Gloria Kobrin's Special Apricot Hamentaschen Filling

These are a family favorite--so simple to make--and yet so much tastier than pre-made jam fillings!

Soak 1 pound of dried apricots in water for 15 minutes before pureeing them in processor with ½ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon almond extract.

Note: For nut allergies, you can substitute a splash of cranberry juice for the almond extract.

How to Shape Hamentachen

Getting to Hamentaschen into their traditional triangular shape is actually much easier than it looks Though it may take some practice to get your cookies as uniform as you would like--enjoy the process! No matter how funny looking your trial runs are, they will still taste delicious!

Sprinkle flour on a flat surface. Divide dough in thirds. Take one portion and roll out until it is about 1/8^th inch thick. Cut into circles with cookie cutter. Place about 1 teaspoon desired filling towards the top of the circle. Fold over the top and two sides to form a triangle. Pinch corners together and place carefully on cookie sheet. Repeat process until all the dough has been used. Combine scraps and roll again to produce a few more hamantaschen. Before baking, seal corners by pinching them together with water.

Gloria Kobrin's Purim Seudah Menu

Purim is one of my favorite holidays. There are no specific religious restrictions or long hours sitting in the synagogue--the only requirements are to hear Megilat Esther, to share gifts of food/Mishloach Manot, give to the poor/Matanot L'evyonim and to have a festive meal/Seudat Purim.

Just like with Thanksgiving, I go all out with Purim every year, which requires a lot of advance planning and prep-work. To give you a heads up, I'm sharing my menu more than a week in advance.

HORS D’OEUVRES

Mushroom Ears

Franks in Blankets

Guacamole. Hummus, chips, olives, carrots

BUFFET IN PANTRY

Roast Turkey with Gravy & Cranberry Sauce

Moussaka—Veggie Moussaka

Short Ribs in Orange-Ginger Hoisin Sauce

Roasted Vegetables: asparagus, beets, peppers, yellow squash

Roasted potatoes and red onions

DESSERT

Hamantaschen

Strawberries

Coffee/Tea

Winter Tomato Soup

This is a great last minute soup for which you should be able to scrape together ingredients from your larder!

Winter Tomato Soup
serves 8-10 people depending upon portion size

Winter Tomato Soup
2 onions. chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 boxes chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
grated peel of 1 large orange
8 cups vegetable broth
1/2-1 cup of orange juice

Saute onions, carrots and celery in olive oil until softened.

Add chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, sugar, orange peel and vegetable broth.

Simmer for about 75 minutes, or until all veggies are very soft.

Cool slightly and puree in a blender or food processor.

Gradually add orange juice to thin soup to desired consistency.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Delicious served hot or cold.

And the Winner of the Hamentaschen Giveaway is...

Because our previous winner has not gotten in touch with us, a new one has been chosen via random.org:

comment # 1 is our new winner!

mindy said...

i would most like to try http://www.kosher.com/KosherBakery/PurimFreshBakedGoods/AssortedRaspberryApricotHamentshen.html thanks for the giveaway minsthins at optonline dot net

February 9, 2010 5:19 PM

Please respond to kosher@appsolutemedia.com with your mailing information within 24 hours or we will choose a new winner.

**Prize Forfeited**Comment #4

Anonymous said...

The one spread I cannot live without is batampte spicy mustard.

Nycole
knycks1@aol.com

February 11, 2010 7:01 PM

Please respond to kosher@appsolutemedia.com with your mailing information within 24 hours or we will choose a new winner.

Last Minute Chicken Dinner--Flavorful & Healthy!

This is a nice, easy recipe for one of those nights when you haven't planned in advance. It's always good to have some flavorful basics in your refrigerator and pantry to add to your protein to make an easy dinner. In this case, onions, garlic, tomato-vegetable juice and Kalamata olives come together to give an exotic feeling to a simple chicken dinner.
Even better? It's easy enough for a weeknight, but festive enough for Shabbat!

Last Minute Chicken Dinner

1 pkg. of 3 skinless chicken breasts and 6 skinless legs (any combo of chicken pieces would work)
1 onion, cut into eighths
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 cups tomato or mixed vegetable juice
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
freshly ground pepper

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place pieces in a single layer in 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan. Scatter onion and garlic over chicken. Pour 2 cups V8 over everything. Use about 3 turns of the pepper mill over the top. Last but not least, scatter about 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives over the chicken. Cover with foil and place in a preheated 375 F. oven. Bake for 45 min. before removing foil. Bake 30 min. more or until chicken is done.
Serve hot with steamed green vegetable and brown rice if desired.

Hamentaschen Giveaway from Kosher.com & Kosher Cookbook!

Having trouble finding all of your kosher ingredients? Kosher.com is an online kosher supermarket which ships anywhere in the US and offers free delivery of kosher groceries to the New York Metro region. To make sure that you are getting the 'kosher-est' of ingredients, they are fully supervised by the Vaad of The Five Towns as well as Rabbi Yaakov Reisman of Agudath Israel of Long Island. Too busy to make your own hamentaschen? They have generously offered to give
away a tin of their chocolate-covered hamentaschen to one of my readers!

To enter:
Go check out the the www.kosher.com site and answer one of these 2 questions with a link back to the the prodcut of your choice on the www.kosher.com site:
1. What's kosher marinade, sauce can you not live without? OR
2. Which kosher.com prepared food would you most like to try?
(Mandatory Entry)

For additional entries: (1 comment per entry)

1.Follow this blog

2.Follow me on twitter @koshercookbook (leave an additional comment with your twitter name) and Retweet on twitter @koshercookbook

3. Digg this post, Stumble this post, Fave on Technorati etc and leave a comment per action

4. 2 entries. Blog about the contest mentioning the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone (linking to www.koshercookbook.net and this blog) and leave an extra comment with a link to your blog posting.

5. Become a public Google friend of my blog.

6. Add me to your networked blogs.

7. Grab my button and add it to your sidebar or blogroll

8. Subscribe via RSS feed.

The hamentaschen contest will run from Monday, 2 - Friday, February 12th with a winner chosen on Monday, February 15th. Winner will be chosen using random.org.

Kicking Off a Kosher Cookbook Super Bowl Party

Nobody in my immediate family has ever truly displayed any interest in watching professional sports--in fact, my children often compete to see who knows least about the sports game at hand. This menu includes a combination of finger foods and tailgater-type eats which will satisfy both those watching the game and the most die-hard non-sports fan!

Guacamole

Hummous

Chips

Pita triangles

Crudites

Sesame chicken fingers

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Franks ‘n Beans

Veggie Franks ‘n Beans

Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Cole Slaw

Chocolate chip cookies

Fruit

Beer and non-alcoholic beer on ice

Soda