While fried foods like latkes and jelly doughnuts are synonymous with Chanukah, dairy dishes also play a role in the tradition. Some trace the connection to the story of Judith, whose cheesecake supposedly so distracted the Assyrian general Holofernes that she was able to behead him, saving the Jews from slaughter.
I often serve dairy foods using cottage-cheese pastry, which I make ahead of time and freeze for hors d’oeuvres, side dishes and desserts. My cottage-cheese dough is failsafe, forgiving and easy to roll and shape — and it freezes like a dream. The texture is light and flaky and the taste just a bit on the tangy side, which lends itself to both sweet and savory fillings. You can freeze batches of the dough or the final product, which is what I like to do.
To flash-freeze filled turnovers: Place in one layer on a cookie sheet in the freezer until solidly frozen, then place in well-sealed plastic bags for long-term freezing. Then bake as needed.
My favorites are turnovers and strudel slices. For efficient preparation, make your fillings a day ahead so they will be cold. The dough may be rolled out after an hour of chilling in the refrigerator. Do not thaw pastries before baking, as they will become soggy; just add 8-10 minutes more to the given baking times.
Cottage Cheese Pastry | Makes enough for about 54 small pastries, 4 strudels or a 2-crust pie
8 oz. butter, room temperature
8 oz. low-fat cottage cheese, room temperature
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine butter and cottage cheese until well blended. Add flour and salt and mix until a smooth dough is formed. (I use a food processor.) Form dough into disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Dough may be refrigerated two days.
Curried Mushroom Turnovers | Makes about 5 dozen
Filling
3 Tbs. butter
1 lb. mushrooms, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tsp. curry powder or to taste
1/2 tsp. turmeric (optional)
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 Tbs. flour
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1/3 cup cream
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
salt and pepper
1 recipe cottage cheese pastry
Heat butter and cook mushrooms and onions until soft. Stir in curry, turmeric, cayenne and flour and cook about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice and cream and cook until thickened. Stir in parsley and taste for salt and pepper. Chill.
Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 9-by-6-inch rectangle. Cut into 2 1/2-inch rounds. If there are a lot of trimmings , re-roll them. Put a scant teaspoon of filling in the center of each round, moisten edges with water and fold over. Press edges to seal. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake in preheated 350-degree oven for about 25 minutes or until golden.
Jam and Nut Strudel Slices | Makes 32 pieces
1 cup favorite jam (I like to use a good orange or lemon marmalade)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
4 oz. melted butter
2 Tbs. sugar mixed with 1 tsp. cinnamon
1 recipe cottage cheese pastry
Divide dough into fourths. Roll out each fourth to an 18-by-5-inch rectangle. Spread each with 1/4-cup jam, then sprinkle each with 1/4-cup nuts. Roll up each rectangle jelly-roll fashion and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture.
Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and cut into 2-inch slices.
Louise Fiszer is a Palo Alto cooking teacher, author and the co-author of “Jewish Holiday Cooking.” Her columns alternate with those of Rebecca Ets-Hokin. Questions and recipe ideas can be sent to j. or to [email protected].