Janet, like many in her generation, found learning to cook from her grandmother exasperating.
“How do you make oatmeal bread?” she would ask.
“You take some oatmeal,” her grandmother would answer.
“How MUCH oatmeal?” Janet would try to pin her down.
“Whatever’s left over from breakfast!”
Janet was one of many who ran to hold out measuring cups as their bubbies would pour ingredients into bowls in order to get some semblance of quantities….
Janet had Betty Crocker’s American Home Menu Maker, a box of 125 recipes. She added recipes from her gourmet cookbooks, friends, newspaper clippings, and her own creative adaptations of famous recipes for the kosher or gluten-free kitchen. Once Janet became an accomplished gourmet cook and teacher, brides would receive a gift copy of her recipe file, which Janet would painstakingly xerox, cut to fit on index cards, and place in clear plastic sleeves.
For kids whose theme song was “Food, Glorious Food!”, Janet was the ideal mother. We ate like kings, with recipes adapted to the kosher home from all over the world.
Once, my single friends from Washington DC and I drove 4.5 hours north to Shmulke Bernstein’s restaurant on the Lower East Side. This was in the days when the only kosher restaurant in nearby Baltimore was the Royal—set on the front porch of a rickety house facing Druid Ridge Cemetery on Reisterstown Road–and there were no kosher restaurants in DC.
When we arrived at Shmulke’s, my dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker roommate headed straight to the sandwich counter to order a corned beef on rye. The rest of us had not driven 4.5 hours for a corned beef sandwich and descended on the Chinese menu.
“Moo Goo Gai Pan!” I enthused. “Just like Mama used to make!”
My friends looked at me like I was making this up. No one among them had a mother who used to make them Moo Goo Gai Pan!
My favorite foods made by Mom were actually not Chinese but Scandinavian: Cold Buttermilk Soup and Swedish Rice Pudding.
The Swedish Rice Pudding was so good that Janet made it every Shabbat. “It’s for Shabbat DAY,” she would warn us hungry vultures on Friday nights…. I decided that Shabbat day began at midnight and would keep myself up past midnight so I could enjoy the rice pudding as early as possible.
As a tribute to Janet, here are some of her recipes. I’m sure she would love to see you receiving the grandmotherly cooking details that she never got!
DESSERTS
Baked Apples
Core apples with raisins plumped in white wine, mixed with chopped walnuts and cinnamon. Top with marmalade and brown sugar. Bake in buttered dish with remaining wine (from raisins) and sliced lemon stuck with 2 cloves.
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
9” unbaked pie crust
Mix:
1 C firmly packed brown sugar
1 T flour
½ tsp salt
1 T pumpkin pie spice
(or 1¼ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger & ¼ tsp cloves)
Add & blend till smooth:
1 lb can pumpkin (2 C)
1 2/3 C evaporated milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Pour mixture into crust and bake 50-55 minutes at 375°F, or until knife 2” from edge comes out clean. Note: After 45 minutes, take pie from oven and spoon mixture of ½ C chopped pecans, 2 T brown sugar, 1 T butter, and ½ tsp grated orange rind around edge of pie. Bake 10 minutes more.
For Sweet Potato Pie, substitute 2 C mashed sweet potatoes for pumpkin.
Swedish Rice Pudding (Serves 6)
Ingredients
¾ C – 1C rice
5 ½ C milk (or milk substitute such as oat milk)
2 ½ eggs, beaten
½ C sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 T butter or substitute
1/3 C slivered blanched almons
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
½ C raisins
1 tsp salt
Instructions
Combine rice and 1 C boiling water in a deep saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add milk and simmer for 45 minutes. Add eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into casserole dish. Set in pan of hot water and bake at 400F for 45 minutes.
