Beyond Blissful Brisket (Mmm!)

June 19, 2016

Author: Lisa Needel

Ingredients:

Brisket (1st or 2nd cut)

1 cup soyvay

1 cup ketchup

4 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 small can of crushed tomatoes

4 cups beef broth

Enough water to cover brisket

Preparation:

Mix all liquid ingredients together

Put brisket in roasting pant

Pour liquid mixture over to cover briske

Bake covered at 325 degrees for 3-4 hours depending on pounds

Let cool and slice

Put back in liquid and let cook for 1 hour

Grandma Guzzie’s Pickled Beets

June 19, 2016

Author: Jamie Tzioumis

Grandma Guzzie always had this on her stove. Warm pickled beets make me think of hours in the kitchen with her.

Ingredients:

Beets

3 cups apple cider vinegar

1 cup orange juice and orange zest

1 tbs peppercorn

1 tsp cloves

1 cup kosher salt

1 bay leaf

½ tsp whole mustard seed

1 cup water

Preparation:

Place pickling spices and liquids in pot to boil.

Peel beets, slice, and poach in boiling liquid until tender

Take beets out and cool liquid

Place in jar or eat warm because YUM

Egg Noodles

June 19, 2016

Author: Ellie Austin

My food story is as rich and mixed as my family heritage. My paternal grandmother came from Nanjing China. She liked to cook all things Chinese: eggrolls, noodles, noodle soup, and meat stew. My paternal grandfather was an Italian- American. He liked Italian cuisine like pasta, calzones, meatballs, and red wine. My mom’s family is of Scottish, English, and Native-American descent. They came to NYC from New England. My mom is a good cook. She makes some of the tastiest meals from beef, lamb, and venison. On major holidays or table is full of food from all different parts of the world.

Ingredients:

Flour

Water

Milk

Eggs

Salt

Butter

Pepper cheese

Preparation:

Mix flour, water, milk, eggs, and add salt

Knead, roll, and pull the dough as long as you can. (Long noodles symbolize long life.)

Cook in boiling water for 20 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, cheese, and butter to taste.

Vegetarian Chopped Liver

June 19, 2016

Author: Yvette Schlussel

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, sliced and salted

2 hard boiled eggs

1 onion, sliced and salted

½ cup walnuts sauteed

½ tsp salt or soy sauce to taste

Preparation:

Saute eggplant, add onions and walnuts.

Coarsely grind in food processor

Mix in 2 hardboiled eggs

Serve on toast or crackers

Howard Jacks

August 15, 2012

Author: David Sax

First printed in the NYTimes Magazine, August 12, 2012.

On Friday afternoons, my father-in-law, Howard Jack Malach, would leave work early and drive across town to Grodzinski, a kosher bakery, before it closed for Shabbat, all for the sake of the babka. Yes, there were closer bakeries with their own babkas in this corner of Toronto’s Jewish suburbs, but to Howard, Grodzinski’s babka was king — a dense, perfectly moist loaf with veins of dark, sugary chocolate.

At home, Howard would set it on the counter (where his wife, Fran, would inevitably tear a chunk off), slicing the loaf for the kids at the end of dinner. The next morning, he’d reheat the leftovers until the chocolate melted, then dunk sticky slices into his coffee. Three years ago, Howard’s prostate cancer, dormant for a decade, metastasized in his bones. As his appetite disappeared, he shed weight at a terrifying pace. The doctor prescribed hormone blockers as a temporary solution, and when the cancer retreated, Howard switched to a raw vegan diet prescribed by a naturopath. This was tough for me. In the few years I’d known Howard, food was our strongest thread. We bonded over smoked-meat sandwiches and hamburgers, sausages and doughnuts. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t feign appreciation for freshly pressed almond milk and cold pizza with walnut crust and cashew chèvre. Some months later, when Howard was in Florida, the cancer began its final assault.

