Around the Shabbat Table (19 page)

COOK'S NOTE:
For a less rustic, more cheesecake-like texture, pass the cottage cheese through a fine-mesh strainer before combining it with the other ingredients.

CLASSIC NOODLE KUGEL

yield:
12 TO 16 SERVINGS

My cousins Sheila and Sheldon Lebowitz's delectable classic noodle kugel is crunchy with a cinnamon-sugared cornflake crust. It's a surefire crowd-pleaser with all generations.

FOR THE KUGEL

1 pound medium or wide flat egg noodles (not the twisted spiral kind, which won't absorb as much of the liquids and flavoring)

Salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus additional for greasing the pan

8 ounces cream cheese, cut into bits and softened

1
¹
⁄
₂
cups sugar

5 large eggs

2 cups sour cream

1
¹
⁄
₂
cups milk

1 pound small-curd creamed cottage cheese (2 cups)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

FOR THE TOPPING

2 cups cornflakes

¹
⁄
₄
cup packed brown sugar

1
¹
⁄
₂
to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

PREHEAT
the oven to 450°F.

IN
a large pot, cook the noodles in 6 quarts lightly salted boiling water until just tender. Drain, return to the pot, and toss with about 4 tablespoons of the butter.

IN
a very large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and the remaining butter. Beat on low speed until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, the sour cream, milk, cottage cheese, vanilla, and a generous pinch of salt. Fold in the noodles and combine well.

GENEROUSLY
butter the bottom and sides of a 14 by 11-inch baking pan. Turn the noodle mixture into the pan and smooth it evenly.

MAKE
the topping: Put the cornflakes in a large bowl and crush them coarsely using your fingers (or place them in a heavy plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin). Stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon to taste and combine well. Strew the crumbs evenly over the kugel.

BAKE
the kugel for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking for 1 hour, or until it feels firm, a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, and the sides of the kugel pull away from the pan slightly.

LET
the kugel cool on a rack until set. It is best served warm (reheat if necessary) and also good at room temperature; don't present it refrigerator-cold.

COOK'S NOTE:
Sheila and Shelly often add an additional 8 ounces of noodles (a total of two 12-ounce packages) for a more substantial kugel.

Any—or all—of the following make delicious embellishments: 1 cup dried fruit (such as black or golden raisins, tart dried cherries or cranberries; if the fruit is very dry, plump first in hot tap water, then drain), 1 cup pecans, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped, or 2 cups apple or pear chunks, sautéed with brown sugar and cinnamon until tender.

OLIVE OIL SCHMALTZ

POULTRY SCHMALTZ

CHICKEN SOUP WITH ASPARAGUS AND SHIITAKES, SERVED WITH ROASTED FENNEL MATZOH BALLS

MISHMASH KREPLACH (BEEF, POTATO, AND FRIED ONION KREPLACH)

CHICKPEAS WITH GARLIC AND BARBEQUE SPICES

BEEF STOCK

VEGETABLE STOCK

OLIVE OIL SCHMALTZ

yield:
ABOUT
²
⁄
₃
CUP

2 cups finely chopped onions

³
⁄
₄
teaspoon salt

¹
⁄
₄
cup olive oil

IN
a strainer, toss the onions with the salt. Cover them with a paper towel and weight down with a bowl or plate topped with a heavy object like a large can of tomatoes. Let the onions drain for at least 30 minutes, tossing them occasionally. Place the onions in fresh paper toweling or a clean kitchen towel, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

WARM
the oil in an 8- or 9-inch heavy skillet. Add the onions and cook, uncovered, over the very lowest heat. As their moisture evaporates, the onions will shrink considerably and the ever-deepening gold oil will appear to increase. Stir occasionally, spreading the onions out in the skillet and making sure that they do not stick or color past gold. After cooking for 60 to 75 minutes, they should be very soft and have exuded most of their liquid. Let the mixture cool slightly, then scrape all the onions and oil into a blender (a food processor won't work well here).

BLEND
to emulsify the ingredients, stopping to scrape down the contents when necessary. Continue blending until you have a smooth, rich puree.

STORE
tightly covered in the refrigerator. It will thicken and become more schmaltz-like when chilled. It will keep for at least 3 to 5 days.

