Purim Confessions – Win an “Oh Nuts” Gift Basket!!
So I don’t really like hamantashen – but don’t worry, that’s not my confession of the week. My real secret is that …drum roll… I have yet to master making hamantashen. In fact, I have almost given up on it.
I am not sure which came first – my dislike of this particular pastry, or my failure to bake a decent batch. I have been delicately and creatively avoiding the need to make them all these years after my one failed attempt. Yet, if you can believe it, I only tried once. One Purim I tried a recipe from a very reputable cookbook that shall remain nameless. It was not a very good dough, even after two tries, and the taste was worse than the stuff from the bakery, so I just gave up.
But this year, my daughter came home with a soft, sweet, jumbo hamantash that she made with her classmates and teachers in Pre-1A, and I’m thinking – I can do this, I can and I am committed to success! (At least, I’m praying that it won’t turn out too bad.)
My oven mitts are on and I’m coming out swinging! If teacher’s recipe doesn’t yield the perfect homie (that’s Jamie slang for hamantashen – because the darn word is just too hard to spell and too long to say), I’ll go to the many great recipes for homies on this site. (I’m thinking of trying Galiah’s Lemon Meringue Hamantashen – much more suited to my taste buds). It’s time to overcome my fear.
I have a sneaking suspicion there are some special tricks that can help ensure a successful outcome. So, I’m humbly asking for your help. I want to be in the Happy Mommy Baking Hamantashen with Her Children Club. Please share your secrets so I can join.
CONTEST!!! I have a lovely gift basket from Oh Nuts! to give away to one lucky reader. Oh Nuts! makes the most incredible chocolates and candies and have divine hamantaschen too! Gift baskets are not just for Purim – you can enjoy these delectable delights all year round or share the love and send to a friend! How can you be the one to win it? Leave me a comment describing the one KOSHER dish that you are afraid to make and why. Alternatively, leave me a hamantash baking tip to help me make my endeavor successful. [Contest open to US Residents only. Contest closes Wednesday March 23rd at 9 am. Winner will be picked at random from qualifying entries]
As always, many thanks in advance for your help!
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About jamie geller
Jamie Geller is a bestselling author of the wildly successful QUICK & KOSHER cookbook...
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I have tried making duck a few times, and it always comes out tasting like tough chicken. But I think I can live a full life without duck, so giving up on trying it again is not too difficult.
Souffle – scared it wont rise or it will fall!
Roast. We literally only eat meat on Yomim Tovim (Shabbos is chicken), so I always want to make it delicious, but it can be so easy to overcook or undercook.
thick steak on the grill. i like my meat medium rare but always do the outside to well done. i guess try some extra sugar in hamantashen dough to make them sweeter and not too doughy
A number of years ago I made a dish of cipollini onions in a roasted tomato coulis. Sounds great, right?
I’m afraid to ever try it again because the recipe required me to: 1) literally, use every pan I had in the apartment; 2) be hands-on at each step of the 3 HOUR process of creating this dish; and 3) the end result was, well, rather “blah”. I even tried “saving” it with a splash of balsamic vinegar, but no, the end result was little more than onions in tomato sauce. Wasn’t worth the pain/effort required.
food dish- bread is an iffy with me- not always the best tasting -
dinner meal that turned ut horriblly wrong rack of lamb
Pound cake – I’ve tried a few times with failure after failure. Expensive too.
I can so relate to your fear of making hamentashen. I too failed the first time. The dough was incredibly hard to work with and the taste was – well there was no taste. And they looked gross.
But I decided to try it again and was so uptight about it I chased everyone out of the house so I wouldn’t be distracted. Then I chose a rugelach dough from Faye Levy’s 1000 Jewish Recipes and the dough was wonderful. Tender, easy to use and so delicious. I wound up making about 5 batches for my crew.
Now it is my goto recipe….
Another good one is something called Working Woman’s Hamentashen. It uses a cake mix and only about 2 additional ingredients. My daughter loves this recipe because of its ease. The taste is pretty good for something so quick.
I would love to be able to make baklava!
I am afraid to make anything with fresh hot peppers. I am scared of making something too hot, or that i will touch my eyes, etc.
Pie crust that is flaky. Have yet to make one that melts in your mouth. I think it is me because I have tried all kinds of different recipes.
I am afraid to make roasted turkey because the last two times I made it, it was way too dry and a total diaster!
My family loves danish. The several recipes I have tried have not produced delicious danish! I’m not giving up…but it’s SO easy to just buy danish…lol
The dish I am afraid to make is prime rib roast. I love it when others prepare it. But it is so expensive, I would be scared to even attempt it.
