With Purim just two weeks away, it’s time to start planning the holiday’s food component. Of course, there are the classic it-wouldn’t-be-Purim-without-them hamantashen, which I’ll be sharing with you next week, and then there are the traditional food packages we send to friends and family – mishloach manot. But let’s not forget the Purim feast, which typically starts in the late afternoon and continues into the night.

There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to the Purim feast, but challah, wine, meat, and kreplach are pretty standard fare. (Of course, the singing, laughing, Torah thoughts, Purim spirit and good company are the most important part of the meal.) So, what exactly are kreplach? Fried or boiled meat-stuffed dough pockets, often served in chicken soup. If you’ve never tried them – you’re certainly missing out, and this would be a good time to start!

To understand more about kreplach, what they represent, and when else we eat them, check out this great explanation.

If you’re new to making kreplach, or if you want to significantly lessen the time and work involved, you might want to use store-bought dough. When choosing which type of dough to buy (or make), decide first if you want to fry or boil your kreplach.

Boiled kreplach taste best in soup, and fried kreplach are delicious on their own but also hold up in soup. If you’re set on boiled kreplach, use a ravioli type dough. If you’re going for fried, you can use ravioli dough, wonton wrappers, or even puff pastry. Each will come out tasting slightly different, but equally delicious (yes, I’ve done it all three ways!).

If you’re not using prepared dough, I’d suggest making the dough first, allowing it to rest while you prepare the filling, and then cutting out your circles while the meat cools.

Kreplach are usually filled with ground beef or ground chicken. I used beef and added some diced, sautéed sweet potato to give them a lighter, more dimensional flavor. So for the filling you’ll need ground chicken or beef, onions, sweet potatoes, oil, and salt. If you’re not fond of sweet potato, but still want to add a second flavor to your kreplach, try mushrooms, celery, or carrots.

Sautee the diced onion and sweet potato on a medium-low flame for about 20-25 minutes. Add salt to taste. Then crumble in the ground beef and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Lay out your dough circles on parchment paper while the meat mixture cools off a little.

Spoon a small amount of filling onto the center of each round. It’s tempting to use more, but remember – it has to be able to close. If your dough was frozen (as mine was,) make sure it’s completely soft before attempting to seal each krepel (krepel is the singular term for kreplach).

Fold over the top of each circle and press the seams closed. If the dough comes apart, dip your fingers in water and try again. Wetting the dough will help it seal.

To boil the kreplach, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop several kreplach in and boil for 4-5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and let them drain.

To fry the kreplach, heat oil on medium-high. Carefully drop the kreplach into the pan. Fry for 2 minutes on each side, remove and drain on paper towel. The kreplach should be golden brown and crunchy.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 40 dough circles – for boiled kreplach use ravioli dough. For fried use wonton wrappers, ravioli dough, or puff pastry. To make your own dough, try this recipe, or this one.

Filling:

• 1 lb. ground chicken or beef
• 1 large sweet potato, finely diced or grated
• 2 onions, finely diced
• ½ tsp. salt
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Sautee onion and sweet potato in ¼ cup olive oil. Add the salt.
2. Crumble in the ground chicken or beef and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Turn off the fire and let the filling cool.
4. Prepare the dough circles. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each. Seal edges tightly.
5. To boil: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add several kreplach, boil for 5 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon. Continue until all kreplach are cooked.
6. To fry: Heat oil to medium high. Fry several kreplach for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and crunchy. Removed and drain on paper towel. Continue until all kreplach are cooked.

Yields: 40 Kreplach

Note: Freezes well.

Serve in chicken soup, or eat plain. If you want to be left with some kreplach to serve at the Purim feast, keep your family out of the kitchen while you’re making these or they’ll eat them straight out of the frying pan! (Of course, as the cook you get to eat as many as you want.)

Have you ever made kreplach before? Will you be making them for Purim? Do you make your own dough or use prepared? Fry or boil? Plain or with chicken soup? What’s your preferred filling? Leave a comment and let us know.

Make sure to check back for a scrumptious hamantashen recipe next week!

I used to think I lived in the Northeast, but after this week I’m starting to think I might actually live at the North Pole! The kind of bone-shaking cold we’ve been having definitely calls for a hearty meat-and-potatoes type of dish.

I’m not a huge fan of stovetop stews and slow-cooked dishes, so I was looking for a slight twist on the typical winter fare. Corned beef roll-ups seemed like the perfect alternative. It has the meat and potatoes, and even some sweet potato for an extra infusion of flavor.

Although it has several steps, this recipe is actually fairly quick and simple to put together. You’ll need to prepare some mashed potato and mashed sweet potato fillings. Adding enough salt is crucial to this dish, and the glaze adds an important element too.

