Pour Some Sugar (and Cinnamon) on Me

It's true, I want to be Ina Garten. 

While I admire so many celebrity chefs, and while my first love will always be Alice Waters (Fanny at Chez Panisse was the best birthday present I have ever gotten) and my second favorite is former White House Pastry Chef Ann Amernick and my third Paula Deen and my fourth Warren Brown and how could I forget Mark Bittman (ok so I crush a lot) Ina is my true idol.

Did you know that the Barefoot Contessa has her pilot's license, was a White House nuclear policy analyst and used to flip homes in my favorite neighborhoods in DC (Kalorama and Dupont)? Like me she's a Jewish Democrat who loves to entertain and has a home in East Hampton and several cookbooks under her belt. Ok so maybe only half of that is true but I can dream (just like Liz does on 30 Rock). 

Liz Lemon: I'm like that woman on the Food Network whose husband only comes home on the weekends, and spends the rest of the time eating and drinking with her gay friends.
Jack Donaghy: Her name is Barefoot Contessa, Lemon, and you will never be like her, starting with the 'barefoot' part.

I love watching Ina as she cooks for her fabulous friends and her adorable husband Jeffery with her collar popped. But most of all, I love the Contessa because her recipes are always winners. So when Ina told me how to make rugelach, I was all ears. Pour some sugar on me, I can't get enough. 

I gotta go now, Jeffery just pulled into the driveway (and by Jeffery I mean my awesome cousin Emily and by driveway I mean the DC2NY bus). 

Rugelach

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2-pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar plus 9 tablespoons
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup raisins (I used Trader Joe's Golden Berry Blend)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (obviously optional but I am in shock that Ina didn't include this)
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup apricot (or raspberry, I did 2 dozen of each) preserves, pureed in a food processor
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

Directions

Cream the cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the salt, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix until just combined. Dump the dough out onto a well-floured board and roll it into a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, wrap each piece in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

To make the filling, combine 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the raisins (or whatever you are using), chocolate chips, and walnuts.


On a well-floured board, roll each ball of dough into a 9-inch circle. Spread the dough with 2 tablespoons apricot preserves and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the filling. Press the filling lightly into the dough.

Cut the circle into 12 equal wedges—cutting the whole circle in quarters, then each quarter into thirds. This is a great time to get out that pizza cutter you bought and never use. Starting with the wide edge, roll up each wedge. Place the cookies, points tucked under, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or of course a Silpat). Chill for 30 minutes.
 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Brush each cookie with the egg wash. Combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle on the cookies.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

Chicken Soup for Liza

Chicken soup can cure anything. Sick? Hungover? Cold? Pissed because you picked the worst bagel place in New York City to stop at for a nosh before your long journey back to the bagel desert of Washington DC (on that note, just say no to Bagel Maven by Penn Station)? Yes, a thousand times yes. 

I am an avowed chicken soup fanatic. Chicken soup is a year-round staple for me and even though the weather has gotten "warmer" here, there's always an excuse for chicken soup. My excuse today was two-fold, my dear friend Liza has been begging me to walk her through the recipe and my mom has a cold. Since Liza might be my most loyal reader (and definitely my most loyal commenter) and my mother is my favorite person on the planet, I complied.

I am obsessed with the pursuit of pollo perfection. But like challah, I'm not the biggest fan of making the same recipe over and over again. Chicken soup for me is shaped by the seasons, what's in my fridge, and what I forgot to buy at the grocery store. All you really need is chicken, onions, garlic, pepper and parsley, a root veggie or two, a giant pot and the rest is up to you.

Another loyal reader, my good friend Allison (who is not an MOT) told me recently that she liked reading my blog because it made her feel like she had a Jewish grandmother. Allison, I promise you that this recipe will make your apartment smell like your imaginary Jewish grandmother just dropped in for a visit (love you Nini!).