Sugar in pie crust is a must.
I’m afraid to make things I don’t like. Hubbs brought home some liver and I looked at him like he was from Mars. (Well they are ya know)
I am terrified to make Souffle. I’m afraid it will fall and be a catastrophe if I tried to serve it to guests.
I’m afraid to make sushi.
Sorry, I don’t have any hamantash baking tips for you. I’d be glad to be your taste-tester, tho
Thanks for the giveaway.
Jamie, did you ever try the recipe for hamantashin using a yellow cake mix? you just add flour and some other things.
There are two things I am not good at making…one is cheesecake, and the other (even worse) is meat filled kreplach. They come out like rocks, not like my mothers soft and delicious ones. freilichin’ purim!
I am afraid to make hamantashins, because sadly when ever I bake them they end up hard as bricks!
I am afraid to make Souffle because I am sure that it will crack and fall.
I made tongue once. Couldn’t face it again. Eeeuuuuw. It was delicious, though, if I say so myself…
gefilte fish — from scratch
I’ve never tried to make potato kugel because I’m nervous about learning to use (and then clean) my food processor!
Ribbeh – This is a veal dish where a veal pocket is stuffed with ground meat and peas. It is very popular in my husbands sephardic family. But I am so afraid i will ruin a really expensive piece of veal by trying and failing.
Kugel….and my tip? Egg whites on the corners ;0)
I am afraid to make Latkes because they always turn out limp and greasy instead of crisp.
Alicia Webster
5webs@comcast.net
I have been so nervous for years to try to make lemon meringue pie. I love to eat it at restaurants or when other people serve it, but it has yet to make an appearance by the hands of my baking. It is a great dessert; parve, light, sweet, a little tart, has a beautiful presentation. Unfortunately all those parts that make it so beautiful are so daunting – the lemon custard, the meringue (probably my worst fear), and the pie crust…maybe one day, but as for now I am just too scared!
Oh and a trick to hamantashen I saw in a cook book years ago that made such an impression on me — sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on the sides of the hamantashen. If the dough is very moist it should stick, if it is a drier consistency maybe a little beaten egg yolk on the sides. Added a very nice touch.
Another trick is to not overload with filling…we all know what those hamantashen, or moke like haman-squares/circles look like!
I’m afraid to make brisket. I don’t want to be compared to all the greats when I’m still an amateur!
What kind of Jewish cook can I be, since I’m not just afraid, but scared as can be of making Challah!!!!. When I first got married I attempted my own for Rosh Hashana, but not just for us, but for our parents too. I had never baked any bread before and probably should not have attempted Challah. Well I did, they did not rise and I had “Challah Rocks” in many differnt sizes that I could not even think of giving to anyone, especially my new husband !!!!
Tenty years later, I am afraid to attempt it again….
Hamantashen tips: OJ in the dough, don’t overfill your circle, fill with pie filling or fruit butter rather than jelly, pinch tighter than you’ll want your inner triangle to be (they expand in the oven).
I have tried to make a chocolate pie twice. I can’t get it to come out smooth like in the pictures. One succot I made it and served it to my new In Laws and my parents. My dad tried it and said it was “good”. Then I tried it and actually spit it out it was so awful. Fast foward many years and I am afraid to try and make it.
Jamie,
My favorite food Blintzes or Crepes. As a child my mother would make them on special occasions. I have tried many times to make them but somehow I’m not doing something right.
I have to learn how to make these. They can be served savory or sweet. The perfect food.
Good luck with your Hamentashen,
Cheryl
I would like learn how to make potato kugel.
Challah so afraid the bread will flop! tweet @eyewonit
I learned to cook during WWII when shortages of everything were standard and if you ran out of ration stamps you were just out of luck until the next books were issued. I cooked like this for a long time, even when our neighbor took it upon herself to show me how to do kosher but now after raising my family I find I am called upon for every bake sale within 10 miles for grandchildren and charities et al and I now, with no regrets, seek out ready to use products from the freezer and cooler at the market. Saves time and truth be told I have just as good end results and if you tell anyone I will have to shoot you.
I’m afraid of baking Challah…and P’tcha…(it wiggles)
Hamantashen, not so much…
I use:
Flour, margarine, sugar, eggs for dough (tastes like a yummy
cookie dough) — email me for quantities
and then fill w/ Apricot Butter not jam, Prune Butter
and Poppy Seed filling (add some strawberry or raspberry jam
to the poppy so it holds together well and gives it a good flavor too)
Chag Sa’Meach!
Remember to put parchment paper on your baking sheets before placing your unbaked hamentashen on them. This way if your hamentashen leak, you can still peel them off the parchment when they cool. Of course you can always eat your mistakes!
I avoid making my own pie crust -mine comes out to chewy…
By the same token, I make cookie dough hamantashen because you can pat it and not have to be gentle. Years ago, I would have all the Sunday School students come into the kitchen at Shul and we would make cookie dough hamantashen with a variety of fillings that appealed to the students of ages from 4-12. They were all proud to bring home their creations.
Lemon squares- I made them once and they ended up tasting like Lysol. Nobody was able to swallow even one bite!
Make sure the butter is cold and that you do not over mix the dough I always get tough crust if I over work it.
I love apple bundt cakes- when they are made right. Whenever I make it, it never turns out the way I want it to. The bread is so dry and never moist. Its hard to eat.
I suffer from fear of cholent. Also, I am afraid to use my pressure cooker. I will not tell you how long I’ve owned it. It is still in the original carton — untouched.
I am afraid to make my own gefilte fish because I am concerned that it will come out watery and not seasoned correctly.
I would do sushi, GOD BLESS YA’LL
I am afraid to make a rack of lamb. For hammantashen, don’t overwork the dough, chill it for at least two hours before your roll it out, brush with egg before baking, and watch them carefully. Don’t overbake them! Happy purim!
Another fear of Challah here. I have a zillion recipes of ones I’d like to try, but actually doing it is something else entirely.
Potato kugel the way my Savta made it – on the stove in a pan (flipping it part-way through!). When I do it, it comes out delicious but not white enough so I’m the only one who eats it!
I’m another hamentaschen failure! I’ve tried cookie dough and bread dough type recipes, both without success. My 14-yr-old is ashamed of our hamentaschen-less shalach manot
The most frustrating Jewish ethnic food ever has to be kreplach (or wontons since we all know that Chinese food is a Jewish ethnic food). It all starts out good, sauteeing the meat, making the dough and we are all still smiling. Then comes the step that turns the smile upside down: putting the meat in the dough, sealing it and here is the kicker… keeping it closed. After the first few, no one is smiling anymore (my poor husband) and the temptation to throw the dough against the wall and stick the chop meat into a puff pastry dough. Any suggestions how to make this a less frustrating feat?
I make my homentashen at my synagogue with someone else’s wonderful dough. Our Sisterhood sponsors their annual Queen Esther’s Kitchen and for weeks volunteers converge on the kitchen to form and fill the Homentaschen and to make stuffed cabbage. The cabbage is more to my liking. When my daughter *(now a mother of two) was a toddler she used to come with me and “help.” One time we ran out of filling and still had dough. I was allowed to take the excess dough home and we made our own Homentaschen at home with Apricot and Strawberry jam filling. I think I made my own dough a few times, but I do not know which of my many Jewish cookbooks I used for the recipe, but I remember everyone liking it.
I share your apprehensions. Can only tell you not to overwork the dough.
My biggest fear before I got married was cooking. In fact, there’s a great shot of me at my bridal shower holding up a pair of oven mitts and an apron. The caption under it reads “Oooh! Is this a negligee’?” Clueless is putting it mildly. Ten years and a lot of Heavenly help later I’m a fair hand at “heimishe” traditional food, however, there is one devilishly tricky staple that continues to elude my grasp. Not challah, or duck or chollent. Nope. My Achille’s heel is the humble potato kugel. No matter how many times I’ve tried to make it, no matter how many different Cuisinart “S” blades I’ve used or how speedily I’ve transfered the still white potato mush to the baking dish, it always flops. The resultant gray matter looks and tastes more like dishwater than kugel. It kind of makes me think of the Purim story. At the end of the day it’s all in G-d’s hands. Someday the miracle of white, fluffy perfection will take place… in the meantime, I’ll just keep on ordering it out!
I’m kind of afraid to make challah- homemade challah can be amazing when it comes out good, but we’ve also had some pretty bad homemade challah…seems like such a waste of time if it doesn’t come out great!
when making hammentaschen, i start with a sweet cookie dough. when rolling the dough out (after it has been in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour) sprinkle your board with confectioners suger and flour (half and half). it will make a much nicer dough and when you squeeze the corners, they stick! also, i put an egg wash over my finished product before placing in the oven at 375 degrees (NOT 350 as one would do for a cookie). The apricot butter, prune butter (lekvar), raspberry filling, or hazelnut filling only need one half of a teaspoon to be the “right” amount of filling. instead of using a glass upside down to make the cutouts for the hammentaschen, i use a curved cookie cutter (about 2-1/2 inches wide)to make the cutouts thereby making the hammentaschen nicer looking with curved edges. hope you have a “freilach purim!”
