Extra Schmaltz!

 Well it's been a mere 5 years, two children, and a pandemic since I posted! Part of what has been stopping me (other than life itself) is that I tried to create a standalone blog at extraschmaltz.com instead of Blogger, but I haven't been able to figure out how to get the technology working like I want it to. The Blogger site lacks the features I want, but at least we know how to use it. Alas... Anyway, here is a true family classic that we have somehow never posted: savory egg kugel. It was a staple growing up vegetarian--protein, fat, and carbs. Easy, fast, and filling. 1 bag wide egg noodles 6 eggs 1/2 stick butter, melted salt and pepper Boil the noodles in well salted water. Beat the eggs and melted butter together. Drain the noodles and let them cool a bit before you mix in the eggs so that they don't immediately cook. Stir the egg mixture into the noodles and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray and dump the mixture into...

I'm posting a recipe for challah that I think turned out pretty well. I changed it a little bit the second time I made it, and I think it's better. I added an extra 1/4 c. honey, and another egg (3 eggs total). And remember - nothing is better than fresh challah, except french toast made from fresh challah. Challah, from The Art of Jewish Cooking, by Jennie Grossinger 1 cake or package yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water 4 1/2 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 eggs 2 tablespoons salad oil 1 egg yolk 4 tablespoons poppy seeds Combine the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the center and drop the eggs, oil, remaining water and the yeast mixture into it. Work into the flour. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl and brush the top with a little oil. Cover with a towel, set in a warm place and let rise 1 hour. Punch down, cover again and let rise until doubl...

This is mostly a post to show off my fancy new graters. I read somewhere about these "slaw cutters" from the Bluffton Slaw Cutter Company . The fact that an old school kitchen supply company can succeed manufacturing little more than stamped sheets of metal in the US in the 21st century should give you a hint about the quality of their product. The 3 piece set of slaw cutters with a handguard (trust me, you need one) is about $21 shipped. These are basically big heavy plates of steel with the "knives" (not holes, knives) punched in such a way that they self-sharpen with use. Amongst other things (the one with big slots has 90% of the functionality of a mandolin, at 1/10th the price) they are fantastic for producing the original potato pancake with a really unique, delicious texture, with individual al dente strands of potato rather than a pulverized mush from a food processor. Latkes: Peel and grate some pototoes. Salt liberally and leave in a collander in the sink...

A good old Magidow recipe, posted here for posterity so I don't have to search around my computer for the recipe every time I need it: 3 egg yolks 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup cold water 3/4 cup matzo meal 3 egg whites, stiffly beaten fat for deep frying Beat together the egg yolks, salt, water. Stir in the matzo meal and fold in the egg whites. Heat the oil to 375 and drop the batter into it by the tablespoon. Fry until browned on both sides. Drain. Top with cinnamon sugar or maple syrup. Serves 3-4 very small people who aren't very hungry.* * this recipe does not "double" well. It is best to make it twice (in two different bowls) to make twice as many.

Looking for a meal that uses some spring greens but can also fortify you through an evening of thunderstorms? I have the soup for you! I'm basically on a quest to Re-Master the Art of Jewish Cooking by Jennie Grossinger (a la Julie Powell's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in Julie/Julia ), but not quite as ambitiously or confessionally as Julie. I intend to haphazardly work my way through the cookbook, updating the recipes for modern palettes and throwing Kosher-ness to the wind. I started this project a while back (though I didn't announce it), so I'll go back and label the recipes: AoJC. I don't intend to hijack the blog with this venture, but I thought I'd let you know why I'm making so many recipes from The AoJC. Carry on posting as usual. Beef Soup with Greens In the AoJC, this recipe is known as flanken soup. Flanken-style short ribs are beef short ribs cut against the bone, similar to what you'd find in a Korean restaurant. More commonly you...

Tonight I made two more dishes in my "The Art of Jewish Cooking" by Jennie Grossinger cookbook series. The barley stew was thick and hearty, almost like a congee. I accompanied it with mandlen, or 'soup nuts'--little round crackers. Barley Vegetable Stew I took a few liberties with the original recipe and I'll try to point out where I followed it and where I changed things. I took my time and made a batch of chicken broth first, which I used as the base for this soup and also for the chicken meat (and to have broth on hand). I think this extra step made the final product deliciously complex, so I strongly suggest using your own broth rather than bullion. My first alteration was using a ham shank, because I'm a heretic like that. I think the recipe would still be good without it, or you could use a smoked turkey leg, or hell you could just keep the whole thing vegetarian. I used a leek instead of the original onion, and I think it also added a lot to the soup. ...

I developed this recipe to use up end-of-summer vegetables, such as zucchini and carrots, but it can be made just a deliciously with potatoes alone. Any dense and starchy vegetable will do, including potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, celeriac, etc... Whatever veggies you choose to use should make 1 1/2 quarts after you grate them, pack them down, and squeeze out the liquid. This recipe can easily be scaled up and is delicious served hot or cold, so I recommend making planned-overs. 1 large zucchini 2-3 potatoes, grated and placed in ice water to prevent oxidation 1-2 carrots, grated 1 small onion, grated 4 eggs 1/2 c. matzo meal 1/2 tsp. baking powder 4 Tbsp. melted butter or schmaltz salt and pepper chopped fresh parsley (optional) paprika (optional) Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 2 qt. casserole. Remove pith and seeds of zucchini, grate, sprinkle with salt, and drain in a colander for 30 min. Squeeze out remaining moisture before using. Grate other veggies and squeeze or...

I made this a while ago and just now found the pictures. I guess I was in the mood for spending an entire day cooking, so I made blintzes and they were really yummy. This is another recipe from The Art of Jewish Cooking--it just has such great recipes for cold weather, and hooo boy is it cold outside! The coleslaw is my own concoction. Blintz wrappers: 3 eggs 1 c. milk or water 1/2 tsp. salt 2 Tbsp. salad oil 3/4 c. sifted flour butter or oil for frying Beat the eggs, milk, salt, and salad oil together. Stir in the flour until the lumps are gone. Heat a little oil or butter in a 6-inch skillet. Pour 2-3 Tbsp. batter in, tilting pan to coat the bottom--just use enough to make a very thin crepe. Let the bottom brown and turn out into a paper towel, brown side up. This should make about 20 pancakes. Filling: 1 lb. ground meat, cooked 1/2 onion, grated finely 1 egg 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 2 Tbsp. minced parsley Mix all ingredients together and season to taste. I think I added a t...

Here's a tasty winter side dish that adds some magenta to the plate. It's not quick-cooking but it's worth the wait. This is my interpretation of the version in The Art of Jewish Cooking. Preheat the oven to 350. 1 small-ish red cabbage, chopped finely 4 Tbsp. butter 1 red onion, slivered 2 tart apples, chopped finely 3/4 c. broth or water 1/4 c. red wine vinegar 1/4 c. red wine mixed with 1 Tbsp. flour until smooth 1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar 2 t. salt 1 Tbsp. yellow mustard seeds (optional but fun to eat) In an oven-safe, heavy pot with a lid (not cast iron, unless it's enameled), melt the butter and sweat the onions until they're translucent. Mix in the cabbage and apples and simmer 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and heat until boiling. Put the lid on and place in the oven for 45-60 minutes (or longer if you're distracted, like me), stirring occasionally. Adjust seasonings with salt and vinegar at the end. It's great to see everyone posting with t...

Considering it was the 'day of rest', we at the Byway did anything but. We got up, made a big breakfast (french toast, bacon, and fruit salad), and then set to cleaning the basement. It looks SOOO much better now! The shale foundation still seeps water when it rains (as it is currently doing), but now at least we got rid of most of the clutter, cobwebs, and fixed a dryer ventilation problem. To reward all our triumphant and weary workers I decided to make a nice dinner. I'd been wanting to make a sweet kugel, what with the high holy days rolling around (not that I'm religious--I just like the food), and I thought this would be a good night for it. I wanted to accompany it with a beef roast, but since Melanie can't eat beef we had a pork roast instead. I really have a habit of making one dish from a kosher or halal culture and accompanying it with pork--probably because pork is so versatile and I'm burned out on chicken. This will be lengthy: Roast Peppery Po...

Here is a fantastic side-dish that has the added benefit (?) of smelling like every Jewish home I visited as a kid. It also uses buckwheat groats (when cooked, called kasha), which is a nutritional and agricultural powerhouse. Like quinoa, buckwheat is a seed rather than a grain, and contains tons of high-quality protein and many vitamins and minerals (and if you go by the articles about it, cures and prevents nearly every ill). Buckwheat is a great cover-crop for farmers and it grow very quickly. The recipe calls for bow-tie noodles, which--face it--are just plain fun. It goes really well with roasted chicken. This is modified from The Art of Jewish Cooking by Jennie Grossinger: 1/2 box of bow-tie noodles, cooked in salted water 1/3 c. butter or schmaltz 1 large onion, diced or sliced finely 1 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. black pepper salt to taste 1 1/2 c. roasted buckwheat groats, whole or cut 2 1/2 c. boiling water 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1 egg, beaten First, cook your noodles. Heat up a large pot an...

This recipe has countless variations, so I present the version that mom taught me. Some people add tahini, but I think that ruins it--I like the zingy flavor this version has. This recipe is best made in late summer, when you have the grill going. 2 or more pounds eggplant, preferably small tender ones 3 bell peppers, green or red 1/2 red onion, diced finely 1 lemon, juiced 1/3 c. good olive oil 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped finely salt and pepper - be generous with both 1/2 tsp. ground coriander pinch of sugar pinch of cayenne Place the eggplants and 2 of the bell peppers on the grill and roast until blackened all over. You can use a gas stove or a broiler, but make sure to pull the batteries out of the smoke detector! Remove from the grill and place in a plastic bag for several minutes until they're cool enough to handle. Remove the roasted skins from the eggplants and peppers, and chop them finely into a bowl. Rinse the onion in cold water to reduce its stinkiness, then add to...

This week we got beets from the CSA. They're still small but already perfect for borscht! These ones have light-colored insides, so they're better for beef borscht (rather than the all-veggie cold borscht, which I prefer to be magenta). First I made beef broth from scratch. I think this step really makes the soup, but obviously it's more convenient to use canned or crystalized. I roasted oxtails and boiled them with the usual: 2 bay leaves, 4 whole cloves, 1/2 bunch parsley, carrots, celery, and onions. Meanwhile, I boiled the beets in one pot, and peeled potatoes in another pot (add a lot of salt to the potatoes). Drain each when cooked. The potatoes will be sliced into the soup at the very end. Once the beets are tender and cooled, slip their skins off (I think this step is the most fun part) and slice (or grate) into thin shreds. Pretty, huh? Next you need to prepare the other vegetables--2 carrots, one large onion, and 1/2 of a small cabbage (green or red). These will a...