Banana Bread with Dates and Figs

Every Purim I try new hamantaschen from different bakeries. I've also made my own hamantaschen using a variety of recipes.

But so far, after years and years of buying this one and that one, my favorites are the (parve) ones I get at The Bakery, in Plainview, NY. For me, they are the enduring treats of childhood, never failing to please, never changing, even in a world where innovation is honored.

And so -- I will buy my hamantaschen this year. Old fashioned flavors: prune and apricot. At The Bakery.

Which means that for Purim, instead of creating a completely new hamantaschen recipe or even trying a new pastry recipe with old fashioned filling, I am going to bake banana bread as mishloach manot gifts.

I have a zillion recipes for banana bread. Some with streusel. Some dairy-free. Some loaded with chocolate chips, some with coconut. Some all chocolate-y. Some spicy. And on and on.

This is my most recent banana bread recipe, one I came up with while revising my mother's date-nut bread recipe. 

Banana Bread with Figs, Dates and Nuts

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 cup chopped dried dates
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda together in a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the shortening and sugar until well blended. Add the bananas and beat them in thoroughly. Add the eggs and beat them in thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and beat for a minute or so until the batter is well blended. Fold in the figs, dates and nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about one hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes one bread, serving 16-18

Buttermilk Pancake Day

One of the first newspaper food articles I ever wrote had to do with Shrove Tuesday (tomorrow, February 28th), a holiday my family doesn't celebrate, so at the time I didn't know that it is also Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), and in food circles -- Pancake Day!

Live and learn. It seems that in days gone by, when the Catholic Church imposed stricter rules during Lent, fatty items such as eggs, butter, milk and so on, were forbidden from Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins, until Easter. So the day before Lent everyone tried to eat up all the fats in the house.

Hence, the eating of gras (fat) on that mardi (Tuesday).

What's a delicious, filling, welcome and wondrous way to include eggs, butter, milk and stuff?

Pancakes!

I've made all sorts of pancakes: German Apple, Oatmeal, Lemon-Cottage Cheese and others. But plain old buttermilk pancakes are simple and always fluffy and full of down home pleasure.

Maple syrup goes on top, for sure. But homemade apple sauce is a bit different, less sweet and so easy to make. I like to mix apples and pears for sauce during the winter because there are so many pear varieties available. 

Happy Pancake Day. Mardi Gras. Btw, this also makes a nice dinner on a meatless Monday.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Apple-Pear Sauce

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 3 cups buttermilk
• butter for frying the pancakes
• Apple-Pear Sauce

Melt the 3 tablespoons butter and set aside to cool. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. In a second bowl mix the egg, buttermilk and melted, cooled butter. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix to blend them but do not beat vigorously. Preheat a griddle or large saute pan over medium heat. Lightly butter the pan before cooking the pancakes. When the pan butter has melted and looks foamy, slowly pour about 2 tablespoons batter (for small pancakes) or more (for larger pancakes), leaving space between each pancake. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until bottom is lightly browned and bubbles form on the top. Flip the pancakes with a rigid spatula and cook for a minute or until the second side is lightly browned. Serve with Apple-Pear Sauce.

Apple-Pear Sauce

• 4 apples
• 3 pears
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel, core and slice the apples and pears and place the pieces in a saucepan. Add the cinnamon, stir, cover the pan and cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes or until the fruit is soft. Stir occasionally during the cooking process. Puree the ingredients in a food processor with a hand blender. Serve hot, cold or at room temperature. Makes about 3-1/2 cups.

Makes 6-8 servings

Mom's Date-Nut Bread

Tu B'Shevat is one of the lesser known Jewish holidays, but also one of the more delicious ones. From my childhood I remember it as a time when my mom would buy dried figs that came in a wreath of sorts, the figs tied together with string.

I ate dozens of them.

It was also when she made her fabulous Date-Nut Bread. She served the slices like a sandwich, with cream cheese slathered between the layers. 

I ate dozens of those too.

My cousin reminded me that her mother and mine baked Date-Nut bread in a coffee can. Yes, of course! Because our mothers were married young women during WWII, when metal -- and therefore loaf pans and other assorted baking equipment -- was in short supply. So they kept the cans from ground coffee and other foods such as fruit cocktail and used those instead.