Water Ices/Bombs-Fancy Molds
Water Ices
Ingredients
|
FLAVORS |
JUICE/PULP |
LEMONS |
SUGAR |
WATER |
EggWhites |
COLOR |
|
Orange |
15 oranges |
3 |
2 C |
2 qt |
1 |
Red/Yellow |
|
Lemon |
|
15 |
2 C |
2 qt |
1 |
None |
|
Raspberry |
1 qt |
2 |
3 C |
3 pt |
1 |
Red |
|
Black Current |
1 qt |
2 |
3 C |
3 pt |
1 |
Red |
|
Pineapple |
1 qt, crushed |
2 |
2 C |
1 qt |
1 |
None |
|
Apricot |
1 qt |
2 |
3 C |
3 pt |
1 |
Red/Yellow |
|
Strawberry |
1 qt |
2 |
3 C |
3 pt |
1 |
Red |
|
Tangerine |
20 tangerine |
3 |
2 C |
3 pt |
1 |
Red/Yellow |
Instructions
Boil sugar & water together 5 min., cool, and add the fruit juices. Add the beaten egg white when ice is half-frozen. Freeze.
Bombes or Fancy Molds
Ingredients
Exterior Lining of Mold Interior Filling
Strawberry Ice Cream Tangerine Mousse
Coffee Ice Cream Apricot Ice
Pistachio Ice Cream Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Ice Cream Praline Ice Cream
Strawberry Ice Cream Pineapple Ice with diced pineapple
Pineapple Ice Kirsch mousse “ “ “
Strawberry Ice Cream Tangerine Ice
Vanilla Ice Cream Tea Mousse w/ diced sponge cake in rum
Lemon Ice Raspberry Ice
Vanilla Mousse Apricot Ice
Vanilla Ice Cream Strawberry Ice Cream
Apricot Ice w/ apricot pieces soaked in Kirsch
Pistachio Ice Cream Apricot Ice
Peach Ice Cream Kirsch Mousse
Coffee Ice Cream Kirsch Mousse
Basic Mousse
Ingredients
6 egg yolks
½ C sugar
3 C whipped cream
Flavoring
Instructions
Beat eggs and sugar until creamy, & carefully fold in whipped cream. Flavor with vanilla extract, 1+ tsp coffee extract, or ½ C melted chocolate.
FISH
Bass Livornese: Milton Hotel (serves 6)
Ingredients
1 four-pound striped bass
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ C olive oil
¼ C chopped parsley
½ C dry white wine
½ C peas
½ C canned tomatoes
Italian bread slices, toasted
Instructions
Cut bass into 1 ½ slices. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes. Add bass and remaining ingredients, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve on toasted bread.
Bluefish with Sour Cream Topping
Ingredients
1 large bluefish, filleted
Salt & pepper
Butter
1 ½ C sour cream
3 T chopped chives
3 T lemon juice
½ C mayonnaise
Instructions
Wash, dry, salt, and pepper the fillets. Place in buttered baking dish. Mix sour cream, chives, and lemon juice into the mayonnaise and spread over the fish. Bake for 15 minutes or until fish flakes slightly, then put under broiler briefly to brown.
Cod Imperial (Janet’s Kosher version of Crab Imperial)
Ingredients
1 pound cod or other fish, steamed on a steamer over a mixture of vinegar and Old Bay Seasoning
1 medium onion, chopped and ½ green pepper chopped, sauteed in butter or oil
½ C mayonnaise, blended with 1 raw egg
Salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
Few sprigs parsley, chopped
Instructions
Toss ingredients together, fill ramekins, top w/ additional mayonnaise and paprika. Bake for 20 minutes at 375F. Serve hot or cold.
Codfish Cakes (makes 12 cakes)
Ingredients
1 pound salt codfish
6 medium potatoes
1 large onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ tsp curry powder
Cayenne pepper
1 C dry bread crumbs
½ C butter
Tomato sauce
Instructions
Wash cod in warm running water for 5 minutes. Soak in 4 C water overnight to remove salt. Drain, discard water. Put cod, potatoes and raw onion through food grinder or blender. Stir in eggs, curry powder, and a few grains of cayenne pepper. Shape into 12 cakes. Dip cakes in crumbs and saute in butter until brown. Heat tomato sauce and serve it with the codfish cakes.
Gefilte Fish (from Sarah Frank; notes from Diane for Gefilte Fish Soup in parentheses)
5 pounds fillet = 12 pieces.
