Wishing You a Sweet New Year!

Frances Maggin's Applesauce Cake - the recipe comes with a great story!

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown on Wednesday. It is a time of joy and anticipation, as well as an opportunity for consideration and reflection.

It's traditional to usher in the new year with apples and honey and other treats, in hopes of a sweet new year. So here are some of my favorite holiday recipes, which I hope you'll enjoy - for Rosh Hashanah, for breaking the fast after Yom Kippur, to celebrate fall, or just 'cause ... :)

Shanah Tovah! [shah-NAH toh-VAH]


Frances Maggin's Applesauce Cake

Pomegranate Molasses-Glazed Carrots

Helen's Apple Cake (Craig's mother's recipe)

Southern Honey Cake

Apple Almond Kugel (one of my most requested recipes)

Challah

Cider-Braised Chicken (Jeremy's favorite chicken dish)

Quince-Glazed Baked Yams

Honey Cakes with Caramel Frosting

Sauteed Apples a la Mode

Applesauce Bars

Vanilla Cakes with Caramelized Bananas (pictured above)

Sugar Cookies

Banana Oatmeal Pie

Grilled Brie with Cherries and Almonds

Orange, Date and Almond Salad

Banana Cheesecake Egg Rolls

Jeremy, Craig, and I went out to eat with my parents last week; my father is suffering from congestive heart failure, and he's not doing well. Yesterday, though, was his 86th birthday!

While at lunch, I was fixated upon egg rolls even though we weren't eating at a Chinese restaurant. I'd looked at the menu online ahead of time - with some hope of being able to narrow down my options, given my infamous lack of decision-making ability when presented with too many delicious things to try - and found two particularly noteworthy items: a Reuben egg roll and the Banana Caramel Fried Cheesecake.

The former, of course, was an egg roll stuffed with corned beef and sauerkraut, served with Thousand Island dressing; and yes, it was as good as it sounds! (Or, at least, that's what Jeremy told me.) Making our own version is high on the "to do" list.

The latter was a crisp, banana-and-cheesecake-filled egg roll, served with a drizzle of caramel sauce. And, well ... since I have a pretty hefty sweet tooth, I needed to make my own. This one jumped to #1 on the "to do" list.

Sweet, creamy, crispy, and with the caramel sauce to complement it, this is a dessert that completely seduces you!

My father didn't order any dessert on the day we met for lunch. He wasn't very hungry - that's what he told our waitress, anyway. He ordered just a cup of chili ... but then he ordered, and ate, a second one, too ... :)


Banana Cheesecake Egg Rolls

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
4 small bananas, divided
12 egg roll wrappers
oil for frying
caramel sauce, for serving (use this recipe to make your own, or purchase a jar)

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, egg, vanilla, sugar, and 2 bananas with an electric mixer; mixture will not be completely smooth. Stir in remaining 2 bananas, mashed.

In a very large skillet, heat 1" oil over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles when splashed into it.

One by one, lay an egg roll wrapper onto the countertop; place 1/4 cup banana filling into the center.

Fold the sides of the wrapper over the filling.

Fold the closest edge up.

Holding the furthest edge up a bit, continue to roll up from the closest edge. (The filling is fairly liquid, though it cooks up nicely when the egg rolls are fried; so you will need to balance the egg roll a bit while rolling it, to keep the filling inside rather than having it ooze out.)

Dampen the visible edge with a bit of water to help seal.

Place the egg rolls into the oil and cook for 3 minutes per side, until golden. Drain on paper towels, then serve with caramel sauce.

Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love Tart

Elvis Presley was noted for many things, among them his beautiful baritone, his white jumpsuits, his gyrations, and his beloved grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Since I obsess about food, let's focus on those sandwiches, shall we?

This is my final entry into Project PB&J - a contest for food bloggers which is being hosted by my friend Cindy of Once Upon a Loaf and her friend Christina of She Runs, She Eats.  The competition is in honor of National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, as well as Cindy's birthday, on April 2; and the rules required preparing a sandwich and/or a baked good with a nut butter and a jelly/jam or fruit.

So, as I thought of all the variations on the theme of peanut butter paired with fruit, how could I not think of Elvis' favorite treat?  And yet, that particular pb&j has already been done, hasn't it?  Hmmm ....

But it could be transformed into a different entity, couldn't it, taking the essential components and whirling them in my brain until I devised a different concoction with those flavors ...?

And so, I settled upon a dessert ... a dessert with a peanut butter-flavored crust ... a dessert with a peanut butter-flavored filling ... a dessert with a peanut butter-flavored topping ... and a dessert with bananas happily mixed in.

Thus, I present to you ... the Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love Tart!

Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love Tart


Crust:
1-1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup butter, chilled, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons ice water


In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and salt.  Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles meal.  Mix in the peanut butter with a fork.  Add water 1 tablespoon at a time and stir with a fork; then knead gently until the mixture comes together.  Form dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, and wrap in plastic; refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.  On a lightly floured countertop, roll out dough to a 12" round.  Place dough into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom or into a 9" pie pan; trim edges.

Place a sheet of foil into the crust and fill with dry beans.  Place the tart pan onto a baking sheet; bake for 15 minutes, until the crust is set.  Remove foil and beans, bake for 5 more minutes until the crust is cooked, then let crust cool completely.

Filling:
2 cups Breyer's Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream, very soft
3 small bananas, sliced thin
1/3 cup Nutella
1/4 cup peanut butter-flavored Multi Grain Cheerios, ground (a fabulous marketing gift to play with!)
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, ground
whipped cream, if desired

Spread the ice cream into the prepared crust; top with the sliced bananas, then freeze for 45 minutes until the ice cream is mostly set.

Spread the Nutella over the bananas, swirling it over the top.  (If the ice cream mingles with the Nutella, it won't hurt anything ... I know from personal experience!)  Combine the Cheerios and peanuts, then sprinkle over the top of the tart.  Freeze for at least 3 hours until firmly set.

Let the tart rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Makes 12 servings.  Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Be sure you play Elvis tunes while you prepare this.  Just as you should listen to arias while cooking Italian food, you need to listen to the King while making this tart in his honor!  Infuse your food with the appropriate spirit ....