Ella Sax’s Rice Pudding

November 1, 2012

Author: David Sax

“Granny” Ella Sax’s signature dessert was her rice pudding, baked without dairy, studded with raisins, blanketed in cinnamon, and drenched in maple syrup. In her warm Montreal apartment, with its candy bowls and old world tchotchkes and hallways smelling of chicken soup, a casserole of rice pudding was always in the oven when we arrived from Toronto, as sure as her sweet and sour meatballs bubbled atop the stove. The aroma of those two dishes mingling in the same space form the perfume of memory for Granny Ella.

Granny grew up in Drummondville, a small Quebec town, east of Montreal, which is overwhelmingly French. I’ve been told she grew up in a priviledged family, with drivers, fine cars, and fur coats, but by the time we’d met, all that remained were photographs and antiques cluttering her apartment. My grandfather, Sam Sax, was a garment worker, and from what I heard, Granny Ella never let him forget that. She consistently held to the idea, throughout her life, that she was Austrian gentry, descended from landed Jewish nobility in the heart of Europe’s cultural capital. She dressed impeccably, accessorizing with scarves and costume jewelry befitting a duchess, and spoke as though she’d just stepped off a carriage into a ballroom, greeting everyone with a drawn out “Hellooooo Dahhling”. You could almost hear the waltz playing in the background.

The truth, however, was that Granny’s family was from Bessarabia, which, although technically in the far flung corner of the Austro-Hungarian empire, is in fact current day Moldova, about as Viennese as colonial Haiti was Parisian. Two years ago, I was visiting Romania, and ate at the house of a Jewish cook there, who served a baked rice pudding. It was nearly close to Granny’s, with no dairy, baked rice, raisins, and tons of cinnamon. The maple syrup, Granny’s decidedly Quebec touch, was replaced with fruit preserves, but otherwise it was similar in many ways.

“This is my grandmother’s recipe,” the woman told me. “She came from Bessarabia.” When I came home, I told my father and my aunts, which soon provoked the usual arguments. “Mom was Austrian” vs “Mom was Hungarian” vs “No, she was Bessarabian”. What I thought was definitive proof proved no more final than her recipe itself, which omits what kind of rice to use, its consistency, and how much maple syrup. Like its namesake, it’s best shrouded in mystery, left up to the next generation to shape to their narrative.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup(s)s Rice

3 Cup(s)s water

1 cup(s) raisins

1-4 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 egg beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup(s) Brown sugar

lots of cinnamon

1 apple peeled and grated

Preparation:

1. Cook rice in water just until all water is absorbed.

2. While rice is cooking, combine oil, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar and lots of cinnamon (the more the better) in a large bowl.

3. Combine with rice, raisins and apple until well mixes together, place in an 8-inch square pyrex pan, sprinkle liberally with cinnamon, and bake, covered, at 350 for 1 hour.

Serve warm with maple syrup.

Grandma’s Mandelbrot

November 27, 2012

Author: Jason Turbow

My grandmother was a wonderful cook, within a narrow scope. By which I mean that she was a wonderful Jewish cook. She came to Brooklyn from a shtetl in Eastern Europe at a very young age, eventually settling in Southern California to raise her family. And she knew only one way of cooking: brisket, potatoes, latkes, matzoh ball soup. The standards.

My favorite was her Mandelbrot, complete with chocolate chips and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. Because she was picky, she put her own spin on it, substituting walnuts for the almonds (the “mandel” part of the name, no less), among other tweaks.

She made Mandelbrot for every occasion—usually happy, sometimes sad—at which the family would gather. My mother picked up the tradition in our own house, and just a whiff of the stuff baking tells me that we’ll soon be surrounded by loved ones. It also brings me back to a little yellow kitchen in Tajunga, and a woman whose primary expression of love occurred over an oven, baking delights that continue to keep her memory tangible, all these years later.

Ingredients:

Beat 3 eggs

Add 1 c. sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. vanilla

Add about 1 c. chopped walnuts

1 ½ c. chocolate chips

Preparation:

Let the dough rest for about ½ hour to firm up.

Grease a 9 ½” x 11” cookie sheet.

Form three strips of dough lengthwise on cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (about 4 to 1, sugar to cinnamon).