POULTRY SCHMALTZ

yield:
ABOUT 1 CUP

SAVE
bits of fat and skin from chickens, ducks, and geese in the freezer until you have about 2 cups fat and a little skin. Trim away any poultry meat clinging to the fat or skin. Cut into small pieces and place in a heavy saucepan. Add about
¹
⁄
₂
cup water, turn heat to the lowest simmer, and cook slowly, uncovered, until the fat melts and the water is evaporated, 30 to 40 minutes. Add about
¹
⁄
₂
cup finely chopped yellow onion and continue cooking, stirring every once in a while, until the onion and poultry skin
(griebenes)
have become crisp and golden brown (do not let them get too dark or they will taste burnt and bitter). This can take up to 2 hours or more of unattended time, so you might want to double the recipe when you prepare it. (I usually do it when I am performing other slow-moving kitchen chores like making soup or baking.) Strain the fat through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass jar, tamping down on the
griebenes
to extract all the flavorful fat. Store the schmaltz and
griebenes
separately, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

ADD
the griebenes to chopped liver, chopped eggs and onions, and all potato dishes: kugels, blintzes, latkes, potato matzoh balls, or mashed potatoes. They would make a glorious substitute for bacon in a kosher BLT.

MATZOH

Plain matzoh is pure and elemental, wheaty-tasting without the spongy, yeasty quality of bread or the flavorings or additives of crackers, and is an ideal substitute for these starches in recipes. I use matzoh not only in Passover recipes, but also year-round, for matzoh brie, in some stuffings and kugels, and to make home-ground matzoh crumbs for crunchy coatings.

Why grind your own matzoh when perfectly acceptable matzoh meal is available in most supermarkets? Packaged matzoh meal is very finely ground, perfect for fluffy matzoh balls, meat loaf, latkes, and most kugels. But if you want a coarse, crumbly topping, particularly one combined with butter or oil and toasted until golden and crunchy, you need to grind your own. And for crumb coatings, I find the texture and flavor are superior when the crumbs are not ground uniformly. Also, there are times when fresh matzoh meal is not available, when you know that matzoh meal has been sitting on the grocer's shelf—or yours—for far too long.

Then there are the flavored matzoh, especially egg matzoh: terrific, but unavailable ground unless you do it yourself.

TO MAKE MATZOH CRUMBS AND HOMEMADE MATZOH MEAL: Whirl small pieces of matzoh in a blender or food processor using the pulse motion until the desired texture is achieved. Or place in a resealable plastic bag and use a rolling pin or your hands to crush the matzoh. A medium grind with a slightly uneven texture is best for crumb coatings. Blend to the texture of sand for matzoh meal with a powdery consistency (and, if necessary, rub the fine crumbs through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any remaining coarse pieces).

TO TOAST MATZOH CRUMBS OR MATZOH MEAL: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a baking pan, melt some butter, warm a little olive oil, or use a combination of both. Add matzoh crumbs or meal, season to taste with salt and pepper, toss to combine, and spread out in an even layer. Toast in the oven until fragrant and golden, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every once in a while to redistribute the oil and prevent burning. Stir in other seasonings, if you'd like: spices and herbs (such as paprika, cumin, rosemary, or thyme), minced garlic, and grated cheese (2 to 3 tablespoons of Parmesan, hard Cheddar, or other well-flavored variety for every cup of matzoh crumbs or meal).

FLAVORED MATZOH (INCLUDING EGG, WHOLE WHEAT, AND EGG AND ONION, ETC.): Check the ingredients on the package. Some contain zesty -seasonings like onion or garlic and are excellent served as crackers or used in cooking as flavorful crumbs or savory stuffing. Whole-wheat matzoh is wonderful in Toasted Sesame-Cumin Matzohs (recipe follows). Egg matzoh, made simply of flour, egg yolks, and apple cider, is superb as a cracker (divine with cream cheese) or in matzoh brie. And it makes delicious crumbs—the slight sweetness from the cider provides an almost caramelized edge to the crumbs when they are toasted or fried.

But other flavored matzohs contain positively bizarre or inappropriate ingredients, like malt, rye, white and brown sugar, as well as additives and preservatives. So read the labels carefully.

AVAILABILITY AND STORAGE: Plain and several flavored kinds are available year-round in most supermarkets. (Although during Passover many Jews enjoy flavored matzoh, like the egg and whole-wheat varieties, which have been produced under stringent rabbinic supervision; strictly Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews eat only plain matzoh on Passover, reserving the flavored kinds for the rest of the year.)

Egg matzoh can usually be found for only a couple of months close to Passover. It sells out quickly and manufacturers often don't make more until the next season. I buy several extra boxes when I find them and store them for later use.

Matzoh meal can usually be purchased year-round. In January or February, freshly produced matzoh meal for Passover makes its appearance in supermarkets. But if you find a box in December stamped for Passover use, it's probably almost a year old and you might consider grinding your own from fresh matzoh.

Although matzoh and matzoh meal are generally not made with added oil (some flavored varieties might be), there is, of course, oil in the flour itself, which can turn rancid and musty after prolonged exposure to air. And moisture can make matzoh soggy. As with preservative-free crackers and bread crumbs, both matzoh and matzoh meal must be well wrapped to keep them from going stale. Unless you will be using up an opened box of matzoh within three or four days (fewer in very humid areas), it's a good idea to store the matzoh in an airtight plastic container or resealable plastic bag instead of the cardboard box it comes in. Don't leave a box of matzoh meal in the pantry, its perforation seal pushed open and left yawning. Keep it tightly closed in an airtight glass jar or plastic container, or purchase matzoh meal in the recently available special cylinders with a resealable plastic top. Store in the refrigerator, especially if it is not used on a regular basis. And if you trot out that same box of meal for two or three short appearances a year, consider keeping it in the freezer.

Let your nose be your guide in determining freshness: like crackers, matzoh and matzoh meal should smell fresh and wheaty. Discard any that smell musty or stale. If matzohs have become soggy, you can recrisp them in the oven at 350°F for a few minutes. And read the Passover section about toasting matzoh for superb, fresh-from-the-oven flavor.

WONTON WRAPPERS

When I first began buying wonton wrappers in New York City's Chinatown, I noticed a kosher seal on several brands. Apparently, using paper-thin wonton wrappers to make kreplach was not a novel idea.

But it is a delicious one, an elegant, easy, inexpensive timesaver. And even if I had time enough to make my own dough, I doubt it would turn out as delicate and thin as these egg-enriched little pasta squares.

If you can't find wonton wrappers in Asian stores, look for them in health-food and specialty stores and most supermarkets (often they are kept in the refrigerated section of the produce department). The non-Asian ones may be somewhat thicker and less delicate, but they too will work well as kreplach wrappers.

TO PREPARE WONTON KREPLACH:
Thaw wonton wrappers, if frozen, and bring to room temperature. These fragile little squares dry out easily, so keep them covered with plastic wrap or a slightly dampened kitchen towel. Remove wrappers as needed, leaving the rest covered to prevent cracking and drying.

Prepare an egg wash: in a small bowl, beat an egg with 1 teaspoon water. (You can use plain water to seal the kreplach, but the egg creates a more permanent “glue.”)

Put a wrapper on a lightly floured surface. Mound 1 heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper. Dip your finger in the egg wash and “paint” the edges all around the filling. Or use a small pastry brush to paint. Fold the
krepl
(singular of kreplach) into a triangle by pulling one corner of the square over to the opposite corner. Carefully press down all around the filling to force out all the air and seal the edges firmly. It's important to push out the air, otherwise the krepl may fill up with water as it is being poached. Trim away any excess dough around the filling with a sharp knife, or curl the two opposite corners together, dab with egg wash, and pinch tightly closed.

You can also make larger kreplach. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of filling in the center of a wrapper, paint the edges with egg wash, and cover with a second wrapper. Press out air, seal, and trim. Or trim off the excess dough using cookie cutters in fanciful shapes—great fun to do with children.

Place filled kreplach on a dry kitchen towel and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rest for 15 to 20 minutes so the egg wash seal can dry (turn them occasionally).

To poach, bring a large, wide pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Add the kreplach, in batches as necessary, and cook for 3 to 7 minutes, depending on the brand of wrapper you are using, until they float to the surface and are tender. Never let the kreplach boil rapidly: they will fill with water or explode, or both! And don't try to save time by cooking the kreplach in broth—inevitably one will rupture and ruin your broth.

Use a skimmer to transfer the kreplach as they are done to a dry kitchen towel or paper towels to drain briefly. They are too fragile to be dumped into a colander. If you aren't serving them soon, moisten them with a little broth, sauce, butter, or oil, and keep them warm until needed.

After they are poached, kreplach can be served in soup, or sautéed or baked with butter or oil. For an unusual preparation, make them pot sticker–style.

I find it easier to stuff kreplach with a filling that has been chilled: it is firmer and less runny. Use the fillings in this book to start, then improvise some of your own. Try the cheese blintz filling and its savory variation—or any of the fruit blintz fillings. Ground liver works well as does mashed chickpeas or pumpkin sauced with yogurt cream, crushed garlic, mint, and olive oil. And don't forget your refrigerator full of leftovers.