Joan Nathan

Joan Nathan is truly the mother of Jewish cooking. She’s written 10 cookbooks on the subject, including the venerable tome Jewish Cooking in America, and her latest Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France. So when I started thinking about the food and guides we wanted to feature on BGSK for Hanukkah, her name naturally came to mind.

I was lucky to be able to chat with Joan and ask her all our Hanukkah cooking, entertaining, and gifting queries. We talked about her favorite edible presents and how to get your home to not smell like latkes for days. She also shared with us the best holiday dishes from her new book, which in my opinion will make your cookbook shelf complete.

For a chance to win a copy of Quicjes, Kugels, and Couscous, visit our facebook page and comment on, like, or share this post!

From my kitchen, albeit small, to yours,

Phoebe, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK

**Interview**

Phoebe Lapine: What was the first cookbook you owned?

Joan Nathan: Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook. And I still have it!

P.L. First job out of college?

J.N. I was a telephone girl in the NBC newsroom in New York. I was in charge of mail. But I liked it.

P.L. When did you know you wanted to write a cookbook dedicated to Jewish cooking in America, and why?

J.N. This is what I tell my kids: I just started doing what I wanted to do. (As I’m talking to you, I’m grabbing challah out of the freezer to bake and bring to someone’s house, so bear with me!)

P.L. Oh wow! Don’t burn yourself. Speaking of challah…For those of us who are less well-versed in Jewish holiday cooking traditions, when we think of Hanukkah, we think latkes. What are some of the unsung heroes of the Hanukkah table?

J.N. Well, as far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong with potato pancakes. I love them and so does everyone else in my family. So that’s what I make!

P.L. Are there any other Hanukkah dishes that you’re known for?

J.N. My brisket. Those two dishes are just foolproof. I think everyone can make good brisket and good potato pancakes. They are both inexpensive and easy.

P.L. Do you have any tricks for getting your apartment or home to not smell like potato pancakes for days after you’ve made them?

J.N. Most people in small apartments are working during the day. So what I do, is I try to make them a day or two in advance—even a week in advance!—and freeze them on cookie sheets on parchment paper, covered in plastic wrap. Then when it’s time for the party, I just quickly stick them in the oven to defrost and crisp them up. There is nothing worse than making potato pancakes when you have guests in the other room. Everyone keeps coming in for more—they’ll just pick them right out of the frying pan if you’re not careful. This way, you can do them at your own pace. As for the smell, I like it!

P.L. Do you have a go-to edible gift for this time of year?

J.N. Pecans, either candied or salted. Or preserved lemons in jars.

P.L. Presents in my family can get a little sad around day 5 or so of Hanukkah. Do you have any “stocking stuffer” equivalents for giving on the middle night of the holiday?

J.N. One thing that’s nice to do is to give a donation. A book is another one. We’re not huge on gifts in my family. The kids don’t really expect lots gifts now that they aren’t little anymore.

P.L. Well, I’m interviewing them next, so we’ll see about that!

J.N. Oh no!

P.L. You just published your 10th cookbook: Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France. What inspired you to choose France as the setting for your research?

J.N. I lived in France years ago, when I was younger. I went to Israel a lot later, so I wrote my first cookbook on Israel. I didn’t go back to France for a long time, but when I did, I realized that that’s really where I became interested in food, and also, that the Jewish population in France is the third largest in the world after Israel and the United States—and nobody had written anything about it! So I decided that’s what I wanted to do, and that’s what I did.

P.L. We hear Parisian kitchens are just as small as ours. Do have a dish from the book that’s especially great when you’re low on space?

J.N. There is a great apple cake that is good for Hanukkah. Or a chicken with fennel that’s really delicious and easy. It’s a nice winter dish.

P.L. Is there an equivalent dessert to the buche de noel for Jews in France?

J.N. Not really! They all probably buy buche de noel.

P.L. Your kids are around our readers’ age. What’s one golden piece of Jewish mother advice, cooking or otherwise?

J.N. Of course! I have huge pieces of advice. First of all: learn to cook. And learn to clean up. Those are the two things. If you learn to do that, there is nothing better for a mother—or a future mother-in-law!

P.L. Anything else our readers should know about you, Jewish cooking, or holiday entertaining?

J.N. I just think it’s really important to keep those holiday traditions alive, and to have fun with it. Because it’s the way you carry on a civilization—by passing on what you’ve learned from your parents, and things that were part of your childhood. So many of those traditions happen around meals. I really believe that the more a family cooks together, the more you’ll stay together. And the more memories you’ll have. So I encourage cooking and cleaning together. It can really be a lot of fun.

Joan Talks Hanukkah Traditions with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

2011-12-14T13:03:35+00:00

Joan Talks Hanukkah Traditions with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

December 14, 2011

Cookbook author Nathan to give demos

By Candy Williams, FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Washington, D.C., food journalist and cookbook author Joan Nathan will be in Pittsburgh next week for at least part of the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah Dec. 21-28 -- but it doesn't mean that her family will miss out on the traditional foods that make the Jewish holiday special.

It does mean that Nathan is spending extra time in the kitchen this week.

Shortcuts and advance preparation are two ways a busy cook can keep the holiday traditions alive, according to the host of the PBS television series "Jewish Cooking in America," who will visit two Giant Eagle Market District stores next Wednesday to demonstrate some favorite Hanukkah recipes.