If you’re already thinking ahead to Purim, consider adding these roll-ups to your menu. You can prepare them in the morning, or even the night before, and refrigerate until right before the meal. Bake immediately before, and serve plated—garnish it correctly and it can have a strong visual appeal.

Ingredients:

• 8 slices of corned beef
• 2 Yukon gold potatoes
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 tbsp. apricot jam/jelly/preserves
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• ⅛ tsp. garlic powder
• 1 egg
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Scallions (optional)

Directions:

1. Sauté diced onion in olive oil and a dash of salt.
2. Chop, boil, drain and mash potatoes.
3. Chop, boil, drain and mash sweet potatoes.
4. Add half the fried onion to the potatoes. Add the other half to the sweet potato. Season both with salt to taste.
5. Beat the egg with a fork, pour half into each mixture, and mash well.
6. Lay out two pieces of corned beef, slightly overlapping.
7. Spoon potato mixture into a narrow vertical column. Do the same with the sweet potato mixture.
8. Roll up the corned beef and place on a baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining corned beef.
9. Mix the soy sauce, garlic and apricot jelly until smooth. Brush over corned beef roll and bake at 350° F for 15–20 minutes. Serve warm.
10. Garnish with fresh scallions (optional).

Of course, you can serve the roll-ups with whatever appeals to you, but if you’re looking for suggestions, consider a simple zucchini soup, fresh green salad and grilled corn on the cob. Invite some friends over—they’ll all be begging for invites back.

What’s your favorite rolled dish? Have you cooked with corned beef before? What would you pair this dish with? Leave a comment and let me know.

Editor’s Note: Please meet Marlene Mamiye of The Jewish Hostess. Marlene has put together a fantastic Tu B’Shevat spread, photographed by Morris Antebi. Truly a feast for the eyes! Thank you, Marlene!

For me, the holiday of Tu B’Shevat always summoned to mind a couple of boring dried fruits on a paper plate given to us as ten-year-old kids in school. It wasn’t really very exciting, and I particularly remember almost breaking a baby tooth as we tried to bite the dried black, hard-as-a-rock carob buxer strip that was touted as a special new fruit by our teachers.

But more recently, as one of the producers of The Sephardic Heritage Museum film project, I had the honor of interviewing over 300 community members, many of whom remember celebrating the exciting holiday of Tu B’Shevat way back in Syria.

I was fascinated to learn that our pandemonium-like holiday of Purim involved for them a mere passing around of Syrian pastries like samboosak and graybeh to their neighbors, but Tu B’Shevat, or “Id Il Jar” (pronounced Eed El Jar—the Holiday of Trees), was the one holiday which children and parents alike truly looked forward to.

Each year, about a month before the holiday, the mothers started sewing velvet drawstring bags which would soon contain exotic fruits that the children had never seen before.

We take our pineapples, watermelons and mangoes for granted nowadays, but I doubt that there were carts in the souk in Aleppo offering these wonderful sweet treats. In fact, I discovered that it would take the adults weeks to seek out and save these fruits to excite the children and keep the memories of the Tu B’Shevat holiday alive.

Upon speaking to one of my Tu B’Shevat bakers, I was surprised to hear that she and her husband have a Tu B’Shevat dessert “Seder” table every year on the eve of the holiday. Her husband reads from a special Tu B’Shevat book, points out the new fruits to his children, and recites the blessings. He tells some Tu B’Shevat stories, and the kids show off the holiday art creations they made at school. As a special treat, my friend and her husband share a pomegranate martini.

Another friend told me about her childhood in Mexico. They’d run into the house on Tu B’Shevat, holding paper bags, excited for the new dried fruits their parents (who were originally from Aleppo) had bought. The parents would call, “Who sees Id Il Jar?” And when the children answered, “We see him!” their parents filled their bags with sweet treats. Inspired by her story, I decided to recreate my own rendition of the bags, below.

Did you ever stop to think that we are similar to the trees? We aim to grow strong, establish rock-solid roots, and bear beautiful fruits that we are proud of—our children, chessed, mitzvot, and our work.

My sister-in-law constantly tells me that I am truly an old soul, and a gnawing ache in my heart propels me to believe that she is right. As The Jewish Hostess, I have planted myself into the awesome job of treasuring the old customs while adding a splash of modern hues and excitement to our holiday ambiance.

Enjoy the exciting jolt of color, new fruits, gorgeous flowers, and Tu B’Shevat cakes baked by our fabulous community bakers. See more pictures, and details about the contributors, here.

Editor’s Note: I’m very excited to introduce you to guest blogger Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn. Her fabulous truffles will win you over, I’m sure. Welcome, Chanie!

This Shabbat, January 26, 2013, Jews around the world will celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the “New Year” for the trees. Traditionally, we celebrate by eating fruits and nuts that are native to the land of Israel (grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates).

