8 Great Cooks, 8 Easy Nights
By Sharon Boorstin
An intriguing tradition says that women are not to work while the Chanukah candles are burning. I like that idea, so I sought out eight notable Jewish cooks—cookbook authors, chefs, cooking teachers—and asked for their favorite Chanukah recipes. The only requirement was that the recipes be easy to make. Our eight Jewish cooks, all busy women themselves, were only too happy to oblige. Enjoy their recipes guaranteed to help make the eight nights of Chanukah deliciously stress-free and get you out of the kitchen to enjoy being with family and friends.
Sharon Boorstin is the author of Let Us Eat Cake: Adventures in Food & Friendship (HarperCollins), and Cookin’ For Love: A Novel with Recipes (iStar).
 1. Faye Levy
Faye Levy has lived and cooked in Israel, France and the United States. She has written 14 cookbooks in Hebrew, French and English, and she is a cooking columnist for The Jerusalem Post. Her latest cookbook is Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home: 200 Recipes for Eating Well on Holidays and Every Day (William Morrow Cookbooks, 2008).
“I love making latkes from all sorts of vegetables and even some fruit,” says Levy, who divides her time between Israel and Los Angeles. “Just about anything works, from apples to zucchini, on their own or combined with potatoes, and they’re all easy to make.”
Levy is a proponent of making latkes in advance of dinner. “There’s no need to stand at the stove during a Chanukah party making them at the last minute, because they reheat beautifully,” she says. “Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and heat them at 400°F to 450°F. Turn them over midway when warm, then continue heating until they are hot.
This recipe is from Levy’s cookbook 1,000 Jewish Recipes (John Wiley and Sons, 2000).
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Zucchini Latkes with Garlic  |
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Makes 12 small cakes
In these pancakes, the delicate green color of the zucchini shows through the golden brown crust. The Sephardic-style yogurt and mint topping is a refreshing complement to the light pancakes.
Yogurt-Mint-Garlic topping:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 small garlic clove, finely minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Zucchini-Garlic Pancakes:
3 cups coarsely grated zucchini (3 medium zucchini, total about 12 ounces)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil (for frying)
Mint sprigs (for garnish)
Topping: Mix yogurt with mint and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reserve at room temperature.
Pancakes: Combine zucchini, garlic, pepper and salt. Add beaten egg and stir in lightly. Stir in flour. Heat oil in a deep, heavy, large skillet. For each pancake, drop a heaping tablespoon of zucchini mixture into the pan. Flatten each slightly with the back of a spoon. Fry over medium heat, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Turn very carefully so oil doesn’t splatter. Drain on paper towels. Stir mixture before frying each new batch. If all the oil is absorbed, add a little more to the pan. Serve hot, with topping. Garnish with mint sprigs.
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Corn Latkes |
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Makes 12 small pancakes
An alternative to potato latkes, these cakes combine whole and pureed corn kernels, which add up to a great corn flavor. Cumin is a common seasoning in Jewish dishes from the Middle East and goes well with corn.
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels, cooked, drained and cooled
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil (for frying)
Topping (optional):
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt, room temperature
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (fresh coriander) or parsley
1/4 cup finely diced ripe tomato
Puree 1/2 cup cooked corn; a few chunks may remain. Mix pureed corn with salt, pepper, cumin and egg. Stir in flour, then corn kernels.
Heat oil in a deep, heavy, large skillet. For each pancake, drop a heaping tablespoon of corn mixture into pan. Flatten each slightly with the back of a spoon. Fry over medium heat, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Turn carefully with two pancake turners so oil doesn’t splatter. Drain on paper towels. Stir corn mixture before frying each new batch. If all the oil is absorbed, add a little more to the pan. Serve hot.
If desired, top each pancake with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon sour cream or yogurt, then sprinkle with cilantro and diced tomato. Serve remaining sour cream or yogurt separately.
