Potlagela

I know I am not alone in in thinking I want “my old life back” —— seeing my kids and grandkids, giving them a hug. Seeing family and friends without having to sit at least six feet away, always outside. Going out for dinner. Going to the opera.

All that.

I’ve managed to find ways that help me through this stressful time. One of them is making foods that remind me of “the good old days.”

So I’ve baked some Apple Brown Bettys, because they remind me of my parents (z”l), who once lived nearby. It was my Dad’s favorite dessert, my Mom made it often and there was always some left for me when I’d visit, at least twice a week. (Apple Brown Betty is also good for socially distanced company because you can bake the ingredients in individual ramekins.)

Almond Crusted Chicken Nuggets have been on my menu recently because they remind me of my very special cousin and lifelong friend, Leslie. She and her husband Neil spend every New Year’s weekend with us and I always serve these for hors d’oeuvre. (Another winner for social distancing!)

There’s always a reason to make my grandma’s award-winning challah, so that’s nothing new in my house.

BUT, my other grandma used to make potlagela, a Romanian specialty. I hated this dish when I was a youngster but last year, when I grew my own eggplants, I decided to give her recipe a try and realized how delicious this dish is. That revelation also brought back some terrific memories.

SO, here it is. My Grandma Hoffman’s version of Potlagela. She used vegetable oil, but I prefer olive oil. Either will work. She also cooked her eggplant right on top of the cooktop burner, so if you have a gas burner, you can do it that way too. OR, you can cook it on an outdoor grill, which I’ve done many times.

This dip is so perfect for summer. Especially perfect for eating outdoors socially distanced because you can serve it in separate bowls for other people.

Serve with pita or bagel chips.

Potlagela

• 1 large eggplant

• 1-2 scallions or one shallot or small onion

• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tomato, chopped, optional

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash the surface of the eggplant, then wipe it dry. Coat the surface with a thin film of olive oil. Prick the skin in a few places with the tines of a fork. Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes, turning the eggplant once or twice during the cooking. Remove the eggplant from the oven. When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and stem and place the flesh in a bowl. Mash the eggplant with the back of a fork. Add the scallion, garlic, optional tomato and olive oil and mix the ingredients to distribute them evenly. Add the lemon juice and mix again. Season to taste with salt and pepper; sprinkle with some parsley.

Makes 4 servings

Banana Marble Bread

Got some leftover bananas? Maybe a little chocolate (bar/chips/anything)?

Here’s a comforting treat. The swirl of chocolate makes plain old banana bread a bit more festive.

If you’re socially distancing at home like so many of us, this Banana Marble Bread is a tasty way to pass the time, use what you have and add a comforting fragrance to your home.

Banana Marble Bread

• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 2 large eggs

• 3 medium ripe bananas

• 1/4 cup fruit juice, oat milk or other non-dairy milk (or use dairy milk)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan. Melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set it aside. Beat the sugar and vegetable oil with a handheld or electric mixer set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mash the bananas and add them to the sugar mixture. Beat thoroughly until the ingredients are well blended. Add the flour mixture and beat for 1-2 minutes to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Stir in the juice and vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Pour the melted chocolate on top and use a knife or spatula to swirl it through the banana batter. Bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a cake rack.

 Makes one bread serving 10-12

Lemon Aquafaba Bread

At this particular time, when we are going through a world-wide crisis, a terrifying pandemic, it can be therapeutic for many of us to cook and bake.

I am one of those people.

I have plenty of ingredients to cook with because over the years I’ve learned to keep shelf-stable foods on hand in case I can’t shop: ingredients such as canned beans, rice, frozen veggies, dried fruit, canned or packaged milk, and so on.

Equally important for me is — don’t waste food (I’ve talked about that often). I believe that it is important to use all resources — “food forage” as my colleague Susan Barocas calls it. Don’t throw out any ingredient that’s useable, including leftovers.

With all this in mind I offer this lemon bread.

I have lots of lemons in my crisper because of an article I am writing. I’ve developed the recipe for that, so I need to make use of the extra lemons.

