1,000 Jewish Recipes (76 page)

Nondairy "cheeses" are made from tofu or from rice, as is pareve ice cream.

Meat-Like Pareve Foods

There is also a large selection of pareve foods designed to look and taste like meat. They are made from soy beans, wheat, or a combination of these. There is meatless ground "meat" as well as burgers, frankfurters, and sliced deli "meats".

Some of these foods also come in dry form, either as granules or as chunks, which can be rehydrated and cooked in sauces similar to those used for meat.

Fish

As most common fish are kosher, Jewish cooks often buy the ones they are familiar with at the supermarket. Some supermarkets carry wrapped fish that are certified kosher and have been handled with kosher knives. A greater array of kosher fish can be found at kosher fish stores in some Jewish neighborhoods.

Prepared kosher fish such as lox, whitefish, herring, and gefilte fish are easy to find at the supermarket. They are popular ingredients in the Ashkenazic pantry.

Wine

It's a common misconception that Jewish wine must be sweet because sweet wine has traditionally been used for blessings. This is a matter of taste, however, not law. Now there is a variety of kosher wines made from many different grapes and styles of wine making, in the United States, Israel, and France.

Baked Goods and Baking Ingredients

Bread, Cake, and Pastry

Kosher bakeries carry a wide variety of breads, cakes, and pastries. Some specialize in pareve baking, while some have both pareve and dairy sweets. These baked goods can also be found at Jewish grocery stores and some supermarkets.

The reason for buying kosher breads, pastries, and desserts is to be sure they do not contain nonkosher fats, cheeses, or animal-based gelatin.

Crackers and Other Snack Foods

As with breads and other baked goods, Jewish cooks who keep kosher check to make sure these do not contain nonkosher fats, cheeses, or animal-based gelatin.

Other Ingredients

Kosher salt, or coarse salt, is for sprinkling on meats and poultry in the process of koshering them (page xxii). In recent years kosher salt has also become a "gourmet" ingredient. Many chefs prefer its flavor for seasoning food because it's purer and has no additives.

Kosher gelatin is vegetable-based instead of being made with meat bones. It is often made from a seaweed base called agar-agar.

Menus

Following are some holiday menus that I particularly enjoy preparing. These are flexible guidelines. Adapt them to suit your own taste, substituting other favorite dishes where you like. Prepare more or fewer dishes according to the time you wish to spend preparing the meal.

Before shopping and cooking, check the number of portions in each recipe and multiply them according to your needs.

A Passover Seder of Mediterranean Flavors

Sephardic Haroset
with Matzo

Tovah's Trout with Paprika Oil and Cilantro

Springtime Israeli Salad

Artichokes with Spicy Lemon-Herb Dressing

Moroccan Beef Stew with Cumin, Potatoes, and Peppers

Syrian Squash with Carrots

Walnut Cocoa Layer Cake
,
Orange Frosting

Almond Macaroons

An Old-Fashioned Passover Seder, Ashkenazic Style

Ashkenazic Haroset with Matzo

Whitefish Gefilte Fish

Nirit's Sweet Beet Salad

Passover Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls

Old-Fashioned Roasted Chicken

Mushroom and Matzo Kugel

Roasted Potatoes

Toasted Hazelnut Cake

Strawberry Sauce

Shavuot Gathering, French-Jewish Style

Braided Challah

Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Walnuts, and Peppers

Herb Blintzes with Duxelles Filling

Broccoli Gratin with Cheese Sauce

Sweet Cheese Tart

Raspberry Sauce

Israeli Rosh Hashanah Celebration

Round Challah

Apples and Honey

Sea Bass in Saffron-Tomato Sauce

Adi's Kibbutz Honey Chicken

Rosh Hashanah Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet Carrot Coins