Use rock, pike, whitefish; trout and shad added optionally
Have fish filleted and ground. Save bones (and remove skin with scales; do not use head due to scales that can get into the food). Put bones in a pot with 2 large onions, 3 large carrots, 4 stalks celery w/ leaves, and enough water to cover. (Thinly slice the vegetables and saute them in the bottom of the pot and add more water, then add bones, if you are making gefilte fish soup!). Bring to boil and simmer 15 minutes.
(Remove bones and set aside to cool.) Put ground fish in bowl and mix in 3 eggs, grated large onion, and salt and pepper. Mix and form balls; simmer covered in soup for 1 ¼ hours. (Remove the fish from the bones; add this fish to soup for a thicker broth.)
Baked Shad
Cut 3 or 4 slashes into each side of whole cleaned shad (head and tail off). Stuff with 1 carrot, 1 scallion, and 1 stalk celery. Sprinkle inside and out with Spike, pepper, and juice of large lemon. Wrap in foil or place in tightly covered baking dish. Bake 6 hours at 250F.
Broiled Shad Roe
Ingredients
4 pairs shad roe
2 qt boiling water
1 tsp salt
2 T lemon juice
4 T butter or 8 slices crisp beef fry
8 slices toast
Watercress, lime or lemon wedges
Instructions
Wipe roe carefully with damp cloth. Drop roe into boiling water. Add salt and lemon juice. Boil 5 minutes. Drain, brush with butter (or oil, if adding beef fry) and place under preheated broiler until browned but still soft. Serve on hot toast with slice of beef fry. Garnish with watercress and wedges of lime or lemon.
Snapper Creole (Janet’s kosher version of Shrimp Creole)
Couldn’t find this recipe so this is from memory. Cook rice. Steam red snapper over boiling vinegar and Old Bay Seasoning. When cool, remove flesh from bones. Meanwhile, saute onion until golden brown. Make serving dish with rice, sauce of more Old Bay Seasoning, salt, tomatoes. Add red snapper pieces and mix in fresh peas.
GRAINS
Barley with Green Butter (serves 6)
Ingredients
1 C pearl barley
¼ C butter
1 T grated onion
4 T chopped parsley
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp salt
Instructions
Combine barley with salt and 4 C water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until barley is tender. Drain barley and rinse with hot water to remove excess starch. Return to pan, cover, and keep hot. Saute onion in butter for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add parsley and poultry seasoning to onion and stir into barley.
Pearl Barley Casserole (serves 6)
Ingredients
2 C pearl barley
½ C pine nuts
½ C butter
1 C finely chopped onion
1 C finely chopped parsley
12 C finely chopped chives
6 C vegetable stock
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Saute pine nuts in butter for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove nuts and saute onion in butter remaining in skillet for 5 minutes. Add barley and brown lightly, stirring constantly. Add parsley, chives, vegetable stock, salt, pepper, and half of the pine nuts and pour into casserole dish. Bake at 350F for 1 hour, stirring once after 30 minutes. Sprinkle the rest of the sauteed pine nuts over the top and bake for 20 minutes more.
Buckwheat Groats (Kasha) with Slivered Almonds (serves 6)
Ingredients
2 C buckwheat groats (kasha)—roasted are more flavorful than raw
1 C slivered blanched almonds
¼ C olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
4 T chopped onion
4 T chopped green pepper
4 C chicken bouillon or vegetable stock
Instructions
Saute almonds in olive oil until golden brown. Remove and save almonds. Add garlic, onion, and green pepper to oil in saucepan and saute until onion is golden brown, stirring frequently. Add kasha and bouillon and mix well. Pour into casserole dish and bake at 325F for 30 minutes. Stir in almonds. Bake for 15 minutes.
Kasha Varnishkas (serves 3-4)
Ingredients
1 C kasha–roasted are more flavorful than raw
1 egg, beaten
2 C water
1 onion, minced
1 tsp salt
¼ C cooking oil
1 C cooked noodle bows
Instructions
Combine kasha and egg. Saute onion with oil or butter. Add kasha mixture and salted water. Bring to boil. Cook tightly covered on low heat 15 minutes. Stir in cooked noodles. Put in casserole dish and brown under broiler.
