Ohmyohmyohmy! Just got a note from someone at Fairway that the event where someone can win a holiday dinner isn’t on the 22nd. It’s on the 15th! This Wednesday! Someone sent out a release with an incorrect date.
So, it looks like I won’t win the dinner because I will be away on Wednesday and can’t get to the store that day! SO SAD. I am feeling really competitive. Or maybe I can just taste that rib roast I’ve been wanting!!
Someone else will have to give it a try.
Good luck.
Followup folks! The dinner I could win at Fairway could be a rib roast! Exactly what I am planning for New Year’s Eve when my cousins Leslie and Neil and my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Eileen come. We have rib roast every new year’s eve. Except when we have rack of lamb.
Of course I could also win Salmon en Croute but Neil wouldn’t eat that, or Turkey, which I could eat any day of the week. (There’s other stuff too but the thought of rib roast is running through my head at the moment specially because it comes with potatoes, squash, green beans, an hors d’oeuvre and a cake).
I am rambling here because I am very hungry. Time to make dinner.
Mmmm rib roast. Doing an article on rib roast for the newspaper. Here’s how I cook the meat:
Rib Roast
2-3 standing rib of beef
kitchen string
1 tablespoon paprika
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
water, stock or red wine
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Carve the meat from the bone, as close as you can from the bone so that you are left with a boneless roast and L-shaped bones. Tie the meat back onto the bones with kitchen string.
Better yet — get the butcher to do this for you.
Place the paprika, salt, garlic powder and pepper in a small bowl and add enough water, stock or red wine to make a smooth paste the texture of ketchup. Brush the surface of the roast, including the bones, with the paste. Place the roast, bones side down in a roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Cook for another 15 minutes per pound or until cooked to degree of desired doneness. For rare, a meat thermometer should read 115 degrees, 125 degrees for medium (the temperature will rise slightly even after you take it out of the oven). Let the roast rest for 15 minutes before you carve it. To carve, remove the strings and place the meat on a carving board to slice. Makes 4-8 servings
Fairway Stamford has been open for about 6 weeks now and I think I should take rooms nearby because I’ve been there so often. Talk about shop till you drop. They just opened their Liquor/Wine Store, so I had to make another trip down (it’s quite a ways from my house) and lucky me — they had the perfect sweet kosher wine I needed to experiment on a recipe for Passover zabaglione I am working on for a future article.
But I still haven’t been able to get the french fries at the take-out because the lines are too long and I am always in a hurry. That’s good I suppose because I really don’t need the french fries. So I got the vegetable samosas, which are great and, I guess, just as fattening. Oh well. This is holiday weight-gain season. Why would I think I am different than everyone else!
I’m sure I’ll get back to the store before next Wednesday, me being me and always shopping a little at a time even though it isn’t terribly gas efficient. But I read that next Wednesday (December 22nd) they are having an event (I’ll blog more about that if and when I find out more) and anyone, including me, can win an entire holiday dinner. That sounds awfully good when you’re very very busy, which I am. And I have a very positive outlet on this. I have won raffles in the past. I once won a coffee making machine! Another time I won some face powder (so you can imagine how long ago that was).
Wish me luck!
This is a perfect day to make soup. It’s cold, dark and rainy where I live, the kind of day when you want to stay inside, wear your most comfortable clothes, read a book or watch a movie and know there’s a comforting something simmering on the cooktop.
I’m going to make Minestrone. The recipe is flexible. I always have fresh carrots, potatoes and celery, frozen peas and corn, canned tomatoes and beans, packages of macaroni and rice and some fresh herbs in the house, but if I don’t have the zucchini I’ll leave it out or substitute broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage. If you don’t have some of the veggies — peas or corn, for example — leave it out and use a different vegetable. The bay leaf isn’t critical. And although I don’t like dried basil, you can use it if that’s all you have (about 1/3 the amount of fresh).
Minestrone
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 carrots cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 stalks celery cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 Yukon Gold or all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
1 zucchini, cut into bite size pieces
1-1/2 cups frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn kernels
28 ounce can Italian style tomatoes, chopped
8 cups stock (vegetable or chicken) or water
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 can rinsed and drained canned white beans
1/2 cup white rice or elbow macaroni
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, celery, zucchini, peas and corn and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaf, basil, oregano and some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan partially and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the beans and rice or macaroni and cook for another 20 minutes or until the rice or pasta is tender. Serve sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Makes 8 servings
My mom made kichels, not necessarily for Hanukah. She didn’t like cooking, but actually was good at baking, although she wouldn’t admit it. Dessert was part of our family dinner meal, and since store bought cake was expensive and considered a special treat, my mom would very often make some kind of cake to be eaten that night. When she was “out of everything”, she would make kichels because the ingredients were always in the pantry. I remember them being both soft and crispy at the same time. They would melt in your mouth before you even had a chance to chew them or even realize they were on your tongue - nothing like the hard, thick kichels you see in bakeries and restaurants today. Thanks for posting this recipe. I would guess that most people would never think about making kichels at home, and yet there are easy to do.
Submitted by lsussman@earthlink.net
They really are easy to make and, as you say, they are so crispy — yet soft — they melt on the tongue. The ones in the bakery are dry as dust. Way too thick. I was surprised to see them called kichels when I was a kid, because they are so different than the ones my Mom made. Now that I am thinking about her kichels again, I also remember that some of them developed air bubbles, which is amazing given how thin they are. I used to like to pop the air bubbles as I ate these. I might make some of these again today. It’s dark and rainy and a good day to cook.
