Chanukah Party Ideas continued...

Blogging while nursing isn't as hard as I'd have thought.  And since I have started reminiscing parties of Chanukahs past, I decided to post pictures of a few more parties I've done.
2 years ago I invited over a few couples over for a small Chanukah get together.  I decorated the table in a more sophisticated black and white color scheme.
For center pieces, I baked dreidel cookies which I poked a whole in before baking so that I could string them on to the branches I brought it from outside.
For the appetizer, I served salad in tortilla bowls.  I served fish for this party.  I made sushi, and tariyaki salmon.  I served it with the traditional latkes.
For dessert, there was of course, homemade chocolate donuts with strawberries.

Tortilla Salad Bowls

• 8" flour tortillas
• Pam cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450.  Pam a cupcake pan.  Place a tortilla in every other cup, allowing space so that the tortillas don't over lap.  Pleat the edges of the tortilla so that the center lays on the bottom on the cupcake cup and the outer edge comes out forming a bowl.  Place the baking pan with the tortilla into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the tortilla is darkened but not burned.  Let cool for a few minutes to allow to harden before removing from pan.

Can be made a day in advance.  When ready to serve, lay on plate and fill with salad, allowing some to spill out. Drizzle with salad dressing.

 

Have a happy Chanukah!

Chanie

Chewy Brownies

I'm infamous for not reading directions.  Most of the time, things turn out okay (read, most of the time. Unfortunately, I have caused some mishaps because of my carelessness.)  Fortunately, this recipe was more a hit then a miss.  2 years ago, for my classes 10 year high school reunion, the amazing organizers put together a cookbook that we all contributed to.  For over a year , I made a certain brownie recipe, which was rich, chocolaty and yummy.  One day, someone asked me for the recipe, and as I was reading it to them, I realized that I never read the part about melting the chocolate chips, I just mixed it in at the end.  I still haven't tried it Sara's way, but I still have her to thank for this simple, throw into one bowl, wonderful recipe.

Chewy Brownies

• 2 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a 9'x13' pan. Mix all the ingredients except the chocolate chips, it a bowl (can be done by hand).  This will be a very thick dough.  Mix in the chocolate chips. Bake in prepared pan for 25-30 minutes.  DON'T over-bake!
For a beautiful presentation, use cookie cutters and dust with confectioners (icing) sugar.

Enjoy,
Chanie

Scrumptious Pot Roast

This past Friday, as I was preparing to cook a roast, I decided to try a new recipe.  I knew I wanted something with a lot of flavor, but even as I set out to make it, I had no clue what flavor I was going to make.
I started by browning my meat on all sides.  I then decided to add some fried onions... I love cooking and having no clue whats going to become of the food until its up to the simmer point.  At this point, I went to investigate what was in the fridge.  I found a Tupperware with tomato sauce left over from something I made the night before, and so it was decided there will be tomato sauce.  I then continued to search, and came up with the Club House 5 minute Montreal Steak Spice Rub.  And from there I continued to make this wonderful recipe.  Let me tell you, even my pickiest eater (who says he hates meat) finished an entire piece without one word of complaint (if you know my boy, you would know what kind of accomplishment that is)

Scrumptious Pot Roast

• Shoulder roast
• flour - for rubbing
• oil - for frying
• 2 medium onions - sliced in rings
• 4 oz. tomato sauce
• 1 cup chicken soup
• black pepper - to taste
• Club House 5 minute Montreal Steak Spice Rub

Rinse and pat dry the roast.  Rub in a thin layer on flour on all sides. Brown on all sides till golden color (this helps seal in the moister to make a juicy roast.  Remove from pot.  Rub in a couple of Tablespoons of the Montreal Steak Spice Rub, and set aside to marinade.
Saute onion slices in pot till soft and just beginning to brown.  Add tomato sauce, chicken soup and black pepper.  Bring to boil.  Add roast and lower flame to simmer.  Cook on low flame for approximately 2 hours (more or less, depending on size on roast) turning once half way through.
Roast slices easiest when cold, so if time permits, wait till cold to slice, then return to sauce to reheat.  (As you can see in my pictures below,  I did not have time to wait on Erev Shabbos, and therefore the meat doesnt have the even smooth slices.)

