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My mom might be Jewish and of Jewish descent, but my mom's the first practicing Jew in at least three generations and has a strong distaste for anything that even resembles ritual and ceremony, which leaves me in the odd position of being the one to invent all of the family holiday traditions. Yes, we celebrate Christmas as a matter of course and because we can't get away from it, but it's always been a halfhearted affair. I suppose I'll make up most of my family traditions as I go along, combining Jewish traditions with what's practical for me and my family, but I have some ideas already. Unfortunately, they all involve food. It's a good thing I don't keep Kosher.
Green Chile Chicken Chowder
3 sticks of butter
2 small onions
5 carrots, diced
one bundle of celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, turned to jelly in a garlic press (you know, an extruder)
1 cups all purpose flower
6 cups chicken stalk
3 cups frozen corn
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 four ounce cans of green chile peppers, drained and chopped
1 chicken breast, chunked and boiled.
1 chicken thigh, chunked and boiled.
Melt two of the sticks of butter in a large soup pot, add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic until soft, add flour to make a roux. Cook until the roux is light brown and then set aside to cool. Combine the chicken stalk and corn in a large saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the chicken stalk into the roux, stirring to beat out any lumps. Bring mixture to boil until very thick. In a small saucepan, mix the cream, milk, and green chile and heat gently. Pour it into the rest of the chowder, taking it off the heat. Cut the left over stick of butter into the chowder and stir until melted. Stir in the chicken.
I like to make this after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey instead of chicken and then freeze it so that I have hot meals for a while. To heat it up, I pop it out of its container and heat it up in a saucepan so that the cream doesn't separate.
Gnocchi with Cheddar and Mushroom Sauce
Gnocchi:
1 lb potatoes
3 tbsp butter
1 small egg, beaten
3/4 cup flour
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes. Drain and mash (preferably with a potato ricer). Add the butter, egg, and half the flour and mix well. Kneed the rest of the flour into the dough. Flour hands and roll the dough into ropes and cut every inch. Curl the edges of the sections inward, cover, and chill. Boil the gnocchi in salted water until they bob to the top of the water. Drain.
Sauce:
3 tbsp butter
Flour
1 medium onion
1 cup chopped button mushrooms
2 cups skim milk
8 oz sharp cheddar in small chunks
1 sprig of rosemary, without the stem
Melt butter in a saucepan. Fry the onion and mushrooms in the oil until the onion browns, then take off the heat. Stir in enough flour to make a paste, or roux, then add the milk. Stir until there are no lumps and keep stirring until the first couple bubbles come to the top of the milk, then turn the heat all the way down and add the cheddar, stirring until its all melted and free of lumps. Take it off the heat and stir in the rosemary
Potato Latkes
2 lbs potatoes
2 eggs
2 large onions, diced
Lots of freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste
Plenty of oil
Peel and grate the potatoes and drop them into cold water before draining. Add the eggs, onion, pepper, and salt and mix well. Make the dough into small flat lumps and fry in pan filmed with oil. If you add applesauce to these, I will personally hunt you down and kill you.
Jam Pot Cookies
2 sticks butter
1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
Dash of vanilla
1 6oz jar of jam (I like blackberry or strawberry best)
Mix butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour and mix well, and make dough into little cups. Fill with jam and bake for 10 to 15 at 350 degrees.
These came out of a failed attempt to make hamantashen.
Cinnamon Ice Cream
1 and 1/8 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 cups cream
1 tbsp cinnamon oil
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Combine sugar and milk, and whip until sugar dissolves. Add cream, cinnamon, and cinnamon oil and whip until fluffy, like whipped cream (funny thing that) pour into ice cream maker.
There's also a Pennsylvania Dutch apple pie and an Italian red sauce that involves a bottle of wine, but they're not my recipes, and I'm not sure how the people who gave them to me would feel about me posting them online.
The one bit of nonfood based tradition I can't live without is that a few days before Christmas, we buy stuffed animals at the dollar store, and Christmas morning, we toss them around the living room for the dogs after we open presents. Since I don't plan to celebrate Christmas, I suppose I'll move the stuffed animal toss to either the first or last day of Hanukkah.
Green Chile Chicken Chowder
3 sticks of butter
2 small onions
5 carrots, diced
one bundle of celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, turned to jelly in a garlic press (you know, an extruder)
1 cups all purpose flower
6 cups chicken stalk
3 cups frozen corn
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 four ounce cans of green chile peppers, drained and chopped
1 chicken breast, chunked and boiled.
1 chicken thigh, chunked and boiled.
Melt two of the sticks of butter in a large soup pot, add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic until soft, add flour to make a roux. Cook until the roux is light brown and then set aside to cool. Combine the chicken stalk and corn in a large saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the chicken stalk into the roux, stirring to beat out any lumps. Bring mixture to boil until very thick. In a small saucepan, mix the cream, milk, and green chile and heat gently. Pour it into the rest of the chowder, taking it off the heat. Cut the left over stick of butter into the chowder and stir until melted. Stir in the chicken.
I like to make this after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey instead of chicken and then freeze it so that I have hot meals for a while. To heat it up, I pop it out of its container and heat it up in a saucepan so that the cream doesn't separate.
Gnocchi with Cheddar and Mushroom Sauce
Gnocchi:
1 lb potatoes
3 tbsp butter
1 small egg, beaten
3/4 cup flour
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes. Drain and mash (preferably with a potato ricer). Add the butter, egg, and half the flour and mix well. Kneed the rest of the flour into the dough. Flour hands and roll the dough into ropes and cut every inch. Curl the edges of the sections inward, cover, and chill. Boil the gnocchi in salted water until they bob to the top of the water. Drain.
Sauce:
3 tbsp butter
Flour
1 medium onion
1 cup chopped button mushrooms
2 cups skim milk
8 oz sharp cheddar in small chunks
1 sprig of rosemary, without the stem
Melt butter in a saucepan. Fry the onion and mushrooms in the oil until the onion browns, then take off the heat. Stir in enough flour to make a paste, or roux, then add the milk. Stir until there are no lumps and keep stirring until the first couple bubbles come to the top of the milk, then turn the heat all the way down and add the cheddar, stirring until its all melted and free of lumps. Take it off the heat and stir in the rosemary
Potato Latkes
2 lbs potatoes
2 eggs
2 large onions, diced
Lots of freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste
Plenty of oil
Peel and grate the potatoes and drop them into cold water before draining. Add the eggs, onion, pepper, and salt and mix well. Make the dough into small flat lumps and fry in pan filmed with oil. If you add applesauce to these, I will personally hunt you down and kill you.
Jam Pot Cookies
2 sticks butter
1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
Dash of vanilla
1 6oz jar of jam (I like blackberry or strawberry best)
Mix butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour and mix well, and make dough into little cups. Fill with jam and bake for 10 to 15 at 350 degrees.
These came out of a failed attempt to make hamantashen.
Cinnamon Ice Cream
1 and 1/8 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 cups cream
1 tbsp cinnamon oil
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Combine sugar and milk, and whip until sugar dissolves. Add cream, cinnamon, and cinnamon oil and whip until fluffy, like whipped cream (funny thing that) pour into ice cream maker.
There's also a Pennsylvania Dutch apple pie and an Italian red sauce that involves a bottle of wine, but they're not my recipes, and I'm not sure how the people who gave them to me would feel about me posting them online.
The one bit of nonfood based tradition I can't live without is that a few days before Christmas, we buy stuffed animals at the dollar store, and Christmas morning, we toss them around the living room for the dogs after we open presents. Since I don't plan to celebrate Christmas, I suppose I'll move the stuffed animal toss to either the first or last day of Hanukkah.
