Sweet Almond Liqueur

March 6, 2012 · by · 1 Comment
Sweet Almond Liqueur (Parve)

Sweet Almond Liqueur (Parve)

There is a rabbinic commandment stating that on Purim, one should drink until they can’t tell the difference between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordecai. Instead of gobbling down glasses and glasses of wine, you can get a bit tipsy more efficiently with sweet Italian liqueurs, which also happen to pair really well with all the cookies and confectionery we end up inhaling on this gluttonous holiday. My paternal grandmother was a pro at making these, with lemons or rose petals, chocolate or coffee, and she called them “liquori da signorine” (“young ladies’  liqueurs”) as they were very sweet, which always cracked my dad up because they are actually as strong as a good scotch. Here is my favorite:

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Sweet Almond Liqueur (Parve)

Ingredients

  • 750 ml bottle of Everclear (grain alcohol) or high-end, unflavored vodka, or 50/50)
  • 1 ½ cup blanched almonds
  • 1 ½ cup sugar
  • 1 stick vanilla or cinnamon, to taste (optional)
  • 1 cup water

Directions

In your food processor, process the blanched almonds with the sugar.

Mix this almond paste with the alcohol or vodka, pour into a jar or vase, add the vanilla (or cinnamon) stick, close/seal well, and set aside for two weeks.

It’s best to shake the combination every couple of days.

After three weeks, transfer the combination into a bottle or pitcher, straining it well with cheesecloth or a filter, and add the water.

Shake well, close the bottle and allow to rest for two more weeks.

Once again, strain through a cheesecloth or filter, and your sweet almond liqueur is ready!

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2012/03/06/sweet-almond-liqueur-parve/


Filed Under: Holiday Food, Purim, Traditional · Tagged: , , , , ,

Montini and Palline Purim Bon-Bons

March 4, 2012 · by · 7 Comments
Almond Paste Bon Bons (Parve)

Purim Almond Bon-bons

According to the detailed descriptions in many Italian Purim songs from the 16th and 17th centuries, Purim at the time was quite a production! In particular, the wealthier Jews hosted over-the-top banquets, which included up to 30 courses, alternating savory and sweet dishes. But the highlight was always the desserts! Among the prettiest Purim sweets, perfect for gifting, are these almond paste-based confections popular in several cities, including Venice and Trieste. Almond paste was introduced to Northern and Central Italy by the Sephardic Jews fleeing from Spain, Portugal and Sicily, where they had a long tradition of making elaborate confections with it.

Purim Bon-bons

These scrumptious sweets are easy to make as they don’t require cooking, and can be served in mini paper cups or wrapped individually like candy, which makes them great gifts. On Purim we are required to give charity to the poor, and food gifts (משלוח מנות‎, pronounced Mishloach Manot”) to friends and relatives, consisting of two different types of food, and who wouldn’t like these? They are even gluten-free!

Purim.BonBons.001

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Almond Paste Bon-Bons (Parve)

Ingredients

  • MONTINI (Bicolor Cone-shaped confections)
  • 1/2 pound granulated sugar
  • 1/2 pound blanched almonds (this is the traditional version, but they also taste amazing made with pistachio)
  • 4 tablespoons packaged egg whites, or more as needed (you could also just use 2 egg whites, which is what we do in Italy, where we like living dangerously…. But the packaged stuff is pasteurized, which makes it safer since we are not cooking it)
  • 3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (1/2 cup chocolate chips)
  • 1/3 cup candied orange or etrog peel
  • CHOCOLATE BON-BONS
  • 1/2 pound granulated sugar
  • 1/2 pound blanched almonds (this is the traditional version, but they also taste amazing made with pistachio)
  • 4 tablespoons packaged (pasteurized) egg whites (or more as needed)
  • 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate (1 cup chocolate chips)
  • GIANDUJA BON_BONS
  • ½ pound blanched/peeled hazelnuts
  • ½ pound sugar
  • 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (¾ cup chocolate chips)
  • 3 tablespoons packaged (pasteurized) egg whites, or more as needed
  • 4 tablespoon sweet liqueur (hazelnut, cherry, or rum)

Directions

MONTINI (Bicolor Cone-shaped confections)

Make the almond paste base: place the blanched almonds and the sugar in your food processor with a blade attachment, and process until the almonds are ground and combined with the sugar. Add the egg whites and process more.

