milk

Egg Noodles

June 19, 2016

Author: Ellie Austin

My food story is as rich and mixed as my family heritage. My paternal grandmother came from Nanjing China. She liked to cook all things Chinese: eggrolls, noodles, noodle soup, and meat stew. My paternal grandfather was an Italian- American. He liked Italian cuisine like pasta, calzones, meatballs, and red wine. My mom’s family is of Scottish, English, and Native-American descent. They came to NYC from New England. My mom is a good cook. She makes some of the tastiest meals from beef, lamb, and venison. On major holidays or table is full of food from all different parts of the world.

Ingredients:

Flour

Water

Milk

Eggs

Salt

Butter

Pepper cheese

Preparation:

Mix flour, water, milk, eggs, and add salt

Knead, roll, and pull the dough as long as you can. (Long noodles symbolize long life.)

Cook in boiling water for 20 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, cheese, and butter to taste.

Howard Jacks

August 15, 2012

Author: David Sax

First printed in the NYTimes Magazine, August 12, 2012.

On Friday afternoons, my father-in-law, Howard Jack Malach, would leave work early and drive across town to Grodzinski, a kosher bakery, before it closed for Shabbat, all for the sake of the babka. Yes, there were closer bakeries with their own babkas in this corner of Toronto’s Jewish suburbs, but to Howard, Grodzinski’s babka was king — a dense, perfectly moist loaf with veins of dark, sugary chocolate.

At home, Howard would set it on the counter (where his wife, Fran, would inevitably tear a chunk off), slicing the loaf for the kids at the end of dinner. The next morning, he’d reheat the leftovers until the chocolate melted, then dunk sticky slices into his coffee. Three years ago, Howard’s prostate cancer, dormant for a decade, metastasized in his bones. As his appetite disappeared, he shed weight at a terrifying pace. The doctor prescribed hormone blockers as a temporary solution, and when the cancer retreated, Howard switched to a raw vegan diet prescribed by a naturopath. This was tough for me. In the few years I’d known Howard, food was our strongest thread. We bonded over smoked-meat sandwiches and hamburgers, sausages and doughnuts. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t feign appreciation for freshly pressed almond milk and cold pizza with walnut crust and cashew chèvre. Some months later, when Howard was in Florida, the cancer began its final assault.

The family pushed for more kale salads and wheatgrass shots, but I encouraged Howard to eat whatever he desired. Each meatball that I sneaked onto his plate not only brought him joy; it also brought us closer. One night I gave a talk at a Jewish delicatessen in West Palm Beach. Howard had taken his cooler of sprout salads, but when the buffet opened up, he led the charge, elbowing past Florida’s aggressive early birds to load his plate with pastrami, corned beef, coleslaw, pickles and potato salad. I managed to snap a photograph of him tearing into a sandwich, but I wish I’d recorded the sigh of pleasure that followed it. As we drove back to the condominium together, I sensed something different between us. Howard opened up about things I’d never heard him discuss with anyone: work, money, death, his hopes for his kids’ futures. Walking on the beach the next morning, he told me for the first time that he loved me like a son. A week later he returned home, and a week after that he had an operation.

After a few days in intensive care, the doctor said he could eat anything, and I asked Howard what he wanted. I brought him cheeseburgers, milkshakes and smoked-turkey sandwiches from his favorite restaurants, finishing whatever he couldn’t. When his tumor grew and he couldn’t swallow, he asked me to keep bringing food, so he could smell it. “Just a schmeck,” he’d say, inhaling deeply to capture the aroma of a lamb kebab, then groaning in nostalgic approval. Eventually our routine was reduced to Vernors ginger ale, which we dabbed on his lips with a small sponge, one drop at a time. One Friday afternoon, I stopped at Grodzinski on the way up to the house, where Howard was now under palliative care, to buy a babka. The family rushed through a teary dinner, and at dawn, the nurse woke us up and took us into his room. “It won’t be long,” she said, her stethoscope to his chest. Standing around the bed — singing, praying, crying — we witnessed Howard’s last breath.