Browned roast marinating.

Bon Appetite,
Chanie

Artichokes With Vinaigrette Dip

Been a really busy week for me, don't really have the time to work on an original recipe to post.  I never had the privilege of tasting artichokes for the first 21 years of my life, and truthfully I didn't think I was missing much.  In fact, when my husband brought home artichokes and asked my to cook them, I looked at him at said "why? are you planning to eat that?"  I could not imagine how to serve those cactus looking vegetables.  They looked stiff, poky and inedible, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted this creamy light food.  These artichokes are cooked till soft and then eaten dipping the individual leaves in a vinaigrette.  When you take off the leaf, you find a soft white flesh at the bottom of the inside of the leaf.  After dipping in the vinaigrette you scrape your teeth against the soft part. When you get to the center, that's the real treat!  The melt in your mouth center is mouth watering eaten dipped in the vinaigrette.  Eating this is an activity of itself.   Keep a large bowl on hand to collect the discarded leaves.

Artichokes With Vinaigrette Dip

• Artichokes
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Place Artichokes in large pot of water and bring to boil.  Artichokes are finished cooking when leaf comes out easily when pulled on.
Mix dip ingredients in a small bowl until well blended and smooth.
Serve and Enjoy!

Enjoy,
Chanie

Chocolate Kahlua Cake

My family are addicted to the Amaretto cake I often make for shabbos posted on this site:  Moist And Delicious Amaretto Cake.  I decided to play around with the recipe to create something of similar texture but a whole new cake.  Thus was born my chocolate Kahlua cake.  The cake was moist and chocolaty as expected and had a subtle taste on the Kahlua that imparted a distinct taste.  Although all Kahlua is produced in Mexico and is kosher, the Kahlua bottled in the US is not kosher due to the bottling facility that bottles non-kosher items as well on the same machines.  Kosher Kahlua can be purchased on a trip to Mexico, but that is out of reach for most of us.  Some kosher liquor stores have been selling Kahlua imported from Mexico, but if you cant get your hands on that, you can substitute it with another coffee liquor such as the one packaged by Ebers.

Chocolate Kahlua Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup cocoa dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup Kahlua (or other coffee flavored liquor)
• 1/4 cup vodka

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour bundt pan.  Mix all ingredients in large bowl till smooth.  Pour into pan.  Bake for 1 hour till toothpick test comes out clean.
Remove from pan when completely cool to prevent cake from falling apart.
Dust with confectioners sugar before serving.

 

Enjoy,
Chanie

Purim Theme Ideas - Oriental Purim (Homemade Fortune Cookies)

Two years ago, we had an oriental theme Purim.  That is the only year that I did not sew my own costume.  My sister-in-law spent the year working for a shliach in Shanghai, China, and sent my children these lovely costumes, which they were excited to wear. I did go down to Chinatown to find a dress for myself, and so I know similar costumes are readily available and inexpensive, if you just take an afternoon to travel to your local Chinatown and bargain a little.

For Meshloach Manos, I bought red Chinese takeout containers from uline.  Inside I put homemade fortune cookies with a Purim message, homemade sesame candies, and rice crispy treats.  I bought Chinese wine covers and used them to cover a bottle of iced tea.   I also made edible cookie cards (they are written in actual Chinese transliteration, 'Happy Purim') and Finished it up with a set of chop sticks.

The boys gave out the regular Purim nosh, but in a Chinese takeout container.