Bake at 350º for about 45 minutes. Turn off oven. Cut strips into slices, separate the slices and return to oven to dry out.

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.

Potato Latkes

July 12, 2012

Author: Leo Beckerman

Leo Beckerman, co-owner of the new and wildly popular Wise Sons Deli in San Francisco, recalls his favorite thing about hannukah– his mother’s latkes. It was as much an event as it was a meal (yes, latkes for dinner). After hours of hand grating potatoes on her grandmother’s latke grater, a tool used only during the festival of lights, everyone would gather in the kitchen. Round blobs of potato and onion went into the cast iron skillet and sizzled to delicious brown crispiness. From the frying pan they went right to the paper towel to remove excess oil, but they rarely made it farther than that. Once on the paper towel, a latke was fair game for eager family members willing to brave the intensely hot potato pancake. A quick dip in sour cream or applesauce and right to the tummy. These nights were celebrated standing up in the kitchen as latke after latke came out of the oil, until all had burned mouths and sated appetites.

Ingredients:

3 lbs Russet potatoes

1 large Yellow onion

2 Whole Eggs Beat the eggs

1.5 Tablespoons Matzo meal

1 teaspoon Salt

.25 teaspoon black pepper

4 Cup(s)s Vegetable Oil for Frying

Preparation:

Cut half of the potatoes into quarters, then boil in salted water until soft, about 15–20 minutes. Drain and mash until smooth. Combine the mashed potato with the matzo meal or flour and set aside.

With a box grater or food processor with a grater attachment, grate the remaining potatoes and the onion and mix to combine. Using a piece of cheesecloth or a fine strainer, squeeze out any liquid from the grated potato–onion mixture, then transfer to a large bowl.

Add the egg, salt, pepper and mashed potatoes and stir well to combine. Form the mixture into patties, each approximately 3 inches in diameter by ¼ – ½ inches. Heat ½ inch of vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan over medium–high heat. When the oil is hot, add some of the latkes, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 3–4 minutes (if they are browning too quickly, reduce the heat), then flip and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 2–3 minutes more.

Drain the latkes on paper towels, seasoning with salt while still hot. Repeat with remaining latkes until they’ve all been cooked. Serve with applesauce and sour cream.

Basic Potato Latkes

July 20, 2012

Author: Rachel Cort

My Dad has taught me almost everything I know about cooking, food, baseball, fishing and Judaism; which means he’s taught me quite a lot. This recipe is from some old magazine or book but it is the latke recipe that we make every year at Hanukkah. I can remember being a little kid, standing on a chair and helping my dad flip the latkes or stir the batter. He is the reason why I can cook, why I identify with Judaism and why I am me.

Ingredients:

2 Pounds Idaho potatoes well scrubbed but unpeeled

1 medium Onion

2 Eggs

1/4 cup(s) matzos meal or all purpose flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

Vegetable Oil for Frying

Preparation:

1. Grate potatoes alternately with the onion (this keeps the potatoes from darkening), either by hand or in a food processor. With a food processor, either use a fine shredding disk, or cut the potatoes in half-inch dice, and then use the steel blade with an on-off pulse motion to yield uniformly grated potatoes.

2. Drain potatoes and onions.

3. Mix in eggs, then matzo meal or flour. Season with salt and pepper

4. Pour oil into a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, to a depth of 1/4 inch, and heat. Oil should be very hot but not smoking.

5. Using a large tablespoon, form round or oval pancakes about 3 inches across, flattening them in the frying pan with the back of the spoon. Fry until golden on both sides.

Bubbe Ana’s Turkey Stuffing Supreme

December 28, 2012

Author: Ronna Dell Valle and Sharon Mason

Ingredients:

For a 12 lb. or larger bird

2 cups sliced onion (2 large onions, sliced)

1/2 ib. beef liver plus the liver from the turkey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

18 oz or larger box of Corn Flakes

3/4 cup water (you might not use it all)

1 tsp. thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Saute sliced onions in oil until soft, remove from pan and set aside. Pan fry livers in same pan until liver is no longer pink when cut in the center (do not overcook). Chop liver and onions together until fine, like a pate. Crush the Corn Flakes and place in a very large bowl. Add the liver mixture to the corn flakes and slowly add water, as needed, to help blend. Add thyme and other seasonings.

