On the holiday of Purim we send and receive gifts of mishloach manot filled with lovely fresh baked goods, candies and other sweets.. Then the day after we commiserate with each other about how many calories we consumed and what we’re going to do with all those goodies with Passover just around the corner.
This year, instead of sweets, why not make your mishloach manot food items that can be used for the Purim seudah or subsequent family meals.
Here are some suggestions and recipes that will certainly be welcomed by those who receive them.
DELI ROLL
1 frozen puff pastry sheet, defrosted
1/3 cup deli mustard
3/4-1 lb. cold cuts of your choice (salami, turkey, corned beef, etc.)
1 egg, beaten well
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Allow the puff pastry to defrost. Unfold pastry sheet onto prepared cookie sheet. Spread mustard over pastry sheet. Place meats over sheet in layers. Roll dough as for a jelly roll. Place seam side down and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
READ: NOT YOUR AVERAGE HAMANTASHEN
Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until slightly browned and flaking. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Makes 8-10 servings
NO DRAIN SWEET 7 SPICY KUGEL
Simple and Delicious, this is very similar to the famous Israeli Yerushalmi kugel.
4 1/2 cups water
1 cup margarine or oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
16 oz. package medium noodles
4 eggs, well beaten
Bring margarine or oil, both sugars, salt, pepper and water to a boil. Add noodles and boil for two minutes. Turn off flame and let cool for 10 minutes. Add eggs. Pour into two greased loaf pans and bake uncovered for 1 hour.
Makes 2 kugels
SALAMI SALAD
This unusual appetizer, from a synagogue in Memphis, Tenn. served at their annual Torah retreats was always a huge success. Paired with a package of salty crackers this would make a welcome gift.
1 lb. salami
3 hard cooked eggs
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
1 tbsp. deli mustard
mayonnaise to moisten
Finely chop, or preferably grind, the salami and eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Refrigerate.
Makes 8-10 servings
MUSHROOM SOUP
2 lb. white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
½ Cup wild mushrooms (e.g, shitake, chanterelle, porcini, trumpet, enoki)
8 cloves garlic, finely diced
¼ cup Canola oil
2 large onions, finely diced
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp. soya Sauce
½ cup dry red wine
5 cups chicken broth (homemade or from powder)
5 cups water
1 tbsp. fresh Rosemary with stems (or ½ tsp. dried rosemary)
1tbsp. fresh thyme with stems (or ½ tsp.dried rhyme)
2 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground pepper
¼ cup rresh Chopped parsley (optional garnish)
If the wild mushrooms are dried, boil water and soak mushrooms for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid. Slice Filter reserved liquid through a filter or sieve and discard solids.
In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium heat and add onions. Saute until soft. Add garlic and sauté for an additional 2 minutes. Add white, soy sauce and sauté over medium high heat until mushroom liquid is mostly gone. Add wine and continue to sauté until wine is mostly evaporated. Remove half the mushroom, garlic onion mixture
Add broth and reserved mushroom liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Use an immersion blender in the pot to puree the soup (or let cool slightly and use a food processor.) Add back the reserved mushroom-garlic-onion mixture, the wild mushrooms and the carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes. Add 2 tsp. of salt and ½ tsp. pepper. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with Parsley if desired.
Makes 12 cups
MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP
Use same ingredients as for Mushroom Soup, except add from ¼ cup to 1 cup of pearled barley, depending on how much barley is desired. A ¼ cup of barley will result in a thicker soup with a taste of barley, but still basically mushroom soup. A cup of barley turns it into mushroom barley soup.
To use barley, start with dry barley in a bowl and rinse with water until the water remains clear when stirred. Follow directions for Mushroom Soup, except add the cleaned barley at the same time the carrots are added.
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