| Rosh
Hashanah |
|
|
Rosh
Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a time for
reflection and new beginnings. Sweet foods such as
honey, carrots, apples and dried fruits are
served, expressing the wish for a happy, sweet
year ahead. Try my Honey
Apple Cake from
The
Food Processor Bible.
It is always difficult to resist the
special dishes associated with the holidays. When
planning your menu, lighten it up by preparing
more vegetable-based dishes. And when it comes to
poultry, experts agree that it makes very little
difference whether you remove the skin before or
after cooking. Just remove it before it ends up on
your fork - and in your mouth!
Roast
brisket is a traditional holiday favorite, but a 3
1/2 ounce serving (the size of a deck of cards)
can contain up to 16 grams of fat. Buy
a lean, first-cut brisket; second-cut brisket is
full of fat. Roast it a day in advance and
refrigerate it overnight. Trim off the excess fat
and discard the hardened fat from the gravy. Cold
brisket can be sliced thinly, which helps control
portion size. Refrigerate or freeze the brisket
slices until needed. Reheat in the skimmed gravy.
Try
my recipe for
Coke Brisket
from
Healthy
Helpings!
Nutrition
Tip: Prunes are the fruit highest in antioxidants.
*****
For
a healthy holiday dessert, try this fiber-packed Quick Fruit
Compote!
Combine 3 cups of mixed dried
fruits (e.g. prunes, apricots, raisins or dried
cranberries) in a microwave-safe glass bowl.
Add
water or cranberry juice to cover the top of the
fruit by at least 1 inch.
Microwave covered on
high power for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring once or twice.
When cool, refrigerate. The liquid will
become sweeter the longer it stands.
Recipe Suggestions
for Rosh Hashanah
More
Recipes and Hints in these Articles A
is for Apple: A-peel-ing Apple Desserts From
My Healthy Kitchen to Yours
Pan-Pals
Share Favorite High Holiday Recipes over the Miles Gathering
Round the Holiday Table Menu
from the Mavens Offers New Twists for a Sweet New
Year Apples
and Honey bring sweet blessings to the New Year
Recipes
from Gatherings: Creative Kosher Cooking
from our Families to Yours
Three-Coloured
Fish Loaf
Double
Mushroom Chicken
Pecan
Pumpkin Loaf |
| Sukkot |
|
|
Sukkot
celebrates the final gathering of the harvest
before the winter. Meals are served in the Sukkah,
an outdoor structure with a leafy roof partly open
to the sky. The Sukkah symbolizes the temporary
shelters in which our ancestors lived during their
40 years in the desert.
The
agricultural theme is celebrated by eating a
variety of fruits and vegetables. Stuffed
vegetables (cabbage, eggplant, zucchini, peppers)
are served for Sukkot. Kreplach and
kugels,
challah and strudels - these are a few of my favorite things!
|
| Simchat
Torah |
|
|
Shemini
Atzeret and Simchat Torah are the culmination of
the High Holy Days. On Shemini Atzeret, the 8th
day of Sukkot, it is customary to eat in the
Sukkah. On Simchat Torah, we resume eating our
meals indoors. Cabbage
rolls
are often served for Simchat Torah, because their
cylindrical shape symbolizes the shape of the
scrolls of the Torah.
|
| Chanukah |
|
|
When
the days are short and the long, cold nights
descend early, the Festival of Chanukah arrives.
The flickering lights of the Chanukah menorah (chanukiah)
will join the lights of the Shabbos candles. Once
again we recall the miracle that took place over
2,000 years ago, when a small band of Maccabees
were victorious over their enemies, and a little
jar of oil, enough to burn for only one day,
miraculously burned for eight.
In
honour of the miracle which occurred with oil, it
is traditional to eat foods fried in oil. Potato
latkas and sufganiot (Israeli-style doughnuts) are
popular. Dairy dishes are also customary.
Norene
Appeared on CTV Canada AM, helping host Jeff make
latkes. To see the video and the recipe go to: www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/1102429173894_97838219?hub=Recipe
Everyone
Loves Latkes
Chanukah
Delights
Season's
Eatings!
Lighten
up for Chanukah
Tinkering
with Tradition (review of Norene's Healthy
Kitchen from the Montreal Gazette)
No-Fry
Latkas
Smashed
Potato Latkes
Mini
veggie latkes with Smoked Salmon and Tzatziki
Marcy's
Boston Cream Pie Doughnuts (Sufganiyot)
Cream
Cheese-Apricot Tart Levana's
Potato Latkes Olive-Lemon
Chicken Tuna
Fish Patties
Sweet Potato and Zucchini Latkes Braised
Mini Meatballs Cinnamon-Chocolate
Mandelbroit
Here
are some delicious Passover dishes for you and your guests to enjoy!
First a tasty
appetizer - Roasted
Eggplant Spread, Helene's Way
Then
some great desserts!
Diane's
Peach Potato Puffs
Frances
Stopler's Passover Bulkies
Marianne
Kaufmann's Praline Cake
Norene's
Lemon Meringue Clouds
Sharon
Schack's Bon Vivant |
| Purim |
|
|
The
symbolic foods of Purim are connected with Haman and Queen Esther. To avoid
breaking Kosher dietary laws, Queen Esther lived in the palace on a
vegetarian diet. Poppy seeds are symbolic of Queen Esther's three day fast.
When she broke her fast at night, she ate only seeds while she prayed to G-d
to repeal Haman's decree.
Read more
about Purim, Creative
Gift Baskets for Purim and Purim Then
and Now.
Visit
Giora Shimoni's Kosher Food Blog at kosherfood.about.com
|
| Passover |
|
|
During Passover, it is forbidden to
eat "chametz" (leavened products) containing wheat, barley, oats, rye
or spelt. Ashkenazi (European) Jews do not eat "kitniyot" (beans,
peas, lentils, corn, rice or soy products.) Many Sephardic Jews eat legumes and
rice, but only after checking them grain by grain to be sure they contain no
foreign materials. Some Jews will not eat "gebrocks," i.e., foods
containing matzo and its derivatives (cake meal, matzo meal, farfel) that are
combined with liquid. Fresh fruits, herbs and most vegetables are Kosher for
Passover.
For
some reminiscences of Matzo Balls at Passover, read Memories
of Matzo Balls - Chicken Soup for the Bowl!
For
more information, visit All A-Board the
Magical Matzo and Tips for
Passover. Read my review of Olive
Trees and Honey, which provides an outstanding collection of 300 vegetarian dishes
that have been woven together with
cultural and historical details, or Passover
Food Memories from a Food Maven which, in addition to recipes for
Passover, provides an abundance of information of gefilte fish..
For some historical background and great recipes read my feature
articles, Passover Preparations Made Simple
and
Chefs
Select Passover Secrets.
Once the Seders have passed, here are some terrific recipes
that my "Pan-Pals” Share for
Passover Fare. My Pan-Pals also share their Favourite
Vegetarian Passover Recipes.
Here
are some ideas Kid-Friendly
Passover Dishes that are too good to Pass-over!
Here
is an index of many of the recipes on our web site that are suitable
for Passover. Omit spices or products that are not available for Passover. Where
necessary, substitute Passover side dishes.
|
| Shavuot |
|
|
Shavuoth commemorates the
giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai and is also the
Festival of the First Fruits. The synagogue and home are decorated with
flowers, plants and fruits. Dairy foods such as cheesecake and blintzes
(which represent the shape of the Torah) are traditionally served.
|
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noted.
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