Jewish Holidays

Lawry’s Day Before Beef Brisket

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Submitted by Julie Lichtenberg Stern, who got it from her friend Linda Hahn, who got it from from Lawry’s The Great California Lifestyle Cookbook.

  • 1 Tablespoon liquid smoke
  • Seasoned salt
  • Garlic powder
  • 6-7 lb. brisket of beef, unseasoned
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1-1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons dry mustard

Rub liquid smoke, seasoned salt, and garlic powder on both sides of meat. Place in baking dish, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and refrigerate for at least eight hours (I skip this step). Add onion, re-cover and bake in 325 degree oven for two hours. Cool and slice in ¼ inch thick slices. Combine remaining ingredients and heat. Pour sauce over meat slices. Re-cover and refrigerate for four hours or overnight (I skip this step, too). Bake in a 325 degree oven for one hour to heat through.

Makes 8-10 servings

Heidi’s Famous Hamantaschen

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From Heidi Press

  • 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons half-and-half
  • 1/2 cup margarine
  • 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
  • Filling of your choice – For fillings check out the Solo brand, especially for prune, poppy seed and apricot.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix and sift flour, baking powder and salt.  Cream together margarine and sugar. Add egg.  Add dry ingredients alternately with half-and-half.  Add vanilla.

If possible, it’s helpful to chill the dough for about 20 minutes before rolling it out.

Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into 2-inch rounds.  Fill with about 1/2 teaspoon of filling and draw up sides to form a triangle.

Bake at 350 until lightly browned on bottom and light on top, about 8 minutes.  (See doneness note below.)  Wait about 2 minutes until hamantaschen harden a bit before removing them from cookie sheet.  Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe is for the cookie dough style of Hamantaschen.  Since ovens are different, you may need to bake for 8 minutes, check for doneness, then add more time.

Potato Latkes

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  • 10 medium potatoes
  • 2 medium onions
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup flour
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Vegetable oil

Peel the potatoes if the skin is very coarse; otherwise, just clean them well. If peeled, keep them in cold water until ready to prepare the latkes.

Beat the eggs.

Using a food processor with a chopping blade, finely chop the onions. Place chopped onions in a large bowl.

Using the fine grating blade, process the potatoes, putting grated potatoes in the bowl with the onions. Add eggs and flour. Sprinkle salt over the whole mess. Mix well.

Heat about 3/4” of oil in a frying pan. We use an electric frying pan set at 350°. Drop potato mixture into oil. Depending on what size you want your latkes to be, you can use 1 – 3 tablespoons of mixture per blob. Fry the latkes, turning once. When they are golden and crisp on both sides, drain on paper towels. Serve with yogurt, sour cream, sugar and/or applesauce.

Latkes may be frozen! After making them, place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer. After they are frozen, they can be placed in a plastic bag. When ready to serve, place (on a cookie sheet) in a 450° oven for several minutes. This is the best way to make them ahead, as they do not keep well in the refrigerator.

Serves 8-10

Denise’s Brisket

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Submitted by Denise Levenson

  • 1 Flat-cut Beef Brisket (2-5lbs.)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Ketchup
  • 3 heaping Tablespoons of Red Horseradish
  • 2 to 3 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce or Maggis’s
  • Granulated Garlic
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Onion
  • 1/3 cup water

Option 2:

Mix in a large measuring cup: Ketchup, red horse radish, soy sauce stir or mix with a fork

Prep Brisket: Season Brisket with granulated garlic, sea salt or kosher salt, pepper.

Put ketchup mixture on brisket and spread to cover whole brisket, cut up onion and spread around brisket add 1/3 cup of water

Cover with foil, place in 350° oven for 2 to 3.5 hrs… depend on size of the brisket.

Slice brisket on an angle place back in pan or serving dish (Pyrex) and pour gravy over top of meat and serve.

You can do this ahead of time and reheat when dinner is served. Cover with foil

Option 1:

Prepare Brisket as above

Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 4 hrs before cooking, I like this method better for myself.

Cook as instructed. When cook time is done slice brisket,place it in serving dish cover with the gravy. Put foil back on and leave 1 hr in oven prior to serving. This give the juice time to meld into the meat..Yummy

