Second Night of Hanukkah with Paul, Peggy, Emily and Natalie

T'was the second night of Hanukkah and the kids were coming for dinner and gifts for the girls for the holiday.

The menu had to have some tradition as well as enough food for Emily, our vegetarian granddaughter. So here is our traditional/non-traditional dinner menu.

MUSHROOM BISQUE
MUSSELS in RED SAUCE
GARLIC CROSTINI
POT ROAST with CARROTS
POTATO LATKES
CUCUMBER SALAD
RUGELACH
TEA

This was not an easy meal to assemble only because the latkes and mussels had to both be last minute preparation. But everything else could be done ahead of time. Especially the pot roast which I like to do a day ahead so that it can be refrigerated and the excess fat can be removed.
I also made the tomato sauce the day ahead as well as the mushroom bisque. I had to shop for the mussels at my local Asian Market on the morning of our dinner so that they would be very fresh. They sat in the refrigerator all day 'til ready for use. Earlier in the day I had plenty of time to make the cucumber salad, the rugelach and the garlic toasts.

An hour before dinner I placed the pot roast along with chunks of fresh carrots back in the oven to slowly reheat.

I decided to make the latkes first and keep them warm in a low oven. As long as you don't pile them on top of each other they will stay crisp.

As soon as I served the soup, I excused myself so that I could prepare the mussels. Having prepared the shallots, garlic and red pepper I had everything ready for the mussels. The mussels were placed in a collander and thoroughly rinsed to remove any sand or grit as well as any beards. With the olive oil heated, the shallots, garlic and fresh red pepper along with the hot pepper flakes and 1/4 tsp. salt were quickly sauteed. Then the mussels were added to the pot, quickly stirred and the 1/2 cup of wine and the 1/2 cup of clam broth were added and brought to a boil. With the lid on, the timer was set to 4 minutes and another scoop of finely minced garlic was added to the hot mussels before they were placed in the large serving bowl. Then a few ladles of the tomato sauce were poured on top as well as some chopped parsley. And they were ready for the table just as the meat and latkes were taken from the oven. There were lots of oohs and aahs. Natalie ate cucumbers and latkes with ketchup, a little soup, and meat. Emily
ate everything except the meat. And the rest of us ate everything.

POT ROASTED BRISKET OR TOP RIB

4 oz. pancetta or bacon, cut in half inch cubes or 3 tbsps. olive oil
3 tbsps. Flour, optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 ½ lbs brisket or top rib
2 medium onions, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup fruity red wine, like Beaujolais
3 tbsps. Tomato paste
2 tbsps. Fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
2 ½ cups veal or beef stock or canned beef broth
5 carrots, cleaned and scraped and cut into 2 inch chunks

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Place pancetta or bacon in a 5 or 6 quart oven-proof casserole dish, and saute over medium heat until it is browned. Remove pancetta, leaving fat in pan. Set pancetta aside. If you don’t want to use bacon fat substitute 3 tbsps. of olive oil.
3. Season flour with salt and pepper, dust beef roast with flour and brown it in casserole over medium high heat. Remove it from casserole, and set aside. Drain all but a film of fat from pan. (You can brown the meat without the dusting of flour)
4. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic, and cook, stirring, over medium heat until they have softened. Add red wine, and cook over medium-high heat for several minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Return beef to pan, and add thyme, bay leaf and stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in oven for 3 hours, or until meat is tender. The top rib takes less time-1 to 1 1 ½ hours.
5. Remove meat from casserole, cool and wrap in aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight before slicing. Store gravy separately, overnight also, and remove fat when it solidifies.
6. Slice meat and reheat in gravy. Add chunks of fresh carrots when reheating.

MUSSELS

2 lb. bag mussels, place in colander and run under cold water to remove any sand and grit. Remove beards if any. Discard any with broken shells.
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp. finely chopped garlic
¼ red bell pepper, chopped
¼ tsp. hot pepper flakes
½ cup white wine
½ cup clam broth
¼ tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
More minced garlic, tomato sauce and chopped parsley.

Heat oil in large soup pot. Add shallots, garlic, red bell pepper and hot pepper flakes. Saute a few minutes until softened. Drain mussels and add to pot. Add wine and broth, salt and pepper. Cover with lid and steam mussels on medium high fire for 4 minutes. Mussels should be open by then. Add more finely minced garlic. Place mussels and broth in large bowl. Ladle some tomato sauce over them. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

TOMATO SAUCE

1 large can (28 oz) peeled Italian tomatoes with juice
2 tbsps. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried basil
2 tbsps. fresh parsley

1. Chop tomatoes. Place in saucepan with the juice and add all ingredients except the parsley.
2. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes without a lid, to thicken.
3. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

POTATO LATKES

8 to 10 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut in ¼’s
2 medium onions, quartered
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup matzo meal
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for frying

1. Using the grating disk on food processor grate the potatoes and onions.
2. Pour into large bowl and add the beaten eggs, matzo meal and salt and pepper. Stir well.
3. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in large skillet. When oil is very hot add spoonfuls of potato batter to the pan. Do not overcrowd pan. As each latke browns well on bottom, turn to brown other side. When both sides are brown remove to drain on paper toweling. Add more oil if necessary and continue making latkes until all the batter is used.
4. Place finished latkes on baking sheet lined with paper toweling and place in 250 degree oven until ready to serve.
5. Makes 17 large latkes.

RUGELACH

I started with this recipe from epicurious, and made my own modifications.

RUGELACH

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup plus 2 tsps. Sugar mixed with ½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup apricot or raspberry preserves or fig filling (recipe follows)
½ cup loosely packed golden raisins
½ cup finely chopped mixed nuts. I use almonds, pecans, pistachios, and hazelnuts (or any other combination you like)
½ cup finely ground semi-sweet chocolate ( I use chocolate chips)
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Confectioners sugar

1. Whisk together flour and salt in a bowl.
2. In a larger bowl, using a hand mixer beat together the butter and cream cheese.
3. Add flour mixture to cream cheese-butter mixture and stir together until a soft dough forms.
4. Gather dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and flatten slightly. Chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.
5. When ready to roll, fill and bake, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
6. On a lightly floured board cut dough in half.
7. Working with ½ at a time roll out to a 12 by 8-inch rectangle.
8. Spread with ¼ cup preserves, sprinkle with ¼ cup chopped nuts, ¼ cup ground chocolate and ¼ cup raisins, then sprinkle with 2 tbsps. cinnamon sugar.
9. With the long side facing you roll dough tightly into a log. Tuck in ends.
10. Place log, seam side down on a baking sheet.
11. Repeat with other half of dough and place on same baking sheet.
12. Paint tops of logs with egg wash an sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar.
13. Place in freezer or refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up dough before using a large sharp knife to make ¾ -inch-deep cuts crosswise in dough (not all the way through) at 1 inch intervals.
14. Bake until golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool to warm in pan on rack, about 30 minutes, then transfer logs to a cutting board and slice cookies all the way through.
15. When completely cool sprinkle tops liberally with confectioners sugar.
16. Makes about 20 cookies.

FIG FILLING
This filling was printed in Gourmet, December 2005 for their Fig Swirl Cookies.

1 cup packed soft dried Mission figs (8 oz.), hard tips removed
¾ cup mild honey
2 tbsps. fresh orange juice
2 tsps. Grated fresh orange zest
½ tsp. cinnamon

Puree figs, honey, juice, zest, and cinnamon in food processor until almost smooth.