Happy, Merry, Hanukkah, Christmas

Greetings all my friends!

Another year gone by and again its time to celebrate the Season of Giving.  How thankful I am that I have been blessed with so many wonderful opportunities to share with others. Just as we finish up our Thanksgiving turkey and all the left overs…….its time for another celebration feast to begin! If only I could just eat my way through the Holidays without feeling so guilty for all the pumpkin spice cake, and toasted apricot and almond baked brie that I plan to consume !

So this week I decided it would be a great time to put up a couple of my favorite Holiday recipes.  There are so many fun holiday recipes we could go for days and days cooking fantastic stuff.  I am eating up recipe blogs and magazines right now looking for new spins on old recipes. There ares so many wonderful cookies and cakes to bake, yum!  Incredible side dishes and appetizers, and of course delicious holiday Cheer!   , but seeing as I don’t have that much time and energy I will just put up  some of the best for you to check out at your leisure.

Being from Jewish heritage I do have a few traditional Holiday recipes up my sleeve.  I must admit my mother is actually a very good cook.  Although she isn’t as quick as she used to be, she still does a great job during the holidays.  Mom does a mean potato latke and delicious meat blintzes from scratch.  Heres one of our family recipes.

TRADITIONAL (LATKES)  POTATO PANCAKES

Serves 4 to 6

• 4 large russet potatoes, peeled
• 1 small white onion, finely grated
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3-4 tablespoons matzo meal
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Serve with applesauce and/ or sour-cream or creme fraiche

Traditionally matzo meal is what makes a potato latke taste different from a regular potato pancake.  You can usually find it in the specialty area of your grocery store, otherwise you can substitute flour.   We always used a hand grater as kids to grate the potatoes, but many folks prefer to use a food processor with the shredder attachement which works fine and is quick and simple.

DIRECTIONS :  

1. Have the kids carefully peel and grate the potatoes on a hand grater into a large bowl of cold water.  Watching fingers so that they don’t get to close .
2. Allow the potatoes sit in the water for about 10 minutes to allow the starch to separate to the bottom.  
3. Meanwhile finely grate onion and set aside.
4. Drain the potatoes in a cloth lined collander  and reserve the liquid. Drain off the water and leave the starch in the bowl.  (This is the thick, milky white substance that settles to the bottom of the dish that  is a natural glue.) 
5. Put potatoes back into the starch bowl and mix.
6. In a seperate bowl, mix onions, salt, and pepper. Add eggs and whisk . Add matzo meal and stir.
7. Pour wet mixture over the potatoes and combine until potatoes are evenly coated.
8. Parents:  Heat oil in a frying pan about 1/2 inch deep on medium heat,  (carefully test pan by dropping a small bit of batter into the pan, it should sizzle upon contact. )
9. Carefully drop about a 1/3 cup  of batter  into the hot pan.  I use a  measuring cup with a handle to scoop out the mixture . Make sure that you have room between the pancakes in the pan so they can cook evenly.
10. Lightly pat  the pancake in the pan and let them fry about 6 minutes per side.  Flip  with a slotted spatula , and cook until both sides brown and crispy.
11. Line a tray with paper towels to allow pancakes to drain and cover with foil and keep warm in oven at 200f.
12.  Serve immediately……with organic applesauce and sourcream.  

This is a very easy recipe that looks beautiful on the table and tastes great !  

  Baked Brie with apricot jam and toasted almonds

Ingredients: Serves 10-12 people 

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 (8 ounce) round Brie cheese

1/3 cup apricot or raspberry preserves

1/4 cup sliced almonds toasted

1 egg  and 1 tsp water (for egg wash)

DIRECTIONS:

 Freeze the brie for an hour prior to starting the process.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.
2. Carefully roll out a piece of thawed pastry dough and set on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Remove the brie from the freezer and cut in half vertically so you have two  disc shapes.
4. Set one half onto the pastry dough skin side down and spread the apricot preserves on top the brie.
5. Top the preserves with the toasted almonds . ( If you have raw almonds toast them in a pan on the stove top for a few minutes on low heat, and turn continually with a spatula until crisp.)
6. Carefully set the other disc on top of the open brie so the skin side faces up.
7. Wrap the  dough around the brie tucking the loose ends around the cheese and closing it up on top.
8. Carefully turn the brie over so the smooth side is facing up
9. To decorate cut out leaf shapes with extra dough and lay on top of the puffed pastry.
10. Beat egg  and water in a small bowl and carefully brush on to the top of the puffed pastry.
11. Bake in the oven 20-25 minutes until brown and puffy.

Remove from oven and serve on a decorated platter with an assortment of crackers or thin cut baguettes.

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Add new tag, baked brie, hannukah, Holiday recipes, latkes, potato pancakes