Not So Light Feast of Lights

It cannot be denied that my culinary heritage inclines to the, well, leaden. It comes most directly from Eastern European Jews on the one side, and the East End of London on the other, but most of all it comes from poor people and hard times. All of my grandparents were genuinely, seriously hungry pretty regularly, and my parents, later reasonably prosperous, did not have all they wanted to eat as children.

People who are not certain where their next meal is coming from are happy to be replete when they have finished their meal. Of course, they usually eat a lot of carbohydrates and fats, because they are cheap, satiating and carry other flavors well. Later, when they can, the previously poor sometimes reject these traditional dishes, which remind them of hard times, and prefer a lighter (and more costly) diet, except for bouts of nostalgia, which may center around holidays. Holidays involve feasting, extra food, and often, memories of closeness and youth...so they are a bit different.

In my melting pot of a family, we go for all holidays to which we can claim any connection, and which can be construed as primarily about food. We are religiously unaffiliated (for generations unconnected with any official religious institutions, pretty much on all sides-with the occasional Unitarian here and there.) Food is more or less the secular sacrament around here. All of the above is by way of excusing my need to assemble a Channukah dinner which can be eaten or applied directly to the arteries without discernably different results. You don't have to eat it, but I'm going to...telling myself that it is but once a year* (albeit for eight days-but I'm only doing one belly-bomb fest), and all that. And Channukah is all about a seemingly endless supply of oil, right?

So here's the menu, should you wish to join me, in whole or part. I was interested in a recent article in the Food Section of the New York Times by Joan Nathan, concerning traditional Hungarian recipes as prepared by Hasidic jews of Hungarian descent in the US today. My turkey is a variant of her "Chicken Stuffed Under the Skin", which sounded awfully good to me. The original is made with chicken quarters. Mine is made with turkey thighs, which I love, and which are very easy to stuff under the skin. Brushing the turkey with paprika-laced oil makes the skin a beautiful mahogany color, as well as crispy.

I'll pass along that recipe as adapted here, link to those I've posted before, and follow up with further posts on my hybrid kugel/latke and the Times/Nathan recipe for the Hungarian pastries, which also I was also moved to try. I have cheated by posting the old photos from prior posts- I couldn't get excited about taking another egg salad picture, and I'm kind of busy here, anyway.

Channukah Dinner

Starters: Raw Vegetables "Relish Platter"-radishes, carrots, fennel sticks, olives, etc, with half sour pickles. (Make lots, and leave them on the table throughout, you need this to crunch and balance the stodgier aspects of the meal.)
The Other Egg Salad and Suzy's crackers

Main Thing: Turkey stuffed Under the Skin, With Roasted Vegs (see below)

Sides: Aforementioned Roasted Veg : Carrots, Green Beans and Onions
Kugel/Latke hybrid (coming soon to a blog near you)
Pletzlach
Keep on eating those carrot sticks, and whatnot.

Dessert:Cute little Hungarian Cheese Pastries (also coming soon), coffee

Turkey Stuffed Under the Skin with Roasted Veg (serves 4)

6 thinnish slices good bread, not too dried out (I used whole grain bread)
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (I used oyster mushrooms)
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 onions, one chopped, one quartered
one egg, lightly beaten
minced parsley-several tablespoons
fresh whole green beans
peeled carrots, sliced in chunks or sticks
4 tbsps of vegetable oil
hot hungarian paprika
salt
pepper
2 turkey thighs. If you bone them now, they are easier to slice later

Preheat the oven to 400F. Saute the mushrooms, garlic and chopped onion in 1-2 tbsps of the oil, until browning. In a bowl, crumble the bread, and moisten all over with water. Squeeze and drain all the water out, so you have a pasty ball of dough. Mix that up well with the egg, parsley, and the mushroom mix, and some salt and pepper.

Oil a baking pan just the size to hold the turkey and veg. Scatter the veg over the bottom of the pan. With your fingers, wiggle the skin away from the meat of the turkey thighs, leaving the outer edges attached as much as possible, to form a little pocket. Stuff half of the bread/mushroom mix into each, and set them on the veg, In a little cup, mix the remaining oil with plenty of paprika, and brush the top of each thigh.