Banana pudding – I’m always afraid that I’ll over bake it and it will end up being a cake instead of pudding.
So first of all chicken soup and potato kugel unless my mom spices it cuz when I make those they don’t come out too tasty. Also when I was younger, one of my brother’s did not eat ketchup, salad dressing mustard etc so now I don’t eat those condiments since I grew up not eating them(probably because I thought my bro was cool and was uncool 2 eat those!)So I don’t like making or eating anything with those ingredients including salads and anything with VINEGAR! Also speaking of hamantaschen my dough came out 2 dry and stiff and I had to add oil and flour and water and finally egg did the trick. When I made them I kind of didn’t measure exactly..I mean I measure a lot of flour with a 1/3 C measure. Anyways I tried wetting the hamantaschen but they still opened while baking. Oh well at least they taste good!
Thank you Jamie for this entertaining blog..I love it and try to visit daily! Thank you!
My problem child is Honey Cake, I don’t like it so I don’t eat it, but every recipe I try comes out dry…so I buy it when I need to! Here’s a tip for hamentaschen that started as a mistake. For many years I’ve made Hamentaschen with my neice and when she was 5 (she’s 21 now), she just decided to throw clored jimmies on the dough when I wasn’t looking. When we rolled out the dough the jimmies were blended in. When they bake the jimmies melt in a splash of color. When the time comes it doesn’t matter how the dough tastes, but it looks really pretty!
The recipe I have tried and failed at many times is Struedel dough. My grandmother from Romania (who died over 30 years ago) made the most beautiful struedel dough that was similar to phyllo dough, but better. She left two recipes, but I cannot duplicate either of them. Grandma used to lay white tablecloths on her dining room table and stretch the dough so thin. It never tore and was amazingly beautiful!! She made struedel for only happy occassions like a Bris or my wedding! I am able to make the filling recipe which consists of white raisins, coconut,marascino cherries, and nuts all ground up. My mother has tried the struedel dough, and we both are failures at it. We end up throwing the dough in the garbage after several hours of tryng to master Grandma’s technique. I wish there was someone to show me how to make this recipe successfully as I really think it is an heirloom that should be passed down to my daughters and not lost forever!! Thank you and hava a Freilicha Purim!!
My Hamantaschen baking tip?
Bake with the children!
They’re not the biggest cookie critics. They’ll love how they taste and you’ll be creating memories that last a lifetime, and nothing is sweeter than that!!!
SOUFFLE….I CAN NEVER GET IT TO RISE
I have always been freaked out about the idea of making tongue-even though my husband has asked me many times!
I love potato latkes but I’ve stopped trying to make them from scratch—they never turn out as I remember them from childhood!
I found that the best way to become a great jewish cook was to have watched your mom cook and bake. A little bit of this a little bit of that. No measuring at all. You must feel the dough and that is how you know it is ready. You can never be as great as mom but I have managed to do okay. I was a PUrim bride so to me the best holiday is PUrim with hamantashen the prize. Oh how I wish mom was here to really make the greatest hamantashen. No cook book can do a better job.
I am afraid to cook chicken. I always have my husband make it becuase once I undercooked it and it didn’t end well.
I’m too nervous to make Challah if people will be seeing it. It looks like it was braided by a blind person who used their toes.
I would be scared to make a sweet potato pie, because getting pie crust to turn out well is very difficult for me.
I’d be afraid to try an apple lokshen kugel because I think it would come out looking better than it tasted. But to be honest, that’s not the ONLY kosher dish I’m afraid to make……….. it could be a very long list
kugel following my mom’s recipe always comes out good. however, i’ve tried making her brisket a few times and no matter how closely i follow the recipe, it never comes out as good as her’s.
Any Passover recipe that calls for cornstarch to thicken a gravy. It always comes out lumpy
Any recipe with raw fish. I can’t stand the smell or the feel.
Tongue. Just the thought grosses me out.
Hi! I have tried to make COLESLAW!!! and it never ever comes out like you want to eat it! I buy the packages of ready made cabbage and carrot mix, cut the cabbage myself, all of the above… I am convinced that recipes for coleslaw are leaving something out or whoever makes coleslaw does something different. Any tips, advice.. (A NEW RECIPE) would be appreciated!
I’ve twice tried to make cholent and both attempts were disasters – I’m afraid to try again and stick to cold food only for Shabbat.
For hamantashen – use orange juice in making the dough. It sweetens it up and gives it a great flavor.
Im a well accomplished home cook and baker who is scared to make Gnocchi or Jewish Shlishkes!
