Poached Gefilte Fish

Gefilte fish, literally "stuffed fish," used to be like a fish mousse cooked in the fish skin. Today, gefilte fish is known as balls of processed freshwater fish (whitefish, carp, pike) vacuum-packed in gelatinous goo. You can easily the stuff right out of the jar, but poaching it makes gefilte fish a little sweeter and less fishy.

Although I credit my favorite aunt with this recipe, it was really inspired by my mother and grandmother.

1 64-oz. jar gefilte fish, packed in jelly
2 small onions, peeled and quartered
2-3 carrots, peeled, and sliced in 1/4" circles.

1. Remove fish from jar and set aside.
2. Pour fish jelly into a 6-quart stockpot. Add onions and sliced carrots. Bring the jelly to a simmer, not a rolling boil.
3. Add the fish balls to the pot. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove fish from pot and chill on plates or platters.
4. When the fish is completely cool, serve each fish ball on a lettuce leaf and top with a slice of cooked carrot.

Note: Poached gefilte fish is best made in advance and chilled in the refrigerator, so you can serve it cold. To store the fish, place the poached fish balls back into their original jar. Remove the carrots from the poaching liquid and store separately. Cover the fish balls with the poaching liquid. Seal tightly and store.

Sephardic Charoset

Charoset, a mixture of chopped fruits and nuts, symbolized the mortar used by the Israelite slaves in Egypt. Recipes vary greatly, depending on the family's country of origin. My family is decidedly Ashkenazi (Eastern European), but Sephardic (Mediterranean and Asian) flavors really perk up otherwise bland Passover food. You can use this condiment like a chutney, and it would be good with roasted meat – lamb – or poultry.

2 Fuji apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
2/3 cup Mission figs (6 oz.)
2/3 dried apricots (6 oz.)
2/3 cup golden raisins (6 oz.)
1 1/3 cups walnuts, finely chopped, toasted and cooled
1/4 cup sweet red wine (sweet Passover wines are good to use)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Place the apples in a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the figs, apricots, raisins and pulse all until finely chopped.
   
2. Transfer fruit mixture to a bowl. Add walnuts and wine and mix well. Sprinkle cinnamon and ginger over top and mix again well.

Makes about 3 cups. Can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

Roasted Vegetables With Balsamic Vinaigrette

The original recipe appeared on Gourmet's website and included endive. Blech! While I mostly like endive, it was a bitter and disharmonious addition to this recipe. That's why I adjusted things and made it my own.

1 medium eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1/4" circles
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. zucchini, washed, dried, and cut on an angle into 1/4" circles
2 large red onions, sliced into 1/4" circles
2 medium red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into 1" squares
2 medium yellow peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into 1" squares
1 lb. yellow squash, washed, dried, and cut on an angle into 1/4" circles
salt and pepper to taste

Special equipment: 2 jumbo zipper bags (2-gallon), 2 large baking sheets, wire whisk

1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
2. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. Divide the eggplant, zucchini, red onions, peppers, and squash between 2 2-gallon zipper bags. Pour 1/3 of the vinaigrette into each bag and seal. Gently toss the vegetables in the vinaigrette until well-coated. Pull out the eggplant circles and lay some in a single layer in each pan; add one bag of vegetables to each pan and distribute evenly.
4. Place one baking sheet on the bottom oven rack and the other on the middle oven rack. Roast the vegetables for 10 minutes and remove them from the oven. Turn all the vegetables, including the eggplant slices, and return the pans to the oven. Make sure you swap the top pan for the bottom and vice versa (rotate shelves). Roast the vegetables for another 10 minutes and set them aside to cool. Season each tray of vegetables with salt and pepper to taste. The vegetables should still have a crisp bite to them when they are done.
   
5. Once the vegetables are cool, arrange them on serving platters and drizzle them with the remaining vinaigrette. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Braised Brisket

My recipe is adapted from one by David Rosengarten. His key idea was to use a Kobe (Wagyu) beef brisket. While Kobe beef tends to be expensive, the lesser cuts and grades, like chuck and brisket, are only a dollar or two more per pound than regular beef. The difference in the final product is amazing.

