Comfort Food

Nothing dispels the woes of winter like comfort food!  Last week we made Hamantaschen and Matzo Ball Soup and photographed the delicious results!  We've included the recipes below if you feel inspired!  Enjoy!

Apricot Hamantaschen

Apricot Filling:

• 6 0z bag of dried apricots
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 1 tsp. orange peel
• 1 tbsp. orange juice

Soak the dried apricots for 1 day in warm water to rehydrate.  Drain the apricots and puree.  Combine pureed apricots with honey, orange peel, and orange juice.

Dough:

• 1 cup butter (I use Parkay)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla 

Place a rack in the top half of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until evenly mixed and crumbly.  Add eggs, vanilla, and milk.  Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the mixture.  Combine ingredients into an evenly mixed ball of dough.

Dust your work surface with flour and roll out the dough (1/4 inch thick).  Cut out circles of dough with a cookie or biscuit cutter and place them on the prepared cookie sheets 2 inches apart.  Add a spoonful of the Apricot Filling to the center of each round.  Pinch up the sides of the rounds to form triangles.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Move cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Matzo Ball Soup

 Soup Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts cooked and chopped into cubes
• 4 medium sized carrots chopped
• 5 celery sticks chopped
• 1 potato (peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes 
• 2 cups broccoli chopped 
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• Salt and Pepper to taste

 Boil 10 cups of water in a 4 quart pot.  Add the bouillon cubes, chopped vegetables and chicken to the boiling water and cook for 30 minutes, or until veggies become tender and tomato skins start to peel.  Add parsley, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Place matzo balls (see below) in the soup, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Uncover and serve!


Matzo Balls:

• 1 packet Manischewitz Matzo Ball Mix
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Beat eggs and vegetable oil together in a bowl.  Stir in Matzo Ball Mix with a fork.  Mix evenly until all Matzo Ball Mix is moistened.  Refrigerate mixture for 15 minutes.  Wet hands and roll the mixture into 1 inch balls.

Enjoy!