Gourmet & Kosher

Purim for me elicits many colorful and joyful memories, but none as strong as the faces of happy children with their mishloach manot, “goodie” baskets traditionally given to friends and family for this holiday. In the Sephardic tradition, the delivery of mishloach manot by children parallels a custom in Chinese culture for Chinese new year; upon receiving their baskets, the recipients shower the lucky curriers with coins!

Depending on your family customs, Purim baskets may contain any number of different things. Halakha dictates that the items given must be portable, and that the package must contain two different types of food. Fruits and nuts are popular items, of course, but, these days, anything goes! Depending on your tradition (or your predisposition for culinary adventures), these mishloach manot can span the spectrum of simple to gourmet, and everything in between. An Ashkenazi must-have is Hamantaschen, filled, triangular cookies, while Sephardim enjoy baklava, Orejas de Haman, and even burekas. While it’s best to fill your baskets with your tried and true family favorites, it’s always fun to add a little zest of something new. Why not give some of these festive, non-traditional items a try?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Amazing Technicolor Dream Cakes

Sweet and Savory Honey Goat Cheese Apple Turnovers 

Meatloaf – is there anything more comforting on a cold winter night? Served with a side of mashed potatoes, perhaps some green beans? At our house we like to make meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers, and sometimes, I think it tastes even better between two slices of a crusty loaf!!

Here are some meatloaf recipes that will leave you salivating and heading to the kitchen to whip some up:

Mini Meat Loaves

Individual Meat Loaves

Herbed Meat Loaf

Turkey Spinach Meatloaf with Tomato Sauce.

Blue Ribbon Meatloaf

Turkey Walnut Mushroom Meatloaf

Sunday Supper Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables

Watch below as Jamie prepares her Barbecued Meatloaf:

Not many people extol the virtues of bluefish, except maybe for sport fishermen, who know that bluefish are fighters and that spotting and reeling one in is like going after Moby Dick.

Few praise the fish as food though. People say it’s too “fishy,” which seems odd, because it is, well, fish.

But hear this folks: bluefish is one of those healthy ones, with plenty of omega-3 fatty acids. AND, it is remarkably CHEAP, which is always a good thing, but especially so in a down economy! Take a look at the prices in your local fish store and see for yourself. I did last week. The bluefish was less than half the price of the others. This one purchase could take a sizable load off your food budget.

Of course you don’t cook something just because it’s healthy or economical. It also has to taste terrific, which bluefish does when it’s cooked properly. I’ve learned quite a bit about how to cook bluefish properly over the years thanks in part to my neighbor’s husband, who goes out occasionally to catch “the blues” and always brings back several filets for me. Then we have a bluefish feast and I get to cook up several new recipes.

It’s true, bluefish isn’t bland. It does have a distinctive flavor. You have to know what to do with it to get the best out of it.

I’ve found that the way to treat bluefish right is to bake, grill or broil it. The flesh is too oily for frying and too soft for poaching.

It’s also the kind of fish that needs bold ingredients that hold their own and don’t let the fish overwhelm them. Like fresh chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, chopped cilantro, sun dried tomatoes, imported olives, orange peel and such. And acidic ingredients that balance the oiliness (lime or lemon juice, vinegar, wine, tomatoes, orange or grapefruit juice and so on).

Sometimes I cook bluefish plain, or with just a sprinkling of salt, pepper and lemon juice, but then serve it with a robustly flavored sauce that enriches and complements the fish’s soft, oily texture. For example, I mix up dairy sour cream or thick, plain Greek style yogurt with ingredients such as Dijon-style mustard, horseradish, crushed pepper, wasabi and so on. It’s easy and takes about two minutes to put together, which you can do while the fish is cooking.

The very first time I made bluefish, it was from my grandmother’s “recipe,” – not ever written down, but the way she made it. I’ve included it here – Grandma’s Baked Bluefish. But I can’t help playing with a formula, so I change recipes all the time. The second baked bluefish recipe is the same when you take a close look. That is, the fish is cooked the same way, it’s just that the ingredients are a little different. Try them both. And if you have any leftovers, make the Bluefish Cakes, which are not only delicious but extra, extra economical. I serve these on toasted buns with mayo spiked with lime juice.

In honor of the holiday of Tu B’Shvat we share with you some of our favorite Tu B’Shvat posts and recipes. Tu B’Shvat starts tonight, February 7 and continues through to sunset tomorrow Feb 8th.

