..... and on the first night

with hanukkah now upon us, tonight being the first of the 8 nights of the celebration, there is no better way to start things than with something sweet.

this is one holiday where counting your calories will have to be put on the backburner — most foods traditionally eaten for this celebration are fried in oil or prepared with it. while it doesn't have to make up the bulk of what you are eating during the week, you can't fully enjoy this festival of lights without partaking in some of 'the good stuff'.

one of the best things which are enjoyed at this time of the year — from the sefardic side — are golden billowy fritters, called bimuelos. crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, these delicious and addictive fried irregular shapes of dough are glazed with a honey (or sugar) syrup and, as we do it, sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

the following recipe comes from my family and is very simple to make. like many sefardi recipes, it is based on the measurements of a drinking glass, wine glass or teacup, in this case a turkish teacup called 'la kupa' which equals 1/2 c or 4 oz. the recipe makes enough for three to four people (approx. 10 to 12 fritters) and is easily doubled or tripled. people tend to eat many of these so you will have to decide based on your crowd.

these bimuelos can also be made two ways: the first is the fritter (free form) way that is dropped from a spoon into the hot oil or as a type of 'doughnut' in which case the amount of flour in the recipe needs to be increased. first time makers of these fritters may want to start off with the dropped version as it is easiest.

note: this recipe is vegetarian/vegan - no eggs involved. if you are vegan, then make a sugar syrup instead of using honey (see lokma lessons).

happy hanukkah!
חג שמח
joyeuse fête des lumières!

bimuelos de hanuka

makes 10 to 12 fritters

ingredients:

1/2 c (+ 1 heaped tbsp) AP flour
1/2 tsp INSTANT yeast*
1/2 - 1 tsp sugar (i recommend 1 tsp)
good pinch of salt
1/2 c warm water
2 tsp light olive oil
grated orange zest, optional

1/3 c honey
1 - 2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp orange flower water (optional)

powdered sugar
cinnamon


*i use SAF INSTANT yeast which can be mixed directly with the flour. if you don't have it, use regular or rapid rise —> proof these types of yeast in the warm water with the sugar first and THEN add the salt, oil and the flour.

TO MAKE DONUT SHAPED ONES: increase flour to 2/3 c (you may need a little more ~ 1 to 2 tbsp). the final mixture should be slightly thicker than the above fritter one. remember the mixture will be kind of 'gloppy' once proved which is what you want but still hold a shape. see below for how to form donut shapes.

method:

make your syrup first:

in a bowl for microwave, or small pan, place the honey and water in it. stir to mix. heat it until it is hot and then add the orange flower water, if using. set this aside for later.

now make your bimuelos:

in a bowl, place flour, sugar, instant yeast and salt and mix it together. otherwise proof regular yeast first in warm water with sugar and then add the flour. if using orange zest add it also.

add the warm water to the mixture and stir well with a whisk. add the olive oil. make sure there are no lumps. the mixture will be loose and somewhat watery (unless you are making donut type bimuelos).

place plastic wrap over the bowl and put in the oven with the pilot light on. you may want to warm your oven at 150F first for 1 minute.

let the mixture proof for about 60 minutes. it should be very bubbly and have risen.


take a spoon and mix the batter. you will notice the texture is somewhat like wallpaper paste! that is what you want.

heat your oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes. make sure it is hot but NOT smoking hot. if the oil is too hot or too cold, the bimuelos will be either burned or greasy and uncooked in the centers. drop a small amount of batter in the oil and see if it immediately floats and sizzles with bubbles around the dough. if it does, then proceed.

always only test one bimuelo first to check your oil.

drop the batter by tablespoon into the hot oil. it will immediately puff up. bubbles will form on the top.

wait until the top looks cooked and is not raw before turning it. if the heat is too high, remove the pan to another burner and lower your heat a little and continue frying.

turn the bimuelos over and fry both sides til golden brown.

