1,000 Jewish Recipes (245 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
Jewish cooks really use their noodle (I couldn't resist!) when it comes to creating delicious kugel recipes. There are countless variations, from savory noodle and vegetable kugels flavored with deeply browned onions to sweet, cinnamon-scented kugels in which the pasta is mixed with fruit.
For a dish so steeped in tradition, you would think it would involve a time-consuming process, but actually, kugels are not at all complicated to prepare. The noodles and other ingredients are simply mixed with eggs and baked. They can even be baked ahead and reheated. Kugels can be extremely rich in eggs, butter, cream cheese, or cream or can be low in fat when made with egg whites and moistened with a little oil. Noodle kugels are usually pareve or dairy but they can also contain chicken or meat, making them suitable only for
fleishig
meals. Traditionally, sweet kugels are served as accompaniments but today many people like them as a separate course or for dessert.
Egg barley, also called farfel, is pasta cut in small bits. Popular in Ashkenazic cooking, it might be yellow or brown, if it's toasted. Egg barley is cooked like other pasta and is often combined with sautéed onions as an accompaniment.
The Moroccan form of pasta is couscous, which seems like a grain but is more like little beads of spaghetti, as it is made of the same ingredientsâsemolina and water. Time-honored recipes call for making it at home by rolling semolina and water between your fingers and then steaming the resulting little grains of pasta several times above a simmering meat stew. Packaged couscous is pre-cooked. It needs only to be moistened with boiling water and is ready in five minutes. In natural foods stores you can also find whole-wheat couscous.
Couscous is the center of holiday feasts on the tables of Jews from North Africa. It is served with an array of braised vegetables and meat in a savory sauce, and sometimes with stuffed vegetables as well.
Because pasta is pareve, it is very versatile in kosher cuisine. It can be combined with any ingredient and is great for using up leftovers. I find it especially useful for stretching small amounts of cooked vegetables, chicken, or turkey left from Shabbat dinners. The cooked pasta can be mixed with the vegetables or meat, tossed with sautéed onions and garlic, and perhaps moistened with a little tomato sauce. Either I heat the mixture in a skillet or I mix it with eggs or egg whites and bake it as an easy kugel.
= Pareve  
= Dairy  
= MeatNOODLES WITH CHICKEN OR MEAT
The perennial Jewish favorite, chicken and noodles, gains a French twist in this tasty dish. It combines exotic and white mushrooms with chicken breasts and port to make a luscious sauce for the noodles. You can also make this dish with fresh shiitake, oyster, or chanterelle mushrooms.
6 to 8 ounces portobello mushrooms
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large shallots, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
6 to 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1
â
2
cup port or sherry
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
12 to 14 ounces medium noodles or fettuccine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1.
Gently clean portobello mushrooms with damp paper towels. Cut them into bite-size pieces.
2.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in shallots, then portobello mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Sauté, tossing often, about 4 minutes or until mushrooms are just tender. Remove from skillet. Add 1 tablespoon oil and heat it over medium-high heat. Add button mushrooms, salt, and pepper and sauté about 2 minutes or until light brown.
3.
Return portobello mushrooms to skillet and reheat mixture until sizzling. Add
1
â
4
cup port and simmer over medium heat, stirring, about 3 minutes or until it is absorbed by mushrooms. Remove from heat.
4.
Sprinkle chicken with pepper on both sides. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté, pressing on chicken occasionally with slotted spatula, 4 to 5 minutes per side or until meat feels springy and is no longer pink inside; cut to check. Transfer to a cutting board.
5.
Discard fat from skillet. Add remaining port and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping in pan juices. Pour into mushroom sauce. Cut chicken into thin strips and add to sauce.
6.
Meanwhile, cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water uncovered over high heat about 5 minutes or until tender but firm to the bite. Drain well and transfer to a shallow serving dish.
7.
Heat sauce gently. Adjust seasoning. Add parsley. Spoon sauce over noodles. Serve sprinkled with chives.
Cooking Noodles
Although old recipes often specify long cooking times, today's cooks boil pasta only briefly to keep its flavor and texture. Prepare any soups or sauces before you cook the pasta. You don't have to measure the pasta cooking water, but you can use these amounts as a guide:
For 8 to 12 ounces noodles or other pasta, boil 3 to 4 quarts water and add 1 tablespoon salt.
For 12 ounces to 1 pound noodles or other pasta, boil 5 quarts water and add 1
1
â
2
tablespoons salt.
Use quantities above or simply fill a pasta pot or other large pot about
2
â
3
to
3
â
4
full of water. Cover and bring the water to a boil over high heat. When the water is boiling rapidly, add salt.
Add the noodles to the boiling salted water. Stir them from time to time, or lift the strands occasionally with a fork or with tongs to prevent sticking. Cook the pasta uncovered over high heat until it is tender but firm to the bite, or "al dente." Noodle packages and containers provide cooking time guidelines, but make sure you check the noodles and cook to your taste. Check by removing 1 or 2 noodles with tongs and tasting them; fresh noodles may need as little as 1 minute of cooking. Although some cooks rinse noodles immediately after cooking, this is not necessary except if you want to cool the pasta fast or if you must cook it ahead, as in making kugels.
This light and easy updated version of chicken chow mein, prepared in many Jewish homes when I was growing up (see box,
Chicken Noodle Nostalgia and Asian Inspiration
), makes use of bottled condiments, many of which are available not only in the Asian section of the supermarket but also in the kosher products section.
12 ounces dried Chinese wheat noodles or spaghetti
3
â
4
cup chicken broth
6 ounces fresh snow peas, ends removed, or frozen snow peas
1
1
â
2
to 2 cups cooked chicken strips
One 5-ounce can baby corn, drained (optional)
2 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 to 4 tablespoons Chinese plum sauce
A few drops Asian hot sauce, or to taste
1
â
4
cup chopped green onions (optional)
1.
Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water over high heat, separating strands occasionally with a fork, 7 to 8 minutes or until tender but firm to the bite. Drain well. Transfer to a large serving bowl and toss with oil.
2.
Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add snow peas and return to a simmer. Add chicken, baby corn, if using, and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat about 2 minutes or until chicken is hot. Stir in plum sauce and hot sauce. Add mixture to noodles and toss. Taste, and add more soy sauce if needed. Serve topped with green onions, if using.
When I braise chuck roast in porcini mushroom sauce, it makes a generous amount of delicious sauce. I like to save the extra sauce in the refrigerator or freezer and enjoy it at another meal with noodles and vegetables. This dish is very quick and easy to make. If you don't have the sauce, use your favorite spaghetti sauce and diced deli roast beef.