Honey, Darling?: agave, honey.The various ethical, environmental, and cultural issues surrounding honey have been considered and discussed on Hazon's blog The Jew and the Carrot, both in posts and comments.  Leah has explored whether honey is “kosher” for vegans, and wondered if there’s “any ethics-based diet that *doesn’t* have a little bit of hypocrisy clouding up its ideals.”  Michael Croland from HeebnVegan explained that the issue does little to promote veganism, and pointed us in the direction of this Satya Mag article on the subject.  Meanwhile, Rabbi Shmuel has suggested that we should critically re-examine the Rosh HaShanah custom of dipping apples in honey, and explore alternatives such as maple syrup, while Rabbi Debbie Prinz joined the conversation with a lip smacking guest post on how we can integrate chocolate into our Rosh HaShanah celebrations.

Rather than continue the debate on whether honey is vegan, eco-kashrut, or even just kosher (Leah notes that she has always “puzzled over how eating a food created by a decidedly non-kosher creature could be considered okay for the Tribe”), I’m offering a number of delicious, vegan, kosher, and organic ideas and recipes for a sweet new year.

Agave Nectar: Derived from the succulent plant of the same name, agave is like honey’s sophisticated big sister. Satisfyingly sweet and sticky, it makes for a perfect apple dip, plus it has a low glycemic index, a long shelf-life, and it won’t crystallize.  Madhava Agave Nectar is available in different grades, is certified organic, and is kosher.  It’s available online and at many markets across the US.

Maple Syrup: As Rabbi Shmuel noted, maple syrup is an ideal choice for Rosh HaShanah thanks to its rich symbolism and earthy sweetness.  “Maples,” he explains, “represent the ultimate in chesed (lovingkindness) giving freely of not only their wood and shelter but their sap - their very essence.” Shady Maple Farm offers certified organic, kosher, pure maple syrup, as do Coombs Family Farms, Highland Sugarworks, and a host of others.

Brown Rice Syrup: Rich in rice protein concentrates, brown rice syrup has been said to have a healthy effect on cholesterol levels, and may help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Because it’s produced from a whole food source and is composed of simple sugars, brown rice syrup is considered to be one of the healthiest sweeteners in the natural food industry.  With a light, sweet flavor and the consistency of honey, this is another great option to experiment with on Rosh HaShanah.  Lundberg Family Farms offers brown rice syrup that’s organic, eco-farmed, vegan, kosher, and gluten free!

Date Honey: It’s interesting to note that references to honey in the Torah are said to have referred to honey made from dates. This is quite possibly the ultimate symbolic Rosh HaShanah food, and also the hardest to find.  Our own Leah offered a recipe on the Lilith blog last year, but you may still have time to track some down at a local Middle Eastern market, or order it online in time for the holiday.  Try here and here.

Chocolate: It’s incredibly easy to find vegan chocolate these days, and what’s more, you can often find vegan chocolate that’s also organic and fair-trade.  Simply melt some semisweet, vegan chocolate chips with a drop of soy milk or oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Allow it to cool a bit before dipping your apples, bread, and fingers!

Vegan Caramel Sauce: Little goes better with apples than sweet, sticky, mouth watering caramel.  Unfortunately for vegans, caramel often contains milk and butter.  Not to worry, though!  Try one of these recipes for vegan caramel sauce, which create a thick, sweet, pourable alternative.

[Cross-posted from the Jew and the Carrot]

Baklava: Hot from the ovenLast week I was out with a friend at a Middle Eastern restaurant and by the time we were done stuffing our faces with cacik, grape leaves, feta, lamb, beef, and the like, we were too full to order baklava for dessert. So we decided that I should make baklava for our Rosh Hashanah dinner that was to take place a few days later. And now, I will share with you the recipe for the baklava that "is like no other baklava I've ever tasted," "requires a shower after eating because I'm covered in honey," and "f*cking delicious," according to three tasters.

When I looked to Epicurious for a recipe, I found that there were about a million different versions, with fillings ranging from walnuts and almonds to chocolate and apricots. I went with pistachios, though, since they're my fave.

By the way, working with phyllo dough is tricky. You’ve gotta be fast, since it dries out quickly and tears easily. By the time I was done assembling my baklava I had shreds of phyllo dough all over the countertop and all over the floor. And in the garbage. But maybe it's just me. I'm not exactly speedy in the kitchen...or anywhere.

Got any tips on working with phyllo? Have a favorite baklava recipe to share? Post it in the comments section!

Nectar of the GodsWhen you picture the “land flowing with milk and honey” what do you see?  Chances are, like me, you envision a tall glass overflowing with whole-fat milk and a sticky, golden honey bear.  For years, scholars and Torah enthusiasts have bashed this idea, claiming that honey in biblical times actually refers to a sweet dates, and not bee honey. 

Last week’s Jerusalem Post, took the sting out of their argument when it revealed that a Hebrew University archaeologist uncovered the oldest known apiary in the Beit She’an Valley.  The uncovered hives "date" back to the 10^th to early 9^th century BCE and beekeepers estimate that they could produce up to a half ton of honey/year in their heyday. 

