Update about Potato Bread

My second loaf of the rustic potato bread (which I( had frozen) was fantastic. I took the frozen loaf and popped it into a hot oven to bake an additional half hour. The resulting crumb was moist but not gummy. The bread tasted freshly made.

Easy Broiled Salmon

I have found a really easy, really fantastic way of making salmon.

Pumpkin Pie with Easy Press-in Crust

For Rosh Hashana, I made my usual pumpkin pie, which is based on Nick Malgieri’s recipe. I made a few changes.

For one, I made a very deep dish pie, which needed double the amount of usual filling. Other changes, I used orange juice as my liquid and added in some honey.

Sephardic Leek Fritters for Rosh Hashana

It is traditional to eat leeks on Rosh Hashana, and here is an easy and delightful way of preparing them:  Ejjeh B’Kerrateh, or leek fritters.

The LA Times printed this recipe for leek fritters two years ago in a Rosh Hashana article that focused on the dishes of Syrian Jews. In particular, the article focused on Poopa Dweck’s beautiful tome about this cuisine, Aromas of Aleppo.

Apple and Honey Challah

I was planning on making the apple challah from Maggie Glezer’s A Blessing of Bread, but before I had a chance, I spotted this recipe in the LA Times from a Los Angeles kosher take-out store called “Got Kosher?”

Yet Another Chocolate Cake

I wanted to bring to dessert to a family that is having us for lunch, but I was feeling kind of tired. Also, I didn’t want to make a dessert that needs to be refrigerated because I have no idea how much fridge space my hosts have available.

So  . . . I decided to give this chocolate bundt cake from Jamie Geller a shot.

Kasha Varnishkes and Tzimmes for Rosh HaShana

For Rosh HaShana, so far I have made potatonik, tzimmes, and kasha varnishkes (oh, yeah, and pumpkin pie and chocolate bundt cake and honey cake and caramel apple cake, but who is keeping track?). I still have a lot of cooking to do, so I will keep this short and then get back to my honey apple challah . . .

Potatonik!

My husband loves potatonik. It is a kind of yeasted potato kugel that you can buy in certain kosher bakeries in Brooklyn (and elsewhere probably). Or  you can make it at home . . .

As a special Rosh HaShana treat for my sweetheart, I made potatonik from George Greenstein’s Secrets of a Jewish Baker, a wonderful cookbook by a former bakery owner.

Visinata and Honey Cake (Lekach and Branfen)

Well, the visinata (or cherry brandy or vishniak) is ready. Time to serve it with some honey cake . . .

Cherry Brandy Homebrew Underground Based Version

Lanie S. Visinata

As you can see, the recipe made by steeping pitted cherries with sugar and vodka is a darker red than the Lanie S. visinata version.

Prior posts:

Post 1: Making Visinata

Post 2: Fermentation results, July through September

Caramel Spice Apple Cake: Vegan “Honey” Cake

I made a traditional honey cake for Rosh Hashana. For a change of pace, I also made a mock honey cake.

Taking my inspiration from Tzipporah Kreizman’s Delights of the Jewish Kitchen, I tried substituting caramel for honey.  The base of my cake was a cross between recipes for a vegan spice cake and  a vegan applesauce cake that are in The Jewish Low-Cholesterol Cookbook by Roberta Leviton. The result was a caramel apple spice cake that tasted uncannily like my usual honey cake.