Jewish Ledger | 9/23/11

Rosh Hashana arrives on Wednesday evening, Sept. 28 – but the cooking is already in full swing.  We asked around for some mouth-watering recipes to help “kick it up a notch,” as chef Emeril would say.  Here are some of the recipes we received:

SPICED HONEY CHICKEN
From Stacy Kamisar, Weston

8 chicken breasts with bones, cut in half
1/2 lemon
1/3 cup melted margarine
3/4 cup dijon mustard
1 cup honey
1 tsp soy sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp curry powder

Place chicken in single layer in large baking pan. Cover with fresh lemon juice.  Melt margarine, and stir in curry powder.  Then add mustard, honey and soy sauce until blended and pour over chicken.  Bake in oven at 350 degrees for one hour, basting with pan sauce, until top is golden brown and glazed.

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EASY BREEZY BRISKET

EASY BREEZY BRISKET
From Howard Meyrowitz, Bloomfield

6 lb. brisket
1 cup red wine
1 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
10 white potatoes, peeled and cut in half
One package onion soup mix

Heat oven to 350o Place brisket in pan, fat side up.  Pour wine over the meat and sprinkle with onion soup mix.  Place carrots and potatoes around the sides of the meat.  Firmly cover with tin foil, shiny side down, and bake for three hours, and one hour more uncovered to brown, and until meat is tender. Remove meat from pan and let cool.  Remove potatoes and carrots.  After meat is cooled, cut completely across the grain. Put meat back in pan along with veggies on the sides, cover again with foil.  Reheat at 300 degrees for about an hour.

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CARROT KUGEL
From Yehudis Wolvovsky, Glastonbury

4 large carrots (cut into 3-4 inch pieces)  OR  8 oz babyfood carrots
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup oil 2 large eggs1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pie crust

Combine carrots and water to cover in a large saucepan over high heat. Boil 25 minutes or until carrots are tender. Drain and place in a large mixing bowl. Mash carrots with a fork. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.To the carrots, add flour, sugar, baking powder, oil, eggs and vanilla.  Beat until well blended. Pour mixture into pie crust. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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BUBBE BLU’S CANDIED CHICKEN
From Charlotte “Blu” Berman, West Hartford

One cut up chicken
One large can frozen orange juice (do not defrost)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Paprika

Rub chicken with salt/pepper/garlic powder/paprika; drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Pour 1/4 cup water in the bottom of baking pan, place chicken in pan. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees for fifteen minutes. Lower heat to 325 degrees. Put in chicken that has been smeared with frozen orange juice. Bake for an hour and a half, until golden brown. Baste chicken a few times with drippings and mixture scraped from bottom of pan. Serve over brown rice or kasha. Decorate serving platter with slices of fresh orange.

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SIMANIM SALAD

SIMANIM SALAD
From Miriam Gopin, West Hartford

This salad incorporates many significant “simanim,” (Hebrew for signs or omens) foods which we eat on Rosh Hashanah in the hopes of being blessed with a sweet and fruitful new year.

1 large head lettuce, in small pieces
1 bag baby spinach
Seeds of 1/2 pomegranate
1/2 Golden Delicious apple cut in small chunks (with peel)
1/2 Red delicious apple “”
1/4 cup chopped dates

Dressing:
1/4 cup oil
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. minced scallion
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic

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APPLE/COCONUT SALAD
From Miriam Gopin, West Hartford

Mix together:
2 apples of different colors, unpeeled, diced
3 peppers of different colours diced
Toasted coconut
Slivered almonds
Roasted pine nuts

Dressing:
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tsp curry

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EASY APPLE DUMPLINGS
From Rochel Baila Yaffe, Guilford

Round apples (any kind, not too big)
Puff pastry dough
optional: cinnamon, sugar, nuts, cooked chopped meat

Cut one square of puff pastry dough for each apple (you can buy Pepperidge Farm, or in bulk at Restaurant Depot, then cut the sheets into squares). Put the apple in the middle of the square. Pull up sides of dough to meet at top of apple, and twist closed. Bake at 350o for about 20 minutes until pastry is golden and apple is soft when tested with a skewer.

