Basic Sweet Parve Kugel

Basically there are 2 type of noodle kugels, parve and dairy.  The dairy ones are usually loaded with sour cream and not very healthy, though I'm sure there are a lot of other varieties.  I've just never been that into them.  For the parve variety, you need them to be moist, so they need a lot of fruit and oil. Here's a basic version.  Sray the pan well, the crust is great but sticks like crazy.

In 2025, I asked Eyal and Nadav if they'd prefer a sweet apple kugel or a sweet matzah kugel. They asked for a matzah noodle combo. I tried it and it was pretty great!

8 to 10 oz. wide egg noodles OR 1.5 crumbled, soaked matzahs + 6 oz. noodles
3 eggs, beaten well
½ c. sugar
lots of cinnamon
a dash of lemon juice
1 large apple, peeled and chopped 

1/4 c apple sauce (helps keep it moist)
½ c. margarine or vegetable oil
½ c. raisins
salt

Heat oven to 350°.  Grease a large pyrex pan, like a lasagne shaped pan, or a deep casserole.

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles.  They don't need to cook as long if you're baking them afterwards, usually the directions will be about 6 minutes. If you're using matzahs, crumble and soak them. Drain both.

Peel and chop the apples and put some lemon juice on them, in a large bowl. Add eggs and beat.
Add oil, sugar, salt, cinnamon and raisins

Add the drained noodles and/or matzot.

Pour into a greased or sprayed pan and bake for an hour or more, till browned.  One challenge with kugels is that the top often burns, so keep an eye on it.

Great for a potluck or shabbat/holiday dinner.


from The Jewish Holiday Cookbook by GLoria Kaufer Greene

Fruity Tofu Lokshen Kugel (Noodle "Pudding") 
8 ounces medium-wide egg noodles
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice, apple juice, or water
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound hard (firm) tofu, well drained and crumbled
1 large apple, finely diced (it is not necessary to peel it)
1 cup dark or light raisins
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Cook the noodles as directed on the package, then drain them well.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the eggs, oil, honey, juice, cinnamon, and salt unitl well combined. Mix in the tofu, apple, raisins, and walnuts (if used). Add the noodles and stir until completely mixed in. Turn out the mixture into a greased or non-stick spray-coated 7-by-12-inch or equivalent baking dish. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes or until set. Serve warm or at room temperature

Makes about 8 servings.

Frittata with Chard & Sun Dried Tomatoes

This is a recipe from the Inqy - since we have been growing chard, I was happy to try it.  Trick is to make sure your flat large fry pan is oven-safe up to 500°.  It's nice for brunch, or a midweek dinner.
By J.M. Hirsch

Associated Press

It's a complete meal. It's easy. It's fast. It's versatile. A frittata is one of the best choices for a fast weeknight meal. Think of frittatas as scrambled eggs with other ingredients mixed in. And finishing it under the broiler creates a delicious, lightly browned top, especially if you toss a bit of cheese on it before popping it in the oven.

Chard and Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata

Makes 6 servings


6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes,
plus a bit of oil from the jar
4 ounces sliced white button mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped chard
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese


1. Heat the broiler.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

3. Set a large oven-safe, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of the oil the tomatoes are packed in. Saute until the onions are soft and the mushrooms brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chard; cook until just wilted.

4. Spread the vegetables in an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Pour the egg mixture over them, then cook, without stirring, for 4 minutes, or until the bottom has set. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the frittata.

5. Transfer the pan to the middle oven rack and broil until the frittata is puffed, lightly browned and firm at the center, 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven; cool slightly before slicing.

Per serving:140 calories, 10 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams fat, 225 milligrams cholesterol, 340 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/food/20111020_Rush_Hour_Gourmet.html#ixzz1hCujlehq
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Maxine's Secret Egg Kichel Recipe

Maxine Liszt had a flair for the dramatic, being a red-headed, large, funny lady with a passion for Picasso.  She painstakingly painted copies of his famous paintings, seriously.  They were hanging all over her house.  Her husband Lawrence owned a ladies dress store, The Mary Elizabeth Shop.  Maxine felt it was her responsibility to be very well-dressed to advertise the store, and she did that with flair.  She was an exceptionally accomplished baker, devoting a lot of time and effort to crafting cookies.  Women had way too much time on their hands in the 50's and 60's, so that's how they spent it.
Maxine's kichel (pl. kichelach, but we never used the plural) were legendary.  In a semi-secret cupboard in her very modern house, which I now realize was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, was a stash of kichel, in a large plastic bin.  They kept a long time.  When friends dropped in, out came the kichel. I don't remember seeing them anywhere but Maxine's kitchen.  I think you had to be on close terms with the Liszts to merit kichel.  It was a big deal when she baked them for our wedding - they couldn't come, but sent a huge box.