Tu B’Shvat seders are en vogue these days, really! Four cups of wine are also served up, along with foods made from the seven species and other uncommon fruits. A Tu B’Shvat seder is a wonderful way to celebrate this holiday – and you can make your own rules!! Click to read more….

In celebration of the “The New Year for the Trees” , it is customary both to eat and cook with the fruits of nature, literally fruit and nuts, the center of most Tu B’Shvat tables and feasts. This seems, however, to overlook the gifts that the tree itself can provide! The bark of one tree is actually edible, has become commonplace in both its whole and ground forms, and is indispensable in both our sweet and savory culinary creations. Which bark am I referring to? It is cinnamon, the warm, sweet, fragrant and versatile spice which is the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree of the laurel family. Click to read more…

Tu B’Shevat was way ahead of its time.  It is the first Earth Day.  The birthday of the trees.  Although the rituals most closely identified with Tu B’Shevat originated in the 16th century, it is even more relevant today as we try to embrace our role as stewards of the planet. Over the past century, Tu B’Shevat has been closely associated with the environmental movement.  Many celebrate by planting trees in Israel in honor of loved ones and eat foods from  the Seven Species of Israel that are mentioned in the Torah: Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Figs, Pomegranates, Olives and Dates.  Dried carob is also popular. Click to read more…

A breakfast cheese course for Tu B’Shvat is not really that far-fetched. I mean all the food is already prepared so you can serve it up quickly, no cooking involved. Add salad and some great crusty bread and you have an easy brunch ready to go. For Tu Bishvat add some dried fruit, grapes, fig or date jam, and you have an elegant cheese course perfect for the holiday. Click to read more….

Laurie Bellet, an art specialist at Oakland Hebrew Day School, loves when Tu Bishvat rolls around. Besides the dried fruits and nuts, she uses this opportunity to fuse crafting and nature. “Tu Bishvat crafts are a wonderful ways to help kids to get in tune to God and the natural world,” says Bellet. “When you look at a tree, it’s so easy to form a simplistic mental image of it. But really, there are many individual elements to a tree, leaf or flower. It takes real focus to understand the different components.” Click to read more...

Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow this morning and that means, according to popular legend, that we have six more weeks of winter. To help you through the chilly weeks to come I bring you some great soup and stew recipes to warm you up.

Soup:

Italian Vegetable Soup with Cheese Bread

Moroccan Vegetable Soup

Hearty and Heart-Healthy Idaho® Potato Soup/Stew

Baked Potato Soup

Chicken Gumbo Soup

Sweet and Sour Beef Cabbage Soup

Click for more Soup Recipes.

Stew:

Veal Stew with Apricots and Prunes

Southern Brunswick Stew 

Quick Mushroom and White Bean Stew

Hungarian Beef Goulash 

Indian Spiced Eggplant Cauliflower Stew 

Ratatouille La Casablancaise 

Click for more Stew Recipes.

At the beginning of the month we asked you to enter your slow cooker recipes. The editorial team pored over all the submissions and decided which recipes to try out on our families, and out of those recipes, which would be the final two to be voted on. Our finalists are Layer Slow Cooker Kraut and Slow Cooker Taco Soup. Just click on either recipe and find the thumbs up sign and vote.

Tamar’s top pick is the Layer Slow Cooker Kraut  and says: This dish sounded weird to me, but I thought it was different and something fun to try and it was. I would leave the sausage out of the pot and ideally cook on a grill and serve along side the kraut. The long cooking and the tomatoes and sugar do give the kraut a nice taste even for those that don’t usually like it. Serve with some potatoes as the recipe says and your meal is complete.

My top pick is the Slow Cooker Taco Soup. This dish was easy to assemble, and initially I was concerned that there was not enough liquid for it to cook the whole day in the slow cooker. I was proven wrong. This was a hearty soup, a meal in a bowl. I served it as suggested with pareve sour cream as a garnish – it finished it off beautifully. I reduced the amount of green chilis by half because some of the palates in this house are not used to heat, but there was still plenty heat. Serve this with a nice crusty bread and plenty taco chips. This is definitely going on the regular menu here in this house.

In order to vote, click on the recipe highlighted above and find the thumbs up sign and click. The recipe with the most thumbs up signs by 9 am EST Jan 30th 2012 is the winner. Click here for original contest details and prizes.

Click here to browse all of our Slow Cooker and Cholent Recipes.

