To Life!
Food
Cooking For
A Crowd
With the holidays approaching, here's
some tips for those abundant gatherings.
ANNABEL COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
I
t happens every year: What
began as a simple Rosh
- Hashanah dinner for six blos-
soms into a dinner for 12 — or more.
Here's a bit of help. The following
main-course recipes each serve 12.
Really. You can offer two choices, but
you'll have some leftovers, which is
okay, too. The recipes also offer the
added benefit of seasonality.
With Rosh Hashanah beginning in
about a month (erev Rosh Hashanah
is on Monday, Oct. 3, this year), fall
ingredients like maple syrup, citrus,
dried fruits and nuts are welcome
additions to our menus.
ROAST CHICKEN PIECES WITH
GINGER ORANGE MAPLE
GLAZE
two 3 1/2-pound chickens, cut into 6
or 8 pieces, breast backbones
removed, excess fat trimmed (alter-
nately you may purchase individual
parts, such as breasts, thighs and
drumsticks - figure one breast or
thigh or two drumsticks per person)
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt and pepper to taste
Glaze:
1/2 cup minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. mince ginger root
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. dried dill weed
grated zest of 1 orange or lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 425F. Rub chicken
pieces with olive oil and sprinkle gen-
erously with salt and pepper. Arrange
the chicken, skin side down, in a large
disposable aluminum pan or in one or
two large roasting pans (it's okay to
crowd the chicken).
Roast the chicken for 15 minutes (if
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2005
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you have two ovens, put one pan
in each oven if using more than
one pan; if you have one oven, _
place pans - if using more than
one - on separate shelves and
switch positions during the second
cooking.)
Use tongs (not a fork) to turn the
chicken over and cook for 15 minutes
more. Note: You may prepare the
chicken up to this point a day ahead
and finish cooking the day you plan to
serve it.
While the chicken is cooking, make
the glaze. Combine all glaze ingredi-
ents except salt and pepper and bring
to a boil over high heat. Rechice the
heat to medium and cook, stirring fre-
quently, for about 15 minutes.
Remove chicken from the pan and
strain pan juices. Add 1 cup of
strained juices to the pan and cook for
10 minutes more. Discard remaining
juices or keep for another use. Place
the chicken back in the pan, skin side
up, and drizzle the glaze over. Roast,
uncovered, for 20 minutes more.
Makes 12 servings.
BEEF BRISKET WITH
DRIED FRUITS
4 cups thin-sliced onions
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup diced dried apricots
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
two 4-5 pound flat-cut beef briskets
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups red wine, any variety
4 cups (1 quart) beef broth
Preheat to 300°F. Arrange onions
over the bottom of one or two very
large roasting pans or disposable alu-
minum pans. Sprinkle the raisins,
cherries, apricots and garlic over the
onions. Sprinkle with the cinnamon.
Arrange briskets over the onion-and-
fruit mixture and sprinkle with salt
and pepper. Pour the wine and broth
around the brisket." Cover the pan
tightly with foil and roast for 3 hours.
Cool the brisket for one hour before
chilling overnight.
Remove the foil from the chilled
brisket and remove any solid fat from
the juices and discard. Remove the
brisket to a cutting board and place
the juices/sauce in a large bowl. Have
ready two clean glass or ceramic bak
ing pans or disposable aluminum
pans.
Slice brisket thinly across grain and
place in the clean pans (form back
into the whole brisket shape). Pour the
juices over and around the sliced
brisket and cover with foil. Heat the
brisket at 300F for one hour. Reduce
heat to 250F to keep the brisket warm
and brown the top until ready to
serve. Makes 12-16 servings.
CHICKEN WITH RED WINE
AND TOMATOES
This is a great make-ahead recipe.
12 boneless and skinless chicken
breast halves (about 4 pounds)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes,
drained
3 beef bouillon cubes
3 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. dried thyme, crumbled
1 tsp. dried sage
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. drained capers
Preheat oven to 350F. Trim excess
fat from chicken breasts. Place the
flour in a shallow bowl or plate and
dredge the breasts in the flour, patting
to remove excess flour, and set aside.
Heat half the oil in a large skillet
over medium-high heat until very hot.
Add as many chicken breasts as you
can and brown on both sides. As the
chicken is browned (it will not be
cooked through), transfer to a large
baking dish (you may need two).
Prepare all the breasts in this fashion.
Set aside.
Add any remaining oil, onions and
garlic to the pan and sauté until
translucent, about 3 minutes: Add the
wine, tomatoes, bouillon cubes, pars-
ley, thyme and sage and bring to a
boil. Cook for about 8 minutes, until
the sauce is reduced by about a third.
Remove from heat and adjust salt
and pepper to taste. Stir in the capers.
Pour the sauce over the chicken. (You
may cover and chill the chicken at this
point and finish cooking it the follow-
ing day).
Cover the baking dishes with foil
and cook for about 20 minutes.
Remove foil and cook for 10 minutes
more. Makes 12 servings.
ROAST CHICKEN WITH
LEMON, APPLES AND
PINENUTS
two 3 1/2-pound chickens, cut into 6
or 8 pieces, breast backbones
removed, excess fat trimmed (alter-
nately you may purchase individual
parts such as breasts, thighs, and
drumsticks - figure one breast or
thigh or two drumsticks per person)
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt and pepper to taste
4 cups peeled, cored and diced
Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup lightly toasted pinenuts
1 bay leaf
1 thinly sliced unpeeled lemon
ground paprika, garnish.
12 lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 425F. Rub chicken
pieces with olive oil and sprinkle gen-
erously with salt and pepper. Arrange
the chicken, skin side down, in a large
FOOD on page 26