IF MAKING DONUT shaped bimuelos, either oil your hands well or wet them with water but shake off the water. you want moist, not wet, hands. place a tablespoon or two of batter in the center of your palm and then press a hole in the middle of the dough and open it up a bit. carefully place the bimuelo in the oil. DO NOT DROP IT or you will be splattered with oil.

with a slotted spoon, remove them to a platter or cookie sheet which is well lined with paper towel. let them drain while you continue to fry the rest of the fritters.

when serving, either dip the bimuelos in the honey syrup or drizzle it over them on a platter.

optional: sprinkle powdered sugar and cinnamon over them before eating. they're really best this way! :))

ADVANCE PREPARATION TIP: while i don't recommend it, you can make these earlier in the day, frying them and storing for serving later. place them in a 350F oven on a cookie sheet. glaze them before serving. i don't recommend it simply because these are at their best served just after you make them; it is, however, still possible to do. if you are making them ahead of time, underfry them a little and finish them off when reheating in the oven.

enjoy!

jewish bakery favourites — no. 2

i am posting this recipe now since ruggelach, or schnekken as they are also called, are one of the things that are typically eaten at hanukkah.

there are two kinds of ruggelach — ones made with a yeasted type dough which are more like mini danish and others which use, as i do here, an enriched pastry dough. i find the ones with the enriched dough much more enjoyable and refined.

ruggelach are filled with many different things these days, most typically they have a jam or filling of preserves. the ones i am making here are filled with chocolate and nuts however they can be filled with whatever you like. you can even skip the nuts and replace them with ground up cookie crumbs from something like hard tea biscuits.

i'll be honest with you and say that this is a labour intensive and (tongue-in-cheek) difficult project to embark on however it is one with many rewards. it is one of the best recipes for ruggelach you will make. this recipe is only a difficult one in the sense that it is time consuming if you are working on your own. one way to cut down on the work is to cut down on the recipe! you can easily cut the recipe in half to try it for the first time (of course, you'll regret it deeply afterwards as these really are "all that and more!"). if you have extra sets of experienced helping hands, that will definitely help you along the way. this isn't really a recipe for little kids to be helping you with however.

one way i have found to make this recipe go more quickly is to prepare things the night before:

• make the dough and roll each disk out between waxed paper; stack them and refrigerate;
• make the filling and divide it evenly into the required portions.

the next day, all you have to do is preheat the oven, make the egg wash if using, assemble and roll them up, and then finally finish them off with the (egg) wash before baking. as you have to repeat the process 9 times for the full recipe, if you have everything ready, the assembly is a breeze and you will not be cursing yourself and thinking: 'why did i start this?!' .... or worse yet, cursing me :o !!



chocolate-almond ruggelach

whether you fill these with jams, chocolate and/or nuts, or any combination thereof, you will always be rewarded with gorgeous pastries that will disappear faster than the time it took you to make them. the added extra about these pastries is that they freeze so well that you'll hardly notice a difference once they're defrosted.

makes 72 pastries

pastry:

1 c unsalted butter
6 oz / 3/4 c cream cheese
2 3/4 c all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

filling:

3/4 c chopped (blanched) almonds* (or walnuts)
3/4 c chopped chocolate chips**
1/2 c sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

egg or cream wash:

1 egg
1/4 c cold water
OR:
1/4 c heavy cream

1/4 c sugar

*place whole blanched almonds in a food processor and grind them until they are partly powdery and partly finely chopped. you can use pre-ground almonds however you will not have the proper texture. grinding them takes a bit of time and will be noisy. i have never measured how many whole almonds you need but count on using at least 1 whole cup of them. process a 1/2 c of whole almonds at a time. you do NOT want big chunks.