Good Luck!

My children were driving back from Cape Town to Johannesburg where they had spent a wonderful summer vacation at the sea. I called to ask if there were any special requests for dinner on their return that night (Ok, I’ll admit, it was also an excuse to check they were traveling safe!) and without so much as a pause they replied “Steak pie please”!   In this hot weather? I thought.  Somehow I’d always associated such food with cold winter nights and a fire glowing in the background. “And don’t forget the glazed carrots, creamy mashed potatoes and minty peas” they added.   Well, that certainly proved one thing, no matter what the weather the nurturing, safety and security that comfort food offers is definitely soul satisfaction at it’s best.

Home Steak Home!!

Oy! Clever me, I didn’t discuss dessert with them.  Guess I’ll just have to make another phone call a little later!
For me, comfort food takes me on another kind of journey. One down memory lane, where favourite childhood meals are revisited.   A feel good meal, packed with nostalgia, worth breaking any diet for with absolutely no feelings of guilt!

Steak Pie

If there is one person who can make a steak pie, it’s my friend Leigh. This is a hearty gravy-filled pie with a delicious flavour that always tastes like ‘the good old days’ . When I asked her for the recipe one day, she burst out laughing saying, ‘this is your mother’s recipe that YOU gave to ME!’  It is Nanna’s Homemade Steak Pie and Minted Pea.

Mock Oxtail

Why can’t we get kosher oxtail?  This must be one of the most popular questions facing kosher butcher’s in South Africa and many countries all over the world.    Unfortunately, for kashering reasons,  the tail is probably one of the most difficult parts of the animal to Treiber (de-vein) and during this process it could end up looking a little worse for wear!  Maybe what we’re really missing is the unique flavour of this slow-cooked dish and the way the meat ‘just falls off the bone’!  Hopefully this version of ‘Oxtail‘ will offer all that and more!

Smoked Chicken Pie

Not knowing what lies beneath that lid of golden puff pastry allows pies to be wrapped up in their own mysterious delight.  And this pie is no different in that it is not a boring old chicken and mushroom pie, but a taste sensation all of its own.  Smoked Chicken Mushroom and Leek Pie is the ultimate in comfort.

Last Thursday, the celebrity chefs responsible for feeding the stars at the Golden Globes on January 15th unveiled their dinner menu.  It has taken six months to prepare for this day and will take a team of 40 chefs and 100 kitchen staff members to make the magic happen. This year’s menu is created by executive chefs Suki Sugiura and pastry chef Thomas Henzi is not only elegant and mouth-watering, but also reflects the global nature of the Golden Globes.

Stars at the Golden Globes will enjoy food flown in from around the world and a decadent dessert topped with real gold shavings.  The menu they will enjoy includes the following dishes that a kosher cook can try to make at home:

Appetizer: Pistachio Crusted Pistou Ravioli with Wild Arugula, Smoked Tomato, Kabocha Compote and Burrata

Entree: Miso and Sake Lees Marinated Pacific Sea Bass with Grilled King Oyster Mushroom and Braised Prime Short Rib of Beef with Porcini Pine Nut Herb Ragout

Dessert: Trio of Chocolate Delice Almond Crunch Terrine and Acacia Honey

Here is our idea for a fun and festive Golden Globes dinner party menu (dairy) that is perfect to enjoy while watching the show.

Pumpkin Walnut Ravioli

Miso Glazed Sea Bass

Tiramisu

Winter is comfort food season. There is something about the cold howling wind and long nights that make me crave warm, comforting dishes. On these nights I don’t want an aggressively crunchy salad, or complicated dish with tons of ingredients and steps, I want a dish that warms my heart and soothes my soul.

I have a whole list of sentimental foods that fit the bill. They tend to be something from childhood, easy to digest, soothing and as easy as a pair of fuzzy slippers. They are home-style dishes and not complex “cheffy” recipes.

The great thing about comfort food is that it varies from culture to culture, person to person and day to day and everyone has their own dish compiled from family favorites.

For me, the comfort comes as much from preparing the food and smelling it as it cooks as much as it does from eating the actual dish. There is something very heart-warming about preparing food for myself and my family. No matter what the day has done to me with my crazy job, long drive home from work, traffic jams, winter weather and modern life in general, making a comforting dish heals the soul and invigorates the appetite.

