Recipes
- Tanya's Kamish Broit
- Polly's Eggplant
- Fera's Borscht
- Fera's Gefilte Fish
- Motle's Dill Pickles
- Motle's Pickled Watermelon
- Mike Levine's Chrain-Horseradish
- The Latke Letters
Tanya's Kamish Broit (alias mandelbroit, aka mandel bread)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 cup chopped almonds (chipits if you're making them for mintzy)
Beat eggs, add sugar gradually, mix well. Add oil and vanilla, mix, then add flour sifted with baking powder. Add chipped almonds. (and chipits). Shape into 4 rolls (one for each child?). Bake on oiled cookie sheet in 350 degree F. oven, for about 30 minutes. When done, remove from oven, cut into one inch pieces, and put back into the oven to dry, for about 5-8 minutes. Watch closely. If desired, before putting back into the oven, each piece may be dipped into a mixture of: 2 tsps sugar, 1/2 tsp cinammon.
(Submitted by Mitzy)
Polly's Eggplant
This was my first attempt to learn one of Polly’s recipes, so I’ve had it longest, and thus it’s the one that’s evolved most - not 100% exactly as Polly made it but, still, in her spirit.
2 beautiful eggplants (Like Truth, Beauty is always a fundamental ingredient in Polly’s recipes. [See Keats])
2 tomatoes
2 green peppers
1 onion
garlic
olive oil
white wine vinegar
salt
Broil the eggplants till soft and the skin is slightly charred, about 1/2 - 3/4 hour. Scoop insides into a bowl. (Those who’ve inherited the family’s wooden bowl and hockmesser are in luck because you can’t seem to find these anymore and they really help.) Add some vinegar and salt and let it cool a while. Chop the remaining ingredients and combine everything with garlic, oil, vinegar, and salt to taste.
Variation: The Iranians down the street make a similar dish but they also broil the peppers and tomatoes (the peppers should almost be burnt). I’ve tried it that way and it’s also pretty good.
(Submitted by Brian N.)
Fera's Gefilte Fish
Now that we are finished with latkes, how about gefilte fish.
Now I dont't even have to ask who made the best. Everyone knows it was Fera. Everybody now - Yaaay Fera.
I have her recipe. Like Polly, she did not have a written recipe. I watched her all day, writing and making changes as she added a bissel this and a bissel that. Of course we have to also thank Abie. Without him the fish would not taste the same. The fish was mixed, then a little bit cooked, and put in the fridge to cool. Then he would taste. "Its good, but maybe add a little salt". More salt was added to the mixture, cooked and cooled and tasted again. "No, I think you need a little more." More mixing, cooking and tasting. " Its good, but it needs more pepper." After numerous tries "Its perfect." And it always was.
My fish is good, but unfortunately, I don't have Abie to do the tasting. It will always be missing something.
3 - 4 Onions 6 lbs. Ground fish (combination of whitefish, pike and dore) 12 Eggs 1/2 cup matzo meal 1 cup cold water 1 tbls. salt 1 tsp. pepper 1 tbls. sugar 1/2 cup oil 3 cloves garlic Fish Stock head, skin and bones from fish 10 cups cold water 1 tsp. pepper 3 whole onions 3 carrots, scraped 1 tbls. salt 2 tbls. sugar 3 stalks celery 1/2 cup oil potatoes FISH - Mince onion. (about 10 seconds in processor.) Add fish and remaining ingredients and mix very well (about 10 - 15 seconds in processor). STOCK: Put water, head, skin and bones in large pot. Add oil, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and seasonings. Cover and simmer for about 1/2 hour. Remove all fish stuff. (If you place it all in a cheesecloth bag its a lot easier.) This is where the tasting comes in. Take a tsp. of fish mixture, cook it for a few minutes . Cool and taste. Make changes. When perfect, continue. Wet your hands with cold water. Shape into your favourite shape and add to simmering water. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Take off the cover about the last 1/2 hour. Cool. TIP: If you want to freeze the fish it will get watery. Cook the defrosted fish for about 15 minutes in water and drain. It will taste freshly cooked. (Submitted by Ellie)
Fera's Borscht
Here is Fera's Pesach borscht, as close to her directions as possible.
(MA - PLEASE REVIEW THIS AND MAKE SURE I'VE GOT IT RIGHT. THANKS.)
You start now, or in the next few weeks, because it needs time to get sour.
