Rosh Hashanah is creeping up on us. We all search for sweet things to enhance our Yom Tov so I would like to share some sweet recipes with you that you may want to prepare.

Coffee Honey Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups white flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (you can use oil)

1/2 cup cold coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners into a 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside. Place all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir, by hand, with a large spoon until well combined. Batter will be stiff. Distribute evenly into the muffin tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Cool about 5-10 minutes and then remove to wire rack.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 package (1 1/2-2 lbs) chicken breasts, trimmed thin

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can pineapple chunks drained, juice reserved

1 Tbsp. canola oil, plus more for frying

1 cup Gold’s sweet & sour duck sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/3 cup reserved pineapple juice

1 Tbsp. sesame seeds for garnish

Tempura Batter:

1 cup cold seltzer

1 egg

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

bowl of ice water

Directions:

Sauté the onion and pepper in canola oil until tender. Add pineapple chunks. Set aside.

Mix the ingredients for the tempura batter in a bowl set over a bowl of ice water. Whisk lightly to combine. Dredge the chicken breasts in the tempura batter and fry on both sides until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Add the duck sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and pineapple juice to a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes, until slightly thickened. Add the sauteed onion, pepper and pineapple to the sauce.

Place tempura fried schnitzel on serving dishes and spoon sauce over it. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Serve with rice.

Sweet Potato Roulade

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato Mash (see below)

3 sweet potatoes, peels intact

1 medium onion, diced

3 Tbsp. oil

Regular Kugel Mixture

5 large potatoes, peeled and grated

3 eggs

2 Tbsp. oil

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

White pepper

Directions:

1. To prepare the sweet potato mash: Preheat the oven to 350° F (180°C). Roast the sweet potatoes, uncovered, until soft, about 1 1/2 hours.

2. Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat the 3 tablespoons of oil. Sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and slice them in half. Scoop out the flesh, discard the peels and mash. Combine the mashed sweet potatoes with the sautéed onions and season with the kosher salt.

3. To prepare the potato kugel mixture: In a bowl, combine the grated potatoes, eggs, oil, salt and white pepper. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the potato mixture evenly over the parchment paper. Bake, uncovered, until the top of the mixture is firm, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes. Roll the potato kugel, jelly roll style, together with the parchment paper. Allow to cool completely.

4. To assemble, unroll the potato kugel. Spread the mashed sweet potato evenly over the kugel. Roll again, this time pulling away the parchment paper to form a potato kugel roll (unrolling and rerolling is essential—it helps to maintain the shape of the roll. Serve warm.

Enjoy. Good Yom Tov!

Gail Hochman has been a resident of Bergen County for over 30 years and has been blessed with many grandchildren.

By Gail Hochman