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Photo: Joel Lipton Photography |
2. Chef Suzanne Tracht
Jar Restaurant, Los Angeles
Suzanne Tracht, who has been featured in publications including Food and Wine, New York and InStyle, is the owner of Jar, a modern chophouse in Los Angeles, and Tracht’s in Long Beach. Both restaurants serve comfort-food dishes. Her new venture, Suzpree, is slated to open in summer 2009 in Los Angeles.
"The dishes that I cook in my restaurants are approachable and satisfying to a wide audience," says Tracht. "In the same way, I believe in Chanukah recipes that are not only easy to make and require a minimum of steps, but are always pleasing and comforting to guests and family."
"My pot roast has always been the most popular dish on Jar’s menu," she adds. "As an alternative to the usual brisket, it’s perfect comfort food for Chanukah. I serve it with fresh kabocha squash, which is plentiful during Chanukah season."
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Suzanne Tracht’s Pot Roast |
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Serves 3–4
1 boned out, denuded short rib, about 3–5 pounds
4 carrots, peeled
2 large onions, peeled
1 bunch celery, peeled
1/2 bulb garlic, unpeeled
1 bay leaf
1 cup sherry
2 quarts chicken stock
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large pan, heat oil to just under the smoking point. Season meat liberally with salt and pepper, and then sear both sides in the pan to dark crisp. Remove meat and set aside. Pour oil from pan into heatproof container to cool, and then discard. Using the same pan, add sherry to deglaze, bring to simmer and reduce by half. Reserve.
Roughly chop carrots, onions and celery. Place in large braising pan with bay leaf and garlic. Place pot roast on top of vegetable mixture and pour reduced sherry on top of roast. Add enough chicken stock to cover 3/4 of the meat. Cover with foil and place in oven, roasting for 3 hours.
Remove the pot roast from the oven and cool. Strain the jus from the vegetables. Place pot roast on serving platter and garnish with the vegetables. Serve jus on the side.
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Kabocha Squash with Sage, Leeks and Honey |
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Serves 6—8
This dish can be made a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator, but omit the honey until serving. Reheat slowly on stovetop and add the honey at the end.
1 large or 1 1/2 medium kabocha squash
Olive oil
Kosher salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter or margarine
1 1/2 or 2 leeks, washed, with bulb and
greens removed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons fresh sage leaves
Honey
Rub the squash generously with olive oil and season well with kosher salt. Pierce three holes in the top of the squash to allow the steam to vent while cooking. Place on a sheet pan and roast in a preheated 350°F oven for about 1 hour, or until thoroughly soft and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from oven.
When cool enough to handle, cut open the squash, carefully remove the seeds and discard. Using a large, flat spoon, scoop out all the flesh and place in a bowl or container, discarding the remaining skin.
Cut the leeks lengthwise and julienne into strawlike strips, about 2 inches in length, and set aside. This may be prepared in advance and kept in ice water.
Heat the butter in a large, heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat until brown. Add the fresh sage leaves and continue cooking until the sage becomes slightly crisped. Add the julienne of leeks and continue stirring until cooked, about 2 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and stir to blend.
Add the cooked squash and continue to stir over heat to mash the squash and to blend all of the ingredients. Some large pieces of squash may remain, or they can be mashed with a back of a spoon if a smoother consistency is desired.
Spoon the squash into a large serving bowl and drizzle the top lightly with honey just before serving.
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 3. Ronnie Fein
Ronnie Fein operates the Ronnie Fein School of Creative Cooking in Stamford, Conn., where she lives with her husband. She writes about food for publications including The Advocate, Greenwich Time, Shabbat Shalom (on the Orthodox Union Web site), and Cook’s Illustrated and is the author of three cookbooks.
“For my family, Chanukah was always a cheese holiday,” says Fein. “I have since learned that it has to do with the heroine Judith. My grandmother made the most wonderful blintzes, and my mother would make cheese latkes for breakfast. They were fluffy and fabulous—like regular pancakes, but they had lemon and cottage cheese in them.”
