Rosh Hashanah Feast

Passover is my favorite holiday, followed by Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I'm usually planning a weeks worth of Passover food upwards of a month in advance, but Rosh Hashanah is just one feast meal, so the planning might begin a week ahead, maybe a few days again. I gotta say, sometimes the planning and the cooking is more fun than the eating.

Traditional Rosh Hashanah food is based on the phrase "May you have a sweet year. May God inscribe you in the book of life". So lots of sweet foods (for a sweet year), hand shaped foods (for the Hand of God that inscribes you in the book of life), round foods (for the never ending circle of life), lots of apple and honey, sweetened bread, fruit filled meats and sweet sauces. Having had apples and honey and apples and honey and bread and honey as the "Rosh Hashanah snack" my entire childhood, it was time for apples and honey and bread, just not in the same bite.

For any Jewish Holiday involving food, you gotta have Challah. Just a few minor changes to a regular Challah make it extra sweet and pretty for Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah Challah (makes One Challah)

1 pkg dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 egg + 1 egg white for later
1/8 cup honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 oil
2 - 3 cups flour
1/2 cup raisins, soaked in warm water for half hour, then drained

dissolve yeast in the water, with a little bit of honey. let sit 10 minutes or until frothy. beat one egg in a large bowl, then add honey, salt & oil and beat again. now add yeast mixture, and mix well. Add the flour, a little at a time, you shouldn't need all of it, until a soft dough forms. flour your hands, and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, adding more flour if it gets too sticky to handle. put a few drops oil in the bowl, and turn dough to coat. cover, and let rise in a warm place for 2-3 hours. after first rise, punch down, and knead the raisins into the dough.

Sabbath Challah is braided, and Rosh Hashanah Challah is round. Grease a cookie sheet, and pull the dough into a long rope, one end being fatter than the other. put the fat end in the middle of the cookie sheet, and wrap the rope around it. If it resembles a cinamon roll when you're done, you did it right. cover, and let rise for one more hour. half hour before your going to bake the bread, preheat the oven to 400. right before baking, brush the top of the loaf with egg white. bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, or until top is browned.

Let cool completely before eating. Eat hot bread and you'll get a tummyache!

CousCous Stuffing
I wanted to do a stuffed turkey, but i didn't want to go the normal route of stuffing, and i wanted some sweet and filling in there. I also have an unholy love for fried onions.

1 onion
pinch sugar
2 cups prepared CousCous (make it with broth, not water)
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
5 or 6 chopped dried dates
3-4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried cardamom
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
salt & pepper

Slice the onion, and fry in a little oil over medium heat. add the sugar if you want, it will help the onion color faster. after onion is fried and browned to your satisfaction, blend all ingredients and refridgerate at least one hour. after an hour, taste and add more spices as needed.

that's gonna go great in this delicious fruity
Apricot glazed Turkey
Whole Turkey
Apricot preserves- how much you need depends on how big the bird is
salt & pepper
tarragon
olive oil

A little like the famous Bacon Wrapped Turkey Roll, but i didn't feel like deboning the Turkey. make sure the Turkey is completely thawed! put cotton stuffing bag in the cavity, and gently stuff with cooled stuffing. close bag, use toothpicks to keep the opening closed. flip the bird breast up, and gently pull the skin away from the flesh, pulling towards the spine. If your able to pull the skin away from the legs as well, that's even better. Don't completely pull the skin off, it's going to be the "blanket" to keep all the moisting and flavors in. rub the flesh with oil, and season with salt and pepper. brush with apricot preserves and tarragon. now fold the skin back over, and secure down with toothpicks. rub oil over the skin, and season with more salt & pepper. cover with foil, and bake at 350 approx 15 minutes per pound. check with a meat thermometer before you eat it! Not sure how long to cook your turkey, or how to know when it's done? call your Mom or Grandma, they'll know. And they'll be really proud of you for cooking a whole turkey!

Sides:
Sweet Potatoes w/Honey soy glaze
I got this out of a Japanese Cookbook from the library a few years ago. and you just can't go wrong with sweet potatoes.