…i’m screwed anyways?
la times discusses study proving that parents have little influence over kids’ eating habits.
Anyone out there want to weigh in on this one?
Kids always influenced other kids, but for the most part I still want to believe the grownups are in charge.
Goose fat is silky and sensational. Fabulously rich and velvety. So yes, yes, yes, I know it isn’t the best thing for anyone’s cholesterol, but when I use it for matzo balls for Passover dinner next April, no one will complain. Goose fat is colorless and virtually tasteless, so it’s first choice over heavier, more earthy tasting chicken fat or vegetable oil. Perfect for matzo balls.
It isn’t anywhere near Passover so you might be wondering why I’m even bringing this up now, at the last of Hanukkah.
It’s because roast goose is an old family tradition for Hanukkah. Not my family, exactly, or should I say the family I grew up in. My mother, who was a terrific cook, never made a goose in her entire 84 year life.
I started the roast goose on Hanukkah tradition after I read that it is a tradition for other people.
I have to confess, I didn’t make a goose this holiday and am not going to make one tonight. What with latkes and doughnuts and the earliness of the holiday and the closeness to Thanksgiving, I just couldn’t get it together. I’ll make one next time the family gets together and call it a holiday.
My husband and kids love goose (I even love gnawing the tough wing bones). And besides tasting so wonderful there is a goose’s one enduring benefit: the fat.
There’s so much fat in a goose! To save it, strain the pan juices from the roasting pan and strain them through cheesecloth. Refrigerate the liquid (I use small plastic Snapware containers) and you’ll see that as the fat gets cold it becomes snow white. Pure and luxurious.
You almost feel virtuous using saturated fat because you’re not wasting.
And by the way, goose fat is also sensational for oven roasted potatoes!! (Cook some “new” potatoes, peel them, brush with goose fat and sprinkle with kosher salt or sea salt. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until browned and crispy).
And several other yummy dishes.
Roasted Goose
1 9-10 pound goose
gin, vodka or lemon juice
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 apples, cut in half
one peeled onion, cut in half
1-1/2 cups water
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the goose and remove excess fat. Rub the goose with gin, vodka or lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the apples and onion inside the cavity. Tie the legs together. Prick the skin all over with the tines of a fork. Place the goose, breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour several the water into the pan. Roast for 45 minutes. Lower the oven heat to 325 degrees. Turn the goose breast side down. Roast for 45 minutes. Turn the goose breast side up again and roast for another 30-60 minutes or until the juices run clear when you prick the thickest part of the thigh with the tines of a fork (a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast should read 165 degrees). Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Happy Chanukah Ronnie (to you and the family)! Thanks for the feminist reminder. I’m taking that note about Judith, as well as the cheese-honey dessert crackers, to our Chanukah party next door tomorrow night! I think everyone will be enlightened and delighted. —Carol
Submitted by: carol_selkin@sbcglobal.net
Some easy doughnuts for Hanukkah or whenever — not as time consuming as the raised-yeast kind.
Sift 4 cups of the flour together with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in the lemon peel and set aside. Beat the sugar and shortening together using an electric mixer set at medium speed. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well blended. Set aside. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating after each addition until a soft smooth dough has formed. Use more flour if the mixture seems too sticky. Roll the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut out doughnut shapes with a doughnut cutter. Place the cutouts on a cake rack for 20-30 minutes to air dry. Heat 2-1/2-inches of vegetable oil in a deep saute pan over medium-high heat to about 365 degrees (a crumb will sizzle gently). Immerse 2-3 doughnuts at a time and cook them for about 2-3 minutes, turning them occasionally, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or confectioner’s sugar.
Makes about 2-1/2 dozen
On Hanukkah let’s not forget that a woman played a major role in the victory of the Maccabees in that battle, over 2000 years ago, that saved the Jewish people from complete annihilation. That woman was Judith, who visited Holofernes, a general in the enemy camp, and he fell in love with her so he asked her to dine with him.
During the meal Judith gave him great quantities of cheese, which made him very thirsty, so he kept drinking wine. He drank so much that he got drunk and fell asleep and Judith cut off his head with his own sword. And so she was able to get word to the Maccabees about the best time to strike.
Since that fateful victory we have been making merry every year with an 8 day Hanukkah celebration.
Can there be a celebration without food?
Absolutely not!
Everyone knows about Hanukkah latkes. Some know about the doughnuts. These fried foods memorialize the oil the Maccabees found when they went to rededicate the Temple. There was supposed to be enough for one day but miraculously, it lasted for 8 days.
But not a lot of people know that cheese has been an important Hanukkah food since way back. In fact, cheese was the first “traditional” Hanukkah ingredient. Jewish cooks used them for Cheese Latkes, which became really popular. Unfortunately not everyone could afford cheese so they substituted potato.
The rest is culinary history.
But for those who can afford and love to eat cheese, how about something to remember the brave, intrepid Judith?
Like this fast, easy and simple dessert:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the crackers on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Slice the cheese into 4 equal rounds and place them on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has softened and the edges begin to brown. While the cheese is baking, combine the honey and cranberries in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until warm. Place the cheese on dessert plates. Pour the honey/cranberry sauce on top. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds. Garnish each with a mint leaf.
Make 4 servings