One of the mitzvah of Purim, is to have a feast.  And so, the  I prepared the meal in the theme as well.  I covered the table with a red table cloth and laid a black runner, and set the table with gold plates the ceremonial colors in China.  I placed by each plate a set of chop sticks, in case anyone was skilled enough to use them to eat.
For the first course, I served Teriyaki Salmon from the Kosher By Design cookbook along with Chinese cabbage salad.  (I must have served other salads, but over the past 2 years, I cannot remember exactly what was on the menu)
Next, I served won ton soup, which is basically a clear chicken soup with kreplach filling in wonton wrappers (This also covered the minhag to eat kreplach on Purim)
For my main course, I served  Chicken Negemaki with Red Pepper Chutney from the Kosher By Design cookbook, rice and roasted vegetables.  I also served shnitzel to make sure the children didn't go hungry.
My dessert was an assortment of homemade pastries and a fruit platter.  I also served mini Chinese good luck cupcakes and fortune cookies with hot tea.  To write the Chinese symbols on the cupcakes I made use of google.  These are the symbols for harmony, wealth, lucky, hope and happiness.  I used a cookie cutter to cut out white fondant in circles and write the words with red frosting.

 

Fortune Cookies

Fortune cookies are actually fairly easy to make.  They are a thin cookie, which once firm, you must fold them before they harden.  Therefore, you should start with making only 2 at a time, and only increase the amount as you see you can do the process quick enough that they don't harden.

This recipe should make apx 12 cookies.

• 1 egg white
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (which I added, since I felt it made it more authentic tasting)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar

Before you begin, write your fortune a small piece of paper, about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.  You can write fun messages, or simply, 'Happy Purim from the ______ family' (fill in the blank with your family name)
Preheat oven to 400.  Grease cookie sheet. Mix the egg white until it's foamy (not stiff). Add extract and mix. Combine flour, salt, and sugar and blend into the egg white mixture. Mix until smooth...it should only take a short time. The dough will be thin. If it is too thick, try adding water a teaspoon at a time (you don't want it to get too thin).
Place teaspoonfuls of the batter at least 4 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Use the back of a spoon to get the batter into round shapes about 3 inches in diameter. Be careful to make batter as round and even as possible. Do not make too many, because the cookie have to be really hot to form them and once they cool it is too late. Start with 2 or 3 to a sheet and see how many you can do.
Bake for 5 minutes or until cookie is golden color 1/2 inch wide around the outer edge of the circle. The center will remain pale. While one sheet is baking, prepare the other.
Remove from oven and quickly move cookie with a wide spatula and place upside down. Quickly put the fortune on the cookie, close to the middle and fold the cookie in half. Place the folded edge across the rim of a cup and pull the pointed edges down, one on the inside of the cup and one on the outside. Place folded cookies into the cups of a cupcake pan to hold their shape until firm.



A freilechen Adar,

Chanie

Yellow Chicken

A friend of mine, MB, gave me this chicken recipe.  If you ask a cook for a recipe, you are likely to get a list of ingredients and its up to your figure out how to make it.  Well, MB, is an amazing cook, and that is exactly how she gives out recipes.  And being that that is the way I cook anyways, I usually just pour in the spices in the order she said it.   To get this recipe up here, I made the chicken in slow motion this week, measuring as I poured.  The original recipe calls for chicken drums, but I make it with both drums and thighs (1/8th)  The result of the 2 hour slow cooking, is a soft melt in your mouth chicken with tons of flavor.  This chicken has become a staple in my house, as everyone loves it.
The name is such because on the spice, turmeric, which many Moroccans call  'Jaune',  and there by translate into English as 'yellow'.

Yellow Chicken

• 4 medium onions - thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 12 chicken drums and thighs
• 2 teaspoons Osem chicken soup mix
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry parsley (or 1 1/2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley)
• small amount of water - maybe 3 Tablespoons, enough to wet bottom of pot

In large pan, saute onions in oil till soft and just starting to brown.  Add chicken pieces and continue to saute for 3 minutes.  Add spices and a little water, just to cover bottom.  Bring to slow simmer and cook for 2 hours.  The sauce is delicious served over a bed of rice.