I recently made a batch of date-nut bread using my mom's recipe. I used a loaf pan and was a little disappointed. Not in the pan. In the bread. It seemed dry. Maybe I over baked it. Not sure, but I always loved this recipe, so I tried again but made a few changes.

I used less flour.

I also thought it might be a good idea to include some figs (or, frankly, any other dried fruit) with the dates and I also thought the flavor would perk up a bit with a small amount of fresh orange peel. 

My mother added Madeira or sherry, but because I had a lovely sample of Cherry Heering that I got at Kosherfest, I used that instead. She also mixed in walnuts but because of allergies, I replaced them with toasted almonds.

Of course, the bread was completely different with all these changes.

I loved it.

Especially when sliced and slathered with cream cheese.

Mom’s Date-Nut Bread New Version

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1 cup chopped dried figs, apricots, cranberries, cherries, prunes or raisins
• 1 cup chopped toasted almonds
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons Orange brandy, cherry Heering, Madeira, Port or Sherry wine
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup boiling water
• cream cheese, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8”x4-1/2”x3” loaf pan (or a one-pound coffee can). Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Add the fruits and nuts and toss the ingredients to coat the fruit with the flour mixture. In another bowl, combine the vegetable oil, wine and egg. Pour the boiling water into the fruit-flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Add the egg mixture and blend it in thoroughly. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Slice and serve plain or with cream cheese.

Makes one loaf

Latkes of a Different Kind

Hanukkah wouldn't be right without latkes. And, while classic potato latkes are my favorite and I once made 200 of them for my sister-in-law and brother's annual holiday party, I also like to cook up different varieties.

In addition to fried foods, dairy is also an iconic food for Hanukkah.

So -- dairy latke!

This one is made with cornmeal and cheddar cheese. Good for breakfast, lunch or as a side dish at a vegetarian meal. Perfect accompaniment to sunnyside eggs, for dipping into runny yolks.

Also, versatile. Add chives, scallions, corn kernels, chili peppers. Whatever.

Also -- make them ahead and rewarm. 

 

Cornmeal-Cheddar Latkes

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/3 cups milk, approximately
• 2 large eggs
• 5 ounces shredded cheddar cheese 
• butter for frying
• optional: 1 small chopped jalapeno or serrano pepper; 1 cup corn kernels; 2 tablespoon chopped chives

Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. In a bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, eggs and cooled melted butter. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, stirring gently. Fold in the cheese. If the mixture seems too thick, stir in more milk.

Heat about 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, drop 1/4 cup of the batter per pancake and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Makes about 24

Winter Squash and Cranberry Muffins Perfect for Sleepovers

It's December already and I am still sorting through summer clothes and several newspaper articles from last March and April that I was going to read when I had more time.

Why am I always so far behind?

I should be posting about Hanukkah. But somehow I am more focused on New Year's weekend. Probably because I made some unbelievably delicious winter squash muffins recently.

That really isn't a non sequitur. I thought of these muffins because every year we celebrate the coming new year with my brother and sister-in-law and my cousins. The cousins sleep over for a few days. We watch a lot of movies. Watch a lot of British mystery tv (Morse, Endeavor, Foyle's War, etc.). We sit around and enjoy each other's company.

We used to drink a lot of wine but have slowed down over the years.

We used to eat much more too.

(You get older, you can't keep going quite the same way, the same amount, the same speed.)

Still, there are meals to consider.

Breakfasts are usually smoked fish, bagels and stuff like that. 

But every once in a while I like to break up the monotony and have at least one different something for breakfast.

This year: those squash muffins I mentioned. I made a few batches recently and I can honestly say that they are the best muffins I ever ate. I've given some out as samples to my usual "tasters." Most of them also said they were the best muffins they ever ate. 

You'll see.

WINTER SQUASH-CRANBERRY MUFFINS

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 cup mashed cooked squash (or canned squash or pumpkin)
• 3/4 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin tins. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger and whisk the ingredients to distribute them evenly. Set aside. Beat the sugar and vegetable oil in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium for a minute or so or until well combined. Add the eggs and beat them in. Add the orange juice and squash and blend them in thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients to the squash mixture and stir gently until just blended. Fold in the cranberries. Pour the mixture into the prepared tins. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins

Carrot Spice and Honey Muffins

I always make a few carrot dishes for Rosh Hashanah. It's tradition!

