Zeppole!

So when Lindsay and I were on vacation, we had the habit of watching Giada while getting ready for the evening and one of her episodes was on Italian street food. Of course, I wanted to make all of it that night! I think Lindsay has already made the sausage and peppers... and I, of course, jumped straight to the dessert! Donuts! So a few things to note before starting this recipe - which I should have paid attention to prior to making them - the basic dough for this recipe is actually at Pate a choux.. So when you're cooking the butter and flour on the stove.. don't treat it like its a roux (like i did.. and only cooked it for maybe 2 minutes because i thought it looked done). You'll want to stir it constantly and cook it for at least 5 minutes, until the dough is starting to stick to the bottom of the sauce pan. Also - you'll want to follow the instructions on dropping tablespoon size balls into the oil.. any bigger and the center will definitely be doughy!

(Recipe courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis)
Ingredients:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 stick butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• Olive oil, for frying (I used canola oil instead, olive oil is too expensive and I didn't want that flavor throughout my donuts!)

Directions:

Cut open the vanilla bean lengthwise. Using the back of a knife, scrape along the inside of the vanilla bean to collect the seeds. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into a small bowl. Add the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Take pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return pan to the heat and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Beat until smooth. If not frying immediately, cover with plastic wrap and reserve in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.

Using a small ice-cream scooper or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot olive oil, frying in batches. Turn the zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Toss with cinnamon-sugar. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.

So again - follow the directions carefully and hopefully they will turn out great! I know mine tasted wonderful, just were slightly doughy in the center. Oh and they puff up pretty big, so I was using a 3 qt. pot (so I could use less oil) and would fry about 5-6 per batch. And instead of draining them first, drop them straight into the cinnamon/sugar mixture before setting on a paper towel! Otherwise the sugar won't stick to them. My next mission is to figure out if I can revive them again... since one batch made about 20 of them (we weren't gonna eat them all!) I saved them in my freezer. I'll let you know if I manage to find a way to reheat them and have them taste as good.

Another quick note - you only scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean, but the pod itself is still good! don't throw it away! Save it for the next time you're making a dessert in which you can steep a vanilla bean in it. Its too expensive to waste!

submitted by Lauren

Sufganiyot (Donuts!!!)

While I'm on the topic of frying things for Hanukkah (I know, it passed almost a month ago), I thought it would be appropriate to add here the recipe for Sufganiyot. Sufganiyot is another Jewish dish made during Hanukkah and another word for amazing donuts. One thing I learned during Hanukkah this year is that these dishes include lots of frying to symbolize the oil that stayed lit for 8 days. Ok, enough with the religious symbolism - all I know is any excuse to fry something is a good one!

Now, Lauren and Kyle both know that I'm not the neatest person in the kitchen... Ok, maybe that's an understatement... but it's especially true when flour is involved. This was my first time making a dough that called for yeast. A couple months ago when Kyle was visiting I tried my hand at making pasta dough so I thought (or hoped) that making donut dough would be a similar process.

A few things made this very different. The first being I couldn't make this in my food processor. This, of course, meant that my hands would be handling the dough from the get-go. Translation: a mess! The second difference from the pasta dough is that donut dough is MUCH stickier. Translation: a big mess! You should've seen me attempting this. Once I got to the part where I was supposed to knead the dough I realized that I would need a ton more flour than the recipe below called for.

I dig my hands in and start kneading. Instead of the dough actually kneading it just starts clumping to my hands until there's almost no dough actually left on my counter. What is there is more like a smear of dough. I sat there deliberating with myself, hysterically laughing at myself actually, as to how I should react to this situation. The dilemma: both of my hands were completed covered in a sticky mess of dough. Flour was within reach of my hands but it was a bag of flour. If I tried to pick it up, half of my dough would've been lost as it would clearly cling to the bag. Beyond that, I know I have poor luck when it comes to dealing with flour. It tends to go everywhere in my case and I envisioned cups of flour pouring out onto the counter top.

Suddenly, I heard my roommate stir in the bedroom (she had been sleeping). My saving grace... "Jenny?!?!" I said, nervously. I then pleaded for her to come out. She came out curious as to what was going on. As soon as she saw me she realized I was in dire need of a clean pair of hands. So Jenny became my "flour-spooner." She would sprinkle flour on the counter top and my hands and then I would knead. This continued for quite some time until I was able to handle the dough with ease. In the end, it all turned out great but it was quite the learning experience.

Ingredients

Makes 20

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (100 degrees to 110 degrees)
• 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups vegetable oil, plus more for bowl
• 1 cup seedless raspberry jam (I used Mom's homemade multi-berry preserves)
  
• Cinnamon and sugar for rolling
  

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Place flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center; add eggs, yeast mixture, 1/4 cup sugar, butter, nutmeg, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir until a sticky dough forms. On a well-floured work surface, knead until dough is smooth, soft, and bounces back when poked with a finger, about 8 minutes (add more flour if necessary). Place in an oiled bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place to rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch-round cutter or drinking glass, cut 20 rounds. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise 15 minutes.
4. In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat oil until a deep-frying thermometer registers 370 degrees. Using a slotted spoon, carefully slip 4 rounds into oil. Fry until golden, about 40 seconds. Turn doughnuts over; fry until golden on other side, another 40 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Roll in a mix of cinnamon and sugar while warm. Fry all dough, and roll in sugar.
5. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a #4 tip with jam. Using a wooden skewer or toothpick, make a hole in the side of each doughnut. Fit the pastry tip into a hole, pipe about 2 teaspoons jam into doughnut. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.

Another option is to make a chocolate filling. The typical recipe calls for jam but since I was making these for Zach I wanted to add chocolate filling as an alternate.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c chocolate chips or 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 T cream or half and half
• 1/4 tsp flavoring such as orange or almond (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the chocolate and cream in a double boiler until melted.
2. Remove from heat and add any flavorings, if using.
3. Keep warm until donuts are filled (you don't want it to get cold, otherwise it won't pipe properly into the donuts).

These donuts will go quick and whoever eats them will surely become your new best friend. Buon Appetito!

- Lindsay