Loretta’s Chocolate Chip Mandelbroit

“A living stew of inconsistencies” is how our friend Meyer described himself in a Dvar Torah that he gave several weeks ago.  Many of us are inconsistent in how we practice or observe Judaism, but Passover is a holiday when perfectly rational people behave in irrational ways.  My daughter has repeatedly accused me of being too “machmir” (strict) when it comes to Pesach.

I actually made a decision that this year would be different and I would adopt a come what may attitude.  My plan was to arrive back East and cook, not get involved in the kashering, and only minimally involved in the shopping.  I was doing SO well until tonight when I stopped at Western Kosher on my way home, my excuse being that I wanted to see any new Passover products that came on the market.  I swore that I wouldn’t buy anything, but here I am sitting at the kitchen table writing this post and in front of me there are six shopping bags filled with all kinds of Passover groceries.  Who could resist Masala Chai Tea???   Somehow they will all need to be packed into our luggage along with a tin of our favorite Passover Mandelbroit that I will bake on Sunday.  There are some things that never change, no matter how hard we try.

I wish each and every one of you a Zisn Pesach.

Loretta’s Chocolate Chip Mandelbroit

3 sticks margarine

2 cups sugar plus an extra 4 Tb for sprinkling

6 eggs

2  3/4 cups cake meal

3/4  cup potato starch

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2  12 oz. bags of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Reserve 4 Tb sugar and mix with 2 Tsp cinnamon and set aside.  Cream sugar and margarine.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg.  Add dry ingredients.  Divide dough into 4 equal portions and with oiled hands, form 4 loaves, divided between 2 greased cookie sheets.  Sprinkle each loaf with an equal amount of the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Bake for about 30-40 minutes. Slice loaves and place Mandelbrot cut side up, sprinkling with more cinnamon sugar.  Return to oven and bake another 10-15 minutes per side or till crisp.

Enjoy,

Irene

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Passover Lemon Meringue Pie

Last week I lost two important people in my life, my cousin Robert, who was more like an older brother than a cousin, and my close friend Ruthie.  I went back East for Robert’s funeral and what I experienced over the course of five days was the workings of a family who come together like pieces of a patchwork quilt, all different in design but stronger and more effective as one unit.  Almost my entire immediate family, as well as my extended family, came to Philadelphia where we spent our days cooking, eating, crying and  laughing in the comfort of our cousin Micheline’s home.  Even after both refrigerators and freezers were filled to capacity we continued to cook.  It kept us busy and focused, taking care of each other and everyone around us.

After the funeral we prepared Shabbat dinner for about twenty.  Everyone participated in their own way, some by offering words of comfort to the mourners, some by taking charge of the kitchen, some by providing comic relief.  On Saturday night, the evening before everyone’s departure, Denise (Robert’s daughter) said that it was just the kind of evening her father loved, having the family together, sharing good food and good wine.  The night ended with my daughter Shira, myself, and Denise all sitting around the table sharing a pie which we ate straight from the tin, one spoonful at a time.

Passover is just around the corner, a time when families get together.  May it be filled with joy, and not with sorrow, and with the memories of those we lost but will never forget, and why not make some pie that can be shared straight from the tin.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Crust

1 cup Matzoh Meal

1/4 cup melted margarine

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Blend ingredients together.  Press into a greased 9″ pie pan and bake at 375 for 15 minutes or till golden brown.

Lemon Meringue Filling

5 tbsp potato starch

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

3 eggs, separated

2 tbsp margarine

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp grated lemon rind

Combine potato starch, salt and 1/2 cup sugar in top of a double boiler and then add water.  Cook, stirring over boiling water till thickened. Cover pot, lower heat and cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.   In a bowl, combine egg yolks with remaining 1/2 cup sugar.  Spoon a little of the hot cooked mixture into the yolks, stirring rapidly.  Then pour yolk mixture back into the pot. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add a drop of water if too thick.  Remove from heat.  Add margarine, lemon juice and lemon rind to filling and allow to cool to room temperature.  Pour into pie shell.

Meringue

3 egg whites

dash salt

6 tbsp sugar

Using a beater, beat egg whites with salt till foamy, gradually adding  6 tbsp sugar till smooth and glossy.  Pour Meringue over pie filling and bake in 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Chill and serve.

Enjoy,

Irene

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Poppy Seed Crisps

When this Judy Zeidler recipe appeared in this week’s Jewish Journal, the photo of one of the cookies featured reminded me of something my mother used to make.  Pletzlach were large, flat, sugar-topped crackers that we ate right out of the oven, when she let me. These turned out to be more of the traditional poppy-seed cookie, thin, light and not too sweet, really good, they just are not my mother’s pletzlach.