Growing up, they’d always give out carob in school, which they called buxer (Yiddish for carob). They were long black pods that were difficult to chew. If you made the effort, you’d be rewarded with a sweet taste. Most of the girls would just throw them away, but I’d always chew away at them. Nowadays, you can find many carob products on the market, including coffee, chocolate, cookies and butters.

When I thought about what to make for Tu B’Shevat, I wanted to use dates and figs, but also incorporate the chocolate flavor of carob. I decided to throw together some dried fruit truffles, or sugarplums. Sugarplums are balls that are made up of dried fruits, nuts and spices. Think of them as a kind of Larabar in the round!

You can make my traditional Tu B’Shevat recipe, or come up with your own combination. To make sugarplums, you’ll need:

• Dried fruit (dates, figs, apricots, prunes, raisins, craisins, cherries, apples)
• Nuts (pecans, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts)
• Seeds, optional (sunflower, pepitas, anise, fennel, caraway)
• Spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, mace, cloves, allspice, sea salt, cocoa, orange zest)
• Sweetener, used to bind the mixture (honey, agave, maple syrup)
• Butters, optional (almond, peanut, carob)
• Extracts, optional (almond, vanilla, rum)
• Alcohol, optional (rum, orange liqueur, chocolate liqueur)
• Toppings (powdered sugar, turbinado sugar, coconut, cocoa, nuts, chocolate, sesame seeds)
• For a healthy boost, add some oats or flax seeds.

Busy In Brooklyn’s Tu B’Shevat Truffles

• 1 cup pitted Medjool dates (about 10)
• 1 cup dried figs (I used 5 Calimyrna and 10 Mission)
• 1 cup raw almonds
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tbsp carob powder*
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• ½ cup turbinado sugar

Method:

Toast almonds in a 350 °F oven until fragrant. Remove pits from dates and add to food processor, along with figs and almonds. Process until finely chopped. Add honey, carob powder, cinnamon and sea salt, and pulse several times until the mixture begins to clump together and pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it is difficult to mix, add to a bowl and incorporate the spices by hand. Roll into bite-size balls and dip into turbinado sugar. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to one month.

*Carob powder is available at health food stores. If you cannot find it, you can use cocoa powder instead.

The first time I heard someone refer to orange soup, I couldn’t quite imagine how it would taste. Soup made from oranges? Wouldn’t that actually be orange juice, or orange compote? Was it served warm?—because the idea of warm oranges just didn’t sit well with me.

But then, at some point (and don’t ask how long it took), I realized that the name referred to the color, not the ingredients. Which is kind of strange, if you think about it. Because we don’t call zucchini soup “green soup,” and we don’t call corn chowder “yellow soup,” and we certainly don’t call mushroom barley soup “gray soup” (mmm . . . sounds appetizing, doesn’t it?).

Despite my initial confusion, I agreed to taste the soup, and it was so good that I had to make my own.

This soup is very simple to make, and it freezes (and reheats) well, too. The root vegetables make it filling, and this soup can really be a full meal in and of itself. I’ve even been known to have a bowl for breakfast.

I used butternut squash, sweet potato, carrots, onion, zucchini and potato. I’d planned to include an acorn squash, but when I tried to cut it open, I suddenly realized why people have all kinds of knives . . . My trusty little kitchen knife just wasn’t up to the job.

Cut all the vegetables into chunks, and put them in a sturdy pot. Add 3½ cups of cold water and some salt. Cook until vegetables are tender—about an hour. Allow the vegetables to cool for an hour or before blending. You can use an immersion blender, or ladle the vegetables (and the liquid) into a regular blender. If you prefer a chunky soup, loosely mash the vegetables with a potato masher. The consistency and taste will definitely be different, but also good.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream for an extra zing.

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 white potato
• 1 large zucchini
• 4 carrots
• 2 onions
• 3½ cups water
• Salt to taste (I used 2 tbsp.)
• Optional: sour cream for garnish

Directions:

1. Cut the vegetables into chunks.
2. Place all ingredients in a strong-bottomed pot.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender (approximately 1 hour).
5. Remove cover of pot, and allow vegetables to cool for at least 1 hour.
6. Blend until smooth.

Yields: 4 servings

Variation 1: Spice it! I prefer this soup plain, but feel free to play around with the flavors. Add some nutmeg and cinnamon to bring out the sweetness. Or, add some pepper and garlic. It’s soup—it’s hard to go wrong!

Variation 2: Change the consistency. Do you prefer a thinner soup? Add an extra cup of water. Like it thicker? Drain some of the liquid before blending the vegetables.

Do you like soup? Which kind? Have you ever eaten soup for breakfast? Leave a comment and let us know!