Hanukkah Recap



Yesterday was our family's fourth annual Hanukkah celebration, a tradition I instituted when my husband and I got engaged.

Usually, the celebration takes place on a Sunday night, but I like Sunday nights to myself and thought I'd do an elegant holiday lunch this year. We live about an hour from the rest of the family, so I figured it would be easier on them too to have it earlier in the day.

I was very happy with this year's lunch menu, though it's not exactly traditional.  We have a couple of different kinds of eating habits (aka some people are easygoing and some are pains in the asses!) so I served two main course options.

We started, of course, with matzo ball soup. No picture, but here's last year's post with the recipe. Delicious and make ahead.

For my non-meat eaters, we had Ina Garten's Roasted Salmon Nicoise salad:

I loved this. It's a mix of room temperature salmon, served with blanched green beans, spring mix, roasted red peppers, steamed fingerlings, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, and olives, all topped with a tangy Dijon vinaigrette. The salmon, eggs, and green beans can be done a day ahead, the potatoes need a quick boil before serving, and then you can assemble it in the morning and refrigerate until serving time. Easy, healthy, delicious, and customizable- key for my crew.

Find the recipe here.

Our other main course was a roast beef tenderloin, an expensive option, but well worth it for ease of prep and crowd pleasing factor (and the sandwiches with leftovers!). All I did was salt and pepper the living hell out of it, and roast it for about 30 minutes at 425. I took mine out when it was 130 degrees and let it rest about a half hour before serving. You may want yours done a little more rare, so give it a shorter rest time or take it out at 125.

I served this with a horseradish mayo. No real recipe there either, I used about half a cup of mayo, a few tablespoons of sour cream, a tablespoon of Dijon, and a teaspoon horseradish.

We had latkes, pictured above. These I always cater, they are too much work and too smelly to cook at home.  Wegman's charges me $25 bucks for 40 or so latkes and applesauce. I'd say that's worth it!

My sister in law made a nice mixed greens salad, and we also had Food52's ridiculously good spinach gratin, and roasted asparagus. A loaf of challah made an appearance too.

 

And, as always, we had piles of gifts and a cramped apartment:

Happy Hanukkah!

Passover Coconut Macaroons

Today I have a last minute Passover classic for you- coconut macaroons. Perfect for throwing together at the last minute, since they take less than five minutes to put together and only 25 to bake. 

Coconut Macaroons, from Food Network Magazine

3 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 14oz bag sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted 

Preheat your oven to 325 and line two aluminum baking sheets with parchment paper. (I used a Silpat, which I do not recommend, as the macaroons stuck a bit).

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar, salt, and almond extract until combined. Fold in coconut until evenly coated with egg white mixture.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop heaping tablespoons of mixture onto baking sheet. Push together with your hands if necessary to keep it neat. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until browned.  Let cool fully on baking sheet. 

To decorate, melt chocolate chips in microwave. Once macaroons are completely cooled, use a fork to drizzle melted chocolate over macaroons. Let set until dry and serve. 

Passover Recipe Roundup

Passover is around the corner, and though I’m not hosting, I wanted to provide a roundup of some of my favorite Passover recipes. This is a meat menu, so no dairy here.

 

Saveur's tahini dip with crudites is a great healthy, non-dairy appetizer.

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I don’t start a Jewish holiday dinner without making Smitten Kitchen's matzo ball soup. Everyone loves it, and it's super easy.

I know brisket is traditional (and here’s my favorite brisket recipe), but I love the idea of serving a chicken tagine, like Food52's,'s, instead. Like brisket, it can be prepared in advance and reheated, but chicken is a little lighter for the springtime (and a change of pace from every other Jewish holiday).

Couscous makes a perfect (and easy!) side dish for that, as does a nice springtime roasted asparagus. 

Potato kugel, like the one here from Food and Wine, is substantial, especially if you have vegetarians attending, and can be made the night before.

 

Round it all out with a salad of your choice and a stack of matzo, and serve some classic and simple coconut macaroons for dessert.

 

 

**Please note I am not Jewish and my husband’s family is not observant of any dietary laws so this menu works for us. If anything is really nonkosher, my apologies!

Passover Plates

Easter and Passover are just around the corner, so I thought it was time to start sharing some table setting and entertaining ideas. Passover’s first, so today I have some of my favorite serveware items for the holiday.

