this amazing cookbook, so I was anxious to read and cook from another of Ms. Nathan’s books. And when I saw the title Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous (My Search for Jewish Cooking in France) I just had to laugh. I immediately wrote an e-mail to Ms. Nathan’s PR person exclaiming, “This newest cookbook is the perfect fit for me and my blog – I grew up with the kugel and married the quiche and the couscous!” I knew that this book fit right in with the multi-cultural aspect of my blog…. And how! And what a fabulous early Hanukkah gift!


Growing up in a fairly small, middle-America town where everything and everyone revolved around the Space Center like satellites around a very important planet, I wasn’t surrounded by a large, multi-faceted Jewish community. We were a small, tight-knit and rather homogeneous group. We were all descendents of Russian Ashkenazic Jewish immigrants and what was cooked and baked in our parents’ kitchens and placed on the table before us was all the same, what we thought of and defined as “Jewish” food: chicken soup with matzoh balls or kneidlach dumplings, kishkes and kasha varnishkes, cabbage soup and potato latkes. Mmmm. We knew that the traditional dishes that graced our weekday, holiday and Sabbath evening tables were different than our non-Jewish friends’ meals – while they ate bacon on Sunday mornings we were enjoying bagels and nova lox, while they were eating apple pie we, were eating apple noodle kugel. Gefilte fish, blintzes and Challah were foreign to them yet everyday fare for us, and although we knew it was special to our own culture, we never, beyond that, gave it a second thought. It just was.


And then I moved to France. Over the years I have discovered just how diverse Jewish cuisine is, as diverse as her people: we have dined on the traditional Friday night saffron-infused couscous on Shabbat at our friends’ home and I learned to cook sunny tagine sweetened with prunes and apricots or tangy with olives and preserved lemons. While I grew up on carrot kugel and tzimmes, I am now enjoying carrots marinated in a sweet and spicy olive oil glaze. We were handed down an Old World cuisine, earthy, heavy and warm meant to build up, pad and sustain bodies, protect against the frigid Eastern European cold, a cuisine born of the hard, dense, often ice-incrusted dirt: potatoes, cabbage, beets, onions and chicken were the mainstays of this hearty menu. Even trips to New York to visit family meant potato knishes, huge hot pastrami on rye sandwiches and chopped chicken liver all served up with huge, briny dill pickles. I had known little if anything about this other culture of the Sephardic Jews, one from a land not of cold and grey, but one of sunshine and fertile land. Her colorful culinary heritage is filled to overflowing with violet eggplants, golden orange pumpkin and carrots, deep green zucchini and bright yellow lemons. Dishes are spiced with saffron, cinnamon and coriander, drizzled with honey and flavored with dried fruits and nuts. The same blessings are recited, the same rituals are performed, but this was a Jewish cuisine that was completely new to me!

As our Jewish friends of North African descent have shared their history and the traditions unique to their own culture, I have also learned the fascinating and often turbulent story of French Jews who originate from both Northern and Eastern Europe, stories of ghettos and concentration camps, resistance and rebirth. Stories of war-torn families and les Justes, those non-Jews who risked their own fate in order to help hide and transport the Jews of France to safety during WWII. Yet through thick and thin, they have succeeded in holding onto their gastronomic heritage. I’ve broken bread with these Jewish friends over tables laden with foods from every French Jewish culture from the couscous to the chopped liver, from the Challah to the fish choucroute, schnitzel and kugelhopf. As I sometimes sit in wonderment and think about how unreal it is to be in a country that once deported Jews, refused their admittance to public schools, chased whomsoever could into hiding, I celebrate the survival of and the coming together, the unifying of these somewhat disparate cultures and traditions into one that has succeeded in melding so well into French society, inspiring and allowing herself to be inspired by this separate and unique culinary culture. This is Joan Nathan’s story through both her eloquent words and her mouth-watering, tantalizing, intriguing recipes.


Joan Nathan recounts her fascinating travels through Jewish France and so much of it touches a chord inside of me, parallels my own cultural and culinary voyage through this, my adopted country. Each time I pick up and read a bit more of Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous (My Search for Jewish Cooking in France), I learn just a little bit more, am intrigued and tempted by one or two more recipes, some I am familiar with and some that I, thanks to her, am just now discovering. Once I cooked and baked my first recipes from this book, I knew that one single blog post would not do. As I have discovered these cultures, these culinary treasures one by one, so I have decided to approach the cookbook. For this first post, I selected three recipes, a salad, a main and a bread, starting with my own Eastern European roots: Chicken with Cinnamon and Apples, a recipe from Metz, France redolent of cinnamon and sweet with apples for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (at which time we eat apples dipped in honey for the promise of a round, sweet year), a French Potato Salad with Shallots and Parsley and a Parisian Pletzl, soft, individual disc-shaped breads topped with chopped onions and poppy seeds.


Joan Nathan’s newest book did not let me down. Her stories are fascinating, her recipes as diverse as they are delicious, a wonderful voyage both historical and culinary through this most gastronomic of countries, France. This book, for both Jews and non-Jews alike, is a treasure trove of fabulous recipes and the perfect gift for Hanukkah and Christmas.


