Hats off to the talented Erika Sabbagh for producing the most mouth watering collection of gourmet kosher recipes ever! 

Hurry and get your copy of this 300 page gourmet kosher cookbook chock full of 200 kosher recipes for  $36.

A perfect Hanukah gift! contact Erika at erikasabb@aol.com to order your copy!

Erika highly recommends this recipe for pecan pie truffles! These truffles are easy, dairy, and will melt in your mouth! 

Perfect for a Hanukah, Purim,  Mother’s Day, and Shavuot dessert!

Pecan-Pie Truffles From the Brand New “A La Carte” Hatzolah Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 ^1/2 cups toasted pecans, finely chopped
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 7 ounces milk chocolate or dark chocolate
• 25 pecan halves

preparation:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the pecans, graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and salt until well combined. Add the maple syrup, condensed milk, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water; use your hands to blend the ingredients well.

2. Form the mixture into 24 walnut-size balls. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2 hours.

3. In the top of a double boiler or in a medium stainless-steel bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water, melt the chocolate. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip the frozen balls into the melted chocolate, then place on the prepared baking sheet and top each with a pecan half. Let set for 15 minutes, or until firm.

Dear Florence, Thank you for sending in your gorgeous party pics! Its amazing that you made all of the desserts and displayed it all by yourself. It totally looks like you hired a party planner! You are fantastic! Marlene

“Hi Marlene!
I love your blog and I’m always checking in for beautiful inspirations!

I recently had my daughter Giselle’s first birthday party and I thought I would share the results. The theme was princessy with lots of hits of pink and royal purples. I made the cake, matching cookies, cake pops, chocolate lolly pops and macaroons all to coordinate with the theme.

I used mirrors and different shaped glass containers for the display. Martini glasses held pink or purple candies, a large square vase doubled as a biscotti cookie jar, smaller vases held pink and purple chocolate lolly pops while two trifle bowls were filled with homemade french macaroons and berry salad. I tied the tall vases with ribbon to match the tulips, one was dedicated to pink and one to purple. ”

-Florence Habert

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I’m always on the lookout for grilled salmon recipes, and when I came across this sauteed salmon recipe idea from my friends over at kosher.com and Joy of Kosher, I was inspired to put in on my before- the-fast menu .

 Health benefits of wild salmon:

• speeds up your metabolism. This facilitates your sugar absorption rate and can lower your blood sugar level. Which in turn lowers your risk of developing diabetes.
  
• For  shiny hair, bright eyes and healthy skin,  salmon consumption can do provide that as well.
  
• Four ounces of wild salmon gives you a full day’s required amount of Vitamin D. That same amount of salmon also gives you more than half of the B12, niacin and selenium that you need daily. That four ounce serving of salmon gives you almost thirty grams of protein. That’s more than half of the Food and Drug Administration’s recommended daily amount.
  
• salmon is a natural anti-depressant
• Warning: FDA and EPA have  issued a recommendation that pregnant women and young children eat no more than two servings, or 12 ounces, of salmon and other low-mercury fish each week.
  
• Read about mercury in farm raised salmon as opposed to wild salmon HERE

Health benefits of baby spinach:

• A cup of spinach contains a little under 7 calories, almost a gram of fiber, and high levels of vitamins A and C.
• Spinach has tons  of anti-cancer benefits. It has four times the beta carotene of broccoli. Spinach is also an excellent source of folate – an ounce contains nearly 25% of our daily requirement.
• Spinach protects against age-related macular degeneration, a serious eye disease affecting older people.
• Spinach contains folate which has cardiovascular benefits and promotes a healthy pregnancy.
• Note: Spinach is among the 12 foods on which high levels of pesticide residues have been highly detected.  Please consider buying and eating only organically grown spinach.

Wild Salmon Chunks Served on a Bed of Baby Spinach:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons: olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds:salmon fillet, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, veins removed, diced
• 1/2 green, yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded, veins removed, diced
• 1/2 cup:golden raisins
• 1/4 cup:pine nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon:salt
• 1 (10-ounce) package:baby spinach
• 1/2 cup of your favorite homemade vinaigrette.

Preparation:

1. In a 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add salmon, peppers, raisins, pine nuts and salt.
2. Sauté for 7-8 minutes, until salmon is opaque and peppers are tender.
3. Place baby spinach in a salad bowl and spoon warm salmon mixture over spinach.
4. Drizzle balsamic dressing over the salad and serve warm or at room temperature.

Win a free Apron and enter our Shabbat table setting Contest!!!! Click HERE  for details!