Remove from the food processor and knead with your hands until it feels like a smooth dough. If even after kneadingthe paste is still too crumbly, add a little more egg white, but only 1 tablespoon at a time, because you don’t want the paste to get too sticky either.

Now melt the chocolate (you are supposed to do it in a bain-marie but I cheat and use the microwave).

Divide the marzipan into two portions: one should be slightly larger than the other – roll this larger portion into cylinders about 1/3” or max ½” in diameter.

Combine the slightly smaller portion to the melted chocolate, kneading until smooth. Use the chocolate portion to make more cylinders, of the same diameter as the white cylinders.

Attach the cylinders length-wise in couples, one white one dark, and cut into 1” long bicolor pieces.

Shape them into cones with a flattened top, arrange on a platter, and decorate with pieces of candied fruit on top.

*You can also make plain almond Montini without the chocolate, and decorate them with multicolored sprinkles.

CHOCOLATE BON-BONS

Make the almond paste base: place the blanched almonds and the sugar in your food processor with a blade attachment, and process until the almonds are ground and combined with the sugar. Add the egg whites and process more.

Remove from the food processor and knead with your hands until it feels like a smooth dough. If even after kneading the paste is still too crumbly, add a little more egg white, but only 1 tablespoon at a time, because you don’t want the paste to get too sticky either.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie or microwave. Using your hands, frorm small balls (1” diameter) with the almond paste.

Dip the bon-bons in the melted chocolate using a fork. Arrange on a parchment-lined platter and allow to dry.

GIANDUJA BON_BONS

Grate the chocolate or grind it in a food processor with a metal blade.

Grind the hazelnuts. Add sugar, egg white and liqueur to the hazelnuts and chocolate. If even after kneading the paste is still too crumbly, add a little more egg white, but only 1 tablespoon at a time, because you don’t want the paste to get too sticky either.

Shape into small balls (1” diameter). Roll in the granulated sugar (or you could go with colorful sprinkles!).

Et voila!

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2012/03/04/almond-paste-bon-bons-parve/

Filed Under: Desserts, Gluten Free, Holiday Food, Jewish Italian Cuisine, Non-Dairy, Purim, Traditional · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Orecchie di Amman (Hamman’s Ears)

March 1, 2012 · by · Leave a Comment
Orecchie di Amman (Hamman’s Ears)(Dairy or Parve)

Orecchie di Amman (Hamman’s Ears)

Read my article in The Forward about the history of Purim among Italian Jews (click here).

Recie_Amman_JJF_0003

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Orecchie di Amman (Hamman’s Ears)(Dairy or Parve)

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 ¾ cups flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tablespoons grappa, rum or marsala
  • 3 tablespoons milk (or rice milk or orange juice for a parve version)
  • ¼ cup butter (or 3 tablespoons very mild olive oil or seed oil for parve)
  • mild olive oil or seed oil for frying
  • confectioner’s sugar to decorate

Directions

Sift the flour with salt and form a well on your working surface.

Add the softened butter, the eggs, the sugar and the liqueur.

Knead well with your hands until smooth and elastic. If it’s not soft enough, add little milk or juice; if it’s too soft, add a little flour.

Allow to rest covered for 15 minutes.

Roll very thin with a rolling pin (you can also use a pasta machine to make sheets of dough).

With a sharp knife, cut into rectangles about 3”x5”, and pinch the two top corners together to give them the shape of a pointy animal ear.

You can also simply cut the dough into tall triangles with slightly curved sides, like a donkey’s ear, or make thinner stripes (about 1” x 5”) and twirl them slightly to shape into a more human-looking ear.

Heat abundant oil in a large pan with tall sides, and wait until when a small piece of bread dropped into the oil begins to sizzle.

Fry the “orecchie” in several batches, few at a time, until light gold, approximately 1-2 minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on triple layers of paper towel.

Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and serve accompanied by a sparkling white wine.