Take some beets. Clean, peel and slice. Put in a glass container (a big pickle jar?) and put enough water to cover the beets. Cover and put in a dark place and leave it alone for a couple of weeks (maybe more). When it is completely covered with the blue stuff (mold), it's time to cook the borscht. Remove the mold and the beets. Pour the juice through a cheescloth into a pot, to remove the little bits of mold. Now, with the juice in the pot, add new beets (cleaned, peeled and sliced) and a whole, peeled onion. Add a bissel salt and a some sugar to taste. Cook for a couple of hours. Add sliced potatoes and cook until they are tender. Remove the onion. MMMMMmmmmm.
(Submitted by Ronnie)
Motle's Dill Pickles
As far as I know, no recipe from the Nachshen Family can be exact. The formulae used were the old-fashioned kind, that is "a bissle zaltz, a bissel feffer, a zhmenie, a leffele, a gluz oder a bissel mer", whatever...
What I do, is to follow as closely as possible, the recipe my Father used. (He never formally told me exactly what he does to make the best pickles...but I tried to pick up what I saw, and I have been successful (ask Franci or Cheryl or Silka or anybody who has tasted my pickles). So here goes.
You will need the following ingredients:
Cucumbers, preferably small thin ones (kirbies), fresh and firm.
Pickling spices
Bay leaves
Fresh Dill
Garlic
Coarse salt
Chili peppers (crushed)
Fresh cold water
For a half-gallon jar, before putting the cukes in the jar, put in about a tablespoon of pickling spices, crushed garlic (about 2-3 cloves), a tablespoon of coarse salt; a few bay leaves, a sprinkling of chili peppers, and a few stalks of dill. Place cukes in jar. Repeat ingredients on top of cukes in the jar, modify the quantities, add cold water. Put cover on jar, and shake (or roll jar) to mix all the ingredients. Loosen cover - since the cukes in the jar will start to ferment, it is best not to have the cover shut tightly. Check every day and add water if necessary. Keep in a warm place (room temperature) and in about 6-7 days, the cukes will start to change colour. If you like half-sours shut the jar tightly and keep refrigerated. If you like them sour, leave in jar until the cukes have turned completely dark as sour pickles look.
When you check the jar of cukes, taste the liquid to make sure it is salty enough (for your taste). If it is not, add salt.
After 7 days or so the pickles should be kept refrigerated.
Final instruction: Eat and enjoy.
Pickled Watermelon
Just add watermelons to your jar (of course you may have to cut the watermelon into small pieces to fit in the jar. When pickles are ready, watermelon will be ready. Enjoy.
(Submitted by Issie Nachshen)
Mike Levine's Chrain-Horseradish
Remember how when we would have a new person at a seder someone would take the chrain, pretend to smell it and then say "hey - new person, take a whiff of this - do you think it smells like gasoline?" I don't know how many people nearly passed out from this. Well, the chrain that was used by many of the Nachshens was this one following. Although this recipe isn't a Nachshen original - it is from a close friend of the family - and many of us used this for very many a Pesach seder. (This recipe provided by Joyce Levine)
1 horseradish about the size of three large raw carrots (available in the spring)
2 peeled raw beets
sugar
white vinegar
water
white pepper
salt
Use a food processor if you have one. Otherwise grate everything fine by hand and cry! Peel horseradish and cut into chunks. process until fine with 1/4 cup vinegar. Remove. Do the same with the beets. Mix everything together in a bowl. Add sugar, water, salt and pepper to taste. Bottle and refrigerate.
(Submitted by Mintzy)
The Latke Letters
From Peter to Mitzy:
(Nov 25,1996)
I can't find your last e-mail which I read in a hurry but I think you were asking me about Daddys latke recipe...
Of course Daddy made latkes... when we used to go to Bobbe & Zaide's house, Daddy would put on an apron and disappear into the kitchen for a long time. He hand-grated half a ton of potatoes and then made them for the whole family. He'd come out to the living/dining? room (where we used to sit for the seders) wearing Bobbe's apron, with a tray stacked high with 'em. he looked all shiny and sweaty from the grease and oil and heat. He was a veritable chanuka licht, in person. Anyway, his recipe goes something like this: a lot of washed potatoes grated (with the peel!) a little bit of onions grated (without the peel) (about 1 onion for every 8 potatoes more or less) (to avoid crying don't breath thru the nose, but even one tiny breath means tears) mix up in a large bowl fry in hot but not burning oil eat. over the years I have tried adding a bit of flour (naah!) a touch of salt mixed in (yeah!) an egg (ok, ok but only one per batch) a little pepper (enough with trying to improve a good thing, already!) the background to his recipe, I think, is that there wasn't enough money for eggs in the old country, so it was just potatoes. I use a teaspoon or table spoon to pick up the potatoes and drop them into the frying pan. (symmetry is not called for here.) small latkes are better than large 'cause you can eat more. I usually use 2 or more frying pans. a splatter thing to put on top of the frying pan is good if you don't like big messes to clean up after. I do turn them over after the edges look cooked. you may have to change the oil at some point I usually just keep adding oil to make sure theres enough in the pan (not to cover them but to put the latkes in up to their necks in oil***) watch the heat, too hot makes smoke, too not hot won't work. potateos must hit hot oil (acutally when cooking potatoes in any way, the potates must go from cold to very hot-not warm, immediately otherwise you will be one of those cooks who say, "I don't know why, but I can never get my potateos cooked properly" it's all in the physics.
