Is there anything more Jewish than a bagel with cream cheese and lox? Many a Sunday have started, right foot forward, with the help of this classic sandwich. In honor of Purim (which begins this Saturday night and continues through Sunday), I decided to give the lox bagel a “nahafoch hu” spin by flipping it into a lovely fresh flatbread.

My favorite type of bagel is an everything bagel, with its sharp blend of seasonings. As we all know, Bubbies get a lot of things right, such as the combination of an everything bagel’s spices with silky salmon and rich cream cheese. This recipe—made with naan bread and paneer cheese—definitely packs the flavorful punch of an everything bagel, while giving the fish a real chance to shine alongside the dairy.

You should be able to pick up paneer cheese from your local Indian grocery store—if you can’t find any, ricotta is a good substitute. The recipe has multiple steps, but you can cook the salmon separately in advance, and prepare the dough whenever convenient.

It’s a cinch to make this flavorful Indian bread filled with garlic and cilantro, and it’s a fun, original way to start off your Purim seuda (festive meal). Purim is all about celebrating the unexpected, whether it’s being saved from our enemies at the last minute, or re-working traditional Sunday brunch into a new culinary experience.

Naan Bread with Salmon and Paneer Cheese (serves 6)

Ingredients

Salmon:
2 garlic cloves (minced)
¾ tsp ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp allspice
½ tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 lb salmon fillet

Naan Bread:
1 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
¾ cup warm water
2 cups bread flour
1 tsp sea salt
4 garlic cloves (diced)
1 tsp cilantro
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp butter (diced)
1/3 cup paneer cheese or ricotta cheese

Directions

1. Combine the garlic and spices in a small bowl. Add the oil and vinegar and combine, creating a paste-like texture. Rub the paste on top of the salmon and allow it to marinate for at least 3 hours.

2. After the salmon is done marinating, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

3. Roast your salmon for 10 minutes on the top rack. The salmon should be browned but not entirely cooked through. (You’ll continue cooking it later.)

4. With a fork, create small flakes of salmon before setting aside for later use.

5. Start making the paneer bread by combining the yeast, 1 tsp sugar, and warm water together in a medium bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast starts to foam.

6. Combine the flour, salt, remaining sugar, garlic, and cilantro in a large bowl.

7. Once the yeast has foamed, add the olive oil to the yeast mixture.

8. Add the yeast mixture to the large bowl with the flour mixture. Knead it together by hand until it creates a soft and sticky dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 4 hours.

9. When the dough is ready, divide it into six equal balls and heat a large frying pan over a medium high heat. In addition, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and cover two cookie sheets with wax paper.

10. Place one ball on a lightly floured surface. Flatten your dough ball with a rolling pin until it’s about ¼ an inch thick. Traditionally, paneer bread is shaped like tear drop, but it’s delicious no matter what way you roll it.

11. Melt a few pieces of margarine in the pan and then place one of your flattened pieces of dough in the pan.

12. While the bottom half of your dough cooks, place flecks of salmon and small mounds of paneer or ricotta cheese over the top of the dough. Cook the dough in the pan until the sides begin to brown.

13. Place the half cooked dough on top of your cookie sheet and spray the top of the dough with oil.

14. Repeat the last four steps with the remaining 5 balls of dough.

15. Bake the paneer bread on the top shelf of the oven for about 7 minutes, or until the dough seems entirely firm.

16. Serve immediately.

The post Not Your Bubbe’s Brunch: Naan Bread with Salmon and Paneer Cheese appeared first on Jewcy.

In the past, I was a bit of a Purim party pooper. I’d scan the megillah and grumble over the rumble of groggers about the characters and plot. It seemed to me that Vashti was an overlooked heroine—I wouldn’t come out to entertain those drunken fools either, if I were in her place. And then there was agreeable Esther, who became Queen of Persia simply by being lovely of face and form. She kept her true identity on the down low. She didn’t fit into the club of chutzpadik Hebrew heroines I was raised on and turned to as role models—sassy women from Sarah (who had the nerve to laugh at God!) to ScarJo. Plus, I never much liked hamantaschen, resenting the triangular cookie for being more about shape than substance and flavor.