Eventually I left the room and began making phone calls. It was Shabbat, which meant Howard’s body couldn’t be retrieved by the funeral home until sundown. We stayed with him in shifts, but by 9, hunger overtook grief, and I found myself in the kitchen, making French toast. My brother-in-law Evan came up beside me. “You should make it with that,” he said, pointing at the babka we’d forgotten to serve the night before. I sliced the loaf, soaked the pieces in egg and fried them in bubbling butter. The air filled with chocolate and cinnamon and caramel, as the sugars glazed into a shiny crust. Evan and Howard’s brother Stephen grabbed the slices straight from the pan, moaning in approval as the melted chocolate filled their mouths. “What should we call it?” I asked Evan. His face was streaked with dried tears, but he smiled as he savored this impromptu tribute to the man who lay above our heads. “Let’s call it a Howard Jack,” he said.

Ingredients:

1 Babka choclate or cinnamon

5 Eggs

1/4 cup(s) milk

4 Tablespoons butter

Preparation:

Slice babka into 1 inch thick pieces.

Beat eggs with milk until uniform

Melt butter in a large saucepan on medium heat

Dunk babka pieces in egg wash until coated, then cook them in pan, about 4 mins a side, until just crisp.

Be careful not to turn the heat too high, or leave the babka pieces on too long, lest they burn.

Serve with maple syrup, whipped cream, berries, or just on their own.

 

 

 

 

Raspberry Rugelach

August 23, 2012

Author: Bubbie

 

 

Ingredients:

Dough

7 Ounces butter

8 Ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

2 Cup(s)s all-purpose flour

Raspberry Filling

3/4 cup White Sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1 tablespoon milk

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add sugar and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Add flour and mix lightly. Refrigerate dough for an hour or more.

1. In medium bowl, with spoon, stir walnuts, apricots, brown sugar, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon until well mixed.

2. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of chilled dough into a 9-inch round, keeping remaining dough refrigerated. Spread dough with 2 tablespoons raspberry preserves. Sprinkle with about 1/2 cup apricot filling; gently press filling onto dough. With pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut dough into 12 equal wedges. Starting at curved edge, roll up each wedge, jelly-roll fashion. Place cookies on foil-lined cookie sheet, point-side down, about 1/2 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough, one-fourth at a time.

4. In cup, mix remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. With pastry brush, brush rugelach with milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

 

 

Orange Bundt Cake

August 27, 2012

Author: Joan Lynch

My mother-in-law, Bridie Lynch, emigrated from Ireland in her early twenties and met her husband, Michael, in Chicago. When I met my husband, Jack, I was immediately welcomed into a large, loving Irish family. My mother had died when I was 7 years old and we did not have a large extended family. I enjoyed meeting Jack’s 2 sisters and the many aunts, uncles and cousins who were an important part of their lives. My Bubbie, Bridie, had a good sense of what she could do to help out and make me feel comfortable with my “new family”. She loved our 4 children and welcomed each one enthusiastically.. The Irish were good cooks and they cooked simply. I have included a family cake recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1 cup(s) Sugar

2 1/2 Cup(s)s flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 rinds of oranges

2 eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 cup(s) raisins

1 cup(s) finely chopped walnuts

Sour Milk

1/2 cup(s) canned milk

1/2 cup(s) water

1 teaspoon vinegar

Glaze

2 Oranges

1 cup(s) Sugar

Preparation:

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Combine flour and other dry ingredients and add to sugar mixture

3. Add liquid ingredients and beat well

4. Add raisins and nuts and beat again

5. Put batter in a lightly greased bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

6. Squeeze two ouranges and combine with 1 cup sugar. Pour slowly over cake when you take it out of the oven.

 

 

 

Chocolate Babka

December 26, 2012

Author: Chef Micah Wexler

 

 

Ingredients:

Challah

y:6 pieces

Bread Flour 172g or about 5 Cups

Water 112g or about 1/2 Cup

Yeast 1g or about .35 Teaspoon

Salt 3g or about 1/2 Teaspoon

Water 154g or about 2/3 Cup

Yeast 4g or about 2/3 Teaspoon

Sugar 71g or about 1/3 Cup

Bread Flour 400g or just under 3 Cups

Eggs 2 each

Salt 8g or about 2 Teaspoons

Butter, cubed 90g or about 2/5 Cup

Milk 14g or about 1 Tablespoon

Babka Filling

y:1qt

Chocolate chips 390g or about 2 Cups

Sugar 75g or just over 1/3 Cup

Salt ¾ tsp

Ground Cinnamon 1 ½ tsp

Butter 67g or about 3/10 Cup

Streusel Topping

y:1qt

AP Flour ½ cup

Powdered Sugar ½ + 1/3 cup

Butter 6 Tablespoons

Preparation:

Challah

1) Mix bread flour, water, yeast and salt til it becomes a dough.

2) Proof for at least 1 hr in a covered, oiled container. The starter can sit in the refrigerator

overnight to develop more flavor.

3) Mix water yeast and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle, let sit for 5 minutes for the yeast

to bloom.

4) Mix in bread flour and the starter.

5) Gradually mix in eggs and then add in the salt and milk.

6) Add the cubed butter in pieces, then turn mixer up to medium setting until the dough comes

together. Allow to mix for approximately 8 minutes.

7) Proof dough for an hour, and then divide evenly into 6 balls. Store on a sprayed parchment,

covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

Babka Filling

1) In a food processor, mix chocolate chips, sugar, salt, and cinnamon until crumbly.

2) Add cubed butter until the blend is crumbly and mixed.

Streusel Topping

1) In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix flour and sugar.

2) Gradually add cubed butter until pea-sized pieces form. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3) Roll out two pieces of challah until approximately 1⁄2” thick.

4) Place 1/3c of the filling in the center of the dough.

5) Spread the filling all over, leaving a 1⁄2” border on one side.

6) Roll out the dough like a cigar toward the edge

7) Pinch the edges so that the filling doesn’t fall out. Repeat for the other piece of dough.

8) Once you have both pieces done, twist them together and pinch the edges.

9) Place in an 8×4 loaf pan, eggwash the top and cover with a handful of streusel.

10) Bake in 375F oven until golden brown.

 

 

Italian Chanukah Jelly

December 28, 2012

Author: Tara Berger

 

 

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 pound or 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

Blackberry Jam or Nutella for filling

Vegetable oil, for frying

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, heat 2 inches of vegetable oil at 375 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the ricotta and beat until smooth. Add the flour and baking powder and beat just until blended. (if making ahead of time- take out of the fridge 10 minutes before cooking to get batter to room temp)

Using a very small ice cream scoop or 2 teaspoons, slide 8 walnut-sized rounds of batter into the hot oil. Fry over moderate heat until deep golden all over and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Balls should rise to the top as they puff up. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the balls to the cookie sheet to drain. Continue frying the remaining fritters in batches of 8.

Arrange the fritters on a platter- using a small melon baller scoop our top of ball- fill with jelly or nutella place ball back in and dust well with confectioners’ sugar.

 

 

Savtah’s Custard

April 9, 2013

Author: Kitchen Tested

 

When I think back to my Savtah’s kitchen growing up, I can still taste the Israeli cous cous, sweet and sour tongue, candy cane ice cream, fluffy meringues and lots of pistachios. But one memory I don’t have is of this breakfast custard that my sisters rave about. My Savtah used to bake a dozen (or more) individual custards and leave them in the fridge for everyone to snack on all week. You could eat them at any time of the day but they were especially delicious at breakfast. So how could I not make this recipe in my own kitchen and hopefully start a new tradition with my husband and children. When I tasted my very first bite, I tried to picture myself standing in my grandparent’s kitchen with my sisters, snacking on custard right in front of the fridge. Sure, the memory isn’t real, but the custard sure is!

Originally published on Kitchen Tested.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups water

1 1/4 cup non-fat dry milk

3 eggs

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp vanilla

nutmeg, for garnish

*if you want sweet custard, add 1 Tbsp vanilla sugar

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare six custard cups with cooking spray and place them in a baking pan filled half way with water.