**process the chocolate chips the same way as the almonds. again, i just add by the 1/2 c of whole chocolate chips, measure and then continue until i have the correct amount. the texture you want is the same as the almonds — partly powdery, partly coarse.

method:

make the pastry:

place butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and let it soften to room temperature. this is important for the texture.

once at room temperature, beat the two ingredients together for about 5 minutes until light and well mixed.

mix the flour and salt together and blend.

add the flour in two additions and incorporate completely. do not over beat or the dough will get tough. remember this is pastry dough and the gluten should not be worked.

finish off the dough by making a ball of it with your hands until no traces of flour are left.

divide the dough into 9 equal pieces. on average, i get 780 grams total weight which i divide into 86 gram balls. let the dough rest covered for 20 minutes.

cut out 18 pieces of waxed paper which are about 10 inches wide. this is optional but one of the easiest and cleanest ways to roll out the dough.

place one piece of waxed paper on the counter and then one of the balls of dough.

you do not need extra flour to roll these out this way. if doing it on the counter, with no waxed paper, then dust with flour.

add the next piece of waxed paper on top and roll out the dough until you get a round of 8 inches (make sure to measure). don't fret if they edges are not perfectly round. if they are horribly off, then roll a bit wider (by 1/4 inch) and cut out a round with a baking tin of 8 inches as a guide for a perfect circle or cut yourself a template out of cardboard.

continue doing all the rounds this way and stack them WITH the waxed paper still on. if you are making this for the next day MAKE SURE to wrap them in a ziploc or with plastic wrap on a dinner plate so the dough does not dry out. if it does dry out, you can forget about continuing with the recipe.


make the filling:

grind the nuts until partly powdery and partly coarse (small bits not large ones). do the same for the chocolate.

mix all the filling ingredients together and divide into 9 equal portions.

my filling equals 338 g in total which gives 38 g for each portion.


assembling everything:

PREHEAT oven to 375F.

if continuing from the previous day, let the dough round soften up a bit (roughly 20 minutes). if you try rolling when the dough is cold, it will break.

place one portion of the filling on one round of dough.

spread it out until almost at the edges. leave a border of about 1/4 to 3/8 ths of an inch.

take your knife and cut into 4 equal sections.

cut each of these sections again to equal 8 portions.

from the bottom outer edge, roll up each pastry loosely but snugly. if you roll too tightly, it does not roll nicely. you will ultimately loose about a total of 2 to 3 tsp of filling per 8 pastries. just place the leftover filling into the next portion. by the end, there should be very little loss of filling.

one all are filled and rolled, place them POINT SIDE down on a parchment line or well greased tray. do not put them directly on tin foil that is not well greased or they will stick and you'll have a disaster.

make the egg wash:

firstly, this is a watery eggwash and not like your typical one. this is because it applies easier to the pastries than a thicker one does. it seems a bit odd but it works. applying the eggwash is an annoying process here as it is fussy. don't worry about completely covering them, just as long as they roughly get covered and are moistened.

the same above rule applies to using a cream wash. just "wash" over the pastries with the heavy cream.

place the egg and the water in a bowl. whisk well. it will be very thin.

strain the mixture. DO NOT AVOID THIS STEP. this gives you a perfectly smooth mixture and does not interfere with 'painting' the pastries with stringy and goo-ey bits.

take a spoon and sprinkle sugar over each of the pastries. it's about an 1/8 th tsp of sugar per pastry. don't skimp. you're already eating cream cheese, chocolate and butter .... skimping on sugar isn't going to help your diet at this point! besides that, it won't give the right finished texture or look to the pastries.

bake your ruggelach for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown (a light one).

remove from oven and let cool on racks.

enjoy!

hanukkah recipes from my blog .....

if you are looking for recipes or ideas for hanukkah, the following are several from things i've posted in my blog: (get your oil ready!)