On one of my trips home to Fargo in my early married years I talked Maxine into giving me a kichel demo, where I watched and took notes.  I then went back to my parents' house and replicated her technique.  When my dad saw the kichel, he couldn't believe his eyes.  That I had baked kichel that basically was indistinguishable from Maxine's?  A feat!  I don't think anything else I ever did impressed him in quite the same way.

These are an enormous amount of work.   But they are fun, and oh yes, they are incredibly delicious. Just the right sweetness, nice and crunchy, chewy and satisfying.  And pretty.  Maxine always said the burnt ones were the real delicacies.  I baked them for the family b'nei mitzvah.  Helen Koslow Sweig remembers Maxine and her kichel well.  They served them at the party for Aunt Sally and Uncle Rob when they got married in Fargo, 40 years ago!  The Liszts hosted the bridal dinner.  It was Dec 25th and not a restaurant was open in Fargo in those days.

This recipe is actually half of what Maxine baked.  For Jed and Anne's wedding I did the whole dozen eggs and it took FOREVER.

All ready to take these to
Shulamit Zissel's naming!
(this is a double recipe)

6 eggs, at room temperature
2 T. sugar
a dash of salt
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. brandy, sherry, or bourbon
~3 to 4 cups flour - it depends on how much the eggs absorb
+ Extra oil and sugar for the rolled out dough

In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  Beat in the other ingredients.  Add flour until it forms a stiff, stringy dough suitable for rolling out.  Unless you're using a MixMaster you will probably wind up doing this stage by hand.

Heat oven to 425° - though you might want to wait awhile, as the roll-out takes some time.

I tried using our marble counter, flouring the counter first, and it worked perfectly.  Otherwise, flour a large board. It is handy to have some sugar and a dish of flour - your hands will be full of sticky dough.

Divide the dough into thirds or quarters, rolling one out at a time. You need to stretch it by hand as well as roll it, as thin as possible.
Then comes the fun part.  Generously schmear oil over the flat dough plane.  Then pour sugar over it, spreading evenly and generously.  It is what gives the cookie flavor, and it carmelizes, so the surface needs to be nicely covered.

With a sharp knife or pizza wheel (saw that on YouTube!) make parallel cuts about 1.5 inches apart.  Then start cutting in the opposite direction to create diamond shapes.

Spray about 3 large cookie tins with oil.  Using the pizza wheel, lift up diamond and place the kichel on the tins.  You can dip them in sugar first to get more on the cookie surface. No need to worry about stretching them out, they puff up but don't really spread so you can put them pretty close together.


Put one filled tray on a lower rack.  Keep an eye on it while you repeat the roll out and cookie tin process.  When the cookies are puffy and starting to brown, move them to a higher rack, and add the new ones to the bottom.  Watch carefully because some will start to burn before the last ones are browned.

For the final cookie tin full, you can turn off the oven and leave them in another five minutes or so - a larger number of them will caramelize without burning.

PS One of the versions I saw online said you can use a pasta rolling machine to get really thin dough. That would be perfect.

Sweet Potato Kugel

This is a very flexible recipe. DAT loves this.

You can add a sugary/nut topping.  Sometimes you can find Pumpkin Pie Spice which saves time, being a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
You really need to boil the potatoes (in a covered pan), because it gives extra moisture and good smooth texture.  Microwaving wouldn't provide that.

This is also good cold - less sweet than sweet potato pie but similar.

2 large sweet potatoes or yams, boiled in their skins, and cooled (you need to do this in advance!!)
2 T. oil
2 T. sugar
3 eggs 
3 T. flour, matzah meal, or almond flour (to make it Pesadik, or gluten free)
pinch of pepper
1 t. cinnamon
pinch of: cloves, nutmeg, ginger - or 1 t. of pumpkin pie spice
salt to taste
Optional: chopped nuts with extra cinnamon for a crusty top

Peel cooled sweet potatoes by just using your fingers.  The peels slide off when they are cooked.  Put them in a large bowl and smush them with a potato masher.

Add all the rest of the ingredients. Spray a pretty casserole well (or a pyrex 2 qt pan) and bake at 375 for about 40 minutes, until it browns.

Kasha Varnishkes - tweaked from Jane Brody

I've already been through the year once with this blog, so there are fewer favorites to add, but kasha varnishkes is a great dish.  I have been bringing it to the break fast at the Ferleger Friedmans for probably 15 years.  I love it, Zach loves it, Abba doesn't love it, so I don't make it for us at home much.  However, it is a great lunch  and it's easy to double the recipe and freeze a lot. This recipe makes a HUGE amount.  This is really good stick-to-the-rib food.  Buckwheat is extremely nutritious and when you cook it in egg, even more so. (not vegan.)

When I was a grad student at HUC-JIR, it was on 68th St, so we'd occasionally eat on 72nd Street at what I think was called the Famous, a dairy kosher deli which catered to refugees who populated the area - by the 1970's, they were elderly.  They served this dish with a mushroom gravy, and it was GOOD.  Rumor had it that Isaac Bashevis Singer ate there.  (there was also a great cafe for pastry -Eclaire, very European and elegant, nearby.)