But with a more sympathetic understanding that comes with a bit of age and experience, it’s now clear to me why Esther has a vaunted place in the ‘Brave Jewish Chicks’ Hall of Fame. This orphan of modest means was living the dream in a grand palace in Shushan, in the center of Ahasuerus’ empire, and risked it all to save the Jewish people. And she cleverly identified the most effective way to get the king to listen, accept her controversial revelation, and ultimately help her save her people: food.

Besides wine, there’s no record of what was served at the feasts Esther threw for Haman and Ahasuerus in the lead-up to the Big Jewish Reveal. But we know that if any cookies were on the table, they would have been similar to koloochehs, a traditional Persian sweet, not Ashkenazic hamantaschen.

I imagine Esther harnessing all her Jewish grrrl power as she places a heaping platter of just-baked koloochehs before the king and his dastardly adviser. The warm aroma of cardamom, rosewater, and sugar lulls Ahasuerus into a willing openness, and after the first bite he’s dough in her soft, manicured hands. She then zeroes in on her target, unmasking Haman as the villain and a mortal threat to the Jews. And just like that, Esther dulcifies the fate of her people.

I decided to reinterpret this sweet ‘lil treat by combining it with Ashkenazic and American flavors, so I created kolooschen, the ultimate portmanteau Purim cookie. Think of it as a cardamom-spiked snickerdoodle. A drop or two of rosewater in the batter adds a floral note, the sour-cherry filling is a riff on lekvar (the fruity/jammy filling in hamantaschen), and the walnuts that crown the cookies give them the appearance of traditional Persian kolooches.

(The original Persian cookie is made with gluten free flours, so this one is easy to adapt—scroll down for the GF recipe.)

Kolooschen (Parve)

Ingredients

Filling:
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (one large lemon)
¼ cup sugar
½ cup dried cherries

Dough:
1 cup coconut oil spread, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon rosewater or vanilla extract (or combination of the two)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon salt

Topping:
3 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. To make Sour Cherry Paste: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, mix together lemon juice and sugar until sugar dissolves and a syrup results (2-3 minutes). When it starts to bubble, stir in dried cherries and cook until cherries are plump and soft and syrup is reduced by half (about 3 minutes).

3. If you want a smooth, jammy texture place cherries in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a thick paste results (leave as is if you prefer the kolooschen filled with whole cherries). Set aside*.

4. In a large bowl cream together coconut oil spread and sugar on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla or rosewater and eggs and mix until it just comes together.

5. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, cardamom, baking powder, and salt.

6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the coconut oil-sugar mixture, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

7. On a shallow plate, combine 3 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cardamom. Set aside momentarily.

8. With damp hands, scoop up walnut–sized pieces of dough. Roll into a ball, and press a well in the center of the dough with your thumb. Place a teaspoon of sour cherry paste (or a few whole cherries) into the well. Pinch the dough together and roll the seam together. Coat the dough ball in cardamom-sugar mixture on the plate (this step is optional but really amplifies the cardamom flavor of the cookie).

9. Place cookie dough on baking sheet. Flatten the dough gently to form a rounded disk. Press a pinch of chopped walnuts into the surface of the cookie. Repeat with remaining cookie dough and sour cherry paste.

10. Bake for 18-22 minutes, rotating cookie sheet in the middle of the baking time. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Yields 20-24 cookies.

Gluten-free Kolooschen

Ingredients

Filling:
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (one large lemon)
¼ cup sugar
½ cup dried cherries

Dough:
1 cup coconut oil spread, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoon rosewater or vanilla extract (or combination of the two)
¾ cup coconut flour
¾ almond flour
½ cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon salt

Topping:
3 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. To make Sour Cherry Paste: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat mix together lemon juice and sugar until sugar dissolves and a syrup results (2-3 minutes). When it starts to bubble stir in dried cherries and cook until cherries are plump and soft and syrup is reduced by half (about 3 minutes).

3. If you want a smooth jammy texture place cherries in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a thick paste results (Leave as is if you prefer the kolooschen filled with whole cherries). Set aside*.

4. In a large bowl cream together coconut oil spread and sugar on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla or rosewater and egg and mix until it just comes together.

5. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flours, tapioca starch, cardamom, xanthan gum, and salt.

