Week of Dec 19, 2016

Personally my family celebrates Hanukkah.  This week I’m going to share some traditional dishes we serve as we celebrate together with family for 8 consecutive days with food, fun, games, stories, laughter and best of all the memories.

This year the first candle of the Menorah is lit on the eve of December 24th.  I am going to share with you what I would cook for the celebration.

Best Roasted Prime Rib

Click here to see how I make mine – Here’s a link to my recipe 

 

Brisket

Sometimes I just cook Brisket, it is actually the traditional meat, but I go back and forth between brisket and prime rib.  I’m in South Texas and we eat brisket often, so it’s a treat to have prime rib and it makes it all more festive and special – Here’s a link to my recipe or you can choose another traditional meat of braised short ribs below.

Braised Short Ribs

I got these handy braising tips from Wolf

How to Do It
  • Prior to braising, food can first be browned – but not cooked through – on the cooktop or under the broiler to add flavor
  • Braise food in a vessel with a tight-fitting lid (even aluminum foil can work) to seal in moisture
  • Braise in the oven so that heat surrounds the vessel during cooking
  • Use a low temperature and long cooking time to tenderize meats and meld flavors
Secrets Braising
  • Add liquid before cooking, but not so much that it covers the food; you’re not boiling
  • You can braise with water, but think in terms of liquids that will add layers of flavors to the dish: stock, wine, even beer
  • Other ways to add layers of flavor include handfuls of herbs or a head of garlic halved crosswise

INGREDIENTS

5 pound bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 2″ pieces               Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper                                           3 tablespoons vegetable oil                                                                         3 medium onions, chopped                                                                           3 medium carrots, peeled, chopped                                                           2 celery stalks, chopped                                                                               3 tablespoons all-purpose flour                                                                   1 tablespoon tomato paste                                                                           2 cups dry red wine (preferably Cabernet Sauvignon)                           10 sprigs flat-leaf parsley                                                                              8 sprigs thyme                                                                                              4 sprigs oregano                                                                                            2 sprigs rosemary                                                                                          2 fresh or dried bay leaves                                                                          1 head of garlic, halved crosswise                                                                4 cups stock (here’s my recipe)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, brown short ribs on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer short ribs to a plate. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons drippings from pot.

Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onions are browned, about 5 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, until well combined and deep red, 2-3 minutes. Stir in wine, then add short ribs with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil; lower heat to medium and simmer until wine is reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Add all herbs to pot along with garlic. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven.

Cook until short ribs are tender, 2-2 1/2 hours. Transfer short ribs to a platter. Strain sauce from pot into a measuring cup. Spoon fat from surface of sauce and discard; season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls over cooked wide egg noodles with sauce spooned over.

WANT TO MAKE IT QUICK?? USE AN INSTAT POT!!

In an Instant Pot, which you can purchase at Wal-Mart, Target, or AMAZON.  I have a 6 QT GOWise brand that I purchased on AMAZON.  It will saute, keep warm, cook soups, meats, and more.  It is also a a slow cooker!  Throw away that crock pot and replace it with one of these, a favorite of mine to use in the kitchen.

I prepped everything first.

As the recipe states you can brown the short ribs on all sides.  I add a few spices at this point and brown  my short ribs in about 4 Tbsp of coconut oil, yep right there in the Instant Pot!

Remove them and set aside, take the flour and tomato paste and add to the Instant Pot now.

At this point I add my liquids and the veggies.  Stir it a bit to incorporate, let it simmer a couple minutes.  Throw in the bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, garlic and oregano.  If you have essential oils like Young Living’s Vitality line you can add a drop of rosemary, thyme and oregano now. (Get yours here)

 Now you can add the browned short ribs back in on top of everything.

I just leave them on top like this:

Place the lid on the pot and lock.  I set the program for meat and choose 45 minutes.  Now let me explain the way an Instant Pot works.  They are an electric pressure cooker and not one like grandma used to have that could explode all over the kitchen so don’t be afraid to use it.  The lid has a lock and you can set it to pressure or steam.  For this meal I use pressure.  It can take 20-30 minutes for the pot to pressure up, so you add that time to the cooking process.  When the 40 minutes of cooking is finished, it needs to pressure down, this also can take up to 30 minutes.  The pressure up and down times mainly depends on the volume inside the pot.  It still beats the oven method at 3 1/2 hours.  They are tender and very flavorful!

I served mine over a bowl of rice! 

 

Potato Latkes

This is a traditional recipe and is usually served with applesauce and sour cream on the side.

INGREDIENTS

1 small onion, peeled and halved

4 large potatoes, peeled

1 egg, lightly whisked

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

⅓ cup olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Sour cream, as needed for serving

Applesauce, as needed for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Place a large, clean kitchen towel on your counter, and place a box grater on top of it. Grate the onion on the coarse section of the grater. Remove the grater, wrap the shredded onion in the towel and squeeze over a large bowl (or your sink) to remove excess moisture. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. If the towel is very damp, open it to a new section or get a fresh towel. Grate the potatoes on the coarse section of the grater over the towel. As you finish each potato, squeeze out the moisture as you did with the onion. Repeat until all the potatoes are grated and squeezed. Transfer to the bowl with the onion. Toss the mixture to combine. (Note: If the mixture still feels wet to the touch, dry it one more time.)

3. Add the egg and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

4. In a large skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat. Working in batches, scoop ⅓ cup of the potato mixture into the hot oil and butter. Use a spatula to flatten slightly. Cook until golden and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes per side

5. Serve immediately, with sour cream and applesauce on the side.

Doughnuts

Doughnuts are a must, the reason being that they are fried in oil. Hannukah is all about the oil that God provided for His people.  When His people took back the temple it had been violated and destroy by pagan practices and idols. They had to clean it out and the temple traditionally was to have oil lamps burning constantly.  

What they found was only enough oil to burn the lamps for one day, but they were amazed that each day there was enough oil to keep them lit.  It took 8 days to make fresh oil, so the Lord provided the oil for 8 days.  This is the reason for the 8 days of lighting candles on the Menorah.  The center candle is to represent the Lord almighty who provides the light for all.

Traditional doughnuts are called sufganiyot, and you can find recipes on line for them.  Personally I have never made them, I just buy doughnuts from a bakery.