A Little Cake to Break the Fast

Hi, all, or should I say Shalom? Good yontif? (I know in Hebrew it is Yom Tov but that's what it sounded like when I lived in Borough Park a million or so years ago). GoofingOff here again doing what comes naturally, goofing off. Just thought I'd drop a few lines to wish everyone a good holiday.
Rosh Hashanah is past and the big one, Yom Kippur is coming up in the next few days. What does that mean besides lots of prayers? Food, what else? Two good meals before the fast (like I need someone to tell me to eat, right) and a big "Break the Fast" meal after. I look forward to it all, even the not eating. I kind of need someone to tell me not to eat, otherwise I have little willpower (like going to a buffet and being on a diet.....sheer torture). The fast is supposed to make us be more like the angels, free from human needs, and let's face it, food is a human need. No drinking, either, not even water. The fast starts at sundown the evening before and end an hour after sundown the next day. No short "NPO after midnight except sips of water" for us (sorry for the medical terminology...I am a nurse), we go all out. By the time the fast is over I have a new found appreciation for water, food, and anything else on the table.
Anyway, I broke the news to my a-little-less-than-Jewish husband that the holiday was approaching and I will be abstaining from food or drink.
"Nothing to eat? No water?Not even a cup of coffee?" he asked sounding shocked.
 "No, Babe, nothing."
"Well, I guess I'm staying out of your way." 
???? You'd think I get grumpy after not eating for 25 hours? hmmmm.
We go through this every year, same conversation, same reactions.  Like watching Abbott and Costello....you know the Who's on first but it's still funny.  Sometimes it's good to have a little predictable humor in your life.

Anyway, here's a couple of great recipes to break your fast with. Dairy is traditional so break out the tuna salad, blintzes, and sour cream. I'm telling you, after 25 hours you'll have a new found appreciation for sour cream and bananas.

Apple Streusel Crumb Cake (this recipe comes from the good folks at Woman's Day. I found the recipe back in the early 70's. It was one of my mother's favorites and was requested to serve for the break-the-fast at the shul in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Streusel

• 1 1/4 cup(s) packed light-brown sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1 stick(s) (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut in small pieces
• 2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
• 1 cup(s) walnuts, coarsely chopped

Cake

• 3 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1 1/2 stick(s) (about 3/4 cup) butter or margarine (not spread), at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1 container(s) (16-ounce) plain low-fat yogurt
• 2  Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut in 1/2-inch dice

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 14-cup nonstick bundt pan.
2. Streusel: In a medium-size bowl, stir brown sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon with a fork or rub together with fingertips until crumbly and butter is completely incorporated. Stir in walnuts.
3. Cake: Mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla and yogurt. With mixer on low speed, beat in flour mixture just until blended, scraping down bowl as necessary.
4. Spoon 3 cups batter into pan, spread evenly. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the streusel, the apples, then 1/2 cup streusel. Spoon on remaining batter and spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining streusel, pressing down lightly so it sticks to batter.
5. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Place cookie sheet over pan and carefully invert both. Remove pan and cool completely. To serve, invert onto serving plate.

Read more: Apple Streusel Coffeecake Recipe - Dessert Recipes at Womansday.com - Woman's Day 

Banana Nut bread  (this one's mine......easy to make without a lot of ingredients.....good when the bananas are overripe and cheap).
There's lots of banana nut bread recipes out there but what makes this one special is there's no milk. Use margarine and it's pareve.

1/2 cup margarine (one stick)
1 cup sugar
1 cup of mashed bananas (2-3)
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all liquids, sugar, mashed bananas, and eggs. Melt margarine and add to mixture. Add baking soda, salt, and nuts to liquid mixture. Add flour. Pour into pans lined with parchment paper. Bake approximately 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the top comes out clean. ......what kind of pan? A loaf pan works well but I usually use a tube pan. Looks prettier. I've also used coffee cans back when coffee came in real metal cans. It was so cool looking.

Well, that's all for now. Have a good holiday and an easy fast. Check out the wonderful shops of Team Etsy Chai. Beautiful jewelry, pottery, Judaica, and even calendars to help you remember when the holidays are.
And....don't forget to GOOF OFF!