Bon Appetit,

Chanie

Chocolate Overload - Triple Chocolate Cookies

My youngest comes home from school an hour and a half before his brothers each day.  That is just about the hardest hour of the day (okay, that and bedtime)  From the moment I get to Shmuli's classroom, he starts complaining how bored he is and he needs to go to someones house (we haven't even gotten our boots on, and he's already bored).  Sometimes we do have play dates, but not everyday.  Yet I want to keep the peace, so I often have to entice him home with a fun activity.  Today, I promised him that we would bake cookies together.  It worked!  He rushed home with a smile.
At first I was going to make the regular chocolate chip cookies that I know my family likes, but when I went to look for the chocolate chips, I realised I don't have enough for a full batch.  Jotted it down on my weekly Wednesday night shopping list and decided to fill in the remainder amount I needed with white chocolate chips.  Next as I started to take out the ingredients, I decided that I wanted to make the recipe more healthy, so there went the margarine, and then switch out some of the flour for whole wheat. And while making all the changes, I realized my recipe had no similarities to the original recipe.  Oh well, might as well change it some more and make it a chocolate cookie....
The results:  a perfect soft chocolate chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Overload - Triple Chocolate Cookies

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
•  mixture of  white and chocolate chips equaling to 3/4 cup total

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Mix eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed till thick (3 minutes).  Add rest of ingredients except chocolate chips and mix.  The dough will be very thick. Add in chocolate chip, you may have to knead with your hands at this point, because the dough takes on a almost yeast like texture.  Form walnut sized balls.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.  Allow to cool for a few minutes to allow it to firm up before removing to cooling rack to finish cooling process

 

Enjoy,

Chanie

Moist And Delicious Amaretto Cake

Thirteen years ago, my sister and her family were invited by a friend to join her family for Purim seuda.  My sister turned her down, to join the meal my parents were hosting for all of us.  Her friend graciously accepted being turned down, and sent something for our family to enjoy that Purim.  My sister came in with the cake  that her friend sent and placed it on the table while my mother got ready to serve the meal. My mother left the room for under 5 minutes and when she returned to try the cake, the entire bundt cake was already devoured.
The cake was perfect, it was taste and moist without being heavy.
Fast forward six years, the cake has not been mentioned in all that time.  I was sitting in my kitchen going through some cookbooks, trying to find the perfect cake.  My memory took me back to my parents dinning room a few years earlier.  That Purim, we were all still living in Brooklyn.  I think that might have been one of the last Yom Tov meals we all actually ate together as a family before we all started moving away.  (To get us together at one time isn't as easy these days, there are six of us in three countries, six different cities.)  So I wondered, was the cake really as good as memory, or could it have been made great by the memory.  I had to track down that recipe and try it. 
When I called my sister to ask her to try tracking down the recipe, she too started reminiscing the taste.  Now we knew we had to get it.  She promised to call the friend and fin out if she still had the recipe.  Of course she did, and the cake didn't disappoint my memory.  The cake has now become the most requested in my house and always gets tons of compliments when I send it over to friends.  Not only in this cake fabulous tasting but its a super easy one bowl cake. The cake is delicious as is or dusted with icing sugar, but I found that the glaze I experimented with compliments it beautifully.

Amaretto Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding (I find its best with Jello brand pudding mix)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cups orange juice
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1/4 cup amaretto

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a bundt pan. Place all ingredients in bowl of mixer and mix at medium speed till smooth.  Pour batter into pan and bake in oven for 1 hour or until toothpick test comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then turn over on cooling rack and continue to cool in pan.  Don't remove from pan until completely cool or you will break the cake.

Almond Glaze

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 3-5 teaspoons water

Place sugar and extract in small bowl.  Add water one teaspoon at a time and mix till reaches a smooth, thick but pourable consistency.  Drizzle glaze over cooled cake.