Earlier this week Norm sent me an article about forgotten foods, and the very next day my sister called and, out of the blue, suggested that I make Helzel, a chicken neck stuffed with flour, fat and spices, (similar to kishke) that my mother often made. I still remember my mother sitting at the kitchen table and patiently sewing up the neck with a needle and thread.

Now there are two recipes of my mother’s that are missing, but not forgotten. Just like my mother.

Judy Zeidler’s Poppy Seed Crisps

1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
6 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 ounces poppy seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Add oil and 1 1/2 cups sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and blend together until fluffy. Beat in the eggs until smooth. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the milk alternately with the sifted dry ingredients to the oil mixture, beating after each addition. Blend in the poppy seeds. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 4 days and stored in the freezer for 3 weeks.)

Remove the dough a heaping teaspoon at a time on to a generously floured board or a sheet of wax paper. Roll out the dough into a thin rectangle, about 8 by 11 inches. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into diamond shapes and place them on a greased baking sheet or silicone baking mat. Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the cookies.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool.

Enjoy,

Irene

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Lil’s Hamantaschen

One of my favorite memories of growing up in The Bronx is of the leisurely strolls down the Grand Concourse which often included a stop at Krum’s, a large soda parlor at 187th Street.  At the front of the store there was a counter behind which were bins filled with assorted, and what I thought were exotic, nuts.  Among others, there were Brazil nuts, Cashews (my personal favorite), white Pistachios, and red Pistachios which were what we always bought.  The red dye would rub off on your fingers and that was part of the fun, plus we were innocent of the danger of red dye.  In the center of the store there was a large display table that changed every season.  Cellophane gift baskets that contained combinations of dried fruits, nuts and crackers towered over the smaller items.  I always liked the Spring display the best, when chocolate Easter Bunnies dominated the table and all the confections were some shade of pastel and filled with marshmallows or soft creams.  At the back of the shop was the Soda Fountain where you could have any kind of drink, ice cream or Sundae, to which my father would treat me on occasion, always on a Sunday.

Purim is just around the corner and though this holiday doesn’t resonate with me I can’t break with certain traditions.  I try to hear the Megillah reading in the morning, at work, recited with decorum and not much fanfare.  What else?  I send my children gift baskets, Mishloach Manot.  In spite of the fact that they are not all fans of Hamantashen, I always include them along with whatever other treats I either bake or buy.  Hopefully these ” baskets” (that arrive in FedEx boxes instead of cellophane and ribbons) will create happy memories for them, like the ones that I carry,  and who knows, some day they may even develop a taste for Hamantaschen.  Chag Purim Sameach.

Here is one more tradition that I can’t change, it is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Hamantaschen and I use it every year.  Some people find the dough too soft to work with, but I think it’s perfect just the way it is.

Lil’s Hamantaschen
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 Tsp. baking powder
2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup orange juice

Mix dry ingredients in bowl.  Combine eggs and oil and mix well.  Slowly add orange juice to eggs and then mix liquid into dry ingredients.  Mix together till dough is soft and pliable.  If dough is too soft, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Filling
6 oz. dried apricots
6 oz. dried pitted prunes
1 1/2 cups raisins
3-4 Tb sugar
1/2 Tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup water or orange juice

In a small heavy bottomed pot combine all ingredients over low heat and cook until fruit is soft, about 20 minutes.  Add water if needed.  Process mixture in a food processor for about one minute until it looks like jam.

Roll dough out on floured board till about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out small circles and place a teaspoon of filling in the center.  Pinch sides together to form a triangle.  Brush with beaten egg and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy,
Irene

 

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Elka’s Jam Cookies

There are several important people in my life who turned 60 this year but next Saturday night we are celebrating Norm’s 60th.  The kids are coming in, friends are coming over, and together we will light both Chanukkah candles and birthday candles.  Norm wanted a party, a big party, surrounded by the people he loves.  We have both been busy baking in preparation of the event and tonight I made a batch of these very small cookies for my 60-year-old hubby who has a very big heart.  Happy Birthday Norm!

Elka’s Jam Cookies

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 cup flour

 

Cream sugar and butter till smooth. Add egg yolk and mix well and then add flour.  When dough is smooth, place in Saran wrap and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll olive size pieces of the dough and place on cookie sheet, covered with parchment paper.  Gently press down on the cookie with a small shot glass.   Then take a very small spoon (the size of a baby spoon) and make an indent in the middle of each cookie.  Dot with a tiny bit of strawberry jam.  Bake for 15 minutes.   Remove cookies before they brown.  Allow to cool completely on rack.  Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy,

Irene

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Old Fashioned Apple Pie

With Fall came the appearance of apples in the markets on the East Coast, with numerous varieties to choose from, most of which were grown in Upstate New York.  As a child, my father took great pride in his ability to peel an apple in one uninterrupted motion, rotating the apple and keeping the knife steady in his hand as the peel slowly curled off the fruit.  I was fascinated by it and he always chuckled as I looked on.  In the evening, my mother would serve a snack of cut-up apples alongside sliced rye bread and butter, or she would steep slices of apple in hot tea.  Occasionally she made baked apples or an apple cake.  My father would encourage me to eat apples, stating how healthy they were, maybe because he actually believed that “an apple a day kept the doctor away” (my father typically believed what he read in print) but I was allergic to raw apples and so eventually I just stopped eating them.