Okay, so maybe the gig is up on date honey being the exclusive sweetener of the holy land.  Still, I revelled in the opportunity to try something new (and also ancient) for my Rosh Hashanah apple dipping.  A few thwarted trips to Fairway and other speciality stores convinced me that date honey isn't easy to come by.  Luckily, it turns out that it's easy to make.     

(I've only tested the recipe below twice, so I'm definitely open for suggestions on how to improve it.)

Date Honey

Yield: about 1 cup of gooey, fragrant date honey

• 8 dates – make sure you buy the fat, sticky Medjool dates (Delget won’t work)
• Juice of ½ a lemon, remove the seeds
• ½ cup water
• 4 pieces crystallized ginger, finely chopped
• ¼ cup Agave syrup (don’t worry, this is easy to find at Whole Foods or health food stores)

Remove the pit from the dates and quarter them.  Mash the dates with a fork into a paste-like consistency.  Add the date mash to a small sauce pan.  Add the lemon juice and ¼ cup of water and heat over a low flame, stirring frequently with a whisk or wooden spoon (about 3 minutes).  After the water is absorbed, add the remaining water, agave syrup and crystallized ginger.  The mash should take on a slightly more liquid quality, like apple butter.  Continue stirring, adding small amounts of additional water and Agave syrup as necessary until you reach the taste and consistency you like.

Let cool and serve with slices of Ginger Gold, Honey Crisp apples (or any apple you like).

Honey server1. Dessert Wine. It’s sweet, not cloying, if you get a good bottle, and is a perfect way to cap off a delicious meal. Banyuls, an unusual red dessert wine, goes great with chocolate desserts.

2. Homemade Baklava, the sticky sweet Middle Eastern pastry is a far cry from the usual honey cake. Ramp it up a notch with honey from small producers, and keep in mind: the darker the honey, the more flavorful. Epicurious.com has a great recipe Dale Raben will prepare for Pickled next week.

3. Make Your Own Meade Kit - Yes, you can make this honey wine at home. And so can your host with this kit. Become a brewmaster of this fermented honey beverage. Buy a kit to give your host with some delicious honey.

4. Honey Serving Pots - Forget the honey, give its accoutrements. This honey server will reduce stickiness.

5. Homemade Spiced Almonds - Put in a celophane bag and tie with pretty ribbon. See recipe below.

Voila: A slice of my first homemade cake The holiday calls for honey, so here’s honey. Both the batter and frosting in this recipe are drenched in it. In fact, the honey in this recipe is like that one main chick in the Pussycat dolls: She's the face of the group while the other four (or five?) are less than secondary. Also like a Pussycat Dolls song, it’s tough to handle more than one piece of this stuff, so I’d recommend making it for a crowd. And if you want to amp the chocolate, sub in Dixie Elliot’s chocolate frosting recipe.

Now, I am by no means a “baker,” so if I could make this, you can, too. Here’s what intimidated me at first glance:

1. I had never boiled honey, much less used a candy thermometer for anything;
2. I had never sifted ingredients;
3. I’d never made my own frosting.
4. I’d never made a cake that was more than a mere two layers.

Yes, it was a lot for a non-baker to handle. But I swear it ended up being one of the most fun recipes I’ve ever made. And there was nothing difficult about it. Piece of cake. Check it out below.

Click here to return to the Rosh Hashanah dinner table for more symbolic dishes.:
Step 1: I prepared my pans and creamed the butter.

Continue reading...

Goat Cheese Honey FondueYou probably don't eat apples dipped in honey any time of year other than Rosh Hashanah. It's a Holiday Food. There's a reason HFs are only eaten once a year: They're not craveable enough to be eaten more often. There's something about a mealy raw apple and thick sticky goo that doesn't quite marry. (Apples and honey cooked together in desserts are another story.) But this dish is perhaps the most significant on the table, more widely associated with the holiday than any other. It represents the wish for a sweet new year. Read more about the significance of this Jewish tradition at Aish.com. Chabad.org further explains the significance of the sweet flavors.

Since you can't omit it, make it fabulous, like this fondue recipe. The flavor of the honey pops alongside spices like black pepper and cumin, and the presentation is lovely. Better yet, a fondue pot is optional, since the honey helps it maintain a gooey consistency. I find toasted challah spears make for a prettier presentation, but they're just as yummy untoasted. If you decide to toast them be careful! They burn faster than any bread I've ever seen.

Click here to retun to the Rosh Hashanah dinner table for more symbolic dishes.

Time is ticking for the Jewcy Sweet New Year Honey Recipe Contest!

As we pool recipes and tips to help you fill your Rosh Hashanah dinner tables, we thought we’d go to you, Readers, for your holiday favorites.