I am scared to bake challah, I tried a few times in the past and it was awful, tasted like yeast, now I am terrified to try again. For Hamantashan, I would try not to use too much flour or else the corners don’t stay closed.
I’m afraid to make blini – I have trouble making crepes.
prime rib roast, I just bought one, but now I have to google how to cook it!
Brisket. My mom makes a great one, but mine doesn’t come out as delicious as hers.
i would have to say a souffle. i have just never been brave enough.
Chocolate pie. Love it, want it, can’t do it
Lemon Meringue Pie.. Mom made it, but I haven’t mastered it.
I’m afraid to make Kosher pickles because Im not sure how sour to make them.
I tried to make Smoked beef tongue a few times- turned out like shoe leather.
The Kosher Deli I get this from has it in occasionally.
I am afraid to make hamantashins because I will burn them
i would love to make light and delicious kreplach- but I can’t seem to get the hang of it!
I’m afraid to make a brisket due to what my family will think of my attempt
gefilte fish seems hard to make tasty
I am new to kosher foods so I would say challah bread
crazyred61 at yahoo dot com
Bread! Yeast scares me.
I’m afraid to make kasha varnishkes..I know it’s easy, but not for me..
Ty for the chance to win !! Also following and tweeting as @alongcamemary1..I would love to make baklava! This is a family “fave”..I would be afraid to try and make because i can barely even boil water!! Mary =)
Shared on twitter as @alongcamemary1 and posted on facebook as mary Rodowicz….ty for the chance to win the great gift basket!! Mary =)
Sushi seems impossible!!
I’m afraid to make matza balls! Pathetic, but I can’t seem to get them consistently the same. Some days they’re hard sinkers, sometimes fluffy (the way my family prefers). I dread making them because I never know how they’ll turn out until someone tests one.
A soufflé, i always afraid its going to flop and sink in.
I would say vegtable won ton soup
willdebbie97 at yahoo dot com
Matzo balls are so hard – I am afraid they would sink like rocks and not be luscious, light and fluffy!
I’m afraid to make brisket. I have a few friends that slow cooks it on a BBQ pit thats turns out so tender and juicy. Mine I could put it on the bottom of my shoes.
Roast – mine never turns out. It’s usually burnt and veggies are mush
Making a yeast dough babka. The fillings never come out right no matter what recipe I follow and the dough always has way to much margarine/oil then I would like to use.
When I make my Hamentaschen, I leave the dough in the fridge, only taking out one section at a time to roll out so that it is easier to handle and the dough does not stick.
A Potato Pancake; it seems rather difficult!
Blintzes.
My Mother-in-law’s Apple Cake because it takes her forever. A tip on hamantashen: use some orange juice in the dough, and for filling try prunes, nuts, & dates- yum.
Homemade fudge. I have tried and tried, and failed and failed!
I’m afriad to make challah bread
Scrambled egg whites. I can’t seem them to get to the proper doneness.
I’m afraid to make a kosher turkey. I tried it once and did not know how to deal with the pinfeathers!
Awesome blog and thanks for the giveaway!
Would love, love, LOVE to win this!
=]
Whenever I try to make blintzes, I have problems with the crepes
I love to eat matzo ball soup, but don’t like to make them. My matzo balls tend to be either too hard or too soft. I wish I could make them like my grandma did…
I tried a dish and loved it and have the recipe and tried to make Kosher Moroccan Fish Cakes in Lemon Sauce and mine just never turn out! I have the hardest time cooking fish. Thanks!
Kosher challah as I make terrible bread!
I’m afraid to make duck. I’m unsure how to cook duck. The pictures of duck looks delicious but difficult to make.
i am afraid to make cheesy tuna pie because i feel like i will mess it up
I’m not really afraid to try anything because, hey, we end up with fodder for the blog like our incredible bouncing bread story, however, I am afraid to let the blonde make anything she turns the oven on preheat and it blows up, literally.
I wish I had tips for you but the only one I have is don’t be afraid to fail, after all, practice makes perfect (or at least a good story).
I am scared to make a souffle. My oven hates me. I think it will fall, so I dont even try lol.
itsjustme62613 at gmail.com
I really want to try homemade bread, but the thought makes me nervous
And the winner, by random selection, is Ruchie!! Congratulations and enjoy your treats. Thank you all for sharing your confessions and tips with us.
Now it is time to win some Chobani Greek Yogurt!! http://blog.kosher.com/2011/03/23/health-benefits-of-yogurt-win-chobani-greek-yogurt/
Gefilte fish, I’m afraid to try it, it sounds bad so I ‘m afraid to make it!!!
I dont like making anything with sauces seems I either make them runney or too thick for some reason