Have a Very Blessed New Year!

Click Here for my Shana Tova card : )

High Holidays

We're heading towards the jewish high holiday days, and I'm really looking forward! This year we have Shabbat as a bonus after the three two day holidays. I calculated that we'll be serving 23+ meals in the next month!!! So... take a deap breath, and let's do this together : )

Appetizer: Yummy Chicken Salad

In a bowl, toss together:

3 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1 cup grape tomatoes

2 cups chicken or turkey Pieces, grilled, baked, or fried
small purple onion, chopped (optional)

Dressing:

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1 Tbls yellow mustard

1/2 tspn salt

Place dressing ingredients in an airtight container, and shake well until well combined. Pour over salad and enjoy!

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Main Dishes: Duck Sauce
5 cups mixed, peeled, chopped fruit (apples, pears, peaches, plums)

1 cup water

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 tspn salt

2-3 cloves garlic

1/2 tspn mustard powder
1/2 tspn crushed red pepper

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Simmer a half hour or longer until the fruits are completely soft.

Notes: Although the recipe doesn't require blending, I will sometimes use the stick blender to blend the fruits somewhat. You can add additional honey at the end, as the sweetness is dependent on the sweetness of the fruits being used.

Duck sauce can be frozen or canned for later use.

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Main Dishes: Pickled Meat
This will work for Sukkot only because it's a two week process. Don't be turned off by the many steps, it looks more complicated than it really is. The results are definitely worth it!

5lb brisket (I have used other types, and am now trying a tongue for Sukkot)
1 1/3 cups kosher salt
3 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp cracked peppercorns
2 tspn. allspice
2 tspn. thyme
1 tspn. paprika
1 tspn. sage
1 tspn. cloves
1 tspn. ground bay leaf

Combine salt and spices. Place together with meat in sturdy plastic bag. Rub, press out air, and tie the bag. Place in large bowl/roaster in fridge. Cover with pan containing 5lb weight (when I did a smaller piece of meat I skipped this). Keep the weight on only for the 1st two days. Red liquid will exude from meat. Message and turn once a day for two weeks. After two weeks, wash off salt and spices, soak for 24 hrs, changing water occasionally. The meat will soften, and feel fresh. Place in 5 quart dutch oven, fill 1/2 with water. Cook 2 hrs until soft (I spill out the water once it boils, then add new water and cook). Remove meat from water, cool, and slice. The sliced meat freezes very well. You can also boil up some kind of sauce using the SCD apricot jam, tomato juice, honey and freshly frozen cranberries and heat the pickled meat in it or use it to cook non-pickled roast. (I cooked non pickled Kalechal in this sauce and it was really good, I want to try it on the pickled tongue, I just don't have an exact recipe since I made it myself and did not take measurements).

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Sides: Squash Muffins
5 large zucchini
3 eggs
1/2 cup homemade mayo
2 Tbls almond flour (add more if the batter is too runny)
1 tsp salt (or 1 1/2 if you like more savory)
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F. Wash squash well and leave it whole and unpeeled. Fill a 8 quart pot with water, place whole squash in pot, and boil for 15 minutes. Remove squash from pot, peel and grate with hand grater. Strain squash very well in strainer. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well with fork until well combined. Pour into silicon muffin pans, and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 15 muffins

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Sides: Green Bean Kugel
1 lb. fresh or frozen green beans
2 medium onions, chopped
2 Tbls. oil
1 egg
2 Tbls homemade mayo
salt to taste

Cut green beans into bite size pieces. Cook in salt water for 15 minutes, and drain well. Saute' onion in oil until caramelized. Combine green beans and onions with the rest of the ingredients. Place in 7" round pan, and bake on 350F for one hour.

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Sides: Sweet Carrots (tzimmes)
What a unique method for this traditional dish!

4 large loose carrots
4 Tbls honey
3 Tbls oil
1 tspn salt

Peel carrots and cut in half. Place carrots into a 9" frying pan. Fill pot with water, covering 3/4 of the carrots. Cook on low flame for 40 minutes until the carrots are soft yet a bit firm. Remove carrots from pot, and slice into 1/8 inch slices. Spill most of the cooked water, leaving just 6 Tbls. Return carrots slices to the pot, and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on a low flame for 15 minutes.
Notes: You may add more honey if you like this dish sweeter. These sweet carrots freeze well.

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Desserts: Toffee
1 cup honey
1/2 tspn vinegar
2 1/2 Tbls cocoa butter
1/2 cup cashew butter
handful chopped pecans

Place honey and vinegar in a pot, bring to a boil and simmer until it makes a soft ball in a glass of cold water. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted. Set pot in cold water and beat until thick. Add the cashew butter and chopped pecans. Pour onto a well buttered metal pan and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into small balls. Place balls in candy cups or mini baking cups and store in refrigerate or freezer.

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Desserts: Dipped Bananas
Thank you Jimmy Baur for this yummy recipe!

Ripe bananas
Pure Cocoa Butter
Finely chopped almonds

Melt Cocoa butter in a double boiler. Slice the bananas in thick slices (1/4-1/2 in). Place slices in melted cocoa butter to coat. Immediately roll in almonds. Place on plate and put into freezer. Try them both frozen and not frozen... Yummy!!!

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Desserts: Cocoa Butter Larabars, by Lise Baur

Almond Butter (about 3/4 cup)
Dates, Finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
Unsweetened shredded coconut (about 1/2 cup)
Finely chopped, unsweetened, unsulphured, dried apricot (about 1/4 cup)
Pure Cocoa butter
Almonds, finely chopped

Mix the first four ingredients together. The consistency should be that of cookie dough that you can roll and cut out. If batter is too sticky then add more coconut, if too dry add more almond butter. Taste batter, and if not sweet enough, add more dates. Roll mixture into 1 inch balls. Melt Cocoa Butter in double boiler. Coat the balls with the cocoa butter and immediately roll into chopped almonds. Place in freezer or refrigerator for a short time to solidify cocoa butter. Then you can store at room temp in sealed container. They don’t last too long because they are so yummy (like a Larabar dipped in chocolate.)

Recipe Testing

Hey, long time no talk - I miss you folks.
Lise, a devoted consumer, has shared the following recipe with me.:
SCD Cherry Lemonade
Juice from 4 lemons
1/4 cup Blackcherry Syrup
1/4 cup Honey (more to taste)

Mix well until honey is dissolved. Add enough water to make 1 quart. Stir. Pour over ice and enjoy.
Lise's notes: My son says this lemonade tastes just like a starburst candy. Regular Lemonade is tough because the honey taste really comes through and makes it taste a cough drop. The Black Cherry Syrup adds a little sweetness and takes away the honey flavor. Hope you enjoy!

As you all know, we're deep in the process of publishing our new cookbook, the "I can't Believe It" cookbook. I'd love to include this recipe in there, however, I need to hear from you: Is this a really great recipe? Were there any changes? I'm looking forward to your input!