I also needed to do something with the liquid leftover from a can of chick peas that I opened for a salad. Chick pea liquid is incredibly useful.

In case you aren’t familiar with this leftover liquid (also from canned beans), it is called aquafaba and it can be used in place of eggs. That makes it an ideal ingredient for vegans and anyone who is allergic to or otherwise can’t eat eggs.

When you beat chick pea liquid with a whisk, it traps air like eggs do, so baked goods have both structure and also a light, tender crumb.

I am trying not to use too many fresh eggs that I might need for meals, so I used the aquafaba instead to make this lemon bread.

Dee-lish!

To get the most out of the liquid in a can of chick peas, be sure to scrape the residue at the bottom of the can. For best results, reduce the liquid slowly over medium-low heat until it becomes the consistency of egg white. Use about 3 tablespoons of the liquid in place of each egg. 

For another delicious recipe (carrot bread) using aquafaba, click here.

Lemon Aquafaba Bread

• 6 tablespoons aquafaba

• 4 tablespoons coconut oil

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lemon peel

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup coconut milk

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan. If the aquafaba seems thin, boil it for a few minutes to thicken slightly to the consistency of egg white. Set aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the coconut oil and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Add the lemon peel and aquafaba and blend them in. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with the coconut milk. Beat to blend the ingredients to a smooth, even batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. While the bread is baking, combine the lemon juice and 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. When the bread comes out of the oven, pour the lemon juice mixture on top. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes one bread

Flavorful - yet Salt-Free - Blueberry Muffins

People frequently joke about the fact that after you reach a "certain age" -- whatever that is -- you get "conditions." So you have to watch what you eat because maybe your LDL cholesterol level is too high or your blood sugar is too high or your weight is, well, let’s not discuss that…. 

But when you think about it, however old and/or fit you are, it's always a good idea to eat more or less healthy food. Especially at this time of year when we’ve spent the last month or so indulging through the holidays.

I'm not suggesting that we never indulge in rich, fattening, sugary or fried food. I have posted recipes for fried onion strings and chocolate cake, haven’t I?

Just as a general matter, I think it's smart to be aware of your body and the consequences of what you feed it.

Over the new year weekend, I had to prepare recipes that contained less salt because one of our guests has high blood pressure and needed to cut down on salty foods.

Not a problem. In many cases, for multitudes of recipes, other flavor enhancers come in handy — think citrus peel, extracts, ground spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon, herbs such as thyme and basil, chili peppers, fresh ginger, hot sauce — there are loads of choices.

Here’s the recipe for Blueberry Muffins I served. I added both cinnamon and orange peel as well as vanilla extract (I recommend pure Bourbon vanilla extract, not imitation). You could also stir some chopped nuts into the batter.

No salt necessary. They were terrific for breakfast.

Remember these next Purim — they make excellent edible gifts!

Salt-Free Blueberry Muffins

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 3/4 cup milk

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon or orange peel, optional

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin tins. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk the ingredients until well blended. In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs, peel, if used, and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter into the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly blended. Fold in the berries. Spoon equal quantities of the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly golden brown. 

Makes 10 muffins

Handmade Potato Chips with Smoked Salmon Tartare

Potato latkes for Hanukkah? Of course!

But homemade potato chips also satisfy the holiday requirement of crispy potato.

And SO MUCH EASIER! And HEALTHIER. Because the chips in my recipe are baked, not fried (you could fry them if you wish though). They are so crispy they crunch as if they were fried.

And of course a homemade potato chip topped with smoked salmon tartare is perfect for my New Year’s celebration.

If you’ve never tasted homemade potato chips you have missed something spectacular in life. Do try this soon, with or without the salmon. You could serve them plain or with sour cream or applesauce, just like latkes. If you want to get fancy, make a dip by mixing some chopped fresh herbs into creme fraiche or mascarpone cheese.

Potato Chips with Smoked Salmon Tartare 

• One large Russet baking potato

• Vegetable oil

• salt

• 1/4 pound smoked salmon pieces

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• a few drops of olive oil

• few drops of lemon juice

• cream cheese, dairy sour cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone cheese, optional

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Peel the potato and slice 1/8-inch thick slices. Wipe the slices with paper towels. Brush the slices on both sides with vegetable oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 9 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake for another 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. Chop the smoked salmon. Add the red onion and dill and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle in a few drops of olive oil and lemon juice and mix. For a dairy hors d'oeuvre, spread the chips with cream cheese, sour cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone cheese. Top with some of the salmon mixture. For a parve hors d'oeuvre, place the salmon mixture directly on the potato chips

Makes 16-24

Fried Green Cherry Tomatoes

This year my tomato crop was such a bonanza that we ate tomato-something almost every day!

I am not complaining. Fresh garden tomatoes are among the treasures of the food world.

But it’s getting on in the season, the weather is turning, the Jewish holidays are around the corner and hundreds of those little things will never ripen from green to red in time.

I made some chutney of course.

I like fried green tomatoes in a sandwich but the cherry tomatoes are too small for slicing, coating and frying.

So I tried making them whole.

Yes!

Crunchy outside — and when you bite in, you get spurts of sweet-tart juicy tomato.

Terrific as an hors d’oeuvre. If you have extra, little, green tomatoes, try this:

Fried Green Cherry Tomatoes

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

• lemon juice

• 18-24 small green cherry tomatoes

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 large egg

• 1/4 teaspoon Sriracha or other hot sauce

• 1/2 cup matzo meal or breadcrumbs

• salt, freshly ground black pepper and garlic powder to taste

• vegetable oil

Combine the mayonnaise, basil and a teaspoon or two of lemon juice in a small bowl. Taste and add more lemon juice if desired. Set aside. Wash and dry the tomatoes. Place the flour in a bowl, add the tomatoes and toss them around to coat them completely. Beat the egg and hot sauce together. Immerse the tomatoes into the egg and roll them around to coat each one completely. In a bowl, combine the matzo meal with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Add the egg-coated tomatoes a few at a time and roll them around to coat them completely. Place the coated tomatoes on a cake rack or other surface for at least 20 minutes, to “air dry” slightly. Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan to a depth of about 2-inches. When the oil is hot enough to make a crumb sizzle quickly, add the tomatoes, a few at a time and cook them, turning them occasionally, for 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the tomatoes and set the on paper towels to drain. When all the tomatoes are fried, serve them with the basil mayonnaise.

Makes 6-8 servings

Zucchini Bread

When we were first married, Ed promised me 50 years. That was in 1969. We were young and 50 years seemed like a REALLY REALLY long time.

Grandparent stuff.

But here we are. A few months short of 50.

Wasn’t it yesterday that I fit into that long white dress?

We wanted to celebrate with two other couples, all close friends, who are also at 50.

But we didn’t want to have a big party. Not even an intimate dinner party for six. Although those are lovely, it seemed like the same-old, same-old. 50 years deserved something special.

So we decided to have a 150th Anniversary Afternoon Tea.

It was festive, fun and celebratory.

We started with champagne and tea sandwiches.

Then: scones, clotted cream and jams.

Finally, dessert: several kinds of cookies, Lemon Buttermilk Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake and this: Zucchini Bread, (made with zucchinis from my garden!).

Just us 6. It was a good day.

We all talked about how amazing it is at how quickly 50 years go by.

Zucchini Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup applesauce

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups grated fresh zucchini

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan. Place the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk the ingredients until they are evenly distributed. Place the brown sugar, sugar, eggs, applesauce and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a hand mixer) and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in the zucchini. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 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 15 minutes. Invert the muffins onto the rack to cool completely.

Makes one loaf

Blueberry Yogurt Torte

You know that famous Plum Torte so many of us bake for Rosh Hashanah? I decided to use it for a light, summery coffee cake.

Sort of. I replaced the plums (not yet available anyway) with fresh seasonal blueberries.

I gave it a bit of enrichment by adding some yogurt (dairy sour cream would be fine too) and a splash of orange (by way of peel) because the citrus pairs so well with blueberries.

Voila! A terrific, easy, more-appropriate-for-summer dessert. July 4th? Sure. Picnic? Sure. Any time at all.

Blueberry Yogurt Torte

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup plus one teaspoon sugar

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup unflavored yogurt

• 1 pint blueberries

• lemon juice (about one tablespoon)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1/2 cup sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until creamy and well blended. Mix the flour, orange peel, salt, baking powder and baking soda and mix briefly to blend ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat for a minute or two at medium speed until a thick batter has formed. Add the eggs and yogurt and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Spoon the batter into the prepared springform pan. Arrange the berries on top of the cake, pressing them slightly into the batter. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of sugar. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until browned, set and crispy. Let cool.

Makes 8 servings

Matbucha

Spring has sprung and for me, that means more salad.

So I got to thinking about that word salad, which I realize means so many things that I was never able to fit all of my salad recipes into a file folder simply marked “salad.” I had to sub-categorize them into files such as “grain salads,” “tomato salads,” “fruit salads” and so on.

Over the years I’ve made salads of all sorts. Some based mostly on greens and some that had no greens at all.

I’ve made beet salads, dinner salads, fish salads and quinoa salads.

I could go on. But really, there is no one way to describe “salad,” even though a dictionary might say something like “a mixture of raw and cooked vegetables served with dressing.”

No.

Because recently I prepared some Matbucha, which is an entirely different salad category.

Matbucha is a “salade cuit” — that is, “cooked salad.” In fact the word Matbucha, is an Arabic word that means “cooked salad".”

Cooked salad may seem odd to Western thinking except for the fact that most of us actually eat lots of cooked salads, such as potato salad and egg salad too. We just don’t think of them as “cooked salads,” but that’s what they are.

Matbucha is a Moroccan dish, especially popular in the Moroccan Jewish community, which was once large and thriving in North Africa. When good numbers of Moroccan Jews migrated to Israel, they brought their love of this dish with them and it is now wildly popular in Israel too.

For good reason: Matbucha is vibrantly tasty, easy to cook and is ideal for Shabbat because, even though it’s cooked, you can serve it at room temperature. Use it as a salad course or as a side dish with dinner. I’ve always served it with hors d’oeuvre, as a topping for crackers or pita wedges (it works well with other Middle Eastern nibbles and dips such as hummus, raheb, baba ghanoush and so on).

You can make Matbucha 3-4 days ahead. That’s handy isn’t it?

Matbucha

• 2 large red bell peppers

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 serrano pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 6 medium tomatoes peeled and finely chopped

• 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Preheat the broiler. Place the peppers under the broiler, about 4-6" away from the heat, and broil for 2-3 minutes, until the skin has blistered. Turn the peppers and repeat this process until the entire surface is blistered and lightly charred. Remove the peppers and place them in a paper bag. Let rest at least 10 minutes. Remove the peppers from the bag, peel off the skin and discard the stem and the seeds. Cut the peppers into pieces. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the peppers, serrano pepper and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, paprika, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook for 30-35 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick.

 Makes 1-1/2 to 2 cups

More Chicken Wings: Maple-Mustard

In our family we don’t wait for Superbowl Sunday to feast on chicken wings. We eat them throughout the year, often.

In fact, I have an enormous file folder filled with recipes, maybe almost as many recipes for wings as for banana bread (and as everyone who reads this blog knows, I have a lot of recipes for banana bread!).

Here’s one of the latest versions. Eat anytime. Don’t wait.

Grilled Maple-Mustard Chicken Wings

• 2 pounds chicken wings, separated into pieces

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons chopped chives or scallion

• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• salt to taste

Preheat an outdoor grill or oven broiler. Wash and dry the wings and cut them into separate pieces. Brush with olive oil and grill, turning once, for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. While the wings are cooking, mix the maple syrup, mustard, chives, cider vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, cayenne pepper and salt to taste until well blended. Brush this glaze on the wings and cook for another 10-12 minutes, turning the wings occasionally and brushing with remaining glaze, until crispy and fully cooked.

Makes about 24