Less than two weeks until Passover begins! Time to start planning the Seder menu. So much of cooking for Passover is about making up for what we can’t have during the eight-day festival. Many Passover recipes, especially those for Passover desserts, claim to be “as good as” a regular dessert made with flour and leavening. The author cheerfully ...
How to Make Hamantaschen
In the interest of keeping it real, I will confess that I tried very hard this week to create a recipe for salted caramel Hamantaschen. Doesn't that sound amazing? Well, don't get too attached because I never managed to make it work. First, the caramel leaked out. Then my attempt to make empty Hamantaschen shells that I could fill with caramel ...
Hamantaschen Galette
Wednesday at sundown, the Jewish festival of Purim begins. Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from an evil government minister, named Haman, who plotted to destroy the Jewish community in ancient Persia. In essence, Purim is the Jewish “carnival” holiday — every culture has one — where people are encouraged to dress in costume, ...
Brisket for Hanukkah
Tonight at sundown, Jewish families around the world will gather together to celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a small group of Jews, the Maccabees, over the army of the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus in the second century BCE. After the Jews drove the Greeks out of Judea, they attempted to restore ...
How to Make Kreplach
If you think the matzo ball is the ultimate Jewish soup dumpling, let me quickly disabuse you of that notion. As much as I love a fluffy matzo ball, my heart truly belongs to kreplach, the meat-filled pasta known affectionately as Jewish tortellini and served during the High Holidays. Never heard of kreplach? You are not alone. While matzo ball ...
Carrot Tzimmes for Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year holiday begins at sundown on September 24. One of my favorite holidays to cook for, Rosh Hashanah is a joyous occasion and the holiday meals are festive. As I explained in my earlier posts, traditional Rosh Hashanah foods are often sweet - to express our wish for a sweet new year - or round to symbolize the circle ...
Round Challah for Rosh Hashanah
As I mentioned earlier this week, the Jewish New Year holiday, Rosh Hashanah, is right around the corner. The holiday, which lasts two days, begins at sundown on September 24. Rosh Hashanah is a festive occasion, as most New Year celebrations tend to be. Many Jews will mark the occasion with a holiday dinner for friends and family. I explained ...
Rosh Hashanah Dinner: Chicken with Dried Fruit
As some of you know, I am in the midst of writing my first cookbook. The manuscript of the book, which will be about food swapping, is due in seven months. That sounds like a long time yet I have a lot to do in those seven months: research, writing, and, most important, creating and testing recipes. As a result, I have been posting here less than ...
How to Host a Bagel Brunch
This past weekend, I hosted a baby shower for a friend who, like me, is an East Coast transplant to Chicago. Because my friend and her husband are both from New York, we decided to make New York the theme of the shower. The menu? A classic bagel brunch, of course! A bagel brunch is a relaxed and easy party to throw because you purchase most of ...
Matza-quiles or Mexican Matzo Brei
I think for many people observing Passover, breakfast is the hardest meal of the day. Oatmeal is out. Cereal seriously not okay. Toast verboten. Granola a no-go. So, what is left to eat in the morning? On weekdays, when he is in a rush, my husband downs some yogurt and an apple, which is a very healthy, but maybe not the most satisfying, ...
The Only Brisket Recipe You Will Ever Need
I was all set to make chicken for Passover this year. I had a terrific recipe worked out and given that I was hosting a Seder on the second night of the holiday, I figured that my guests would appreciate a lighter entree. And then my husband asked me if I would please make brisket. "Your brisket is special," he cajoled. Well, how could I resist ...
Passover Menu: Chocolate-Covered Matzo Toffee
So much of cooking for Passover seems to be about making up for what we can't have during the eight-day festival. Many Passover recipes, especially those for Passover desserts, claim to be "as good as" a regular dessert made with flour and leavened. The author cheerfully declares that he or she would eat this Pesadich dessert all year round - it's ...
Chicken with Dried Fruit and Almonds for Passover
The Jewish festival of Passover begins next Monday at sundown. Mondays are busy nights around here so I am planning to host a Seder on the second night of Passover, which thankfully is somewhat traditional. It's still hectic to host what amounts to a large dinner party on a weeknight, so I am already starting to prepare some of the dishes ahead of ...
Mariano’s Simplifies my Passover Shopping
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. Popping into Mariano's, my favorite Chicago grocery store, this week I noticed that the Passover displays are out in full force. Is it really that time of year ...
Hamantaschen Galette for Purim
Saturday at sundown, the Jewish festival of Purim begins. Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from an evil government minister, named Haman, who plotted to destroy the Jewish community in ancient Persia. In essence, Purim is the Jewish "carnival" holiday -- every culture has one -- where people are encouraged to dress in ...
Latkes for Hanukkah Dinner
Yes, this year Thanksgiving falls during Hanukkah. Yes, everyone is talking about the culinary mash-up of these two holidays. I even wrote a freelance article for the local weekly paper about how to merge Thanksgiving and Hanukkah food traditions. (To sum up: I recommend going with sweet potato latkes and challah stuffing.) But Hanukkah lasts for ...