filled with cheese mixture. Bake at 400
degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden
brown.
HOBZ BIZ-ZEJT
(BREAD AND OIL)
bread
red ripe tomatoes
olive oil
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
vinegar
fresh herbs, including basil, marjoram or
mint
olives
capers
raw garlic
sliced onions
anchovies
Cut tomatoes in half and rub each slice of
bread with a tomato until it becomes pink.
Leave tomato on bread, with seeds re-
moved. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt,
pepper and other ingredients.
Mr. Mifsud says, "Our family makes
this with tomato paste in place of fresh
tomatoes. This makes a delicious low-fat
lunch with a salad. The flavor is fully
Mediterranean and leaves you satisfied."
RICOTTA-FILLED CORENTS
PASTRY
8 oz. flour
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. chocolate
2 tsp. margarine
2 tsp. shortening
2 Tbsp. red wine
1/4 pint cold water
FILLING
14 oz. ricotta
2 oz. chocolate
4 oz. glace cherries
2 oz. sugar
4 oz. blanched or roasted almonds
Mash ricotta. Chop up chocolate and mix
with cherries and almonds, then stir into
ricotta. Add sugar.
For pastry, place ingredients in electric
mixer and blend. Roll pastry out thinly.
Cut into circles and place each over tubes
(for sale in cooking specialty shops).
Fry with a piece of lemon rind, turning
until evenly brown. When lemon rind gets
brown, replace with a fresh piece. Cool on
absorbent paper, then fill at the last
minute.
F
idel Castro has his cigars.
Che Guevara had his inhalers
(even revolutionaries get asthma).
But for the typical Cuban, noth-
ing is more vital than rice, rice and more
rice.
Favorite food in Cuba consists of soup
(especially bean), chicken and stew, all
served with plenty of rice.
"One of the most popular Cuban dish-
es, relished by Cubans and Cuban-born
Jews as well as the European generation,
is arroz con polo, chicken with rice, and
it's made in large amounts," says Cuban
native Ann Mann, now of Franklin.
ARROZ CON POLLO
3-pound chicken, cut into eight pieces,
skin removed
2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
juice of one lime
1/2 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and
finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped and drained
pimentos
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken stock
14 oz.short-grain rice, soaked for one hour
to cover, with 2-3 saffron threads
1/4 tsp. powdered saffron, optional
1 cup drained sweet peas
2 pimentos, chopped, for garnish
Wash chicken and season with salt, pep-
per and lime juice.
In heavy casserole over medium heat,
warm 1/4 cup oil over low heat. Brown
chicken on each side, about 6-8 minutes.
Remove and set aside. Add remaining oil
and cook onion, pepper and garlic, stirring
about 6-8 minutes, until onion is trans-
parent. Add tomatoes, pimentos, cumin
and bay leaf. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes,
then add chicken and mix well. Add wine
and cook 5 more minutes.
Add stock and bring to a boil. Season to
taste.
Turn on oven to 350 degrees. Add
drained rice; if it's not yet bright yellow,
add additional saffron. Bring to boil over
high heat and cook, uncovered, until most
of the water has been absorbed, about 20-
25 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add 3/4 cup peas
and cover. Place in oven until rice is ten-
der, about 20 minutes.
Place chicken and rice on a large plat-
ter, garnish with remaining peas and
chopped pimentos and serve.
I
f you're looking for a full table of tempt-
ing foods, go to the home of the smor-
gasbord.
This irresistible idea for anyone not
on Weight Watchers originated in Swe-
den, and required at least three visits. The
smorgasbord, a kind of potluck predeces-
sor, began in rural Sweden where fami-
lies would each bring one dish (usually lots
of cheeses and fish showed up) which was
then collected, and served, on one long
table.
Today, typical fare in Sweden contin-
ues to include cheese and plenty of fish,
especially salmon and fish pudding.
Susann Codish, now of Oak Park, came
with her Eastern European parents to
Sweden after the war.
"The cuisine of my childhood home
tended to be Jewish ethnic of the Hun-
garian variety," she recalls. "What is pop-
ular in Sweden and which we did pick up
while living there was the concept of the
white sauce, which could be flavored in
a variety of ways and served with veg-
etables or over fish or roast beef. As we
kept a kosher home, these sauces were
cken flavor broth
made with pareve chi
or with stock.
"I find that all three variations are ex-
cellent mixed with cauliflower that has
been steamed for 8-10 minutes in very
small pieces. The dill is particularly suit-
ed also to tiny potatoes and poached fish;
the horseradish is fine with roast beef Use
your imagination."
BASIC WHITE SAUCE
1 Tbsp. margarine (butter for milchigs)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup chicken stock (pareve broth from
cubes or powder if doing milchigs or
keeping it pareve)
Melt margarine over low flame. Stir in
flour until well blended. Add stock slow-
ly, whisking constantly to prevent clump-
ing. Bring to a simmer.