I envied my parents and sister, and later on, my husband and children, who took such pleasure in eating this seemingly perfect snack that actually didn’t require peeling.  I loved watching them take that very first bite when you could hear the crunch and that pop of juice.  I would watch the expressions on their faces as they formed an opinion, was the apple too mealy, too tart, too sweet or just perfect.  I still find myself drawn to the apple stands at the farmers markets.  I might ask the grower about new varieties, pick one up and weigh it in my hand, look for blemishes, gently squeeze it to see if it feels firm and then buy a few to take home.  I have a bowl full of apples in my kitchen right now, purchased for no reason other than that they looked so pretty.

My daughter recently went apple picking in Upstate New York and she brought some of the apples home with her on Thanksgiving.  Like everything in life, things may not be exactly as we wish, but we adjust.  I accept that I will never experience  the pleasure of biting into a just picked Northern Spy or an Ida Red, but I can take those apples and turn them into apple pie, home-made, double crusted and perfect.

Old Fashioned Apple Pie

Crust   (enough for a double crust)

2 Cups all-purpose flour

3/4 Tsp salt

1 Cup Crisco

1 egg

2 Tbs cold water

1 Tbs white vinegar

Filling

6  baking apples ( I used a combination of Ida Red, Macoun and Empire)

3/4 Cup sugar

2 Tbs flour

1 1/2 Tsp cinnamon

Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine flour and salt in large bowl.  Add Crisco to flour and using your fingers blend until mixture resembles large peas. Beat egg, water, and vinegar together and pour into flour mixture.  Stir with a fork until blended.  Divide dough in half and shape each portion into a ball.  Flatten each into a 4″ circle, wrap in Saran, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Dust rolling-pin and board with flour.  Roll one portion of dough out to fit an 8″ pie plate with a 1″ overhang.  Carefully place dough into greased pie plate.

Peel, core, and slice apples and mix with sugar, flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice.  Place apple mixture in pie shell.  Roll out second piece of dough and  place on top.  Crimp edges or just fold over for a more rustic looking pie.  Cut slits in the top crust to allow for steam to escape or use a pie bird.  Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, until pie is fully baked and apples are tender.

Enjoy,

Irene

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

This is a post from last Thanksgiving but some of you are new to Bamitbach and I wanted to introduce you to my standard dessert for the holiday.  I have been in NYC for the last five days and have had many wonderful experiences, meals, and moments.  I am thankful that I was able to spend the days leading up to Thanksgiving with all of my children as well as my sister and brother-in-law.  I look forward to being home and celebrating with the family and friends who can join us, but I am equally happy knowing that those who can’t join us are, thankfully, in good hands.   Happy Thanksgiving.

 

 

November 2010

My sister recalls that I came home from Kindergarten and told my mother that I wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving.  At that point my parents and sister would have been living in the United States for about seven years,  and were open to the idea of celebrating this “American” holiday.  That was the beginning of a new tradition for our family, Thanksgiving dinner.

I remember my mother roasting a turkey, prepared the same way she prepared roast chicken for Shabbat, with lots of garlic, salt and pepper.  She made candied sweet potatoes, a dish she learned from my cousin’s housekeeper Edith, and a delicious stuffing made with challah, mushrooms, celery, carrots and caramelized onions.  It was sort of an Eastern European Thanksgiving dinner.  No guests, no fanfare, no cornucopia, but I always found it special and meaningful.

As a child of immigrants, the Thanksgiving narrative of people who came to America searching for religious freedom always resonated with me.  As a child of survivors, I understood that my family had much to be thankful for.  It was not a story from a textbook, it was the story of my family.  America welcomed them and gave them a fresh start, shelter, the ability to live openly and proudly as Jews, and a place to put down roots and watch their families grow and flourish.  For each of those reasons, and more, I will always be thankful.

Our Thanksgiving dinner is very traditional, given some dietary restrictions.  We have mulled cider, Turkey, stuffing, corn bread, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and our favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

3 1/2 cups flour

3 cups sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup oil

2/3 cup water

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 12 oz. pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips, tossed with 1 tbsp flour

Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Combine eggs with oil, water and pumpkin and mix well. Stir into dry ingredients.  Fold chocolate chips in to batter.  Divide mixture among three greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 for one hour or until toothpick inserted into loaf comes out dry.

