Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Pollack Christmas Recipes

OK, for once Klecko is going to bypass telling you guys emotional stories from years gone by.

If ya'll are anything like me, you have enough emotional baggage to deal with throughout the holiday seasons.

So I won't tell you about my Grandpa's drunk brother trying to stare down the blouse of the blind woman sitting at our famlies Christmas table.

I'll spare you the details of my step father getting trashed and throwing 10#'s of potato salad on our kitchen walls.

Or better yet, the year he went on a bender, and he didn't even surface until December 28th!

That's right.....with the holidays comes good and bad times.

But Klecko likes to dwell on the positives.

As a kid we would have BIG Pollack bashes with our clan and it was w/o a doubt the happiset moment(s) of my childhood.

In the basement, my Grandparents had a stereo that they had on around the clock during the holidays.

I remember when I heard "The Little Drummer Boy" I would run downstairs and stand there by myself singing along.

I kinda was pathetically innocent LOL.

And on the shelf underneath the stereo was a manger, and I would pick up Baby Jesus all swaddled in rags, and he would be a running back who had to try to score touchdowns against the 3 Wiseman.

Funny....Like Tebow......Jesus always won.

But on a serious note, I was touched by the lyrics in that song and remember how badly I wanted to have something to give to the Christ Child, but I felt helpless because I was a small kid that lacked confidence, and didn't have many resources.

With that said.....if Baby Jesus of Warsaw was here today...

I'd ask how JP2 and Saint Faustina are doing in heaven, and then I'd make him this.........

EGG NOG -
4 Fresh Eggs
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Rum
1 1/2 Cup Whiskey
1 1/2 Cup Milk
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Yolks and whites go into seperate bowls, beat yolks with 1/2 the sugar and then toss off to the side, beat whites untill stiff and then beat in the other 1/2 of the sugar,

Pour the yolks into the whites and mix s-l-o-w-l-y, stir in the rum, whiskey and milk....s-l-o-w-l-y,

Then whip your cream and fold it in.

If you are feeling provocative......toss some nutmeg on top.

EGG NOG QUICK BREAD -

2 Eggs beaten
1 Cup Egg Nog (from previous recipe)
2 teaspoon rum (or rum extract)
1 Cup Sugar
1 teasponn Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Salad Oil
2 1/4 Cup A.P. Flour
2 teaspoon B-Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt (a real Pollack would add about 7 pounds LOL)
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 - 1/2 Cup Poppy Seed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F)

Blend eggs-eggnog-rum-sugar-vanilla and salad oil.

Then in another bowl......flour-B-powder-salt-nutmeg-poppy seed.

Like all quickbreads...wet in bowl #1 and dry ingredients in bowl #2

Mix them up, or better yet incorperate they ingredients......

DO NOT OVER MIX! This will form more gluten than you want.

Then.....pour your batter into a foil form, ahhhhh....maybe 66%-75%, but no more than that.

Place it in the oven, 400 degrees for the first 8-10 minutes, and then finish off the bake at 350 (F).

Depending on the size....ballpark, you are looking 10 minutes 400 and 30ish minutes at 350.

When the bread is done baking, it will start pulling away from the foil.

Dont be afraid to insert a toothpick into the middle.

If it comes out w/o gunk on it...well you are in buisness.

Merry Christmas guys, I love most of you.

8 comments:

  1. As a veteran of both very drunken family Christmases and very Polish family Christmases, I think there is not *nearly* enough butter in these recipes to satisfy the real Pollack's. =) But really, that Egg Nog bread sounds *fantastic*!! Definitely trying that.

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  2. Lynne, you bring up a great point. The original recipe calls for butter where the salad oil is. You swap it ounce ounce for ounce, but I have never liked how butter drys out baked goods, so I guess what I lose in flavor.....I make up in texture, just a personal choice...but great observation.

    Merry Christmas

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  3. What is the current thinking on raw eggs (from icky confinement hatcheries) and salmonella?

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  4. I prefer oil to butter as the butter sets up at room temp and gives the impression of staling. Oil-based baked goods always seem more moist to me for this reason. I like to make up the butter deficit by adding an inch of butter to the bread upon slicing and eating.

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  5. I like Sandy Smith's solution. =0)
    But WHY does butter dry out baked goods? For years I was frustrated by all-butter cake recipes that said the results would be moist because my results were not moist. I thought I was doing something wrong even though I followed directions carefully (I'm looking at you, Rose Levy Beranbaum).
    I finally discovered that oil recipes produced moist cakes so those are the ones that I use now. I'm with you, Klecko, on sacrificing some flavor for a better mouthfeel.

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    Replies
    1. "Rose Levy Beranbaum......." Klecko sarcastically exhales with such vigor that his bangs flip over his forehead.

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