You can brush them occasionally while baking, when you think of it. Bake for about an hour and a half, turning the oven down to 350F after an hour. If it gets too, too, brown, cover it loosely with foil, but make sure to end it uncovered, for crispness.

I'll be back soon for the potato thing and the pastries, always assuming I can move again after this dinner. And, by the way, I posted that special egg salad a long time ago...check it out, it is really, really good.Really good.

*In a week or so, I will be noting that Christmas comes but once a year , too. As do a number of other dinner-worthy occasions.

Comments

[Tanna]

Are the pastries the first picture? Those look beautiful.
So instead of stuffing the body cavity, the stuffing goes under the skin. That sounds pretty interesting.
Your menue sounds wonderful, hope you can move soon after.

[lindy]

Ooops-No pastry pictures yet Tanna- those are the pletzlach. (Onions and poppyseeds on there! )Hopefully there will be enough pastries left for a photo when I get around to writing them up.
I'm moving, but slowly.

[Trig]

My dad is the son of a Polish refugee to the East End of London and although he is not observant and I am not Jewish as dad married out, I was brought up to appreciate Jewish food. I still remember the first time I ate latkes in "The Falafel House" in Haverstock Hill. Dad used to make them at home with Osem latke mix, which is no longer available in the shops, and I've been talking about making latkes from scratch for ages. Can you post me a recipe, please!!! (with photos so dad can see how to do it). Some recipes I've seen on blogs call themselves latke but look more like hash browns to me.

Happy Chanukah.

[lindy]

Hello Trig!
There are quite a few of us blended types around. Though I married Irish-American,myself, my son in law has the same melting pot mix as our daughter.
I'm afraid I'm not the person for your genuine latke recipe..the one I'm planning on posting is my own latke/kugel hybrid, born out of the problems involved in frying individual potato pancakes, while making other things for a dinner.(Too much last minute insanity and hot oil are a poor mix in a home kitchen)
The hybrid thing is essentially a thin crispy kugel, baked in the oven..kind of made like a southern style cornbread in a preheated pan with hot oil in it, so that it is crispy on the bottom.
Real latkes are best done as the main attraction..served with just some sour cream and/or applesauce. They are yummy, but I don't have them down well, myself.
I wonder if someone could offer Trig a link to a really good, authentic latke recipe? Give us a hand?

[Trig]

Thanks Lindy. I guess I'm more calm in the kitchen than you, but I bet my dad would give you a good competition for panic of the day in front of the stove.

[Trig]

Hey Lindy,

I've at long last found someone who seems to have a real latke recipe, complete with a video. "Serious Eats" has posted a long article on food for Hanukkah with this great footage of forming and frying the latkes...

http://www.seriouseats.com/2006/12/this_last_sunday_my_wife.html

[Raspberry Sour]

Hi Lindy, I was eyeing the NYTimes Hungarian Hannukah as well, but was a little worried about trying them out on unsuspecting guests. I'm glad to hear everything worked out so well- no more excuses for me now! The turkey looks great too- chicken is usually the more common poultry, unless it's Thanksgiving/X-mas; I like the variation,

Trig, I'm not sure there is any single authentic latke recipe- everyone's bubbe has her own version, and everyone has their own preference (as I'm sure you can tell from the comments on Serious Eats). I have to say, their version seems a little too complicated and fussy to me- latkes, born out of Eastern European poverty, are a fairly simple, basic dish. Another way to do them is to simply grind the potatoes to a pulp in the food processor, wisk in flour, eggs, and salt, then fry (I've always been advised to go with sunflower or canola oil in the same strict manner as Serious Eats is about peanut oil, so again, pick your preference, and go with it) for a slightly more pancake-y than fritter-y latke.

Whatever your preference, make sure you prepare and eat them quickly- latkes (and raw potato) don't take well to sitting around.

Enjoy! And Lindy, Happy Hannukah!

[Baking Soda]

I was on the look-out for Christmas recipes (I know, I am one of those people to whom Christmas comes as a surprise: Oh only a week to go? really?). And just yesterday I post-it a recipe from Maggie Glezers A blessing of bread called Flam Pletzel onion rounds for brunch, but now I am leaning towards your Pletzlach..
I always stuff my turkey under the skin, the meat won't dry out and the flavours really melt in. I will try your paprika infused oil! Sounds great.