6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the coconut oil-sugar mixture, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

7. On a shallow plate combine 3 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cardamom set aside.

8. Place cookie batter in fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes. Then: with damp hands scoop up walnut–sized pieces of dough. Roll into a ball, press a well in the center of the dough with your thumb. Place a teaspoon of sour cherry paste (or a few whole cherries) into the well. Pinch the dough together and roll the seam together. Coat the dough ball in cardamom-sugar mixture on the plate (this step is optional but really amplifies the cardamom flavor of the cookie).

9. Place cookie dough on baking sheet. Flatten the dough gently to form a rounded disk. Press a pinch of chopped walnuts into the surface of the cookie. Repeat with remaining cookie dough and sour cherry paste.

10. Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating cookie sheet in the middle of the baking time. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Yield: 18-20 cookies

*If the cherries/lekvar become too firm after cooling, add a teaspoon or two of water and microwave for 20-30 seconds or reheat on stove-top.

Rachel Harkham is the author of “Get Cooking! A Jewish American Family Cookbook”. For more words and flavors please visit www.reciperachel.com.

Related: Not Your Bubbe’s Hamantaschen: Purim Poppy Seed Scones
Hundred-year-old Hamantaschen recipe

The post Not Your Bubbe’s Purim Cookie: Kolooschen appeared first on Jewcy.

I’m just going to come right out and say it: There’s nothing worse than Haman—the Purim villain who tried to kill the Jews—except maybe the cookies named after him.

Hamantaschen—the Purim pastry that got its name, and its ingredients, from the similar-sounding German maultasche, or mouth pocket—have become basically synonymous with the holiday. Whether it’s in mishloach manot or your local bakery, they’re everywhere this time of year.

Gil Marks explains the Purim connection to the triangular treat in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. The German word for poppy seed, “mohn,” sounded similar to Hamohn and sometime in the 16th century, the cookie was given its name. After the fact, symbolic meaning was given to the shape: If you went to Jewish day school you’ve likely sung a song about Haman’s three-cornered hat or heard that the taschen, or pockets, represented all the bribes Haman took and put in his own pockets. Marks mentions other traditions, like the hidden filling representing God’s hidden presence in the Megillah or the three corners representing the patriarchs whose merit saved their descendants from Haman’s evil plan. But the true evil is continuing this tradition of eating subpar pastries.

Now, before you accuse me of blasphemy, hear me out. Some of my favorite early baking memories are before Purim, when my mom would roll out the dough and my sister and I would take the rims of glasses to cut out perfect circles. We’d then drop a dallop of jelly or jam in the center and then pinch up the dough to create three perfect corners. It was great fun! Too bad biting into one of them was as much fun as a piece of pie.

My family has always been partial to the poppy seed variety, and at some point they began to appear in my house almost weekly—what can I say, we like to eat Haman all year round. But this year I decided to fight back. I kept the “mohn,” or the poppy seeds, and just got rid of the taschen, creating the much tastier, and still triangular, hamounscones.

So, this year, why not try something new? Purim is all about venahafoch hu, flipping things on their head. Instead of pretending you like hamantaschen, grab a scone.

Not Your Bubbe’s Purim Scones
Makes 12 large scones or 18 small scones

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbs baking powder
pinch of kosher salt
¾ cup earth balance or any other nondairy butter
2 tbs poppy seeds
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
½ cup coconut milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in a large bowl.

3. Add in the nondairy butter ¼ cup at a time. The mixture should become crumbly.

4. Pour in the lemon juice and then the coconut milk ¼ cup at a time, mixing the dough as you go along. It should hold together, but not get sticky. If it’s still too crumbly you can add in a bit more coconut milk. Mix in the poppy seeds.

5. Divide the dough into two or three balls, depending on how large you want your scones to be. Press the balls till they’re about ½-1 inch thick discs and then place on a baking sheet. Cut each disc into six separate triangles and separate a bit on the so they can properly bake.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. You can eat the scones immediately, but they’re best after being left out to cool for an hour. (If you really miss the jam, you can spread some on your scones.)

Also try:

Not Your Bubbe’s Caribbean Matzoh Ball Soup

Not Your Bubbe’s Tu B’Shevat Seder

Not Your Bubbe’s Downton Abbey Viewing Party

(Photo by Jackson Krule)

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The post Not Your Bubbe’s Hamantaschen: Purim Poppy Seed Scones appeared first on Jewcy.