Cranberry Sweet Potatoes

This was part of the Resnick/Rosen/Teutsch Thanksgiving, Shulamit's very first. She was considerably smaller than the turkey.
What I like about this dish is that the colors are really beautiful. Would be nice for a vegetarian potluck - it is vegan/gluten free and both yams and cranberries are extremely nutritious superfoods.
For the 1323 feast, I used freshly cooked cranberry sauce, though the recipe calls for canned.  It is so easy to make, and so much better, but not essential - canned is fine.
It is easily doubled.
I clipped it out of a newspaper decades ago. The onion is an interesting addition.

Note, I don't microwave the yams first.  With a Santoku knife they are not that hard to cut.

Chocolate Gingerbread

To go with the Limoncello Sauce.

I found this on line, it was perfect.  I made it when Jed and Anne, serious foodies, came to Philly to meet with Abba before their wedding.

Chocolate Gingerbread

135 grams (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
a pinch of ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup molasses
2 T flaxseed meal (optional)

2 tablespoons crystalized ginger chips
3/4 cup chocolate, coarsely chopped (mini-chocolate chips are fine)

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a baking pan (I used two small paper loaf pans, but you can also use an 8 inch round cake pan or a single full sized loaf pan).

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter & brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Mix the buttermilk, molasses and flaxseed meal (if using) together, and add all at once to the butter mixture. Don't worry if it looks a bit curdy. Add the flour mixture and mix just until you get a smooth batter. Fold in the crystalized ginger and chocolate chips being careful not to overmix.

Bake until a cake tester comes clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Carrot Apple Ginger Soup

We bought an apple slinky cutter in Norway but you
can get them anywhere.

We all loved this soup for our Erev Rosh Hashanah 2014 gathering. It is from Joy the Baker - modified a bit.  It is gorgeous orange!

Carrot Apple Ginger Soup

3 T olive oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 medium to large apple, peeled and sliced (maybe with the apple slinky!)
1.5 lbs or so sliced, peeled carrots
6 C vegetable broth
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: dill or parsley for garnish

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add ginger and garlic and cook for one minute, until fragrant.  Add sliced apples and diced carrots and cook for 3 minutes.

Turn flame to medium-high and add vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce flame to low and simmer for about a half hour. 

An immersion blender doesn't really do the job - blend it in a blender. Taste, and add a dash of fresh ground nutmeg, as well as salt and pepper to taste.  The soup won’t need much pepper, as ginger is pretty spicy.

Good to make a day ahead and let the flavors mellow. We liked it hot, but bet it's also good cold.

Zwetchgenkuchen

 The recipe that I've been using is here, but this year we had a whole thread on Facebook and some rabbi friends put up their families' versions. The cake is based on Italian Prune Plums. Their season is short and coincides, magically, with Tishri. When I see the plums out at Weavers Way, it's equivalent to a shofar blast. I find apple cakes visually dull and not especially scrumptious. This cake is pretty!
What word is more fun to say than Zwetschgenkuchen, really?  The recipe, it turns out, was in the NYTimes and became super popular. Though it doesn't make the point that baking them is a Yekkeh Rosh Hashanah tradition.

• Rabbi Sharon Stiefel Here's my mother's family recipe for Plum Cake. 

  September 17 at 11:16pm · Unlike · 1
• Her family from Rhineland/Westphalia called it Plaumkuchen. My father's family from southern Germany called it Zwetschgenkuchen. She writes in the cookbook Yesterday's Mavens, Today's Foodies that she reduced the fat content in the 'Muerbeteig' pastry.
• 
  
• 5 tablespoon sugar, divided 
• 2 tsp baking powder, 
• 3/4 c. margarine or butter
• 1 large egg 
• 3 lbs ripe Italian plums, pitted and quartered lengthwise
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• Preheat oven to 375. Spray an 11 x 16 jelly roll pan with cooking spray. 
• In a food processor process the flour, 2 tbls of the sugar, and baking powder for 10 seconds. 
• Cut in the margarine or butter and process until finely crumbled. 
• Add the egg and process until the mixture forms a ball around the blade. 
• Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan. Arrange the plums, cut side up and slightly overlapping, in 6 lengthwise rows on top of the dough. 
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is golden and the plums begin to juice. Mix the remaining 3 tbls of the sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle the top of the cake with this mixture while the cake is still warm. The cake is delicious even without whipping cream.