The family pushed for more kale salads and wheatgrass shots, but I encouraged Howard to eat whatever he desired. Each meatball that I sneaked onto his plate not only brought him joy; it also brought us closer. One night I gave a talk at a Jewish delicatessen in West Palm Beach. Howard had taken his cooler of sprout salads, but when the buffet opened up, he led the charge, elbowing past Florida’s aggressive early birds to load his plate with pastrami, corned beef, coleslaw, pickles and potato salad. I managed to snap a photograph of him tearing into a sandwich, but I wish I’d recorded the sigh of pleasure that followed it. As we drove back to the condominium together, I sensed something different between us. Howard opened up about things I’d never heard him discuss with anyone: work, money, death, his hopes for his kids’ futures. Walking on the beach the next morning, he told me for the first time that he loved me like a son. A week later he returned home, and a week after that he had an operation.

After a few days in intensive care, the doctor said he could eat anything, and I asked Howard what he wanted. I brought him cheeseburgers, milkshakes and smoked-turkey sandwiches from his favorite restaurants, finishing whatever he couldn’t. When his tumor grew and he couldn’t swallow, he asked me to keep bringing food, so he could smell it. “Just a schmeck,” he’d say, inhaling deeply to capture the aroma of a lamb kebab, then groaning in nostalgic approval. Eventually our routine was reduced to Vernors ginger ale, which we dabbed on his lips with a small sponge, one drop at a time. One Friday afternoon, I stopped at Grodzinski on the way up to the house, where Howard was now under palliative care, to buy a babka. The family rushed through a teary dinner, and at dawn, the nurse woke us up and took us into his room. “It won’t be long,” she said, her stethoscope to his chest. Standing around the bed — singing, praying, crying — we witnessed Howard’s last breath.

Eventually I left the room and began making phone calls. It was Shabbat, which meant Howard’s body couldn’t be retrieved by the funeral home until sundown. We stayed with him in shifts, but by 9, hunger overtook grief, and I found myself in the kitchen, making French toast. My brother-in-law Evan came up beside me. “You should make it with that,” he said, pointing at the babka we’d forgotten to serve the night before. I sliced the loaf, soaked the pieces in egg and fried them in bubbling butter. The air filled with chocolate and cinnamon and caramel, as the sugars glazed into a shiny crust. Evan and Howard’s brother Stephen grabbed the slices straight from the pan, moaning in approval as the melted chocolate filled their mouths. “What should we call it?” I asked Evan. His face was streaked with dried tears, but he smiled as he savored this impromptu tribute to the man who lay above our heads. “Let’s call it a Howard Jack,” he said.

Ingredients:

1 Babka choclate or cinnamon

5 Eggs

1/4 cup(s) milk

4 Tablespoons butter

Preparation:

Slice babka into 1 inch thick pieces.

Beat eggs with milk until uniform

Melt butter in a large saucepan on medium heat

Dunk babka pieces in egg wash until coated, then cook them in pan, about 4 mins a side, until just crisp.

Be careful not to turn the heat too high, or leave the babka pieces on too long, lest they burn.

Serve with maple syrup, whipped cream, berries, or just on their own.

 

 

 

 

Raspberry Rugelach

August 23, 2012

Author: Bubbie

 

 

Ingredients:

Dough

7 Ounces butter

8 Ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

2 Cup(s)s all-purpose flour

Raspberry Filling

3/4 cup White Sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1 tablespoon milk

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add sugar and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Add flour and mix lightly. Refrigerate dough for an hour or more.

1. In medium bowl, with spoon, stir walnuts, apricots, brown sugar, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon until well mixed.

2. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of chilled dough into a 9-inch round, keeping remaining dough refrigerated. Spread dough with 2 tablespoons raspberry preserves. Sprinkle with about 1/2 cup apricot filling; gently press filling onto dough. With pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut dough into 12 equal wedges. Starting at curved edge, roll up each wedge, jelly-roll fashion. Place cookies on foil-lined cookie sheet, point-side down, about 1/2 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough, one-fourth at a time.

