Chrismukkah, 3 Religions & Rugelach

It’s not often that I can cook a bunch of Jewish food and have it satisfy the needs of two holidays in two different religions on the same night. Such is the blessing this year of Chrismukkah: the intersection of Christmas and Hanukkah on the same nights. My family is a mixed faith and mixed race family...but not the usual Jewish/Christian combo.

My parents are Jewish on both sides, but I grew up celebrating xmas through the 80’s at my dad’s house because my stepmother was Christian (but not in any way religious), so the holiday was all about gingerbread houses, decorating the tree, and waking up to presents that magically appeared in beautiful piles.  My dad, a Jew who was fond of cooking hams and lobsters the size of our bath tub, often made a cardboard and tin foil Jewish Star of David for the top of the very tall tree, and comically referred to it as a "Hanukkah Bush".  He would promptly headed off to make a huge roast beef, baked stuffed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, a deliciously goyish meal if you ever saw one, to feed the mobs of my stepmother’s family that would come over late on Christmas day.  Our menorah here was some candles melted onto a brick leftover from the patio my dad built. I’m not sure candles got lit except for the Thursday night and weekend that my sister and I joined the house over Hanukkah, and there may have been a small gift given on one night, but we were all happy to keep the thrill of presents for the xmas morning piles.

On my mom’s side of the family, where I lived

more days out of the week, and felt deeply connected to my grandparents who were holocaust survivors who had helped lead the largest escape from a Nazi death camp ever, well, it was latkes all the way.  We’d sit at the dining room table peeking over to the pile of gifts in the living room, while enjoying crisp golden potato latkes, apple sauce, sour cream, a big bowl of salad, and I have no idea what else, because all I remember was the latkes, apple sauce, the gifts and the candles.  A beautiful swooping brass menorah with flames glowing, a 1970’s modern-ish wood version and a stone menorah with roughly chiseled depictions of people woefully carrying the burden of the candle, the perfect Jewish holiday mix of joy and sorrow. These nights were warm and festive and we got to hear

phrases thrown around in Yiddish, Dutch and our mom’s rare singing with a perfect Hebrew accent reminding us of our family’s immigration story.

Fast forward to today, my children know the Hebrew blessings for the candles, but they also know how to give offerings and sing to the Orisa, divinities in the Yoruba tradition, the West African indigenous religion my husband and I have both practiced for over 25 years.  It

is a peaceful and simpatico merging of two earth-based religions that works well for us, (and a number of other religiously and racially mixed families we know). You’d think that would be enough for one home, however Christmas is never to be upstaged in the USA, and honestly I don’t really mind as long as the tree and stockings are not in my house. While my husband was raised with political activism and organizing as the household faith, his extended family celebrated Christmas through the AME church on his dad’s side or with piles of Swedish cookies, lingonberries and korv sausage on his mom’s. Which means that Christmas as a festival lives on in my family where we either travel to Brooklyn to see grandma PJ or walk around the corner to auntie’s house, decorate the tree, eat cardamom bread, Swedish cheeses, pickled veggies and is accordance with Nordic tradition, tin upon tin of cookies.

Now, here is where things get good, and where this year especially, the merging of holidays inspires. Weather it’s my Dutch roots or my family’s response to historical trauma, there is a pervasive sweet tooth that runs thick through our veins. So, a holiday (of any culture) that seems to revolve around endless tins of cookies is just about the most appealing thing I can think of and easily gets me in the spirit to celebrate this holiday that both isn’t, and sort of is now mine.

A cookie that I love dearly but rarely make, especially for Christmas, is rugelach. This European Jewish treat, when made right is a chewy, buttery bundle of golden dough, stuffed with jam, cinnamon and finely chopped walnuts. They bake into delectable nuggets that have me savoring my heritage with each bite.  I don’t make them often because in addition to being a sticky mess of dough that is a lot of work to handle, they are essentially a block of cream cheese and two sticks of butter with only enough flour and a touch of sugar added to hold them together.  Not that I mind a little butter (my

daughter and sister have declared themselves members of the “Butter Club”), but when there are rugelach around, the flavors and nostalgia make them impossible for me to stop eating.