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image via here

There’s no need to feel like you will add on extra pounds with this quick  low fat frying recipe. If you follow Chef Adam Mimran’s easy video instructions, the chicken doesn’t have time to absorb the grease so you can crunch without that oily taste. When Adam whipped up a batch of his famous guilt-free fried chicken for my family, it was gone in a flash. For  a great kosher Passover recipe, you can easily substitute matzo meal for the Corn Flake crumbs.

We loved it!

Try it and let me know what you think!

Use Eggplants to create Sicilian Eggplant - Chopped Meat Casserole

by Vivien Hidary

Sicilian eggplants are sweeter and creamier than any other variety of eggplant. My friend Vivien, a gourmet cook, makes sure that this stuffed eggplant dish is on most of her Jewish holiday menus because its a family favorite! It can be prepared in advance, frozen, and baked before serving.

How to Create this Kosher Dish:

- Peel and slice about 4 sicilian eggplants and place on a tray sprayed with Pam.

- Brush a little olive oil on top of the slices.

- Bake on  350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

- Meanwhile, mix equal parts of chopped meat and cooked rice with allspice and salt to make filling.

- When eggplant is done roll each slice around a small mound of filling.

- Arrange in a roaster or Pyrex in rows. Cover with a mixture of water, salt (or chicken consommé) allspice and a drizzle of oil.

- Bake at 350.Bake covered. .

These eggplants are soft and the perfect comfort food . You can also bake them whole and eat with a spoon! Enjoy!

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Leah Koenig’s Sweet and Savory Hammentashen:

“Nothing brings out the baking spirit in me like Purim.  Several weeks before the holiday, I start dreaming up new exciting fillings to spoon onto my cookies before pinching them into the familiar tri-cornered shape recalling Haman’s hat.  Never a fan of mohn (poppy seeds) or artificial cherry pie filling, my hamentashen fillings tend to skew either towards the sweet-tart – things like lemon curd, apricot marmalade or homemade pear and ginger compote (see below for a kosher recipe) – or the all out, hands-down decadent – think spoonfuls of Nutella, or white chocolate chips swirled with raspberry jam.

But a few years ago, while in the midst of one of my pre- Purim daydream sessions, my thoughts drifted from sweet to savory.  What would it taste like, I wondered, if I cut back on sugar in the dough and replaced it with dried herbs?  And what sort of filling combinations might compliment this savory foundation?  After a few excited rounds of testing, tweaking and tasting, I hit the Purim jackpot: a rich, herb-flecked “cookie” encasing a medley of lightly caramelized mushrooms and onion, browned in the oven until golden and unbelievably fragrant (see below for a kosher recipe)

One bite was all it took to know that I’d stumbled on a new annual tradition – for me anyways!  Lest one think that savory hamentashen sounds too unconventional to try, consider the spinach knish, the Middle Eastern bureka or the Italian calzone.  All of these delicious pastries combine dough with meat, vegetables and any number of tasty fillings – so why should the hamentashen be left out of the fun?”

Savory Hamentashen

Directions, Dough:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp dried thyme, basil, oregano, or rosemary
• 2 tbsp milk

Cream butter, egg and sugar. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and herbs together and set aside. Add 1/2 of dry mixture into wet ingredients and combine until smooth. Add milk, then remaining flour mixture, stirring until incorporated. If dough is too sticky at this point, continue adding flour until it is firm enough to withstand being rolled out.

Gently roll out dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a circular cookie cutter or the rim of a wide-mouthed glass and transfer to a baking sheet. Dot each circle with filling (see below).  Pinch corners into triangles. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until delicately browned.

Variation 1: This dough can be used for sweet hamentashen too.  Increase the sugar to 3 Tbs and omit the dried herbs.

Variation 2: If you would like to eat these hamentashen after a meat meal, replace the butter with non-hydrogenated margarine (e.g. Smart Balance) and the milk with soy or almond milk.

Savory Onion and Mushroom Filling

• 3/4 pound mushrooms (white cap or cremini)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• pinch salt
• 1/4 cup dry red wine (optional)

Chop mushrooms and onion into small dice. Heat oil in a large pan or skillet over medium heat and brown onions. Add mushrooms and salt and let cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and about halved in size. Add red wine (if desired) and salt and cook 2-3 minutes, until liquid is dissolved. Let cool before stuffing into hamentashen.

Sweet Pear and Ginger Compote

• 2 bosc pears, chopped
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 1/2 tsp crystallized ginger, chopped

Combine all ingredients in small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring regularly until the pears soften and soak up the fragrant liquid, about 8 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly before using as hamentashen filling.

Happy Purim!

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Whether you spell it Hanukka, Hanuka or Chanuka, holiday memories are kept alive because of the fun that goes into the holiday planning. Help us keep up the inspiration by sharing your pics, ideas, and recipes.  Enjoy this re-post from 201o! 

Send your pics and holiday creative sparks  to marlene@thejewishhostess.com.