Carob Balls (Makes 1 dozen balls)
Mix:
1 C Oatmeal, ground fine
1 C Sunflower seeds, raw, unsalted: pick out bad ones; grind
1 C Pumpkin seeds, raw, unsalted: only green ones; grind
½ C Carob Powder
Mix:
½ C Peanut (or almond) Butter. Mix with 2 knives
½ C Currants in ½ C water. Soak for couple of hours. Add currants first, then liquid.
Knead the two mixtures together and form balls. Refrigerate.
Risi E Bisi (Rice and Peas)
Saute a little onion and salt and a cup of rice in chicken broth to tenderize. It should not cook dry, merely rather soupish. Toss in a large quantity of freshly cooked green peas sauteed in oil (or butter if you omit the chicken broth).
MEATS
Chicken Cacciatore & Noodles
Ingredients
8 oz noodles, boiled and drained
2 3-lb chickens, cut up
1 C olive or other oil (original recipe called for ½ C olive oil and ½ C butter)
2 C finely chopped onion
1 green pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, mashed
½ tsp dried basil
1 C canned tomatoes
¼ C dry red wine
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Saute chicken in oil for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Add onion, green pepper, garlic, basil, salt, and black pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine and simmer for 10 minutes.
Breasts of Chicken (or half-Cornish hen) with Wild Rice (serves 6)
Ingredients
Breasts of 3-pound chickens or Cornish hens, cut in half
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
½ C oil
1 T grated onion
2 C substitute for heavy cream
4 T brandy
4 T dry sherry
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces wild rice, cooked
Instructions
Bone and skin chicken breasts. Season with salt and pepper. Saute in oil over low heat for 20 minutes or until rich brown. Remove chicken and keep hot. Add mushrooms and onion to oil remaining in saucepan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and add cream substitute slowly, stirring constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add brandy and sherry and simmer for 5 minutes. Arrange chicken on wild rice and pour sauce over it.
Coq au Vin
Saute pieces of chicken and place in casserole dish with 2 chopped green onions, 2 T chopped parsley, pinch of thyme and basil, bay leaf, salt, pepper, ½ lb mushrooms, and ½ C wine. Add more wine if needed during cooking.
Cover and cook slowly for 45 minutes or until tender. Cooking ahead and reheating enhances flavor.
Sweet & Sour Chicken (serves 4)
Ingredients
I C vinegar
3 pounds chicken meat
¾ tsp salt, dash pepper
3 large green peppers
2 C pineapple chunks
1 C brown sugar
2 large tomatoes
3 T corn starch or other thickener
3 T ketchup
2 T oil
Batter:
2 eggs
¾ C flour
½ tsp salt
2 T water
Instructions
Cut green peppers into about 8 diagonal slices and tomatoes into about 8 wedges each. Set aside. Make batter, mix well, and dip chicken pieces into it. Fry in hot deep oil until brown. Set aside. Place all ingredients except chicken and tomatoes into a pot, mix well, bring to boiling, and when smoothly thickened, add chicken and tomato. Mix thoroughly and heat through for 3 minutes.
Rock Cornish Game Hens (1/2 Cornish hen per person)
Clean inside of hens and rinse well. Put the hens, necks, and giblets in roasting pan on bed of sliced onion and carrot. Season with Spike, pepper, and tarragon. Cover and toast at 350F oven for one hour. Cut in half and stuff with wild rice stuffing.
Wild Rice Stuffing
Saute 2 large onions, finely chopped, in ½ C butter or oil, stirring constantly. Add 1 tsp powdered sage, 1 T minced parsley, ½ C green celery leaves, chopped. Cook 3 minutes and add 1 ½ C uncooked wild rice. Add 4 C stock, 1 ½ tsp salt, and dash black pepper. Mix well and simmer 35-40 minutes.
Before serving, toss in 1 cup sliced mushrooms sauteed with finely chopped poultry liver.