Rinse turkey inside and out and wipe dry with paper towels. Rub crushed garlic on the inside of the bird. Spoon in the stuffing. Extra stuffing can be placed under the skin of the breast and back of the bird. Make a mixture of oil and mustard and rub it over the skin of the entire bird after it has been trussed. Roast the bird at 325 degrees until the thermometer reads done.

Estonian Turkey with Matzah Stuffing

March 12, 2013

Author: JDCEntwine

Recipe courtesy of Larisa Simonova from Tallinn, Estonia. Read more about the JDC and Estonia.

View fullsize

Ingredients:

1 large turkey

For the stuffing:

• 10 pieces of matzah, crumbled • 1 1⁄2 cups white wine

• Vegetable oil

• 2 medium-sized onions, cubed • 2 tablespoons soup mix

• 1 stalk celery, diced

• 10 rosemary twigs

• 3⁄4 to 1 cup walnuts, chopped

For the basting oil:

• 1⁄2 cup olive oil

• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons mustard

• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper • 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Clean turkey thoroughly.

To prepare the matzah stuffing: soak matzah in a dish with the white wine until soft. Fry the onion in vegetable oil until the onion turns golden. Mix the onion together with the matzah, then add the celery, rosemary, and walnuts.

Mix olive oil, mustard, black pepper, and paprika in separate dish and then smear on turkey using your

hands. Stuff turkey with the matzah stuffing, placing any additional stuffing under the turkey. Cover with foil and roast for at least 3 hours, turning it from time to time, until bird is tender and golden.

Ruth Levy’s Apple Chrimslech for Passover

October 2, 2012

Author: Myrite

Ruth Levy left Germany soon after Kristalnacht as a child but took this special passover tradition with her. Chrimslech are like apple latkes and in her family they were always served on a green plate. Her four sons devoured them for breakfast, and she passed on this tradition to her family. The original Green plate cracked years ago, but she glued it together and still serves chrimslech on it for her grandchildren (who have also mastered the recipe). You can see Ruth’s video making chrimslech with her granddaughter Raphaelle Levy- soon! For now check out the trailer of Dishing up The Past.

Ingredients:

2 Matzah

3 eggs

1 grated apple

a few tbsp. of chopped almonds (can be bought whole and chopped in food processor)

sugar (to taste)

cinnamon

salt

Matzah Meal (if needed)

Olive or vegetable oil or butter

Powdered Sugar

Preparation:

1. The night before – soak the 2 pieces of Matzah in water. Let sit overnight. In the

morning, squeeze out all the water.

2. Separate egg yolks and whites. Reserve whites. Place yolks in a bowl and beat.

3. Place egg whites in a second bowl. Beat until stiff. Place in refrigerator.

4. Add soaked, drained Matzah, apple, almonds, a few tsp. of sugar, a pinch of

cinnamon and a dash of salt. Mix well.

5. Fold in egg whites. If the mixture is very liquid, add some matzah meal

6. Heat up oil or butter

7. Cover the bottom of a pan with oil or butter, when it is hot spoon the batter into

circles as you would a pancake. Flip over when brown.

8. Place cooked Chremslach onto paper towel-line to drain oil

9. When ready to serve, heap onto a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Posted in Appetizers

Tags: almond, almonds, Apple, Apple Chrimslech, Apple Chrimslech for Passover, apples, butter,Chrimslech, Chrimslech for Passover, cinnamon, egg, eggs, matzah, matzah meal, Matzah, Matzah Meal, matzos, matzos meal, oil, olive oil, Passover, Pesach, powdered sugar, salt, sugar, vegetable oil

Lumpia, Filipino Egg Rolls

December 27, 2012

Author: Czara Thrusta

From pigpartsandbeer.com

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 lb lean ground pork

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, sliced

1/2 lb green beans, julienned

2 carrots, julienned

1 Tbsp. soy sauce (optional)

15 lumpia wrappers, square or round

Salt to taste

Preparation: Heat oil in skillet and saute garlic and onions until tender. Add pork and saute until browned. Add vegetables and cook until tender, yet crisp, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Season with soy sauce. When mixture is cool, add bean sprouts. Salt to taste.

