Celebrating Hanukkah With Ardent & Infused Recipes

Using the Miracle of Oil for 8 Days

Most people know of Hannukah as the Jewish festival of lights, a winter holiday based around the miracle of 1 day’s oil lasting a full 8 days, which allowed the high priests to consecrate the temple after taking it back from the Greeks. It’s a holiday filled with delicious oily foods like potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts, and involves a nightly ritual of lighting the menorah, an oil lantern, all in remembrance of this oil’s perseverance.

Here at Ardent, we also believe in the miracle of preserving oil, and our very own Miriam Magid, who grew up the direct descendent of many a Rabbi, is here to give this Hanukkah a slightly non-traditional perspective:

What is lesser known about Hannukah is the controversy surrounding the details of the oil miracle. Even after years of Jewish education and my many-a-rabbi’s musings on Hannukah, I had not been aware of this myself. The controversy in question: whether the high priests poured all the oil they had (1 day’s worth) in the lantern and that lasted a full 8 days, or if they actually poured an 1/8th of their oil each day, which lasted them a full day each time instead of the 1/8th of a day it should have.

This might seem arbitrary, but what it’s really asking is whether the priests used everything they had at once, and hoped for a miracle, or whether they tried to strategize, using just a bit of oil each evening.

This brought up the more relevant-to-me age old question of...when to re-stock my weed! Maybe it was Adam Sandler’s Mariujuanikkah that made me think of it, or maybe it’s my constant awareness of my own bud supply.

Either way, it got me thinking: There are those of us that wait until we have nothing left. Only after that last nug is gone do we go in search of more cannabis. But alas, when the dispensary is closed or your plug doesn’t answer, you are left with nothing.

And then there are those of us that keep a break-in-case-of-emergency stash. That 1/8th we leave untouched just in case. We are all faced with this same question; do we pour out all the oil, or in this case - use up all the bud - knowing that we’ll have nothing tomorrow (unless there’s a miracle) Or, do we use only a fraction, hoping for a smaller miracle - that it lasts us all day.

As you probably already know, the FX and Nova solve this conundrum. At Ardent, we hope this is a question you never have to pose, unless it’s only philosophical. You have to wonder, if the high priests just had Ardent to make a more efficient lantern, could that oil have lasted them months? The short answer is, yes. It certainly could have.

In the spirit of Hanukkah, here are some of our favorite oil-based recipes. Some indulgent, some a bit healthier. All delicious.

Infused Sweet-Potato Latkes

What you'll need

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 6 tbsp Infused olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Applesauce, powdered sugar and.or sourcream to dipParchment paper to line bottom of pan

Directions

1. Peel and cut sweet potatoes. Add to food processor and process
2. In a bowl, combine potatoes with beaten eggs, salt and pepper
3. Add the infused olive oil to a large skillet and turn to medium heat.
4. Drop spoonfuls of sweet potato mixture into skillet and press into flat disks
5. Fry each side of the latke for 4 minutes or until crisp and light brown
6. Transfer latkes to towel-lined plate and let cool
7. Enjoy with applesauce, powdered sugar, sour cream or all of the above

Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow Dreidels

Ingredients

• Marshmallows
• Small Pretzel sticks
• Magic Shell Kit or chocolate and decorations of choice
• Pre-infused coconut oil
• Chocolate Kisses

Directions

1. Melt down your chocolate
2. Dip kiss into melted chocolate, and attached to marshmallow. Refrigerate for 10 minutes
3. Combine the rest of your melted chocolate with a small amount of infused coconut oil
4. Retrieve your marshmallows from the fridge
5. Cut a small slit in the bottom of each marshmallow. Dip pretzel stick in chocolate, and push into marshmallow.
6. Holding marshmallow component sideways with two forks, gently dip into infused melted chocolate, letting excess drip off
7. Decorate as desired. You can add the appropriate hebrew letters, or skip it and decorate as desired. No need to be technical here.
8. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until completely hardened
9. Enjoy!

