Rosh Hashana

[Miriam Kresh]

Yech, here it is only a few days away from Yom Tov and I haven't even thought a menu out yet. I received news that the Merlot grapes I bought are expected to be ready for the crush on Sunday, so next week I'm going to be pressing them and transferring must from plastic barrels to glass fermenters instead of cooking. I'm sure I'll work double-time in the kitchen to make up for that...

Offhand, I know I'll be making an enormous chicken soup, enough to start at least two meals. I'll shlep out the lumps of chicken fat that live in my freezer and render them down to shmaltz for matzah balls. Lekach and round challas, of course. If the weather cools down some, kasha, sans noodles for lightness but with plenty of fried onions. For some reason, my decades-long dislike of meat disappeared: I pot-roasted a falshe-filet this week and found myself enjoying it, so decided to put beef on the table this Rosh HaShannah. Soup with matzah balls, meat accompanied by a light tzimmes of carrots and sweet potatoes, plus kasha...a leafy salad...I think actually I have the first meal set up. We can't eat the way we used to; the elaborate menus of yesteryear would be wasted on us now.

Second meal, something with poultry: umm, a saffrony arroz con pollo. Third meal, Saturday night, leftovers dressed up to look inviting. Last Yom Tov meal, Sunday morning after services, gefulte fish; noodle kugel with chopped, sauteed onions and green apples, spiced with pepper, honey, and cinnamon; several fresh salads, home-made choumous and zaatar and all those dippy/spready thangs. Thank you, folks, see how this thread helped? Now I just have to copy out what I wrote here and I have a work plan. And drink: well, last year's grape wine, my first, won't be ready for another year, maybe two, but the cherry mead (just off-dry) and a dry, champagne-like apricot wine are mature. A Chardonnay for the fish meal, and I'm set.

The lamb chops you get here are sparse of meat and full of fat: thought I'd buy a package and put a couple on the bottom of the pot where the meat, onions, whole garlic cloves, wine, bay leaves, dried orange rind and dried cherry tomatoes will go. Put the whole thing in the oven and let it cook slowly for a long time. What do you all say? Brown it in olive oil first? Cover it, or not? I haven't cooked beef in so long I've forgotten what to do with it. (My mom supervised this week's pot roast. Well jeez, I'm only 52. ) Thanks for any suggestions.

Miriam

Edited September 13, 2006 by Miriam Kresh (log)

[UnConundrum]

Finally got started on the meal.... Made the filling for the kreplach tonight, will make the kreplach themselves tomorrow.... Guess I'll make the chicken soup on Thursday, and the challahs on Friday. Should put me in pretty good shape. Mom's making the chopped liver (84 and still cooking). We usually have about 18, but current count is only 12 for this year.

Maybe I'll make that pomegranate sorbet.....

[robyn]

Yech, here it is only a few days away from Yom Tov and I haven't even thought a menu out yet. I received news that the Merlot grapes I bought are expected to be ready for the crush on Sunday, so next week I'm going to be pressing them and transferring must from plastic barrels to glass fermenters instead of cooking. I'm sure I'll work double-time in the kitchen to make up for that...

Offhand, I know I'll be making an enormous chicken soup, enough to start at least two meals. I'll shlep out the lumps of chicken fat that live in my freezer and render them down to shmaltz for matzah balls. Lekach and round challas, of course. If the weather cools down some, kasha, sans noodles for lightness but with plenty of fried onions. For some reason, my decades-long dislike of meat disappeared: I pot-roasted a falshe-filet this week and found myself enjoying it, so decided to put beef on the table this Rosh HaShannah. Soup with matzah balls, meat accompanied by a light tzimmes of carrots and sweet potatoes, plus kasha...a leafy salad...I think actually I have the first meal set up. We can't eat the way we used to; the elaborate menus of yesteryear would be wasted on us now.