This year, I will happily be filling a number of tins with rugelach, from a recipe I learned at Margaret Palca Bakes,  the first professional bakery I ever worked in, in Brooklyn. With the first night of Hanukkah falling on Christmas eve, I think we will be celebrating Chrismukkah by lighting our menorah near the glow of the xmas tree at our Auntie’s house and toasting the night with rugelach pulled straight out of a Christmas cookie tin.

Happy Holidays and Solstice to all of you...

I hope that this time is full of good food, love, and joy. xo Tagan

Cookie Infatuation

I fall victim to the December cookie infatuation every year.  It doesn't matter that xmas is not my personal holiday, any month-long celebration of a food group (such as cookies) can certainly not be ignored.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Printable Recipe Packet Here & Recipes listed after the jump below

Linzer Tart Cookies
A dough laced with ground nuts and filled with the jelly of your choice.

Chocolate Clusters, Cinger, Cherry & Pumpkin Seed
These are my attempt at something a little healthier but still decadent.  These are just nuts, seeds, and dried fruit covered in 70% dark chocolate and sprinkled with coarse raw sugar.  

No measured recipe here, just pick an assortment of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, melt some chocolate, mix, spread on a parchment lined pan, sprinkle with raw sugar, cool, and cut.

My favorite combination: Candied ginger (finely chopped) dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, and almonds. Unsweetened shredded coconut and sunflower seeds make excellent and affordable additions.

Brown Butter Rosemary Pecan Meltaways

Rugelach
From Margaret Palca Bakes in Brooklyn
My all time favorite rugelach recipe, from the first bakery I ever worked in!
(Terrible photo by me..;-)

Soft Gingerbread 
From Tartine Bakery in San Francisco
A soft, peppery and not-too-sweet, glazed gingerbread cookie.

Shaved Coconut Macaroons 
from Alice Medrich
Photo by Food 52
By far the best and easiest macaroon EVER.

Chocolate Brownie Cookies
from Claudia Flemming
Rich chocolatey cookie with that wondering shine and crackle of a good brownie.








Click READ MORE below to see the recipes, including:
- Raw cacoa truffles
- Basic shortbread recipe easily adaptable (including the meyer lemon variation I include)
- Basic sugar cookie you can turn into and shape or patter you like.
Last year I added cocoa nibs and chocolate dip to some, and cherry jam thumbprints to others.

There are so many more I love... semolina date cookies for example....but those will have to wait till next year.

What are some of your favorite holiday cookies?

Moroccan Spiced Chili & Green Tomato Zhoug

All summer I witness friends from all parts of the globe gush over the hot weather while I hide under hats and try to survive the heat. The shift to cool weather brings me great relief and ironically, warms my heart and my kitchen.  I love bundling up in scarves and cozy sweaters and shifting from the refreshing cold salads and meals of summer to the steamy stews of fall and winter. This recipe is rich in spices and a huge hit (with kids and adults) every time I make it.  Last winter I cooked this recipe on the TV show CT Style to promote the CitySeed Winter Farmers' Market, and locally grown foods (the meat, canned tomatoes, cooking greens, onions and squash were all available from CT farms through the winter months).  This is one of those recipes that people always ask me for while they're eating it, so it's about time I shared it here. 

Last week I cooked this up but left out the chili pepper so the younger kids at the table would eat it, but didn't want the rest of us to suffer for the lack of heat, so I made up a last minute spicy green tomato condiment to stir in.  It was one of those inventive moments where I lacked the main ingredients for a recipe (in this case, cilantro and parsley for the Yemeni condiment zhoug), but realized I had plenty of green cherry tomatoes in my garden which added a bright tanginess to the rich red spiced stew and transformed the sauce into an entirely new thing.  I'm including that recipe below as well.  