With an immersion blender, blender or food processor, blend the water, dry milk, eggs, vanilla and honey. If you want your custard to be sweet, add the vanilla sugar and blend. Ladle the custard into the cups and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Bake until set, around 35 minutes. Cool 1-2 hours on the counter then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days…if they last that long.

 

 

Fluden

March 6, 2014

Author: Shirley Bemel

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Came from Russia and enjoyed through the generations. They are known as “bricks”. Great to freeze them and bring them out for any occasion. Lovely with tea/coffee.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

¼ cup vegetable shortening

¾ cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

¼ cup milk or orange juice

1 ½ tsps pure vanilla

¼ tsp orange oil

½ tsp salt

2 ¼ tsps baking powder

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour

For the cornucopia filling:

6 cups peeled, shredded, and finely chopped apples

1 ½ cups cranberries, coarsely chopped

⅓ cup dried cherries

1 cup raisins

⅓ cup ground walnuts

⅓ cup apricot jam

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons flour

Preparation:

For dough, in a medium bowl, cream the shortening and butter with sugar.

Blend in eggs, milk or juice, vanilla, and orange oil. Fold in flour, salt, and baking powder and stir to make a stiff dough. Pat dough out and knead gently on a lightly floured surface.

Wrap and chill for about an hour.

For filling, in a large bowl, combine the apples, cranberries, cherries, raisins, ground nuts, and apricot jam. Toss with sugar to combine and fold in remaining ingredients: lemon juice, cinnamon, and flour. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 9-inch-by-13-inch pan.

Divide the dough into 3 portions. Roll out one portion, or simply pat and trim the dough to fit the pan bottom. Spoon on half the filling. Roll or pat another portion of dough on top of the fruit.

Cover with the remaining fruit mixture, then the last portion of dough.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top of the pastry is lightly golden.

Cool and cut into squares to serve. Cover the pastry well to store. (This ages well.)

Makes 25 to 35 squares, depending on size.

 

A Spinach Kugel from Grandma’s Pantry

October 20, 2011

Author: David Sax

Evelyn Davis was no balabusta. She was third generation Canadian, and though she grew up during the great depression, where she was farmed out to the houses of relatives (she had 9 siblings), she was classically reform, spoke no yiddish, and was about as kosher as Guy Fieri. At her table, you could get a glass of milk with your lamb chop.

But she remained a Jewish grandmother, one who loved to eat, and to do so at a bargain. She was famously frugal. she’d save a piece of tape and hoard plastic shopping bags long before we cared about their environmental impact. it was a legacy of the depression that never left her, regardless of the financial security she enjoyed.

At Steinberg’s on Queen Mary, the Montreal grocery store where she shopped her whole adult life, she hunted the sale counters, and clipped coupons, as if her life still depended on those pennies saved.

“Look!” she’d exclaim to my mother, “a whole box of instant creme caramels for $3.99!” Shelf life was her friend. She came from a time when people had to do things from scratch, and if the folks at Campbells or Manischewitz could do it better, cheaper, and have it stay fresher longer, she was on board. her pantry was a well stocked larder of cans, powders, mixes, and dried ingredients. when the apocalypse came (or a really bad Montreal snowstorm), she was ready for it.

it’s a style of thinking that’s fallen out of vogue lately, as slow food, and the diy kitchen movement stress a return to roots, to freshness, to grinding and stuffing your own sausage and hand rolling out pasta…or god forbid you are destroying the planet and the local farmer!

But Grandma Davis’ cooking achieved a level of flavor that’s hard to match from scratch. there’s a reason why even the best brisket recipes call for onion soup mix, or bullion, or freeze dried egg noodles. there’s a depth there; a taste of postwar affluence and ease, when not having to argue with a fishmonger and gut a carp in your bathtub were goals women like my grandmother fought for and achieved. sure, it’s cool to do now, but there’s something to be said for ease, and junky, processed comfort foods.

This Yom Kippur, we broke the fast with her spinach noodle kugel, plucked from one of her yellowed recipe cards. It was easily the most popular dish on the table; a salty, umami packed hit with everyone who ate it. sure, it could have been made with fresh noodles, fresh spinach, fresh onion soup ingredients, but then it wouldn’t have been as good. and it wouldn’t have been hers.

