HAVE dairy A VERY SHAVUOT
Sweet and savory dishes are thick with cheese, sour cream and more
We love the creamy specialties of Shavuot, which begins this year on Saturday evening.
Shavuot commemorates the receiving of the Torah by Moses and the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. It is said that the ancient Israelites avoided meat the day before this important event, and that was the origin of the holiday’s custom of serving dairy foods. Some attribute this tradition to the season, as the holiday occurs during the time of year when cows, goats and sheep give plenty of milk.
When I was growing up, I always looked forward to my mother’s Shavuot apple noodle kugel with cottage cheese. Now I make an even richer version that includes cream cheese and butter.
Cream cheese also enriches our lemony blueberry muffins. We use ricotta cheese in a quick and easy fruit tart on a tortilla base.
For a savory Shavuot pastry, a top choice of ours is a Mediterranean vegetable galette with a flaky cream cheese dough. We fill it with roasted eggplant and roasted peppers, and for a double-cheese delight, we add feta.
Creamy apple noodle kugel
Yield: 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
6 ounces wide egg noodles
Vegetable oil for drizzling
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, whole or low-fat, warmed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
1⁄2 cup small curd cottage cheese, regular or low-fat
1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs, beaten
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced small
Berry compote:
1 cup quartered strawberries 1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1⁄2 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
PROCEDURE
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with oven rack in center. Butter an 8-inch glass baking dish.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil egg noodles for 5 minutes until softened but still a little firm. Drain, drizzle with a little vegetable oil and toss.
3. In a large bowl beat together cream cheese, milk and butter with a mixer. Add cottage cheese, sugar, vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, salt and beaten eggs and stir until well combined. Gently fold in noodles and diced apples.
4. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
5. Bake kugel for 40 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for 5 minutes until center is set and top is golden brown. Cool at least 10 minutes. Cut in squares to serve.
6. Berry compote: Combine berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook over mediumlow heat until berries started to break down, about 7 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla. Serve cold or at room temperature, with the kugel.
Blueberry lemon muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS
2⁄3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated zest of Meyer lemons or other lemons
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, softened 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons Meyer or other lemon juice 3⁄4 cup whole milk yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup dried blueberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons pine nuts
PROCEDURE
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put liners in 12 muffin cups.
2. In a small bowl rub sugar with lemon zest with your fingertips until sugar is moistened.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Beat butter and cream cheese with mixer until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and smooth. Beat in eggs one by one, then lemon juice, yogurt and vanilla.
5. Mix in dry ingredients, then dried and fresh blueberries with rubber spatula.
6. Divide among muffin cups and sprinkle with pine nuts.
7. Bake 18-23 minutes until tops are golden and a thin knife inserted in a muffin comes out clean.
8. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, and remove from pan.
Easy ricotta fruit tart
Yield:
2 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons tangerine juice
2 teaspoons grated tangerine zest, divided 2 8-inch low-carb or regular flour tortillas Grapeseed or vegetable oil (for brushing) 2 seedless tangerines, divided in segments 6-8 strawberries, stemmed, thinly sliced 16-20 blueberries
PROCEDURE
1. In a small bowl, combine ricotta, tangerine juice and 1 teaspoon tangerine zest. Refrigerate.
2. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 300 de
grees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place tortillas on baking sheet and brush very lightly with oil. Bake 10 minutes or until crisp but not burned.
3. Spread ricotta mixture on baked tortillas.
4. Top with tangerine segments on outer edge and a ring of strawberry slices and blueberries.
5. Garnish with remaining 1 teaspoon tangerine zest. If you like, cut with a pizza cutter.
Mediterranean vegetable galette
Yield: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
Cream cheese pie dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter, chilled and cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes
1⁄2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
3 tablespoons water
Filling: 2 Chinese eggplants, sliced about
1⁄3 inch thick
2 red bell peppers, cut in strips
1⁄2 red onion, cut in quarter slices 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1⁄2-3⁄4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Fresh oregano leaves or dried oregano, for sprinkling
Sesame seeds, for sprinkling
PROCEDURE
1. Pie dough: In a large bowl, place the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and mix with a fork.
2. Add butter and cream cheese and, with clean hands, quickly crumble the mixture until it looks like coarse meal with some small peas in it.
3. Sprinkle vinegar and water over mixture and mix with a fork or your fingers.
4. Lightly squeeze and press dough until it holds together. Form into a ball or rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour.
5. Filling: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange sliced vegetables in one layer in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle with pepper. Cool to room temperature.
6. Divide dough in four equal pieces. Roll each piece to roughly a 7-inch circle.
7. Place one dough circle on a parchmentcovered baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons feta. Top with a layer of roasted vegetables, leaving a 1- to 2-inch border of dough uncovered. Sprinkle vegetables with 1-2 tablespoons feta and a little oregano.
8. Fold in and pleat edges of dough over filling, leaving an opening in center where filling shows. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
9. Lightly brush edges of dough with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
10. Refrigerate galettes for about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
11. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and bake for 15 minutes more or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.