Version 2, from Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus (Ben's mom)

• September 17 at 8:43am · Like · Remove Preview
• 

  Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus My recipe comes from my mother's family in southern Germany, on a hand-written index card. I've never used cinnamon, and our special touch is that the plums soak in a little brandy before they go onto the dough. Here it is: 
• PLUM KUCHEN Family recipe from Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus
• 
  1. Cut almost 4 pounds of prune plums in half, and place in large bowl, and sprinkle with sugar (half a cup? - enough so they're "sugared".) [I always wear disposable gloves when I’m cutting & pitting the plums so my fingers don’t turn purple.]
  2. Add 2 Tbsp. brandy to the plums and let sit.
• 
  3. Mix together 2 cups flour & 2 tsp. baking powder. Set aside.
• 
  4. With mixer, blend 1 stick softened butter (or margarine to make it pareve) with 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, then add flour mixture.
• 
  5. Spread dough on greased jelly-roll pan (a cookie sheet with sides). It will be very sticky and hard to spread, but use the heel of your hand & fingertips to spread it evenly over the entire pan.
• 
  6. Place plum halves, open-side up, on dough.
• 
  7. Mix together (some of) the juice left from the plums with chopped nuts (I use walnuts, but you could try others) and breadcrumbs, until it's a consistency that you can crumble over the top of the plums.
  8. Bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes. Cool, then cut into squares. Yum.

Ricotta and Almond Flan

This cake is great chilled. It is drier than a cheescake, and not as cloyingly rich. Plus, it's gluten free. It is theoretically Kosher for Passover but you'd need substitutions for quite a few of the ingredients, so focus on Shavuot.
The only hard task is the citrus zest. Otherwise, easy.

1 c. almond flour
1/3 c. ground almonds (to give the cake more texture)
6 eggs
1 15. oz container part-skim ricotta
¾ c. sugar
¼ c. dark rum
1 t. vanilla
Grated zest of 2 oranges or lemons ( or one of each) - microplanes are perfect to do this
½ t. grated nutmeg (nice if it's freshly grated but I've never done that.)

Fruit for accompanying it - your choice.  Raspberries are nice, but really, anything. Great when local strawberries are in~

Preheat oven to 325°

Spray or butter a 9" springform pan or two smaller pans.

In large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients. A hand mixer is good for this.

Spoon in the batter and bake until lightly browned on the edges and set in the center, about 40-45 minutes.

Remove the rim of the pan and set this on a lovely footed cake plate :-).  This would be a nice addition to a tea.  

- Just googled it and found out it is from The New York Times Jewish Cookbook, and the recipe is Regina Schambling's.  The original  says toast 1⅓ c slivered almonds for 3-5 minutes until just browned, at 300, and then grind them in a blender or food processor.

Clementine Cake or Meyer Lemon Torte - Kosher for Passover, Gluten Free

10" bake, 2018

This recipe was in the New York Times, not for Passover.  A little research gleans it is a Nigella Lawson recipe.  There are many reviews and versions around on line. [subsequent update: Nigella Lawson is friends with Claudia Roden, and she has an earlier verysion of this cake: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/3251-claudia-rodens-orange-and-almond-cake].

I modified it by omitting the baking powder and separating the eggs, and beating the egg whites. Very similar to Grandma Bunny's famous Carrot Torte which was a Seder staple in Salt Lake City.  (just boiled carrots rather then clementines.)

Preamble: you must boil the clementines for 1 hour. Then they need to cool.
Don't make this at the end of a busy day!! And it improves with a day's mellowing - good to make it in advance. I prefer it chilled.

*Almond flour is very fine. I run some whole almonds through the food processor and then added enough almond flour for 2 cups, to add some texture.

Preheat oven to 350.

5 medium clementines ( 1 lb.)
spray oil or margarine (or butter if it's dairy)
6 eggs [separated if it's a cake for Passover]
[2 t. baking powder - if it's not Passover, you can skip the egg separating and beating and use the baking powder]
1 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 cups ground almonds or almond flour - *a mixture would be nice

Spray a 8", 9" or 10" spring form pan with oil. A smaller diameter makes for a deeper cake, which - all things being equal - I think is better. 8" works really nicely, and it's easier to plate and transport.

Place unpeeled clementines in water and boil for 1 hour. Watch them, especially if you aren't familiar with the stove. I burned the whole batch in Chestertown 2021, our first Pesach there, as the gas burner's lowest setting was still quite high. All the water boiled off. [Fixed that with the 70th Birthday Induction Stove!]

Cool clementines, slice, take out the seeds. Run through the food processor or blender in one or two batches, and it becomes a pulp.  Set aside.

[Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large bowl and the yolks in another LARGE mixing bowl.

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.]

Beat the eggs (or yolks, if you're separating) and add the sugar, salt, clementines, and almonds. If you're not separating, just put all the eggs right in the blender.

[Carefully fold in the egg whites until the batter is uniform.]

Pour into the greased spring form and bake for an hour.  Check after about 40 minutes and cover the top with a tin if it is over-browning. The sides might burn first.  The cake is very dense, so it does need the hour.

I spoke up for this large duck plate on Buy Nothing Group. It's perfect for one whole Passover cake. When you take it out of the springform pan (a tricky maneuver) and slide it onto this serving tray, it will go a little concave. This makes a perfect depression to add berries. This year (2020 - year of the plague) we filled it with blackberries. It was both beautiful and delicious.

