1,000 Jewish Recipes (279 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
Apple blintzes rival cheese blintzes as our family favorites. These take very little time or effort because you make use of ready-made crepes or blintz wrappers that are available in many markets. Of course, if you have homemade blintzes in your refrigerator or freezer, they'll be much better. Keep in mind that because purchased crepes are thicker than homemade blintzes, they usually need more filling.
Many traditional apple blintz recipes call for grating apples and mixing them with sugar as the filling. To my taste, sautéing sliced apples with cinnamon makes a much more delicious filling. The apple flavor becomes more intense and their texture becomes buttery. I consider the few minutes needed to cook a filling as time well spent.
I generally use Golden Delicious, Gala, or Fuji apples. Since these apples are sweet, I don't need to add much sugar. If you prefer tart apples like Granny Smith, you'll probably want to add the larger amount of sugar.
Serve these blintzes for dessert or as a brunch treat. You can make them dairy or pareve, as you please. Depending on the rest of the meal, serve one or two blintzes per person.
12
Basic Blintzes
made in an 8- or 9-inch pan, or 6 purchased 9-inch crepes
2 pounds Golden Delicious or other apples
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, margarine, or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 small pinches of ground cloves (optional)
6 to 8 tablespoons sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, or 1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (for baking)
Sour cream or plain or vanilla yogurt (optional)
1.
Prepare blintzes, if fresh is preferred. Then, pre- heat oven to 375°F. Let blintzes or crepes soften at room temperature so they don't tear when you roll them. Peel and halve apples. Core them and cut them into thin slices.
2.
Heat butter in 2 large, heavy skillets or sauté pans; use nonstick pans to use less fat. Divide apples between the pans. Sprinkle each with
1
â
2
teaspoon cinnamon and a small pinch of cloves, if using. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 8 minutes or until apples are tender. Add about 2
1
â
2
tablespoons sugar to each pan. Heat uncovered, stirring, just until sugar dissolves.
3.
Combine apples in one pan and heat briefly, tossing. Remove from heat. Taste and add more sugar if necessary; heat, tossing apples gently, about 1 minute.
4.
If using homemade blintzes, spoon about 2
1
â
2
tablespoons filling onto brown side of each blintz near edge of blintz closest to you. If using purchased crepes, spoon
1
â
4
to
1
â
3
cup filling onto either side of crepe near edge closest to you. Fold over edges of blintz or crepe to right and left of filling so that each covers about half of filling; roll up, beginning at edge with filling.
5.
Grease a shallow baking dish or spray it with oil spray. Arrange blintzes in one layer in dish. Dot blintzes with small pieces of butter or brush very lightly with oil. Bake about 15 minutes, or until hot. Meanwhile, mix 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 tablespoon sugar. Serve blintzes hot, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Top them with sour cream or yogurt, if using.
This easy, fat-free way to bake apples is favored by my mother and me. Because it's wonderful comfort food, it's the dessert my neighbor Valerie Alon serves at the break-the-fast meal after Yom Kippur. Baked apples also make a light dessert after a filling Shabbat dinner. We like to use large Jonathan or Jonagold apples but it's also good with Golden Delicious or Macintosh. When I have very sweet Gala or Fuji apples, I bake them without sugar.
3 large apples (1
1
â
2
pounds)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2
1
â
2
teaspoons sugar
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Do not peel apples. Core them but not quite all the way to the bottom. Put apples in an 8-inch baking pan or any baking dish in which they fit snugly. Mix cinnamon and sugar and spoon a little of mixture into each apple. Pour enough water into bottom of dish so it is about
1
â
2
-inch deep. Bake apples 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until very tender.
2.
Serve hot, warm, or cold, in dessert dishes. If apples are really large, you may want to serve half an apple per person. Spoon a little juice from the pan over each serving.
Bite-size pitted prunes are easiest to use because they fit inside the cored apples. If you have large prunes, use a half of a prune in each apple. I learned this easy dessert from my mother. We both like it for Shabbat in the winter.
4 sweet, medium apples (2 pounds)
4 bite-size pitted prunes
1
â
2
teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons orange juice
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Do not peel apples. Core them thoroughly but not quite all the way to the bottom. Put apples in a baking dish in which they fit snugly, such as an 8-inch round dish. Put a prune in each apple and push it as far down inside as you can.
2.
Mix cinnamon and sugar and spoon about
1
â
2
teaspoon mixture into each apple. Pour 1 teaspoon orange juice into each apple. Pour enough water into bottom of dish so it is about
1
â
2
-inch deep. Bake apples uncovered about 1 hour or until very tender.
3.
Serve hot, warm, or cold in dessert dishes. Spoon a little juice from the pan over each serving.
 or
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Pears baked with a crumbly streusel topping is an easy-to-make, pareve dessert that always pleases. I find that nuts and oatmeal contribute good flavor and appealing texture to the topping. Many Jewish bakers keep streusel on handânot just for cakes, but as a topping for baked fruit. Ripe pears are best but you can also make this dessert with underripe, less than perfect ones.
2 pounds pears
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1
â
2
cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon strained fresh lemon juice
1
â
4
cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, chilled and cut into bits
1
â
4
cup chopped pecans
1
â
2
cup rolled or quick-cooking oats (not instant)
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel and slice pears and put them in a bowl. Mix cornstarch and
1
â
4
cup brown sugar in a small bowl. Add to pears. Add lemon juice and toss to combine. Spoon into a shallow, square 9-inch baking dish.
2.
Mix remaining
1
â
4
cup brown sugar with flour in a small bowl. With 2 knives, cut butter into mixture until coarse crumbs form. Add pecans and oats and stir lightly with a fork. Sprinkle mixture evenly over fruit. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden and pears are tender. Serve warm or cool, in bowls.
Cantor Yossi Knoller brought this tasty compote of apples and prunes cooked with sweet wine and cinnamon one year when we celebrated Rosh Hashanah at my brother-in-law's house near Los Angeles. Light and flavorful, it was an instant hit. The compote is good on its own, or with simple cookies or ice cream. You can use pitted or unpitted prunes; those with pits will take a few more minutes to cook.
1
â
2
pound prunes
4 cups sweet wine
2 cups water
1
1
â
2
pounds Golden Delicious apples
2 cinnamon sticks
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
1.
Combine prunes, wine, and water in a large saucepan. Let soak 45 minutes.
2.
Peel apples and cut them into thick wedges. Add to saucepan. Add cinnamon sticks and 2 tablespoons sugar. Heat 2 minutes, stirring gently to dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil. Simmer about 15 minutes or until apples and prunes are tender when pierced with the point of a knife. Taste syrup, and add more sugar, if needed. Stir very gently to dissolve sugar. Pour compote into a glass bowl and let cool.