Rosh Hashanah Fruit Salad

Cocoa-Orange Honey Cake

Make-Ahead Rosh Hashanah Dinner

Round Challah

Apples and Honey

Carrot Salad with Cranberries and Mint

Hungarian Halibut

Traditional Meat Tzimmes

Potato Kugel with Mushrooms and Peas

Apple Cake with Honey

Yom Kippur Feast Before the Fast

Round Challah

Ashkenazic Green Bean and Carrot Salad

Roman Fish with Pine Nuts and Raisins

Light Chicken Soup with Noodles

Whole Poached Chicken with Vegetables

Herbed Rice

Sephardic Almond Honey Squares

Break-The-Fast Menu After Yom Kippur

Bagels

Israeli Salad, California Style

Smoked Whitefish Spread

Lox and Eggs with Asparagus

Old-Fashioned Coffeecake

Sukkot Pot Luck

Apricot-Pecan Challah with Raisins

Mediterranean Chopped Salad with Capers and Olives

Italian-Jewish Halibut in Tomato Celery Sauce

Hungarian Jewish Stuffed Peppers

Basmati Rice Pilaf with Sunflower Seeds

Zucchini Pistou Puree

Pauline's Carrot Cake

Sukkot Harvest Celebration

Sweet and Fruity Challah

Grilled Eggplant and Pepper Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Harvest Soup

Whole Stuffed Zucchini with Turkey, Raisins, and Pecans

Carrots and Potatoes with Chard

Green Beans with Tomatoes and Herbs

Apple Strudel

My Hanukkah Party Cooking Class Meal

Classic Potato Latkes

Mushroom Latkes with Dill

Creamy Dill Topping

Chunky French Applesauce

Eggplant Salad with Garlic and Coriander

Sea Bass in Saffron-Tomato Sauce

Traditional Cinnamon-Walnut Rugelach

A Family Hanukkah Feast

Red Cabbage Slaw with Walnuts and Citrus Fruits

Brisket with Chickpeas and Zucchini

Baked Potato Latkes

Old-Fashioned Applesauce

Israeli Doughnuts
(Soofganiygot)

Homemade Hanukkah Gelt

A Purim Box of Treats

Hamantaschen
with
Pareve Poppy Seed–Walnut Filling

Chocolate Hamantaschen

Hamantaschen
with
Date Filling

Haman's Fingers

Chocolate-Apricot Wine Balls

Purim Pinwheels

Friday Night Dinner From My Childhood

Braided Challah

Chopped Liver the Way My Mother Makes It

Shabbat Salad

Friday Night Chicken

Lukshen Kugel with Mushrooms and Onions

Glazed Carrots

Chocolate-Pecan Chiffon Cake

Shabbat Midday Menu in the Sephardic Spirit

Braided Challah

Israeli Olive and Tomato Salad

Dvora's Bright and Easy Pepper Salad

Chicken Cholent with Wheat Berries and Chickpeas

Savory Red Chard with Garlic

Fresh Tomato Salsa, Yemenite Style

Salad of First Fruits

Springtime Shabbat Dinner

Mediterranean Chopped Salad with Capers and Olives

Red Trout and Asparagus with Lemon-Parsley Sauce

Rosemary Roast Chicken

Carrots and Potatoes with Chard

Low-Fat Chocolate Applesauce Cake

Strawberry Sauce

Light and Summery Shabbat Lunch

Cucumber and Pepper Salad with Fresh Mint

Cod in Green Olive–Tomato Sauce

Saffron Basmati Rice

Pareve Almond Cake

Mango Sauce

Shabbat Menu With Autumn Flavors

Shabbat Salad

Light Eggplant Caponata

Chicken Soup with Noodles, Leeks, and Winter Squash

Chicken Baked with Tzimmes and Kneidel

Jewish Apple Cake with Walnuts and Dried Cranberries

Hearty Winter Shabbat Dinner

Red Cabbage Salad with Apples and Pecans

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Hamin for Shabbat, Yemenite Style

The Cantor's Compote

Sunday Brunch

Smoked Whitefish Spread

Creamy Cucumber Salad with Lox

Avocado and Arugula Salad with Tomatoes and Cucumbers

Main-Course Cheese Blintzes

Apple-Cinnamon Noodle Kugel with Sour Cream

Chocolate Chip Sweet Rolls

Thanksgiving with A Difference

Red Cabbage Slaw with Walnuts and Citrus Fruits

Spiced Roasted Turkey

Challah Stuffing
(double recipe)