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 olive oil
salt
3 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried ginger

toss potato peices in a bowl with oil and some salt. pour onto a greased rimmed cookie sheet, and roast at 350 for 30 minutes, or until edges are browning. drizzle sauce over, and broil for a minute or two (beware of smoke!! Our smoke alarm almost went off!).

Green Beans with breadcrumbs
Had this at a friends house, and it was love at first bite. Cuz ya'll know I love greenbeans!

1 lb green beans
oil
1 tbsp italian breadcrumbs

saute green beans in oil over medium heat. you want to get a little browning on 'em. when they are bright green with bits of charring, they're done. takes about 8 minutes. combine in a bowl with the breadcrumbs, serve immediately.


Dessert was the deliciously magnificient Cardamom Apple Cake. Again, what a pain in the nect to make, but so delicous it's worth it. we had it with strawberries on the side.

So that was the Rosh Hashanah feast, and it was beyond delicious. Can't wait till Thanksgiving!

small post Passover wrap up

Passover is over, we've restocked the pantry, and now I can't find my list of all the yummy passover things I made. But I have promised myself I will get all my passover friendly recipes together and put them all in one 3 ring binder so I don't have to go searching for them next spring.

I did find these two still on the refridgerator printed off from some random website, and they were tasty.

Spinach & Potato Casserole - difficulty level - Easy.

3 good size white potatoes, or 6 good size red potatoes
20oz frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
3 green onions, chopped
1 sweet pepper, diced
8 to 12 oz ricotta cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & peper
1 cup shredded cheese
4 matzah sheets

preheat oven to 400 and bake potatoes till tender, about 45 minutes. Cool, peel and slice potatoes into 1/4” slices. Reduce oven temp to 350. In medium bowl, mix spinach, green onions, sweet pepper, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and season w/salt & pepper. Wet the matzah under running water until pliable but not falling apart. Grease the bottom of a baking dish and put the first sheet of matzah as the bottom layer. Put down ¼ of the spinach mixture, then a layer of potatoes, followed by some shredded cheese. Continue making layers until you run out of ingredients, and make the top most layer shredded cheese.

Bake for 35 minutes, until cheese on top is bubbly. Wait a few minutes before serving, so it can firm up, and cut into squares for serving.

Cheese wise, we used up the fontina that was in the fridge, and it was awesome. My matzah didn't quite fit into the baking dish I used, so I ended up farfelling some of it, and it still worked fine.

And now for some dessert . . .

Cardamom Apple Cake – difficulty level is a little harder. You'll need a food processor, an electric mixer of some kind, and nearly every bowl in the house.

½ cup matzah meal
1 cup chopped or slivered almonds (see note below)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
5 large eggs at room temperature and separated
1 cup sugar
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and grated
few tablespoons powdered sugar

preheat oven to 350 and grease a baking dish. Use a springform pan if you've got one (I don't). Pulse almonds in food processor until finely chopped, then add matzah meal, salt and cardamom and pulse some more until finely ground. Don't go too far,you don't want paste.

Beat egg yolks in a bowl until smooth then add ¾ cup sugar a little bit at a time. Keep beating until mixture is thick and pale. Stir in the nut mixture then the apples. In another bowl, beat the whites until you get stiff peaks. Beat in the remaining ¼ cup sugar a little at a time, keeping your stiff peaks. Fold a little of the egg white mixture into the egg yellow mixture to blend, then quickly fold in the rest of the whites. Scrape all batter into baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes until top is browned and springy. Remove from oven, sprinkle top with powdered sugar, and let cool completely. The cake will puff, then sink a little.

This apple cake is the messiest, most involved dessert I've made in a long time. And you know what? It was so good it was worth the mess. It is not gluten free by any means, but you would never know it wasn't made with flour. Slivered almonds are insanely expensive! I bought the cheapest bulk whole almonds I could find, and chopped them by hand before they went into the food processor, and it was fine.