6 tablespoons simple olive oil or vegetable oil
3 lbs. onions, peeled and sliced evenly
4 teaspoons sweet paprika
8 tablespoons flour
One whole Wagyu brisket (first-cut), approx. 5 lbs.
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes
4 cups rich beef broth at room temperature
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper

1. Place 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or sauté pan over high heat. When it’s hot, add half the onions, and cook them until they are nicely browned, just short of burned, and still a little crunchy. Don’t stir them until the brownness starts to take, then stir occasionally. The whole process may take 5-8 minutes. Remove and reserve. Repeat with remaining half of onions. Remove onions and combine with cooked and reserved onions. Stir in 2 teaspoons of paprika evenly. Reserve.
2. Season the brisket well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Coat evenly with 6 tablespoons of the flour. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan you used for the onions. Place over high heat. When it’s hot, add the beef. Sear well on all sides until the beef is brown-black; this should take about 5 minutes per side. Remove beef, and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 teaspoons of paprika.
3. Pre-heat oven to 300ºF.
4. Select a large pan for braising the beef. Spread the reserved onions out in the bottom of the pan, making a bed that’s about the size of the beef. Spread the crushed tomatoes over the onions. Place the beef on the onion-tomato bed.
5. Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour in a mixing bowl. Slowly blend in the beef stock, adding just a few tablespoons of stock at first to make a thick slurry. Then beat in the rest of the stock quickly. After you’ve made sure the flour is blended, pour the stock over and around the beef. The size of your pan will determine the depth of the stock in the pan; an ideal depth is anywhere from 1/4 way to 1/2 way up the side of the beef.
6. Cover the pan very tightly with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Baste beef occasionally (once an hour or so) with braising liquid. Cook until beef is very tender; this may take 4-5 hours.
7. When the brisket is tender, remove it from pan, and let rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile, skim as much fat from the gravy as possible. You may strain the onions out, but I prefer to keep them in. Cut the beef, against the grain, into slices that are about 1/4” thick. Cover meat with gravy and serve.
   

NOTE: I did not baste this brisket hourly. I basted it once after about 2 hours. Brisket in a tightly sealed pan will not require so much basting.

Hamentaschen

It's time for Purim here, and the wild boys are expecting lots and lots of hamentaschen. Hamentaschen are traditional Ashekenazic Jewish cookies usually eaten at Purim. Purim is a Jewish holiday, a feast, celebrating the deliverance of the Persian Jews from Haman's plot to kill them all. We read the Book of Esther, give mutual gifts of food and drink, give charity to the poor, and generally whoop it up and have a good time.

Hamentaschen are triangular cookies traditionally filled with fruit. They can also be filled with nuts, chocolate or cheese. "Hamentaschen" is a Yiddish word roughly translated as "Haman's pockets"; in modern Israel these cookies are known as oznei Haman, "Haman's ears" (modern Hebrew). Some people make their own fruit filling for these cookies. I do not because I have had success with the canned or jarred fillings I mention below.

The original recipe comes from my Aunt Mary, my favorite aunt. She is a wonderful woman who always has a kind word to say about people. Aunt Mary bakes and freezes hamentaschen all year-round so she always has some ready for my boys. She is a phenomenal cook of traditional Jewish foods, and I am grateful she has shared many of her time-honored and beloved recipes with me. No matter where I go in this world, the tastes of hamentaschen or stuffed cabbage and the smell of brisket bring me back to childhood holidays spent at Aunt Mary and Uncle Ozzie's house. They are indelible.

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
Canned or jarred filling:
Solo® brand poppyseed, apricot, cherry. almond; Lekvar prune butter; Nutella®

Special Equipment: sifter or sieve; pastry blender; zipper bags; rolling pin; parchment paper or silicone baking mats (Silpat®); 4-4.5" round cookie cutter or a clean, empty 28-oz tomato can with both ends removed; cookie sheets; cooling racks

Cook's notes: The dough will work better if you make it in advance and let it chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. If you do not have time to let the dough chill for that long, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Do not double this recipe! I have tried on several occasions and have ended up with a big, unwieldy mess. If you intend to make several batches of cookies, as I always do, make each dough mixture individually.

Make the dough:

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and sugar into a large non-reactive bowl. Cut the butter into the dry mixture using a pastry blender, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.
   