Even one of the holiday's most popular side dishes, fried latkes (potato pancakes), can be made in advance and frozen for a large crowd, she says. Simply drain them after frying, and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place the sheet in the freezer. To serve them, crisp the latkes in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes.

"A lot of people have told me they buy frozen hash browns and save the step of shredding the potatoes," Nathan says.

For her family, Nathan usually serves brisket, which she also will prepare in advance and freeze. Another time-saver is her recipe for Speed Challah, which she learned to make from a caterer, Georgette Hamier, who cooked for a synagogue Nathan visited in France.

The Moraccan anise-flavored bread with sesame seeds "takes one hour from start to finish," Nathan says. "It takes a shorter time to make it than if you went to the grocery store and bought it. And it's really good. I make my challah a day in advance, shape it and bake it," she says.

In her book, "Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France" (Knopf, $39.95), the most recent of 10 cookbooks she has written, she explains that Hamier has been cooking for the Jewish community in Bordeaux for many years, where she makes 10 challahs a week for the rabbis. She shared her recipe with Nathan when Nathan visited France to do research for her book.

Oil is an important ingredient in many foods served for Hanukkah because of its historical significance, Nathan says.

"The holiday commemorates the Maccabean victory over Antiochus of Syria some 21 centuries ago, she explains in her "Jewish Holiday Cookbook." "Going to cleanse and rededicate the Temple, the Maccabees found only enough sacred oil to light the menorah for one day. But a miracle occurred, and one day's supply lasted eight."

One of her favorite holiday memories occurred during a trip she took to Jerusalem many years ago, where she was amazed to see all of the lighted menorahs in people's windows.

"It was so pretty," Nathan says. "And when I went to someone's house for dinner, the men all helped, and everyone came together just for conviviality."

She says traditional foods are important to any holiday because of their link to the past.

"One of the roles of a parent is to create memories for their children," she says. "My children are in their 20s and 30s, and they still want the same foods they had growing up. It's a way of grounding them."

Carrying on family traditions is important to her mother, who, at 98, still prepares her chicken cacciatore recipe with tomato sauce for Hanukkah.

"She just made her potato pancakes for the holiday," Nathan says.

Pain Petri (Moroccan Anise-Flavored Challah With Sesame Seeds)

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
2 large eggs
1/2 cup peanut or vegetable oil
8 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 heaping teaspoons anise seeds
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
Heat the oven to 375 degrees, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer, equipped with a dough hook, and pour in the lukewarm water. Stir, and when the yeast is dissolved whisk in the 2 whole eggs eggs, then add the oil.

Add 7 cups of the flour, the salt, sugar and anise seeds to the bowl and knead with the electric mixer until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary. Form into a round loaf, and poke a 1-inch hole through the center. Let the dough rest, uncovered, on a floured board, for about 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, using a knife or dough cutter. Flour the board and your hands, and roll each piece of dough into a long cylinder, about 20 inches long. With the palm of your hands, flatten the cylinder, then roll it into a long rope, about 2 feet long, making sure that there are no seams in the dough. Then bring the two ends next to each other and twist to form a loose spiral. Place on one of the two parchment-lined baking sheets. Do this with the other three pieces of dough.

Beat the 3 egg yolks in a bowl and add about a tablespoon of water. Stir well and brush all of the egg glaze over the loaves. Sprinkle the sesame seedsover the loaves.

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350 degrees, and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Makes 4 challahs.

Note: You also can make 2 larger challahs or twist 2 cylinders together to make 1 long braid and twist that into a round challah, but the baking time will be a bit longer.

Friday Night Chicken Provencal With Fennel and Garlic

1/4 cup olive oil
3 large fennel bulbs (about 4 pounds), cut in half and 2 tablespoons of the fronds chopped
1 whole head of garlic, cloves peeled and separated
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Chicken thighs and legs (about 3 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the fennel bulbs and the garlic, and saute slowly over a medium heat for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally with tongs. Season with salt and pepper, and carefully transfer to a baking pan, shaking the excess oil back into the skillet.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and season the chicken with salt and pepper. Saute the chicken in the oil until browned on all sides.

Arrange the chicken on top of the fennel and garlic. Deglaze the skillet with the wine, scraping the sides and bottom with a wooden spoon. Reduce the wine and juices by half and pour over the chicken. Then, cover the chicken with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking for another 5 or 10 minutes until the chicken is tender and the fennel cooked. Serve sprinkled with the parsley.

Makes 6 servings.

Tarte a la Compote de Pomme (Apple Sauce Tart)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter or pareve margarine, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons ice water
2 cups thick applesauce
1 apple, peeled and thinly sliced
Put the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter or margarine little by little, and pulse until crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons ice water, and pulse until the dough comes together in a ball, adding a bit more flour if necessary. Remove the dough, shape it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees and roll out the chilled dough to a circle about 10 inches in diameter. Press it evenly into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, bringing the dough up the sides almost to the top of the pan and keeping an even thickness throughout. Make holes all over the bottom and along the sides of the shell with the tines of a fork, and bake the shell for 8 to 10 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Spread the prepared applesauce in the pie crust, putting the sliced apple in a circular pattern on top. Return the pie to the oven and bake for 30 minutes more.

Makes 8 servings.