In 1999, Gourmet Magazine featured my "1-2-3 Hanukkah" as one of their cover stories. The Miracles of Hanukkah (as the article was called), not only commemorated the Maccabees' victory in battle but the miracle that happened when the temple was rededicated. Miraculously, barely a day's worth of oil for the menorah lasted for eight. The story's author, Ann Hodgman, went on to say..."Here in Rozanne Gold's kitchen 2,200 years later, a whole series of smaller miracles is taking place as she prepares a Hanukkah dinner for family and friends.
Miracle #1: Every offering on the menu has only three ingredients.
Miracle #2: Each dish is as intensely flavored, exotic, and elegant as if it had a thousand.
Miracle #3: Our setting, a perfect jewel box of a Brooklyn brownstone, with treasures everywhere you look and a kitchen masterminded by James Beard."
I remember the chaos in the house at the time. My mother had grated a bit of her knuckle along with the par-boiled potatoes, my father had trouble standing for a photo shoot which he claimed felt like eight days itself; the phone was ringing every three seconds, guests were coming in minutes (including food critic Arthur Schwartz) and I was doing my best to keep my composure. It worked. At one point in the article, Ann wrote "For all her slender elegance, Gold is a woman who knows how to boss food around." This Hanukkah menu featured Seared Smoked Salmon with Cucumber Presse, Rib-eye Roast in the style of Gravlax, The Gold Family Latkes*, Apple-Cranberry Sauce*, Sweet-Garlic Frenched Green Beans and for dessert, Chocolate Mousse Sponge, Baked Sabra Oranges with Orange Sorbet, and Chocolate Sesame Cups. And yes, every recipe was made with only three ingredients!
Rib-Eye Roast, Gravlax-style
A wonderfully salty exterior and a hint of dill make this easy-to-prepare roast one of the best we’ve tasted. The beef is “cured” in a similar way to salmon in preparing traditional gravlax – with a mixture of salt, pepper, sugar and dill (remember salt and pepper “don’t count” as ingredients but rather as staples in Gold’s kitchen.)
3-1/2-pound boneless beef rib-eye roast, rolled ad tied
3 tablespoons sugar
(¼ cup kosher salt)
(1 Teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper)
1 cup finely chopped fresh dill
Pat beef dry with paper towels. Stir together sugar, salt and pepper and rub all over beef. Pat dill over salt mixture and wrap beef tightly in plastic wrap. Put I a small roasting pan and weight with a small baking sheet with a 4-pound weight on top. Chill beef 18 hours. Unwrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Scrape dill and salt mixture from beef. Roast in middle of the oven for approximately 1-1/4 hours or until a thermometer reaches 130 degrees F for medium-rare. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Serves 6
Baked Sabra Oranges with Orange Sorbet
Baked oranges:
5 thin-skinned juice oranges
1-1/2 cups sugar
¼ cup Sabra liqueur (chocolate-orange liqueur)
Sorbet:
6 thin-skinned oranges
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons Sabra liqueur
Make baked oranges: Cover oranges with cold water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then keep at a boil for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain oranges and cover with cold water. Boil 5 minutes more. Drain and cool 15 minutes. Cut each (with peel) into 8 wedges and arrange, cut side down, in a 13-x-9-inch glass baking dish. Boil 2 cups water with 1-1/2 cups sugar until sugar is dissolved. Pour syrup over oranges and bake 30 minutes. Turn oranges and bake 30 minutes longer. Pour liqueur over oranges and cool. Refrigerate, covered, at least 3 hours.
Make sorbet: Grate zest of oranges to get 1 teaspoon. Cut oranges in half and squeeze to get 2 cups juice. Boil ½ cup water and ¼ cup sugar in saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Stir in juice, zest, and liqueur. Chill, covered, until cold. Freeze in an ice-cream maker. Serve chilled oranges with syrup and sorbet. Serves 6
Little Chocolate-Sesame Cups
These get made tiny paper-lined 1-inch candy cups (they look like tiny muffin tins). Makes 18.
½ cup dried currants
8 ounces fie-quality semisweet chocolate
3-1/2 tablespoons tahini
Lightly spray 18 (1-inch) candy/petit-four cup lines with cooking spray.Soak currants I 1 cup boiling hot water for 5 minutes.Drai and pat dry with paper towels.Melt chocolate with 3 tablespoon tahini in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of summering water, stirring until smooth, and stir in currants.Spoon chocolate mixture into cup liners and cool 5 minutes.Decorate candies by dipping the dip of a skewer or toothpick into remaining ½ tablespoon tahini, swirling over tops.Chill until set.These keep covered and chilled, 1 week.
Happy Hanukkah!