{"id":10035,"date":"2006-03-10T03:28:00","date_gmt":"2006-03-10T08:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/purim_pleasures_fit_for_a_queen_or_a_jewish_princess\/"},"modified":"2017-05-01T01:13:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T06:13:33","slug":"purim_pleasures_fit_for_a_queen_or_a_jewish_princess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/food\/recipes\/purim_pleasures_fit_for_a_queen_or_a_jewish_princess\/","title":{"rendered":"Purim Pleasures Fit for a Queen (or a Jewish Princess!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The quest for a recipe for Mohnlach began several weeks ago with a phone call from my mother’s cousin Roy. “Norene, maybe you can help me? I keep thinking about the poppy seed candy my mother used to make for Purim when I was a little boy. I thought if anyone would have the recipe, you would. I remember that she cut it in diamond shapes and that it was very sweet. I loved it.”<\/p>\n

I was instantly flooded with warm, delicious food memories from my childhood. I vividly remembered my grandmother\u2019s old-fashioned kitchen, her wood stove and the wonderful aromas that emanated from it. I can still picture her patting out the sticky honey and poppy seed mixture on a wet cutting board on her dining room table. I would stand on my tiptoes, peering over the table top, eagerly waiting for the candy to get hard so I could taste a little piece.<\/p>\n

I hadn’t thought of this scrumptious candy in years and told Roy that I wasn’t exactly sure how to make it….but I would find out.<\/p>\n

Mom to the rescue! My mother is my personal culinary consultant as she has the most incredible memory for food and recipes. She defines most life experiences in terms of food and eating. I asked her if she remembered the recipe for poppy seed candy. “Of course I remember it!” she replied. “I used to make it for Purim, both your babas made it, your Auntie Lily made it, so did my friend Bessie…everybody made it!”<\/p>\n

She remembered the basic ingredients – honey, poppy seeds and nuts, but she wasn’t sure of the exact quantities. We started searching through my huge cookbook collection in search of the right recipe. We checked cookbook after cookbook, but no luck!<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until I pulled out my very oldest cookbooks that I finally found two recipes. Both books were published in the late fifties – tattered, torn and food-stained, but true treasures. One recipe was in Jennie Grossinger’s cookbook, “The Art of Jewish Cooking” with a price tag of 60 cents. The other was in Molly Goldberg\u2019s Jewish Cookbook, price 75 cents. A bargain at today\u2019s prices! Jennie\u2019s recipe called for ground poppy seeds, Molly’s didn’t.<\/p>\n

My mother, the maven, insisted that the poppy seeds had to be ground, or the candy would be too gritty. She said that the best way to grind them was to soak them overnight in warm water, then boil them in milk and then grind them in a poppy seed grinder. I told her that I wanted the recipe to be pareve. I also said that I lost my special poppy seed grinder years ago and had never replaced it. It was time for us to be creative and find alternate solutions.<\/p>\n

I knew that my food processor, blender and electric coffee grinder wouldn\u2019t pulverize the seeds properly, so I pulled out my electric mini-chop, which has a grind cycle. I alternated between grinding and chopping the poppy seeds, putting the whirling blades into forward gear, then reverse. It took about 2 or 3 minutes – and it worked. The results weren\u2019t as perfect as I had hoped, but it did the trick.<\/p>\n

I suggested to my mother that we should invite Roy and Elsie over for tea and serve them the Mohnlach. My mother jokingly replied, “Don’t bother. He probably won’t be able to eat them any more – he’d break his teeth!”<\/p>\n

Here is Jennie Grossinger’s recipe, with my comments in parentheses. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Poppy Seed Candy (Mohnlach)<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Ingredients<\/span>:<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • 1 lb.\u00a0poppy seeds<\/li>\n
  • 2 cups honey<\/li>\n
  • \u00bd cup sugar<\/li>\n
  • 2 cups chopped nuts<\/li>\n
  • \u00bd teaspoon\u00a0powdered ginger, optional (my mother’s mother made them with ginger too!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Instructions<\/span>:<\/h4>\n
      \n
    1. Have the poppy seeds ground for you when you buy them. If this is not possible, grind them in a food chopper or pound them with a mortar and pestle.<\/li>\n
    2. Cook together the honey and sugar until syrupy. (Be sure to use a big enough pot and that it is heavy enough or the mixture will boil over when you add the poppy seeds!)<\/li>\n
    3. Stir in the poppy seeds and cook until mixture is thick, about 20 minutes. Stir frequently. (Watch carefully the last few minutes or the mixture may burn!) Drop a little on a wet surface; if it doesn’t run, it’s thick enough. Stir in the nuts and ginger.<\/li>\n
    4. Moisten hands; pat out mixture onto wet board to thickness of about 1\/2 inch. Let cool 5 minutes (maybe longer!), then cut into diamonds or squares with a sharp knife. When knife sticks, dip into hot water. Cool completely and lift from board with a spatula.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      * * *<\/p>\n

