RED BEAN & OATMEAL HAMANTASCHEN

reasons why purim *might* have a shot at making it into my list of top 20 favorite holidays this year (bc do i need to explain again how i'm actually a grandma that prefers the more sober holidays where you eat matzo ball soup):

1. it's slowly becoming a holiday for just reminiscing on my college days when brian and i would sit in his hell's kitchen apartment, nursing our hangovers, eating hamantaschen that his mom sent him, and getting powdered sugar all over our faces. and then probably going to indian buffet.

2. i am a sucker for all of the absurd hamantaschen variations that are all over the internet. you people are nuts and i love it.

3. i got invited to a purim party and i plan on dressing eggboy as johnny weir, while i transform into tara lipinski. (not. but wouldn't that be fun?) i'm looking forward to my first purim party.

this week in ways to asianize a jewish thing, i give you: red bean hamantaschen. (yeah, i am still hacking away at the bigass batch of red bean paste i made for our snow picnic.) i've also made some hamantaschen that are oatmeal filled. they're like a cookie in a cookie and they're chewy and very satisfying. find them both in the latest installment of molly on the range!

-yeh!

brisket on sourdough with sriracha shaved brussels sprouts

there is a possibility that i spoke too soon about wanting winter to stay.

i know this because over weekend, when a recipe arrived in my inbox from sweet tara for steamed buns that require three (3!!) ingredients for the dough, the only thing that prevented me from acquiring the required self-rising flour from the shop across the street was the task of bundling up for -21ºf. 

never before in my life have i stopped at an obstacle when steamed buns were involved. 

but you guys. i've been wearing two pants, two-three pairs of socks, and two fleeces under my down coat on a regular basis. 

and my snot freezes. and my skin is cracky.

so while i do love winter food with all of my heart, i wouldn't mind the ability to go outside wearing just one layer and possibly pick a tomato from the ground.

on the bright side: i've been testing brisket recipes for the passover installment of molly on the range and have the terrible burden of having so much leftover brisket in my fridge. life is so tough, right? one day soon, when it warms up to positive degrees, i will make steamed buns with brisket in the belly. but for now, i have a delightful winter sandwich.

brisket on sourdough with sriracha shaved brussels sprouts

makes one sandwich, but can easily be doubled/tripled/septupled

ingredients

olive oil

2 thick slices of crusty sourdough

1 thick slice of brisket

1/2 c shaved brussels sprouts

a pinch of kosher salt

1 tb sriracha mayo* (or more)

*i keep a squeeze bottle of the stuff in my fridge and you should too. i use 1 tsp sriracha for every 1/4 cup of mayo, but add more sriracha as you wish.

clues

heat a grill pan or skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium heat. toss on the bread, and if the brisket is cold from being leftovers, toss that on too to warm it up. heat both sides of the bread (and brisket).

in a separate pan, heat a bit more olive oil over medium-high heat and add your brussels sprouts. season with salt. cook til soft and slightly browned and then toss with sriracha mayo. (you could also keep your sprouts raw if you'd like)

assemble and destroy!

-yeh!

PICKLE PARTY

ingredients for the perfect pickle party

1. awesome fun people who like to pickle just as much as you and preferably have more experience than you or just more twitter followers that can answer questions like "do we really need to sterilize these jars?" unless you are a pickle master. in my case, my perfect pickle partners were donny and howie.

2. like, a shitton of kosher salt, jars, vinegar, and patience.

3. the national and andrew byrd pandora stations.

4. this recipe for pickled eggs from the fresh exchange and this recipe for pickle brine.

5. drumstick mixing spoons.

6. a direct line to eggboy's grandma who is apparently more a pickle master than everyone in brooklyn combined.

-yeh!!!!!

WHAT I LOOK LIKE WHEN I EAT A SCHNITZEL

actually that title is not complete because it should be more like what i look like when i eat a schnitzel after i've spent all morning curling my hair and painting my nails and then i step out into 100% humidity. but i like how they turned out because ultraclay took these and he is a photographical wizard.

these shots were taken for blondie and brownie's book, new york a la cart: recipes and stories from the big apple's best food trucks, which officially comes out today!!!!

obviously they were shot for the schnitzel chapter which--i think--includes the recipe for one of my most favorite schnitzels in the city, from the schnitzel & things truck. i haven't gotten my copy yet, but i must do so by tomorrow when i see those lovely ladies and beg them to autograph it for me :-)

also for the record i think only the second shot made it into the book. my blue nails are famous!!

everyone buy this book. blondie and brownie are wonderful.

-yeh!!!