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2012/03/01/orecchie-di-amman-hammans-earsdairy-or-parve/

Filed Under: Dairy, Desserts, Holiday Food, Jewish Italian Cuisine, Non-Dairy, Purim, Traditional · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Swiss Chard Ravioli

February 29, 2012 · by · 1 Comment
Swiss Chard Ravioli (Dairy or Meat)

Swiss Chard Ravioli

Concealed identities and hidden truths are the markers of the Jewish holiday of Purim, both in its exterior celebrations (the costumes) and in its deeper meaning.  Much like a Shakespearean Comedy of Errors, on the surface the Megillat Ester is deceivingly simple and seemingly random in its sequence of events. The protagonists are assimilated, “comfortable” Jews living in a foreign land (Persia), afraid to reveal their identity, and it is the only book in the Tanakh (Bible) that makes no reference to God. Purim is the plural of the Persian term Pur (lots),those lots that Haman had cast to determine the fate of the Jews – as if to imply that our fate is a game of chance. On the other hand, this story seemed so relevant to our sages that it was included in the Biblical Canon, while the heroism and miracle of Hanukkah were left out. One of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages, Rambam (Maimonides) even maintains in his Code of Jewish Law that in the Messianic Age “All the books of the prophets and the sacred writings in the Bible will be annulled, with the exception of the Book of Ester” (Hilkhot Megillah 2:18).

The story of Purim is not easy to decipher: adding to the tease is the fact that the Queen’s name itself, Ester, comes from the word “saiter”, ‘conceal’, while the name of the book, Megillah, derives from the root “galal”, which means ‘to roll’, since we read it in a scroll, but also “to reveal”, as if to say that the very act of wrapping, concealing, was really meant to reveal some mysterious truth. Talking about concealments: even the Hebrew name for ‘World”, olam, comes from “alum“: ‘hidden’. The traditional interpretation is that all these apparent riddles playing with the idea of concealment are meant to remind people that it’s up to them to discover the true miracle of God’s presence in apparently random events and everyday things. In this sense, Ester’s fasting and finding the courage to reveal her identity to the king and ask him to save her people – was just as big a miracle as the parting of the Red Sea.  The fascination with this motif was always so strong that Jewish culinary traditions all over the world have mirrored it in their holiday dishes, creating foods that hide (usually pleasant) surprises below the surface.

One of our Italian answers? Of course… ravioli! I am posting a version with ricotta both because I always prefer dairy, and because there is a custom to skip meat on Purim: the Talmud relates that that was what Queen Ester had to do in the palace of Ahasuerus, since she had no access to kosher meat (her husband the king was not Jewish). However, the carnivores among you can just scroll down toward the end of the recipe, and see how to make a meat version.

 

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Swiss Chard Ravioli (Dairy OR meat)

Ingredients

  • Serves 4
  • Filling
  • 1 lb swiss chards or a mix of greens
  • ½ lb whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup freshly grated parmigiano cheese
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • salt
  • nutmeg to taste
  • To dress:
  • ¼ cup butter
  • a few sage leaves
  • freshly grated parmigiano to taste :
  • To make the fresh pasta
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 eggs

Directions

Discard the stalks or any white parts from the chard, and cook it for 2 or 3 minutes with a few tablespoons of water (you can also microwave it on high on a covered platter for 1 minute): drain, squeeze to remove excess liquid, and chop finely.??

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add a clove or two of garlic, cook for one minute, add the chard and a little salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Place the ricotta in a bowl, add the chard and the parmigiano, the nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.

Add a walnut-size amount of ricotta and chard filling at regular spacings on your fresh pasta sheet. Press around the filling with your fingers and seal with the tongs of a fork. Since it’s Purim, cut the ravioli with a fun-shaped cookie cutter leaving the filling in the center of each.

You can also cut the dough into triangles (in honor of Haman’s Star-Treck ears) with a sharp knife.

Cook the ravioli for about 5 minutes in a large pot of salted boiling water; drain with a slotted spoon and serve drizzled with butter cooked for one minute with a few leaves of fresh sage, and grated parmigiano to taste.

*** to make the pasta, shape about 2 ½ cups of 00 or all-purpose flour into a well on your work surface; . add 3 eggs in the center and knead into a smooth dough. Allow torest for about 20 minutes covered in plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a thin sheet with a rolling pin or pasta machine.