My husband’s favorite birthday dinner is meatloaf! His birthday is in January or “deepest darkest winter” as he calls it, and he craves warm-welcoming comfort food. Dennis is a professional chef and can certainly make or ask me to make anything he wants and meatloaf is at the top of his birthday dinner list.

I like to make individual meatloaves instead of one big loaf and that way, everyone gets their own.   I call it my Loaves of Love.  The other advantage to individual loaves is that if you try to reheat a larger loaf, it tends to dry out. I like to make my meatloaves with ground beef because of the way beef stands up to the bold and tangy ketchup and I guess, it is what I grew up with and is most comforting.

The Meatloaves are glazed with my Homemade Ketchup and served with a mound of Olive Oil and Roasted Garlic Whipped Potatoes .  Making your own ketchup is easy and fast to put together and just a little bit of work will yield ketchup that is tastier and better than any store bought product.

I think I could make Jewish Chicken Soup in my sleep. My mother taught me the recipe and the rules before I could read. I’d stand on a chair and watch her clean the bird (“remember we have to take out all the stuff inside the chicken”). She showed me how to remove leftover pinfeathers, sometimes using a lighted match to burn off tiny hairs and then for a few minutes the kitchen would have an awful organic odor.

But all was forgotten as the soup simmered and the heady perfume of salty broth and sweet dill, meaty chicken and softening vegetables suffused through the house reminding us that a good dinner was on its way.

There is no magic so wonderful or remarkable as a bowl of Jewish Chicken Soup. People joke about its curative powers. But regardless of whether there are any real medicinal properties, there are few foods quite as comforting as this one, especially in the depth of winter when you need a little something to warm you up inside and out.

My Mom was adamant about the dill. She said it made all the difference to the dish, giving it an herbaceous lift that an ingredient such as mild mannered chicken can use. When a cousin married a Jewish woman from Ecuador whose Chicken Soup recipe included a green bell pepper instead of dill my mother was horrified.

She was also insistent on using a large kosher pullet, often difficult to find locally these days, and even when she was still alive, so she began to use the largest broiler-fryer she could find and sometimes a roaster. She insisted on a whole chicken (“much more flavor”) and sneered at a woman she knew who made soup with boneless chicken breasts (“you need to have the bones and skin to make a rich broth”).

I have to say her Chicken Soup was awesome, always a hit, always the first course at Passover (as well as Rosh Hashanah and more Shabbats than I can count).

Interestingly enough my mother always said she didn’t like soup, but as she got older she discovered how very comforting it could be. I’d visit and there she was, in her kitchen, bedecked in an apron, experimenting with new recipes, by now well beyond Jewish Penicillin. She could be simmering a bunch of vegetables in broth or cooking dried beans and peas with a bunch of marrow bones or adding a couple of hunks of fish to tomato chowder. Her house had a welcoming, reassuring smell that I can conjure up even today, many years later, as I try to replicate those soups in my own kitchen using the legacy of her wonderful recipes.  Now I pass them on to you to try.

Chicken Soup

Mom’s Pasta Fagiole

Fish and Tomato Chowder

It was my birthday, and my husband decided to treat me to dinner out at ETC Steakhouse in Teaneck.

Upon our arrival we were greeted with a smile. We didn’t wish to be seated in the place they chose for us – we wanted somewhere a little more private. Our request was granted with the minimum of fuss and delay.

I love that the menu was not long and confusing, and that an explanation of how the steaks are cooked – rare, medium-well etc – was provided.

We ordered the Baby Spinach Salad to start off with, but we decided to share it as the waiter told us it was a large portion. When it was brought out to us they had already split it onto two plates in the kitchen – very accommodating.

I loved the flavor bursts in this salad from the kumquats and the pineapple. The red wine vinaigrette perfectly complemented the blend of red peppers, roasted cauliflower and spinach leaves.

For the main course, I ordered the Three Peppercorn Fillet – with truffled frites, micro greens, marrow, and merlot sauce. Hubby ordered the Rib Steak with onion rings, sautéed mushrooms and onions, with a mustard sauce. These dishes were plated exquisitely. My French fries (frites) were arranged under my steak, the greens on top – it was a work of art. Hubby’s steak was place on top of the sautéed mushrooms, and the onion rings on top of that.

I am a sucker for marrow. I love marrow bones in the cholent, I scoop out the marrow on to a piece of challah, add some salt, and it’s a little taste of heaven. I do not know how Executive Chef Seth Warshaw prepared the marrow on my plate, but it was what I dug into first. I have never tasted such good marrow in my life. It was meaty yet flavorful, and there was something that just made my taste buds want to sing.

