Corn blinis with smoked salmon and salmon caviar. Photos by Dan Kacvinski
In many Jewish homes, a favorite way to break the Yom Kippur fast is with a buffet table filled with easy-to-serve appetizers that guests can nibble when they return after a long day of prayer and fasting. Most of the food can be prepared in advance and put on the table quickly. No one wants to spend time in the kitchen while suffering from acute hunger pangs. The transition from fast to feast should be a gradual one. Begin with tea flavored with lemon and honey, or a glass of wine served with challah (egg bread) and honey cake.
Last year, we served mini Russian blini (blintzes) with smoked salmon and salmon caviar topped with sour cream. The recipe for the blini is not difficult and can be prepared in advance. I use a pan with seven shallow wells that is made just for this, but a nonstick frying pan will do as well. Cured or smoked salmon and salmon caviar helps replenish some of the salt lost after fasting for 24 hours.
I still remember what I was told by my parents: “After the Yom Kippur fast, our bodies need salt.” So our break-the-fast dinners always included smoked salmon and pickled herring. I’m not sure whether modern science agrees, but to be safe I’ve included Grandma Gene’s special recipe for Chopped Herring. It contains onion, apple, chopped hard-cooked egg and lots of love.
I can’t resist adding a few new ideas to the break-the-fast menu. This year I will serve a Vegetable Frittata that was inspired by a dish that is served at Cora’s, a small coffee shop in Santa Monica. The frittata is made in advance and heated when ordered. Filled with red peppers, onions and zucchini, it adds color to the buffet table. Prepare the frittata ahead of time, refrigerate, and serve at room temperature or heat in the oven just before serving.
Traditional Honey Cake is a holiday staple, symbolizing a sweet new year, but I continue to develop new recipes to make it better. This is one of the most delicious I have ever tasted, and even if you are not a big fan of honey cake, I think you will enjoy this one.
The children always enjoy crisp cookies at the end of the meal, and these crunchy Sesame-Honey Thins are perfect. I suggest orange blossom honey or any light honey for the recipe, as a strong flavor tends to overpower these delicate, paper-thin cookies. Make the dough mixture in advance, and store them in the refrigerator until baking.
CORN BLINIS WITH SMOKED SALMON OR SALMON CAVIAR
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (boiled) or frozen corn, defrosted
3 eggs
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 pound smoked salmon or salmon caviar
1/4 cup sour cream or crème fraiche
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Place the corn in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the eggs, flour, salt and pepper, and process until smooth.
Brush a large nonstick skillet with olive oil (or use a heavy cast-iron skillet with seven pancake wells), and heat over medium heat until hot. Working in batches, drop the batter in by tablespoon and cook until golden brown, about 20 seconds a side.
Top each pancake with smoked salmon or salmon caviar and sour cream. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.
Makes about 24 servings.
GRANDMA’S CHOPPED HERRING
For almost every holiday gathering, Grandma Gene would arrive at the front door bearing a large glass bowl filled with chopped herring, along with her corn rye bread. She always finished garnishing the herring when she arrived, and then would serve it with pride. It took many years to convince her to part with the recipe. Finally, I sat there one day when she made it, measuring and taking notes as she prepared the dish.
1 pound schmaltz herring fillets or 1 jar (1 pound) pickled herring fillets in wine sauce
2 slices challah or egg bread
1 medium onion, cut into quarters
1 green apple, peeled, cored and sliced
2 hard-boiled eggs
4 teaspoons vinegar
2 or 3 tablespoons safflower or vegetable oil
Soak the herring in cold water overnight. Drain well. Bone and skin the herring and cut it into pieces. Soak the challah in cold water for a few minutes and squeeze out the water.
Place the herring, challah, onion and apple in a food grinder and grind. Chop the hard-boiled egg whites and combine with 3 teaspoons of the vinegar. Mix the whites into the herring mixture. Spread the chopped herring on a platter. Mash the egg yolks with the remaining 1 teaspoon vinegar and spread over the top of the chopped herring. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Just before serving, drizzle the oil over the top. Serve with thinly sliced corn rye bread.
Makes about 8 to 10 servings.
VEGETABLE FRITTATA
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 medium zucchini, cut into small cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 large eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet, brushing sides of skillet, over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and zucchini; sauté until soft. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl, blending well. Pour egg mixture over hot vegetables in the skillet; stir gently to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, without stirring, until eggs are set on bottom, about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle half of the cheese over frittata. Place under broiler and broil until cheese melts, about 2 minutes.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, cut frittata into wedges, and serve.
Makes 6 servings.
NEW CLASSIC HONEY CAKE
Olive oil for loaf pans
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
1 3/4 cups honey
1 cup strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup currants
3 tablespoons brandy
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
Brush two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with olive oil.
In a saucepan, combine the honey and coffee; bring to a boil and cool. Soak the currants in the brandy.
Preheat the oven to 300 F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the ¼ cup olive oil, brown sugar and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the honey/coffee mixture to the egg mixture, stirring after each addition. Fold in the currants, almonds and orange zest.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake for 1 hour; the top will be sticky, but a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
Makes 2 loaves, 8 to 10 servings each.
SESAME-HONEY THINS
3/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup orange-flavored honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, honey and vanilla until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg and sesame seeds. Add the flour and salt; beat until smooth. (You may cover the dough with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator or freezer for later use.)
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Spoon small marble-size mounds of dough 2 inches apart onto a lightly oiled, foil-lined or silicone baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet. When the cookies harden, carefully peel them off.
Store in an airtight container with foil between the layers.
Makes about 8 dozen.