Savory Sweet Potato Kugel

Tangy Tunisian Mashed Pumpkin

Carrots and Green Beans Gremolata

Fall Fruit in White Wine

Streusel Apple Pie

Potluck Pareve Supper

My Favorite Vegetarian Chopped Liver

Grilled Eggplant and Red Pepper Salad

Couscous Salad with Tomatoes, Pine Nuts, and Mint

Cauliflower Kugel with Sautéed Onions

Stuffed Small Squashes with American Rice Pilaf

Tu Bishvat Date Bars with Macadamia Nuts

Barbecue with the Kids

Everyday Israeli Salad

Our Family's Favorite Grilled Chicken Legs

Glazed Carrots

Oven-Fried Potatoes

Valerie's Two-Way Shabbat Rice

Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans

My Family's Fish Feast

Mediterranean Marinated Peppers

Savory Mushroom Sauté

Yemenite Fish with Tomatoes and Spices

Easy Baked Salmon Fillet

Basil Cream with Diced Tomatoes

Israeli Rice Pilaf

My Favorite Cheesecake

Passover

The springtime festival of Passover takes place in late March or in April and lasts for eight days. The Seder, the ceremonial holiday dinner, is prepared on the first and second nights of the holiday, except in Israel, where there is a Seder only on the first night.

Perhaps the best-known passage about the holiday is the question recited by all Jewish children as part of the Seder, "Why is this night different from all other nights?" The standard response delineated in the Haggadah, the Seder book of readings, prayers, and songs, is that Passover commemorates the liberation of the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.

A more offhand answer to this question might be, "because the food is different." The kitchen, and indeed the entire house, undergoes extensive preparation and cleaning for the holiday. Certain foods are avoided during the holiday or even completely removed from the house.

Naturally, in observant families, food for Passover must be kosher. In addition, it has to be Kosher-for-Passover. The Hebrew word for food that is not kosher for the holiday is
hametz
, or leavening, because the Torah prohibits eating leavened bread during the holiday to recall the flat bread the Hebrews ate during their flight from Egypt, when they could not wait for their bread to rise.

This flat bread was the first matzo. It has become the symbol of Passover and is served not only as bread, but is also used to make a variety of other foods, from dumplings to cakes.

Matzo is ground and made into matzo meal, which is used in cooking and baking instead of raw wheat flour, which can leaven naturally when combined with liquid and is thus not allowed during the holiday. Cake meal, a finer version of matzo meal, is used to make sponge cakes and other light cakes.

In Ashkenazic and some Sephardic communities, other types of grains and beans are avoided as well. These are grouped under the term
kitniyot
, Hebrew for legumes, which is used in a broad sense to include corn, rice, other grains, beans, peas, and sesame and sunflower seeds. Other foods derived from these are also not used, including cornstarch and corn oil.

Despite these restrictions, Passover is not at all an occasion for deprivation. The opposite is true; in the recipe repertoires of many families, the greatest number of favorite dishes and desserts are Passover ones.

When I was growing up, the number of Passover foods was limited. Now markets feature a dizzying array of foods with Kosher-for-Passover labels. This is true not only of kosher grocery stores but also supermarkets in neighborhoods with a substantial number of Jewish residents.

Old-fashioned macaroons, once known only in classic almond or coconut flavors, come in many new varieties like chocolate-mint and cinnamon-pecan. Also, now, not only macaroons are sold and served at Passover, but also biscotti and chocolate chip cookies, plus a great variety of cakes and cookies, including coffee cake, rugelach, and cinnamon rolls— things we never used to have for the holiday. There are Passover noodles and even pizza dough mix. Passover equivalents of popular breakfast cereals are also available, instead of just farfel, the little squares of matzo we ate as cereal as children.

I still love farfel for breakfast, and I understand those friends of mine who feel that using the new foods takes away from the special taste of the holiday. I am glad to have the choice, however. There is still plenty of cooking and baking to be done for that homemade taste, and it can be convenient to keep a few prepared foods on hand in case extra treats are needed.

Passover Preparations

Before the holiday, to get the kitchen ready, the oven, burners, refrigerator, and sink need to be cleaned thoroughly. Passover sets of dishes, flatware, cooking utensils, and pots, one for meat and one for dairy foods, replace the ones used during the rest of the year. Some utensils can be
kashered
, or made suitable for Passover by being scalded with boiling water; specifics on this procedure can be obtained from a rabbi.