2. In a separate non-reactive bowl, beat 1 egg with the orange juice and vanilla until well-blended. Pour the egg mixture into the well of the dry mixture. Incorporate the dry into the wet with a fork until blended.
3. Gently squeeze the dough together until it forms a ball. Easier said than done: it will take a couple minutes to squeeze and incorporate all the solids together. If your mixture seems a little dry, add another tablespoon of orange juice. If the mixture seems a little wet, add a little more flour. You're looking for the dough to just come together but not be sticky or crumbly. (This is the hardest step.) Place the ball of dough into a zipper bag. Squeeze out all the air and gently flatten the dough into a disk. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Make the cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line each cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a small dish, mix together 1 egg with a couple tablespoons of water to make an egg wash.
   
2. Dust your work surface with flour. Dust your rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough until it's about 1/8-inch thick. Add more flour, a little at a time, if the dough is soft and sticky.
3. Use the cookie cutter or can to cut out large circles. Place each circle on the lined cookie sheet. You can fit 6-8 circles on one pan.
4. Put one generous tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle. Dip your forefinger in the egg wash and trace the edge of the circle of dough. Pull up the rounded edges of the dough and pinch together to form a triangle pastry; leave a small opening in the center of each cookie so you can see the filling. Pinch each seam together well, otherwise it will burst open in the oven.
5. Bake at 350ºF in the center of the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the cookies are light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Stored in a covered container, the hamentaschen will keep for several days.

Makes 8-10 large hamentaschen. This is an easy recipe to make with and for children, and I encourage you to do so. My boys anxiously await Purim every year so they can "help" me make hamentaschen. Thank you, Aunt Mary, for the legacy.

Crunchy Chicken

When I was a younger mother and cook, I devised my own recipe for chicken like "Shake & Bake". This is my middle son's favorite dish, and we had it for dinner tonight. These measurements are an approximation because this dish is so old-hat for me. Also, this is not for the cholesterol-watchers because the crunchy skin is so delicious.

6 chicken leg quarters
5 eggs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
2 cups unseasoned breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Special equipment: 2 one-gallon zipper bags

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a large baking pan with aluminum foil. If the chicken legs are particularly fatty, place a flat rack or broiling rack in the baking pan and cover the rack with foil; poke holes in the foiled rack for the fat to drip through.
2. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Beat rapidly with a fork or whisk. Beat in the lemon juice. Pour this mixture into one zipper bag.
3. Pour the breadcrumbs and the rest of the dry ingredients into the other zipper bag. Shake thoroughly to mix the seasonings.
4. Place one chicken leg quarter in the egg bag and seal tightly. Shake or massage the egg mixture to coat the chicken leg. Remove the wet leg to the breadcrumb bag and seal tightly. Shake, shake, shake, shake until the leg is completely coated with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the coated chicken leg in the baking pan, skin-side up.
5. Repeat Step 4 for the remainder of the chicken leg quarters. Space them evenly in the pan so they do not overlap or touch each other, if possible.
6. Bake chicken legs for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crunchy on the outside. You can turn the oven off at this time and let the chicken remain in the cooling oven for another 10-15 minutes for more tender chicken and less fatty skin.

Serves 6 adults.

Tortellini Bolognese

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 lbs ground veal
3/4 cup red wine
2 24-ounce jars of your favorite marinara sauce (I like Mom's or Rao's.)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch sugar
2 20-ounce packages fresh or frozen cheese-filled tortellini, such as Buitoni (family size)

1. Fill a pasta pot with water and bring to a boil. Add some salt to the boiling water. Cook pasta for the minimum time given on the directions.
   
2. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Add butter and olive oil and swirl to coat. Add garlic and sauté until soft but not brown. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery. Cover and cook 3-5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.
3. Crumble ground veal into the vegetable mixture. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until meat is no longer pink. Drain this mixture.
4. Stir in wine, one jar of marinara sauce plus another 1/2 jar of marinara sauce, salt, pepper and sugar. Cover and cook 5 minutes on medium-low heat, until thoroughly heated, then turn heat to low.
5. Pasta should be finished cooking. Drain the pasta but reserve 1 cup of the cooking water to rehydrate it, if needed.
6. If the bolognese sauce is ready when the pasta is finished cooking, spoon some drained tortellini into a bowl. Add 1-2 small ladles of bolognese sauce over the pasta and serve. There will be bolognese sauce left over.

Serves 6 adults, with leftovers of pasta and bolognese sauce.