This can be baked in the Breville oven.

Serves at least 12.

This cake is really good chilled. Yummy breakfast, too.

Meyer Lemon variation:
This recipe is the same, but with Meyer Lemons. Same idea, and same way to convert it for Passover by beating the egg whites and eliminating the baking powder.

   5 meyer lemons (approx. 500g total, or 1.1 lbs)
   1 to 1.5 c. sugar (meyer lemons are less sweet than         clementines)
   2 cups almond flour finely ground
   5 large eggs
   1 tsp baking powder

Here are measurements for 2/3 of the recipe above.

2 to 3 meyer lemons (10.5 oz)

3/4 to 1 1/8 c sugar

1 1/3 c almond flour

4 eggs

3/4 t baking powder.

An easy chocolate glaze:

1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 c. cocoa powder, sifted

Gradually add water, a few drops at a time, until you can spread it. This isn't stiff enough to frost the sides but makes a nice chocolately top.

I have collected smaller pans. This is one recipe divided between a 7" and a 5" pan.
Grease/spray the pan, and bake it for ~50 minutes at 350. In the Breville.
This is becoming my favorite cake, and I've baked them to give as gifts for people.

Jane Brody's Lentil Paté

The trick to this easy, delicious dish is carmelizing the onions.  It makes a large quantity, enough for an appetizer for 8-10 people, plated.  (Good opportunity to use pretty salad plates.)  I like to serve it with a variety of crudites, like hearts of palm, radishes, whole mushrooms, and baby carrots.  Like carpas, but not Pesadik [though it is now that we eat kitniot].

1 c. lentils
3 c. water
1 large or two medium onions, diced
1 egg
oil (or butter)
chopped walnuts (about 5 - optional)
salt, pepper, and seasonings you like  (dill would be good)

In a 2 quart pot, boil the lentils in the water for about 35 minutes. Put an egg in for the last 20 minutes or so, to hard boil.

Fry the onions in a fry pan in the oil.  Do this at medium heat for about 15 minutes or more, stirring frequently so the onions carmelize but don't burn.  Easy to do this while the lentils are boiling.

Drain the lentils, peel the egg and mash it.  Then add the onions and mashed egg to the lentils, mashing with a potato masher.  No need to use a food processor, but pulsing with an immersion blender saves time. A masher gives it a little more texture.  It isn't the prettiest color, so -  hello, Parsley!!

You could leave out the egg and make this vegan.  

It is similar to the mushroom paté I make at Pesach, with dill.  In fact, dill would be great in this.

Pasta with Salmon, Spinach and Capers

What to do with leftover smoked salmon?  I threw this together and it is really easy, low fat but creamy and delicious, and super healthy.
This is for 2 people.

6 oz pasta, cooked
2 T butter
one onion, chopped
1 to 2 T flour
¼ to ½ c. skim milk (or any milk)
¼ to ½ c. white wine
½ package frozen spinach
3. oz (or so) smoked salmon (mine was smoked sockeye salmon from Costco)
1 T. grated parmesan cheese
1 T. capers

While the pasta is boiling:

In a large deep frying pan over medium to high heat, melt 2 T. butter.
Add the sliced onion, sauteing until it softens.
Add the flour and incorporate.
Gently add milk, stir, and let boil.  It will quickly thicken.
Add the wine and stir.
Add the chopped spinach and the smoked salmon, breaking it up into small pieces
Add capers and parmesan.
Add grated pepper to taste.

Jane Brody's Cranberry Apple Crisp

This has always been a favorite recipe of mine, and Abba doesn't touch the stuff.  It is a one bowl recipe, you don't need to peel the apples, it is beautiful and very nutritious.  What more could you want?  In Abba's case, "chocolate".  It is vegan, a nice benefit.*

Found this online - it has a double amount
of the oatmeal crumble topping.  You can
also add extra sugar to the basic recipe.

Try to buy a few bags of cranberries when they are in season and just throw them in the freezer.  It is fun to have them for Passover, if they are there that long.

3 cups cranberries (1 12-ounce bag)
2 large apples, unpeeled, cored and chopped thin
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup flour, divided
¾ cup rolled oats (regular or quick)
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Grease a 2 quart shallow baking dish well.

In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, apples, sugar, cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of flour. 

Transfer the mixture into the greased  baking dish. 

In the same bowl (no need to wash it), combine the remaining flour, brown sugar, oats, and nuts. 

Stir in the melted butter or margarine and mix the ingredients well (the mixture should be crumbly). Sprinkle the oat mixture over the fruit mixture. 

Bake the crisp in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes or until the crisp is lightly browned. 

*for a gluten free version, I omitted the flour and used ground oats.  It was much runnier but still tastes great.