*** for a meat version, replace the ricotta with about 8 ounces ground veal or beef (or a mix). While you are blanching the chard, heat a little oil in a pan and add a “soffritto” (“mirepoix” of minced 1/2 carrot, 1/2 onion, 1/2 celery stick); cook briefly, add the meat and little white wine, cook for a minute or two, add the chard and cook for a couple more minutes.

Allow to cool, “tie” with a couple of eggs, flavor with nutmeg and little salt, and use this mix to fill the ravioli.

Skip the parmigiano, and instead of dressing with butter, stick to a rich sugo d’arrosto (roast meat sauce).

Buon Appetito!

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2012/02/29/swiss-chard-ravioli-dairy-or-meat/

 

 

 

Filed Under: Comfort food, First course, Jewish Italian Cuisine, Main Dish, Pasta and Rice, Purim, Traditional, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Pappa col Pomodoro – Tuscan Bread & Tomato Soup

February 5, 2012 · by · Leave a Comment
Pappa col Pomodoro (Tuscan Bread & Tomato Soup) (Parve)

Pappa col Pomodoro

We just came back from ten days in Italy, mostly spent in Venice hanging out with my mom and childhood friends. But my husband and kids had never been to Florence, and I decided to treat them to a couple of days in the cradle of the Italian Renaissance. The highlight of our stay was a lunch at our friends Alberto and Giordana’s apartment, with a breathtaking view of Fiesole and the Tuscan hills; followed by rides on the carousel in Piazza della Repubblica for our two kids! The food in Florence and in all of Tuscany is fantastic, simple and elegant, and justly famous. If you are not planning a trip any time soon, why not try this easy and delicious soup in your own kitchen? Pappa col Pomodoro is a perfect example of Italian “comfort food”, and of Tuscan peasant cooking. Bread soups were born of necessity: people could not afford to throw away stale bread, and devised ways to make it not only edible, but wonderfully tasty. Be warned that American-style soft sliced bread would just turn into a slimy and sticky mess: you will need artisanal bread with a firm, rough crust. The best types are Tuscan or Pugliese loaves. I live in Manhattan, and love Tribeca Oven.

For tons of authentic Tuscan recipes, and cooking classes in Tuscany (with vegetarian options), visit Giulia at  http://en.julskitchen.com/

For kosher cooking classes in Florence, email my friend Chiara at Chiara105@gmail.com

 

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Pappa col Pomodoro (Tuscan Bread & Tomato Soup) (Parve)

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons cold pressed extra-virgine olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 large can (12 oz.) peeled whole tomatoes (I like Italian tomatoes, San Marzano type)
  • ½ medium loaf, or 1/3 large loaf of Italian-style bread, 2-day old
  • 1 cup water or vegetable stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • A pinch of sugar
  • 10 to 15 fresh basil leaves

Directions

Slice the bread. In a heavy pot, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the garlic.

After a couple of minutes discard the garlic, and add the can of tomatoes, breaking them with your hands into the pot.

Add salt, pepper, sugar and water, and stir with a wooden spoon.

Shred the bread into bite-sized chunks with your hands (if it’s too hard/dry cut it into cubes with a bread knife), and add them to the pot.

Do not stir too aggressively, because you don’t want the bread to melt into the water completely: the texture should be somewhat chunky.

You should stir gently using an upward motion, and not too long.

Cook on low heat for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Shred the basil leaves and add them to the soup; drizzle with more olive oil (about 1 tablespoon per person), lightly toss, serve.

This soup tastes even better reheated: it will be so thick that you will be able to eat it with a fork. Enjoy!

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2012/02/05/tuscan-bread-tomato-soup/

Filed Under: Appetizer, Non-Dairy, Soup, Special Diet, Sustainable, Traditional, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Cassola, the Ecumenical Pancake

December 18, 2011 · by · 1 Comment
Cassola by DinnerInvenice

Cassola by DinnerInvenice

I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it. I had been frying for a couple of weeks already and all my Hanukkah posts were already up. Yet something just felt wrong.

OPS. I suddenly realized that I hadn’t posted anything special for all my readers and friends who are not Jewish and celebrate Christmas. I felt so awful, that I toyed with the idea of attempting a Panettone, the famous Italian Christmas Cake!

