25 Days of Christmas: 2 Traditional Recipes in my family and CANDY!
6th Honestly, one of the best things about Christmas is all the foods people make. Breads, cakes, candies... all good things seem to come at Christmas time (well sometimes Easter). Along those lines Cadbury has a most delicious candy that comes out for Christmas (below). Originally, in the U.S., Cadbury was more of an Easter item. You'd get eggs which are essentially the same things as the below candies and Creme Eggs which are also delicious. I'd say Cadbury is my favorite chocolate. Over the last year, I've lost my taste for candy (to some degree) though no Cadbury. I love it and when Christmas hits, I want it.
Now I've since learned that two of my cousins have a major weakness for this candy and one cousin's husband is more than willing to supply the addiction if he can have some too. So I'd say we are a Cadbury family.
If you've never tried them... do. Take them to a party and open them. You'll get a few without eating the entire bag yourself.
Moving on to a recipe my family loves which I've shared before though it is a lot easier to make now that I've divided up the recipe to allow for smaller batches.
Cheoreg (pronounced Ch-er-egg)
Cheoreg is an Armenian recipe. This specific recipe is my great-grandmothers recipe and I’m told my great-grandfather had at least one Cheoreg everyday. #1 It is a miracle he lived into his 90s and #2 my great-grandmother must have spent every waking moment baking but then in an Armenian family all the woman get together to cook so she had help.
Also, just so you know, this is a good way to bribe someone and/or make someone like you a lot more than they did. Seriously. It's worked on 2 teachers, many friends and a handful of strangers.
What You’ll Need
4 cups flour
1/3 tsp baking powder
1 cup melted butter
2/3 cup milk or half and half (lukewarm)
1 cups sugar
3 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp. ground and dried orange rind
2 ¼ tsp. yeast (dissolve by directions on yeast package)
Bake
1. Sift flour and baking powder together into a large bowl. Form a hole in the center. (we mixed with fork)
2. Dissolve yeast in milk and pour into center.
3. Add other ingredients.
4. Knead the dough together thoroughly. It will look like dough with a more buttery texture.
5. Cover and let rise (must be it a warm area) until doubles (1 ½ to 2 hours).
6. Cover cookie sheets with parchment. Make knots: Small Cheoreg make ping pong ball sized balls. Roll dough with hands on floured (conservatively floured) bread board to form a long bread stick, twist into a knot. (We usually just roll them between our hands until they are a long stick.)
7. Once knots are made brush with egg. You can sprinkle with sesame seeds if so desired. We normally do half with and half without.
8. Bake on 375 (we cook on 350 in our Gas Oven but it is temperamental) for approximately 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. (time may very as we usually check them constantly rather than timing them - Armenian cooking at it’s finest)
9. Take out of oven and brush with melted butter if desired. This step isn't actually necessary because either way they are delicious.
The Cheoreg is my families Christmas and often Easter tradition though another favorite is Dolma which most know by the name stuffed grape leaves. The real difference is that what you find in stores isn't Dolma but Sarma and often has some kind of cold rice mixture inside of it. I've never been a fan of even the best prepared Sarma so if that is your experience please consider this recipe as far better.
Dolma
Prepared Grape Leaves
2 lbs. ground beef or lamb
2 onions finely chopped
1 cup rice
About 15 oz. pureed tomatoes
About 14 oz. diced tomatoes
1 bunch finely chopped parsley
½ cup finely chopped mint (fresh is best)
6 cloves finely minced garlic
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
1 large can chicken broth
1 large can tomato juice
Combine all but leaves, chicken broth and tomato juice and mix together thoroughly with your hands.
Rinse and separate grape leaves, remove stems
Use the torn leaves to cover the bottom of a pan (best in spaghetti pan with a deep basket/strainer).
Lay the grape leaf flat, place about 1 full tsp. of mixture about ¾ inch up from where the stem was on the vain side of leaf.
Fold in each side to partly cover the mixture. Roll the leaf towards the leaf tip/top. Do not roll to loosely - continue until all mixture is gone.
Place the rolled leaves on the torn leaves in a circular pattern. (image)
Cover the leaves with a mixture of the tomato juice and chicken broth. Add water if more liquid is needed. Place heavy old plate on top of stuffed leaves.
