Lorne Feldman — Dean of Students

Election Day Cake

aday — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 18:36:55 +0000

Election Day Cake aday Mon, 11/02/2020 - 13:36 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/election%20cake%20header.jpg.webp?itok=MWDDrxME A historic recipe for a celebratory yeast cake. November 2, 2020

By Lorne Feldman — Dean of Students

In the 18th and 19th centuries, colonists celebrated after casting their ballots on Election Day, which was considered a holiday.

In honor of the 2020 Election Day, food historian Stephen Schmidt shares a traditional election cake recipe adapted from Lydia Maria Child in the 1833 edition of "The American Frugal Housewife," and Dean of Students, Chef Lorne Feldman, demonstrates making the cake on Instagram.

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Stephen Schmidt’s Election Cake

Yields 24 pieces

1/4 cup water, lukewarm
2 packages active dry yeast
3/4 cup whole milk, heated to lukewarm
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and forming
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg, room temperature
1⁄2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup currants

Pour the water into a 4- or 5-quart mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the top, and set aside until the yeast dissolves, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the warm milk, then beat in 1 1/2 cups of the flour, making a stiff batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes (no longer).
Beat in the butter, egg, sugar, spices and salt. Then work in the remaining 11/2 cups flour, making a soft, rough dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 15 to 30 minutes.
Knead the dough until smooth, for 5 to 10 minutes. It will be very soft and sticky. Gradually add more flour as necessary, a few tablespoons at a time, to form a smooth dough.
Knead in the currants. Roll the dough into an 8-inch log. Cut the log into 4 equal pieces, then divide each piece into 6 little rolls. To create surface tension so the rolls will puff up round, roll each into a little ball. One at a time, pinch 1 side of the ball with your fingers as though stretching loose skin, then tuck the stretched dough into a pucker at the bottom of the ball. Do this several times until the surface looks taut. Dredge the rolls in flour and arrange pucker-side down in a greased 9x13x2-inch baking pan, 4 rows across, 6 rows down.
Loosely drape with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until generously doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The rolls should all be touching.
Set a rack in the lower-middle level of the oven. Heat the oven to 375°F. Bake the cake until all the rolls are puffed and richly browned, and those in the center register at least 190°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 20 minutes. Let the cake rest in the pan for 3 minutes, then gently shake the pan back and forth until the cake loosens. Invert the cake onto a cookie sheet, then re-invert it onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, preferably on the day of baking.

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Chef Lorne's Coconut Macaroons for Passover

aday — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 14:30:07 +0000

Chef Lorne's Coconut Macaroons for Passover aday Wed, 04/08/2020 - 10:30 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/macaroons%20header.jpg.webp?itok=d7od8gKP A customizable dessert recipe for Seder dinner. April 8, 2020

By Lorne Feldman — Dean of Students

Coconut macaroons are a staple at most Seder tables for dessert (not the same as macarons).

Passover, or Pesach as my grandmother referred to it, is a holiday most associated with not eating any leavened products. While she would spend days cooking and preparing for the Seder, the traditional dinner at which the story of Passover is recited, she would never make coconut macaroons, opting to buy them from her local Kosher market. I have strong memories of opening a “can” of macaroons, and when I began to cook for my own Seder, I played with many recipes to find one that worked for me.

You can play with the nuts and fruit in this recipe to make it your own. This year, I am thinking of dried kiwi or pineapple and macadamia nuts! Note that these can stick to the sheet pan so I like to lightly spray the parchment with nonstick spray. You can also drizzle chocolate over the cooled cookies or dip the bottom in chocolate.

Chef Lorne's Coconut Macaroons

2 egg whites
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1/4 cup ground pistachios
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
2 cups sweetened coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Combine egg whites, sugar and salt, and whisk to combine.
Add remaining ingredients and mix together.
Using a cookie scoop, portion out macaroons on a lined sheet pan.
Bake at 350 F for 14-15 minutes.
Let cool on the pan for a few minutes before moving the cookies to a cooling rack. Store covered at room temperature.

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Recipe steps

Step 1 - Combine egg whites, sugar and salt, and whisk to combine;

Step 2 - Add remaining ingredients and mix together;

Step 3 - Using a cookie scoop, portion out macaroons on a lined sheet pan;

Step 4 - Bake at 350 F for 14-15 minutes;

Step 5 - Let cool on the pan for a few minutes before moving the cookies to a cooling rack. Store covered at room temperature;

Chef Lorne's Purim Hamentashen

aday — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 21:46:13 +0000

Chef Lorne's Purim Hamentashen aday Thu, 03/05/2020 - 16:46 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/Hamentashen%20header.jpg.webp?itok=osc4Hb7w Celebrate the Jewish holiday with an apricot-filled pastry. March 8, 2020

By Lorne Feldman — Dean of Students

Every year in the late winter/early spring, when trees are beginning to bud and flowers are peaking up after a long winter, my mind turns to Purim, the celebration of Jewish deliverance derived from a story in the Book of Esther. In addition to costumes and celebrations, Purim means Hamentashen, the triangle pastry that has come to symbolize the holiday. There are many interpretations of this filled cookie, and the one I am most fond of is that the triangle pastry represents the shape of the hat of Haman, the villain in the story.

