Hanukkah

Source: "Chocolate Holidays" by Alice Medrich
Yield: 2 dozen 2 1/4-inch cookies

4 large egg whites
3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
3 1/2 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil. Put some water in skillet and bring to low simmer.

2.Combine all ingredients in large heatproof mixing bowl, preferably stainless steel (ingredients heat up faster in stainless steel than in glass). Set bowl in skillet of barely simmering water and stir mixture, scraping bottom to prevent burning, until sticky and hot to touch.

3. Scoop rounded tablespoons of mixture about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly with fingers to resemble miniature potato pancakes.

4. Bake until cookies feel dry on surface and edges and protruding coconut shreds are dark golden brown (despite chocolate color) and interior still looks like melted chocolate, 13 to 15 minutes. Rotate sheets from front to bake and upper to lower about halfway through. Slide parchment paper onto cooling rack. Cool cookies completely before removing from parchment. The cookies are most delicious on day they are baked – the exterior is crisp and chewy and interior soft and moist. Cookies may be stored, airtight, 4 to 5 days.

Source: “Chocolate Holidays" by Alice Medrich
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

15 ounces ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

For frying: Vegetable oil
3/4 cup warm honey

1. Mix ricotta and eggs with fork. Add flour and mix just until incorporated. Add butter, orange zest, salt and chocolate, and stir just until thoroughly combined. Batter may be prepared to this point, covered and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.

2.In wide skillet, heat 1/2 inch oil over medium heat until few drops of batter sizzle vigorously when added to pan. Carefully add rounded tablespoonfuls of batter to hot oil. Do not crowd fritters; they need space to fry properly and to turn. Fry until brown on one side, then turn and fry other side until brown. Transfer fritters to warm platter with fork or tongs (see cook’s note). Repeat until all batter is fried. Serve drizzled with warm honey, or pass honey separately.

Note: Fry fritters up to 2 hours in advance of serving and serve at room temperature, or fry and serve hot or warm. Do not keep fritters in warm oven for long or they will dry and toughen. Just before serving time, or up to 2 hours before, place small ovenproof platter lined with several layers of paper towel or cloth napkin in 200-degree oven.

Source: "Chocolate Holidays" by Alice Medrich
Yield: 6 (3-blintz) servings

For crepes:
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

For frying: Butter or oil

For sauce:
7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup milk, plus extra if needed
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For assembly: 3 large ripe bananas
For frying: Butter
Optional for serving: Sour cream

Procedure:
1. Prepare crepes: Combine eggs, flour, salt, milk and melted butter in blender or food processor. Pulse just until blended. Chill 1 hour or up to 1 day.

2. Heat 6-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Brush lightly with butter. Pour in 2 tablespoons crepe batter and tilt pan immediately to coat entire surface evenly. When crepe is uniformly translucent and surface no longer looks wet, 45 seconds to 1 minute, loosen edges with spatula and invert pan over piece of wax paper. Repeat with remaining batter, buttering pan as necessary. Use crepes immediately, or stack between sheets of wax paper, cover airtight, and refrigerate up to 2 days.

3.Prepare sauce: Mix chocolate, milk, sugar and vanilla in top of double boiler over barely simmering water. Or microwave on medium (50 percent) power, about 2 minutes. Stir frequently until smooth, adding milk as necessary. Use warm sauce immediately or set aside and use cool. Sauce keeps several days in refrigerator. Warm gently before use.

My column on OU's web site features easy latkes for Hanukkah. Click here to read it.

Hanukkah's heart

A family's treasured recipes and rich history meld in a self-published cookbook
December 17, 2000

By CATHY THOMAS
The Orange County Register

The first edition of Judy Bart Kancigor's "Melting Pot Memories" sold out in six weeks in spring 1999. Since then, three more editions have been printed, with a total of more than 2,400 copies sold. There hasn't been any fancy merchandising campaign, simply word of mouth.

At first, she was surprised by brisk sales of her self-published cookbook. I'm not.

Recently, I visited her Fullerton home, seeking Hanukkah recipes. Delectable dishes to celebrate the eight-day Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Temple, the feast of lights that celebrates the small cruse of oil that lighted the Temple's holy lamps for eight days. (This year, Hanukkah begins Dec. 22).

Kancigor shared holiday dishes such as Aunt Hilda's Cherry Chili Chicken, a savory-sweet roast chicken dish with raisins and pitted black cherries (most probably from the '40s), and her incredible potato latkes, with an updated, reduced-fat option.

I got formulas for those mouthwatering specialties, but Kancigor and her captivating book left me with so much more than recipes from relatives.

She has captured the joy, wisdom and nostalgic history of the Rabinowitz family, tracing her grandparents' roots from Slonim (a city in Eastern Europe that is now part of Belarus, formerly Russia and before that, Poland) to suburbia.

Among the recipes, she weaves stories of Ellis Island in the early 1900s, the Great Depression and World War II, as well as recollections of her father, Jan Bart. Bart, a cantor and entertainer in early television, at the time of his death in 1971 had raised more funds for Israeli bonds than had any other performer.