Most often it's soup, sometimes a side dish.

This year I baked carrot muffins. Big breakfast winner for everyone, especially the grandkids.

Freezable too, so you can have them on hand whenever you might have a need. Like Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving weekend.

Carrot Spice and Honey Muffins

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin tins. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, honey, cooled butter and vanilla extract. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir gently just until blended. Fold in the carrots and raisins. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown. Let cool in the tins for 2-3 minutes, then remove the muffins to a rack to cool.

Makes 12  

Zucchini Muffins

This summer I was finally able to grow tomatoes. I had lots of them and there are still more to come!

I feel as if I finally did it right because I have failed every year up to now.

It makes me confident about next year, and not just about tomatoes. I might try to grow peppers and string beans and all sorts of things.

Maybe even zucchini. Now's the time of year that several people I know are harvesting their zucchinis, and some are gigantic! I'd like to see those in my garden.

For now I have to rely on my neighbors' and friends' generosity!

Here's what I did with zucchini this week. These muffins are not too sweet so you can have them for breakfast as well as snack.

 

Zucchini Muffins

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 1 cup raisins, optional 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin tins. In a large bowl whisk the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl combine the vegetable oil, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract and whisk until well blended. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in the zucchini and optional raisins. Spoon the batter into the tins. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Invert the muffins onto the rack to cool completely.

Makes 12

Grandma's Blintzes

I feel blessed that my children and grandchildren come to stay over at my house in Connecticut for holidays and birthdays and occasionally just to hang out. It reminds me of when I was a kid and visited my grandma -- almost every weekend -- along with practically everyone else in my mother's family (aunts, uncles and cousins).

That was back in the day before children had so many other activities. Sure, there were brownies and cub scouts, but back then I never heard of things like soccer or gymnastics. Art classes happened during school hours. The only cooking classes for children took place in your own kitchen if you were lucky to have a Mom like mine who let you patchky around.

Weekends were strictly for family activities.

I'm not saying one way of life is better than another. One size does not fit all, as they say. And maybe today's kids are better educated or are more well-rounded than we were.

But I have wonderful memories of that life. 

It was good. I got to play with my cousin Leslie every weekend. She and her family lived with our grandma.

I also got to eat some of my grandma's wonderful food. 

I hope that in years to come my grandchildren will feel happy when they recall their visits to Ed and me. And have good memories of some of the favorite foods I cooked when they came.

Like Macaroni and Cheese. Apple Pie. Matzo Brei.

My grandma also made matzo brei and macaroni and cheese. But one of her signature dishes was blintzes.

She filled the blintzes with cheese, the classic, but, as I learned later, most people made the cheese filling sweet, seasoned with vanilla and/or cinnamon. My grandma's cheese-blintz filling was lemony, with just a hint of sugar.

Also, because there were so many of us, she had no time to fry them a couple at a time and still have everyone eat at the same time. So she placed the blintzes, seam-side down, on a baking sheet, topped each with a little dab of butter, and baked them until they were golden brown.

Me? I still love blintzes lemony and baked. And -- surprise to me! -- so do my grandchildren.

Her recipe is below, but the filling instructions give you the option to make the more popular vanilla version (and also how to fry them). Don't worry if the wrappers don't fry into perfect circles -- you're going to roll them and if they're a little off, no one will ever know.

Grandma Rachelle Hoffman’s Blintzes

Wrapper:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk, approximately
• 2 large eggs
• softened butter for frying

Filling:

• 1 pound farmer’s cheese
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel, optional
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

To make the wrapper, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and stir to blend the ingredients. Add the milk and eggs and whisk until the batter is smooth and uniform (you may do this in a food processor). Add more milk if the batter seems too thick (it should be the consistency of heavy cream). Set aside for 30 minutes. Place a small amount of the softened butter in a crepe or omelet pan and place the pan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and the foam is beginning to separate, add enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan (for an 8-inch pan it will be 1/4-cup), shaking the pan quickly to spread the batter evenly. Cook for a minute or so or until the bottom is lightly browned. Turn the wrapper over and cook briefly. Remove the wrapper and proceed with the remaining batter, separating the cooked wrappers with aluminum foil or waxed paper.