Honey: to ring in a sweet new year.Honey is the star of the Rosh Hashanah dinner. On Wednesday, September 12 Jews will eat it to welcome a sweet new year. Tradition calls for dunking apples in honey. But since honey is so delicious in so many ways we thought we'd ask you for your tastiest honey recipes. Perhaps you use it to sweeten a vanilla bean orange crème brulee; or warmed in a spicy sauce and painted over crispy chicken wings; or maybe even in a dip for fried pickles. If you’ve got a honey recipe you love enter it in our “Jewcy Sweet New Year” recipe contest. Sharon Lebewohl, former chef of New York's famous Second Avenue Deli, will help judge the tastiest and most innovative recipes to feature on Jewcy. Winners also earn other fabulous Jewcy prizes.

Don’t wait! Send recipes to Pickled@Jewcy.com.

Pickled: Jewcy's new food blog launches Wednesday.Jewish delis may close more than open these days, but Jewish cuisine isn't going anywhere. This Wednesday Jewcy launches Pickled, a blog about cooking and entertaining the Jewcy way. We'll break recipes down with pictures and easy instructions. We'll rank essential grocery store products and kitchen tools. We'll interview our favorite Jewish and Jewishly-inspired chefs and cook book authors. We'll advise you on catering menus for bat mitzvahs and weddings. We'll profile restaurants with the Jewciest eats in your hometown and around the world.

We’ll show you just how far beyond shmaltz, pastrami, and matzah balls Jewish cuisine goes. (But don't worry--we'll blog plenty about these, too.) Whether you've got the knife skills of Bobby Flay or find your cheese grater daunting, Pickled breaks it down for all skill levels.

And with Rosh Hashanah—Thanksgiving's Jewish culinary equivalent—quickly approaching, what better time for Pickled? As we pool recipes and tips to help you fill your Rosh Hashanah dinner tables, we thought we’d go to you, Readers, for your holiday favorites.

Honey: for a sweet New YearHoney is the star of the Rosh Hashanah meal, eaten to welcome a sweet new year. We want to know: How do you take your honey? Whipped into a crème brulee? Warmed and painted over crispy chicken wings? In a dip for fried pickles? If you’ve got a honey recipe you love enter it in our “Jewcy Sweet New Year” recipe contest. Sharon Lebewohl, former chef of New York's famous Second Avenue Deli, will help judge the tastiest and most innovative recipes to feature on Jewcy. We’ll also send winning entrants a gift box of Jewcy swag.

Don’t wait! Send recipes to Pickled@Jewcy.com.

beesHoneybees are mysterious creatures.  I remember sitting in freshman biology watching my rapt professor demonstrate the “waggle dance” – a buzzing rhumba that foraging bees use to communicate the location of nearby food sources to other hive members.  It embarrassed me to watch this grown man wiggle his hips as he shuffled a crude figure eight at the front of the room.  Still, I was blown away at the thought that this odd display was, at some deep level, responsible for the golden bear-shaped bottle on my kitchen table. 

So I’ve been distressed to follow along with the newest sci-fi like reality to hit the media: the honeybees are dying, or rather, leaving.  Consider this vignette from a recent New York Times article by Alexi Barrionuevo:

David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing. In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate…

The newly-minted term for this phenomenon is colony collapse disorder, and – aside from early (and discredited) accusations that cell phone waves are the cause of the bees’ distress – nobody really knows exactly why it’s happening.

But it’s happening, and it threatens to cause serious havoc to our dinner plates because bees are responsible for a lot more than honey.  Susan Kuchinskas recently wrote:

Most of the imported fruit and vegetable species commonly thought of as quintessentially Californian - almonds, grapes, plums, cucumbers, cantaloupe, asparagus - need the help of bees to wed male pollen to female pistil. Without bees, there would be no apples, no cherries, no tomatoes, no zucchini.

We share a collective, romanticized notion that our nation’s dairy cows meander through green pastures and that bees are wild creatures free to buzz from flower to flower.  The reality, however, is that the majority of the bees that pollinate America’s crops are actually cogs in the industrial food wheel. 

honeyDouglass Whynott documented in his book, Following the Bloom, how – like migratory farm workers – commercialized beehives are literally trucked from farm-to-farm, to pollinate whatever is in season.  These traveling bees forage only corn one season and only or oranges or almonds the next.  Their hives are cramped together in the back of trucks for their cross-country journeys.  They are fed high-fructose corn syrup to compensate for their unbalanced diets, which Kuchinskas comments is the same gooey liquid that contributes to the country’s obesity problem. 

In short, the bees don’t get no respect - is it any wonder why they've gone on strike?

This Wednesday marks the month of Elul – a period of internal reflection that leads up to Rosh Hashana.  I could suggest that we all dip our apples in maple syrup instead of honey – but sadly, the unusually warm temperatures across the Northeast and Canada have seriously stunted maple production as well.  One of the primary focuses of this month is tshuva the act of “returning” to our best selves.  This year, as we head into Elul, go support your local small-scale honey farmer, http://www.localharvest.org/store/bee-prods.jsp because nobody needs the benefits of tshuva (return) more than the bees.