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This Purim, which happens to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day, there are two kinds of hamantaschen you should consider buying or making.
The first are any of the traditional three-cornered Purim cookies that are being sold to raise money for Ukraine. Check this list for bakeries participating in Hamantaschen for Ukraine and buy some.
The second type are, of course, these Corned Beef, Cabbage and Guinness Hamantaschen, or, as I call them, shamrock-tachen. They are made with vegan Unreal brand corned beef and Guinness, but you can use real meat or fake alcohol as you wish.
Fusion foods can sometimes go horribly wrong (sushi tacos leap to mind). But there’s something about these shamrock-taschens that works, and works well. A saute of green onions, corned beef and cabbage, glazed with a bit of Guinness, cries out for a nice plain starch on the side. In this case, the starch is on three sides.
Wash it down with a Guinness or a Haman O’Reilly made especially for this occasion, and you have a meal that works — no matter what you’re celebrating.
Shamrock-taschen
I call these shamrock-taschen because of the holiday. If you’re feeling crafty, you can channel your inner Amaury Guichon and give them a shamrock shape.
Dough Based on a recipe from The Cupcake Project.
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup watercress or spinach, rinsed (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter or shortening room temperature
3 large eggs, beaten
Put watercress or spinach in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave 30 seconds to one minutes until bright green. Remove and chop fine.
In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add butter and blend well with fingers. You may use a paddle attachment of a mixer or food processor as well. When well combined, add eggs and greens. Mix until it all comes together. Do not knead or overwork.
Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and set in refrigerator or leave on counter while you make the filling.
Filling
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cabbage, shredded
5 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup chopped vegan or real corned beef
1/4 cup Guinness (optional)
salt and pepper
Heat oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add green onion and cook until soft. Add cabbage, saute, add salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and let cook 10 minutes until soft. Uncover, add corned beef, stir, and add Guinness if using. Saute several more minutes. Taste for salt. Remove from heat and let cool.
Assembly
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment paper to just less than 1/4-inch thickness.
Use a cookie cutter or glass to cut 3 or 4 inch circles (or larger, as you prefer).
Fill each circle with a teaspoon or so of cabbage mixture. Fold one side in, fold the other on top of that to overlap, then fold the final side over to overlap. This works better than pinching the shape shut.
Brush with beaten egg if desired. Bake for 15 minutes.
Rob Eshman is Senior Contributing Editor of the Forward. Follow him on Instagram @foodaism and Twitter @foodaism or email eshman@forward.com.
This article was originally published on the Forward.