Sweet potato salad with cranberries and pecans

4 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 or 3 large), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon coarse-ground mustard
2 green onions, sliced
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup roughly chopped pecans, lightly toasted
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Place the cubed sweet potatoes on the sheet and bake until cooked but firm, about 35-40 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, curry powder and mustard. Stir in the green onions, cranberries, pecans and cooked sweet potatoes. Adjust seasonings and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least three hours before serving.

Recipe comes from http://yourrecipes505.blogspot.com/2015/01/sweet-potato-salad-with-cranberries-and.html

Nutella Banana Bread

Nutella Banana Bread

The recipe comes from the newest cooking book by Marcy Goldman "The Baker's four seasons". I choose several recipes to try and will try all of them.  Today is a first one.

As always, Marcy's recipes are quite tasty and easy to make it. It's not very sweet and goes with coffee very good.  I started with this recipe because Nutella was on hand and wanted to see how Nutella would behave in banana dough. I satisfied. Now it's your turn to bake and enjoy banana bread with Nutella.

Serves 10.

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 & 2/3 cup all-ourpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of the loaf pan with parchment paper.

In  a small bowl, hand mash bananas and set aside. In a mixer bowl, mix or cream the white and brown sugar and butter until well-blended. Add in the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and bananas. Fold remaining flour, baking soda, salt and blend well.

Spoon two-thirds of the batter into the pan and top with dollops of Nutella (reserving 2 tablespoons Nutella). Marbleize the Nutella so that it swirls through the batter. Cover with remaining dollops of batter and the remaining Nutella.Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 30 minutes and then lower temperature to 325F and bake until cake springs back when lightly presses with fingertips, about 45-50 minutes. Cool well before slicing. (I sliced on next day)

Банановый кекс с Нутеллой.

На 10 порций.

1 чашка банана-пюре (из 2 бананов)
1 чашка белого сахара
2 столовых ложки коричневого сахара
1/2 чашки (8 столовых ложек) сливочного масла комнатной температуры
2 яйца
1 чайная ложка ванильного экстракта
1/2 чашки кефира
1 + 2/3 чашки муки
1 чайная ложка соды
1/4 чайной ложки соли
1/3 чашки Нутеллы

Нагреть духовку до 350Ф (180Ц). Положить пергаментную бумагу на дно формочки, в которой Вы будете выпекать кекс. Обычно для бананового кекса есть специальные формочки прямоугольной формы.

В маленькой посуде, вилкой размять бананы до состояния пюре. В другой посуде смешать сахар и сливочное масло, добавить яйца, ванильный экстракт, кефир и бананы. Размешать и добавить муку, соду и соль. Все хорошо перемешать.

Вылить 2/3 теста в форму и выложить Нутеллу(оставить 2 столовые ложки). Ножом прокрутить Нутеллу до получения эффекта зебры. Вылить оставшееся тесто и выложить оставшуюся Нутеллу. Поставить в дуовку.

Печь 30 минут и уменьшить температуру до 325Ф анд печь еще 45-50 минут. Вынуть из духовки и полностью остудить. Нарезать на следующий день.

Layered Lox salad

Layered Lox salad

1 generous serving

1/4 head lettuce, thinly sliced
1 medium size tomato, finely chopped, seeds removed
2 tablespoons parsley or dill, finely chopped
1 large hard-boiled egg, shredded
2 oz lox, finely chopped
2 oz havarti cheese, shredded or grated
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
salt by taste
lemon pieces for garnish

Start with a layer of lettuce and sprinkle on some kosher salt. Mix 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise with tomato and layer over the lettuce. Make a nice layer of parsley on a top of tomatoes. Mix 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise with eggs, sprinkle with salt and place on a top of parsley. Sprinkle with chopped lox and top with a cheese.

Слоеный салат с соленым лососем.

1 большая порция

1/4 головки зеленого салата lettuce, тонко нарезанного
1 помидор, мелко нарезанный и очищенный от семечек
2 столовые ложки петрушки или укропа, мелко порезанного
1 большое круто сваренное яйцо, натертое на терке
50-60 грамм соленого лосося
50-60 грамм сыра havarti
2 чайные ложки майонеза
соль по вкусу.

На дно тарелки или блюда выложить зеленый салат и немного посолить. Смешать 1 чайную ложку майонеза с помидором и выложить на зеленый салат. На верх выложить петрушку. Смешать 1 чайную ложку майонеза с яйцом, добавить соль по вкусу и выложить на петрушку.  Поверх петрушки выложить соленый лосось и посыпать сыром.

Украсить кусочками лимона.

Italian Matza Salad

Italian Matza Salad

Serves 6

For dressing:

100 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons red whine vinegar
3-4 gloves  garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

For salad

20 tea matzas, crumbled
1 & 1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 (150 gram) cup black olives, pitted
200 gram/ 1 cup feta or mozarella cheese, cut in to cubes
large bunch of fresh basil (I used parsley)

To serve: lettuce, thinly sliced.

Put olive oil, vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt and plenty of pepper in your serving bowl. Add the crumbled matzas and mix. Add the remaining ingredients. Toss to combine well, taking care not to break up the feta or mozarella cheese.

Let salad stand at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes or overnight in a fridge to allow the matza pieces to soak up some of the dressing.

To serve the stylish way: Serve with a lettuce on a bottom.

The recipe comes from Denise Phillips "The Gourmet Jewish Cookbook".

Passover Carrot kugel

It's a quite addictive pastry-like Passover treat. It should be on Seder table. My kitchen smells fantastically good.

Carrot Kugel
Ingredients

1 cup matzah cake meal
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 1/4 cups grated carrots
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter or canola oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 325F and set a rack in the center of the oven.

Butter and flour an 8" square baking pan.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, combine eggs, oil, lemon juice, and carrots.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until the two are combined and no lumps of flour remain. Transfer batter into the prepared baking pan, and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 45 minutes; when done, kugel should spring back when touched.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe comes from My Jewish learning