There'll be no potato latkes on my Hanukkah table this year. Yes, I know they're traditional -- my mother made them every Hanukkah when I was growing up. I've also prepared them for my children in years gone by, along ...
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Total time: 45 minutes, plus soaking time for the bulgur | Serves 6 to 8
Note: Bulgur can be found at cooking supply stores, as well as at select well-stocked markets. Pomegranate concentrate can be found at Middle Eastern stores and select well-stocked markets.
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley leaves (or half parsley, half cilantro), plus extra for garnish (optional)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 green onion, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose white or whole wheat flour
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup pomegranate concentrate
1/3 cup maple or agave syrup
3 tablespoons olive oil, for frying
Step 1Place the bulgur in a bowl and pour over 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and set aside until completely tender and the water is absorbed, about 1 hour (the bulgur also can be soaked the night before in a covered bowl). Fluff with a fork.
Step 2Add the parsley, pine nuts, red onion and green onion and mix well with a fork. Mix in the egg and flour and knead the mixture with one hand until it sticks together easily. Season with salt and pepper. Add an additional tablespoon or two of flour if necessary and knead well.
Step 3Put a bowl of cold water near the work surface. Dip your hands in the water, take a bit of the mixture and roll it between your hands to form a ball about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Flatten into a 2-inch patty. Repeat with the rest of the mixture and place the shaped patties on a piece of parchment paper. This makes about 1 1/2 dozen latkes. (They may be prepared in advance: Cover uncooked latkes with plastic wrap and chill. Remove from refrigerator 10 minutes before frying.)
Step 4Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat and add the latkes (you may have to do this in 2 batches). Fry on both sides till golden brown, about 2 minutes per side, raising the heat to medium and adding an additional teaspoon of olive oil if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish.
Step 5Make the pomegranate sauce: Place the remaining one-third cup water, pomegranate concentrate and maple syrup into a screw-top jar and shake. Bring to a boil in the same frying pan in which the latkes were cooked, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and continue to cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately with the latkes, topped with additional parsley or cilantro if desired.
There'll be no potato latkes on my Hanukkah table this year. Yes, I know they're traditional -- my mother made them every Hanukkah when I was growing up. I've also prepared them for my children in years gone by, along with sufganiyot, an Israelified version of the jelly doughnut.
But this year I'm in the mood for something completely different, so I'm taking inspiration for my holiday meal from the Maccabees and combining it with a lesser-known Hanukkah custom of eating dairy foods.
In case you've forgotten, Hanukkah commemorates the time around 165 B.C. when the Syrian-Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes captured the ancient land of Israel, plundered and defiled the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and ordered Jews to give up their religion and assimilate to a Greek way of life.
Some Jews capitulated. Others chose to die rather than submit. But up in the hills not far from Jerusalem, an intrepid band of guerrilla warriors known as the Maccabees fought for religious freedom and succeeded in beating Antiochus' numerically superior forces.
But when they wanted to rekindle the golden seven-branched Menorah that stood in the Holy Temple, the Maccabees discovered they had only one small cruet of purified olive oil with the high priest's stamp, enough to last a single day. Yet, a miracle occurred and the oil lamp burned for eight whole days -- just enough time to bring freshly pressed extra-virgin olive oil to the temple in Jerusalem.
Recently, another lesser-known Hanukkah story caught my eye. Based on an ancient book named after the heroine Judith, it is a story that is retold in several versions, one of which claims to have occurred during the Maccabean revolt.
Here's how it goes: An attractive, noble newly widowed Judith lived in the Judean town of Bethulia, which came under siege by Holofernes, a cruel Syrian-Greek general with a large army. Using her feminine wiles, Judith fed Holofernes her homemade goat cheese and intoxicated him with undiluted wine until he was dead drunk. And then she cut off his head, causing his troops to run, thereby saving her town from destruction.
And though over the centuries in the diaspora, this miracle of the oil was committed to culinary memory and translated into a Hanukkah tradition of oil-fried dishes, the moxie of our heroine Judith was almost forgotten, until a 16th century rabbi named Moses Isserles suggested we honor her memory by adding cheese to our holiday meal. I'm for it.
Now to the menu: Although the Maccabees never left any recipes, as a part-time culinary sleuth, I'm sure that their mobile pantry included native foodstuffs such as bulgur, lentils and barley, harvested in the previous spring and easily stored. I'll definitely be using those. And I won't forget the cheese.
First, to honor the latke tradition, I'll be making mini-latkes from bulgur to fulfill the custom of frying in olive oil. These delicious little latkes, flavored with chopped nuts and onions, can be served as an appetizer or side dish with sweet-and-sour pomegranate sauce or a tahini sauce.
Next, for my lentil and barley main course, I'll use one of my all-time favorite recipes, and serve it with little bowls of crumbled goat feta cheese and olives on the side.
And of course, I'll include a salad, symbolic of the wild greens that dot the hills of Jerusalem after the winter rains. I'm pretty sure the Maccabees munched on those as well.
For dessert, I'll be serving faux sufganiyot based on a buttery choux-pastry dough that includes a blend of whole wheat and white flours to make up more than a dozen bet-you-can't-eat-just-one pastries, baked rather than fried and topped with a modern-day chocolate-espresso sauce and pistachios.
The Maccabees weren't lucky enough to have chocolate, but we are.