Post by Eileen Patterson aka GoofingOff

High Holiday Cooking

Good thing the team captain posted about the High Holidays coming. I knew they were coming but didn’t realize how close they are. Got a lot to do…..menus to make out, shopping lists to make, and finding the right recipes to cook. For some people, the best part of the holiday is hearing the Shofar. I have to admit I love the Shofar but I’m all about the food. I love cooking and preparing a meal with traditional Jewish food for  everyone to enjoy. When I was young I loved going to Grandma’s and helping in the kitchen no matter what she was preparing. Setting the table with a pretty challah in the center was special. Even walking up to the bakery for more bread was special (I made a good gofer…you know, go for this, go for that). For some reason, she always made chicken and chicken soup, though. Took me years to discover things like brisket or cholent then another 15 years or so to perfect the recipes.

Traditional Rosh Hashanah food includes things made with honey and apples for a sweet new year, like Taiglach (honey). And things that can cook slow to eat after you get home from shul, like cholent. And easy things to make ahead and serve a crowd, like roast chicken and potatoes. A few salads are good, too.  Well, I put the word out to the team for some recipes to share and I have some wonderful ones. Here ya go.

My first encounter with cholent was terrible….scary terrible. I swore never to make it again, however, the recipe I used didn’t look a bit like this one from Sandra Wollin. Give it a try. I’m going to.

Cholent recipe from Sandra Wollin (A Cache Of Jewels)

Recipe Inventor:	My Grandmother Reba
No. of Servings:	many (depending upon their appetites)
Text:	This is our old family recipe that's been made for a very long time... since I was a kid - and probably way before that.
Special Notes:	You can use any herbs you like with the flour, but these are what we use (herbs d' Provence are great also) If you don't like potatoes you can leave them out and serve over broad egg noodles or rice.
Ingredients:	2 1/2 - 3 pounds good quality chuck beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes 1 (750-ml bottle) good red wine 5 - 6 garlic cloves, smashed 3 bay leaves 2 cups all-purpose flour (to use as dredging with herbs) Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Good olive oil 2 small yellow onions, cut into quarters 1/2 - 3/4 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally in 1 1/2-inch chunks 1 pound white mushrooms, stems discarded and cut in 1/2 1 pound small potatoes, halved or quartered 2 cups or 1 (14 1/2-ounce can) beef stock or broth 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (optional) or 3 TBS Tomato Paste 3 TBS Worcestershire sauce 1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix Crock Pot and Large Sauté Pan
Instructions:	Place the beef in a bowl with red wine, beef broth, 1/2 of the garlic, bay leaves and onion soup mix (which has been heated to allow the soup mix to dissolve and then cool to room temperature). Place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight. The next day, prepare to use crock pot.

Add the herbs to the flour. Dredge the beef in flour. Heat the frying pan over a medium heat then add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil (hot pan, cold grease….keeps things from sticking). Add the meat chunks and brown them. After browning the meat, set it aside. Add the onions and brown (caramelize…makes them sweet…trust me), then add the mushrooms and lightly brown them, too. Place the meat, caramelized onions, vegetables, the marinade, remaining garlic, and tomato paste in the crock. Place the crock pot on low and let it cook about 8 hours or more. Salt and pepper to taste.

An alternative is to not dredge the beef in flour but brown it in oil. It saves a few calories. You can make a gravy after the meat is done.

Another alternative is to use a Brown in Bag. Sandra says “But I use the oven and a Brown in Bag.  I use the Lipton Onions Soup Mix (2 pkgs) in 3 cups of water in a saucepan, brought to a boil with about 2tbs of garlic powder, Worch (Worcestershire sauce) Sauce, once all boils, let cool. Pour over meat, seal, put into a cold oven and let cook very VERY low and slow... I use this for Brisket or Flank Steak... GREAT and easy!!  After removing meat it can be sliced or refrigerated in aluminum foil...”

In my house, or Grandma’s really, it was always chicken. Roasted with a garlic-paprika rub and served with oven roasted potatoes and whatever vegetable was on sale and looked good. She always served in courses, to make the dinner more “spread out.” First course soup followed by salads such as a tossed salad, egg and potato salad, or radish salad (grated white radishes with onion, oil, salt, and pepper). If we were really lucky she made chopped liver (it was OMG good). Oh, for the days before I knew about cholesterol. sigh.

