Category Archive

Recipe for Hamentaschen

2/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup orange juice (the smooth kind, not the pulpy)
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour (DO NOT substitute white flour! The wheat flour is necessary to achieve the right texture!)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
Various preserves, fruit butters and/or pie fillings.
Blend butter and sugar thoroughly. Add the egg and blend thoroughly. Add OJ and blend thoroughly. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating white and wheat, blending thoroughly between each. Add the baking powder and cinnamon with the last half cup of flour. Refrigerate batter overnight or at least a few hours. Roll as thin as you can without getting holes in the batter (roll it between two sheets of wax paper lightly dusted with flour for best results). Cut out 3 or 4 inch circles.

Put a dollop of filling in the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, folding the last corner under the starting point, so that each side has corner that folds over and a corner that folds under (see picture at right). Folding in this “pinwheel” style will reduce the likelihood that the last side will fall open while cooking, spilling out the filling. It also tends to make a better triangle shape.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown but before the filling boils over!

Traditional fillings are poppy seed and prune, but apricot, apple butter, pineapple preserves, and cherry pie filling all work quite well. The number of cookies this recipe makes depends on the size of your cutting tool and the thickness you roll. If you use a 4-1/4 inch cutting tool and roll to a medium thickness, you can get 20-24 cookies out of this recipe.

Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Variation
If you are on a wheat-free diet for wheat allergies or a gluten-free diet, substitute 2 cups of buckwheat flour and 1/2 cup of milled flax seed for the white and wheat flour. Reduce the baking powder to 1 tsp. The resulting hamentaschen will have an unusual pumpernickel color, but they taste great! Make sure the buckwheat flour you use is wheat-free/gluten-free! Sometimes buckwheat flour is mixed with white or wheat flour.

Hanukkah Latkes

3 cups cubed peeled baking potato (about 1 1/4 pounds)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 egg whites
1 small onion, quartered
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
6 tablespoons nonfat sour cream
 Sliced green onions (optional)

Place the first 7 ingredients in a food processor. Pulse 20 times or until potato is very finely chopped.

Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon batter per pancake into skillet; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until browned. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and batter. Serve pancakes with sour cream; garnish with green onions, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 4 pancakes and 1 tablespoon sour cream)

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 1995

Recipe for Chana Shimoni’s Israeli Soofganiot  (Donuts)

25 grams yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon flour
3 cups flour
50 grams melted margarine
dash salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups water and milk mixed together or all water (room temperature)
oil
powdered sugar

Making the Dough:
Combine yeast, 1 T sugar, 1T water and 1 T flour in a bowl. Mix well, cover, and wait until it rises. In another bowl, mix flour, melted margarine, salt, sugar and egg yolks. Add yeast mixture to this and mix. Slowly add water/milk while stirring. When batter is smooth, cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit and rise.

Making the Doughnuts:
After the batter has risen, pour it onto a floured surface and roll it out. Use a glass with a small opening to cut out circles of the dough. Place a drop of jelly in the middle of each circle, and then cover with another circle of dough. Make sure that 2 circles attach well to form a closed ball with jelly in the middle. Cover the doughnuts with a towel and let rise.

Frying the Doughnuts:
Heat oil in a deep pot until very hot. Drop the doughnuts into the oil and fry on both sides until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Fresh is Best:
The soofganiot are only good fresh. After you make the dough, only fry a few at a time. Store the rest of the dough in the refrigerator.

From judaism.about.com/od/chanukahrecipes/Hanukkah_Recipes.htm

Cheesecake is a traditional dessert eaten during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds cream cheese
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 cup sugar

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix together cookie crumbs, melted butter, and 1/4 cup sugar. Press mixture onto the bottom of a pan and place in freezer for 10 minutes.
3. Cream together 3/4 cup of sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in sour cream until blended. Pour into crust.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn oven off and leave cake in oven with the door slightly ajar for two hours

from Lisa Katz

ROSH HASHONA RECIPE

On Rosh Hashanah it is customary to eat foods that are sweet with flavor. This symbolizes the “sweetness and good fortune” of the New Year ahead. Foods flavored with honey, apples and carrots are commonly served. The Rosh Hashanah meal begins with apple and challah dipped in honey.

Applesauce Kugel

Ingredients:

• 1 lb wide noodles
• 4 eggs
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup melted margarine
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups applesauce
• cinnamon and sugar

Instructions:

1. Cook noodles until nearly tender and drain.
2. Beat eggs with a fork and add the sugar, vanilla, margarine, raisins, applesauce and noodles, mixing well.
3. Pour into a large greased baking dish.
4. Combine some cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top.
5. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour or until browned on top.

Source: Ruth Heiges (heiges@post.tau.ac.il)