4. In cup, mix remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. With pastry brush, brush rugelach with milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

 

 

Orange Bundt Cake

August 27, 2012

Author: Joan Lynch

My mother-in-law, Bridie Lynch, emigrated from Ireland in her early twenties and met her husband, Michael, in Chicago. When I met my husband, Jack, I was immediately welcomed into a large, loving Irish family. My mother had died when I was 7 years old and we did not have a large extended family. I enjoyed meeting Jack’s 2 sisters and the many aunts, uncles and cousins who were an important part of their lives. My Bubbie, Bridie, had a good sense of what she could do to help out and make me feel comfortable with my “new family”. She loved our 4 children and welcomed each one enthusiastically.. The Irish were good cooks and they cooked simply. I have included a family cake recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1 cup(s) Sugar

2 1/2 Cup(s)s flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 rinds of oranges

2 eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 cup(s) raisins

1 cup(s) finely chopped walnuts

Sour Milk

1/2 cup(s) canned milk

1/2 cup(s) water

1 teaspoon vinegar

Glaze

2 Oranges

1 cup(s) Sugar

Preparation:

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Combine flour and other dry ingredients and add to sugar mixture

3. Add liquid ingredients and beat well

4. Add raisins and nuts and beat again

5. Put batter in a lightly greased bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

6. Squeeze two ouranges and combine with 1 cup sugar. Pour slowly over cake when you take it out of the oven.

 

 

 

Bursting with Blueberries Tart

September 4, 2012

Author: June Hersh

 

 

This recipe appeared in my first book, Recipes Remembered, a Celebration of Survival. The book contains over 80 remarkable stories and more than 170 authentic recipes that I gathered through personal interviews with Holocaust survivors. This cookbook with a charitable flavor has raised significant proceeds for the Museum of Jewish Heritage, who benefits from every penny I earn from sales. I hope you find the recipe delicious and pick up a copy of the book to share this holiday season so you can Eat Well-Do Good.

Ingredients:

2 Cup(s)s all-purpose flour

1 pinch kosher salt

3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup(s) unsalted cold butter

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

4 Cup(s)s fresh blueberries

1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons all-purpose

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the flour, salt and sugar. cut in the chilled butter. Pulse to form a crumb like consistency. Sprinkle in the vinegar and blend to create a soft dough.

With lightly floured hands, press the dough into a 9×2-inch spring form pan or a 9×1-inch pie pan with a removable bottom. The crust should be 1/4-inch thick all around. Press the dough into the sides of the pan and trim any excess. You might have a little dough remaining. Chill the crust until ready to fill.

In a separate bowl, gently toss the blueberries, sugar, cinnamon and flour. Spoon the filling into the chilled crust and bake on the lower rack at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until the crust is golden brown. Cool the tart before cutting to allow it to set. You can garnish with confectioner’s sugar. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Bubby’s Sugar Cookies

September 14, 2012

Author: Yael Kornfeld

 

My Bubby was a very special individual who had an open door policy and was known in her community for being someone who would happily host anyone traveling through her city. Bubby always had these special sugar cookies ready and available for all of us. Bubby used to sprinkle them with extra sugar on top although I prefer to frost them and decorate them with all different colors. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ cup sugar+2 tbsp

¼ cup margarine

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

Mix it all together and bake for about ten minutes or so.

 



 

Honey Cookies from Argentina

September 27, 2012

Author: JDCEntwine

 

Argentina is home to Latin America’s largest Jewish community. Every year, 20,000 people attend Rosh Hashanah Urbano, a public celebration of the Jewish New Year on the streets of Buenos Aires’ Palermo neighborhood. This recipe is courtesy of the first Jewish settlement in Argentina, Moises Ville. Visit JDC Entwine for pictures from the most recent Inside Jewish Argentina trip. Beyond Bubbie and JDC Entwine are partnering to share recipes from communities served by the JDC around the world.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup(s) sugar

1 cup(s) Honey

1 cup(s) oil

1.5 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ground cloves

As much as it takes flour

Preparation:

Combine the ingredients into compact dough. Grease and flour a medium-size rectangular baking sheet. Divide dough in three parts; take 1 with oiled hands and place on sheet.

Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon, cover with a layer of quince jelly diluted with some other jam or jelly (e.g., orange, lemon, peach, or plum). Repeat this step twice with the two remaining parts of dough, layering them. Finally, oil the top and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon.

Bake approximately 50 minutes in moderate to hot oven.