 

Till next time,

Chanie

Hearty Lentil Soup and Garlic Bread

We can pretend its not here, but its inevitable.  The wind that hits us as we trudge home!  My husband is definitely does the trudging.  He walks 2km to work and 2 back, whatever the weather.  Be it a mid-summer hear wave or when it's -40 in the winter (by the way, -40 is the point where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet) And when my husband gets home these days, a hearty hot bowl of soup is exactly what this weather calls for.   This lentil soup is really fulling, especially with the garlic bread that I like to serve on the side.

Hearty Lentil Soup

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion - large dice
• 6 cloves garlic - chopped
• 2 medium zucchini - diced'
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 6 cups clear chicken soup (or Osem soup mix plus water = 6 cups)
• 1 cup dry red lentils

Heat olive oil in large pot.  Saute onion till just begins to brown.  Add garlic and zucchini and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add oregano and chicken soup.  Bring to boil, then lower to simmer.  Cook covered for around 20 minutes, till zucchini is soft. Blend with immersion blender (or in batches in regular blender - return to pot)  Add lentils and cook till soft, 10 - 15 minutes.

Garlic Bread

• 2-12" frozen baguettes (I buy by the case in Costco's - can use 1 already baked French or Italian bread)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp dry parsley (or 2 Tbs. fresh parsley - finely chopped)

Bake frozen baguettes according to package directions.  Slice every 3/4 inch leaving some at bottom connected.  Mix olive oil, garlic, salt and parsley in small bowl.  With basting brush, spread garlic mixture between slices.  Spread remaining mixture over whole loaf.  Wrap in aluminum foil.  Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

 

Enjoy,

Chanie

Thick And Tasty Butternut Squash Soup

Brrrr!!  It's cold out there.  Temperature today hit -30ºC, without factoring in the windshield. (-30 ºC = -22 ºF)  Want to see just how cold?  It's cold enough to freeze boiling water on contact.  Just check out this iReport video from CNN.  




Now this weather calls for some serious soup. I mean, not just a hot bowl of soup, but one that is thick and tasty to warm you through and through.  I came up with this butternut squash soup recipe a couple of years ago, and it fast became a family favorite for these cold winter nights.  In fact, we enjoy it so much, that I cannot help making it even in other seasons (thank G-D for air conditioning in the summer, so we can actually enjoy our meal)  This soup is super easy, and super tasty.

Thick And Tasty Butternut Squash Soup

2 medium onions - diced
1 medium butternut squash - diced
3 cloves garlic - coarsely chopped
4 1/2 teaspoons chicken soup mix
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
1 Tablespoon canola oil

Heat canola oil in pot over medium heat.  Saute onions till just starts to brown.  Add butternut squash and garlic and continue to saute for 3 minutes.  Add spices and 5-6 cups water to pot and bring to boil.  Lower to simmer.  Simmer for 30 minutes, until butternut squash is soft.  Blend with an immersion blender in pot or in batches in a regular blender.  Garnish with fresh coarsely crushed pepper.

Hope you're enjoying the cozy indoors,

Chanie

Yummy Chunky Cookies

A friend of mine, Chanie, writes a fun blog which includes recipes and crafts, busyinbrooklyn.com.  Today she posted a scrumptious looking recipe for Cowboy Cookies, one I'm definitely going to try.  I think you might want to take a look at as well.
Cowboy Cookies Recipe

Enjoy,

Chanie

Old Fashion Cinnamon Buns Plus A Chocolate Buns Variation

After close to a month without an oven, it feels liberating to finally be able to bake again (take that- woman's lib! Yes, I feel liberated to be able to work in my kitchen) without running over to my neighbor. (Don't worry, C.R.,  I'll find other reasons to barge in on you guys)

When ever I'm walking through the food court at the mall, there is one place I always crave to stop and grab a snack (well actually there are 2, I also crave those  ice cream flavors at Gelato La Paysanne, but I'll try making my own homemade gelato another time)  Anyways, back to my mall cravings, my mouth always waters when I walk by Cinnabon.  I really believe these cinnamon buns would give them a run for there money (or so I like to convince myself, since I cannot taste those) These buns, both the cinnamon and chocolate variation, are delicious warm from the oven. 