My Favorite Chicken Soup

Adapted from Harriet Roth's Deliciously Healthy Jewish Cooking

Ingredients

1 (5-pound) whole chicken (taking out the liver and gross stuff in the chicken cavity)

4 quarts (give or take) cold water

3 medium onions, peeled, cut in half and cut into slices

1 leek, split lengthwise, washed, and cut into slices

1 parsnip or a Daikon radish, scrubbed, trimmed and cut into circles

5 celery ribs, cut into 2-inch pieces

6 carrots, peeled and cut into circles 1/4" thick

1/2 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley, tied with string (DO NOT USE STRING THAT HAS DYE IN IT. I'm sure you've seen Bridget Jones Diary and seen how that turns out.)

6 peppercorns (or several twists of your pepper grinder)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped (optional)

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed slightly with the back of a knife

1 bay leaf (optional)

Salt to taste

1. Wash the chicken inside and out in cold running water. Place in a large stockpot and cover with enough cold water to cover the entire chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to low and skim off the scum carefully for about 20 minutes, using a perforated flat spoon.

2. Add the onions, leeks, parsnip, celery, carrots, ginger, garlic and bay leaf. Simmer (on low heat), partially covered for 2 hours. 

3. Add the 1/2 bunch parley and the pepper and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes more, or until the chicken is tender. I also like to throw in matzo balls now if I'm making them, so that they have a chance to meld with the flavors of the soup.

4. This is where I break with tradition, call me crazy but I like vegetables and chicken in my chicken soup. The thing I won't stand for however, is bones in my soup. Remove the chicken from the soup using a slotted spoon and let the chicken stand on a cutting board until it's cool enough to cut up. Remove the skin from the chicken and cut up chicken into bit-size pieces. Return chicken to the soup. 

5. Remove peppercorns from the soup using a slotted spoon. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. 

6. Let the soup cool THEN refrigerate. If you just have to eat the soup right away I will not judge you, but trust me when I say that it tastes better the next day. 

7. Remove and discard the fat that has congealed on the top of the soup (I know, gross, but like scooping out bagels* a Jewish girl's gotta do what a Jewish girl's gotta do).

8. If you're ready to serve, bring the soup to simmer and throw in egg noodles (follow directions on the bag, they should be semi-cooked before going into the soup), boiled rice, or whatever you want at your discretion. I think this soup tastes great on it's own, and usually for breakfast with a delicious baguette.

*I've said it before this is not Sushi With My Girls and as such this does not constitute an endorsement of scooping out bagels.

The most amazing hamantashen on the planet (at least until tomorrow's recipe)

Tip of the HAT (get it? Purim pun!) to Gale Gand for this spectacular hamentashen recipe. 

It's like Gale has access to my gustatory archives and has corrected the sins of the many bad hamentashen I've eaten in my lifetime (hello, temple bake sale). Now if only she could erase the sins of the many ugly dresses I wore to many a bat mitzvah party.

While Purim might not start until this weekend, some of my lucky friends might be celebrating early... 

Only change I would make to this recipe is to cut down a bit on the orange juice for the filling unless you don't mind cooking down the contents for a lot longer. Also I ended up with a ton of extra filling, (make sure to measure the apricots after they're chopped rather than before). So be prepared to see a bit of a repeat tomorrow, but hey, who doesn't love an apricot hamentashen?

Chag Semeach Purim!

Hamentaschen

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand

Filling:

• 2 cups finely chopped dried apricots
• 1 1/3 cups orange juice
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/2 orange, zest grated

Dough:

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 orange, zest grated

Equipment:

2 1/2 to 3-inch round cookie cutter (I used a juice glass, works just as well).

Directions:

To make the Filling: Place the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until soft and the liquid is absorbed. Add water, if needed. Let cool.

To make the Dough: Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, egg, egg white, and orange zest. Add it to the processor and pulse to mix, being careful not to over mix. Divide into 2 disks and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to 1/4-inch thick. Cut out 2 1/2 to 3-inch disks. (You can re-roll the scrapes to make more disks.) Place a disk of dough down and place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Pinch the disk in 3 places to form a triangular shape with the filling still showing in the center. They will look like 3 cornered hats. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Continue until all the disks are made.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes (watch carefully, these suckers burn fast) and let cool on favorite cookie rack of your choice.