Second meal, something with poultry: umm, a saffrony arroz con pollo. Third meal, Saturday night, leftovers dressed up to look inviting. Last Yom Tov meal, Sunday morning after services, gefulte fish; noodle kugel with chopped, sauteed onions and green apples, spiced with pepper, honey, and cinnamon; several fresh salads, home-made choumous and zaatar and all those dippy/spready thangs. Thank you, folks, see how this thread helped? Now I just have to copy out what I wrote here and I have a work plan. And drink: well, last year's grape wine, my first, won't be ready for another year, maybe two, but the cherry mead (just off-dry) and a dry, champagne-like apricot wine are mature. A Chardonnay for the fish meal, and I'm set.

The lamb chops you get here are sparse of meat and full of fat: thought I'd buy a package and put a couple on the bottom of the pot where the meat, onions, whole garlic cloves, wine, bay leaves, dried orange rind and dried cherry tomatoes will go. Put the whole thing in the oven and let it cook slowly for a long time. What do you all say? Brown it in olive oil first? Cover it, or not? I haven't cooked beef in so long I've forgotten what to do with it. (My mom supervised this week's pot roast. Well jeez, I'm only 52.  ) Thanks for any suggestions. 

Miriam

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I like noodle kugel - and make a good one - but yours sounds interesting. When you get a chance - probably after the holidays - could you post your recipe (I'd be glad to share mine with you too).

I don't cook meat that often either. But - what little I know. With lamb - little meat - lots of fat - sounds like something that would work better on a grill than in a pot (short cooking at high heat would burn off/crisp up the fat but leave the meat edible - I don't think lamb chops were made to be cooked for long periods of time). But grilling isn't exactly a New Year's kind of thing. I am always partial to brisket. Easy to make in advance (and better made in advance!). Tastes good. And always goes well with kugel. I have an idiot-proof recipe which I'd be glad to share with you.

Finally - I don't think adding some bow tie pasta to the kasha makes it too heavy. And it will go well with the juice from any braised meat.

I just had major dental surgery today so I'm sure that whatever I do - it will be at the last minute (luckily - for only a few people). Happy New Year. Robyn

[robyn]

I'm too sore to sleep right now - so here is my "don't worry - you can make kugel at the last minute" recipe. Goes well with any holiday meat or poultry. Not a kosher recipe if served with meat.

Cook 12 ounces wide egg noodles (I use Mueller's extra wide - comes in 16 oz. packages and I cook the whole package and use about 3/4 of the package for final assembly) until almost (95%) done.

Before or while cooking the noodles - beat 3 eggs - add about 4-5 tsp. sugar to taste - 1 package farmer's cheese (about 2/3 cup) - 1/2 tsp. cinnamon - 1/4 tsp. nutmeg - 1/2 cup sour cream - and 1/2 - 3/4 cup golden raisins softened in some hot water. Mix to break up farmer's cheese.

When noodles are done - drain - put in bowl - and add 1/8 cup butter (not a lot - just a little to prevent sticking). Add egg/cheese mixture and mix. Put mixture in greased casserole dish (I grease round ceramic corning dish with Pam). Sprinkle with cinnamon and pour 1/8 cup butter on top. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 25-30 minutes until golden brown (in my oven - it's 30). Let cool a bit and serve. Will reheat in microwave but tastes best immediately after cooking. Enjoy. Robyn

[Swisskaese]

I also have a good and easy kugel recipe:

Marion's Noodle Pudding

Since I am only returning from my business trip on Friday morning at 4am, I don't have to cook anything for Friday night.

Tapenade and I wish you and all your loved ones, a happy, healthy and joyous New Year. May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a year of happiness and peace.

Shana Tova and Gmar Chatimah Tovah.

[Pam R]

I'm lucky enough to be going to my aunt's on Friday night - and friends of the family are having us over on Saturday. For the second night it's just my immediate family and I think I'll do a lamb shoulder and roast it long and low - probably with garlic, lemon, rosemary. Simple sides - maybe a kugle (my favorite mushroom and onion), maybe just some roasted veg. A salad.

I've been baking honey cakes for most of the day - but if I have time I'll make either an apple/honey cake or a plum cake that I did for a column - or maybe a slow-baked caramelized apple.