Ingredients

1 lb bag of fine egg noodles

2 packages frozen chopped spinach cooked and drained

6 eggs, separated beat yolks/ whites to stiff

2 packages onion soup mix

1.5 sticks of butter

1 pint coffee rich or can of evaporated milk

1 cup(s) sour cream or yogurt

Directions

Boil noodles and add butter until melted.

Add onion soup and spinach

Mix in egg yolk

Add sour cream/yoghurt & Coffee Rich/evap. Milk

Fold in egg whites well.

Pour into large well-greased pan (I used 11×14”).

Bake 1 hr. at 350 or until brown (it took 40 minutes in 11×14)

 

Feferman Family Kugel

November 1, 2012

Author: Rebecca Feferman

 

 

A wonderful dairy kugel from Bubbie!

Ingredients:

8 Ounces Medium or Wide Egg Noodles

4 Eggs

1 pint milk 2%

1 pint Cottage cheese lowfat

4 Tablespoons butter melted

5-6 Tablespoons Sour cream Light is fine

1/2 cup(s) Sugar scant (if adding raisins, use a little less)

1/2-3/4 cup(s) raisins

to taste Salt

Cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 9×13 baking dish. Boil noodles in salt water until tender (slightly al dente). Drain and place in a large mixing bowl. Add beaten eggs, melted butter, sugar, milk, cottage cheese, sour cream. Mix together, then add raisins (if clumped, try to break apart raisins before adding). Tase before putting into baking dish- add salt and adjust sour cream as needed.*Remember that raisins will add sweetness, so adjust sugar accordingly.

Pour into baking dish and even out. Sprinkle cinnamon across the top for color (go easy). Cover loosely with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and turn oven up to 375 degrees. Bake for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until kugel is sent and top noodles and slightly browned.

Remove and allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

 

Meri Bender’s Southern Californian Long Live Matzah Brei

October 31, 2011

Author: Aimee Bender

 

 

My mother’s adaptation of classic matzah brei for those with high cholesterol who steer clear of butter and egg yolks. I find that it’s still surprisingly good.

Ingredients:

8 eggs: six whites, two yolks

1/4 cup(s) Milk any kind of milk is fine

6-7 Pieces Matzoh

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 pinch salt and pepper

Preparation:

Put the 8 egg whites and 2 egg yolks in a bowl, whisk a bit, add a couple tablespoons of milk (any kind), whisk some more until frothy.

Soften matzoh in colander under water until a little less crisp/not quite soggy. Break it into bits. Mix bits with eggs until coated.

Cover bottom of frying pan with water, just barely covered, and add a drizzle of olive oil.

On very low heat, pour in the matzoh/egg mix. Stir slowly. Add a little salt and pepper if you like.

Keep it on low heat, stirring, as the water burns away. It sort of steams the eggs. Turn up heat as you’re finishing to get things a little crisper. Serve with whatever you like– applesauce, etc.

 

Jan’s Yummy

November 30, 2011

Author: Lisa Grissom

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Jan, my best friend from high school, is an amazing cook. Her mother, Sandy is also an amazing cook. And guess what, her Bubbie, now passed away, was an amazing cook. So it’s in Jan’s DNA. Whenever I visit her home in Boston, she always has something delicious cooking on the stove or in the oven...and I always want the recipe. On one visit, she was preparing for a brunch. She was in the midst of making this amazing egg-apple thingie that didn’t have a name. Sort of a souffle, but not exactly. In the blintz family, but not quite. Something between a main course and a dessert. So I named it Jan’s Yummy because it’s from Jan and it’s yummy. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

6 Large Eggs

1 1/2 Cup(s)s Milk

1/4 cup(s) Sugar

1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

3/4 Stick of butter

2 Large Apples

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place all ingredients in a blender excluding apples and butter Place butter in 13 x 9 baking dish and place into pre-heated oven. Let butter melt. Add peeled, sliced apples and mix around in the butter, allow apples to cook 5 minutes. Pour blender batter over apples and bake until pancake is golden brown about 20-30 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar.