“What holiday do we have coming up?” Liam, 7, asks his mother, Einat Admony, 42, the Israeli-born chef behind a burgeoning mini-empire of Middle Eastern restaurants that includes Taim, Balaboosta, the soon-to-open Bar Bolonat and a new cookbook. “Hanukkah? Thanksgiving?”
“Both together,” Admony declares, tidying up the kitchen of the sprawling Fort Greene loft she shares with her husband and business partner, Stefan Nafziger, Liam and daughter Mika, 4.
This Thanksgiving will mark the first time in 125 years that Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah fall on the same day, giving Admony a perfect excuse to infuse Thanksgiving classics with some traditional Jewish and Middle Eastern flavors.
“I’ll do some of the stuff that I like and want to eat,” she says, noting plans to do a turkey with pomegranate sauce based on a chicken recipe her mother used to make for Rosh Hashana. But they’ll be spending the holiday with her husband’s relatives in Washington, DC, so she says there will be some more traditional recipes “for the Americans.”
Still, she won’t be cooking pumpkin or pecan pie for her Yankee kin.
“I hate the desserts on Thanksgiving,” says the 5-foot-tall dynamo.
Instead, she plans on serving sufganiyot, an Israeli pastry similar to a donut, for dessert, as a nod to the festival of lights.
“Everything is fried for Hanukkah,” she declares.
The sufganiyot and pomegranate turkey are just a few ideas Admony has for celebrating Thanksgivukkah.
Pumpkin & Saffron Soup
Admony grew up eating a variation of this soup, which can also be made with butternut squash. The saffron and za’atar — a spice mix of sesame seeds, sumac and herbs — give it a Middle Eastern edge. “My mom is Iranian, she always had family sneaking in saffron from Iran,” Admony recalls. “I remember it was like gold.”
Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped, and sauté until golden brown. Don’t be afraid to let the edges turn a deep brown color because this will give the soup an even better flavor. Next, add 1 large leek, white parts only and finely chopped, and 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped. Sauté for another 5 minutes, then add 4 pounds pumpkin, peeled and cut in ½-inch chunks, 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut in ¼–inch chunks, and 5 celery ribs, cut in ¼-inch pieces. Place a cover over the pot and allow the vegetables to cook for 20 minutes.
Next, add ¼ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoons ground white pepper, 10 cups water, 3 sprigs thyme, 1 sprig rosemary and a pinch of saffron. Stir to combine all the seasonings and bring to a boil, then lower heat. Simmer until the vegetables are so soft you can press down on them with a spoon, about 30 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow the soup to cool for 10 minutes. Purée the soup directly in the pot using an immersion blender. If you don’t have one of these, allow your soup to cool completely, then purée in small batches in a blender.
Taste and adjust the seasoning. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, add a dollop of Greek yogurt on top and a generous sprinkling of za’atar. Serves 4 to 6.
Roasted butternut squash with Asian tahini
“It’s a recipe from one of my best friends from Israel,” says Admony, who takes the beloved gourd in an unexpected direction with this recipe. “Tahini is a very Middle Eastern sauce.”
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk together 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and a pinch of ground black pepper in a large bowl. Pick the leaves from 1 sprig of thyme and add them to the mixture.
Cut 1½ pounds peeled butternut squash into 1-inch thick cubes and toss them in the bowl along with the honey mixture. Mix well to coat evenly.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the butternut squash side-by-side in a single layer. Use a rubber spatula to scrape any remaining mixture from the bowl and drizzle it on top of the butternut squash.
Bake in the oven until tender and crispy, about 1 hour.
To make the Asian tahini: In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, add 1 cup tahini, 1 clove garlic, finely chopped, ½ tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 6 tablespoons cold water. Process the mixture for few minutes, then add 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, ¼ cup honey and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Process the mixture until smooth and creamy.
Serve the roasted butternut squash on a flat plate, drizzle tahini on top and garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Serves 4.
Roasted broccoli with pine nuts and currants
“I have two kids, so I’m trying always to work with vegetables in a way that’s going to be exciting for them,” says Admony. Here, she roasts broccoli to give it an unexpected crispiness, then tosses in pine nuts and currants in a nod to the food she grew up eating. “My mom used pine nuts for her famous Persian rice,” she recalls.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Trim 2 pounds of broccoli into bite-sized florets and place in a mixing bowl. Add 8 to 12 garlic cloves, unpeeled, 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, grated zest of 1 lemon and the juice of ½ lemon.
Arrange the broccoli in a single layer on the lined baking sheet. Roast in the oven until crisp-tender and parts of the florets have developed a nice brown color, 20 to 30 minutes. Toss with ¼ cup currant and ¼ cup pine nuts. Serves 4 to 6.
Thanksgiving Turkey with Pomegranate Sauce
“We eat a lot of turkey in Israel, but never whole,” says Admony. Here, she gives a whole bird a sweet and sour pomegranate treatment reminiscent of a chicken dish her mother used to make to celebrate the Jewish New Year. “We used to fight over the walnuts in the sauce,” she recalls. “We didn’t have money and walnuts were very expensive. Today I use 2 pounds of walnuts.”
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Position your oven rack in the lower third of the oven.
Rinse a 12-pound turkey with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the outside and cavity of the bird with 2 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon ground black pepper and 4 tablespoons olive oil. Place seasoned turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan, breast side up.
Put the pan in the oven and roast the bird for 20-30 minutes until the top starts to brown. Then lower the heat down to 350 degrees and roast for another 2 to 2 ½ hours, until the thickest part of the breast registers 165 degrees and the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees. If the top of the turkey starts to brown too much, cover with aluminum foil.
While the turkey is roasting, make the sauce. In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup pomegranate juice, 1 cup pomegranate molasses, ½ cup honey, 2 teaspoons cumin, 2 teaspoons turmeric, ½ cup toasted walnut, a pinch of saffron (optional) and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
About 10 minutes before the turkey is done (when the breast registers 160 degrees and the thigh registers 165 degrees), remove the aluminum foil and brush the top of the turkey with ½ cup of the sauce, place back in the oven and let it caramelize.
Allow the turkey to sit for 20-30 minutes before carving. Serve with the remaining sauce on the side and garnish with pomegranate seeds. Serves 10.
Sufganiyot
Admony traditionally makes these fried Israeli pastries, which are similar to donuts, every year for Hanukkah. This year, she’ll do them for Thanksgiving, but she has no plans to add a fusion element, like pumpkin pie spice. “Certain things are good the way they are,” she says. “You don’t mess with them.”
Place 3 cups of all-purpose flour in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixer; if you don’t have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl. Create a large well in the center and pour in ¼ cup of room-temperature whole milk, 2 tablespoons active dry yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let stand until the yeast mixture becomes foamy, about 10 minutes.
In another sugar bowl, stir the remaining ½ cup milk, the remaining sugar (1/3 cup, less 1 tablespoon), 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon brandy, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature and the zest of half a lemon.
If using stand mixer: With the dough hook attached, turn the mixer to low speed and mix the yeast mixture into the flour. Then slowly add the milk mixture, beating until just well-combined, about 3 minutes. Crank up the setting to knead the dough for 5 minutes.
If using a mixing bowl: Incorporate the flour with the yeast mixture using your hands. Then slowly pour in the milk mixture with one hand while working the flour into the liquid with the other. You can knead the mixture in the bowl or dump it on your kitchen counter over a lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes.
Shape the dough into a large ball and transfer to another bowl slicked with canola oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm place away from any drafts. After an hour, the dough should double in size.
Lightly flour the surface of your work area and roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Use a 2½-inch round cutter or drinking glass to cut the sufganiyot and place them on a lightly dusted baking sheet. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the sufganiyot to prevent sticking and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rise for another 15 minutes in a warm place.
Meanwhile, heat a deep skillet with 2 inches of oil to 365 degrees. Working in small batches, fry the sufganiyot in the hot oil until golden brown, about 30 seconds on each side. Drain on paper towels.
Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a pointed tip with jam. Make a hole at the top of each doughnut using a toothpick or wooden skewer. Insert the pastry bag into the hole and squeeze about a tablespoon of filling into each sufganiyot. Roll them around in some sugar and watch them disappear in seconds.
From Balaboosta by Einat Admony (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2013.
