Matzah Stuffing

I have the real recipe for this somewhere, but in the meantime, you don't really need a recipe.  You can make it vegetarian, and use some for a turkey and some for a veg side dish.  You could leave out the egg and make it vegan, too.

One box matzah, crumbled into small pieces, or a box of matzah farfel.  I use whole wheat matzah

Onion/s, chopped

Celery, chopped
mushrooms, chopped

Margarine or oil

Apples, chopped (don’t need to peel them)

Walnuts, chopped
Chopped chestnuts would be an awesome addition.

Egg

Broth

Seasonings

In a large frying pan, sauté  the onions and celery in either melted margarine or oil until soft.  Add the rest of the ingredients to create a moist mixture.  I usually bake some and stuff the turkey with the rest.  If you are a stuffing regular, you can figure out the proportions and seasonings you like.  

Chopped chestnuts would be an awesome addition.

Rustic Cream of Parsnip Soup

This was just added to my pantheon of great soups.  Parsnips are one of my favorite side dish vegetables, more interesting than potatoes.  Uncle Steven came to expect them at our house.  They are good roasted, a nice addition, chopped, to motzah ball soup, and good mashed, too.

This soup is creamy without using half-and-half like most recipes do. One important thing is having a good sudoku knife - without that leverage it is really hard to slice and chop parsnips.  This recipe makes about 8 servings.

1 T olive oil (or butter)
one medium onion
2-3 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 medium sized parsnips 
2 carrots, optional (they make it a more appealing color)
4 c. broth (vegetarian powdered is fine)
bay leaf
salt, pepper
dash of nutmeg
other optional herbs - parsley or dill for garnish

• Heat oil (or butter) in a deep pot with a lid.  
• Peel and chop the onion and add it with the garlic and saute at medium.  
• Chop the celery [or leeks] and add.  
• Peel the parsnips and dice, cutting the long way and then crosswise.  Add to the sauteing vegetables.  
• Add chopped carrots, if you like.
• Pour in 4 cups of broth, salt, pepper, the bay leaf, and a pinch of nutmeg. 
• Simmer for about 20 minutes, covered, until the vegetables are soft.  
• Using an immersion blender, process until smooth.  It's fine if some of the vegetables are still a little chunky, which gives a nice texture.

It's a fairly bland color (a good reason to add carrots), so chopped parsley helps! This gives a lot of flavor and depth for a vegan dish.

Daniel Rosen's Green Shakshouka Via Jo

We have an abundant kale crop over at the Sterns - I planted a row of kale for George when he was post-knee surgery, and now - 4 months later - these monster kale plants are super prolific.  Really, I can go pick a whole basket full and you can hardly tell any is missing.
Jo made this with me when she visited for my birthday and I made it again a few days later - very easy.  You could make it more complicated with hot pepper, tomato sauces, et al, but this worked really well.

onion, sliced
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
lots of  fresh kale
2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped
4 to 6 eggs
pepper, salt
optional: feta cheese to sprinkle on top when you add the eggs

Chop an onion and saute it, with minced garlic, in olive oil in a large deep fry pan over medium heat.  Make sure it has a cover, which you will need.

While the onion and garlic and cooking, chop up a lot of kale.  (Spinach would work, too.)  Add it to the pan, and let it cook down.  If you have fresh tomatoes, chop and add them, as well.  Season with salt and pepper.  After about 5 to 10 minutes, they will have cooked down to a dense consistency. Crack 4 to 6 eggs, one at a time , and drop each on top of the mixture.  Cover and poach the eggs. [a sprinkle of feta cheese would be good at this point.]  This takes just a few minutes, and you can turn the heat off for most of it.

It is a great brunch dish, and or lovely for a light dinner.  We used eggs from the Rosens' coop, quite a treat.

Carrot Ring

Carrot ring makes for a very elegant presentation, especially for a vegetarian meal when nothing is quite the star. A carrot ring is only maybe an inch or two high - this picture creates an illusion of it being much larger. First ingredient is a silver tray or other serious serving dish.

This is a Midwestern dish from the post-war era.  It is essentially a carrot bread baked in a ring mold.  I have always used margarine so it's parve but you could certainly use butter for a dairy entree.  My mother liked to make it for holidays and an occasional Friday night dinner.  Molds are always a little temperamental, but fun.