Poulet de Grains en Casserole Biarritz
Season cut-up chickens with salt, pepper, powdered thyme, and marjoram. Brown in olive oil and add:
1 tsp finely chopped tarragon
½ pound raw beef fry or sliced meat with smoke or hickory flavoring
3 carrots, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
1 large bay leaf
2 whole cloves
1 clove garlic, mashed
½ C white wine mixed with ½ cup chicken stock.
Add chicken, cover, and roast 45 minutes, turning meat twice. Before serving, flame w/ 2 T warmed brandy.
Moo Goo Gai Pan (serves 8)
Mix together & set aside:
5 T soy sauce/Tamari
3 tsp sugar (or other sweetener)
4 T cornstarch (or other thickener)
Mix and stir-fry in 8 T hot oil for 3 minutes:
6 C sliced Chinese celery cabbage
6 C sliced mushrooms
6 C sliced celery
Salt & pepper
Add 4 C chicken broth to vegetables and cook 8 minutes. Add starch mixture and cook until thickened smoothly. Add:
1 C sliced bamboo shoots
1 C sliced water chestnuts
6 C sliced white meat chicken
Heat through.
Kreplach & Knishes
Filling:
Ground cooked meat
Onion, chopped and sauteed
Salt, pepper, cinnamon
1 egg per cup of meat
Kreplach:
Ravioli dough minus shortening. Cut into squares, fold over meat into triangles and poach in slowly boiling soup for 20 minutes.
Veal Leaves Buena Vista
Pound veal scallops flat and thin. Pepper and salt them and brown quickly in foaming butter (this was apparently from before she kept kosher, so substitute!) in a heavy iron skillet. Set aside. Add a few drops Kitchen Bouquet, chopping parsley, tarragon, and dry white wine to pan juices. Put scallopine on bed of onion rings, which have been sauteed separately, and pour sauce over. Keep warm 10 minutes before serving to blend flavors.
SAUCES/DRESSINGS
Bearnaise Sauce
Ingredients
1 C dry wine
2 egg yolks, beaten
2 T tarragon vinegar
1 T chopped parsley
1 T minced shallots
1 tsp tarragon
1 tsp chervil
1 C butter, melted
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Beat 2 T of the wine into the egg yolks. Set aside. Combine the remaining wine with vinegar, parsley, shallots, ½ tsp tarragon, ½ tsp chervil, salt, and pepper and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add egg yolk mixture slowly, stirring briskly. Add butter 2 T at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Strain.
Bleu Cheese Dressing (makes 2 C)
Ingredients
1 C mayonnaise
1 T horseradish
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper
1/8 tsp Tabasco sauce
¼ C bleu cheese
1 T vinegar
¼ C chopped ripe olives
Instructions
Soften cheese with vinegar and add rest of ingredients. Serve over lettuce wedges.
Cheese Sauce (makes 2 C)
Ingredients
½ pound Cheddar cheese, grated
1 C milk or beer
1 tsp dry mustard
½ tsp basil
Instructions
Combine cheese, milk or beer, mustard and basil in the top of a double boiler and cook over boiling water for 15 minutes or until smooth, stirring frequently. Serve hot.
Dill Sauce for Fish (serves 6)
Ingredients
2 T chopped dill
1 tsp dill seed
2 T chopped parsley
2 T lemon juice
1 tsp paprika
½ C butter, melted
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 three-pound halibut, mackerel, or salmon
Instructions
Chop dill, dill seed, parsley, lemon juice, paprika, salt, and pepper. Combine with melted butter. Spread half the sauce on one side of the fish and broil on a foil-lined rack under medium heat for 15 minutes. Turn the fish, spread the other side with the remaining sauce and broil 15 minutes or until done.
Hollandaise Sauce
Put in blender: 4 egg yolks, 2-3 T lemon juice, ¼ tsp salt & dash pepper. On high speed, slowly add ½ C bubbling hot melted butter.