2 t. butter or oil
2 medium onions, chopped fine
½ lb. sliced mushrooms
2 eggs
1 BOX buckwheat groats, medium granulation  = 2¼ c. kasha  (Wolff's is classic, but any brand is fine.)
4½ c. boiling water + bouillon powder (1 T + 1 t)
1 lb bow-ties (large size, not the little ones for soup)
salt & pepper

In a large pot, bring water to boil (about 2 quarts) to boil and cook bowties according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, in a LARGE skillet with a cover, heat the oil and saute the mushrooms and onions until soft and translucent.

In a medium mixing bowl, pour in the box of kasha and two eggs, and mix until all the groats are wet.

Add to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the groats are dry and separate from one another.


Add the hot broth to the skillet, add salt and pepper, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.  If it's an electric stove, you can turn the burner off for most of the time.

Drain the bow-ties.  In a very large serving bowl, mix the bow-ties with the cooked kasha. You will likely have enough for some freezer utensils, too.

(The advantage of this version, a huge quantity, is that it uses the whole box of kasha and the whole box of bow-ties, so you don't have odd amounts left over in your pantry, and isn't much more work than making a normal amount.)

It is good with grated cheese, and also with a gravy.  The ratio of groats to bow-ties isn't strict.  And, the reason not to use the finest granulated kasha is that it's too fine and separates from the pasta so it's hard to eat.

Easiest Shabbat Dinner Ever: Roast Turkey Breast & Galil Potatoes

We named these
Galil Potatoes because Zach described how much he liked that when he was a camper.  Really soooo easy.
The trick with these potatoes is that you need to cook them at a very high temperature for about 45
minutes, and you need to turn them once and manage to do it

Different colored potatoes make a nice presentation

without burning yourself.  I didn't turn the ones pictured here, and they burned a bit.  The other trick, if you are also roasting a turkey breast, is that the the turkey will take about a half hour to 45 minutes longer, so hold off before putting in the potatoes.  This isn't really a recipe so much as a technique.

3 to 4 larger potatoes, your choice, including sweet potatoes and/or
1 container fingerling potatoes
other vegetables you feel like roasting: red onions, carrots, parsnips

• Spray a flat baking pan with olive oil.  
• Wash the potatoes if needed, but do not peel.  (makes it easy!)
• Slide potatoes into eighths or so, shape really doesn't matter
• Toss the slices in the pan, spray with olive oil, and sprinkle with pepper, salt or whatever you like.
• Bake at 450 for about 45 minutes, turning once to prevent burning, taking care not to burn yourself :-).

If you also do a turkey breast, here is how I do it.  Don't know where the honey mustard idea came from, but the aluminum foil pocket method is in The Settlement Cookbook on page 300.

1 Empire Turkey breast, under 5 lbs. (a half turkey breast works, too) - best to thaw first

~ ¼ c mustard

~ ¼ c honey
or use pre-mixed honey mustard, about 4 T.
(for Passover, you can use ketchup and honey, if you don't have mustard.)

seasonings to taste

Use a large piece of HEAVY weight aluminum foil. Shape it into a large roasting pan, creating a leak-free lining with sides and leaving extra for covering the turkey.  Squirt the bottom with honey. Same with the mustard.  

Gently place the turkey in the foil, turn it once so the honey/mustard coats both sides.  Season.  

Carefully close the foil over the breast, folding the sides over and sealing, leaving no open areas where juice can leak - at 450 it will burn and make a mess of the pan.  Seal the foil.  Poke a few holes for steam to escape.

Bake about 1.5 hours at 450.  The sauce is very tasty, so you can pour it into a small bowl w/ a gravy ladle, or serve in a small pitcher.  The fancy solution: a gravy boat.

If it does leak, be sure to soak the pan - a lot of the burned juice will come up in pieces, after a bit.

Jane Brody's Blueberry Pie with Bran Crust

Jane Brody has been my cooking guide for 30 years.  Being a reader of her New York Times columns made me attentive when she published her big book.  When Zach was little, she had a cooking show on NPR, which I watched and further bonded with her.  Nina Wacholder gave me her second book, but I haven't used it quite as much.  Her recipes are good, solid, unpretentiously presented.  She has already healthed them up, taken out excess fat, used whole grains, et al, so you don't need to further modify them.  And her explanations and stories are realistic.  She seems like someone you'd want to have coffee with.
At the moment, I am looking for a new guru, since her recipes are now a generation old.  Will keep you posted.  This blueberry pie is a favorite for summer shabbat.  You can see some of my modifications from over the years, including where an errant blueberry stuck to the page.

Crust:
1½ c Bran Buds (or any all-bran cereal)
 1/4 c all-purpose flour
 2 T butter or margarine, melted
 1/2 cup apple or grape juice

Filling:
 4 c fresh blueberries (2 pints), rinsed
 6 T sugar or to taste
 2 T all-purpose flour
 1 T lemon juice
 1/8 tsp nutmeg or to taste
 2 t confectioners' sugar (optional)
Optional: Limoncello Sauce

Directions:
1. Combine the crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Blend the ingredients until they are well mixed and the cereal is partially softened. Press the mixture onto the bottom and sides of a greased 9-inch pie plate or springform pan, leaving no holes. [The springform pan makes for a beautiful presentation; the blueberries hold their shape fine.]

2. Bake the crust in a preheated 375° oven for about 12 minutes or until edges of the crust begin to brown. Let the crust cool on a rack before filling it.

3. To make the filling, in a medium saucepan with a tight cover, combine 2 cups (half) of the blueberries with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, and nutmeg. Cover the pan, and cook the filling, stirring it occasionally, over moderately low heat for about 5+ is minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the berries begin to burst. Remove the filling from the heat.

4. Stir in remaining uncooked berries, and mix the filling well. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Let the pie cool on a rack. If desired, sprinkle the top with the confectioners' sugar just before serving.

5. If you like, serve the Limoncello Sauce on the side. It is a scrumptious combination and a great color contrast.

Broccoli with Penne, Basil, & Ricotta

Found this on the net, and love it!  * DAT does not love this!*
The chickpeas are my addition.  Main caveat is you need a large pot.  A 12" saute pan is perfect - note you only need to clean up chopping board, pot, and one measuring cup.  

1 12-ounce box

whole wheat or whole grain penne pasta

16 ounces

fresh broccoli florets

4

large garlic cloves, peeled and slivered

2 tablespoons

olive oil

4

green onions (green tops included), thinly sliced

15 ounces

part-skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup

chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup                        Chickpeas

-

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

-

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

-

Shredded Parmesan cheese and toasted almonds or pine nuts for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water  - ideally a 12" covered pan - to a boil.

Add the penne and cook according to package directions.

Add the broccoli florets and sliced garlic when there are 3 to 4 minutes left to the pasta cooking time.

When the pasta is done, remove ½ cup of the pasta water from the pot and then drain the pasta and broccoli.

Return the drained pasta and broccoli to the pot.

Drizzle with the olive oil and toss in the green onions.

Stir in the ricotta cheese, chickpeas, lemon juice and zest and season with the salt and pepper.

Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and stir until the ricotta is creamy.

Toss in the basil, taste for seasonings and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Garnish each serving with some of the parmesan and toasted almonds or pine nuts, if desired.  Good hot, but also nice cool, as a pasta salad.

MAKES

4-6 servings

Strawberry Fruit Smoothie Soup

Northeast Strawberry Season is really quick, but this year - for the first since I've been paying attention - there are lots of berries. They don't last very long but are sweet and juicy. The main labor is hulling them. Just take a sharp paring knife and dig in to pull out the minimum of fruit - the discard will be conical.  Your Grandma Bunny will be standing on your shoulder to make sure you don't waste any berry!!
Aunt Sally has a super easy elegant strawberry dessert. Take two pints of strawberries and hull. Take about 1/4 of the berries and put them in the blender with sugar (to taste, about a ¼ c. or so) and some mint and/or any seasoning you like, added lightly. Blend. Take a really beautiful glass bowl and put in the second pint of strawberries. If they're large, slice in half. Pour the blended mixture over the whole berries and chill. With a little garnish, it is a beautiful presentation, especially if you have nice dessert size bowls.

Here's a quick strawberry smoothie, which when poured in bowls is a great soup. Since the ingredients can be chilled in advance and you don't cook it, it's good if there isn't a lot of time before you serve it.

2 pints strawberries, hulled. If they're gigunda, cut into smaller sections.
2 cups plain yogurt - you can use low fat, it's still really good!
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
mint to garnish

In a blender, combine the strawberries, yogurt, orange juice, sugar, and cardamom. Puree until well mixed. Chill and serve. You can just put the blender right in the refridge to chill.

Grandma Fritzie's Pumpkin Pie

My mom made the best pumpkin pie - it was moist and dense and smooth, mmmmmm.  Once I served it when Sharon Strassfeld was over and she was totally horrified, it seemed so Goyish to her. Parve pumpkin pie is ridiculous.  Forget it. I have made Mom's recipe a few times and it's never as good as hers was - maybe it's the crust, the oven, the pan, or just the memory.  But I pass it along.

One 9" unbaked pie shell (she originally made hers from scratch, but in time switched to pie crust sticks that you rolled out.)  Brides really worked at making good pie crusts - it was a mark of achievement. You could also skip the shell and just make it as a custard.

1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. shortening like Crisco (this is a really old recipe!)
2 to 3 T water.
Mix and roll out flat into a large circle.  A flexible cutting board would be good for this.  Slip into the pie pan.  Flute the edges.  
Mom would take the left over pieces of pastry and sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and bake them.  What a treat!  Kind of like kichel.