Note: for best results, always bring all ingredients to room temperature before you begin baking.



Homemade cinnamon buns and chocolate buns.

 Delicious Cinnamon or Chocolate Buns

Yeast Dough
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup transfat free margarine (warm)
1 1/4 cup apple juice
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In bowl of stand mixer combine sugar, yeast, 2 cups flour and salt. Place margarine and apple juice in a pot, and cook till warm (dont have to melt margerinne).  Add to flour, yeast mixture.  Beat at low speed for 2 minutes.  Add eggs, vanilla and 2 cups of flour.  Beat 2 more minutes.  Add remaining flour and switch beater to kneading hook.  Knead apx 8 minutes till smooth.
Place dough in well oiled bowl and cover with greased wax paper and towel.  Allow to rise in warm place for 1 hour till doubles.
Divide dough in 2 equal pieces.
Preheat oven to 400*F.  Grease 2 cookie sheets and set aside.
Mix filling ingredients in bowl (ingredients listed below).   Roll out dough to large rectangle 18 x 12.  Spread with filling.  Roll up jelly roll style, holding longer side.  Do the same with second piece of dough and other filling.  Slice each 'jelly roll' into 1 inch slices.  Place on greased cookie sheets. Cover with towel and allow to rise 30 min till doubles. Brushing the buns with egg, at this point, can help the buns keep their shape while cooking, but this step isn't necessary. Bake for 20 minutes till golden.
For glaze, in small bowl, mix icing sugar, a few drops of vanilla and just enough water to make a thick but spreadable consistency.  Spread over warm buns.

Cinnamon Filling
1/4 cup margarine - softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 Tbs. water (more or less, to thin to spread able consistency)

Chocolate Filling
1/4 cup margerine - softened
1 egg white
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 Tbs. water

Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
a few drops vanilla extract
2-4 teaspoons water

Hope you enjoy,

Chanie

Tu B'shvat Granola Bars

Memories of the dried fruit in little bags, aren't good ones.  My birthday is erev Tu B'shvat, and my mother took that to mean that my birthday bag had to be day appropriate.  You cannot imagine how embarrassing it was for me to bring in those birthday bags.  Everyone else brought in bags filled with candies, and I always thought my mother was being cheap sending in those dried fruits.  Well, after doing my Tu B'Shvat shopping, I can assure you they weren't cheap, although possibly not what most girls looked forward to at a birthday party.

Tu B'Shvat (aside for being the day after my birthday) is never made into a huge holiday in my home.  Maybe a shechiyanu, but not much more.  This year I wanted to make the kids at least notice the day was on the calender, so I prepared a little fruit party.

I made a dried fruit platter, some fresh fruits of Israel and some Tu B'shvat Granola (and some granola with chocolate chips for the picky eater)

Tu B'Shvat Granola Bar Recipe

I came up with this granola recipe after to searching through numerous recipes online, but not finding any that either looked good to me or that I had the ingredients on hand.  In this recipe there are 3 of the Shevas Haminim (7 fruits of Israel), wheat, grapes, and figs but can easily be adjusted to including 5 by adding dates and replacing some of the oats with barley flakes.

Left Chocolate Chip Granola, right Tu B'shvat Granola 

4.5 cups rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cups butter or margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup of any combination of fruit (I used 1/4 cup raisins and 1/4 cup fresh diced fig)

Preheat oven to 325*F. Prepare a 9'x13' pan by lightly greasing and line with parchment paper. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Melt butter, honey and sugar in a small sauce pan over low heat until butter is melted.  Remove from fire and stir in vanilla. Add sugar mixture to dry mixture and mix well.  Stir in fruit.  Press firmly into pan and bake for 18-20 minutes, till top in brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, and cut into bars while still in pan.  Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler (hint: you can place chocolate chips in a ziplock bag and dip into a bowl of hot water - NOT boiling, until melted.) Place chocolate chips in sandwich bag and snip off small corner.  Drizzle over bars.

variation:  Chocolate Chip Granola: substitute 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips for the fruit.