Moroccan Spiced Chili with Winter Vegetables

Recipe courtesy of CitySeed, Inc.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, finely diced

1 pound ground beef, lamb or small diced stew meat

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (or to taste)

2 teaspoons sea salt (or to taste)

One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

½ cup French lentils (grey green lentils that do not mush when cooked, or substitute 1 can chickpeas)

1/2 small winter squash (such as butternut or acorn) cut into ½-inch cubes

2 cups water

2 cups frozen or fresh chopped greens such as spinach, collards or kale

Instructions

1.  In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the oil. Brown the meat and break it into small pieces. As meat starts to brown add diced onion and sauté with meat until translucent. Add garlic and spices, continue cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute more.

2.  Add the tomatoes, water and lentils and stir, scrapping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add diced squash and simmer 20 minutes more or until squash is tender and lentils are cooked through. Add finely chopped greens and cook a few minutes more until tender. Adjust seasoning as needed. If you have the time, you can cook this chili slow and on low heat for a few hours, stirring occasionally, and adding the greens a few minutes before you are ready to serve. 

3. Optional: serve the chili with yogurt and cilantro or parsley (or the Green Tomato Zhoug below).

Green Tomato Zhoug

This spicy salsa type condiment is inspired by a Yemeni green sauce called zhoug which consists of garlic, chili peppers, cardamom, caraway seeds, cilantro and parsley, salt and olive oil. 

4 cloves garlic

Seeds from 3 green cardamom pods, ground (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom)

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 small fresh chili pepper or dried chili to taste

8 green cherry tomatoes or 2 green tomatoes

Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor, first grind the garlic, salt and spices into a paste. Quarter cherry tomatoes or chop the large tomatoes, add to the garlic paste and pound or pulse until the desired texture is reached. Adjust seasoning as desired. 

Do you have a favorite chili recipe? Please share below!

The Creative Process of Crafting a Menu

Last Friday I got a call from a friend and colleague who works at the Yale Sustainable Food Program asking if I'd like to cook lunch on their farm the following Tuesday for visiting chef Jorge Rausch and 15 guests. While I have been trying to say "No" a lot more often, this sounded fun and inspiring, so I said "Yes".  As soon as a meal or event is proposed, my brain starts storming with menu ideas and inspirations.  It's involuntary, constant, and I'm pretty sure genetic, given the glorious habits on both sides of my family to talk incessantly about food and menu planning.

For this menu, I started by looking up Chef Jorge Rausch, who I'm sad to admit I did not know about before this event.  He happens to be the cousin of a chef friend of mine in New Haven, CT,  Avi Sazpro, owner of Roia, but more famously, he is the Columbian chef/owner of one of South America's 50 best restaurants and a pioneer on eating lion fish, an invasive species that is destroying coral reefs in the Caribbean.

My first menu planning instinct was to think about local invasive species and how I might incorporate them into the menu. However, I am not an expert in plant or animal invasives, and while I am aware of a few of them (primarily through my friend Bun Lai's work as the Chef and owner of Miya's Sushi restaurant), I didn't have easy access to (or much time to go foraging for ) these plants, seaweeds or crabs/fish. Additionally the cooking and refrigeration facilities in the open-air farm kitchen are very limited, so I decided to do a vegetarian lunch to avoid complicating the food handling logistics, so fish and crabs were out.

My next thought was to work with indigenous ingredients such as corn or corn meal which are used through all of the Americas in distinct ways. Columbian cuisine is well known for their various types of arepas or cornmeal pancakes, and a northeastern version of this would be a Johnny Cake, which could be a great inspiration for a menu.  After thinking this through, I vetoed it for two reasons:

1. Despite some searching, I have not found many corn varieties being grown that are native to this state, and have also not found any indigenous corn varieties being dried and ground for corn meal.

2. Arepas are a living evolving and varied cuisine in and of themselves in Columbia, and across many parts of Southern and Central America. While I don't doubt that I could do something deliciously fun with their Johnny Cake counterpart for lunch, without an indigenous corn variety or special traditional recipe, this menu component seemed like a replication of something more popular in the chef's home cuisine than a real reflection of indigenous cuisine from Connecticut.