However, Panettone is really difficult to make, requiring several phases of exceptionally long rising, and the use of special Italian bread flours that are hard to find. Here is something much quicker, and just as decadent: it’s an ancient Jewish Roman dessert, kind of a cheese pancake, shockingly simple to make, which the Roman Catholic community somehow adopted as the dessert of choice to end their Christmas dinner with (maybe after one too many panettone flops)? ;-) .

The Jews of Rome still make it for Shavuot, but of course it would also work for Hanukkah (after all, according to several food historians, the original Hanukkah pancakes were made with cheese). In spite of its minimalism, Cassola is so tasty that Claudia Roden, in her Book of Jewish Food, tells that she enchanted a whole dinner party of food writers with it, at the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery. Cassola is sweet, creamy, and delicate (and naturally low-fat! but you could never tell). May your holiday season be just as delicious!

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Cassola, the Ecumenical Pancake (not just Dairy, Very Dairy)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ricotta cheese (made from whole milk, without emulsifiers)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 to 1 ½ cup sugar? (depending on desired sweetness)
  • a pinch of salt
  • zest of one large organic lemon (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon? or vanilla (optional)
  • about 2 tablespoons mild extra-virgin olive oil, or butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400º F. With a whisk or a hand mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until creamy.

Add the ricotta, salt, lemon zest and cinnamon (or vanilla).

Grease a baking pan (about 9 ½” and springform is easier) with butter or olive oil, dust with flour, pour the mixture in, and transfer into your pre-heated oven.

Bake at 400 F for the first 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 Fand bake for another 25 minutes.

Turn the oven off and allow the cassola to set inside, with the door open, for another 10 or 15 minutes.

It should be firmer and golden brown on the outside and very soft and moist inside, like a pudding. Serve warm.

You can also cook it in a greased non-stick or cast iron pan like a frittata, on the stovetop, flipping it once (this was probably the original version), or cook the bottom on the stovetop and the top in the oven under the broiler.

Serves- 4-6

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/12/18/cassola-the-ecumenical-pancake-not-just-dairy-very-dairy/

Filed Under: Comfort food, Dairy, Desserts, Gluten Free, Holiday Food, Jewish Italian Cuisine, Shavuot · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Venetian Rice with Raisins (“Risi e Ua”)

December 11, 2011 · by · Leave a Comment
Venetian Rice with Raisins (“Risi e Ua”)

It was probably Sephardic Jews who transmitted to the rest of the Venetian population their passion for rice, after their arrival in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Venetians are still famous for creamy risottos (we call them “all’onda“, with a wave), to which we add pretty much anything, from chicken livers to fish to… stinging nettles. The usual preparation for risotto, adding hot broth a little at a time, releases so much starch that the rice must be eaten right away or it will clump. The pilaf version, besides reminding us of the Sephardic origins of this dish, can be prepared in advance and reheated for Shabbat. “Risi e Ua” (Rice and Grapes, or Raisins) is THE festive rice dish par excellence among the Jews of Venice, and – like most Jewish venetian recipes – it has also been enjoyed by the general population for a very long time. It’s also great for Hanukkah, in case your stomach cannot survive an all-fried menu and you want to start with something a little more digestible…. About the choice between garlic and onion: there are two schools of thought, and, like Hillel and Shammai, they are both right.


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Venetian Rice with Raisins (“Risi e Ua”)

Ingredients

  • 1 quart hot vegetable stock
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced, or 1/2 an onion, sliced very thin
  • 2 cups Carnaroli (or Arborio) Italian rice
  • ½ cup of plumped raisins or sultanas
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley (optional)
  • salt to taste

Directions

Bring the stock to a boil and leave it to simmer on the stovetop.

Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof pot (non-stick or cast iron), add the garlic or onion, and parsley, and cook for 5 minutes on low heat.

Stir in the raisins, previously softened in hot water and drained well. (If you don’t own an oven-proof pot, start in a regular non-stick pot and transfer into a pyrex casserole or pan before moving into the oven).

Stir in the rice and cook, stirring, until all the grains are coated in oil and “toasted” and make ‘popping’ noises.

Pour in the wine, raise the heat and cook until the wine has evaporated.

