Cranberry Brie Pull Apart Loaf

We don't have parties very often, but I just made this for a winter tea. It's appropriate anytime, but lovely for the Thanksgiving to New Years holiday stretch. It is beautiful and delicious. A bit of a technical challenge, but not much in the way of complexity. Quantities are flexible.

1 round or oval boule or sour dough loaf
1/3 c whole cranberry sauce (could be apple slices for RH) [I just made a small amount with equal parts water, sugar, and cranberries]
5 T butter

1-2 T honey
8-10 oz Brie (it's easy to find kosher brands now, for whatever reason) - sliced thin.
a few sprigs of rosemary, chopped, plus a few sprigs for garnish

Thyme - chopped or ground, maybe a teaspoon.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut the loaf in a criss-cross grid, leaving the bottom intact. Make sure the knife is sharp - if the bread is dense, this is hard. One recipe said to do is diagonally, which might be easier.

Melt the butter with honey, rosemary, and thyme.

Setting the sliced loaf on a tin foil base, on your baking tin - pour about half of the melted butter in the crevices and over the top so it soaks in.

Poke the brie slices in the cuts, in both directions. It's going to melt, so don't worry about it being perfect.

Pour, or by hand, stuff cooked cranberries in the slots. Pour the rest of the cranberry sauce and the butter over the top.

Bake until the brie melts, about 15 minutes. Don't overbake or it's really hard to cut the bottom. 

It's nice on a pedestal cake server. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.

Use a serrated spatula and pull!

This is gorgeous! And delicious!

There was a lot leftover and I served it room temperature at a kiddush, and people enjoyed it that way, too. But hot and gooey is the goal.

Chocolate Orange Cake

I found this on the net - there are multiple posters. It's a version of the clementine cake. Like that cake, it is gluten-free by chance, and without the baking powder it will be great for Pesach. I wouldn't even bother separating and beating the eggs. It is dense, moist, and EASY. 

It makes a big heavy cake in the springform; next time I might make two smaller springforms.

For Passover: one big one will move!

Chocolate Orange Cake

2 oranges
6 large eggs
1½ c granulated sugar (David says, use more!)

2 c almond meal/flour
1/2 c cocoa
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Glaze
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier

    (or a jar of ready-made!)

Or - 

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

A little brandy or whatever Kosher for Passover liqueur you have

Finely chopped pistachios are a nice extra on top.

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.

• Place oranges in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 1-1½ hours, until fork tender. 
• Cool, cut open and remove pips/seeds if any. Cool.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Place oranges in a food processor and puree until pulpy. Add remaining ingredients, and blitz until completely incorporated. (if your food processor is too small, just do the eggs and orange and move it to a bowl to add the rest. Or use an immersion blender).
• Grease a 9" springform. Pour batter into pan, and place in oven for 50-60 minutes, or until middle of cake is firm to the touch.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before un-molding.
• Pour glaze over cake, and garnish with orange zest.

Glaze

Place ingredients for glaze in a a saucepan on low on the induction stove-top. Stir until completely melted.

Moroccan Lentil Chickpea Soup: Harira

Nomi and Micah suggested this soup for our pre-Yom Kippur meal during COVID. Normally we have been with Elaine, but this year... It is delicious for anytime. This is based on a recipe from Epicurious, slightly adapted.

Ingredients are flexible - it would be good with vermicelli, for example. Serve with harissa!

4 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 large carrots, peeled and cut in rounds
1/2 t ground turmeric
1 t ground cumin
1/2 to 1 t harissa (Mina brand is Kosher certified)
Salt to taste
1 bunch parsley, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups), divided
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups), divided
1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes, crushed
7 cups vegetable stock
1 can of chickpeas, drained -15-ounce
1 c  green lentils
1 tfreshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour
1 large egg
Juice of a large lemon (about 1/4 cup)

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and sauté the onion, celery, and carrots until the onion turns translucent and begin to brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. 
2. Add the turmeric, cumin, harissa, salt, pepper, 1 cup parsley, 1 cup cilantro, tomatoes, lentils, and the stock and  boil for 30 minutes. 
3. Whisk the flour, egg, and lemon juice into 2 cups  of water. Stir into the soup. 
4. Simmer the soup about 5 minutes more and serve, sprinkled with the remaining cilantro and parsley. And don’t forget to have some extra harissa in a plate on the side.

Sweet Potato Beet Apple Gypsy Soup

In the 90s I made a soup for Rosh Hashanah that I found in the Nutrition Action Newsletter, which I subscribed to for a time. I loved the soup but lost the recipe. I even went so far as to look at back issues online, but no luck. I think that's the only recipe I ever lost and longed for! It is a version of the Moosewood Gypsy Soup, I have since discovered.

I made it for Rosh Hashanah because of all the sweet ingredients: sweet potatoes, beets, ginger, and apples. It is super nutritious since it also has chickpeas.

Yael Kalman posted a similar Instant Pot version which I tweaked and I think this is now pretty close to the original.