This salad recipe, another family favorite, is from Fein’s most recent cookbook, Hip Kosher: 175 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes for Today’s Kosher Cook (DaCapo, 2008).
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Turkey Couscous Salad with Grapes, Oranges and Cashews |
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Serves 4
Like many of my recipes, this one can be changed to suit your fancy—make it with chicken or use almonds or pistachios instead of cashews. The grapes, oranges and red onion give the dish a lot of color, so consider this recipe if you’re serving buffet-style.
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
1 cup couscous
3/4 cup broken cashews
1 pound cooked turkey chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup red seedless grapes, cut in half
2 navel oranges
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley, preferably flat-leaf
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 400°F. Bring the stock to a boil and stir in the couscous. Remove from the heat; cover the pan and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and spoon it into a bowl.
Spread the cashews on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 5–8 minutes or until they are fragrant and lightly browned. Add the turkey, grapes and nuts to the couscous. Peel the oranges, cut them into thick slices and trim the white pith from around the edges. Cut the oranges into segments and add to the bowl. Add the red onion and parsley. Toss ingredients gently.
Combine the olive oil, orange juice and lemon juice; whisk vigorously and pour over the salad. Toss the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Lemon-Cottage Cheese Pancakes |
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Serves 4
Inspired by my mother’s cheese latkes.
1 1/3 cups dry-curd cottage cheese, pot cheese or farmer cheese
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated fresh lemon peel
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Butter for the griddle
Combine the cottage cheese, eggs, milk and lemon peel in a bowl. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; mix to combine. Heat a griddle over medium heat and add a small amount of butter. When the butter is melted and foamy, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook the pancakes, working in batches, for about 2 minutes per side, or until they are golden brown, adding more butter to the pan as necessary.
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 4. Norene Gilletz
www.gourmania.com
Norene Gilletz teaches cooking classes, is a food consultant for the food industry, provides nutritional analysis of recipes and is the author of seven cookbooks.
Gilletz lives in Toronto with her mother, Belle, who, at 94 and nearly blind, still bakes twice a week. “I majored in Mother’s Kitchen,” says Gilletz, when asked where she learned to cook. “I work hard to come up with recipes that will be easy for others to make.” When it comes to latkes, Gilletz doesn’t limit herself to potatoes. “But I do limit the amount of oil I fry them in,” she says, “to make them healthier.”
This recipe is from Norene’s Healthy Kitchen: Eat Your Way to Good Health (Whitecap, 2007) and is a perfect companion for your favorite latkes.
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Split Pea & Portobello Mushroom Soup |
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4–5 servings
A nourishing, easy-to-prepare soup for cold weather that I got from Frieda Wishinsky, a children’s book author. Only 125 calories a cup, and it freezes for up to 4 months.
1 cup dried green split peas, rinsed and drained
5 cups water
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 medium shallots, chopped, or 2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups sliced portobello mushrooms (about 5 mushrooms)
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/4 teaspoon paprika (sweet or smoked)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine the split peas, water and broth in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially and simmer for 35 minutes. While the peas are cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onion, shallots and mushrooms and sauté until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and cook slowly until the onion has caramelized, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the onion mixture to the peas. Add the carrot and simmer 15 minutes longer or until tender. Stir in the paprika; remove from heat to let cool slightly.
Using an immersion blender, purée the soup while still in the pot, or purée in batches in a blender or food processor. If the soup is too thick, add a little water or broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
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Mini Veggie Latkes with Smoked Salmon and Tzatziki |
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Makes 4 dozen
These can be frozen for up to a month.