(I want to send the recipe for Parisian Pletzl to Susan of Wild Yeast for her weekly Yeastspotting event!

For all of my European readers, don’t forget to enter the drawing for a fabulous box of luxury chocolates from Hotel Chocolat. Just leave a comment after my last post!

Don’t miss two wonderful holiday recipes I have on Huffington Post: perfect Butter Cookies to cut out in any Hanukkah or Christmas shape you like, including how to build a stunning Christmas Cookie Tree and a spectacular, festive Chestnut and Chocolate layer cake.


A great big THANKS to Lael for making this happen! Happy Hanukkah!)

ROSH HASHANAH CHICKEN with Cinnamon and Apples from Metz
4 to 6 servings

Stunning! We all fell in love with this dish. The chicken was tender and juicy and infused with a tangy sweet flavor of the wine and apples and the fruit, as always, was perfect with the chicken. The leftovers were reheated the following day and it was just as delicious, if not even better. Easy to make, this dish will be a regular on my table.

One 3 ½ - 4 pound (2 kgs) roasting chicken or the equivalent in selected pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 onion, trimmed, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 cup (250ml) chicken broth *
1 1/3 cups (330 ml) white wine *
3 or 4 apples, cored and cut horizontally into 4 slices (I used Reines-des-Reinettes but pippins or Fuji apples are also good)
2 Tbs sugar

* As I realized a bit too late, my baking pan was not large enough so this amount of liquid was too much and my chicken swam. Although the chicken cooked perfectly and the texture and flavor of the meat was stunningly outstanding, I think the next time I will just fill up the roasting pan with enough of the liquid to allow the top third of the chicken pieces to remain above the level of the liquid which should let the skin crisp up.

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper as well as ½ teaspoon of the ground cinnamon. Place the pieces snuggly in a large roasting pan with the chunks of onion. Pour the chicken broth and wine over the chicken pieces (see *note above) and roast in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

After the chicken has cooked for the initial 45 minutes, place the apple slices around the chicken pieces, pushing them under the liquid as well as you can. Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining ground cinnamon and the sugar and return the roasting pan to the oven to roast for an additional 45 minutes or until the apples are very soft and the chicken is cooked through.

FRENCH POTATO SALAD with Shallots and Parsley

When I tasted the sauce, a cross between a vinaigrette and a mayonnaise, I thought it tasted awfully tart and strong, but on potatoes it was fantastic, perfectly balanced with the mellow flesh of the vegetable and delicious. Again, this was a winner in everyone’s book and one salad I will make over and over again.

2 pounds (1 kg) potatoes **
Salt to taste
½ cup finely chopped shallots
1 egg yolk (I used the yolk of a large egg)
¼ cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
½ cup (125 ml) vegetable or olive oil
Freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

** I used tiny ratte fingerling potatoes and ended up cooking just slightly more than half a kilo as the entire recipe would have been too much for us. I only made the mistake of serving them whole rather than slicing them in half so the sauce could soak into the potatoes.

Wash the potatoes under running water and remove any dirt stuck to the skin. Peel larger potatoes but you can leave the peel on the tiny fingerling potatoes if you like. Cut the potatoes in half or quarters, depending on the size of the potato, and place in a pot of water. Bring the water to the boil, add salt to taste, and cook until firm but tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.

Toss the potatoes and the chopped shallots together in a serving bowl.

Using a food processor fitted with a steel blade (or an emulsion blender), blend the egg yolk and the vinegar. With the motor running, slowly stream in the oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fold the dressing into the warm potatoes, sprinkle with parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.

PARISIAN PLETZL
Makes 12 Individual Onion Flatbreads

A French version of what I grew up calling a Bialy (short for Bialystoker tsibele pletzl, a flat onion bread from the Polish city of Bialystok), this is much less saltier than the ones I eat in the US. The onions on this, Florence Finkelsztajn’s of the famed delicatessen on Rue des Rosiers in Paris, version add a faintly sweet hint to a wonderfully fragrant, soft bread, perfect for mopping up the sauce on your plate or pairing with cheese. A perfect bread.

1 scant Tbs active dry yeast
4 Tbs sugar
4 to 5 cups (500 to 625 g) flour, more as needed for kneading
2 large eggs
¼ cup (62 ml) plus 2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 tsps salt
2 to 3 cups diced onion (as much as you like)
¼ cup poppy seeds

Pour 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast and the sugar until dissolved. Add 4 cups (about 500 g) flour, the eggs, ¼ cup (62 ml) of the vegetable oil and the salt. Mix well and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth, adding more flour if necessary. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, turning the dough to coat lightly with the oil, cover and let rise for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and grease or line (with parchment paper) 2 baking sheets.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form into balls. Roll or flatten each ball out into a flat round 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. Put the rounds on the cookie sheets and press down the center to leave about a slightly higher inch-wide edge all around. Brush the dough with cold water and sprinkle about ¼ cup of diced onion in each indentation. Brush the edges of the rounds with vegetable oil and sprinkle generously with poppy seeds. Let sit for 15 minutes uncovered.

Bake for 20 minutes until risen around the edges and a deep golden brown. If you like, you can slip the pletzlach under the broiler for just a minute to brown the onions. Serve warm or lukewarm.

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