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’Tis the season for holiday greeting – and holiday eating.
If you can’t actually leave town, traveling the world from the cozy confines of a warm kitchen is always a good alternative.
Here are a few holiday recipes with an international flavor – traditionally made for Hanukkah, Christmas or New Year’s – to add sweetness (and a bit of spice) to your own celebrations.
Every November, the women at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church make hundreds of pounds of goodies (such as sweet bread, cheese and spinach pites, and baklava) for the church’s popular holiday bake sale. Here is one of the recipes they use, from the “Popular Greek Recipes” cookbook created by the Ladies Philoptochos Society.
1 pound walnuts or almonds, coarsely ground
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 pound phyllo dough sheets
1 pound butter, melted and clarified
Whole cloves (optional)
For syrup:
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
Juice of half lemon
1 cup honey
Combine walnuts or almonds with one-half cup of sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Line the bottom of a buttered 9-by-12-inch baking pan with 10 to 12 phyllo sheets, brushing each with melted butter. Sprinkle top with thin layer of nut mixture. Cover with three phyllo, brushing each with butter. Sprinkle more nut mixture on top. Repeat process until all nut mixture is used, usually in four layers. Cover with remaining buttered phyllo. Chill in refrigerator for 25 minutes; then cut pastry into diamond shapes (cut in lengthwise strips first, then diagonally). Brush again with melted butter. If using cloves, insert one in center of each piece. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 to 90 minutes. When slightly browned, remove from oven. Slowly pour cooled syrup over hot baklava until completely absorbed.
To make syrup:
In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; let it boil for 10 minutes. Slowly add honey; simmer for five minutes. Let mixture cool before pouring over hot baklava.
Beth Zweig, president of Congregation Achduth Vesholom, shares her favorite recipe for potato latkes (pancakes), which are a popular Hanukkah dish.
The recipe is similar to the one her mother and grandmothers used, although they grated their potatoes by hand, back in the days before food processors. This one calls for both shredded and grated potatoes, to create a richer texture.
“The shredded potatoes migrate to the edge of the pancakes and get very crispy, but the grated part remains chewy in the middle,” Zweig says.
2 pounds Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, peeled
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into eighths
1 large egg
1 cup vegetable oil for frying
2 tablespoons matzo meal
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
Grate potatoes in food processor fitted with coarse shredding blade. Then place half the grated potatoes in a fine mesh sieve over medium bowl and reserve. Fit food processor with steel blade, add onions, and pulse with remaining potatoes until all pieces measure roughly one-eighth inch and are coarsely chopped. Mix with reserved potato shreds in sieve and press against sieve to drain as much liquid as possible into bowl below. Let potato liquid stand until starch settles to bottom, about one minute. Pour off liquid, leaving starch in bowl. Beat egg, then potato mixture and remaining ingredients (except vegetable oil) into starch.
Meanwhile, add some of the oil to a 12-inch skillet, enough to create one-quarter inch. Heat on medium-high until oil is shimmering, but not smoking. Using one-quarter cup of potato mixture for each, form pancakes into discs a half-inch thick and squeeze out excess liquid. Place five latkes in pan and press gently with a non-stick spatula.
Maintaining heat so that fat bubbles around latke edges, fry until golden brown on bottom and edges, about 3 minutes. Turn with spatula and continue frying until golden brown all over, about 3 minutes more. Drain on a triple thickness of paper towels. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, returning oil to temperature between each batch and replacing oil after every second batch. Season cooked latkes with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately. Servings: Makes about 14 latkes.
Local chef Lisa Williams always gets recipe requests when she makes this frozen Italian dessert.
At first glance, it seems a bit intimidating, but she says the recipe is easy and can be done in steps – the cherry sauce can be made several hours or even a day ahead.
“It looks very festive; it’s really super easy. Because it’s frozen, it’s very forgiving. Once you make one, you can whip ’em up like crazy,” she says, laughing.
“It’s (fool-proof); I don’t know how you can mess it up. … As long as you make everything fluffy, it will work,” Williams says.
For sauce:
2 1/4 cup fresh or frozen sour cherries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons maraschino liqueur
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water
For crust:
8 ounces toasted sliced almonds
1 1/4 cup finely ground vanilla wafers
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
For filling:
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons sweet Marsala wine
20 finely chopped (or ground) Italian amaretti cookies
Make the cherry sauce:
If using frozen cherries, thaw and drain them, reserving juice. Combine the cherries, cherry juice, sugar and liqueur in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for five minutes, until cherries are soft. Drain and reserve cherries. Whisk the corn starch and water together in a small cup and stir into cherry juice mixture. Boil several minutes until sauce thickens. Transfer to a shallow bowl and refrigerate for one hour.
Make the crust:
Butter the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Finely grind 6 ounces of almonds in a food processor (do not pulse to a paste) and combine with the wafer crumbs in a mixing bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then pat mixture into the springform pan, going up the sides about 1 1/2 inches. Freeze crust while you make the filling.
Make the filling:
Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and sugar in a medium metal bowl. Set over a sauce pan of simmering water and beat with a hand-held mixer about 5 minutes until meringue holds soft peaks (and registers 170 degrees on a thermometer, if using one). Remove from heat and continue to beat until meringue holds stiff peaks. In a separate bowl and using clean beaters, beat cream with Marsala wine until stiff. Fold in amaretti cookies and half of the meringue. Fold in remaining meringue. Pour filling into springform pan and smooth. Scatter cherries and remaining 2 ounces of almonds on top. With a knife tip, gently swirl cherries and almonds into the mixture, creating a marble effect. Freeze for at least four hours, or overnight. Let tortoni stand 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Serve with reserved cherry sauce.
Anyone can whip up a batch of cookies, but only the truly courageous should attempt to grind 25 pounds of sausage. If you’re up for a messy challenge, here’s a traditional recipe made in Macedonia and neighboring countries.
The sausage must be cured outside or in a cold room (a porch or garage) for three or four days – so only prepare it when the temperature is below 40 degrees.
This recipe, especially popular for New Year’s Day, is Sylvia Christon’s, by way of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization in Fort Wayne.
9 to 10 pounds leeks, chopped
1 1/2 cups olive oil
20 to 25 pounds pork butt
2/3 cup salt
1/3 cup black pepper
1/4 cup red pepper, crushed
1/4 cup paprika
1/2 rounded teaspoon marjoram
1/4 cup cayenne pepper
1/2 rounded teaspoon thyme
1/2 rounded teaspoon rosemary
7 rounded tablespoons dried savory leaf
1/2 cup dried mint leaf
10 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dry red wine
1 pound sausage casings (for 20 feet of sausage, or 25 to 28 pounds)
Sauté chopped leeks in olive oil until soft, not browned. Let them cool before adding to meat mixture.
Grind the pork. Add all spices and garlic, and then add the wine. Combine all ingredients, including the leeks. Mix well and marinate overnight in refrigerator.
Rinse the casings well by running cold water through them repeatedly. Put in cold, salted water and keep in refrigerator until ready to use.
Before stuffing the casings, remove cutting knife and blade from grinder. Grease tube before putting a casing on. Feed mixture gradually. Tie off both ends to form sausages, any size you prefer. Hang finished sausage in a cold room (garage, porch) for three or four days to cure. Once cured, sausages may be frozen.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake in a 1-inch deep pan with a rack, so grease can drip, until done. Larger brat-size sausages will take longer than smaller ones.
