Just about all my childhood foods relate to Mom. She was the day to day cook. The kitchen was her domain and she ruled it with a firm hand. From time to time, mostly during holidays and specials occasions, Dad also entered the kitchen to prepare delicacies that were “his.” It’s not that Mom didn’t know how to make them, but these were dad’s dishes.
It was like he added a secret flavor. Hanukkah was one of the holidays that mom and dad joined forces in the kitchen. “Should i make sfenj?” dad would ask rhetorically “if you want” mom would offer her usual answer. Dad would stand in front of the counter, looking at the cabinets as if recounting the needed ingredients, and with a light hand he added yeast to the flour, a bit of sugar, a bit of salt, and poured water all while kneading the dough with one hand. Measurements? In our house we had neither measuring cups nor measuring spoons, cooking was by feel. After the dough rose, he masterfully created rings out of the slightly sticky dough and slid them into the hot oil. The first round of sfenj was eaten before it ever had time to cool down. Today is exactly one year since dad passed away. I hope, Dad, that you have sfenj up there.
Sfenj
Ingredients:
7 cups flour
2 TBS dry yeast
½ cup sugar
About 3 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 TBS salt
1 cup sugar for glazing
Mix all dry ingredients. Add water slowly, knead to make the dough. Dough is a little sticky.
Cover with wet towel and let rise until double its size (about an hour). Knead again and let rise for another 20 min.
Heat oil for deep fry. with greasy hands, tear a piece of dough, the size of a ping pong ball. Make a hole in the middle and fry until golden flip halfway through.
place the sugar in a large dish and dip each sfenj covering it with sugar. Serve immediately.