Next, my food loving brain jumped into my own personal food history, both ancestral and through lived experience and I started imagining Jewish (both ashkenazi and sephardi) foods done with seasonal ingredients (apples and honey for the upcoming Rosh Hashanah holiday for example), maybe an assortment of recipes representing the predominant cultural groups on New Haven (African, Puerto Rican, Italian etc...) but it felt nearly impossible to chose which cultural groups to represent and then which recipes to riff off of.

So then I started to listen to the underlying obvious menu that was arising when I thought about the farms we would be sourcing ingredients from, the confines of the kitchen, the predicted 80+ degree "fall" weather for that day and my own desire for fun, flavor, texture and color with little surprises to entice diners, but not distract them from the purpose of the lunch: to gather together to commune and learn over a good meal in a beautiful natural setting.  After a little more contemplation I realized a seasonal "farm to table" based meal, with some of my own cultural influences was actually a perfect example of the current state of American cooking and just the right thing to prepare for our visiting guest chef.

I decided on a cold soup, with both an early fall and jewish twist - beets (rather than a tomato based gazpacho) and a little chili pepper added for delicious heat, signaling more the middle eastern and sephardi Jewish cuisine, mixed with a borscht type soup more reflective of ashkenazi recipes. However, the soup was topped with roasted corn, a nod to the all important corn crops of this hemisphere, and some pickled red onions for contrast both in flavor and texture.

 I couldn't resist making my favorite nut and seed based bread, and including farmer's cheese, another nod to my eastern european jewish roots. Two versions of the cheese were served, one cheese I made from fresh milk and topped with roasted tomatoes and garlic, the other I purchased and topped with locally raised honey I infused with black pepper and fresh rosemary (I sort of a sucker for condiments and encouraging people to taste, sample, spread...and work a bit for their meal).

For dessert, I scooped up the last few damson prune plums I could find, even though we were on the cusp of apple season, and used them to make another dish I often associate with my Jewish heritage, but is actually common across Europe, a plum tart. For this version, I added cornmeal to the crust for fun and a bit of lemon zest, sugar and a sprinkle of cornstarch under the fruit, to sure up the juicy filling so it would be easy to pass and serve during the conversational meal.

It was an incredibly satisfying meal to serve.  The weather was gorgeous, the farm and out door kitchen glorious, the number of people very manageable, and the ingredients were fresh, delicious and inspiring.  It felt like a gift from my heart to share this food and my seasonal inspiration with a very hard working chef visiting our country, and big table of very appreciative and hungry students. Inspiration well executed, delicious food and a full heart, menu planning gone wonderfully right.

Final menu:
Chilled Beet Soup with Roasted corn and pickled red onions
Pumpkins seed and walnut bread
Farmer's Cheese two ways
  w/ roasted tomatoes&
  w/ rosemary black pepper honey
Plum Tarts with flaky cornmeal crust

Chilled Beet Soup
8 servings

3 Leeks (or white onions)
1/3 Celery root, peeled and diced (about 1 cup diced)
2 Carrots
3 Medium potatoes
4 Pounds beets (about 9 beets)
1/4 Fresh red chili pepper
8 Cups water
Salt to taste
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon Butter (optional)

Whey (from the making fresh farmers' cheese is optional)

If not using whey, use the juice of half to one whole lemon, to taste after soup has cooled. 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub beets with oil, place them in a baking dish. Cover with foil or a top and bake until tender, (you can test by inserting a sharp knife into them). The time for this can range from 40 minutes to over an hour depending on the size of the beets. (You could also peel beets, chop and simmer with the other root vegetables later in the recipe if you would prefer). 
2. Let the beets cool until you can handle them. Use your hands or a dish towel you don't mind turning pink to rub the skins off, use a knife to trim root end off.  Cut beets into large pieces.
3. While beets are cooking, sauté leeks, celery root, carrots and chopped chili pepper in a few tablespoons of olive oil (and butter if you like) until leeks are tender and translucent. Add eight cups of water, potatoes, salt, simmer until potatoes are soft. Add chopped beets, simmer 10 minutes more. Puree soup until smooth. Optional: Return to heat and simmer 5 minutes longer and puree again to make it even smoother. Adjust seasoning to taste. 
4. Chill. Serve cold or at room temperature with roasted corn and pickled red onions, recipes below. 

