THE Gvenait KITCHEN

THE

Yana Yegetariau

COOKBOOK

FOOD

AND

JEFF

WINE

FOR THE

NEW JEWISH TABLE

AND

JODIE MORGAN

Garden-Fresh Recipes

Rediscovered and Adapted

for Today's

Kitchen

Canto. tewanto

Translated by Eve jochnouricr

& Style; $35). Culled from members of the
JCC, The Community Table makes the leap
from the individual to a broader social and
cultural network. Photos of adorable kids
cooking probably won't interest a 20-some-
thing amateur cook, but they might entice
people in later stages of life.
"We are three New York women, all
mothers, wives and committed cooks: one
art historian, one professional chef, one
organic vegetable gardener; one traditional,
one Conservative, one Reform Jew," authors
Katja Goldman, Judy Bernstein Bunzl and
Lisa Rotmil write.
The recipes and beautiful photography
radiate warmth and a smart melding of
the old and the new. The 21st-Century
Whitefish Salad recipe, for instance, fea-
tures Greek yogurt, salmon caviar and a
serving suggestion of Belgian endive leaves
in lieu of a bagel. A chart in the appendix
categorizes every recipe into dairy, meat
or parve, followed by Shabbat and holiday
menu suggestions, and the book's kosher-
for-Passover content.
Shifting from the Northeast to the West
Coast, Berkeley-based winemaker Jeff
Morgan and his wife, Jodie, together have
authored the lovely The Covenant Kitchen,
which leaves this reader coveting a seat at
their welcoming, abundant dinner table.
"The book illustrates our life here in
Northern California, where — after grow-

roasted fennel, onions and orange,
and drizzle with the pan juices.
Serve hot.
From Leah Koenig's Modern
Jewish Cooking.

CHOCOLATE
CUPCAKES
WITH APRICOT
JAM FROSTING
These cupcakes are inspired by
the chocolate-dipped apricots my
mom would make each year for
Passover. The moist, chocolaty
cake gets topped with a sweet-
tart frosting amped up with apri-
cot jam. A sprinkle of chopped

ing up in assimilated, secular families —
we have rediscovered our Jewish heritage
while making kosher wines" sold under
the Covenant Wines label Jeff started with
the help of Southern California-based
Herzog Wine Cellars in 2003. The Covenant
Kitchen also tells the moving story of how
the Morgans came to make what are some
of the most respected kosher wines in the
world while deepening their connections
to Jewish life and practice, as well as with
Israel.
Although former Wine Spectator maga-
zine editor and vintner Jeff Morgan pegs
his interest in food and wine to the time
he lived in the south of France during his
former professional life as a musician —
traditional French techniques and flavors
appear in many of the recipes — living in
California has expanded the couple's culi-
nary leanings. Hence, recipes for ginger
sesame noodles and others like this one.
The book is oriented toward kosher
households, with the caveat that "you don't
have to keep kosher to make and enjoy
the dishes featured here:' Wine lovers will
appreciate the special focus the Morgans
give to the fruit of the vine. The chapter
about wine discusses the winemaking pro-
cess at Covenant, provides historical facts
about Jews and wine, and outlines a basic
primer that addresses a range of frequently
asked questions. Suggested pairings accom-

dried apricots seals the deal.
For the cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
'/2 tsp. baking powder
'/2 tsp. baking soda
'/2 tsp. kosher salt
'/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. instant coffee
'/2 cup boiling water
'/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
'/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten
For the frosting:
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at
room temperature

pany each recipe, too.
Despite including ingredients that are
largely available in most grocery stores,
quality and freshness matter to the couple,
who spent years producing much of their
own food on their Napa Valley ranch before
moving to Berkeley.
"The Jews of antiquity dined well for
thousands of years without margarine and
other processed foods. We tend to follow
their lead:' they write.
Along these lines, The Vilna Vegetarian
Cookbook: Garden-Fresh Recipes
Rediscovered and Adapted for Today's
Kitchen by Fania Lewando (Schocken
Books; $30) reminds us how all that was
old is new again. Joan Nathan's foreword
outlines how the book came to be after she
met Barbara Mazur and Wendy Waxman,
a team who found the manuscript at YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research in New York
and were eager to get it published.
The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook reprints
Eve Jochnowitz's translations of Lewando's
terse and prolific recipes, which were origi-
nally published in 1938 and comprised
Europe's first female-authored, Yiddish-
language vegetarian cookbook. Jewish cui-
sine has always included many vegetarian
recipes because of kashrut laws, but Nathan
provides additional spiritual and politi-
cal context about Lewando, who owned
a kosher dairy restaurant in old Vilnius

3 Tbsp. apricot jam
2 Tbsp. milk, plus more as
needed
1Y2 cups confectioner's sugar
Finely chopped dried apri-
cots for topping

Make the cupcakes: Preheat
the oven to 350°F and line a
12-cup muffin tin with paper
liners.
In a large bowl, whisk togeth-
er the flour, baking powder,
baking soda, salt, cocoa powder
and granulated sugar. In a small
bowl, stir together the instant
coffee and boiling water, then

that doubled as a salon of sorts for creative
types and visitors, such as Marc Chagall, as
well as a cooking school.
"Lewando created a Jewish culinary
palette that celebrated nature's bounty:'
Nathan writes. "In meatless meals, long
viewed as indicators of hardship and sor-
row, Lewando found bright flavor and the
key to health and well-being:' Beautiful
illustrations from vintage seed packets add
another historically compelling touch (after
all, Lewando worked in the era long before
"food stylist" was a legitimate job title).
The book also is a primary source for
the Jewish vegetarian movement that
grew under the looming menace of the
Holocaust. (Lewando and her husband died
while escaping the Vilna ghetto about three
years after the book was published.) The
tome is complete with platitudes about diet
and health, excerpts from the guest book at
Lewando's restaurant, and a prescient chap-
ter with "vitamin drinks" and juice recipes.
Lewando did not embrace an abstemious
philosophy, given that she wrote recipes for
wine, mead and liqueurs. Why make bread-
crumbs from stale rolls when you can make
kvass? So, when you're out buying fresh
produce, look no further than Lewando's
legacy to find arguably the most appropri-
ate use of your haul. And, ideally, it will be
fresh enough to please her discerning tastes
and standards.

add it to the flour mixture
along with the vegetable oil,
milk, vanilla and egg and stir
well to combine.
Divide the batter evenly
among the muffin cups. Bake
until the tops are firm to the
touch and a tester inserted into
the center of a cupcake comes
out clean, 20 to 22 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let
cool completely on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the frost-
ing: In a stand mixer or using
a handheld electric mixer and
a medium bowl, beat the but-
ter, apricot jam, milk and V2

❑

cup of the confectioner's sugar
together on medium speed until
smooth. Slowly add the remain-
ing 1 cup confectioner's sugar,
beating until creamy.
Spread a generous amount
of frosting on top of the cooled
cupcakes and sprinkle with
chopped dried apricot. Serve at
room temperature.
From Leah Koenig's Modern
Jewish Cooking.

NEW COOKBOOKS

on page 48

September 3 • 2015

47

