Yes, they're here, the gang's all here. Including Syd's latest besheret and her college roommate! The holidays can certainly become a headache for the Busy Day householder with everything to do, no time to do it in and everybody arriving yesterday.

What is needed are recipes that are fuss-less, more interesting than the usual over-roasted dry chicken, and can expand easily (just in case Molly decides she can't possibly enjoy the dinner without asking half of her seventh-grade class over too).

With these two featured entrees you can do two briskets at the same time--leftovers go to midnight sammiches, or a hash for brunch--or just add more of everything to the Chinese Short Ribs/Chicken Wings. The Casadilla Soup with a touch of honey for the New Year should double and triple quite easily, is a snap to pull together at the last minute and is good for a dairy/vegetarian event. And of course, what would a Rosh Hashana table be without a honey cake? This year's features both symbolic foods, apples and honey.

Here's some helpful hints from member Wendy Baker (of New York):

"There are several things I always make ahead for most holidays. Chicken soup can be made well ahead and frozen. My caramelized brisket (see recipe below) ,if you don't want to freeze it, can still be made a few days ahead and kept in the refrigerator. I find that honey cake freezes well. Apple or other fruit pies freeze well if frozen unbaked.

They can be baked without thawing, by putting them in the oven right from the freezer and they taste as good as never frozen ones. Challah, if you bake your own, also can be made well ahead and frozen. I generally make a whole bunch of fairly small challot and freeze them for the whole month of holidays. If you have a decent bakery, this is something that you can buy and save that fuss if time is short."

Brisket, Caramelized (M, KLP, TNT)
Source: Celia C. Wisan to W. Baker
Serves: 6-12 depending on the size of the brisket
1 first cut brisket or top of the rib-3-7 lbs.
2-4 garlic cloves, peeled
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1-3 onions thinly sliced
3-4 fresh tomatoes (summer) or 4-5 canned plum tomatoes drained. Use juice for another recipe. Do not use more tomatoes
1-3 bay leaves

At least one day before cooking, put slivers of garlic in slits all over the brisket. Rub it well with freshly ground black pepper and optionally, salt. Slice onions and arrange all over and under the roast. Marinate covered in the fridge overnight.

Day of cooking: Preheat oven to 500 F--that's 500 !

Put meat in a roasting pan with a cover and arrange the onion slices from the night before all around.

Squash either 3 medium fresh tomatoes or use about 4 canned egg tomatoes and squash them. DO NOT ADD THE JUICE FROM THE CAN. ADD NO OTHER LIQUID add a bay leaf or two.

Cover the pan and put it into the very hot oven. After 15 minutes turn down the oven without opening it to 350 F. Cook for approximately 3 hours. If you look in after 2 hours or so you will see a gray mass with lots of liquid. Don't worry. Just keep cooking.

When the water has disappeared and the meat and onions etc. are browned, but not quite burnt, and the meat is soft to a fork, it is done.

Remove the meat from the pan and make gravy by deglazing the pan with lots of water (more than a quart to start, it can always be reduced) and cooking it down until it tastes rich and nice to you. It should make plenty of gravy as the pan drippings are intensely strong.

Slice the meat across the grain and serve with the gravy. Roast potatoes or kasha go well with this.

This lends itself to preparation ahead of time and freezes well. When reheating, bring the sliced meat to room temperature and heat the gravy to boiling. Then pour it over the meat. Heating the meat in the gravy gives it a boiled rather than roasted taste and is not as good.

Posted by Wendy Baker
Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A
Chinese Short Ribs (M, TNT)
Source: Odetta Danin-Schwartz
Serves: about 8
1-1/2 kilo (3-1/2 lb.) veal spare ribs -or- 2 kilo (4-1/2 lb) chicken wings
2 whole heads garlic (about 100 gm.), cloves peeled and crushed
3 tbsp. oil
1/2 lb. ready made hoisin sauce (1/2 a can) -or- 12 tbsp. homemade
hoisin sauce (almost the whole recipe amount, recipe also in archive)
2-1/2 cups water, divided
3 tbsp. sugar
2 level tsp. salt (omit if the wings are salt-kashered)
1/2 tsp. white pepper
3 tbsp. brandy
1 tbsp. cornstarch
red food coloring (that's the restaurants' secret, and adds nothing to the taste)
4 level tbsp. honey

Heat the oil and sauté the garlic until transparent. Add hoisin sauce, stir for a few seconds and add 2 cups water. Mix remaining 1/2 cup water with sugar, salt, pepper, brandy, cornstarch and food coloring, add to the sauce and stir until combined and bubbling. Take off heat and add the honey.

For short ribs: Choose ribs that are more meat than fat, since the fat melts and is discarded. Arrange the ribs in a big roasting pan and roast in medium-high heat (190 C/375 F) for 1/2 hour.

Take out the pan and pour off the fat. Now pour on the ready sauce and bake 1-1/4 hours more. Every 20-30 minutes baste with the sauce and check how the ribs are doing. They should be a deep golden-brown, and the ends a deep brown. Serve with fried rice or noodles.

For chicken wings: Remove the end little piece from each wing (keep to make soup) and cut into two pieces. Place in a big roasting pan, pour on the ready sauce and roast in medium-high heat (190 C/375 F) for 2-1/2 hours.

Baste every 20-30 minutes and when the wings are a deep golden brown turn them over.

Posted by Tsippi Jelingold
Casadilla Soup (D, KLP, TNT)
Source: Adapted from Moosewood Cookbook
Serves: 5
4 cups tomato juice
1 cup nonfat yogurt, or other unflavored
2 tablespoons honey
Garlic powder, salt, pepper
Sliced mushrooms
Diced cucumber
Diced bell peppers; different colors
Diced scallions or chives; if you like them

Mix juice, yogurt, honey and seasonings. Chill.

Before serving, put a selection of the veggies in each bowl, then pour in the soup.

Poster's Notes: This is a very refreshing hot-weather soup. It is a milder variation of gazpacho. Best of all, it's ready in minutes, low-fat and low-calorie.

Posted by Annice Grinberg
Apple and Honey Cake (TNT, P)
Source: Self
Serves: 12-16
1 tablespoon plus 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large sweet apples, [Golden Delicious] [total 3/4 pound]
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons fine grated lemon rind
1-1/2 cup flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons each: fresh lemon juice and water
1/2 cup diced or coarse chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Lightly oil an 8" square pan and flour pan lightly.

Mix 1 tablespoon sugar with the cinnamon; set aside.

Pare and slice apples thin, under 1/4" thick; set aside.

With mixer on medium, beat eggs with 3/4 cup sugar until light.

Add honey, oil and lemon rind; mix to blend.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Combine the lemon juice and water on low speed, mix half the flour mixture and half the lemon juice mixture alternately into the egg mixture; repeat with remaining flour and lemon juice mixtures.

Mix in walnuts on low speed.

Spoon 1/4 of the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Arrange 1/3 of apple slices on batter and sprinkle evenly with 1/3 of cinnamon mixture [about 1 heaping tsp.] Spoon another 1/4 of the batter in dollops over apples and spread very gently.

Repeat with 2 more layers of apples, cinnamon and batter, ending with another layer of batter; top layer of apples may not be completely covered.

Bake about 40-45 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack about 20 minutes. Run metal spatula carefully around cake and turn out onto rack; let cool.

Turn out of pan.

Poster's Notes: This is a tried and true recipe that I make every year for Rosh Hashanah. it has both apples and honey, and is moist and delicious. Hope you enjoy it.

Posted by Faygie

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