Variation #1:
DILL
To the basic white sauce, add a large hand-
ful of finely chopped dill, 1 Tbsp. white
vinegar and 1 tsp. sugar. Adjust season-
ings to taste (more sugar or vinegar, salt
and pepper). Blend and simmer for an-
other minute or two.
Variation #2:
MUSTARD
To the basic white sauce, add 1 Tbsp. pre-
pared mustard. Adjust seasonings (more
mustard, salt and pepper) to taste. Blend
and simmer for another minute or two.
Variation #3:
HORSERADISH
To the basic white sauce, add 1/2 Tbsp.
grated horseradish or 1 Tbsp. prepared
horseradish sauce. Adjust seasonings
(more horseradish, salt and pepper) to
taste. Blend and simmer for another
minute or two.
hirley Gormezano of Oak Park is one
of the best local cooks of Sephardi
food.
So how is it that she's Ashkenazi?
It all started with a man.
"My husband, to whom I have been
married for 51 years, is Sephardi," she ex-
plains. "I have tried to keep him happy by
preparing many traditional Sephardic
recipes, which my mother-in-law, Cala
Levy Gormezano, passed down to me.
"The best Sephardic cooks never used
recipes, and everything was tediously pre-
pared from scratch. My mother-in-law's
recipes called for a glass of oil, two hand-
fuls of flour and other vague instructions.
"The most popular recipe in our fami-
ly is very simple, but I'm told by my chil-
dren and five grandchildren that 'nobody
makes it like Grandma.' My grandchil-
dren, Miriam, Yael, Karen, Yaakov and
Michelle, call it 'Red Rice.' We serve it
every Shabbat, along with our chicken.
Rice to those of Spanish origin is like pota-
toes or kugel to Ashkenazim."
'Whenever we had guests at our seder,
mina de came always was requested. It's
a little time consuming, but well worth the
effort."
"Passover in our home meant bimuelos
for breakfast, served with a sugar-lemon
syrup," Mrs. Gormezano says.
S
ARROZ CON TOMAT
1 cup rice
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
Bring all ingredients except rice to a boil.
Slowly add rice, reduce heat to simmer
and cover. Allow to simmer for about 20
minutes or until all liquid has evaporat-
ed. Do not stir until done.
When all liquid is absorbed, gently fluff
with fork after removing from heat.
Serves 4.
Note: My mother-in-law only used
Hunt's tomato sauce. The flavor just isn't
the same with substitutes.
"Another recipe my family enjoys on
Shabbat is a vegetable which complements
any meat or chicken dinner," Mrs.
Gormezano says. "It calls for fresh string
beans and fresh tomatoes. I have modified
it to my own Ashkenazi touch and nobody
is the wiser."
FASOULIA (SEPHARDIC
STRING BEANS)
2 lbs. fresh string beans
1 large onion
1 10-1/2 oz. can tomato sauce with
mushrooms
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup water
Wash string beans and remove top ends.
Cut or break into 2-inch pieces and place
in a 3-quart saucepan. Dice onion and
place in saucepan. Add all other ingredi-
ents and combine thoroughly.
Bring to boil. Cover and cook on simmer
until tender. Stir occasionally to keep from
burning. If necessary, add a small amount
of water.
MINA DE CARNE (MATZAH
MEAT PIE)
2 large onions, diced
2 lbs. lean ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder, optional, to taste
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup matzah farfel
6 matznbs
1 egg (for top)
2 Tbsp. oil
Saute onion in small amount of oil in large
skillet, until soft. Add ground beef and
brown until all pink has disappeared. Stir
occasionally.
When browned, add seasonings. Add
matzah farfel, which has been rinsed in
colander under water to soften. Remove
from heat and add beaten eggs.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 de-
grees. Soak matzahs in water for 1-2 min-
utes, then lay out on dishcloth and sprinkle
with water before covering with another
cloth. Let stand about 15 minutes. Grease
baking pan with oil and heat in oven.
When pan is well heated, remove from
oven and line pan with layer of matzahs
on bottom.
Put meat mixture on top of matzah lay-
er and fit another layer of matzahs on top,
completely covering meat. Brush with 1
beaten egg and bake at 350 degrees for
about an hour, or until top crust is crisp.
Let cool and cut into squares.
BIMUELOS DE MATZAH (FRIED
MATZAH BALLS)
4 matzahs
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
oil
Soak matzahs in water until very soft.
Squeeze out as much water as possible.
Place in mixing bowl. Add eggs and salt;
mix well. Pour oil about 1-inch deep in a
fry Pan-
With tablespoon, form matzah mixture
into round shapes. Drop in oil and brown
on all sides. Drain in paper towel. Serve
with syrup or preserves.
SYRUP
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp. or more lemon juice, as desired
Cook sugar and water for 15 minutes. Add
lemon juice and cook 1 minute longer. Let
cool before dipping bimuelos.
❑