1. Lenox L'Chaim Challah tray: So it's not the right holiday for challah, but the tray is a beautiful way to display your main course.  $100

2. Spode Matzo Plate, $45

3. Lenox Judaic Collection Elijah Cup, $40

4. Bernardaud "Louvre" Seder Plate, $237 (mini plates are sold separately)

5. Godinger Stratford Candlesticks, $15 for the pair

Hanukkah Party

This weekend was our third annual Hanukkah party. When Mr. B and I moved in together, I adopted Hanukkah as the holiday that would be at our house, and I love hosting it. 

Well, usually. This year turned out to be a bit stressful- I had a busy weekend outside of hosting the party, plus there was a medical issue just before dinner that involved a frantic call to 911 and a visit from the paramedics. Luckily all is okay now. 

But the incident served as a reminder that the point of these parties is to enjoy family. I'd been really stressed and worried about the food (my husband's family includes a myriad of intensely picky eaters) and feeling a lot of pressure, and in the end the only thing that mattered was being together. Especially because dinner was freezing cold by the time we were able to eat. 

Our dinner menu was a pretty standard Hanukkah one:

• Brisket
• Roast chicken (full disclosure: I bought this at Costco and butchered it up. So much easier.)
• Quinoa with fresh herbs and olive oil
• Ina's Cape Cod Chopped Salad
• Ina's French String Beans (sauteed with shallots and roasted peppers)
• and of course, latkes:

I always cater my latkes from Wegman's, I can't stand the awful potato and onion smell that hangs in the air. The idea of my guests leaving with that clinging to their clothes gives me nightmares.

Appetizers I kept mostly simple, with a crudite platter, cheese, and these smoked salmon and cucumber canapes, topped with a dollop of creme fraiche and chives:

I set a table of blue and mixed metallics. The tablecloth had silver running through it, as did our bowls, but our chargers and flatware were gold. I ran a string of white Christmas lights down the middle instead of using candles. I thought it was a fun take on the whole "Festival of Lights" thing.

After dinner, we always open presents. We exchange gifts with my husband's family completely on  Hanukkah, and my family on Christmas. There's ten of us, and it's only one holiday, yet I'm always in shock at the sheer quantity of gifts:

This year, I got a brand new, top quality blowdryer, perfume, Deborah Lippmann nail polish, a watch, a new top, an Amazon gift card, and a Lenox challah knife from my mom. Whew! It's not even Christmas yet.

Here's to another Hanukkah. Looking forward to a (calmer) one next year.

Gobble Tov

I happen to hate that Hanukkah coincides with Thanksgiving this year. The compressing of the holidays is kind of stressful, and it muddles their individual meanings. I don't want latkes with my Thanksgiving dinner, I want stuffing and a separate day to celebrate Hanukkah.

So that's what we're doing. We'll be celebrating Hanukkah with my husband's family in mid-December, long after it's over.  Unfortunately that means I won't have recipes or party recaps to share until it's too late, so in the meantime I decided to share some of my Hanukkah table inspiration.

The blue and gold typically associated with Hanukkah can be a little garish, so I'll be opting for a palette of white and navy, accented by mixed metallics. 

Here's some of the images I'm working my way through:

Sources: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Wishing anyone who celebrates a happy "Thanksgivukkah!"

Pioneer Woman's Brisket

Everyone has certain recipes that just work, the tried and true favorites that always turn out right. For my mom, it’s her Sunday gravy and baked ziti. For me, it’s pulled pork. It’s always perfect, uses pantry ingredients, can be done in advance, and freezes really well. (I really have to share this recipe with you).  It truly is perfect for entertaining.

My goal is to develop this down-to-a-science perfection for brisket. My husband’s family is Jewish, and on Jewish holidays, you eat brisket. I want to get my mine right so it’s the best one anyone ever tasted, every time I make it. Right now it’s decent but not perfect; it’s a heavily used cow muscle so it’s easy for brisket to come out very tough.  I’ve tried it in a 350 degree oven and a slowcooker, and both times it wasn’t as tender as I wanted.

So this is my brisket project. I’ll be testing it out a few recipes in the coming weeks, and researching the crap out of techniques so I can develop a foolproof brisket recipe, hopefully in time for Hanukkah.

My first experiment in this project was Pioneer Woman’s Passover Beef Brisket. Ree’s recipe was very similar to the recipes I’ve heard from my husband’s Jewish relatives, and I figured the wife of a rancher would know a thing or two about how to properly cook this tough cut of beef.