Pie Filling:
1 can pumpkin* (what size?)
1 can evaporated milk* (what size?)
    *Libby's online "Famous Pumpkin Recipe" says a 12 oz can of evaporated milk and a 15 oz can of  pumpkin)
½ t. salt
2 eggs
1 T. sugar
⅔ brown sugar
1¼ t. cinnamon
½ t. ginger
½ t. nutmeg
¼ t. cloves

Mix all ingredients.  Pour into shell.  Bake at 450° for 15 minutes and 350° for 40-45 minutes.  The pie will be baked through solid and not jiggly.  Let cool.  Good at room temperature, and also good chilled.

Chicken Diablo

This is an easy chicken recipe for which you will often have all the ingredients on hand.  My version came from the Teaneck Jewish Center Cookbook which Epsie Gerstle gave me when I was newly-wed.  A little research online shows the recipe source as Family Circle's Great Chicken Recipes - 1968.

1 chicken, cut in 8ths, or chicken breast (on the bone)

3 T olive oil

1/2 c. honey or agave
1/4 cup prepared mustard - any flavor seems to work
1 t. salt (go easy when preparing kosher chickens, since they already have a high salt content)
1 t. curry powder

Heat oven to 375°.
In a large measuring cup, add the honey, mustard, and olive oil, then the salt and curry,  stirring to mix them thoroughly.
Arrange chicken meaty size up in the smallest pan that will allow all the pieces to fit.  (This makes it easier to baste, with less of the sauce accumulating on the bottom of the pan.)  The picture below is a larger quantity - one chicken + one container of chicken breasts, so I made a larger version of the recipe.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and if time permits, cover and refrigerate to marinate for a few hours, or even over night.

Bake, basting a few times to promote glazing.
Bake about 1½ hours, until richly glazed.
This is a good dish to leave in the oven while you're at Kabbalat Shabbat!

Cold Sesame Noodles

If you measure the oil first,
the other ingredients can float above it -
a little time saver.

Sauce ingredients:

8 T Chunky Peanut Butter

4 T Veggie broth (follow instructions for your veggie broth powder)

9 T Soy Sauce

6 T Sesame Oil

2 T Cider Vinegar

3 T Honey (maybe substitute agave nectar for vegans)

3 cloves minced garlic

4 T vegetable oil

Other Ingredients:

1 lb cooked cold spaghetti
3 Tbsp sesame seeds.
4-5 Scallions
1 cucumber (in strips)

Process:

1. Put the Peanut Butter, Veggie Broth, and Soy Sauce in covered bowl (leave some space for air to escape. Microwave for 30 second. Stir until the PB is no longer stuck together and the texture is consistent. You may need to put it in the microwave for another 20 seconds to get the texture consistent. this step take some elbow grease.
2. add all the sauce ingredients. stir well.
3. add the cold pasta. mix thoroughly. (I like to do it by hand. Make sure the bowl is large enough.)
4. dice the scallions and cut the cucumbers into strips.
5. add the scallions, cucumbers, and sesame seeds.
6. serve chilled if convenient.

Stir-Fried Cabbage with Cumin Seeds

This Madhur Jaffrey recipe was modified by the NYTimes and modified again by me.  I am all for using shortcuts that don't affect the quality of food.  I really hate grating or slicing cabbage, but do like preparing it, since it's such a healthy food.  Hence I love the bags of crated cabbage at the supermarket.  I like to make this as an interesting side dish.
A really big, deep non-stick frying pan is perfect for this.  I just bought one and I love it.

Recipe: Stir-Fried Cabbage With Cumin Seeds

Adapted from “Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick and Easy Indian Cooking” (Chronicle Books, 1996)
November 15, 2006)

1 bag grated cabbage or coleslaw mix (cabbage + carrots)
oil
1 tablespoon cumin or caraway seeds
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced crosswise
2 teaspoons salt
2 pinches cayenne
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon garam masala (optional).

• Heat about 2 T oil in a wide skillet over high heat. When hot, add  the cumin and  sesame seeds. 
• When the sesame seeds begin to pop add the onions, and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 5 minutes.
• Add the cabbage, and cook, stirring often, until wilted and lightly browned but not cooked through, about 5 minutes more. 
• Add salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until cabbage is soft and sweet, about 7 minutes more. Stir in lemon juice and garam masala, and serve.

Yield: 10 servings.

Spinach Stuffed Shells: Double Recipe

Stuffed shells are much easier to make than you'd think, and better to subdivide for freezing than, say, lasagna.  This is a double recipe makes enough for a 6-8 people, x 2.  I generally do a large flat pyrex pan, + 2 or 3 8x8 pans to freeze.  These could be pie pans, they work fine. You can use chopped spinach or broccoli.

12 oz. container jumbo shells *
2 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese (or a 2 lb. container is fine) - can be whole milk, skim or lowfat
2 pkg frozen chopped broccoli or spinach, thawed or microwaved (could be fresh; chop away)
1 c (8 oz) mozzarella - half for the mixture, half for the top
2/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
2 bottles marinara sauce (or homemade - HAH!)
ground pepper
oregano
Extra marinara sauce for those who like it
Parsley for garnish

*I just counted: the shells in a 12 oz box = 39.  

• Fill a 6 qt pot about 2/3 full with water and bring to a boil.  Drop the jumbo shells in a few at a time until the water returns to a boil.  They take about 10 minutes.
• Heat oven to 400°.
• If the broccoli or spinach is still frozen, microwave in a large bowl.  Drain any excess liquid.
• Combine the vegetables, ricotta, half of the mozzarella, parmesan, and seasonings.  (if you forget and dump in all the mozzarella, no big deal, but it is nice to have it melted on top.)
• Drain the pasta in a large colander, or just in the pot.  Let it cool a few  minute, and dislodge any shells stuck to each other.
• In 2 large rectangular pans, or two to 3 smaller pans, distribute one jar of marinara.
• Using a soup spoon, fill each shell fairly full, and place open side down in the pan.  It's tricky to manage to get the filling to be just right, and doesn't matter - the usual problem is leftover filling.  If you have extra filling, just freeze it.  You can use it with other recipes - it's great with sliced, fried eggplant.
• Pour the rest of the marinara sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. 
• Bake for about 25 minutes until browned.
• Like all Italian food, it looks nice with chopped parsley and extra grated Parmesan.

Nomi's version with vodka sauce and fresh basil -  yummmmm.

Barbara Lissy's minhag is to make stuffed shells and deliver to whomever needs food - potluck, new baby, shiva, illness. It was nice to bring her a tray of them when Ruthie's grandma died.

Matzah Crack Toffee

These are pretty much the best Passover treats I've ever made. A good way to use up matzah, and hey - this version is even vegan.  Becca calls is Matza Crack, which gets to their addictive quality.  [ As far as the Passover variety, check out Smitten Kitchen who references David Liebowitz who references Marcy Goldman - very Talmudic.]   
There are many versions of this, including one with saltines.  You can use butter, brown sugar, add salt on top, all kinds of interesting nuts (pistachios are pretty), but here is the basic, basic version.  Double it for a jelly roll size pan.







2 to 3 matzahs (whole wheat is fine, believe it or not!)
1 stick margarine (if you want it to be parve) or butter
1/2 c. sugar (brown sugar if you can find it)
1 c. chocolate chips
a few ounces grated nuts


Heat oven to 375°.

Lay sheets of matzah in a flat pan, breaking them so the fit.

In a small sauce pan, melt one stick of margarine and stir in the sugar.  It starts out as a paste and quickly becomes a syrup; stir continually, making sure the sugar has completely dissolved.  Bring to a boil and boil 3 minutes without stirring.
Pour the syrup over the matzahs.  Use a spatula to make sure that all the surfaces are coated.  Don't worry about it flowing under the cracks.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Watch to make sure it doesn't burn; if so, lower the temperature. When you take it out, the syrup will be bubbling. Pour the chocolate chips over the surfaces.
After about 5 minutes, take a few handfuls of grated nuts and sprinkle over the surface, as well.  Use a flat spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the melted chocolate chips to cover, integrating the chopped nuts.  Sprinkle more grated nuts on the top.
Let it sit.  Some people put it in the refrige or freezer til the chocolate hardens.
When the chocolate it set, just pry up the pieces and break them off, and voila!  The best Passover dessert ever!  If some of the chocolate breaks off (which it will if it's cold), the matzah pieces themselves are really good, so don't worry.

Cranberry Relish, from Sharon Strassfeld + Plain Old Cranberry Sauce

This is a recipe I've long loved, passed along by Sharon when I enjoyed it at her house on 101st street when we were neighbors.  I think of it as cranberry charoset.
It's not so much a recipe as a series of steps.

1 bag fresh cranberries
1 orange
walnuts (1/2 c?  I've never measured)
1/2 c. sugar or more, for less tartness

Slice the orange into small pieces and put half of it, along with about half the cranberries and walnuts into a food processor.  If you have a full size food processor, you can put it all in at once, until it's ground.

That's it!

You can freeze the cranberries - this year I threw a bag in and when I hadn't used it by March, I saved it for Passover, when we usually serve turkey.  It's such a gorgeous color.


Plain old cranberry sauce is so easy, no need to buy the canned. Though you need to make it ahead of time.
1 bag cranberries = 2 cups
1 c. water (you can do part OJ)
1 c. sugar
optional: ginger, cinammon, orange rind

Put everything in a 2 quart sauce pan (or 1.5 if you have one) and boil. Lower the heat and cook about 10 minutes until the berries have popped.

Cool. As it cools, it thickens.

Fritzie's Matzah Kugel

Being a Jewish homemaker in the 50's & 60's in Fargo meant buying from a small selection of Passover food when it came in special order at the Red Owl, 

the neighborhood supermarket.  (Supermarkets were an innovation in my childhood - before then, we shopped at the neighborhood store, The Economy Grocery, which was a half block from our house.  I was permitted to walk there myself and buy a Popsicle for 5¢, very exciting back in the day.)