Mayonnaise (makes 2 C)
Ingredients
2 egg yolks
1 C olive oil
¼ tsp dry mustard
Cayenne pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Beat egg yolks with a rotary beater or whisk until frothy. Beat in mustard, a few grains of cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Add lemon juice and beat until egg yolk mixture is thick and lemon colored. Add olive oil, 1 tsp at a time, beating constantly.
SOUPS
Cold Avocado Soup
Add to Vichyssoise:
1 avocado put through the blender with 1 bunch parsley. Add lemon juice and small glass white wine.
Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
2 C black beans, soaked overnight and drained
4 qt. cold water, flavored w/ beef bouillon
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium onions, one studded with 2 whole cloves
¼ tsp powdered mace
1 tsp salt, dash cayenne
2-3 T Bacon Bits
Instructions
Cook together on low heat 4-5 hours. Puree vegetables and return to broth (optional). Add 2 thin slices of lemon, ½ C dry sherry, and 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced.
Cold Buttermilk Soup
Ingredients
3 egg yolks (or whole eggs)
½ C sugar
½ tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 qt buttermilk
¼ C heavy or whipped cream (optional)
Instructions
Beat eggs in large bowl, gradually adding sugar. Add lemon rind and juice and vanilla. Slowly beat in buttermilk, beating until soup is smooth. Serve in chilled bowls, floating a spoonful of whipped cream on top, if desired. Generally served with oat cakes.
Connecticut Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
2 large Spanish onions
1 large cauliflower
3 stalks celery
2 T butter
2 T flower
1 C milk
½ C thick cream
Sugar, nutmeg, salt, & pepper to taste
Watercress for garnish
Instructions
Steam cauliflower, onions, and celery and puree. Make cream sauce and add puree. Season and garnish. Roasted Chestnut Soup: Omit celery and use 1 lb. chestnuts instead of cauliflower and 1 qt vegetable stock instead of milk.
Cod Chowder (serves 6)
Ingredients
2 pounds cod
1 T Bakon Yeast
2 onions, sliced
4 large potatoes, diced
1 C chopped celery, or 2 packages cream of celery soup
1 bay leaf, crumbled (optional)
1 quart milk (condensed skim milk)
2 T butter
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Saute onions and celery in butter until onions are golden brown. Add diced cod, potatoes, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Pour in cod broth plus enough boiling water to make 3 C of liquid. Summer for 30 minutes. Add milk and butter and simmer for 5 minutes.
Cold Cucumber Soup
Add to Vichyssoise:
1 peeled and thinly sliced cucumber that has been salted, weighted a half a day, and drained. Add leaves of one bunch each of dill and parsley which have been put through the blender. Chill well before serving.
Egg-Drop Soup (makes 4 ½ C)
Ingredients
4 C chicken broth
Salt to taste (1 tsp)
1 thin slice ginger root (optional)
2 eggs, beaten lightly
½ tsp sherry or dash Tamari
1 T minced green onion
1 tsp dried parsley
Instructions
Bring first 3 ingredients to boil in pan; remove ginger. Beat eggs w/sherry and stir into boiling soup. Remove from heat and serve w/ sprinkling of green onion.
Gazpacho (8 servings)
Ingredients
2 medium pared, diced cucumbers
1 large finely chopped onion
5 ripe tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp garlic, finely minced
1 medium finely chopped green pepper
4 T olive oil
¼ C wine vinegar
2 C tomato juice
4 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 T tomato paste
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. Serve in chilled cups. Garnish w/ garlic croutons or add 4 C coarsely crumbled French bread.
Knoedlach Soup (makes 12)
Ingredients
1 C matza meal or almond meal
6 eggs, beaten
6 T fat or oil
2 T broth from soup
Salt, sugar, cinnamon to taste
Instructions
Stir together and drop by large spoonfuls into slowly boiling chicken soup. The balls will sink at first and then rise to the top.