Whole Wheat Challah

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From Sarah Chisholm

  • 1 package dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 2 eggs (+ yolk for egg wash)
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 Tbs. oil
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 4+ cups flour (I use 1/3 whole wheat flour +the rest unbleached white)
  • ½ cup raisins
  1. Dissolve yeast in warm (approx. 110 degrees) water.  Put in a pinch of sugar to proof the yeast.  Let it sit about 10 min.  If the yeasty water isn’t foamy, pitch it and start over with a fresh/new pack.
  2. Beat eggs with salt, oil and honey, then mix in yeast water.  Set aside.
  3. Put flour in large bowl (kitchenaid mixers work great for this).  Make a well in center and add liquid.  Stir until it’s almost all worked in.  Knead dough for several minutes.  You can use the dough hook on a mixer too.  You may need to add more flour.  Dough should be elastic and not too sticky.  Be careful not to add too much flour.
  4. Add raisins if you’re making for Rosh Hashanah (or if you just like raisins!!)
  5. Place dough in a large, oiled bowl covered with a clean dish cloth.  Let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.  It should double in size.
  6. Punch dough down (kids LOVE to do this) and knead it some more.
  7. Braiding:
  • Option 1 Fancy Braiding: divide dough in half.  Set one half aside and divide the other half into 2 pieces.  One piece will be about 1/3 of the dough and the other will be about 2/3s.  Take the larger piece and divide it into 3 pieces and make ropes.  Braid the ropes and pinch the ends to seal.  Set the braid on the greased baking sheet.  Take the smaller piece and divide it into 3 pieces and make ropes.  Braid them and pinch the ends.  Place the smaller braid on top of the center of the larger one.  Repeat with second piece.  You will have 2 beautiful large challot.
  • Option 2 Braiding: divide dough into 3 even pieces.  Set 2 aside.  Divide one piece into 3 even pieces and make ropes.  Braid the ropes, pinch ends together and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Repeat with other 2 pieces.  You will have 3 braided challot.
  • Option 3 Rosh Hashanah Challah: Instead of braiding divide dough into 3 even pieces.  Set 2 aside and make a rope about a foot long.  Hold 1 end and wrap the other around it and slightly up to make a spiral round loaf.  Repeat with the other 2 pieces.  You will have 3 loaves for the high holy days.

8.  Let loaves rise in a warm spot, uncovered until doubled in size (1-2 hours).

9.  Brush with egg wash (egg yolk + 1 tsp. of water) to make it shiny and pretty.  You can add poppy or sesame seeds at this point if you like them.

10.  Bake in 375 oven for 20-25 min. depending on size.  They should be a nice golden dark brown on the outside to make sure they are cooked through.  Allow to cool and enjoy!

Note: This really is easier then it looks.  My kids LOVE to help.  They dump in the ingredients, punch down the dough and they are great at making ropes.

Note 2: Dough can rise in fridge over night if you want to start on Thursday.  It will rise MUCH slower in a cold fridge but it will be fine.

B’nai Shalom of Olney Sisterhood Kugel

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  • 1 lb. wide or medium egg noodles
  • 2 Tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
  • 3 large apples, grated OR 1 cup applesauce (much easier!)
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 generous teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar (Or less! See comment below.)
  • raisins (optional)

TOPPING

  • 2/3 cup sugar (Or less! See comment below.)
  • 1 cup corn flake crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 stick margarine or butter, melted

Cook noodles until soft, drain, and cool slightly.  Beat eggs and add to noodles.  Add margarine or butter, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar.  Stir in apples and mix thoroughly.  Pour into a greased 9” x 13” baking dish.

To make topping:  Melt margarine or butter in a bowl.  Add cinnamon and stir until blended.  Ad corn flake crumbs and sugar.  Spread over top of noodles.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

NOTE: I made this for probably the 15th time yesterday. I cut way back on the sugar and it was even better than before! I used 1 cup of sugar in the noodle mixture and 1/2 cup in the topping. Could have cut back the margarine in the topping too now that there is less dry stuff going on.

Brisket #4

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  • · 1 4-pound beef brisket, trimmed
  • · 1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
  • · Kosher salt
  • · Garlic powder
  • · Paprika
  • · ¾ cup Coca Cola
  • · ½ can petite diced tomatoes
  • · ½ cup beef broth
  • · 4 cups shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 300◦.

Rub brisket with onion soup mix, salt, garlic powder and paprika. Place it in a roasting pan, on a rack if desired.

In a small bowl, mix Coca Cola, tomatoes, and beef broth. Pour mixture over brisket, being careful not to disturb too much of the rubbed-on ingredients.

Top with shredded carrots.

Cover with lid or foil. Cook at 300 for 2 hours. Lower heat to 250 and continue to cook for 4 ½ hours more.

Remove from oven. Scrape carrots off meat into pan juices. Remove meat from pan and cool. Wrap meat in foil and refrigerate.

Strain pan liquid, with carrots. Kind of squish carrots against sieve with the back of a spoon to get all the juice into the container. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, skim fat from the top of the refrigerated pan juices. Slice meat against the grain and place in a freezer-worthy container or baking dish. Pour juices over meat.

At this point, you may reheat or freeze to reheat later. We have great luck with freezing this dish.

Serves 8.