Herb-Infused Olive Oil

Ingredients

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp dried or fresh parsley
• 1 tsp dried or fresh basil
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast
• 1 pinch salt to taste
• 1 pinch pepper to taste
• .2-.5 grams decarbed bud

Directions

1. Decarb your bud
2. Mix bud, spices and oil in your NOVA (using infusion sleeve) and run on a second cycle
3. Mix in your parm or nutritional yeast
4. Enjoy

Kief-Chai Latte (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 4 chai tea bags (we love teapigs!)
• 2 cups hot water
• 1 cup oat milk (or milk of choice)
• 1 tbsp. MCT oil
• 1-2 tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 pinch of decarbed kief

Directions

1. Boil your water in a medium-sized pot
2. Once boiled, remove water from heat, cover and steep tea bags for 10-15 minutes
3. In a separate small pot, mix your decarbed kief with your oat milk, MCT oil, and heat on a low temperature until it’s warm and lightly steaming (do not let it boil)
4. Remove tea-bags from water and combine infused milk with your tea
5. Sprinkle cinnamon on top taste to taste
6. Sweeten as desired
7. Enjoy!

Instantly Infused Applesauce

Ingredients

• 8 apples - Fuji, Jonagold, or Granny Smith work well
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 gram decarbed bud, ground

Directions

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples into smaller bits.
2. In a large pot, combine all of the ingredients except for the bud and allow it to come to a boil.
3. Reduce simmer and cover. Allow to cook for an additional 15 minutes.
4. Mash with a potato masher or fork, and if the desired consistency isn’t met, run through the blender or food processor.
5. Sprinkle decarbed bud over individual servings and enjoy.

Infused Chocolate Gelt

Ingredients

• Mini muffin tin
• Chocolate melting wafers
• Infused coconut oil
• Gold flakes or dust

Directions

1. Melt down chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and stir in a small amount of infused coconut oil.
2. Pour small amounts of the melted chocolate into the mini muffin tin (about 1 ½ teaspoons in each mould) and allow it to set.
3. Hold the pan upside down, and hit the top with a book or something heavy, until they all come out onto a sheet of parchment.
4. Refrigerate to allow the chocolate to set, and paint with edible gold. Enjoy!

Torah Cannoli (Adapted from Busy in Brooklyn)

Ingredients

• 1 pkg cannoli wafer rolls (18 rolls), such as Presidor
• 2 cups ricotta cheese (drained)
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 gram decarbed cannabis, ground
• 1/2 tsp lemon or orange zest (optional)
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup crushed pistachios
• 1/4 cup melted chocolate

Directions

1. Attach two cannoli wafer rolls together using melted chocolate.
2. In a bowl, mix together ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla, zest, decarbed bud, and chocolate chips. Transfer to a piping bag.
3. Fill both sides of each cannoli with the cannoli cream. Sprinkle toppings on the exposed cream and enjoy!

Leftover Chocolate Challah French Toast

Ingredients

• 3 slices of chocolate challah breaad
• 1 large eggs
• Splash of whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cannabutter
• maple syrup, powdered sugar, and fruit for serving

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk together egg, milk, vanilla, sugar, and spices.
2. Melt a bit of cannabutter in your pan, douse both sides of the bread in your egg wash, and fry each slice for 1-2 minutes. Serve with fruit, syrup, and a dash of powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Elevated Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 2 lbs small sized yukon gold potatoes
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• Dill pickle spears
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• 2 tablespoons infused EVOO
• 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 2 tablespoons pickle juice
• Red onion, to taste
• Green peas, to taste
• Salt + Pepper
• Scallion, chopped
• Kale sprouts, for garnish

Directions

1. Cover the potatoes with salted water and bring it to a boil. Allow it to continue cooking for about 20 minutes. Drain.
2. Add all of the ingredients, mixing lightly, and top with scallion and kale sprouts. Enjoy!

Are you hosting infused Hannukkah this year? Share us in your delicious displays of celebration by tagging us on Instagram!