Passover food was limited to five-pound packages of matzah (5 individual pounds packed together), bottled gefilte fish, matzah and cake meal, potato starch, Barton's almond kisses and canned macaroons. Maybe we had egg matzah.  Such staples as whole wheat matzah, quinoa, and pasta sauce had not yet made it forth, at least not to Fargo.  Of course we weren't all that strict about Passover, but we did substitute matzah for any bread products and had two seders, with lots of traditional Ashkenazic foods.  Bringing matzah to school was always embarrassing.  Mom baked a lot during Passover.  Passover Brownies were one of her specialties.  I just realized she didn't bake brownies during the rest of the year, so that made them special. And airy sponge cakes, with attendant drama. "Don't slam the door or the cake will fall!" We didn't routinely slam doors, but this really got our attention.
I've had this recipe of my mother's for 37 years, but this is the first year I made it - wow, it's wonderful! If dairy, really good with butter. She made it during the rest of the year, too, for Friday night dinner.  We didn't call it shabbat dinner, but we lit the candles and made kiddush, so that's what it was, of course.  (No challah that I recall).  This kugel is good enough to make when it's not Passover, a high compliment indeed!  The timing is tricky, since it's puffiest right when you take it out of the oven. However, it's still good when it's settled and flattened a bit. Really doesn't taste like matzah...

oil for spray
3 whole wheat matzot (or regular)
6 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
Grated rind of one orange or clementine (Easy: instead of grating it, chop the peels through a food processor)
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. cinnamon

1 t salt
1/2 c. raisins 
1 large apple, peeled, seeded, and chopped (or try a small can of crushed pineapple)
1/4 c. butter (or parve margarine)
cinnamon & sugar for top

Heat oven to 350°.
Spray a large (2 quart) casserole which has a lid (or devise one from your Passover collection of pots et al)
Crumple matzot and soak in water to cover.
In large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until THICK, about 3-4 minutes on high.
Drain the matzot and add them along with raisins, cinnamon, chopped apple, lemon juice & grated orange peel.  Pour into greased casserole.
Dot with the butter, cutting it into smaller pieces. Sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for 1- 1½ hours. It will puff up, with a delicious crunchy topping.

Serves 6-8, depending on how much else is served.

Note from 2023: it's good cold.

From Nadav Lev Teutsch: "Gwandma, what do you call that apple and raisin thingy?"

Gwandma: "You mean matzah kugel?"

Nadav: "Ya! I want you make it every night during Passover, Gwandma!"

Mushroom Walnut Dill Paté

This is just plain good, and happens to be kosher for passover - an excellent recipe for using any dill and parsley you just ***might*** have in your refrigerator crisper drawer.  Ditto with the hardboiled egg.  It's a very forgiving recipe.

1 hard-boiled egg
1 to 2 onions, chopped fine
12 oz or so of walnuts
1/2 lb (or more) sliced mushrooms
olive oil (or vegetable oil)
dill, parsley - the amount is flexible.
salt/pepper to taste

Saute the mushroom and onion over medium heat in oil in a large frying pan until soft and browned.  Put the browned onion & mushroom in a food processor with the walnuts, dill, parsley, and egg (cut into a few pieces).  (If you have a small food processor like I do, you need to do this in two batches.) Process until smooth.  Season to taste.

Some call this mock chopped liver.  Since actual chopped liver is not on my list, this doesn't feel like mock anything, it feels like really wonderful walnut mushroom paté.

It's a nice appetizer, served on lettuce with some crudites and crackers.  Or a great dip for hors d'oeuvres.

Passover Muffins, and A Year of Recipes

Last year I started collecting recipes here for you, on Passover, and here I am again - one of the magical things about this holiday.  A funny island in time.  This year we're packing up to go to the Rosens so it even feels like a camping trip.
The Passover Muffins are a modification of a recipe from another Grand Forks balabusta, Esther Burke.  She was a high-powered, Orthodox mother of five in Grand Forks, ND.  Kind of a fish out of water but she handled it well. I have made these every year; my splurge on a Pesadik muffin tin allowed them to morph from bagels to muffins.

Tasha, when they came in 2022, makes a version with cakemeal that is puffier - popovers for Passover. Fun to say.

Heat oven to 375 °

1/2 c. oil
1 ½ c. hot water
2 c. matzah meal
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
4 eggs
cinnamon (optional)

In a 2 or 3 quart sauce pan, boil water and oil.  Add the dry ingredients and stir quickly until all the matzah meal is incorporated and the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.

Remove from heat and add the eggs one at a time, breaking them into a small cup first if you're fastidious about blood spots.  (they're very rare these days.)  Stir and incorporate each egg before adding the next.  A long-handled plastic spoon seems to work well - you need a lot of leverage as the dough is very stiff.

