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Friday, September 7, 1984
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
COOKING
Ruth Schwartz, ASID
Interior Designer
`Best in Jewish Cookery' offers
500 kosher family favorites
BY GLORIA KAUFER GREENE
For Those Who Want Distinctive Interiors
COMPLETE FURNISHINGS
CUSTOM COLOR COORDINATING
ACCESSORIZING
Tour The Troy Design Center
For Consultation Call: 352 2264
-
BERNICE GARON, M.A.
Diet Consultant
Offers clients a
unique approach
to weight loss - . . .
For information regarding
an appointment
Call 353-0465
Clients must be sincerely committed to an intense individualized
weight control program conducted in the most personal and confi-
dential mariner.
GET CARRIED
AWAY I N
Plan Now For A
Special Bar/Bat Mitzva,
Sweet Sixteen, Birthday
or Shower
661-9331
Our balloon Bouquets
With Attached Baskets
Are Still The Best In Town
(Local and nationwide delivery)
PREPARATION FOR:
I PSAT • SAT • ACT
r KAPLAN
EDUCATIONAL
CENTER
Crossroads Office Centre
16250 Northland Drive
Southfield, Michigan 48075
(313) 569-5320
I recently came across a very
interesting Jewish cookbook that
offers over 500 kosher recipes
along with a generous helping of
nostalgia. Though physically
similar in many ways to organiza-
tional fundraising cookbooks, The
Best in Jewish Cookery: From My
Mother's Shtetl to Mine is the per-
sonal effort of Rebecca Zelermyer.
It is a collection of her own fam-
ily members and friends. Many of
the recipe titles reflect their
sources. For instance, there are:
Cousin Liz's Regulach, Tante Sa-
ra's Kasha and' Mushroom Cas-
serole, The Rebbitzen's Haman-
taschen, Aunt Rivka's
Doughnuts, Mamma's Kishke,
Grandpop Mose's Pickled Her-
ring, Bubba's Cholent and Hilda's
Chicken with Rice.
The nostalgia comes not only
from the traditional Jewish re-
cipes and their homey titles, but
also from the wonderful old
photographs scattered through-
out the cookbook. Several are por-
traits of Mrs. Zelermyer's and her
husband's families. The earliest
ones — of her Grandma and
Grandpa — date back to 1882.
There are also scenes of Hester
Street, Ellis Island, and Philadel-
phia at the turn of the century.
Several photos of Radauti,
Romania, (the author's mother's
shtetl), are included as well, in
contrast with a modern skyline
view of Philly,, the author's
"shtetl."
As with the fundraiser cook-
books it resembles, The Best in
Jewish Cookery is informally
written. That 'is, it does not neces-
sarily list the ingredients in the
order in which they are used, and
measurements are abbreviated
(e.g. lb., tbsp., c., tsp., etc.). Also,
the chapters are arranged in a
somewhat unorthodox order, and
there is no table of contents at the
front of the book to set you on the
right track.
(The chapters, as they appear,
are: Cookies, Bars and Cupcakes;
Fish; Fillo Recipes (borrowed,
with permission, from an Athens
Foods promotional booklet); Hors
D'oeuvres; Meat and Poultry;
Molds; Passover Recipes; Pies;
Soups and Salads; Vegetables;
Miscellaneous.) An index at the
end of the book lists all the recipes
in the order they are printed in
the book, not alphabetically.
Although most of the chapters
contain just what you'd expect,
the one called "Casseroles and
One-Dish Specialties is somehwat
eclectic.
In addition to kugels, grain dis-
hes, and other baked concoctions,
it contains vegetable recipes very
similar to some in the "Vegeta-
bles" chapter, and beef stews just
like those in the "Meat and Poul-
try" chapter. It also features re-
cipes for cheese blintzes, latkes,
kreplach, knishes, and verenikes
(dumplings), all of which require
more than one "dish" and nary a
casserole.
The recipes directions appear to
be comprehensive with plenty of
detail (such as pan sizes, how in-
gredients should look, what to ex-
pect during preparation, and
more), so that even a novice
should be able to prepare some of
the more challenging recipes like
traditional gefilte fish or kishke.
I found the recipes in The Best of
Jewish Cookery to be interesting
and diversified, and generally
quite appealing. However several
of them — particularly the baked
goods, but also a number of main
and side dishes — are rather
heavy in both sugar and fat. This
is probably because so many of the
recipes are from the "old school" of
cooking.