Enjoy,

Irene

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Pecan Pie

It is almost November and that means Thanksgiving is around the corner.  My favorite holiday for many reasons: the concept of religious freedom, the story of immigrants arriving in a new land, the traditional American foods that we eat, plus the opportunity to reflect on what we are thankful for.  When my children were small we read Molly’s Pilgrim, a book about a young Russian girl’s experiences in her new school.  The story reminded me of my experience in Kindergarten when my teacher related that we are all descendents of Pilgrims.  I can still remember raising my hand and sharing that my parents were not Pilgrims, they were Polish.

We have hosted Thanksgiving dinners for the past thirty-one years.  Over the years, I have been away for one or two, but I hold on to Thanksgiving tightly because it means so much to me.  As an adult, Thanksgiving makes me think of Emma Lazarus’ poem, knowing that my mother and father arrived in this country on a ship, with their five-year old daughter,  Anie. My sister’s name was soon changed to Anita, something “more” American.  This year our table will be filled with people whose names are German, Russian, English and Polish in origin.  How wonderfully American is that.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus, 1883

Pecan Pie

This recipe was printed in the New York Times many years ago.  It is the only one I use and has never failed me.

1-10″ baked pie shell

1 1/4  cups dark corn syrup

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

4 eggs

1/2 stick butter or pareve margarine, melted

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup pecan halves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Partially bake your pie shell.  Remove and allow to cool.  Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a heavy pan.  Bring to a boil and stir till sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl.  Mix in cooled syrup, melted butter, chopped pecans and vanilla.  Pour into pie shell.  Decorate the top of pie with pecan halves.  Bake for about 50 minutes.  Cover crust with foil to prevent from over-browning.   Serves 10

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy,

Irene

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Poached Quince

Several months ago my daughter sent me an e-mail in which she wrote that she thought I needed an “adventure.”  What she meant was that she wished I would travel more, but there are all kinds of adventures.  Like discovering a new restaurant while out on a stroll, or driving to a concert and along the way realizing that the street you are on is lined with beautiful old homes and majestic trees. (Try Vermont north of Los Feliz)  After many years of contemplating a vegetable garden, last week Norm removed the roses that had lined my garage wall for 25 years (gasp!) to start one.

Just before the holidays, I was walking down the aisle of a Persian market and there was a large display of quince, an odd-shaped fruit that resembles a misshapen pear.  I love quince paste, so I thought why not?  I  bought several to try, did some research, and poached the quince in a sweet liquid.  What I didn’t know was that as quince cooks, the pale cream-colored fresh is transformed into a beautiful shade of rose and the longer it cooked, the more intense the color became.  Sometimes an adventure can take place right in your own kitchen.  Hopefully one day there will be larger scaled adventures, but in the meantime this will do, and I will keep you posted on the new vegetable garden.

Poached Quince  (adapted from David Lebowitz)

This recipe is to taste, make it as sweet or lemony as you like.

5 large quince

4 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 lemon

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Place the water, sugar, honey, lemon and vanilla bean in a large pot and turn it on to medium heat.  Meanwhile peel, and quarter each quince.  Carefully remove the cores and cut each quarter into thick slices.  Add slices to pot, and cover with parchment paper, trimmed to fit, with a small home in the middle.  Press gently down on paper.  Simmer for about 2 hours.  Quince should keep it’s shape but be very soft.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: This would be a great side to Turkey!

Enjoy,

Irene

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Chocolate Cake

Rosh Hashana is approaching and as usual there is a feeling of anticipation and excitement about what the New Year will bring.  Pouring over tattered recipes, trying to decide between making a traditional meal or trying something new, choosing which Challah recipe to use and do we want a sweet chicken or savory.  Will I make my mother’s apple cake, not because it is the best, but because it was the apple cake that she made, and when I make it I am reminded of her.  Of course, there are the guests, because what would a Yontif celebration be without guests.  For me that is the best part, the pull of the holidays to bring the family and friends home.  Not sure who will be here, but hopefully some calls will trickle in, and I will be grateful to share my table.

This recipe was given to me by my friend Susan T.  who raved about the results.  She was right, the cake is light and chocolaty and not too sweet.  It is a perfect cake for a birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday Shira!

Susan’s Chocolate Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups cold water

1 cup oil

1 tbs vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour three 9″  round pans or two round pans and one loaf pan.  Sift together first five ingredients.  In another bowl, mix water, oil and vanilla.  Mix in dry ingredients and combine.  Add chocolate chips and divide batter into pans.

Bake about 25-30 minutes, till toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Serves 8-10

Enjoy,

Irene

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