• latkes 1
  
• latkes 2
• ricotta latkes
• plantain latkes
  
• simple applesauce
  
  
• soufganiyot (vegan version)
• neyyappam
• bimuelos (lokma/loukoumades)
• fried bowties (quick version)
• sukariot soumsoum (sesame candy)
  
  
• "unfried" chicken
• chicken schnitzel
• fried honey lemon chicken
• pot roast
• meatballs 1, 2, 3
  
• fried fish
  
• pasteles / cigares a la viande
• falafel
  
  
• crispy potato kugel
• fat free oven fries
  
• semolina "kasha" & bowties/shells
  
  
• sweet couscous (hilou)

hopefully, there will be some more i'll add over the next week. check the sidebar also for other recipes.

happy hanukkah
joyeux fête de hanouca
חג שמח גוט יום-טוב
chag same'ach

a hanukkah necessity

come hanukkah, applesauce is on virtually every table to serve alongside loads of latkes and then more latkes.

this is a basic recipe for a homemade sauce which takes no time at all to make and is much better than the jarred stuff often bought at the grocery store with who-knows-what preservatives included.

make your own or give some as a gift in a nice glass jar — it'll certainly be well-appreciated.


basic applesauce

ingredients:

6 apples suitable for cooking
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 - 1/3 c brown or white sugar
1 cinnamon stick, broken (optional)*
1/2 c cold water

*you can add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon instead

method:

peel apples and cut in chunks.

place them in a pan or a pot which has a lid. add the rest of the ingredients.

bring to a boil and then cover and lower the heat. cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring as necessary. different types of apples will cook down at different times.

cook until you get the desired consistency.

for a completely smooth applesauce, once cooled down, place in a blender or processor or mill. remove the cinnamon sticks before!

enjoy!

early bird gets the doughnut

as i walk through malls only but a few days after hallowe'en, i am already being assaulted by jingle bells and flashing lights, some of them bright and fast enough to put me into a seizure. every year, it seems, the grace period between holidays is becoming shorter and shorter. sheesh, it just became november and already we've had a santa claus parade in my city! whoa, nelly.

not to be grinch-like and unfestive (or outdone!), i figure i'd better get a head start as i've been terribly busy with work, and life in general, and not had much time at all for the blogosphere and getting my posting done.

while one festival of lights is already taking place, the hindu celebration of the triumph of good over evil, called diwali, another is just around the corner. hanukkah, this year, is very early, commencing on the 4th of december. that means only a few weeks before lighting candles, stuffing our faces with deep fried "cochoneries" (local french here for disgustingly good things) and gift giving.

last year, i went a little crazy with latkes and ignored the other deep fried thing we eat typically, deep fried jelly doughnuts called sufganiyot — and not for a lack of want but rather for not having had enough time. well, i guess this year i shall (hopefully) make up for it.

coming from the hebrew word for sponge, ספוג, (s'fog), soufganiyot are far from being only a jewish thing. they are called different things by different countries — berliners (germany), ponchiki (russian), pampooshky (ukranian), beignets (french), jelly donuts (states & canada), etc., etc. they are also know as paczki in polish and have a very long history. our soufganiyot are probably adopted from these, no doubt, since jews have had a long history in that country (pre holocaust). they are also pronounced similarly in yiddish, פּאנטשקעס .... punchkiss or punch-kees which i have always found to be a thoroughly amusing word!

in any case, these doughnuts are consumed in major amounts and have come a long way from only being filled with the regular red jelly of years gone by. all kinds of amazing fillings and glazes and adornments now exist and new ones are being 'invented' yearly. check out the picture and write up here.

almost all sufganiyot recipes are made with eggs. without them, you basically end up with a deep fried bread and not necessarily a soft pastry, the way they should be. with the many allergies, health problems and people opting for vegan diets, many people are out of luck. people who are on gluten free diets are even worse off as the building block for these is wheat flour, a definite no-no (but check gluten free by the bay for one; i know she has one!).

after some fooling around two years ago, when i had to concoct something for people who could not eat eggs, i came up with this version which is just as good as the regular one. really. it contains no eggs or dairy products (not that all sufganiyot recipes have dairy in them...). they result in spongy soft pastries which can be filled with any kind of filling. the only drawback, if you can call it that, is that they need to be eaten within an hour or two of being made for maximum texture and flavour.