Roast Chicken

1 3-5 pound roaster    

garlic powder

Paprika (I like the Hungarian paprika, costs a little more but it’s worth it for the flavor)

salt and pepper

1-2 pounds of new potatoes, scrubbed well (if new potatoes aren’t available use regular ones cut in quarters)

Clean the chicken (sorry, but I don’t trust the butcher that much and I don’t like pin feathers). Salt the inside of the bird, not a lot, just a little. Make a paste of the garlic powder and paprika by adding a little water and coat the chicken with it. Place aluminum foil in your roasting pan and set the chicken in the center. Place the potatoes around the chicken. Cover the chicken with another piece of foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. The temperature of the bird should be 165 degrees. During the final 10 minutes, take the top foil off the pan to let the skin brown. The potatoes should be tender. If you’re inclined, you can use the juices to make a gravy to serve with the potatoes.

Chopped Chicken Liver (from The Art of Jewish Cooking by Jennie Grossinger) You can use beef liver but I prefer chicken. I know, lots of cholesterol. So here’s the rule about eating liver. Once a year….on your birthday. My birthday comes around Rosh Hashanah. So there.

1 pound chicken livers

4 tablespoons of chicken fat (this is an old recipe. Every good respectable Jewish grandma had a jar of chicken fat in the fridge for chopped liver or mashed potatoes, or just to put on bread with a little salt. After all, there was no butter with meat!) You can use a little bit of vegetable oil or mayonnaise in place of the chicken fat.

2 onions, diced

3 hard cooked eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

Wash the livers and drain. Heat 2 tablespoons of fat in a frying pan, brown the onions in it. Remove the onions. Cook the livers in the fat remaining in the skillet for 10 minutes. You can grind or chop the onions, livers and egg yolks but be sure you have a smooth mixture. Add the salt, pepper and remaining fat. Mix and taste for seasoning.

Serve cold with crackers as a spread or on lettuce. Serves 6 as an appetizer or 12 as a spread.

 

A traditional Rosh Hashanah dessert is Taiglach.

No. of Servings:	8
Text:	Honey! A favorite Rosh Hashanah treat of mine growing up, although I doubt ginger was ever in the ingredients in the past, it's really great in this recipe.
Special Notes:	Variations: -You can bake the nuggets in the oven for 5-10 minutes before cooking in honey, to harden them more. -My notes: -You can add candied cherries or dried cranberries along with the walnuts. -As the honey cools, you can mound the nuggets higher into a mountain shape, but you have to keep pushing them all together if they slide around until all the honey has hardened. -You can oil a muffin tin and make individual sized portions, too.
Ingredients:	Dough:3 eggs 1 Tablespoon oil a pinch of salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 cups flour Syrup: 2 cups honey grated zest of 1 lemon 1 teaspoon ginger 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to garnish
Instructions:	1-Beat the eggs with the oil, salt and powder. Add just enough flour to make soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes, till smooth and elastic, adding a little flour if dough is too sticky. Wrap in plastic wrap and leave in fridge for 1/2 hour. 2-With floured hands, roll dough between palms into pencil-thin ropes about 1/2" thick. Lay on a floured board and with a sharp knife, cut into 1/2" pieces. 3-Bring honey to boil in a pan and add lemon zest & ginger. Put in taiglach, a few at a time, so they don't stick together, and simmer for about 15 minutes, till they are a rich brown color. If honey becomes too thick and sticky, add a little water to thin it. Pour into an oiled dish to prevent sticking and sprinkle with walnuts.

OK, there’s a few recipes to help you plan a traditional, totally wonderful Erev Rosh Hashanah meal with enough leftovers for the next day or so. Wait until you see the Break-the-Fast recipes! Oy! So Good!!

Post by Eileen Patterson aka GoofingOff aka MissEileen

Is William Levy Jewish?

After counting pattern pieces and measuring fabric I thought I would take the night off from Etsy and watch Dancing with the Stars with the hubby…..that didn’t sound right, the hubby’s not dancing. Anyway, this gorgeous Latino named William Levy dances with Cheryl Burke and the dance floor is on fire. He is hot! So, like every other Jewish woman in America one thought crosses my mind, Levy, that’s a Jewish name! Is William Levy Jewish? Hmmmm…….

Sorry but this sounded like very important Jewish news to me.

Post by GoofingOff