It makes a giant pot of gorgeous color soup. The beets contribute their color to the collective; it's not as thick as lentil or split pea based soups. If you have Indian ginger-garlic paste, it saves some effort.

2 T oil (or butter if you don't mind it being dairy)
1 large onion, diced
2-3 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 t. ginger paste or finely grated fresh ginger
1 t. salt
1 t. paprika
1 t. cumin (ground)
½ t. turmeric
½ t. coriander
1 t. cinnamon
2 largish sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 or 2 peeled, chopped apples
2 or 3 peeled, chopped beets (you can now find these vacuum packed, a time saver - if you like beets, just use the whole package)

1 can chickpeas, drained
2 -3 whole carrots, diced
1 can chopped tomatoes (petite saves time)

optional: a few stems of chopped kale
6 cups vegetable stock (Telma/Israeli + hot water is fine)
Lemon and/or lime juice (about 2 T.)
brown sugar or agave -  about 1 T

hot siracha or other heat, optional
Parsley or cilantro for garnish


In a large soup pot, heat the oil and saute the onions, garlic, celery, and ginger until soft and transparent.

Add the spices til incorporated.

Add tomatoes, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, apples, and beets.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cook about 40 minutes, or a few hours in the Wonderbag.

Add the lemon or lime juice and sugar, and the kale, if you decide to include. 

Using an immersion blender, process until it's thicker but leave lots of chunks of vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Red chili flakes or chili sauce, if you like, to give a little heat.

Serve with chopped parsley or cilantro.

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.

Carrot Ring

Carrot ring makes for a very elegant presentation, especially for a vegetarian meal when nothing is quite the star. A carrot ring is only maybe an inch or two high - this picture creates an illusion of it being much larger. First ingredient is a silver tray or other serious serving dish.

This is a Midwestern dish from the post-war era.  It is essentially a carrot bread baked in a ring mold.  I have always used margarine so it's parve but you could certainly use butter for a dairy entree.  My mother liked to make it for holidays and an occasional Friday night dinner.  Molds are always a little temperamental, but fun.

First, grease a ring mold well - spray with oil, and then use the leftover margarine on the wrapper to schmear it some more.  This is what makes it cooperative when you unmold it.

Now you can probably, come to think of it, buy a non-stick ring mold!

1 stick margarine (or butter) - 8 oz
½ c. brown sugar
2 to 3 large carrots, shredded (~ 1 cup)
1 egg
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. water
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
½ t. baking power
½ c. whole wheat flour
¾ c. white flour
½ t. soda
Frozen peas (yes, frozen peas.  Also good for Indian dishes, and icing sore muscles!)

It is usually easiest to shred the carrots by hand.  It is not that much work and in my experience, in the food processor there are often large chunks of carrot that don't process.

In a large bowl, cream the margarine by hand or with a hand mixer.
Add sugar and egg.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Place in tablespoons or spatula full clumps in the ring mold, so that it is evenly filled.

Bake at 275° or 300° for about an hour. Cook the peas in a covered sauce pan for 5 or 10 minutes.
Gently, with knife, loosen the carrot ring edges.  Place the serving tray over the mold and then invert it, tapping out the mold.  Serve with the drained peas in the center.
 Hope it worked for you!

Tsimess

I haven't made this tsimess for a long time, but it is a particularly good recipe.  I now have most of my favorites up on this blog and decided adding this one would be a good way to make sure I don't lose this recipe which was from the Teaneck Sisterhood Cookbook back in the day.  The spices are lovely - sometimes you can find them pre-mixed, called Pumpkin Pie Spices.

Basically any combination of carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, and some OJ would make a good tsimess.  It is a very flexible dish.  I modified this one by adding a can of pumpkin, which thickens it and is extremely nutritious.

1 lb. peeled, sliced carrots or frozen serrated carrots
2 peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
1 can pumpkin
3 T. margarine (or butter, if it's dairy)
1 c. water
½ c. honey
2 T. brown sugar
½ t. ginger
½ t. nutmeg
½ t. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
2 T lemon juice or one fresh lemon's juice

Mix all the ingredients in a large covered ovenproof pan.  Cook at 350 for 2 hours.

Basic Sweet Parve Kugel

Basically there are 2 type of noodle kugels, parve and dairy.  The dairy ones are usually loaded with sour cream and not very healthy, though I'm sure there are a lot of other varieties.  I've just never been that into them.  For the parve variety, you need them to be moist, so they need a lot of fruit and oil. Here's a basic version.  Sray the pan well, the crust is great but sticks like crazy.

In 2025, I asked Eyal and Nadav if they'd prefer a sweet apple kugel or a sweet matzah kugel. They asked for a matzah noodle combo. I tried it and it was pretty great!