My steak was cooked to perfection. The peppercorn rub gave it a little extra bite, but wasn’t overwhelming, as I was concerned it might be. I must apologize to my fellow diners – I do believe there were little moans of pleasure emanating from my table as I ate. Seriously, folks, this was so delicious.

I didn’t eat many of the frites – too much of a good thing -but they were delectable. My husband really enjoyed his steak, the onion rings he said were perfectly done, and the sautéed mushrooms made him close his eyes in delight so he could savor the pleasure alone.

The portions were perfectly sized. I didn’t feel so full that I would never want to eat again. I felt satiated yet I still had room for dessert. We ordered apple pie à la mode. They brought mine to the table with a lit birthday candle on it. Thankfully they did not sing!! I thought it was a lovely touch – and I was grinning from ear to ear. The apple pie was a little disappointing – it was more deconstructed than we thought it would be, but it was still tasty. The ice cream that was served with it – I know it was pareve (non dairy) yet I have never tasted such delicious pareve ice cream in my life. It could easily have passed for dairy.

The wait staff have been impeccably trained. They were attentive, responsive and oh-so-polite! They were dressed well, listened to us, spoke clearly and respectfully, and were willing to do it all took to give us a positive dining experience.

We were very happy also to find that one of our desserts had been comped – wondered if that was a birthday present!!

This restaurant is not a cheap place to go – but it is worth every penny and perfect for a special occasion. Parking is a breeze, though, and free. That rates!

This was the perfect meal to celebrate my birthday – we’ll definitely be returning.

ETC Steakhouse 1409 Palisade Ave., Teaneck; 201-357-5677

Red Meat.  It’s a sign of joy, affluence, and celebration.  We avoid it during times of mourning and turn to it during special occasions, but the age old saying “there’s no celebration without meat and wine” is not always accurate.  I’ve had many a memory of an overcooked steak or goulash meat that sat in a slow cooker for much longer than would be considered healthy.

For years, my realm of red meat was limited to ground beef in spaghetti sauce.   I did not dare roast a brisket or slow cook a London broil for fear of over-cooking and ruining dinner.  As I have grown more adventurous as a cook, and been inspired by others, It turns out that cooking meat isn’t all that difficult at all.  I was lacking the attention to detail and a meat thermometer.

If you’re rolling your eyes and thinking “I don’t need a thermometer”, put your trust in me next time you make a roast, and indulge me.  Either you’ll notice the difference and thank me, or you’ll go back to your previous method and never think of it again.

My first meat thermometer was a gift, and yes, I rolled my eyes.  I figured I didn’t need a gadget to tell me how to cook, it took the fun out of it, it meant I was relinquishing control to a tool.  I got over it, and my food is better for it!  This is the gift of x-ray vision that can be the difference between “medium-rare” and “trash-can”.

When preparing this roast in seasonal ale think about when you are serving the dish.  Is this going to go from crock-pot to table or re-heated for the next day?  If you do plan to re-heat, make sure not to over-do it.  The marinating of the beef in ale gives it a wonderful tenderness and you can keep it in the gravy when re-heating too.  While I used a Trader Joe’s seasonal ale in this dish, any dark beer, Guinness or stout will work just as well.  The dark beers pair nicely with the prunes and pearl onions in this dish for a well rounded flavor.

Now, for the recipe!

Brisket in Seasonal Ale with Winter Fruits

I don’t tend to do much deep-frying in my kitchen. I would rather order foods like French fries in a restaurant than make them myself. But Chanukkah is the exception. During the eight days of chanukkah I break out my pot of oil and my thermometer and start frying up a storm. It is our custom to eat a different fried food each night of the holiday. We of course enjoy the traditional sufganiyot and latkes but I also like to make other fried treats that might not be commonly associated with Chanukkah, like buñuelos (Colombian cheese fritters) and fried wontons.

Banana Fritter

These banana fritters are the perfect quick and easy fried dessert for a weeknight during Chanukkah. I love sufganiot but they are a bit of a project to make. I don’t always have time on a busy day to make the dough and let it rise before rolling, cutting and then frying and filling the doughnuts. I save my sufganiot making for the weekend and stick to quicker recipes, like these fritters, during the week of the holiday when we are all busy. The batter whisks together in just moments, and the fritters are light, fluffy and bursting with fresh banana flavor.