Minestrone
Ingredients
2 C dried navy beans or chick peas
1 C chopped celery with leaves
1 C finely chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ C olive oil
2 ½ C canned tomatoes
1 pound (frozen) chopped spinach
3 thin-sliced potatoes
¼ C chopped parsley or ½ head curly endive
2 C shredded cabbage
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
2 C macaroni or rice
1 T salt
4 peppercorns
Grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Soak beans in 10 C water overnight. Bring to a boil in the same water, reduce heat, add salt and peppercorns, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Saute celery, onion, and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes or until onion is lightly browned. Add to beans with tomatoes and parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, etc. Can’t find the rest of the recipe!
Sherried Mushroom Soup (serves 6)
Ingredients
2 T butter
¼ C finely chopped onions
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed cream of mushroom soup
¾ C sherry
1 C grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Plain croutons
Instructions
Melt butter in medium-size saucepan. Add onion and carrots and cook, covered, over low heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Add soup, wine, and water. Stir to blend. Heat to boiling. Stir in cheese and heat only until cheese melts. Stir to blend. Garnish with croutons.
Potage Crecy
Ingredients
2 T butter
¾ C finely chopped onions
3 C finely chopped carrots
1 qt vegetable stock
2 tsp tomato paste
2 T rice
Salt, pepper
½ C heavy cream
1 T soft butter
8-12 carrot curls for garnish
Instructions
Melt butter in saucepan, stir in onions, and cook 5 min. Add carrots and stock, tomato paste, and rice, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Puree soup, season w/ salt and pepper, and stir in cream. Before serving, reheat soup on simmer and stir in butter.
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
2 C green split peas
Meat with bone and/or 1 T Bakon Yeast
½ C chopped onion
2 C chopped celery w/ leaves
2 carrots, sliced
2 C beef bouillon or vegetable stock
Salt
10 peppercorns, cracked, or ½ tsp ground pepper
1 C cooked rice
Instructions
Soak peas in 2 qt. water overnight. Bring to a boil in the same water, reduce heat, add meat with bone, Bakon Yeast and peppercorns, and cover and simmer 1 hour. Add vegetables and simmer for 1 hour. Remove bone and discard; chop remaining meat fine. Press the rest of the soup through coarse sieve or blend, then add meat.
Vichyssoise (serves 6)
Ingredients
4 leeks, thinly sliced
2 T oil
4 cooked potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 C light cream or condensed skim milk
4 C milk
1 T chopped chives
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
Saute leeks in butter in deep saucepan for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, salt, and water to barely cover. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 min. press through food mill. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Before serving, stir in chilled cream and milk. Sprinkle with chives and black pepper.
VEGETABLES
Quinoa-Asparagus-Pesto Casserole
Carrot Salad
3 carrots, grated
½ C chopped celery or pineapple chunks
½ C grated coconut
1 C raisins
½ C orange juice or mayonnaise mixed with ½ C lemon.
Cauliflower Cheese Bake (Cavolfiore Formaggio al Forno)
(serves 4)
Ingredients
1 medium head cauliflower
2 C ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
Blanch the cauliflower in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain. Cut head into quarters; trim stems. Place in individual baking dishes. Mix ricotta cheese and egg; blend in Parmesan cheese. Beat for 2 minutes or until well-blended. Pour ¼ of mixture over each quarter-head of cauliflower. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes.
Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
1 large eggplant
¼ C grated Parmesan cheese
¼ pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ C dry white wine
1 C cracker crumbs or substitute
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ C olive oil
2 C canned tomato sauce
2 T minced parsley
¼ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp oregano
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1 tsp salt
Instructions
Peel eggplant and cut it crosswise into ¼-inch slices. Beat egg with wine. Dip eggplant slices in egg and wine, then into cracker crumbs. Saute garlic in oil for 5 minutes. Add eggplant, etc. Can’t find the rest of the recipe!
Hearts of Palm Salad
Cut 1 heart of palm per serving into 1” long pieces and place on bed of greens. Garnish with strips of pimiento or stuffed olives. Serve with vinaigrette or creamy Italian dressing.
Raw Mushroom Salad (serves 4)
Ingredients
½ pound fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tsp lemon juice
¼ C thinly sliced scallion greens
3 T olive oil
½ tsp salt or Spike
Instructions
Toss mushrooms with lemon juice, then add other ingredients. Chill well before serving.