One of the best things about Christmas is that it’s associated with some of my favorite flavors and tastes – gingerbread, orange, chestnut, and peppermint. Last weekend I was craving Killer Brownies but wanted to make them seasonal, so I created a holiday version infused with peppermint. This is a combination I’ve tried once before – check out my Pepppermint Perfection Nanaimo Bars.
Peppermint is prized for its leaves and stems which are used to flavor and scent tea, candies, chocolates, chewing gum, cosmetics, and toiletries. Peppermint has a long tradition of medicinal use. It has been shown to repel insects, enhance memory, treat headaches, relieve skin irritation, act as a decongestant, relax muscles, kill bacteria and viruses, and mitigate digestive disorders.
The plant is indigenous to Europe and Asia and is a sterile hybrid of watermint and spearmint. It has been widely cultivated in the New World and is now considered invasive in Australia, New Zealand, Galapagos Islands and the United States.
Makes 48 squares
Ingredients
6 ounces peppermint candy canes
1 lb unsalted butter (4 sticks)
33 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
7 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
1 1/3 cup unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Unwrap and break candy canes into 1-inch pieces. Crush with a mortar and pestle. Alternately, lay pieces flat in a large Ziplock bag and use rolling pin or wine bottle to crush. The goal is to break candy canes into smaller pieces (1/8-inch in length) and not to crush into a powder. Set aside.
2. Butter and flour a 3/4 to 1-inch deep 12 x 18 inch baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. In a medium pan over lowest heat, melt butter and 12 ounces chocolate chips. Mix thoroughly and set aside to cool slightly.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs (with a fork, do not use an electric beater), then add sugar, vanilla, and half the peppermint extract. Add chocolate mixture and mix well using a spatula. Allow to cool to room temperature.
5. In a small bowl mix all but 2 tablespoons of flour, baking powder and salt. Using a spatula, fold flour mixture into the chocolate mixture.
6. Toss 3 ounces crushed candy canes and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in reserved 2 tablespoons of flour. Fold these into the brownie batter with a spatula.
7. Pour batter into the baking sheet and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, remove baking sheet and drop on countertop or floor several times to remove air bubbles. Be careful not to overbake these brownies – they should be moist and chewy (not cakey).
8. When brownies have cooled to room temperature, melt remaining 9 ounces of chocolate chips in microwave. Mix in remaining 1/2 tablespoon peppermint extract. Using a knife, spread thinly on baked brownies. Immediately garnish with remaining 3 ounces of crushed candy canes.
9. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut into squares.
10. In an airtight container, brownies will last in the refrigerator for two weeks. To freeze, wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container for up to six months.
This year marks my fifth Hanukkah celebration with my fiancé’s family. In anticipation, I’m sharing his mother’s latke recipe which is the culinary highlight of the holiday. Latkes are potato pancakes common to the cuisines of Eastern, Central and Northern Europe. Similar creations can be found in Persian, Indian and Korean cuisine. Latkes are traditionally eaten by Ashkenazi Jews during Hanukkah.
Many dishes associated with Hanukkah are fried in oil since the miracle of the holiday involved oil. According to tradition, the Maccabean rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem was celebrated with an eight day ceremony. The observance required that a menorah be continuously lit, but there was only enough oil for one night because the Temple had been desecrated. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days.
Other traditional dishes are doughnuts (especially sufganiyot), fritters, and cheese. For another Hanukkah recipe, check out my shortbread cookies.
Ingredients
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, shredded or grated (not mashed)
3 red potatoes, shredded or grated (not mashed)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon salt
peanut oil, for frying
Directions
1. Take 1 cup of the shredded Yukon potatoes and further shred in a food processor. This will aid in binding the latkes. Add it back to the potato mixture.
2. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients (except oil) with your hands. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
3. Heat a skillet with oil 1/2-inch deep over medium high. The oil should not be smoking. Hot oil sears the latke and prevents it from absorbing too much additional oil.
