My thoughts on Jewish food.
Real kishke is delicious. But no one wants to deal with cleaning an intestine to use as a casing. Instead, the modern cook gets creative and improvises a casing. Some use a cooking bag, others use aluminum foil, and then there are those of us who make do with parchment paper. None of them match …
Now that the Jewish high holidays are over, we can breathe a sigh of relief. The cooking marathon is over. Alas, our freezers are empty and we have nothing to serve our guests and grandchildren when they come to visit. Enter nut roll cakes to the rescue. The cake rolls aren’t difficult to make, and …
Rosh Hashana is all about apples and hey, why not? It’s apple season. While we are sad to say goodbye to summer fruit, we are happy to welcome this new friend, which pairs so well with cinnamon. This kugel calls for a full tablespoon of this warm spice, so it is really for cinnamon lovers. …
Cholent, that rib-sticking Jewish Sabbath stew with its beef, barley, and beans, and overnight cooking, is the central focus of an old joke. A priest complains to a rabbi about his incessant insomnia. The rabbi says, “I have the perfect remedy: cholent. Eat it and you’ll sleep like a baby!” The rabbi gives the priest …
One of my children has remarked that one only likes matzoh balls the way that Mom makes ‘em. That is to say, if Mom makes sinkers, you like sinkers. If Mom made ‘em light as a cloud, that’s bound to be your preference. This is a marital conflict in the making. Because you’re making matzoh …
With Rosh Hashana around the corner, canny chefs prepare dishes that can freeze to relieve some of the pressure of cooking for so many festive meals for so many people. Meat freezes very well, so it’s a good choice for this purpose. And while some people like fancy shmancy food at the holidays, others are …
Remember that series of books? Windows for Dummies, and etc.? Someone needs to do that for cooking, especially since we just came out of Shabbos followed by a two-day holiday. Cooking for 3 days?? On top of work and caring for children????? Yikes. So yeah. We need a break from all that cooking. We’re BURNT. …
With all that heavy matzoh at the Passover seder, it’s nice to think of lightening things up by using something other than matzoh balls in the chicken soup. To that end, here’s a recipe for soup noodles made with potato starch instead of flour. The method couldn’t be simpler: you make a batter, cook it …
People panic too much over cooking for Passover and that’s the truth. There is no reason one must cook any differently than during the year, for the most part. Roast chicken and potatoes, for instance, is just as suitable for Passover as it is year round. But it seems that people think they must do …
Boiled chickpeas seasoned with salt and pepper are traditional in the Ashkenazi kitchen for Purim. This custom reminds us that Esther, forced to live in King Ahashuerus’ palace, according to tradition ate nothing but legumes, in order to remain kosher. Chickpeas are fun to eat plain, but why not try a spicier rendition this year, …