Pour in all the hot stock and stir well.

As soon as the stock starts simmering again, cover the pot and transfer to a 365 F oven, where you will leave it alone to cook for exactly 18 minutes.

Take the rice out, add another couple of tablespoons of olive oil (or “oil from a roast beef”, if using in a meat meal), stir, and add salt if needed.

Let it rest covered for another 10 minutes. It can be eaten right away or reheated for Shabbat, as long as it’s not too dry and not left on the plata or warming drawer for longer than a couple of hours.

If the rice was made with vegetable stock and will be used in a dairy meal, you can also add some butter and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

You can also cook this rice as a risotto, on the stovetop adding one ladleful of hot stock at a time, if you prefer and if you don’t plan on reheating it.

If you don’t digest garlic or onion well, use slightly pressed whole cloves instead of minced garlic, and discard them after they have browned well, and before adding the rice.

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/12/11/venetian-rice-with-raisins-risi-e-ua/

Filed Under: First course, Gluten Free, Hanukkah, Holiday Food, Jewish Italian Cuisine, Non-Dairy, Pasta and Rice, Shabbat, Side Dish · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Hanukkah Treats with Sambuca and Honey

December 8, 2011 · by · Leave a Comment
Hanukkah Treats with Sambuca and Honey

The festival of Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem, which had been looted and desecrated by the soldiers of Syrian-Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century BCE. Mattityahu, a Jewish priest, and his five sons, led a successful rebellion against Antiochus, which resulted in the rededication of the Temple by Mattityahu’s son, Yehudah the Maccabee, in 166 BCE. The Talmud reports that the menorah in the Temple was required to burn every night, but there was only enough oil for one night left: however, the menorah burned for eight days on that little oil, giving the Jews enough time to procure more. The oil used for lighting the menorah was pure, extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oil, which may explain why Hanukkah resonates so deeply with Italian Jews, inspiring them to create a deluge of mouthwatering recipes :-)

While the miracle of the oil is described in the Talmud, the Book of Maccabees makes no mention of it, stating only that an eight day celebration was proclaimed upon re-dedication of the temple: therefore, a number of historians believe that the reason for the eight day festival was simply that the first Hanukkah was a belated celebration of the harvest holidays of Sukkot and Shemini Azeret, which the Jews had not been able to observe during the war.  Obviously, the two explanations are not mutually exclusive, and Hanukkah can very well celebrate the miracle of the oil while also absorbing the previous holiday.

In this spirit, here is a delicious fried treat that incorporates the oil, and the honey (a recurrent symbol that appears on our tables from Rosh haShana to Shemini Azeret): for holiness, and sweetness.  And Sambuca… just for fun!

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Hanukkah Treats with Sambuca and Honey (Dairy)

Ingredients

  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • a pinch of salt
  • 3/4 stick unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup Sambuca (or Arak or other Anise liquor)
  • 4 cups pastry or 00 flour (but you can also use all-purpose)
  • 1 package baking powder (16 gr)
  • 1 cup honey
  • mild olive oil or peanut oil for frying

Directions

Beat 4 whole eggs and one yolk with the sugar; add the melted butter (warm), the liquor and a pinch of salt.

Combine the flour with the baking powder, and sift them over the egg mixture, stirring constantly until everything is combined.

Transfer the mixture onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.

Form a ball, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for one hour.

Roll it into a disc about 0.5 mm thick and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter.

Pour plenty of oil in a wide, heavy pan with tall sides – the oil should be at least 3” high, and stop at least 2? from the top of the pan. The oil is hot enough when a piece of bread dropped into the pan is immediately surrounded by many little bubbles, but does not burn quickly.

Fry the shapes in small batches (if you put too much food into the pan at the same time, the temperature of the frying oil will drop, causing the fritters to absorb fat), turning them quickly so that they brown on both sides.

Remove them with a slotted spoon, and dry on a double layer of paper towel.

Melt the honey in a saucepan with 3 or 4 tablespoons of water.

Arrange the sweets on dessert plates, drizzle them with the honey, and serve.