Delectable Cupcakes by Rachel Mamiye Dweck!:

“Happy Chanukah Jewish Hostess!
Attached is a pic of my Chanukah I made for a Chanukah party.”:

From “mwygoda”- thanks for the pic!

Thanks Vicki! Gorgeous Cupcakes!

by Vicki Betesh Hoffstein:

Thanks jenharari for these yummy looking cookies!:

“Hi, I hope I can be entered even though I do this professionally.” Cheryl

YES!!!! Check out Cheryl’s website mmdesignsny.com:

by Cheryl Spilzinger

Cookies by Shirley Mamiye:

Check out her baking website HOMEBAKED

by Shirley Mamiye

Dreidel Cake by Esther Chrem:

Check out her delicious website!

www.ECPattycake.com

Patty Cake by Esther Chrem

PattyCake by Esther Chrem

By Rebecca Willis:

“Thank you! Its basically kosher marshmallows with a pretzle stick in the top, and a Hershey kiss on the bottom.  I used frosting to stick the kiss to the bottom.  Then I just used frosting to write the letters on the side. For the platter in the picture, I only wrote one letter on each driedle so the frosting wouldn’t smear.  This year I am setting it up as an activity for the kids to do themselves, which should be a lot of fun!”

Chanukah Treats by the Willis Family

By Magen David Yeshivah third grade girls:

by Meirah, Sarah, Danielle, Lauren, Rivka, and Judy

Chanuka Menorah cake by Alexis Fallas:

Menorah Cake by Alexis Fallas

“I make these cookies every year for hanukah and they are a big hit! there sugar cookies with rolled fondant and decorated with a frosting.”  Beth Cayre

Chanuka cookies by Beth Cayre

Keep sending in your Hanuka cake and cookie pics to marlene@thejewishhostess.com

OR JUST CLICK HERE and win a chance to pick any cookbook !

Browse Below!

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You don’t have to feel like you gained 10 pounds this Hanuka. Try these low fat healthy sweet potato latkes and enjoy every minute of  Hanuka with your kids. Try to sneak in whole wheat pastry flour instead of the white flour and this may become an all year round treat for your family!

My sister in law made  this great latkes version and she found that it worked better on parchment paper rather than tin foil.

No-Fry Latkes with special permission by Norene Gilletz from her fabulous cookbook Healthy Helpings.

Enjoy!

One no-fry latke contains just 1 gram of fat, compared to 2.7 grams for the fried version!

• 1 very large sweet potato,plus 2 Idaho potatoes
• 4 tsp. canola or vegetable oil, divided
• 1 medium onion
• 1 clove garlic, if desired
• 1 tbsp. fresh dill (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 1 egg & 2 egg whites (or 2 eggs),lightly beaten
• 1/4 c. flour (white or whole wheat)
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

*1. Place oven racks on the lowest and middle positions in your oven. Preheat oven to 450°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spray each sheet of parchment paper lightly with non-stick spray, then brush each sheet with 1 tsp. of oil. (This provides a crispy exterior to the latke.)

2. Peel potatoes or scrub them well if you don’t want to peel them. Grate potatoes. (The processor does this quickly.) Transfer them to another bowl. Use the processor to finely mince onion, garlic and dill. Add potatoes, egg, egg whites and remaining 2 tsp. of oil to the processor. Mix using quick on/off turns. Add remaining ingredients and mix briefly. If over-processed, potatoes will be too fine.

3. Drop mixture by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the back of the spoon to form latkes. Bake uncovered at 450°F for 10 minutes, or until bottoms are nicely browned and crispy. Turn latkes over. Transfer pan from the upper rack to the lower rack and vice versa. Bake about 8 to 10 minutes longer, or until brown. Best when served immediately.

*Note: Alternatively, line the pan with parchment paper, such as Chefs Select. Bake uncovered at 425°F for 12 minutes. Ensure the paper does not extend beyond the baking sheet or touch the walls of the oven.

Yield: 2 dozen medium latkes or 6 dozen minis.

Serve with applesauce, low-fat sour cream or yogurt topped with minced lox and chives. Latkes freeze well.

Nutritional Information:

36 calories per medium latke, 1 g fat (0.1 saturated), 9 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, 92 mg sodium, 143 mg potassium, trace iron, <1 g fiber, 10 mg calcium.

NO-FRY IDAHO POTATO LATKES:

Prepare latkes as directed above, but use 4 or 5 medium Idaho potatoes (2 lb./1 kg.). One latke contains 50 calories, 1.3 g fat and 18 mg cholesterol.

Norene Gilletz is a cookbook author and food writer based in Toronto, Canada. Her world revolves around food! For more information about Norene’s kosher cookbooks, visit www.gourmania.com.

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