Ree’s secret to brisket is to cook it low and slow- 6-8 hours at 275 degrees.  The marinade is simple: ketchup, water, and onion soup mix.  The recipe takes patience, but it was great- the meat fell apart completely on my fork- perfect texture.  Well, mostly. There was one slightly thicker section of brisket that didn’t get quite as tender, but nothing some extra time in the oven couldn’t fix.

I made the brisket the night before I wanted to serve it, so I let it cool on the counter for about an hour and a half, then refrigerated it. The next day, I de-fatted it (the fat will rise to the top and solidify, like white chocolate), sliced it while cold, put it back in the sauce, and then reheated for an hour at 275, the original cooking temperature.

 I served this to a group of friends during Shabbat dinner and it got great reviews, even from my husband, who compliments lots of my food but never my brisket!

 I have plenty of sauce recipes to tinker with, but I know for sure Ree’s low and slow technique works.

Pioneer Woman’s Brisket, from the Pioneer Woman blog

1 beef brisket (I used a 5 ½ lb brisket)
1 packet onion soup mix
1 cup water
1 24oz bottle ketchup

 Two Days Prior to Serving: trim excess fat off the brisket and put in a large baking dish or roasting pan. Combine all other ingredients and pour over the brisket. Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight.

One Day Prior to Serving: Preheat oven to 275 and bake for 6-8 hours, depending on the size of the brisket. I cooked mine for 5 and a half hours.  The brisket is done when meat flakes easily with a fork.

Let the brisket cool uncovered on the counter for an hour and a half or so, then refrigerate.

Morning of:  Remove the fat that has solidified on the top of your brisket. There will be a lot of it. Slice the cold brisket against the grain, and then, using a spatula, place the slices back into the sauce, keeping them together for neat presentation.

One Hour Prior to Serving, place brisket, covered, in oven, and turn oven on to 275 or 300. Heat for one hour, then remove to a serving platter, pour sauce over, and serve.

Leftover brisket will keep for 3 days in the fridge.

Enjoy! Anyone out there have any techniques or great recipes for brisket?

Matzo Ball Soup

As an Italian girl married to a nice Jewish boy, I have a plethora of extra holidays in my year. My Septembers are full with the High Holy Days, my Easter flanked by Passover, and my Christmas always preceded by Hanukkah. I love it, and I love that it gives me an excuse to add classic Jewish dishes to my cooking repertoire.

My matzo ball soup is my husband’s favorite, and mine too, so I thought I’d post it in honor of Rosh Hashanah tonight. It’s not hard to make, but it is a two step process that starts with making your own stock. Let’s get started, shall we?

Quick Chicken Stock

I use Pam Anderson's super easy recipe.  You will need:

2 quarts chicken broth (Swanson, College Inn, whatever  you like)
Carcass (skin + bones) of a rotisserie chicken
4 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to a simmer, and simmer 30 minutes.  Don't let it boil, or your stock may get cloudy.

Strain broth, cool quickly, and refrigerate for 3 days or freeze 3 months.

Matzo Balls:

Smitten Kitchen’s matzo ball recipe is perfection. I can take absolutely no credit for the recipe seen below. I follow it exactly, and have successfully halved and doubled it as well.

For balls
1/2 cup matzo meal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons reserved chicken fat or vegetable oil (I always use olive oil)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chicken stock or seltzer

For soup
2 to 3 quarts prepared chicken stock (recipe above)
1 carrot, thinly sliced
A few sprigs of dill

Mix all matzo ball ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Bring 1 1/2 quarts of well-salted water to a brisk boil in a medium sized pot.

Lower the flame. Wet your hands, and form matzo balls by grabbing ping pong ball- size drops of batter and rolling them loosely into balls. Drop them into the simmering salt water one at a time. Cover pot and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes.

About ten minutes before the matzo balls are ready, bring prepared chicken stock to a simmer and add the sliced carrot in it. Ladle some soup and a couple matzo balls into each bowl and top with a couple snips of fresh parsley or dill.

What You Can Do In Advance
I usually make my matzo balls the night before, and keep them in a bowl with a little water, covered by a wet paper towel. Sounds weird, I learned the trick in a Barefoot Contessa cookbook, works like a charm.

And of course, the stock will keep for 3 days in the fridge or three months in the freezer.

 Has anyone out there tried to freeze matzo balls? I’ve heard you can, but we always eat whatever I make! I’d love to know how they turn out.