To make the filling, place the cheese, egg, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the lemon peel OR vanilla extract and mix in thoroughly.

To fill each wrapper: use the first fried side as the inside of the blintz. Use about 2 tablespoons of filling for an 8-inch wrapper and place the filling in the center of the wrapper. Fold the bottom side up, over the filling. Fold the left side, then the right side over the filling, then roll up to enclose the filling. Fry the blintzes seam side down first over medium heat (using the same method as for frying the wrappers – let the butter melt and become foamy). Or, you can bake the filled blintzes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the blintzes in a single layer on a jelly roll pan, top each with a tiny piece of butter. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Makes 8 8-inch blintzes

Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum

Now hear this! Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum is open!!!!

It's a cafe but also a retail takeout shop.

It's new. Clean. Bright. Comfortable. Kosher!

And with all those fabulous items we love -- like herring and lox and whitefish.

PLUS: lots more, like blintzes, mushroom barley soup, knishes, chocolate egg creams, noodle kugel.

Oh my, oh my oh my.

PLUS: some Israeli favorites: Shakshuka and Chopped Salad.

And a few extras like pickles, beet salad and halvah ice cream.

Ed and I were lucky to be invited for a preview lunch last week. I was a glutton and ordered two things. First Kasha Varnishkas, which I am really fussy about because my mother-in-law's recipe was so spectacularly delicious. This dish was fabulous and they add a modern touch that makes this side dish into a whole lunch (at least for me!) -- a poached egg on top so that the runny yolk oozes into the grains and caramelized onions. Ooooooh, is all I can say.

I also had the shakshuka (which they spell with an extra o), which was nice and tomato-y and rich with -- another poached egg.

I was too full for dessert.

Ed did the easy thing -- testing out the Russ & Daughters herring plate, which was loaded with tidbits of different flavored herrings and accompanied by several sauces and chopped beets. The fish were very fresh, briny, tender. I had tastes of course.

The fish is where Russ & Daughters has always excelled of course. The takeout shelves included whitefish that were so fresh and fat they didn't look real. I wanted desperately to get one but we were on our way elsewhere and I didn't think carrying a big fish around would be such a good idea.

The breads are some of the best I've ever tasted. Rye and pumpernickel and especially the challah. If you ever read this blog you know I am pretty stubborn about my own challah being unsurpassed. But Russ & Daughters challah is amazing.

We will go back. 

Thanks for the invite, Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper (4th generation owners). Good luck on your new venture!

German Apple Pancake

 

The next few days are loaded with holidays, all delicious. I will acknowledge all of them and eat accordingly.

So, for Chinese New Year, maybe some Kung Pao Gai Ding and Chinese Cookies.

Valentine's Day? How about a Chocolate Cake? Or Chocolate Chip Cookies? Or maybe some homemade Buttercrunch?

I'm thinking, buttercrunch now that I actually wrote out that word.

But among my favorite holidays is one I don't even celebrate: Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (tomorrow). In days gone by when the Catholic Church was stricter about such things, those who were observant would refrain from eating fats during Lent, which starts this Wednesday, so they would make "fatty" foods the day before, to use up all the butter and eggs, cream and so on that they had in their homes.

Like pancakes. Pancakes are loaded with eggs and butter, which is why they are always so fabulous. 

I love pancakes and don't eat them that often, though I will indulge in a buttermilk pancake when the grandkids come. And occasionally, make pancakes with the leftover oatmeal.

But my very very very favorite is German Apple Pancake. For breakfast, lunch and even a meatless dinner. Great as is, or, for dessert with some whipped cream or ice cream.

German Apple Pancake

• 2 large, tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1-2 teaspoons sifted confectioner’s sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the apple slices in a bowl. Add the sugar and cinnamon, mix and set aside. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in another bowl, add the flour mixture and whisk the ingredients into a smooth batter and set aside. Heat the butter in a heavy skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the apples, including any juices, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the apples are soft and caramelized. Pour the batter over the apples. Place the pan in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the pancake is puffed and golden brown. Invert onto a serving platter. Serve as is or sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

Makes 4 servings