Hanukkah Recipes, Latkes (potato pancakes), Seitan “Brisket”, Challah (bread), Sufganiyot (jam-filled donuts), Special Recipe of the Week, Sustainable Action Network (SAN)
Try these mouthwatering Hanukkah recipes — and feast 'til your heart's content!
Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration beginning on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Jewish calendar, which can occur during late November to late December. The word “Hanukkah” means “dedication” — a name chosen to symbolize the restoration of a temple in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. According to the story, on the day the temple was restored, a menorah (ancient Hebrew lampstand) was lit using a very small amount of oil. The amount of oil was enough to last a single day, but miraculously it burned for eight. Because of this, Hanukkah is traditionally celebrated by feasting on oily foods for a period of eight days.
Latkes (potato pancakes)
Serves 6
1. Place potatoes in a colander and set over a large bowl. Using your hands, squeeze out excess liquid. Pour off liquid and place potatoes in bowl. Add onion, parsley, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat a thin layer of oil. Take a heaping tablespoon of batter and flatten it before gently placing in hot oil. Make three or four more potato pancakes this way, and add to skillet without crowding pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once, about 8 minutes total.
3. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, adding more oil as necessary. Place cooked potato pancakes on paper towels to drain, then transfer to an ovenproof platter and keep warm in oven until all pancakes are cooked.
What you need:
1-1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and grated
1 small yellow onion, grated
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Safflower oil, for frying
What you do:
Place potatoes in a colander and set over a large bowl. Using your hands, squeeze out excess liquid. Pour off liquid and place potatoes in bowl. Add onion, parsley, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat a thin layer of oil. Take a heaping tablespoon of batter and flatten it before gently placing in hot oil. Make three or four more potato pancakes this way, and add to skillet without crowding pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once, about 8 minutes total.
Repeat with remaining potato mixture, adding more oil as necessary. Place cooked potato pancakes on paper towels to drain, then transfer to an ovenproof platter and keep warm in oven until all pancakes are cooked.
Seitan “Brisket”
Seitan, a meat substitute made from wheat, is inherently soft and tender, so it does not need to stew for quite as long as traditional brisket. But since your taste buds will quickly become intoxicated by the smell of onions, caraway, tamari, and garlic wafting from the oven, the quicker cooking time is a blessing.
What you need:
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp miso paste
1 1/2 Tbsp grape juice or fruity red wine
salt to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup unbleached flour
3 Tbsp butter or canola oil
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup grape juice or fruity red wine
1 3/4 cups pareve "chicken"-flavored stock or vegetable stock
1/2 Tbsp tamari
15 oz seitan, sliced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced vertically
2 medium carrots, sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 celery stalks, chopped roughly
What you do:
Preheat oven to 375F. Add oil, onions, carrots, celery, and tamari to a heavy baking dish. Stir to coat the veggies and then roast for 40 minutes.
Remove dish from oven and distribute seitan on top of the veggies. Combine stock, juice/wine, brown sugar, and caraway seeds and pour over seitan and veggies. Grind black pepper over top, cover tightly with foil, and return to oven. Bake an additional 40 minutes.
Remove pan, uncover, and ladle out as much of the cooking broth as possible into a large liquid measuring cup. Heat the butter/oil in a skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in reserved cooking broth, and stir constantly until smooth and thick, 2-3 minutes. If you don’t have enough cooking broth left, add stock to substitute. Stir in half the garlic. Spread sauce onto the seitan, stirring to blend. Add salt to taste, if needed.
Raise oven temperature to broil. Prepare the glaze by whisking the juices/wine, brown sugar, miso, and remaining garlic together. Spoon the glaze over the seitan. Return to the oven and broil, uncovered, until bubbling hot and deeply browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve hot.
Challah (bread)
Serves 6
What you need:
1.25 oz yeast
½ cup granulated sugar, plus 1 pinch granulated sugar, divided
1 cup warm water, plus 3 tablespoons warm water, divided
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted, divided, plus more for greasing bowl
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 ½ teaspoons salt
What you do:
In a medium bowl, combine the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Pour 1 cup (240 ml) of warm water over the yeast mixture while turning the bowl so it stirs itself. Rest for 5 minutes, or until the yeast has bloomed and is bubbly, then add 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil.
In a separate medium bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of melted coconut oil, the remaining 3 tablespoons of warm water, and the baking powder.
In a large bowl, whisk together 3 cups (385 g) of flour, the table salt, and remaining ½ cup (110 g) of granulated sugar. While stirring, add the coconut oil and yeast mixtures to the dry ingredients and combine with a spoon. Once the dough is smooth, gradually add up to 1 cup (125 g) of flour and incorporate by kneading the dough with your hands (you may not need all of the flour).
Knead until the dough isn’t sticking to the sides of the bowl, then transfer to a large bowl greased with coconut oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rest on the counter for 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and turn out onto a floured workspace. Knead gently to get out any large air bubbles, and form into a log shape. Depending on the braid you are planning to do, cut the dough into the appropriate amount of even pieces.
Braid into desired shape (braiding options below) and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a damp towel and let rise again for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 325˚F (165˚C).
Lightly brush the challah with melted coconut oil for a nice shine and bake for 25-30 minutes, brushing with more coconut oil halfway through, until golden brown. To check for doneness try knocking on the bottom of the bread. If it sounds hollow, it’s done!
Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Sufganiyot (jam-filled donuts)
Serves 12
What you need:
If you ask me what my fave sweet treats are you’re going to hear two things: ice cream and donuts. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but put either one of those in front of me and I’ll polish it off quick smart. Making badass doughies is one of my fave things to do, espesh because vegan donuts are bloody hard to come by in Newcastle, and I decided to stuff ’em full of sweet sweet raspberry jam.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons vegan margarine, melted
2 cups plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons caster sugar
Oil for frying
1 jar raspberry jam for filling
What you do:
Chuck the warm water in a cup and sprinkle the dry yeast on top. Set aside.
Whisk together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Also set aside.
Sift the flour into the bowl of your electric mixture, followed by the salt and 2 tablespoons of caster sugar.
Create a well in the centre of the dry ingredient and pour in the yeast mixture, milk mixture and melted margarine.
Using dough hooks, mix the ingredients until a good dough is formed and a little extra mixing for good measure.
Tip out onto a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball.
Grease the inside of a large clean bowl with olive oil and plop the dough in.
Cover with cling wrap and set aside until doubled in size, this can take a while especially when it’s cold. Find somewhere warm (I sat mine on a table in the same room as our heater).
Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and again knead into a smooth ball.
Divide the dough into 12 even pieces. before rolling each piece into a ball and placing onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Cover the trays with tea towels and set aside until also doubled in size.
Heat the oil on the high side of medium in a large frypan or saucepan.
Once the donuts have doubled in size, gently tip one into the oil. After about 2 minutes, gently turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes. If the first one cooks too fast, lower the heat of the oil.
Do this with a few donuts at a time but be careful not to overcrowd the oil.
Place each one on paper towel to absorb any excess oil before rolling in the remaining caster sugar.
Warm the jam in the microwave or on the stove before using a piping bag or filling gadget to inject 1 tablespoon of jam into each donut.
