Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (108 page)
4 large eggs, beaten
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 3
1
â
2
- to 4-quart baking dish or two smaller baking dishes and set aside.
2.
Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water uncovered over high heat, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes or until nearly tender but firmer than usual, since they will be baked. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain well again. Transfer to a large bowl.
3.
Add carrots, apples, 3 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and ginger to noodles. Taste and adjust seasoning; add remaining sugar if you like. Add beaten eggs and mix well Add noodle mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon oil.
4.
Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until set; kugel will bake faster in shallow dishes than in deep ones. Serve hot, from baking dish.
The traditional Ashkenazic version of these crunchy cookies is made with almonds (see
Orange Mandelbrot
) but they're good with all sorts of nuts. Adding chocolate chips is an American innovation.
3 large eggs
1
1
â
4
cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1
1
â
2
teaspoons baking powder
1
â
4
teaspoon salt
1
1
â
2
cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
3
â
4
cup pecans, chopped
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 to 3 baking sheets. Beat eggs, sugar, and oil in a large bowl with an electric mixer until blended. Beat in lemon rind and vanilla. Sift flour with baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Add to egg mixture and stir on low speed of mixer just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans on low speed.
2.
Shape dough into 4 log-shaped rolls, each about 2 inches in diameter; their shape will not be very even, as dough is sticky. Place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Use spatula to smooth dough and to push again into log shape, as it will have relaxed and spread a bit.
3.
Bake logs 30 minutes or until lightly browned and set. Transfer carefully to a cutting board and let stand until cool enough to handle. With a sharp knife, carefully cut in diagonal slices about
1
â
2
inch thick; dough will be slightly soft inside. Return slices to cleaned baking sheets in one layer; you will need 2 to 3 baking sheets.
4.
Bake about 7 minutes per side or until lightly toasted so they are beige and dotted in places with golden brown; side of cookie touching baking sheet will brown first. Watch carefully so cookies don't brown throughout. Cool on a rack. Keep in airtight containers.
AFTER THE FAST
When Yom Kippur is over, after a night and day spent in prayer and remorse for sins (and, occasionally, dreaming about food), the mood is festive. Finally the time has arrived to break the fast.
In our family and in many others, this means eating comfort food. What is eaten depends on each family's traditions. Some serve a
fleishig
meal with a main course of meat. When my husband was growing up in the Tel Aviv suburb of Givatayim, his family usually had a hearty bowl of spicy Yemenite meat soup, accompanied by dark bread and
zehug
(hot pepper chutney), followed by fresh fruit.
In my childhood home in Washington, D.C., my mother prepared a
milchig
, or dairy-based, supper. She felt that a light meal was best after fasting. We were delighted, as this was the food we loved best: scrambled eggs and brunch-type foods like bagels with lox and cream cheese.
A caterer friend of mine in Los Angeles offers a very popular menu in this style. Her clients feast on smoked salmon, herring in cream sauce, tuna salad, egg salad, and Muenster cheese, along with challah, bagels, and raisin pumpernickel bread. For dessert, there is a choice between cheese cake and carrot cake.
In most homes, where the meal is home cooked, the menu is composed of dishes that are quick or that have been made ahead because cooking is prohibited during Yom Kippur. Sometimes my mother made a savory or sweet kugel the day before Yom Kippur and put it in the oven to reheat as soon as we returned home from the prayers at
shul
(Yiddish for "synagogue").
Of course, a taste of something sweet is often a favorite way to break the fast.
My neighbor, Valerie Alon, prepares this hearty soup for the break-the-fast meal after Yom Kippur. It's a tradition in her husband's family and in many other Moroccan homes. Valerie makes her delicious version with beef, saffron, and aromatic vegetables. Some people make it with lamb and some with chicken. Tomatoes and lemon juice give the soup a tasty tang. Serve it as a main course with good crusty bread.
1 cup lentils
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound beef chuck or stew meat, diced small
1
â
2
onion, chopped fine
3 ribs celery, chopped fine
4 large cloves garlic, chopped fine
1
â
2
teaspoon ground turmeric
1
â
2
teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1
â
4
teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups chicken stock mixed with water (about equal parts)
Pinch of saffron
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or a 14
1
â
2
-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1
â
2
cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
One 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 to 3 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
2 to 4 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1.
Spread lentils on a plate, pick through them carefully, rinse and drain them.
2.
Heat oil in a large saucepan and add beef, onion, celery, garlic, turmeric, pepper, and cinnamon. Sauté over medium heat, stirring often, about 10 minutes or until beef cubes change color.
3.
Add stock mixture, saffron, lentils, tomatoes, parsley, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 30 minutes. If soup is too thick, add 1 to 2 cups boiling water. Cook 45 minutes more or until meat and lentils are tender.
4.
Spoon flour into a small bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir until smooth. Gradually blend in 1 cup liquid from soup. Pour mixture into pot of soup, stirring. Return to a simmer, stirring. Simmer 1 minute. Season soup to taste with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice if needed.
5.
Serve hot, sprinkled with cilantro.
In many homes smoked fish is a favorite food on the break-the-fast table, and so are bagels. This spread is a perfect topping for bagels, but is also good on rye bread or on crackers that aren't very salty such as water crackers.
8 ounces whipped cream cheese
1
â
3
cup flaked smoked whitefish
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
2 to 3 tablespoons sour cream (optional)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
Mix cream cheese with whitefish and chives in a small bowl. If spread is too stiff, stir in sour cream, a tablespoon at a time. Season with pepper and cayenne. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cucumbers and smoked fish are traditional partners because the mild, refreshing cucumber flavor is the ideal foil for the concentrated, salty taste of the fish. To lend a festive air to this salad, you can garnish it with a few teaspoons of red caviar.
1 cup sour cream
2 cups plain yogurt
1 green onion, white and green parts, finely chopped (1 tablespoon reserved for garnish)
2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
2 large hothouse cucumbers, thinly sliced
4 ounces lox or smoked salmon, cut into thin strips (a few reserved for garnish)
1.
Mix sour cream and yogurt in a bowl. Add unreserved green onion, dill, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Mix well.
2.
Put cucumber in a shallow serving bowl. Add sour cream mixture and blend gently. Stir in the larger amount of lox. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve cold, garnished with reserved lox and green onion.
This is the type of coffeecake my mother often made when I was growing up. Enriched with sour cream and swirled with cinnamon and sugar, it is the perfect, after-the-fast treat. In fact, it's great at any time! Now, for a lighter treat, my mother and I often use half sour cream and half yogurt, as in this version, and it's still delicious, but you can use all sour cream if you prefer. You can bake it 2 to 3 days ahead, wrap it, and keep it at room temperature or in the refrigerator.