Spray a 12-muffin tin well with oil.  Spoon in the batter, dividing it evenly; the batter should come just to the top of each tin. Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes until golden brown.  If you don't have a muffin tin, you can lay them flat on a baking tin and shape them round.You can easily double this recipe - this year I splurged and bought a second muffin tin!  The batch pictured above is a double recipe in a 3 quart sauce pan.

These were very popular at 629 West Cliveden Street - I always tried to throw a batch together so they'd be around for Chag, hard to pull off when you're also making a seder!  Good especially if you need to travel somewhere and bring food.

Chicken with Wine & Mushrooms / Coq au Vin

This is a really delicious chicken dish, basically schnitzel baked in a wine mushroom sauce.
It's from the SSDS cookbook, from Ivy Cohen.  Do you remember her?

It's enough sauce for 3 lbs of chicken schnitzel.  You need a large casserole to bake it all.

3 lbs. chicken breast prepared as schnitzel.

Prepare sauce:
1 c. water
1 c. white wine
3 T. flour
3 T. oil
2 T. Israeli parve bouillon powder [you can buy an MSG-free version online]
1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
Salt, pepper to taste

In 2 quart sauce pan, bring all ingredients except the mushrooms to boil.  Simmer 5 minutes and add the mushrooms.  Sauce will thicken.
Place the schnitzel in a large casserole and cover with the sauce. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, uncovering for the last few minutes.  If you have an electric oven with a delayed bake setting, this is an ideal dish to leave for a few hours (while at shul) and come home to a delicious dish.
This is a pretty forgiving prep.  It will stay moist in the oven, handy for holiday meals when you set your oven on timebake.

Bobbi Breitman loves this dish. When she was sick, and I signed up for bringing a Shabbat dinner, I asked her what she wanted. She didn't miss a beat: this schnitzel with wine mushroom sauce.

I presume this sauce would also be good with vegie schnitzel but you can't bake vegie schnitzel very long.

Schnitzel

When Abba went on a low fat diet in his 40's, he wouldn't eat any chicken skin or dark meat, so schnitzel became the chicken prep of choice. The thinner the chicken breast, the better. You can buy them thinly sliced at House of Kosher, or slice thick chicken breasts into thinner slabs. They cook faster, and the portions are smaller. When we have company, I have learned that people will take a big chunk and leave a lot of it, so smaller portions seem to help people take what they can eat. Partially frozen chicken is easier to slice, by the way.

There's no recipe for schnitzel, it's really just a technique. One egg is about right for 1½ lbs of chicken, but chicken breast usually don't come in that amount, so you generally are short on eggs. These freeze well, so it's handy to make extra.

For Passover, you can use matzah meal seasoned with whatever you have.  You can use matzah meal during the rest of the year, too, obviously.

1 to 2 lbs. chicken breast - I prefer thin-sliced if you can find them.
Olive oil
Egg
Dijon mustard*
Flavored (parve) bread crumbs (or matzah meal)
Lemon and parsley for garnish

• In a large flat non-stick fry pan, add ~ one T of olive oil and heat over medium.
• Take 2 flat bowls.  Break an egg in one and beat lightly.
• Fill the bottom of the other with a small mound of bread crumbs.
• Put the package of chicken breast (chicken is grown in packages, right?) on a large plate, with the egg dish closer to the chicken.  
• Dip each cutlet in the egg, covering both sides.  
• Then drop it in the breading, turning it over, so the crumbs cover both sides.  

*One beaten egg is often a little scant for 2+ lbs of chicken breast. I recently read an odd book called "Recipes of Holocaust Survivors" and one of them adds Dijon mustard to the egg. This works well. Less than a teaspoon.

Set it in the hot frying pan.  It cooks fastest in the center, so start by putting the cutlets around the perimeter.  Depending on the size of your pan and the amount of chicken you may need a second pan. I didn't buy a second pan until I was about 50 years old, so hope you catch on quicker.
Fill the pan and brown the schnitzel.  The first side takes longer. They absorb a lot of oil, so you may need to add more to the pan before you flip them.  If you make them smaller, you have chicken nuggets, more or less, much less junky than the packaged kind.

Miriam Leventhal, Doda Rochelle's mother and truly one of the worlds tsadikot, taught me a trick when she visited us once in New York.  If you have extra egg and extra breading, you can combine them and make a little pancake, which she called a latkelah.  Just fry it along with the schnitzel. Make like it's a treat, some kid will eat it!

But lately I tried an experiment - I toasted the leftover breading in the 2nd frying pan, tossing the cooked schnitzel together in fry pan #1.  You don't need even keep the burner on. The breading absorbs the oil left in the pan, and just toss it evenly and let it cook.  I froze a small jar of browned breading and just added it to rice to get rid of it. It was great! It adds a crunch to the rice.

Lemon slices are a nice touch, but it doesn't seem like people actually use them, so don't worry if you don't have them!

When it's just David and me, I almost always make us chicken schnitzel. We have had them 100s of times and never get tired of them. They are great cold, for shabbat meals.