The beginning of the book in-
cludes a brief "Introduction to the
Laws of Kashrut," a few "precau-
tions" for cooking, several "Help-
ful Hints," a chart with the "Dates
of Jewish Holidays to the Year
2000," a "Glossary of Yiddish
Words," metric equivalents, and
permissible and restricted foods
for Passover.
The Best in Jewish Cookery:
From My Mother's Shtetl to Mine
has about 360 spiral-bound pages,
with shiny cardboard covers. It
can be purchased at some Jewish
bookstores, or ordered directly
from the publisher. To order, seled
$12.95 plus $1 shipping/handling
per book to: Mafex Associates,
Inc., 90 Cherry St., Box 519,
Johnstown, Pa. 15907-0519, (814)
535-3597.
Following are a few recipes re-
printed from The Best in Jewish
Cookery: From My Mother's Shtetl
to Mine.
THICK AND TANGY
CABBAGE SOUP
3 lb., medium size head of cab-
bage
2 (28 oz.) cans chopped to-
matoes
2 1/2 lb. beef, top rib or chuck
3 or 4 marrow bones •
1 /4 c. brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, sliced
3 tbsp. oil
I A cup raisins (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Put meat and bones into a very
large pot — 10 quart size will do.
Cover meat with water and bring
to boil. Skim off residue brought
to top of water as a result of boil-
ing meat and bones. Turn fire low
and allow to simmer.
Saute sliced onions in oil until
tender, and lightly brown. Set
aside.
Cut core out of cabbage. Wash
cabbage thoroughly and shred.
Add sauteed onions, shredded
cabbage, sugar, lemon juice and
chopped tomatoes to simmering
meat. Salt and pepper. Simmer
slowly for 3 1/2 hours covered. Add
raisins. Simmer for additional
hour. Keep' lid cracked slightly,
Taste and adjust sugar and lemon
to desired tartness. Remove meat
and bones from pot.
Cut meat into small pieces (can ,
be broken apart if tender) and re-'
turn to soup. Discard bones.
Refrigerate overnight. Remove
congealed fat from top of pot. Heat
and serve.
AUNT PASHA'S
PLUM CAKE
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 /2 cup margarine, room tem-
perature
2 eggs
' cup sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 /2 cup sugar, additional
about 12 firm purple small
plums, wash, cut in half
and pit
Cream shortening adding sugar
a little at a time and continue
creaming until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and cream once again. - '
Add flour, baking powder and al-
mond extract and blend once more
thoroughly.
Grease 9-inch pie plat gener-
ously. Press dough around sides
and over bottom of pie plate
evenly.
Place plums in nice arrange-
ment on top of dough with skin_
side down - pitted side up. If a feW,
more plums are needed to fill dish
add as many as needed.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tsp. cin-
namon. Sprinkle mixture of cin-
namon and sugar over top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 min-
utes or until plums are tender._
Cool and serve.
PAPA'S FAVORITE
NOODLE KUGEL
1 (12 oz.) pkg, fine noodles,
cook as directed and drain
1 lb. creamed cottage cheese '
6 eggs
6 oz. cream cheese
6 tbsp. sour cream
2 oz. butter, melted and cooled
1 /4 cup sugar
graham cracker crumbs for
topping
Mix all ingredients except
graham cracker crumbs together: -
Blend thoroughly
Grease 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan.
Pour in noodle mixture. Sprinkle
generously with graham cracker
crumbs.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 1
hour. Cut in squares. Serve piping
hot.
Serves 12.
Copyright 1984, Gloria Kaufer Green
Manischewitz offers recipes
Manischewitz has made avail-
able recipes geared specially for
the Rosh Hoshanah holiday.
BUSY DAY
FISH BAKE
6 oz. package Manischewitz
Potato Pancake Mix (or two
3 oz.)
2 eggs
24 oz. jar Manischewitz Gefilte
Fish
/4 cup peanut oil or melted but- \ •
ter
1/4 cup (1 oz.) grated American
cheese
Combine potato pancake mix
with eggs and water as directed on
package. Drain and mash gefilte
fish. When potato mixture is thic-
kened, stir in the oil or butter and
the mashed fish. Spread in a
greased 8-inch-square pan;
1