Bring to a boil, lower heat to a low boil and cook about 60 to 70 minutes,
Even if you don't have the leaves, stuffing bell peppers or squash with this mixture is always great. I'm currently working on a way to make ground Turkey or Chicken taste just as good because currently there is no comparison to the ground beef though I'm betting a mixture of lamb and beef would be excellent.
What foods are a tradition in your family? I would love any great ideas. Feel free to post them or share a link.
Now I've since learned that two of my cousins have a major weakness for this candy and one cousin's husband is more than willing to supply the addiction if he can have some too. So I'd say we are a Cadbury family.
If you've never tried them... do. Take them to a party and open them. You'll get a few without eating the entire bag yourself.
Moving on to a recipe my family loves which I've shared before though it is a lot easier to make now that I've divided up the recipe to allow for smaller batches.
Cheoreg (pronounced Ch-er-egg)
Cheoreg is an Armenian recipe. This specific recipe is my great-grandmothers recipe and I’m told my great-grandfather had at least one Cheoreg everyday. #1 It is a miracle he lived into his 90s and #2 my great-grandmother must have spent every waking moment baking but then in an Armenian family all the woman get together to cook so she had help.
Also, just so you know, this is a good way to bribe someone and/or make someone like you a lot more than they did. Seriously. It's worked on 2 teachers, many friends and a handful of strangers.
What You’ll Need
4 cups flour
1/3 tsp baking powder
1 cup melted butter
2/3 cup milk or half and half (lukewarm)
1 cups sugar
3 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp. ground and dried orange rind
2 ¼ tsp. yeast (dissolve by directions on yeast package)
Bake
1. Sift flour and baking powder together into a large bowl. Form a hole in the center. (we mixed with fork)
2. Dissolve yeast in milk and pour into center.
3. Add other ingredients.
4. Knead the dough together thoroughly. It will look like dough with a more buttery texture.
5. Cover and let rise (must be it a warm area) until doubles (1 ½ to 2 hours).
6. Cover cookie sheets with parchment. Make knots: Small Cheoreg make ping pong ball sized balls. Roll dough with hands on floured (conservatively floured) bread board to form a long bread stick, twist into a knot. (We usually just roll them between our hands until they are a long stick.)
7. Once knots are made brush with egg. You can sprinkle with sesame seeds if so desired. We normally do half with and half without.
8. Bake on 375 (we cook on 350 in our Gas Oven but it is temperamental) for approximately 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. (time may very as we usually check them constantly rather than timing them - Armenian cooking at it’s finest)
9. Take out of oven and brush with melted butter if desired. This step isn't actually necessary because either way they are delicious.
The Cheoreg is my families Christmas and often Easter tradition though another favorite is Dolma which most know by the name stuffed grape leaves. The real difference is that what you find in stores isn't Dolma but Sarma and often has some kind of cold rice mixture inside of it. I've never been a fan of even the best prepared Sarma so if that is your experience please consider this recipe as far better.
Dolma
Prepared Grape Leaves
2 lbs. ground beef or lamb
2 onions finely chopped
1 cup rice
About 15 oz. pureed tomatoes
About 14 oz. diced tomatoes
1 bunch finely chopped parsley
½ cup finely chopped mint (fresh is best)
6 cloves finely minced garlic
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
1 large can chicken broth
1 large can tomato juice
Combine all but leaves, chicken broth and tomato juice and mix together thoroughly with your hands.
Rinse and separate grape leaves, remove stems
Use the torn leaves to cover the bottom of a pan (best in spaghetti pan with a deep basket/strainer).
Lay the grape leaf flat, place about 1 full tsp. of mixture about ¾ inch up from where the stem was on the vain side of leaf.
Fold in each side to partly cover the mixture. Roll the leaf towards the leaf tip/top. Do not roll to loosely - continue until all mixture is gone.
Place the rolled leaves on the torn leaves in a circular pattern. (image)
Cover the leaves with a mixture of the tomato juice and chicken broth. Add water if more liquid is needed. Place heavy old plate on top of stuffed leaves.
Bring to a boil, lower heat to a low boil and cook about 60 to 70 minutes,
Even if you don't have the leaves, stuffing bell peppers or squash with this mixture is always great. I'm currently working on a way to make ground Turkey or Chicken taste just as good because currently there is no comparison to the ground beef though I'm betting a mixture of lamb and beef would be excellent.
What foods are a tradition in your family? I would love any great ideas. Feel free to post them or share a link.