To assemble lumpia: Carefully separate wrappers. To prevent them from drying out, cover unused wrappers with a moist paper towel. Lay one wrapper on clean surface. Place about 2-3 tablespoons of the filling near the edge closest to you. Roll edge towards the middle. Fold in both sides and continue rolling. Moisten opposite edge with water to seal. Repeat with other wrappers. Lumpia can be frozen until ready to use.

Deep fry at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Mother’s Chicken Escarole Soup with Matzo Balls

July 16, 2012

Author: Joan Nathan

My ninety-eight year old plus mother loves order and hates chaos. She is precise and unwavering about everything – the way she runs her family, her house, her kitchen. And for her, there is only one way to prepare for holidays: she cooks a week, two weeks, sometimes a month ahead, freezing the rugelach, the chicken, the plum pies, but never, never the matzo balls.

Just before she turned 90, my mother switched from using a whole chicken, to chicken legs in her chicken soup because she finds more flavor in the legs, and besides, the legs are often on special in her supermarket. From an Italian restaurant in Providence, she learned to swirl in escarole at the last minute, before she adds her matzo balls.

Ingredients:

6 whole chicken legs

20 Cups water

2 celery stalks sliced into 2 inch chunks

2 whole carrots cut into 2 inch chunks

1 large onion peeled and quartered

1 parsnip cut into 2 inch chunks

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

8 Ounces escarole

Matzo Balls

3 Tablespoons chicken fat or vegetable oil

6 Large eggs, separated well beated

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 3/4 Cup(s)s matzo meal

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

12 Cup(s)s water

Preparation:

To Make the Soup:

1. Put the water in a soup pot, add the chicken legs and bring the water to a boil Simmer slowly for 2 hours, uncovered, skimming off the fat and foam as they rise to the top of the soup.

2. After 2 hours, add the celery, carrots, onion, parsnip, dill and parsley. Continue cooking slowly, uncovered, for another hour.

3. Set a strainer over a large bowl and strain the soup. Season it to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate the soup, covered, overnight.

4. The next day peel off the layer of fat that has formed on the soup’s surface. Bring the soup to a boil in a large pot (or freeze it for another day). Before serving, swirl in the escarole and add the matzo balls (recipe follows), cooking for a few minutes.

To Make the Matzo Balls:

1. In a medium bowl, mix the chicken fat or vegetable oil with the eggs, salt, nutmeg, matzo meal and parsley. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Take the matzo mix out of the refrigerator and, after dipping your hands into a bowl of cold water, gently form balls the size of large walnuts. Add salt to the water, and drop in the balls. Simmer slowly, covered, for about 20 minutes, remove from water with a slotted spoon, and add to the soup.

Moroccan Fish from Israel

March 12, 2013

Author: JDCEntwine

Recipe courtesy of Rachel Tachvilian from Beit Shemesh, Israel. Read more about the JDC and Israel.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices tuna or Nile perch (if available)

• 2-3 ripe tomatoes

• Salt (for marinating fish and for sauce)

• Lemon juice

• 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric

• 1⁄2 teaspoon chicken-flavored

(meatless/”pareve”) soup mix

• 2-3 cups boiling water, plus more

boiling water if using tuna

• Handful of fresh chopped cilantro

• 1 red pepper, chopped

• 1 long chili pepper, preferably dry, cut

into wide strips

• 1 clove fresh garlic, peeled and

chopped

• About 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 tablespoon sweet red paprika

Preparation:

Sprinkle salt and lemon juice over fish and let marinate for 30 minutes. In the meantime, prepare sauce by peeling the tomatoes and placing them into a wide pot. Add salt, turmeric, and soup mix and bring to a boil. Mash cooked tomato mixture (can use a potato masher), then add 2-3 cups boiling water to the pot. Bring sauce to a simmer.

Rinse fish: if using tuna, rinse it first with boiling water and then with tap water; if using Nile perch, rinse it

with tap water. Place slices of fish on top of sauce in the wide pot. Lay chopped cilantro, pepper strips, and chopped garlic on top of fish. Bring mixture to a boil. In the meantime, thoroughly combine the oil and sweet paprika in a separate dish and add to the fish mixture. After the fish has boiled for 10 minutes, reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer fish for about 30 minutes more. Serve fish with sauce, hot or at room temperature.

Serves 4 people