Hanukkah

John Kernick

From crispy potato pancakes to a juicy herb-and-lemon-roasted chicken, here are delicious recipes for a Hanukkah celebration.

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Toffee Matzo

This fast, genius dessert uses store-bought matzo as the instant base for homemade toffee.

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Renée's Latkes

Gail Simmons’s mother, Renée Simmons, uses a food processor’s shredding disk to get long potato strands that fry up extra-crispy.

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Gail Simmons's Horseradish Brisket

PHOTO © LUCY SCHAEFFER

Rubbing prepared horseradish on the brisket and whisking it into the meaty sauce punches up the rich flavors here. Like most braised dishes, this brisket tastes better on the second or even third day.

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Potato-Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Salmon and Beets

Quinoa gives these crisp fried cakes a great chewiness; the cornichon dressing is creamy and piquant.

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Kate's Supercrispy Potato Latkes

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Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops with Manischewitz Glaze

The sweet wine glaze for these chops started as a joke. “Someone kiddingly told me to try Manischewitz, so I bought a bottle,” says Rich Torrisi. “I found out it was made from Concord grapes, which are my favorite. And the grapes are from New York state, so I love them even more.”

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Jessamyn's Sephardic Challah

Jessamyn Waldman grew up in Canada eating challah, the Jewish Sabbath bread. Unlike the eggy challahs of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, this version comes from the Sephardic Jews of the Mediterranean, who flavored their challahs with caraway and anise. Many challahs are braided, but this one is twisted into a round, turban-shaped loaf.

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Roasted Carrot and Cumin Puree

Roasting carrots until they are golden brown brings out their sweetness and provides a perfect foil for tart lemon juice and musky cumin. Our silken puree is a particularly good side dish for lamb and also for roasted chicken.

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Herb-and-Lemon-Roasted Chicken

This roast chicken is foolproof and fantastic. Plus, it’s versatile enough for a weeknight dinner or weekend dinner party.

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Fresh Horseradish Relish with Apples and Cranberries

Julie Taras and Tasha Garcia usually top stewy braised dishes with these earthy vegetable chips for a bit of crunch. They also serve them at the bar as a salty snack.

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Celery Root with Apples, Walnuts and Blue Cheese

This delicious winter salad combines all kinds of flavors and textures: crunchy, juicy, earthy, nutty and toasty.

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Fried Artichokes With Citrus & Parsley

Justin Smillie fries the artichokes until the edges are crispy, then tosses them with lemon and orange zest and smoky-hot crushed Aleppo pepper.

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Smoked and Cured Salmon with Orange Zest

Cold-smoking salmon usually requires an elaborate setup. Jason Alley's brilliant trick of quickly smoking the fish, then curing it like gravlax, is a great option for the home cook.

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Doughnuts in Cardamom Syrup

These doughnuts, from Esther Sabach, Rachel Klein’s boyfriend’s mother, are a nod to Sephardic Jewish tradition.

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Zucchini Latkes with Red Pepper Jelly and Smoked Trout

“My mom used to make zucchini fritters on the Jewish holidays,” says Rachel Klein. Klein’s latke version is unexpected and delicious, especially with red pepper jelly and smoked trout.

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Jewish Turkey-Wonton Soup

This soup is made with David Ansel’s version of kreplach, a Jewish dumpling usually filled with beef. Here, Ansel tweaks the traditional recipe by stuffing delicate wonton wrappers with lots of turkey and chopped vegetables, serving them in a simple turkey broth.

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Horseradish-Crusted Roast Beef

To showcase deeply flavorful grass-fed beef, butcher-shop owners Jessica and Josh Applestone make a simple roast beef using any number of cuts, including rib loin (prime rib), top round or a tied sirloin tip. The roast—deliciously crusted with horseradish and black peppercorns—is perfect hot out of the oven, but it's also amazing cold on a sandwich.

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Vanilla Raised Doughnuts

According to writer and recipe developer Jess Thomson, it’s best to weigh flour on a kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups. “When we tested the recipes for the book, that seemed to make a big difference,” she says.

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Sweet Potato Latkes with Wasabi and Wasabi Tobiko

Rachel Klein mixes sweet and spicy flavors in this whimsical recipe, stirring pungent wasabi paste into crème fraîche to top the slightly sweet latkes and garnishing them with wasabi tobiko (flying fish roe) and peppery radish sprouts.

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Easy Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine

“A good sauce is the bridge between the meat and the wine,” says Ken Frank. When pairing beef with Cabernet, he usually serves a hearty red-wine sauce, like the one on these short ribs. Veal stock gives the dish extra-deep flavor, but chicken stock (preferably homemade) works well too.

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Onion-Mustard Monkey Bread

These buttery, onion-flecked, pull-apart rolls are an irresistible cross between Parker House classics and bialys.

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Hanukkah Doughnuts 

John Kernick

Hebrew for “doughnuts,” sufganiyot are the most popular Hanukkah food in Israel. These fried treats are simply made from balls of yeast dough and filled with chocolate, creams, curd or, as here, jam. Bakeries and markets start frying them weeks before the actual holiday and keep going until the week after. With TV chef Andrew Zimmern’s recipe, you can prepare them year-round.

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Hanukkah

1 of 22

Toffee Matzo

1 of 22

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Renée's Latkes

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Gail Simmons's Horseradish Brisket

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Potato-Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Salmon and Beets

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Kate's Supercrispy Potato Latkes

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Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops with Manischewitz Glaze

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Jessamyn's Sephardic Challah

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Roasted Carrot and Cumin Puree

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Herb-and-Lemon-Roasted Chicken

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Fresh Horseradish Relish with Apples and Cranberries

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Celery Root with Apples, Walnuts and Blue Cheese

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Fried Artichokes With Citrus & Parsley

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Smoked and Cured Salmon with Orange Zest

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Doughnuts in Cardamom Syrup

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Zucchini Latkes with Red Pepper Jelly and Smoked Trout

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Jewish Turkey-Wonton Soup

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Horseradish-Crusted Roast Beef

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Vanilla Raised Doughnuts

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Sweet Potato Latkes with Wasabi and Wasabi Tobiko

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Easy Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine

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Onion-Mustard Monkey Bread

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Hanukkah Doughnuts

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Hanukkah Doughnuts 