First, grease a ring mold well - spray with oil, and then use the leftover margarine on the wrapper to schmear it some more.  This is what makes it cooperative when you unmold it.

Now you can probably, come to think of it, buy a non-stick ring mold!

1 stick margarine (or butter) - 8 oz
½ c. brown sugar
2 to 3 large carrots, shredded (~ 1 cup)
1 egg
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. water
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
½ t. baking power
½ c. whole wheat flour
¾ c. white flour
½ t. soda
Frozen peas (yes, frozen peas.  Also good for Indian dishes, and icing sore muscles!)

It is usually easiest to shred the carrots by hand.  It is not that much work and in my experience, in the food processor there are often large chunks of carrot that don't process.

In a large bowl, cream the margarine by hand or with a hand mixer.
Add sugar and egg.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Place in tablespoons or spatula full clumps in the ring mold, so that it is evenly filled.

Bake at 275° or 300° for about an hour. Cook the peas in a covered sauce pan for 5 or 10 minutes.
Gently, with knife, loosen the carrot ring edges.  Place the serving tray over the mold and then invert it, tapping out the mold.  Serve with the drained peas in the center.
 Hope it worked for you!

Tsimess

I haven't made this tsimess for a long time, but it is a particularly good recipe.  I now have most of my favorites up on this blog and decided adding this one would be a good way to make sure I don't lose this recipe which was from the Teaneck Sisterhood Cookbook back in the day.  The spices are lovely - sometimes you can find them pre-mixed, called Pumpkin Pie Spices.

Basically any combination of carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, and some OJ would make a good tsimess.  It is a very flexible dish.  I modified this one by adding a can of pumpkin, which thickens it and is extremely nutritious.

1 lb. peeled, sliced carrots or frozen serrated carrots
2 peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
1 can pumpkin
3 T. margarine (or butter, if it's dairy)
1 c. water
½ c. honey
2 T. brown sugar
½ t. ginger
½ t. nutmeg
½ t. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
2 T lemon juice or one fresh lemon's juice

Mix all the ingredients in a large covered ovenproof pan.  Cook at 350 for 2 hours.

Pesto & Friends

gvelling celebrants: Emily, Sam, Tricia, Anna, Nomi, Charlotte at 6622

I can share the recipe for pesto.  You do not need the recipe for friends!

Fresh basil and tomatoes from the garden

Pesto is more of a technique than a recipe.  "Pesto" is related to pestle, to grind or crush.

Fresh basil
garlic, minced
grated Parmesan cheese
nuts: pine nuts or walnuts
olive oil
water, if needed

Rinse the basil, and tear of the leaves.  Put it in a food processor with chopped garlic and add a little oil and water.  Process until  puréed .  Gradually add the nuts and grated cheese until it creates a dense paste.  Add more oil, or water, or a combination if it is too solid.

This is great over pasta, of course, but also a nice spread with crackers, or with a wonderful vegetable like red pepper slices.

 

Rachel Falkove's Fruit Soup

In summer start to crave this cool, frothy soup.  It is way easy.  Abba and I once had a similar breakfast soup at Grossingers, a classic borscht belt hotel.  Grandma Fritzie and Grandpa Sam stayed there once and talked about it for years.  It was famous for its quantity of food, and you could keep ordering things to try from the menu and the waiters kept bringing anything you wanted without having to pay anything additional.  Now it seems wasteful, but that was a generation who had been through the Depression and World War II and it felt like Olam Haba.

This is a half recipe of Rachel's version, to fit in a blender.  You can use the measurement on the blender and save a measuring cup.

2 c. orange/pineapple juice (or plain OJ)
1½ c. buttermilk (lowfat is fine)
½ c. sour cream or yogurt
1½ c. fresh fruit - berries or any chopped fruit you like (blueberries, raspberries, peaches ...)
½ t. agave or honey
Mint for flavor
Mint for garnish

1. Blend all ingredients EXCEPT FRUIT.  A blender works best, but you could do it with a whisk in a soup tureen.
2. Chop fruit into small pieces.  You can add when you prepare, or when you serve.
3. Chill.
4. Garnish with mint.