To have an extra sweet new year, here are some creative ways to add apples and honey to your meal, beyond enjoying it in the traditional way.
Throughout the High Holy Day season, we eat foods that symbolize sweetness: apples dipped in honey, honey cake, etc. To have an extra sweet new year, here are some creative ways to add apples and honey to your meal, beyond enjoying it in the traditional way.
Faith Kramer was looking for a pre-holiday dinner nibble for guests to enjoy, when she came up with a sweet, savory and crunchy treat: Honey-curry popcorn with apples and nuts.
“I liked that the snack included honey and apples, representing the wish for a sweet New Year,” Kramer, author of “52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen,” told The Journal. “My guests liked it, too; there were no leftovers!”
If it is not your custom to eat nuts during Rosh Hashanah, Kramer said to replace the pecans with an additional two cups of popcorn.
Honey-Curry Popcorn with Apples and Nuts
Makes 8 Cups
½ cup coconut oil (melted until liquid if necessary)
½ cup honey
2 cups raw pecan halves
6 cups plain popped popcorn
1 to 1.2 oz. packaged freeze-dried apple slices (bags of 1 oz. or 1.2 oz. are available in many supermarkets)
Spice Mix:
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
¼ to ½ tsp. cayenne (or to taste)
2 tsp kosher salt
1½ tsp curry powder
Place all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir to combine.
Line two baking sheets with foil. Heat oven to 350°F.
Pour liquid oil and honey into a large pot. Stir. Cook over medium heat until hot. Stir in spice mix. Add nuts and popcorn, stirring until well-coated.
Spread popcorn mix in single layers on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 25 minutes. Turn with spatula, separating clumps.
Bake for about 25 minutes more until popcorn is dry, and somewhat crisp, and nuts are toasted (popcorn will continue to crisp up as it cools). Remove from the oven. Separate clumps. Let cool.
Break freeze-dried apple slices into ½-inch pieces and mix with popcorn and nuts in a large bowl.
Store airtight at room temperature for up to a day.
For a sweet and savory addition to guacamole, or even as an accompaniment to chicken or fish, try Danny Corsun’s grilled fruit salsa.
“This recipe turns a traditional salsa on its ear, making it the perfect dish to serve to guests as you ring in the sweet and prosperous New Year to come,” Corsun, founder of Culinary Judaics Academy, told The Journal. “It’s also packed with fruits that have a high water content; perfect to break a fast with for Yom Kippur.”
CJA’s Grilled Fruit Salsa
2 small firm ripe mangoes
2 cored pineapple, rings, about 1/2-inch thick
2 ripe peaches
1 cup chopped sweet red bell pepper
2/3 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp agave nectar (or honey)
1 Tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 tsp paprika
Cut 1/2-inch thick slice from flat sides of each mango. Score the flesh in a crisscross pattern, without cutting through the skin. Reserve remaining mango for another use (or you can use it if you want more mango in the salsa). Cut the peaches in half.
Grill mango/peaches, cut-side down, and pineapple over medium heat of well-greased grill 2 to 4 minutes or until golden brown, turning pineapple once. Cool until able to handle. Push mango from skin side to pop the flesh up. Cut both mango and pineapple into bite-size pieces.
Mix grilled fruit, bell pepper, onion, pomegranate seeds, cilantro, lime juice, agave nectar, vinegar and smoked paprika in a medium bowl until well-blended.
Serve immediately or chilled.
Serve with tortilla chips and guacamole or even as a side accompaniment to your main course. Either way, you’re in for a delicious treat!
Judy Elbaum’s honey cookies tick all the boxes for the quintessential Rosh Hashanah dessert.
“They have great taste and texture and are suffused with warm honey and aromatic spices,” Elbaum, founder of Leave it to Bubbe, told The Journal.
While they keep for up to a week, honey cookies taste best on the day they are baked. “I like to whip up a batch of the dough, keep it in the fridge for up to five days and bake fresh cookies on the day I wish to serve them,” Elbaum said.
Honey Cookies
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup shortening (I use Crisco)
1 cup sugar
¼ cup honey
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line an insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Place the shortening and sugar into the large bowl of an electric mixer, and beat for a couple of minutes until fluffy. Add the honey and beat until well combined. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat well for another minute or two.
Add the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions and beat only until all the flour is incorporated. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place two inches apart on the cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Cookies should be golden brown.
Allow cookies to cool briefly on the cookie sheets, then place on cooling racks. Cookies will become crisp as they cool.
Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies
