Slow Food Fast

Haven’t we just finished one holiday? Are we really ready to rummage through the candles and see if we have enough for tomorrow night? Do I really want to cook or fry anything at all today or tomorrow? I mean, I just got my booster shot and it’s starting to hit home. So I’m feeling a bit wrung out. But yes.

If you’re kind of in the same boat, and you’re also trying to behave a little–not too much–just enough so you won’t be size-challenged for party clothes by the time we hit New Year’s… well, I hear you. My husband and I are actually going to a potluck party for the first night of Chanukah tomorrow, and I’m making spanakopita again–why? because it’s got olive oil but not a ton, I’ve done it a number of times for Chanukah parties in the past several years and now I have it on the brain as Chanukah food. And it tastes good and looks like party food, but it’s a lot easier and quicker than you’d think, and folding fillo is a bit like origami or paper airplanes, which is always fun. And you can do the spinach in the microwave…so. Beats standing over a pan of oil frying latkes while everyone gets impatient–we’ll let our friends do that part since they said they would. And someone else promised a salad, so I’m happy.

If I can just pick my wilting carcass up tomorrow and put it together, and then remember where we put the candles from last year and my much-neglected party clothes (of course, here in California that could just mean a clean pair of jeans, I’d go for that) we can get it to our friends’ and have an actual celebration without too much trouble. Maybe.

I just have to convince myself. I have to convince my husband. Most of all I have to convince my cat that yes, I’m going to bed early tonight and that does not mean she should start poking her nose under my chin and trying to dislodge me just so I’ll pay attention. I used to have a similar problem with my kid, but now she’s grown up, mostly…

So–for anyone who needs a few mostly-fresh Chanukah ideas using olive oil–not too stodgy, and not too oily either–here’s the quick list to date, with a few fractured fairytales mixed in (I was always a fan of Rocky & Bullwinkle on Saturday mornings as a kid, and I just haven’t forgiven Robert deNiro and co. yet for the live-action dud).

But first, a (short, considering it’s me) health hock from your slightly wiped-out host:

—–HOCK—–

Give yourself the immense benefit of living! Get your COVID vaccines and/or boosters asap! A day or so of feeling schvach after getting your shot is nothing compared to being hospitalized or, worse, ending up with a long, hard aftermath that can include Type 1 diabetes, which is on the rise because of the huge spread of this virus. Type 2 may be caused by being a bit zaftig, but Type 1 is an autoimmune reaction to viral infection, and it’s for life. And no we didn’t know that either until my daughter was diagnosed in the wake of H1N1 bird flu 11 years ago. So take it from me, because I’m telling you you DO NOT WANT to try and “immunize” yourself or your kids by catching COVID or any other virus. Step up and get your shots and keep getting them as needed until this is actually over.

—-End hock—-

…and now, the ever-expanding Chanukah food list, which unlike all the newspaper food sections, Kosher.com and so on, actually features a few fresh vegetables here and there. Plus, as promised, a few geschichtes and bubbe meises…

OK, Fried PLUS Dairy for Chanukah

Posted on December 17, 2014 by DebbieN | Edit

Well…I figured out something quick to fry for the first night of Chanukah: slices of panela cheese, a white rubbery fresh cheese that’s almost exactly like halloumi. Only it’s Mexican rather than Greek, so it’s locally abundant.

Lightening up for Hanukkah (aka Chanukah)

Posted on December 16, 2014 by DebbieN | Edit

Tonight’s the first night of Chanukah, and not only haven’t I thought of presents, I haven’t thought of dinner. Here are links to Chanukah-worthy dishes from my previous posts.

Rugelach and the Chanukah Fairy

Posted on December 23, 2012 by DebbieN | Edit

You may be asking what on earth rugelach have to do with Chanukah. However, let me warn you, they’re entirely relevant to the holiday treats vs. self-control dilemma. Old-style rugelach are designed to prevent both tameness and pigging out.

Microwave Tricks: (Passover Haste and) Fresh Apple Sauce (which was actually from last Chanukah and very handy…)

Posted on March 26, 2021 by DebbieN | Edit

(What? no pictures of apples? How could this be?!! Somehow I’ve never taken any during Passover–maybe Tuesday…) I know, I know, it’s already Friday afternoon, Passover starts tomorrow night after sundown, and have I cleaned out my fridge? Have I found the all-important kosher-enough-for-me chocolate and kosher-enough-for-anyone cocoa powder? Um…no. I did just bake the […]

Artichoke-olive spanakopita for a party crowd (the big round pan done easily, vegan without seeming vegan, and taka with a fancy slideshow and everything)

Posted on January 2, 2015 by DebbieN | Edit

If you can’t have feta cheese in your spanakopita, this is definitely a good way to go. And making a big festive round tray is a lot easier than it looks. So I’ve put in a slideshow demonstration along with the recipe.

Cauliflower pakoras, lightened up (oh, yeah)

Posted on December 30, 2017 by DebbieN | Edit

By the time I was ready to start lighting candles and sing I had made two extra credit (but simple) sauces for the cauliflower pakoras. I was in the groove and feeling righteous and like I could do no wrong because the pakoras were smelling good. There has to be some time when it’s fun to be in the kitchen, right?