Serves 6-8

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/12/08/hanukkah-treats-with-sambuca-and-honey-dairy/

 

Filed Under: Dairy, Desserts, Hanukkah, Jewish Italian Cuisine · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Veal Strips in Sweet-and-Sour Sauce with Grapes

December 1, 2011 · by · Leave a Comment
Veal Strips in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Veal Strips in Sweet and Sour Sauce

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Veal Strips in Sweet-and-Sour Sauce with Grapes

Ingredients

  • (Serves 4)
  • 1 and 1/2 pound veal breast cutlets, cut into strips
  • 1 cluster dark grapes (3/4 pound)
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 quart dry red wine
  • 1/2 cup grape juice
  • 1 scallion
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 pinch cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 ladlefuls hot meat or chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon potato starch or corn starch

Directions

To make the sweet-and-sour sauce, place the wine, stock, grape juice, thinly sliced scallion, and spices in a saucepan, and bring to a boil.

Simmer uncovered until reduced to one half.

Caramelize the sugar in a small skillet: start on high heat and lower the flame as the sugar starts melting, adding 2 tablespoons of water and the balsamic.

Pour the caramel into the wine broth.

Gradually incorporate the corn starch or potato starch, and allow the sauce to thicken for a few more minutes on low heat, removing any clumps, and the bay leaves, with a slotted spoon.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, and sauté the veal strips, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Add the sweet-and-sour sauce and the grapes (halved), and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring continuously.

Serve hot.

**This recipe is great for those who are gluten free

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/12/01/veal-strips-in-sweet-and-sour-sauce-with-grapes/

Filed Under: Gluten Free, Hanukkah, Jewish Italian Cuisine, Main Dish, Meat · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Turkey or Veal Roast with a Surprise

October 10, 2011 · by · Leave a Comment
Tukey or Veal Roast with a Surprise (Meat)

Turkey or Veal Roast with a Surprise (Meat)

On the holidays, I usually serve dairy at lunch and meat for dinner. This colorful “roast”, which is actually cooked on the stove, usually “wows” guests. It’s much easier than it looks! 
If you prefer, instead of the boiled eggs you can use a thin frittata made with eggs and chopped parsley or spinach. It’s filling, so I would serve it after a vegetable soup or a light broth-based pasta soup.

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Tukey or Veal Roast with a Surprise (Meat)

Ingredients

  • 3 slices Hungarian salami and 3 slices good pastrami
  • 1 boneless turkey breast in one piece, about 2 pounds, butterflied (or veal)
  • 1 tablespoon (or more) freshly chopped parsley
  • 2 boiled eggs
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon plain bread crumbs
  • 1/2 a medium onion, chopped finely
  • one small carrot, chopped finely
  • one celery stick, chopped finely
  • 2 cloves garlic (one whole, one minced)
  • 1 ripe tomato, completely seeded, salted and drained.
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon plain bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine (do not use “cooking wine”)
  • salt and black pepper

Directions

Boil the eggs, peel them and eliminate a small white slice from the ends, so that ,when sliced, all the slices will contain some yolk.

With the flat side of a mallet, pound the turkey breast or veal to a ½-inch thickness, and season with pepper.

Grind the cold cuts very thin (best to do this with a food processor), combine them with a tablespoon of bread crumbs, the parsley, the garlic, little pepper, and a touch of nutmeg if liked. Spread the filling over the center of the meat leaving the ends untouched.

With a spoon, thin the filling out in the center to accomodate the eggs.

Add two thin slices of tomato (only the pulp, completely seeded and well drained!) – in absence of a tomato you can use a couple of spinach leaves, or peeled fillets of red roasted peppers.

Fold the edges of the meat over the filling, closing it on all sides, and tie well with kitchen string.

Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use only 2 if using veal, which has more fat, but need more for turkey) in a large sauteuse pan, with a clove of garlic.

Add the meat and allow it to brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Add the wine and let it evaporate. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery ,one cup of hot water, salt and pepper, and cook covered on medium/low heat for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, then uncover and allow the sauce to thicken.

Transfer onto a platter, slice, and serve with the sauce.

http://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/10/10/tukey-or-veal-roast-with-a-surprise-meat/

Filed Under: Holiday Food, Jewish Italian Cuisine, Main Dish, Meat, Shabbat, Sukkot, Thanksgiving · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
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