Simple Condiments
Roasted Corn with Herbs: Shuck the husks and silks from the corn. Roast over an open flame, or even on an electric coil burner, turning as the kernels brown or char slightly. Cool enough to handle, and cut kernels from the cob with a sharp knife. Toss with a drizzle of oilve oil and any herbs you like. I used Marjoram and thyme because they were growing outside my back door....

Quick Pickled Red Onions: Slice one red onion in thin half circles. Press into a jar with a lid. Fill jar half way with a light color vinegar, white is fine, and another quarter of the way with water. Add salt and or sugar to taste, about 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons sugar (adjust this to taste). Put top on and shake well till sugar and salt are dissolved. Let sit for 15 minutes or longer, shaking periodically. Onions will turn bright pink. They can be held in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Me, Chef Jorge Rausch, Farmer Jeremy Oldfield (Yale Farm)

Transformation and Life-Giving Food

It has been a heck of a year since I posted here on my beloved blog. It has been a time of transformation and trying hard to maintain balance.  Over the past year I helped both my dad and my step mother pass on to the realm of the ancestors. My grandmother, a 93 year old holocaust survivor had to be moved out of her home, and has gone through periods of reliving her traumatic past and trying to adjust to her new present. As a part of the New Haven Food Policy Council I spearheaded the effort to establish a Food System Director position for the City of New Haven, with the final phase of hiring coming in the next few weeks.  I stepped down from the Council after eight years, but am helping to establish this new position.  I finished building a teaching and business incubation kitchen at CitySeed, the non-profit I work for, with an enormous amount of community support. I assisted with the opening of the new Culinary Academy at ConnCAT.  I took a sabbatical from work last summer to revive my spirit and go waterfall hunting with my family.  I have taken a necessary step back from some of the time and emotionally intensive political and community organizing work I have been doing for all of my daughter's eight years of life. I joined the board of Soul Fire Farm an amazing family farm in NY, focused on dismantling oppression and healing through food, community and liberation. I started exercising again.  I smile more.  I stop by to stare at the ocean more. I don't email while I'm hanging out with my children any more.  I have more attention and love to give to my own heart and to my husband. Phew.....that's a lot!! While things are not always easy, and there is always more growing and learning to do, over all I have less stress.  I am happier. 

For all of this I am grateful. Spending a year helping my father die was sad, healing and also life-giving. I had to slow down and focus on what was important. I was already starting to do that, but his getting sick really affected me. Early morning walks/jogs were also healing for my body and spirit. I started to exercise without judgement or expectation, which meant that I did it more, and did it with joy. As part of healing my body I also started to cut out some of the sweets and bread that I gravitate towards when I'm stressed. I came across this incredible nut bread in the midst of all of this change, and it brought me joy. It was referred to as a "life changing loaf of bread" on the My New Roots site I found it on, and I would have to agree with that title. 

This "bread" has no flour in it, only nuts, seeds, psyllium husk & chia seeds for fiber and binding, oats, water, coconut oil or ghee, maple syrup and a little salt. You mix that all together, let it sit in a parchment lined bread pan overnight, bake part way in the pan, then turn out on the oven rack and finish baking. Thats it. I swapped out the sunflower seeds for pumpkin seeds, I favor them with hazelnuts, but any nut will do, and I only eat these bread slices well toasted and crisp on the edges.  

Here is the recipe with slight variations from the original. I hope that you enjoy this bread, and that you are enjoying your life more each day. 

"The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread"Makes 1 loaf

Adapted from www.mynewroots.org

note: this bread is officially gluten free if you make it with oats labeled "gluten free"

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup flax seeds

½ cup hazelnuts or almonds

1 ½ cups rolled oats

2 Tbsp. chia seeds

4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)

1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)

1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)

3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee

1 ½ cups water

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Add maple syrup, oil and water to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). 

2. Line a bread pan with parchment paper, foil or use a silicone pan. Pour all of the nut mixture into the pan and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it it.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.

4. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).

5. Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days or in the fridge for up to two weeks. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

What is bringing you joy these days?