4. Drop two tablespoons of potato mixture into the hot oil. Release the mixture so that it forms a latke about 3 inches in diameter. Latkes should be fried for 3-5 minutes on each side until dark golden brown. Flip over and fry the other side as well. Fry 3-5 latkes at a time depending on the size of your skillet.
5. Drain on paper towels to remove some of the oil.
6. Repeat with remaining mixture. Replenish oil as needed.
7. Serve warm with apple sauce and sour cream.
This is one of my favorite Indian mithais (literally ‘sweets’). It seems to be Gujarati in origin since most of my Indian friends have never heard of it. Like so many mithais, its basic ingredients are a combination of flour, sugar, butter and milk. While often too sweet and rich for the Western palate, mithais are widely enjoyed by South Asians in the homeland and diaspora.
They are traditionally eaten on special occasions, and are not really equivalent to daily desserts which have become a modern custom in North America. Often, families will make platters of various kinds of mithais and send them to neighbors and friends in anticipation of Divali, Eid or other festive occasions.
Growing up in Calgary, we had a family friend who was renowned for her monthar. She would make it in great slabs studded with nuts and saffron threads. While I was away at college and graduate school, this was a favorite treat for me to pick up on my trips home. I’d usually freeze the whole batch, and defrost one square at a time.
Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon orange food color powder
1 lb unsalted butter (4 sticks)
1lb gram flour (also called besan or chickpea flour)
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup almonds and pistachios, chopped (optional)
Directions
1. Boil sugar, water and food color until 240F on a candy thermometer. It can also be tested by dropping a small amount on a plate. It will form a soft ball when it is at the right temperature.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the butter and using a spoon carefully skim off as much of the foam as possible. Then decant the butter, discarding the milk solids that have settled on the bottom of the pan. Return butter to pan.
3. On medium heat, add flour and sauté until golden brown. This can take 10-20 minutes so be patient.
4. Increase the heat slightly and slowly add evaporated milk, stirring constantly.
5. Add the syrup mixture and remove from heat. Add nutmeg, cardamom and saffron and stir well.
6. Allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes, and then stir the mixture until it thickens.
7. Spread in a 9 x 9 inch pan and sprinkle with nuts. Using the back of a spoon, pat down gently to ensure the nuts are properly attached.
8. When cool, cut into 1 inch squares.
9. Store in the refrigerator for 3 weeks or the freezer for 3 months.
Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits. Although they originated in China, Europeans originally thought the peach tree was from Persia which explains the scientific name Prunus persica which later became ‘peach’. From China the peach was taken to India and Western Asia, then by Alexander the Great to Persia. After that, it travelled to the Americas, Northern Europe and finally to the North American colonies in the 17th century.
Interestingly, peaches and nectarines are different cultivars of the same species. Those with white flesh are sweeter and more prized in East Asia; the more acidic, yellow-flesh cultivars are popular in Europe and North America. Peaches are closely related to plums, cherries, apricots and almonds; and within the larger Rosaceae family to roses, apples, pears, strawberries and raspberries.
Although California produces 65% of the peaches in the United States, in my mind the fruit is most closely associated with Georgia, the ‘Peach State’. Over the summer, when we were invited to dinner at the home of a friend originally from Georgia, I used the opportunity to create this peach dessert.
Serves 6
Ingredients
Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
Filling
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons peach or apricot jam/preserve
1-2 peaches, thinly sliced
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. To make crust, in a large bowl mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar.
3. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, pack the crumb mixture so that it evenly covers the bottom and sides of a 9-inch metal pie tin.
4. To make filling, in another large bowl beat cream cheese, sugar and eggs until smooth. Pour into the pan and bake for 40 minutes or until the surface is very light brown. Let the cheesecake cool for 30-60 minutes at room temperature.
5. Once cooled, gently spread jam/preserve on top of the cheesecake. Arrange peach slices on top. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