8 to 10 oz. wide egg noodles OR 1.5 crumbled, soaked matzahs + 6 oz. noodles
3 eggs, beaten well
½ c. sugar
lots of cinnamon
a dash of lemon juice
1 large apple, peeled and chopped 

1/4 c apple sauce (helps keep it moist)
½ c. margarine or vegetable oil
½ c. raisins
salt

Heat oven to 350°.  Grease a large pyrex pan, like a lasagne shaped pan, or a deep casserole.

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles.  They don't need to cook as long if you're baking them afterwards, usually the directions will be about 6 minutes. If you're using matzahs, crumble and soak them. Drain both.

Peel and chop the apples and put some lemon juice on them, in a large bowl. Add eggs and beat.
Add oil, sugar, salt, cinnamon and raisins

Add the drained noodles and/or matzot.

Pour into a greased or sprayed pan and bake for an hour or more, till browned.  One challenge with kugels is that the top often burns, so keep an eye on it.

Great for a potluck or shabbat/holiday dinner.


from The Jewish Holiday Cookbook by GLoria Kaufer Greene

Fruity Tofu Lokshen Kugel (Noodle "Pudding") 
8 ounces medium-wide egg noodles
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice, apple juice, or water
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound hard (firm) tofu, well drained and crumbled
1 large apple, finely diced (it is not necessary to peel it)
1 cup dark or light raisins
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Cook the noodles as directed on the package, then drain them well.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the eggs, oil, honey, juice, cinnamon, and salt unitl well combined. Mix in the tofu, apple, raisins, and walnuts (if used). Add the noodles and stir until completely mixed in. Turn out the mixture into a greased or non-stick spray-coated 7-by-12-inch or equivalent baking dish. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes or until set. Serve warm or at room temperature

Makes about 8 servings.

Banana Pineapple Chocolate Comfort Cake

Originally I found this recipe in the Rockland Journal News.  It's a heavy, forgiving cake, more like a quick bread.  The recipe is enough for a generous tube pan cake + a loaf pan or the mini-bundt pans I just purchased.  I sent this to you at Wesleyan, Nomzi - and I think you and your friends dubbed it as Comfort Cake, more or less. Since this is a parve cake, I often made it for Rosh Hashanah.
It's worth baking this cake just to smell the aroma!

Preheat oven to 325
2013 Note: this year the oven was broken.  I baked an 8" tube pan, half the recipe, for 48 minutes in the convection oven at 325

3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs [these are optional! I accidentally left them out and the cake is dense but flavorful]
1 c. oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. ripe diced bananas, mushed (about 4 medium)
8 oz. can crushed pineapple and juice
4 oz mini-chocolate chips (or regular size is OK, too)

• Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl or standing mixer.  
• Add undrained pineapple, oil, vanilla, eggs, mashed bananas, and chocolate chips. 
• Pour batter into a sprayed tube pan until it's about 2/3 full, and then the remainder into a loaf pan.
• Bake ~ one hour.
• Test with toothpick to see if cake is done.

Chilled Spiced Peach Mango Soup - shana tova

This scrumption soup requires advanced planning on two fronts: you need to buy the peaches & mango several days in advance, and you need to make it far enough ahead that it’s really chilled by serving time.  It is light but very flavorful, nice if you'll be having a heavy holiday feast.  I served it for our first Rosh Hashanah dinner at 6622 - peaches are in season for Rosh Hashanah, not just apples.

1/2 cup sliced almonds (alternative: toasted coconut)

1 T olive oil

6 large, ripe peaches - the riper the better [this can take up to a week!]
2 ripe bananas or a large ripe mango, peeled and diced
1⅓ cup orange juice OR grape juice
1 lime OR lime juice
2¾ tbsp honey
2 T Amaretto liqueur or peach brandy or Cointreau
1/2 c. water or more

1¼ tsp  ground ginger OR a t. of fresh grated ginger
¼ tsp  cardamom
¼ tsp  cinnamon

pinch of salt

pinch of cloves 
⅔  cup buttermilk, soy yogurt, or regular yogurt for garnish , optional

Optional garnish: mint sprigs

1.     Put the peaches in a pot or bowl and pour boiling water over them.  Cool enough to touch.  This is an easy way to peel them – if they are really ripe, the peels will slip off.

2.     In small skillet, toast almonds in oil over medium heat, stirring often, until golden, about 3 minutes. Set aside. 

  

4.     In large saucepan, add the peaches and bananas/mangos, squeezing the ripe fruit as you drop it in, so the pulp is mashed. Add orange or grape juice, squeezed lime juice, honey, liqueur, water, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and pinch of salt and of cloves; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until peaches are very soft, about 12 minutes. Let cool. 

5.     Using an immersion blender, purée until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours. If it’s very thick, you can add ice cubes to the batch.  I often refrigerate chilled soup in a large glass pitcher - just make sure the ladle will fit through the top.

6.      Ladle into bowls. Drop in a dollop of yogurt or buttermilk, and swirl it to make a design. Sprinkle with toasted almonds, coconut, and mint. This year we used starfruit for the shehecheyanu and it would make a fun garnish.

Source, though I modified the recipe: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/chilled_spiced_peach_soup.php