Eating Haman's Hat

Get out your groggers {noise makers} this is a wifeshow blogjacking! This blog in disguise is in honor of the holiday of Purim. Similar to Mardi Gras with costumes, carnivals and libations, Purim is the celebration of Queen Esther's defeat of Haman.

Here's the story in a nutshell...The King of Persia got ticked at Queen Vashti for refusing to greet his guests {must have been a bad hair day} so he decided to have a beauty contest to find a new wife. Hadassah aka Esther, was chosen {her heritage hidden from the king} and became the new queen of the Persian Empire. Meanwhile Haman, a prominent Persian prince, offered the king 10,000 clams to annihilate the Jewish people because Esther's uncle Morty {Mordecai} refused to bow down to him. The king refused. Esther discovered Haman's plan and told the King what a rotten dude he was and that she was Jewish. The King stood by his lady, hanged Haman, and allowed the Jews to defend themselves against any would-be attackers. {read the full story here or in the book of Esther}

To celebrate, Steve and I made hamantaschen, triangular shaped cookies modeled after the shape of the main villain's hat. Usually filled with jam or poppy seed paste, we decided we wanted to make ours a little more rustic and not so sweet. {we're not huge jam session fans}

For the dough I mostly followed this recipe from Epicurious with modifications taken from my friend Molly's version. For the filling, we substituted jams for our own mixture of apples, cranberries, raisins, cherries and dates. Our version is similar to a fig newton crossed with a sugar cookie. They're pretty tasty but next time we'll tweak it a bit and add more salt and maybe a little jam to add some sweet, glossy, gooie, goodness.

Recipe below :)

Dough Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt - I would double this next time

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

3 tablespoons fresh oj (Gourmet only calls for 1, but the dough was too dry so I added more liquid)

1 tsp. vanilla

For the how to, follow the link above except add an egg wash before you bake. This will make them glossy and help the corners stick together.

Tip: You definitely want to chill it overnight, and only roll out parts at a time. The dough is significantly easier to work with when cold.

For the filling we used 2 apples, and wifeshow size handfuls of the following: raisins {golden and regular}, dried cherries, dried dates, and dried cranberries. Steve cut up the apples and cooked them in brandy and water with cinnamon and sugar. Not sure what all he did, so maybe he can comment on that part. I plumped the dried fruit in brandy then we combined the two mixtures into the Cuis and pulsed until smooth. We then put the mixture into the freezer to cool it down. Finally we assembled the cookies.

I was nervous about them popping open so I folded mine a bit more than some people do. Mine aren't as pretty as Deb's, but they worked. This recipe should make 2 dozen and last in a container about 5 days, but Molly tells me they also freeze really well.

Happy Purim!