      While searching through my cookbooks, I thought about the various symbolic foods served on Purim, such as poppy seeds, hamentashen and triangular-shaped foods. Poppy seeds are symbolic of Queen Esther’s three day fast in the palace, where she followed a vegetarian diet to avoid breaking Kosher dietary laws. When she broke her fast at night, she ate only seeds while she prayed to G-d to repeal Haman’s decree.<\/p>\n

      Triangular-shaped foods such as cheese kreplach or challah shaped like a giant triangle, sprinkled with poppy seeds are other symbolic foods served by Ashkenaz Jews. Sephardic Jews serve Haman’s Ears – deep-fried strips of dough or kichel dipped in sugar syrup or sprinkled with icing sugar.<\/p>\n

      This year, why not make poppy seed cookies cut in triangular shapes? A fluted pastry wheel will make them look so pretty! This dough can also be used to make traditional hamentashen. These easy, versatile cookies are fun to make with the kids!<\/p>\n

      Sugar Cookies\/Haman’s Hats<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

      Yield: 4 to 5 dozen.<\/p>\n

      Ingredients<\/span>:<\/h4>\n
        \n
      • 2 eggs<\/em><\/li>\n
      • \u00be cup sugar<\/em><\/li>\n
      • \u00bd cup oil<\/em><\/li>\n
      • \u00bc cup orange juice or water<\/em><\/li>\n
      • 2 teaspoons\u00a0baking powder<\/em><\/li>\n
      • 3 cups flour<\/em><\/li>\n
      • \u00bc cup poppy seeds additional sugar for dipping<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Instructions<\/span>:<\/h4>\n
          \n
        1. Preheat oven to 375\u00b0F.<\/li>\n
        2. In a food processor fitted with the Steel Blade, process eggs with sugar, oil and juice until blended, about 5 seconds. Add baking powder, flour and poppy seeds. Process just until mixed, using on\/off pulses. Do not overprocess.<\/li>\n
        3. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1\/8th inch thick. Cut in triangles with a fluted pastry wheel or pizza cutter (or cut in different shapes with assorted cookie cutters).<\/li>\n
        4. Dip each cookie lightly in sugar. Place sugar-side up on a sprayed foil-lined cookie sheets.<\/li>\n
        5. Bake at 375\u00b0F for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Freezes well.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Source: The Food Processor Bible by Norene Gilletz<\/em><\/p>\n

          \n

          Five-Fruit\u00a0Filling\u00a0for\u00a0<\/b><\/span>Hamantaschen<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n

          Yields about 3 cups filling.<\/p>\n

          Ingredients<\/span>:<\/h4>\n
            \n
          • 1 medium seedless orange (thin-skinned)<\/em><\/li>\n
          • 1 cup raisins<\/em><\/li>\n
          • 1 cup pitted dates<\/em><\/li>\n
          • 1 cup pitted prunes<\/em><\/li>\n
          • 1 cup dried apricots<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Instructions<\/span>:<\/h4>\n
              \n
            1. Cut orange into chunks, but do not peel. Cut away both the navel and the stem end.<\/li>\n
            2. In the processor, process orange until finely ground, about 20 seconds.<\/li>\n
            3. Add remaining ingredients and process until finely ground, about 15 to 20 seconds.<\/li>\n
            4. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Source: Healthy Helpings by Norene Gilletz<\/em><\/p>\n

              Note: 1 cup filling is enough to fill 12 to 16 hamentashen, depending on size. Mixture can be prepared in advance and refrigerated for several days, or frozen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              The quest for a recipe for Mohnlach began several weeks ago with a phone call from my mother’s cousin Roy. “Norene, maybe you can help me? I keep thinking about the poppy seed candy my mother used to make for Purim when I was a little boy. I thought if anyone would have the recipe,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":40780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-purim-4-parshiyot","category-recipes"],"yoast_head":"\nPurim Pleasures Fit for a Queen (or a Jewish Princess!)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Purim recipes for poppy seed candy (mohnlach), sugar cookies (Haman's hats), and a 5-fruit filling for hamantashen (orange, raisin, date, prune, & apricot)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/food\/recipes\/purim_pleasures_fit_for_a_queen_or_a_jewish_princess\/\" \/>\n<meta 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