1 medium onion, cut in chunks
1 Idaho (russet) potato, cut in chunks
1 medium sweet potato, cut in chunks
1 carrot, cut in chunks
1 medium zucchini, cut in chunks
1 red pepper, cut in chunks
2 eggs (or 1 egg plus 2 egg whites)
1/3 cup matzo meal or dried breadcrumbs (preferably whole-wheat)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh dill weed
3 tablespoons olive oil for frying (plus more as needed)
1 cup two-way tzatziki (recipe follows)
1/4 pound smoked salmon, cut into bitesized pieces
Additional dill weed for garnish
In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, process the vegetables in batches until finely minced, about 8 to 10 seconds for each batch. Transfer the minced vegetables to a large mixing bowl and add the eggs, matzo meal, salt, pepper and dill weed; mix well.
Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add 1 tablespoon oil and heat over medium-high heat. Drop the mixture from a teaspoon into the hot oil to form latkes. Flatten each with the back of a spoon. Reduce heat to medium and brown well on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the latkes from the pan as ready and drain on paper towels. Add additional oil to the pan as needed and stir batter before cooking each new batch of latkes. (Can be made in advance and kept warm in a 250°F oven.) When ready to serve, arrange the latkes on a platter and top each with a dollop of tzatziki, smoked salmon and a sprig of dill weed.
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Two-way Tzatziki |
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You can make this dairy-free by substituting a 12-ounce tub of imitation sour cream, such as Tofutti Sour Supreme.
1 medium English cucumber, peeled and grated
6 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced fresh dill weed or mint
1 1/2 cups light sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place cucumber in a strainer and press gently to drain excess liquid. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the cucumber, green onions, garlic, dill weed, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste; mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Serve chilled.
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 5. Amelia Saltsman
www.ameliasaltsman.com
A cooking teacher, TV host and frequent guest on KCRW’s Good Food, Amelia Saltsman is all about “fresh” and “easy.” “When it comes to latkes, we’re of the grated potato/thin, crisp pancake persuasion,” says Saltsman, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif., and is the author of The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes, and Stories from the Market and Farm (Blenheim Press, 2007).
“My mother and I, and now my grown children, use the same latke recipe from Sara Kasdan’s 1956 classic cookbook, Love and Knishes, and everyone takes a turn manning one of the frying pans,” she says. “During December, when Chanukah falls, I find all sorts of fresh produce that will work well with a menu starring latkes. And why buy applesauce when it’s so easy to make your own?”
These recipes are from Saltsman’s cookbook.
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Baked Applesauce |
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6 servings
Baking apples in their skins concentrates flavors and yields an intense, pure-apple applesauce, delicious as is or enhanced with an herb, spice and/or wine or spirit. You will be surprised how naturally sweet this applesauce is without any added sugar! And there’s no peeling, slicing or standing over the pot, and no food processor or food mill to wash.
3 pounds tart apples, such as Spitzenberg or Winesap (8 or 9 apples)
A few sprigs thyme (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoons water or fresh lemon juice, Calvados, hard cider or dessert wine
Ground cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)
Preheat oven to 375º. Cut the apples in half vertically and core them. Place the halves, cut side down, in 1 or more large shallow baking pans, spacing them 1 to 2 inches apart. Scatter the thyme among the apples. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake the apples until tender, about 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, slip the fruits from their skins back into the pan, scraping any pulp from the peels. Discard the skins and thyme. Mash the apples with a fork, stirring in a bit of water or other liquid, if desired, to help scrape up any brown bits in the pan and to lighten the texture of the applesauce. Season to taste with cinnamon or nutmeg. Serve the applesauce warm, room temperature or cold.
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 6. Judy Zeidler
www.judyzeidler.com
Judy Zeidler is the author of The Gourmet Jewish Cook, Judy Zeidler’s International Deli Cookbook, 30-Minute Kosher Cook and Master Chefs Cook Kosher, which was based on her syndicated television show, Judy’s Kitchen. She and her husband, Marvin, are founders of the Broadway Deli and other restaurants in Los Angeles, as well as Zeidler’s Café in the Skirball Cultural Center.