often, people fill the sufganiyot with an injection type implement. there isn't a need for it, in my opinion. i just made a slit big enough for a slim spoon (i use a grapefruit spoon) to enter and fill them that way. the slit in its side isn't totally unattractive, either (see picture below). but it you must have it without any telltale signs of filling, then you'll have to hunt down one of those injection tools at a kitchenware shop.


sufganiyot — the vegan way
no egg, no dairy and just as good!

if you're thinking these are going to taste "healthy" or awful, you're in for a BIG surprise. no one has ever turned them down and they always disappear. soft and oozing with a luscious filling of your choice, the only signs you'll have left that these ever existed are the powdered sugar remnants on your shoes and your mouth! the only drawback is that they're deep fried but, hey, it's only once a year and ooooh so good!!

makes about (10) 3 1/2 - 4 inch sufganiyot

ingredients:

1 1/2 c all purpose flour or wholewheat pastry flour, or more as needed
2 1/2 tbsp sugar or sucanat
1 pkg (8 gr) rapid rise yeast
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp lecithin granules (optional)

1 tbsp melted margarine or vegetable oil
1/2 c water, warm
1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp flax meal, heaped*
3 tbsp warm water

icing sugar or regular sugar for rolling the sufganiyot
fillings of your choice - jams, jellies, pudding fillings, etc.

*if you cannot use flaxseed replacement, use 1/2 a well-mashed banana instead. you may have to increase the amount of flour slightly. similarly, you can substitute the equivalent of 1 whole egg with ener-g brand egg replacer.

method:

this can be done by hand or in a food processor. i make it either way .... both work.

combine, in a food processor or large bowl, the flour, sugar, salt, instant yeast and lecithin. lecithin is a kind of analog to egg (yolks) and comes in small granular bits; while it is optional, i like to use it. if you can't get it or find it, skip it. instant yeast can be combined with the flour as done here and does not need to be proved.

if you can't use or get hold of instant, prove the same amount of regular yeast in half of the warm water called for in the recipe (1/4 c of it) and add it the same time you add the water.

in a small dish, combine the flax meal with the water and let it sit for 10 minutes. see this post for further information. if you like, you can strain the mixture first to remove the brown bits (seed coat) with a fine sieve. otherwise, you can leave it as is as i have done here.

when the flax is ready, melt the margarine or mix the oil with the water and vanilla in another bowl or measuring cup. combine the two together and mix well.

with the motor running, add the liquid to the dry mixture.

with pulses, combine the liquid with the wet ingredients. once it forms a slightly tacky ball of dough, it is ready. you may need a little extra flour (will depend on where you live as not all flours are the same).

place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise for a good hour or so in a warm spot. it needs to double.

take the proved dough and place it on a clean, flat surface. spread it out with your fingers.

using a rolling pin, spread out the dough into a rough rectangle or square which is about a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick.

using a cutter of your choice, cut out circles of dough.

gather the scraps and re-roll them. you may need to wait a bit between re-rollings for the gluten in the dough to relax again.

place a tea towel over the dough rounds and let them sit for a good 20 minutes or so to reprove.

after about 10 minutes of waiting, fill a pan with enough oil to deep fry (roughly 2 1/2 inches). i usually fry them about 350 F or a little higher.

take a sufganiyah and gently place it in the hot oil being very careful of your hands.

fry it on each side for about 2 to 3 minutes. if your oil is too hot, lower the temperature.

remove the doughnuts to absorbent paper and let them drain and cool down a bit (enough to handle).

to fill, make a small slit with a knife a little more than half way through.

take a spoonful of the filling you like (i use lemon curd often or other jellies and jams i have purchased. chocolate ganache is excellent, too, as a filling). do not overfill.

wipe off any filling on the outside of the doughnut.

roll the sufganiyot individually in icing sugar or in regular sugar.

eat while warm or at room temperature. they don't keep well the next day.

enjoy!