Chocolate Brownie Hamentashen Filling

I've found this recipe at this blog:
http://kosherrecipes.bravejournal.com/
and with permission I publish it here-
Ingredients: 5. oz semi-sweet chocolate, 3 oz. unsweetened (!) chocolate ,6 tablespoon. butter, margarine , 2/3 c. flour1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt., 2 eggs, 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules, 3/4 c. sugar, 3/4 c. chocolate or coffee chips, 1/3 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

directions
A. Put 5 oz semisweet chocolate and the unsweetened chocolate together in a microwave-proof bowl then melt in microwave
B. Mix in butter, flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla, coffee and sugar.
C. Combine, mix well, then fold in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using)
D. Bake leftover filling and treat like Brownie Bites!

The best Hamantashen filling

A nice text I found a few days ago:
As a young kid, I had only a nodding acquaintance with Purim. I was dressed up as Queen Esther, I dutifully turned the gragger and won some trinkets at the Hebrew school Purim Carnival. But I never knew about the real Mitzvos that are supposed to be done on this wonderful holiday.
On one Purim, years later, I recall getting bags and boxes of goodies from friends. Elaborate with hand made labels, they were lovingly placed in little decorated boxes. It wasn't my birthday, so why was I being treated to gifts?
That's when I first found out about the custom of sharing Mishloach Manot gifts of nosh and hamantashen.
Basically, we must send at least one friend at least two kinds of edibles.
Here's the rest: http://www.jewish-holiday.com/hamantash.html

Picture: Purim Association Fancy Dress Ball

New York's Purim Association in the latter half of the nineteenth century sponsored lavish philanthropic masquerade balls.




A wonderful picture presented on flickr.com - Click here to view the photographer's page

Who is this evil Haman?

Haman is the antagonist in the Book of Esther. He is described as the son of Hammedatha the Agagite.
Here's a link about this evil guy at JewishEncyclopedia

A recipe for yeast-risen Hamantashen dough.

Ingredients

1/2 cup tepid water
1/2 cup tepid milk
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 oz butter
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Directions

1. In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add milk, sugar, salt and half the flour. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Add 2 eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest and rest of flour. Knead until dough is smooth, and leave covered for 90 minutes. Knead again, and cover for 45 minutes.
3. Roll dough and cut circles.
4. Fill each circle with filling, pinch close in triangular shape.

visit http://www.chefkosher.com/ for more recipes

Happy purim!!

What are Fazuelos?

Fazuelos, fijuelas or deblas are traditional Sephardic pastries equivalent to hamantashen. They represent "Haman's ears" and they are usually eaten for Purim, although some families eat them for Yom Kippur.



Ingredients
For dough:
4 large eggs
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons baking powder
flour
For syrup:
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
juice from half a medium sized lemon

Directions
1. Mix all the ingredients together, adding as much flour little by little as needed to make a smooth non-sticky dough.
2. Divide dough into small balls, and roll to a thin leaf. Cut to make a strip.
3. In a deep-fryer, heat oil to medium heat. Hold the strip with a fork on one side, and slowly dip into the oil in a circular motion. Fry until golden, remove, then pat oil off with paper towel.
4. Bring syrup ingredients to boil. Mix until all sugar is dissolved.
5. Dip pastries in syrup, and leave to cool off.

I took this recipe from http://www.chefkosher.com/ - a kosher recipes site

"The Purim Story" animation video

Cool video someone created. The animation is VERY basic but I liked it.