as for grating, a Champion juicer (or food processor, I guess-never tried one for it) works great for grating, and was recently graded in a first place tie with hand grated, (providing you use first grade potatoes) in the Great Latke Grating Grading Contest In Gradzny..
lately, when I'm in procter, I do them outside on the deck, 'cause it splatters oil evrywhere in the house. I let people nibble all the while I'm making them, (even off the floor as Philip and Brian will testify) I keep the oven warm and stack them up as I take them off the frying pan I often will put them first on brown paper to drain some of the grease Sour cream, yougurt, apple sauce, and of course, our favorite as kids- was a white sugar sprinkked topping. Margeritas go well with them also. Tums or Rolaids are a good chaser.
From Brian:
A very touching letter but it misses the point which is that Polly made the best latkes in the known universe. They were perfect in shape, colour, texture, taste, emotional depth, psychic energy, memory, dream, and reflection. And they were never the least bit greasy.
I've accumulated several of her recipes over the years and always the way she gave them to me was the same. She never wrote a thing down and had no idea about measurements so to give me a recipe she had to just make the dish while I watched and made notes. When she was no longer able to cook (after moving to the Montefiore) she would cook in her imagination and tell me what she was doing while, again, I made notes. Last year I decided to make latkes for some guests. I called my mother and said I was making latkes, could she give me her recipe. She said, you're crazy. I said, c'mon, I'm a good cook, I can handle it. She said, no way, you couldn't do it, it's too much, make chicken.
The chicken was delicious.
From Peter:
OK, ok Brian, I will grant you that Polly's latkes may have been the best, but my version of Jack Clement's recipe for latkes, must have been at least in the same league as hers (N.F.L.-Nachshen Food League), to have had you eat one of mine off the floor.
I do concur wholeheartedly, that your mother's cooking is/was exceptional as is her sense of taste. You may be aware that, at the family seders, concerned that her opinion of the catered food was important, I always go up to her to find out if I had eaten good, excellent or paskoodneh food that night. So you make the chicken and I'll make the latkes. Peter
From Philip:
STOP!!! You're BOTH right. Certs, uh I mean Polly did make the best latkes in the world, AND Jack (Clement) was the King of Latkes on McCubbin, Querbes, Marianne, and Esplanade.
In fact Jacks's latkes were NOT as greasy as Peter's, I think cause he used a hotter flame (better control with gas) but Peter Clement does come the closest to the King.
No one could ever compete with Polly, so all bets are off.
That does tho, remind me of the time I got the soft rubber spatula caught in the blender while making chumous, and altho I searched the damn blender with a magnifying glass, it was Ronnie who said... (I blush even now, 20 years later) "who made the chumous?" "I did" Philip said in his most neutral voice, all the while praying feverishly promising God if he gets him off the hook this time, he'll start going to shul regularly, (a common prayer before exams in high school). "What did you put in it... it is incredibly delicious, especially the chewy parts!"
In fact a year or so later, same chumous, but no spatula, Ronnie commented : "You make such great chumous, but last year's was better!"
Sorry Ronnie, I couldn't keep it in any longer... the secret was tormenting me, besides I was waiting the mandatory 20 year period to see if there were side effects. Do you forgive me?
Or do you want the recipe?
From: Mintzy
Okay - the contest is on!!!
The Chanuka party is on December 12th. I will supply the potatoes and oil and kitchen and paper bags/towels. You will each be given 2 hours to prepare your latkes. They will be served to the unsuspecting guest who will vote on the latkes. Bring your own aprons!
Mintz the latke queen of toronto
From: Philip
A small but important detail: the spatula wasn't pureed, it was blended with the setting on "dice". If one doesn't have a Sunbeam, this can be done with a sharp knife. Leave the pieces asymetrical for a more natural eating experience. Of course use plenty of garlic.