Watermelon with feta, balsamic, & mint

This is a beautiful first course. A slice of watermelon--this one is a mini-melon, the size of cantalope--sliced but on the rind, sprinkled with feta, drizzled with balsamic, and garnished with mint or basil.

Essentially it is a recipe for watermelon salad, but presented individually.

Easy, beautiful, refreshing, really healthful.

Beautiful plates help!!

Chocolate Mousse Pie/Torte

This recipe was a Baker's Chocolate ad in a magazine decades ago. I noticed it would easily adapt to Passover, which it does. You basically whip up a big batch of chocolate mousse and bake half of it. It solidifies and creates a base, and when it cools, you poor in the rest of the mouse, chilled. It is not a hard cake to make, and you could think about making it any old time. Also, while not vegan (8 eggs!), it is gluten-free.

1 pkg. (8 sqs.) semi-sweet chocolate or 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. water or coffee
8 eggs, separated (use clean eggs with no cracks in shells)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (substitute cinnamon on Passover if you can't find vanilla)
2/3 c. sugar

Heat chocolate and water/coffee in a large glass bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring until smooth. If you've switched to an induction, put in the chocolate and water, using a large sauce pan set at 1 or 2, and be patient. Some have a melt setting.

Stir in egg yolks; add vanilla. 

Beat egg whites in a large mixing bowl gradually adding the sugar,  until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.

Stir a small amount of the egg white mixture  into chocolate mixture to lighten it; then fold the chocolate mixture into remaining whites.

Pour 4 cups into a well-buttered 9" springform pan. Chill remaining mixture. (you can make it in a pie pan but I think the spring form gives a better presentation.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until just set. Cool slightly; then chill 1 hour. Center will fall, forming shell.

Spoon chilled chocolate mousse into chilled shell. Chill 3 hours (or overnight.) [Sometimes the mousse just doesn't set; then it is a chocolate sauce!]

It's a cake that could use some garnish - grated pistachios, a dollop of whipped
cream if it's not a meat meal, some berries. Or maybe all three.

Also - this is really good frozen. You could intentionally freeze it, but for us we (surprisingly) had some leftover once and discovered it is great frozen.

Turns out the original recipe, though much more complicated, is Maida Heatter's, in the New York Times, a cake guru of the 70's-80s. Helen Feinberg makes some of her recipes. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/05/21/82224385.html?pageNumber=430  The main difference is she says to beat the egg yolks before adding them to the chocolate mixture. 

Yeast Coffee Ring

This was a Fargo favorite - Aunt Ruth made it, using Dorothy Goodman and Jay Siegel's recipe. This recipe is a very flexible dough which can be shaped and rolled out, twisted, braided + more, and does not require kneading. Note it is made a day ahead and refrigerated. I have rewritten the recipe in a more step-by-step format with ALL the ingredients at the beginning. For the filling, you can be creative - softened cream cheese, jams, poppy seed or almond filling, chocolate chips-- most anything works fine.



2 c. luke warm milk (not boiled)

1 fresh cake yeast (= 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast)

1 T. sugar (for yeast mixture)
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6 c. flour

1 t. salt

3 T. sugar

½ lb. butter

4 beaten eggs

1 t. vanilla
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butter (for spreading on rolled out dough, next day)

brown sugar

cinnamon

raisins

(nuts, mini-chocolate chips, jam - anything else! - optional)

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Confectioners sugar

lemon or amond extract

milk

1. In a mixing bowl, combine warm milk, 1 fresh yeast cake ans 1 T sugar until dissolved. Set aside for 10 minutes to proof.
2. While waiting, sift into large mixing bowl (or mix-master) the 6 cups of flour, 1 t. salt, and 3 T. sugar.
3. Cut in the two sticks of butter. Beat until incorporated.
4. Back to the yeast mixture: Add 4 beaten eggs and 1 t. vanilla
5. Mix into the flour mixture. Beat until smooth.
6. Cover (with a shower cap!) and refrigerate OVERNIGHT.

Good morning. The dough will be a little soft. Add flour to the board (or counter) and knead the dough, adding flour as needed, until it is not too sticky to work with.

1. Divide into 4 equal portions.
2. Roll thin into a rectangle (approx 9 x 18) which will become a jellyroll.
3. Shmear with all the filling. You can either cover the whole surface or just one end, running the long way.
4. Roll tight.
5. On a greased tin, make it into a crescent or circle. Lots of fancy things you can do w cuts and twists. This version is cut and twisted, alternating in and out.

6. Cover with a towel or plastic and let it rise for 3 hours! Another version is to heat the oven to just 100 or so, turn it off, and put the cakes in. Not sure they really need covering.
7. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Let cool.
8. Mix the confectioners sugar, milk (tiny amount!), and extract and frost your cakes.

You could sprinkle them with slivered almonds, too, if this isn't already yummy enough.

Coconut Curry Soup

This is a vegan soup from the Inquirer . I knew it would be good based on the ingredients - it is easy. Made it for the Rosh Hashanah 2015 - with Aunt Ariel, Deb and Christina, and you two right after you came back to Philly.
Cabbage is easy to pick up already shredded, a time saver.


Oil
3 C sliced carrots (about 4)
2 t minced garlic
4 t curry powder 
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 T brown sugar
1 t salt
3 C cabbage, shredded
4 C vegetable stock
15 ounces chick peas (one can)
1/3 cup uncooked quinoa
27 ounces unsweetened coconut milk (2 cans - go for the low fat)

Heat ½ tablespoon of oil into a large pot on medium heat.

Slice the carrots into ¼-inch coins, and add to the oil. 

Add garlic to the carrots and oil, and sauté for 3-5 minutes.

Stir in salt, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, and brown sugar

Add the veggie stock, chick peas, cabbage, and quinoa.

Simmer for 15 minutes

Add 27 ounces of coconut milk, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

- From Rad Dish Cafe

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.