Other pictures from our Tu B'Shvat:



Fresh fruit for Tu B'shvat



Dry fruit Platter



Fruits to enjoy for Tu B'Shvat



Thanks for stopping in,

Chanie

Lick Your Fingers Stove Top Veal Ribs

Made some veal ribs for Shabbat dinner, the verdict could be seen by the empty dish, even though it was the third course, after plenty of salads, fish and a bowl of steamy hot chicken soup.
My oldest son is a definite carnivore.  He LOVES meat!  And this passed the test, as I could see from his sticky fingers.

Lick Your Fingers Stove top Veal Ribs
2 lbs. veal ribs
1 large onion - thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic - crushed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup orange juice

In large frying pan, sear veal ribs in a bit of hot oil on both sides to seal in moisture.  Remove to plate.  Add sliced onion to pot, stir fry till browns slightly. Add garlic, and saute for 1 min.  Return veal to pot.  Mix the 4 sauce ingredients in small bowl or jar.  Pour over ribs.  Bring to boil then lower to simmer for 1 hour (or until meat reaches your preference of done.)

Thanks for joining me,

Chanie

When Life Gives You..... Marshmallow Cream, Make Truffles

Earlier this week, I made an attempt at making my own marshmallows, from scratch.  The plan was to make chocolate covered marshmallows. It was more of an experiment, since the recipe called for gelatin, and kosher gelatin (made from tapioca) isn't the same thing.  But unless I tried, I could never be for certain that it wouldn't work.
Everything looked like it was going well, I left it out over night, to dry up, as per the directions.  In the morning, I come back to see that it didn't harden at all.  However, the texture and taste was exactly that of marshmallow fluff.  Since there wasn't going to be chocolate covered marshmallows, I decided to make marshmallow chocolate truffles.  My kids are loving them, so I guess they were a success.

Marshmallows (failed recipe became marshmallow cream)
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup room temperature water
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (I used the Leiber's made from tapioca)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cornstarch, sifted

Place a half cup water in a bowl and sprinkle with gelatin.  Allow to soften for 5 min.
In a medium pot, combine sugar, corn syrup, remaining water, and salt.  Using a candy thermometer, cook over medium heat until it reaches 240°F.

Sugar mixture reaches 240*F

Remove from heat and whisk in gelatin until combined. Cover the pot and leave on turned off beater to keep warm while preparing the egg mixture.
In a stand mixture, whip egg Whites on high until soft peaks form. Pour a thin, steady stream of sugar syrup over eggs while mixer is still running. (try to be carefully not to pour on side of bowl or on whip)  Mix till side of bowl is cool to touch (can take 5 minutes or more)  Beat in the vanilla.  The marshmallow should be thick and glossy and form medium-firm peaks.
Grease 9" x 13" and put parchment paper on the bottom. Pour marshmallow in to pan, and smooth with a spatula. . Lightly dust the top with cornstarch.  Allow to sit over night at room temperature.

The marshmallows looked perfect till this point

Sprinkle a piece of parchment with cornstarch, run a spatula around the edges of the marshmallow, and turn in over on top of the parchment. Peel the parchment off of the marshmallow if it comes loose from the pan. Use a long, sharp, thin-bladed knife to cut into about forty 1 1/2-inch squares.

The texture of the marshmallows the next day.

If you are successful in getting this far with kosher gelatin, please let me know what you did.  When I came back in the morning, the texture remained the same as the night before.  And so my next recipe was formed.

Chocolate Truffles
16 oz chocolate chips
1 recipe marshmallow cream from above or a 7 1/2 oz jar marshmallow fluff
icing sugar - sifted
cocoa - sifted

Melt chocolate chips over hot water (not boiling) on double boiler.  Remove from heat and stir in marshmallow cream.  When cools slightly, form into 3/4" - 1" balls.  Roll balls in icing sugar or cocoa/icing sugar mixture.  Place in fridge for an hour to firm.



