Celebrate Purim with savory or sweet treats
Hamantaschen, as essential to Purim as matzo is to Passover, are typically sweet triangular cookies filled with a jam that’s often made from poppy seeds.
During Purim, which begins tonight, Jews are encouraged to indulge in playful revelry, eating rich pastries, drinking to excess and dancing in the synagogue — something like Mardi Gras, and coincidentally coming around the same time of the year.
Originally called mohntaschen, hamantaschen date at least to 16th-century Germany, when mohn, or poppy seeds, were eaten as a snack during winter, when little grew. The seeds were also turned into jam and encased in pastries for special occasions.
"Hamantaschen," a Yiddish term, is a reminder of the Jewish peoples’ deliverance from their enemy Haman, an official under the Persian King Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes I, in the fifth century B.C. The name referred to Haman’s pockets or purses and is now associated with his tricornered hat.
According to the central story of the Book of Esther, called the megillah and read aloud every year, Haman had planned to kill all of Persia’s Jews. However, when Queen Esther, who was Jewish, told the king of Haman’s plot, he instead ordered Haman’s execution.
On Purim, both children and adults shake groggers (or noisemakers) whenever they hear Haman’s name in the reading and, of course, munch on hamantaschen.
Although I still use poppy seeds in my sweet hamantaschen, I have created this savory spinoff, tucking crumbled "What's in the fridge" quesadillas
feta under thyme-scented caramelized onions for the filling. To please traditionalists, you can still fill some of the buttery dough with jam.
Whatever you do, gift hamantaschen with fresh fruits to friends and family as a "mishloach manot"
— the sending of portions — another delicious Purim tradition.
CARAMELIZED ONION AND POPPY SEED HAMANTASCHEN
Makes about 36
2 cups unbleached
all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder Kosher salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted
butter, cut into cubes 1½ teaspoons balsamic vinegar 1 large egg, yolk and white
separated
Ice water, as needed 1 tablespoon extra-virgin
olive oil
1 large onion, halved and very
thinly sliced
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 fresh or dried bay leaf 1 teaspoon honey Freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
½ cup good-quality feta or goat cheese, crumbled
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add 9 tablespoons butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar and the egg yolk and pulse, adding 2 to 3 tablespoons or so of ice water if needed to form a soft dough. Wrap the dough in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium nonstick pan over medium-low. Add the onion, thyme, bay leaf and honey, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in the poppy seeds and the remaining 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and season to taste. Let cool.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, heat the oven to
375 degrees and cover 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll out the dough onto a floured surface until thick. Using a 2½-inch round mold or glass, cut the dough into rounds. Top each round with a hefty pinch of cheese in the center, then a heaping teaspoon of the cooled onion mixture.
Working with one round at a time, dip a pastry brush or your finger into the egg white and moisten the edges of the excess dough surrounding the filling. Fold up 3 sides of the round to form a triangle, partly covering the filling with the dough, and pinch the dough firmly at all 3 tips of the triangle. Transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheets and repeat to make about 36 hamantaschen.
Bake until golden, rotating midway through baking, 15 to 20 minutes, then serve warm.