For those who do not want to deal with deep-frying there is another traditional sweet that is ubiquitous at Chanukah and doesn’t require any cooking at all. Chocolate gelt. While it is fun and exciting to eat Chanukkah gelt the first few days of the holiday, I find every year that by the end of the eight days there is leftover gelt sitting around that no one really wants to eat. The chocolate gets nibbled slowly when there is nothing better around for a sweet fix, but much of it just sits in the cabinet until we have to toss it for Passover. These cookies are the perfect solution to that problem (or even a reason to buy extra gelt on purpose). A chewy peanut butter cookie surrounds a center of Chanukkah gelt and peanut butter filling. It is a peanut butter lovers dream.

Happy Chanukkah.

Chanukah is filled with nostalgia, memories of years past, childhood, and of our ancestors. Each house has its own customs and traditions which bring the Mitzvot closer to the heart.

Borrowing from both Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions we opt to have latkes and doughnuts for our Chanukah treat, it’s like having dinner and dessert. A “healthy” meal of fried comfort foods; one week only! I think my kids look forward to this week all year. I try to get everything ready so we can eat while sitting snuggly in the afterglow of the blessings. Each year I ask myself whether to make doughnuts using yeast or a quick raised cake doughnut (one using baking powder or baking soda).

I tend to lean towards an old fashioned yeasty doughnut lofty in stature, with cavernous interior that begs to be filled with creams and jellies. The rising time is always daunting. Will it be ready in time, will the middle be light as a feather or a gooey mess. Yeast is an organic leaven which works slowly and is somewhat unpredictable but can yield a brilliant product with a full flavor. Then there is the cake doughnut, springy and graceful with a solid crumb using baking powder and baking soda which are chemical leaven. These are more dependable but can sometimes leave the taste buds flat and searching for more.

My practical side starts with the “quick” cake doughnut, adding nuts and fruit and other accoutrements to infuse the perfect flavor. Then dropping sticky dough into the hot oil and watching the crust turn golden brown I can’t help but think that the time I took embellishing my recipe could be equal to the time spent on a simple yeast doughnut with one rise. I end up making a big batch of yeast dough and keeping it in the refrigerator for the whole week, pulling out bits of dough to plop into the oil each night.

It’s just a matter of personal taste; my husband prefers the cake doughnut and the kids are ecstatic to be eating any doughnuts. Peering out of frosted windows I admire the soft glow of the Chanukah lights flickering and dancing. I cherish these moments of togetherness. I know that whatever I decide to provide as the perfect Chanukah treat, in years to come it is the laughter that will persist, a reminiscent smell, and the recall of the sweetness of the night.

Enjoy my recipe for Pistachio Apple Cake Doughnuts with a Cherry Jus.

‘Chanukah, Oh Chanukah come light the menorah. Let’s have a party. We’ll all dance the hora.’ You know the rest, but what are we going to do on December 24 and 25 when we’re not ready to peel potatoes again or heat up oil for the latkes one more time? We’ll go out for Chinese, of course. How did this Jewish connection between Chinese food and December 24th get started? Some say that Chinatown in New York City was close to the Lower East Side and the restaurants there were open that night, so the rest is history.

Wonton Soup

You don’t have to go out in the freezing cold in your down coat. Pull out your wok, give it a good dusting, make a few phone calls, invite a few friends and family, and start chopping. Soup calls everyone’s name in the winter, so try Won Ton Soup or Hot and Sour Soup. Egg rolls are another favorite. Fill them with bean sprouts and shredded cabbage, then let the frying begin.

Lemon Chicken

Think about Sweet and Sour Chicken, easy to make ahead, but keep the chicken and sauce separate until you’re ready to serve. For something a bit more tangy, try Lemon Chicken. If you’re cutting down on calories and oil during Chanukah, try Egg Drop Soup, Ground Beef in Lettuce Cups, Mu Shu Chicken, Chinese Chicken Salad, without the chicken or fried vermicelli noodles, but still delicious, and Almond Cookies to round out your meal. Add store-bought fortune cookies. Do an exchange after each has read their own. Make it into a game of ‘Whose fortune do you want?’

Almond Cookies

If your crowd wants a movie, try ‘Freaky Friday’ with Jamie Lee Curtis. Find out what happens when mother and daughter are caught fighting in a Chinese restaurant and get each other’s fortune cookie.