How to fly with a pie (for the 10-minute microwave-to-pan-browned brussels sprouts with hazelnuts recipe)

Posted on December 7, 2015 by DebbieN | Edit

How to fly with a pie…In which yours truly finds herself invited to a magazine-worthy Sonoma idyll for Thanksgiving and feels totally outclassed. Luckily Thanksgiving is about cooking together as much as eating, and we all got down to both pretty handily. I even got the honors of being up to my elbow prepping the turkey (the food glam magazines somehow never show that part; too much like an episode of “ER”).

More things to fry in olive oil (because)

Posted on December 3, 2010 by DebbieN | Edit

Even with mechanical assistance in the form of a food processor, I’m a one-latke-night-per-year-is-enough kind of person. I want something other than potatoes at Hanukkah if I’m going to be frying stuff in more than a spoonful or so of olive oil. Therefore I look for other maybe less starchy and more flavorful (one can always hope) things to fry.

And also….

A salad in winter: counterintuitive comfort food (salad counts with oil and vinegar)

Posted on December 29, 2014 by DebbieN | Edit

If ever there were a season when you need a simple, fresh green salad, winter has got to be it. Not when you’ve just come in from shoveling the walk, obviously. But shortly after that, when you sit down to lunch and discover you could use some sunshine on your plate. If only salads could be grab-and-go.

Speeding up Eggplant Parmigiana (and lightening up, while you’re at it, why should you get a gallbladder?)

Posted on December 12, 2010 by DebbieN | Edit

I’ve loved eggplant parmigiana since I was a kid. But there’s no denying that traditional parmigiana is really heavy. It’s designed to remind you that suffering is all around us, so don’t forget the Tums. I decided the main problems with eggplant parmigiana come down to two things: 1) frying the eggplant in a lot of oil and 2) breading it, because the breading never stays crisp once you make the casserole. Skip both of those steps, or at least mostly, in favor of the microwave, and you can have a pretty good parmigiana in about 20 minutes, and leftovers for grinders the next day. It’s even low-carb.

Zwetchgenkuchen: a lighter holiday plum tart

Posted on December 22, 2019 by DebbieN | Edit

An oil-based crust is quick, light and surprisingly good. It can make even sophisticated-tasting European-style plum tarts a breeze to put together–and provide a surprise encounter with a former TV celebrity’s current projects. But the details make a difference, as I found out. Rule number one is: Watch out for pie thieves. Second, size matters when you’re baking pie–the bigger the pie, the more plums and the more juice compared with crust. Parbaking pays off, and so do second chances. Zwetchenkuchen–my new favorite word.

In search of good rye bread (because, why not?)

Posted on November 20, 2015 by DebbieN | Edit

Real rye bread and kornbroyt need a real sour culture, which takes a couple of days to establish but shouldn’t take–and waste–nearly as much expensive rye flour as the gourmet bread books call for. If you’re not baking on a commercial scale, you can get away with a few ounces, not pounds, and you don’t need to discard any. You can even store it in the fridge for later.

The “other” moussaka–eggplant and chickpea stew

Posted on December 10, 2013 by DebbieN | Edit

A week of too much food and travel and mashed-up holidays left me thinking, do I really need to be thinking so much about food? Southern California makes it easy to eat well with very little effort. However, the temps have dropped into the 50s, so I realized it was time for a stew. With, obviously, garlic. This eggplant and chickpea stew is having its moment, and with a microwave to start things off, it’s incredibly easy and flexible on flavorings.

Fruitcake and the Jews

Posted on December 27, 2011 by DebbieN | Edit

I love French food logic. It makes me want to argue even when I actually agree. The “Le Monde” newspaper’s explanation that its Alsatian fruitcake isn’t really a pear cake but rather a Jewish Passover cake would make so much more sense if there weren’t in fact a whole pound of dried pears in the recipe. Come to think of it, the fact that Jews like fruitcake more than Christians do is just as confusing.

Cutting the salt in Indian cuisine

Posted on December 23, 2009 by DebbieN | Edit

Last week I got a Chanukah package in the mail from my sister. In it was India with Passion: Modern Regional Home Food by Manju Malhi, a British food writer with a popular UK cooking show, Simply Indian, on home-style cooking. One of my sister’s food-savvy friends had tried out the recipes and raved about […]

Challah

Posted on December 21, 2009 by DebbieN | Edit

Two nights ago I brought a couple of homemade loaves of challah to some friends’ house for Shabbat dinner, which was also the last night of Chanukah. Their mother, a fairly well-known kosher caterer, was there and my jaw dropped when she said she’d never learned how to make this classic bread. Challah looks beautiful once it’s baked even if you’re not a champion braider (I’m definitely not), but it’s not such a big deal.

Impatient for Orange Peels

Posted on December 11, 2009 by DebbieN | Edit

The standard recipe for candied orange peels takes over 2 hours. My inner child is whining. Following up from my microwaved kumquat marmalade experiment, which worked beautifully, I decided I could probably do something similar to candy orange peels. The result is not perfect by professional confectioners’ standards, but it was done in 15 minutes from peeling oranges to dredging-and-drying, and the taste is not bad, not bad at all.

Happy Chanukah, בטאבון, mangia bene, bon appétit, eat nice! and don’t work too hard.

Filed under: appetizers, holiday cooking | Tagged: food, Hanukkah recipes, Jewish cooking, recipes |