 With five kids and seven grandchildren, Zeidler’s Chanukah parties are noisy and fun.
“With so many people to feed, you can see why I like easy recipes,” says Zeidler. “Especially recipes like the Scavatelle, which I learned from a friend in Italy. My grandkids enjoy rolling and twisting the pastry dough with me.”
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Scavatelle (Fried Italian Pastries) |
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Makes 4 dozen
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon olive oil
Peel from 1/2 of a lemon
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
1 cup flour
Syrup:
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon sugar
Peel of 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon water
Olive oil for frying
In a saucepan, place water, cinnamon stick, olive oil, lemon zest, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove zest and cinnamon stick. Add flour all at once and, using a wooden spoon, mix until dough comes together.It will be lumpy.
Spoon dough onto a floured board; punch down and knead into a flat disk to remove lumps. Pull off pieces of dough and roll out into thin ropes. Cut into 6-inch ropes and, working with one rope at a time, bring one end of rope around to form a loop, crossing over the other end (leaving 1-inch ends) and pinching to resemble a bow tie. Place on paper towels and cover with a dry dishtowel.
In a saucepan, place honey, sugar, lemon peel and water. Mix well and simmer over low heat. In a deep fryer or heavy saucepan, heat oil and fry pastries until browned. Dip in honey syrup and serve at once.
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 7. Diane Rossen Worthington
www.seriouslysimple.com
Diane Rossen Worthington, who lives in Los Angeles and is an authority on California cuisine, is the author of 18 cookbooks and is an award-winning radio host, a food and travel writer and a nationally syndicated columnist. Her latest endeavor is a deck of recipe cards, Seriously Simple Deck: 50 Recipes for Simply Delicious Meals (Chronicle Books, 2008).
 “Chanukah is such a great holiday full of happiness and laughter,” says Worthington. “I loved having families over from my daughter’s school, and we would feast on latkes and my easy-to-make Rosemary-Orange Glazed Chicken. Dreidels were spinning with music playing and kids singing. What could be more celebratory?”
This recipe is from Worthington’s The Taste of the Season (Chronicle Books, 2005).
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Rosemary-Orange Glazed Chicken |
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Serves 4–6
The sweet potatoes caramelize, and the chicken turns brown and crispy.
1 orange, zest and juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh finely chopped rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 4-pound chicken, cut up
2 yams (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
1 leek, light green and white parts only, cleaned and finely chopped
1 orange, juice and zest
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, for garnish
Rosemary sprigs, for garnish
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a small mixing bowl and mix until blended. Taste for seasoning. Place the chicken in a lock-top plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Make sure the marinade is evenly distributed. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place the chicken with the marinade in a large, shallow roasting pan. Place the diced yam and leeks around the chicken, making sure to coat them with the marinade. Roast the chicken for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and no pinkness remains and the skin is brown and crispy and the yams are tender. (You may need to remove the breasts earlier, since they cook faster than other parts of the chicken. Place on a platter and cover with foil.) When the remaining chicken is cooked, remove the chicken to the serving platter.
To finish the sauce: Place the pan with the yams on the heat; add the orange juice, zest and chopped rosemary and reduce the sauce, stirring it, until slightly thickened, about 2 more minutes. Taste for seasoning. Pour over the chicken pieces and serve immediately. Garnish with more rosemary leaves.
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Chocolate Fudge Pie |
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Serves 6–8
To make this even easier, pick up fresh packaged pastry dough in the refrigerated section of your market. This may be made a day ahead, covered and kept at room temperature. It is best eaten the day it is baked, however.
Pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose or white pastry flour
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen and cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup ice water
Filling:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (maybe more)
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
For the pastry: Combine the flour and powdered sugar in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 5–10 seconds. With the blades turning, gradually add the egg yolk and enough water so that the dough is just beginning to come together and will adhere when pinched. Wrap the pastry in plastic and chill it for 20 minutes.
