Sara Finkel’s latest cookbook, The Complete Yom Tov Cookbook: Winning Recipes for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkos (Targum), includes delectable, well-planned menus for every festive celebration, from Rosh Hashanah to Simchat Torah.Finkel includes helpful do-ahead preparation suggestions and terrific tips that will be appreciated by busy balabustas who need to prepare dozens of delicious holiday meals for their family and guests.With over 100 tried-and-tested recipes and colourful photos throughout, this small book is packed with big ideas as well as illuminating articles about each holiday. The recipes call for easily available ingredients and can be made with minimum fuss. These are a collection of Sara Finkel’s favourite recipes, culled from her two best-selling cookbooks, Classic Kosher Cooking and Classic Kosher Cooking: Simply Delicious. Enjoy these scrumptious dishes this weekend to wind up the High Holiday celebrations in style!
Also known as “bread pudding.” Use up leftover challah with this delicious sweet recipe.
1 whole challah, thickly sliced
4 eggs
1 cup white sugar or 3/4 cup brown sugar plus 4 tbsp. white sugar
3/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 package instant vanilla pudding
2/3 cup raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
Remove crust from challah and soak in hot water. Let cool and squeeze out water. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Add 3/4 cup sugar, oil, salt, and vanilla pudding and mix until smooth. Stir in the challah, sliced apples and raisins.
Place in a 9×12-in. greased baking pan. Combine cinnamon with remaining sugar and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serves 12.
Variations:
• coconut bread pudding: add 1 cup coconut
• fruit bread pudding: stir in 1 cup of chopped dates or raisins.
• nut bread pudding: add 1/2 to 2/3 cup coarsely chopped nuts.
• caramel bread pudding: caramelize 1/2 cup sugar, stirring it in a pan until brown. Pour in a little of the water from the soaked challah over the caramelized sugar in the pan as you stir it. Add to kugel.
• banana bread pudding: add 1 cup mashed banana to mixture, omit the apples and decrease liquid slightly.
• individual kugelettes: spoon mixture into greased cupcake pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes.
1 (16-oz.) bag shredded red cabbage (about 8 cups)
1 mango, cut in 1/2-in. cubes
1 red onion, diced
1/ 3 cup slivered almonds
6 tbsp. vinegar
1/3 cup oil
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper, to taste
6 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. sesame seeds
In a salad bowl, combine red cabbage, mango, onion and slivered almonds. In a separate bowl, combine vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and sugar. Pour over the vegetables and toss together well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve chilled. Serves 8.
• Variation 1: Add a handful of dried cranberries instead of mango.
• Variation 2: Add 3 oz. sugared almonds and 3/4 cup toasted angel hair pasta. Omit the mango, sesame seeds and slivered almonds.
Otherwise known as homemade egg rolls – a special Chinese food appetizer.
10 blintz leaves (see recipe below)
Filling
1 1/2 cups boneless cooked chicken, diced
salt, to taste
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. tamari sauce
1 small onion, diced
1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 to 2 cups bean sprouts
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 egg, beaten (optional)
oil for frying
To prepare filling: combine chicken with salt, sugar and tamari sauce. Set aside. Sauté onion until tender. Add mushrooms, bean sprouts and scallions, and sauté for several minutes. Add chicken mixture to frying pan. Cook on low heat for a few minutes. Push mixture to one side of pan. Stir cornstarch into liquid in empty half of pan until smooth. Combine cornstarch with chicken mixture. Let cool.
Place 1 to 2 tbsp. of mixture in the centre of each blintz leaf. Roll, tucking in ends, and seal well. (Use a toothpick or brush with a beaten egg to help seal.) Fry each blintz in oil until golden brown and crisp. Yields 10 blintzes.
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. oil
oil, for frying
Mix batter ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate at least one hour. When ready to use, stir well. Lightly oil a 7 or 8-inch frying pan and heat. Pour in 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter, tilting pan to distribute a thin coating evenly on bottom. Cook over medium-high heat until top of blintz is dry. No need to flip. Turn blintz out of pan and stack on a clean, dry paper towel.
Yields 15 blintzes. (You can freeze any leftover blintz leaves for another time.)