Optional:
Peel and core the apples first (but not at all necessary!) Sprinkle apples with cinnamon and sugar before wrapping in the dough.
Core apples and fill with a mixture of chopped nuts/cinnamon/sugar, or a mixture of cooked chopped meat/sauteed onions
NOTE: Some people have a custom not to eat nuts from Rosh Hashana until after Sukkot. You can always make the nut version later in the year!

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DAIRY NOODLE KUGEL
From Deena Weiss, West Hartford

1 12-oz bag medium egg noodles (or no-yolk noodles)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
8 ounces cottage cheese
1/4 cup oil, divided in half
4 ounces block-style cream cheese (low fat)
8 ounces low-fat sour cream
cinnamon, to taste
1 1/2 cups corn flake crumbs, for topping

Cook noodles for half the required cooking time and drain but do not rinse. In separate bowl, mix eggs and remaining wet ingredients including 1/2 the oil (1/8 cup). Mix noodles with cheese mixture and pour into greased 9×13 pan. Mix remaining oil (1/8 cup) with corn flake crumbs and spread over top. Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 30 minutes covered, then uncover and bake another 20-30 minutes. Leave in longer if you like the top really crispy.

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FRENCH ROAST
From Deena Weiss, West Hartford

4-5 lb roast
1/3 cup onion soup mix
2 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp oil, or just enough to make a paste-like mixture

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place roast in pan just large enough to accommodate it, and spread spice-rub all over top of meat. Place in oven for 30 minutes at 500 degrees, uncovered, then LOWER OVEN TEMPERATURE to 325 degrees, cover with foil and let bake another two hours covered. Let cool and then slice. Place sliced meat in gravy . If making in advance, reduce baking time to 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees, slice, put back in gravy and when ready to serve, heat in oven approx. 45 minutes.

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THE SWEETEST SWEET POTATO DISH
From Barbara Gordon, West Hartford

6-8 sweet potatoes
1 8-oz can crushed pineapple
1 tsp honey
1 tsp maple syrup

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into chunks.  In large pot, boil potatoes until soft enough to mash.  Remove potatoes with slotted spoon.  Place potato chunks into large bowl.   Add can of pineapple (drained).  Add honey and maple syrup. Mash thoroughly, blending all ingredients.  Place mixture into greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Serves six. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

APPLE CAKE
From Deena Weiss, West Hartford

3 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Filling: 4 large apples, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Mix and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients first, then wet ingredients. Spoon half of the batter into a 9×13 pan and pour apples on top making sure to keep them from touching edges of pan. Cover with remaining batter. Bake approximately 1 1/4 hours at 350 degrees. Test doneness with toothpick.

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CHOCOLATE HONEY CAKE

CHOCOLATE HONEY CAKE
From Donna Rubin, Manchester

3 oz. good quality semi-sweet choc.
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1  tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter or margarine (1 stick)
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla
2 large eggs
2/3 c. milk or soy milk (I use Coffee Rich.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9 inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Set aside. Break the chocolate up and place into a microwave -safe dish with the honey.  Microwave at 45-60 seconds.  Stir after 20 seconds to hasten the melting.  (I do mine over hot water.) Place the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.  Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter or margarine with the sugar on high speed until creamy.  Add the vanilla, eggs and the chocolate-honey mixture.  Add half the flour mixture with half the milk. Mix. Add the remaining flour and milk and beat until smooth.
Pour into the prepared pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  After cooling for 10 minutes run a thin metal spatula around the edges and turn the cake out onto a cooling rack or cake plate.

Honey  Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese or Tofutti cream cheese
1/2 c. unsalted butter or margarine at room    temp.
1/4  c. honey

While cake is cooling, prepare the frosting.  Place the cream cheese into the microwave and heat for 2 fifteen second intervals to soften.  Stir. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter or marg. and cream cheese until smooth.  With the beater going, drizzle in the honey,  Beat until just mixed and creamy. Do not over-beat or the honey will separate.  Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake.  If making the frosting in advance, store in the refrigerator.

Alternate Frosting:

When you take the cake out of the oven, sprinkle the top liberally with chocolate chips. Put the cake back into the oven just until the chocolate melts. Take the cake out and spread the chocolate.