Transfer the pastry to a floured pastry board or work surface. Press it into a round shape for easy rolling. Roll the pastry out into a circle large enough to fit an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a flan ring that has been placed on a baking sheet. Drape the pastry circle over a rolling pin and fit it into the pan. Roll the rolling pin over the tart pan or flan ring with moderate pressure to remove excess overlapping dough.
Press the pastry with your fingers so that it adheres to the sides of the pan. If using a tart pan with straight edges, raise the edges of the pastry 1/4 to 1/2 inch above the top of the pan by squeezing the dough from both sides with your index fingers.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet. To prevent the pastry from rising, prick the crust all over with a fork. Bake the crust for 15–18 minutes or until the crust is crisp and dry inside and lightly browned.
Reduce the oven heat to 350°. In a small heavy saucepan, combine the butter and chocolate. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, salt and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the melted chocolate and blend well.
Pour into the pie shell and bake 40–45 minutes, or until the center is just set and the center comes out barely clean when pierced with a skewer. Bring to room temperature and serve.
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 8. Jamie Geller
www.quickandkosher.com
Jamie Geller left a fast-track career as a TV producer to embark on the frazzled-track career of Jewish wife and mother. Though she didn’t learn to cook until after her wedding, she then threw herself into it with a passion. Today, Geller, who lives in Monsey, N.Y., is an internationally syndicated food and lifestyle columnist and the host of the cooking show Simply Kosher.
“I am all about easy cooking, whether it’s for Chanukah or any night of the year,” says Geller, who is the mother of three children under the age of 4. “I need good food that can be made quickly, because my kids are always after me to get back to whatever I have to do for them, whether it’s changing a diaper or starting a puzzle.”
Photo: Jerry Errico |
Geller’s brisket recipe is a snap. “Pop the brisket in the oven in the afternoon, and the oven does all the work,” she says. For dessert, she makes sufganiyot, the Israeli jelly doughnuts that have become a Chanukah tradition in the United States. “Making sufganiyot is a task that’s most fun when shared with those who are going to eat them,” adds Geller. “And be prepared to get dusted with powdered sugar!”
This recipe is from Geller’s cookbook, Quick & Kosher: Recipes from the Bride Who Knew Nothing (Feldheim, 2007).
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Sufganiyot (Jelly Doughnuts) |
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Makes 14
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
2 (8-ounce) cartons low-fat vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
2 eggs
6 cups canola oil
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup seedless strawberry jelly
In a large bowl, place flour, yogurt, vanilla sugar and eggs. Knead until all ingredients are combined and a sticky, doughy batter is formed. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Heat 6 cups canola oil in a 6-quart stockpot, covered, over medium heat. When dough is ready, uncover oil and raise heat to high. Scoop out a tablespoonful of batter and drop in oil. Don’t make the doughnuts too big, so they can cook through.
You should be able to fry about 7 doughnuts at a time. Using a slotted spoon, turn doughnuts when halfway browned, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Fry for another 2 to 3 minutes or until entire doughnut is deep golden brown and cooked through.
Remove doughnuts and let cool on paper towel-lined plates. Repeat previous two steps with remaining batter. Fill a squeeze bottle with jelly and inject a little into each doughnut. Roll each doughnut in confectioners’ sugar or shake 3 doughnuts at a time in a paper bag filled with confectioners’ sugar.
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Brisket in Wine Sauce |
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Serves 8
1 (2 1/2-pound) beef brisket, thick-cut
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 medium onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 1/2 cups water
Preheat oven to 325°F. Rinse brisket. Place in roasting pan. Rub paprika, basil, salt and pepper into meat. Scatter onions and garlic over meat.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix ketchup, wine and water. Pour over brisket. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil, tenting so that the foil does not touch the meat. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 3 hours, or until a digital instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the brisket reads 190° for well done. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before slicing diagonally, against the grain. Serve warm and pass pan juices in a sauceboat.
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