The traditional fillings for Hamentashen are poppy seed (or “mun”), prune, or my favorite, apricot. The dough can include butter and cream cheese, but I use my grandmother’s recipe, which is an oil-based cookie dough, infused with a hint of orange flavor. Note that it is best to make fillings in advance so they can cool and that the oil-based cookie dough can be challenging to work with. My advice is to gently roll it out on a well-floured surface without applying any pressure on the rolling pin.

Hamentashen Cookie Dough

3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 fresh orange juice
Zest of one orange
1 pinch salt
4 cups flour
Apricot filling, recipe below

Blend all ingredients in order given using enough flour to make a soft dough that is not sticky.
Knead and roll out to 1/4-inch thick, and using a cutter, cut out 3-inch circles.
Place a teaspoon of filling on the center of each circle, and bring up the sides towards the middle, creating a triangle.
Brush with an egg wash, sprinkle lightly with sugar if desired, and bake at 350 F until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes.

Apricot Filling

Ingredients

2 cups dried apricots
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

Place apricots in a non-reactive saucepan and cover with an inch of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, and cook until fork soft, approximately 15-20 minutes.
Drain, and puree in a food processer. Combine warm puree with sugar and place over low heat until sugar dissolves, cooking for 5 minutes. Let cool completely before using.

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Plant-Based Potato Pancakes

aday — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 18:56:31 +0000

Plant-Based Potato Pancakes aday Mon, 12/16/2019 - 13:56 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/root%20vegetables%20header.jpg.webp?itok=yFTvO-8q Chef Lorne Feldman uses root vegetables for a more colorful, richly flavored latke. December 17, 2019

By Lorne Feldman — Dean of Students

Celebrate Hanukkah, family traditions and winter root vegetables with this Instagram-worthy latke recipe.

When I was growing up, Hanukkah always meant candles, presents, and most important of all, the smell and sound of latkes frying at my grandmother's house. While today I may use a recipe or a formula, my grandmother used neither and instead relied on her intuition and decades of frying experience to make what I remember as the perfect potato pancake.

She would hand grate some potatoes, an onion or two, some eggs, matzo meal and a very generous handful of salt before she would start frying. She would always joke that her latkes were kosher, except if she nicked her finger on the box grater, and then they weren’t kosher anymore! Today, I build on her expertise and usually use a ratio of 2:1 potatoes to onions, keeping the tradition of adding eggs, matzo meal and salt. For a variation, I grated a variety of root vegetables, including parsnips, turnips, carrots and sweet potatoes to make a more colorful, richly flavored latke.

Some useful techniques when making latkes include grating the onion over the potatoes to prevent discoloration and squeezing out as much liquid as possible from the grated vegetables prior to adding in the rest of the ingredients. Fry in peanut oil if possible, for its high smoking point, and serve with either homemade applesauce, if accompanying meat, or garnish with sour cream, crème fraiche and dill for a lovely addition to your holiday table.

Chag Sameach!

Root Vegetable and Sweet Potato Latkes

Yields 24 small latkes

1 small russet potato, peeled 
1 small sweet potato, peeled 
1 small carrot, peeled 
1 small parsnip, peeled 
1 small turnip, peeled
 1/2 yellow onion 
1/2 cup matzo meal 
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
2 large eggs 
Vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

Using a box grater, coarsely grate the potatoes, carrot, parsnip, turnip and onion.
Line a medium bowl with cheesecloth and place all of the grated vegetables inside the cloth. Wring out veggies thoroughly in cloth to squeeze out any liquid. Transfer veggies to another bowl. Discard liquid, adding any starch that has settled on the bottom of the bowl back to the veggies.
Toss in all of the remaining ingredients except the oil until completely incorporated.
Heat 1/4-inch layer of vegetable oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, scoop 1/3 cup balls of vegetable mixture and drop into pan.
Using a flat spatula, smash each to flatten into a pancake.
Cook, flipping once, until crisp and nicely golden, 2-3 minutes per side, and then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Serve with desired dips or accompaniments.

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Plant-Based Recipe Holidays Potatoes Vegetables