Hanukkah Recipes

What’s Cooking?

Vegetarian Mousaka Hanukkah Cookies

BY NANI TIBI BY ELISE MEYER

Ingredients

2 eggplants 5 potatoes 2 celery stalks 2 onions 1 can of beans 3 garlic cloves ½ cup chopped parsley 3 tbs olive oil 2 tsp salt 1 tsp cocoa powder ¼ cup oatmeal ½ tsp paprika

The Method

Cut the eggplant to flat slices, spread kosher salt on the slices and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Slice 2 potatoes and deep fry until lightly brown (a little undercooked).

Deep fry the eggplant.

Chop one onion and sauté until soft, add celery keep sautéing until the celery is soft. Crush and chop the garlic and ginger, add them to the pan. Add the beans and crushed tomatoes, one tsp salt, spices, cocoa powder, and oatmeal. Bring to boil, lower the heat, and simmer for one hour and let cool.

Chop the second onion and sauté separately Boil 3 potatoes and mash them together with fried onion and one tsp salt. Use the water of the potatoes to dilute the mashed potato to form a smooth paste.

Layer in this order: fried potatoes, bean mixture, eggplant, bean mixture, eggplant, and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake for one hour at 300 degrees. You may brush egg on top and sprinkle with sliced red onion and raise the heat in the last 10 minutes to 400 degrees to get a crispy look. Today is a great day to make Hanukkah cookies and this is my favorite recipe for rolled, cut, decorated cookies.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

6 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 2 cups sugar 2 cups butter (4 sticks) 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla

The Method

Cream sugar and butter until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and extracts. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and add to butter mixture. Mix well.

Put a handful of the freshly made dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll to 1/8 inch thickness. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Stack sheets of dough and parchment paper on a cookie sheet and refrigerate. When firm, peel off the top sheet, cut dough as desired, and Ugit ut odis conse et et aut aut aut lantiaectis reperumquis seque imus, sunt, quis molupta velland place onto parchment lined baking sheets. icianis dunt aut. Gia placcatio ma volore omni. Gather up the scraps, sandwich in parchment again, reroll, and refrigerate. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until the cookies just start to turn a light tan on the edges. Remove cookies on parchment to rack or marble to cool for a couple minutes before carefully moving onto racks to cool thoroughly before decorating. Dough can be made ahead, and wrapped well and stored in the freezer for a month.

Royal Icing

Ingredients

3 tbs meringue powder 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar 6-7 tbs water

The Method

Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7 to 10 minutes, or until icing forms peaks. Tip: Keep icing covered with a wet kitchen towel at all times. Icing can dry out quickly. Divide into bowls and tint as desired, or put in a piping bag. They are practically perfect in every way.