The delicious end result.


Thanks for stopping by,

Chanie

Jalapeno Eggplant Salad

This evening, when making my salads for Shabbat, I was inspired to make a change from the norm and created a whole new dish.  I like this enough to call it a keeper, we will have to wait till tomorrow night for my husbands verdict.

Jalapeno Eggplant Salad
1 large onion - diced
6 cloves garlic - crushed
2 chinese eggplant - diced
1-2 jalapeno - minced
salt and pepper to taste

Fry eggplant till golden color, remove from pot.  Brown onion in a small amount of oil till translucent, just starting to brown.  Return eggplant to pot. Add crushed garlic,  and jalapeno.  Stir fry till jalapeno softens slightly.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with challah or bread.

Enjoy,

Chanie

Non-Dairy Ice Cream Sandwiches

Another day without an oven...  The appliance repair man, reported back to me a couple of days ago, only to tell me that the the part that needs to be replaced cost $345!  Sears had a fairly decent range on special for $399... fix the old, or buy  new?    Of course, I took the latter, only to find out that it's on back order till January 28th.  I found a similar range on the Sears website, and the woman we are working with was able to match the price.  Only that was isn't available till Monday.  I was offered one without Shabbat mode to receive immediately, but turned it down.  I lasted this long, I'll last one more weekend.

Going through me freezer this week, I discovered oatmeal cookies and figured I could do something with those.  What I (an my children) like about these cookies, are that even straight from the freezer, they taste great and are soft enough to chew.  This gave me the idea to combine them with me never freeze hard, pareve ice cream, to make ice cream sandwiches that are easy to eat.

Oatmeal Cookies  (makes apx. 4 dz cookies, or 2 dz. sandwich cookies)
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup margarine
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup rolled oats

preheat oven to 375*F.  Mix all dry ingredients. Add rent of ingredients besides the oats, and mix well.  Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet, flatten slightly with finger.  Leave room for the cookies to expand.  Bake 10-12 minutes until tops are browned (they will feel to soft, cookies only harden as the cool)

Non-Dairy Vanilla Ice Cream
6 eggs separated
1 cup icing sugar
6 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla
16 oz non-dairy dessert topping

Beat egg whites and confectioners sugar till firm and shiny. Add corn syrup, vanilla and egg yokes.  Mix till combined.
In a separate bowl, whip topping till it forms firm peaks.  Fold both mixtures together.  Freeze over night till firm.
Please note:  raw eggs should not be served to very young kids or the infirmed. You can replace this ice cream with another ice cream of your choice, with similar results.

To From The Sandwiches
Lay 1/2 the oatmeal cookies on the counter.  Put one scoop of ice cream on each.  Place second cookie on top.  Press down, slightly, top cookie to flatten ice cream scoop.  Roll sides of sandwich cookie in sprinkles.  Return to freezer until ready to serve.

Note:  The thing that makes these sandwich cookies so delicious also works to their disadvantage.  The melt in your mouth effect also means these can not stay out long, or they will melt.  Remove from freezer just before serving.

Enjoy,

Chanie

Lox Salad With Poppy Seed Dressing

12 years ago, I spent a year in a seminary in Johannesburg, South Africa.  One family I occasionally went to for Shabbat dinner, would make a delicious lettuce salad with lox in it.  I have yet to find a recipe for this salad.  Yesterday, I decided to come up with my own variation of this dish.

Lox Salad With Poppy Seed Dressing
1 medium head romaine lettuce
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes - halved
8 oz. lox - cut in small pieces (or for a more economical salad, use lox trimmings)
1/2 red onion - thinly sliced (I didn't have any in the house, but I think the salad could use it, for both color and taste)

Poppy Seed Dressing
6 Tbsp Sugar
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup vinegar
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic - crushed
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds
salt and pepper to taste.

Shake all dressing ingredients in a jar with lid on.  Pour over salad just before serving

Have a good week,

Chanie