Shana tova u'metuka. I hope you all have a happy, healthy, sweet and successful New Year.

[Miriam Kresh]

Robyn,

I love a dairy kugel, and your recipe looks very good! I'll keep it for a quick winter lunch. It's an all-meat Yom Tov in my house. We just discovered that my husband is lactose intolerant, which complicates things somewhat; I'm used to making at least one dairy meal out of the four. So - one meal will be fish, it's not the end of the world.

With regard to the lamb chops, I always suspect that they are really mutton chops. I intend to use them as a flavoring, putting them under and on top of the beef, with the seasonings I mentioned upthread, and cook the whole thing in a crock pot. Sound good? However, I am interested in you "idiot-proof" brisket recipe...

My noodle recipe is done by eye, as Jewish grandmothers are prone to cook. Basically, for 1 package of wide noodles, 2-3 green apples, not peeled, but coarsely chopped; 1 medium onion, S&P, 1/2 - 1 cup brown sugar or honey (depends on how sweet your family likes it), 1 Tblsp. cinnamon. Bread crumbs or wheat germ, about 1/4 cup. 1/4 cup dark raisins. 4 large eggs, beaten.

Boil the noodles up. Drain, then add the bread crumbs or wheat germ. Mix well.

Sautee the apples and onions in shmaltz or in corn oil. There should be about 1/4 cup fat in the pan. When the apples and onions are tender, add S&P (plenty of pepper), sugar or honey, cinnamon, and cook a few minutes longer, stirring, till it is all a bubbly, brown mass.

Add the fruit/onion mixture to the hot noodles; stir well.

Add the beaten eggs and mix again. Taste a little to adjust seasonings.

Bake in a preheated 350 deg. oven for about 1 hour, or until the kugel is set and its top is a golden brown.

Yield: 8 -10 portions. I usually divide the recipe between two smaller baking pans in order to freeze one for Sukkot.

Miriam

[bushey]

Marion's Kugel is practically identical to my mother's kugel recipe, which has always been my favorite.

[Miriam Kresh]

Yay, Mom power!

Miriam

[robyn]

Robyn,

I love a dairy kugel, and your recipe looks very good! I'll keep it for a quick winter lunch. It's an all-meat Yom Tov in my house. We just discovered that my husband is lactose intolerant, which complicates things somewhat; I'm used to making at least one dairy meal out of the four. So - one meal will be fish, it's not the end of the world.

With regard to the lamb chops, I always suspect that they are really mutton chops. I intend to use them as a flavoring, putting them under and on top of the beef, with the seasonings I mentioned upthread, and cook the whole thing in a crock pot. Sound good? However, I am interested in you "idiot-proof" brisket recipe...

My noodle  recipe is done by eye, as Jewish grandmothers are prone to cook. Basically, for 1 package of wide noodles, 2-3 green apples, not peeled, but coarsely chopped; 1 medium onion, S&P, 1/2 - 1 cup brown sugar or honey (depends on how sweet your family likes it), 1 Tblsp. cinnamon. Bread crumbs or wheat germ, about 1/4 cup. 1/4 cup dark raisins. 4 large eggs, beaten.

Boil the noodles up. Drain, then add the bread crumbs or wheat germ. Mix well.

Sautee the apples and onions in shmaltz or in corn oil. There should be about 1/4 cup fat in the pan. When the apples and onions are tender, add S&P (plenty of pepper), sugar or honey, cinnamon, and cook a few minutes longer, stirring, till it is all a bubbly, brown mass.

Add the fruit/onion mixture to the hot noodles; stir well.

Add the beaten eggs and mix again. Taste a little to adjust seasonings.

Bake in a preheated 350 deg. oven for about 1 hour, or until the kugel is set and its top is a golden brown.

Yield: 8 -10 portions. I usually divide the recipe between two smaller baking pans in order to freeze one for Sukkot.

Miriam

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I sometimes have lactose problems - but never with sour cream .

My brisket recipe is very 1950's. The hardest part of it is finding a piece of brisket where every tiny piece of fat hasn't been removed (and forget about finding a point cut - my favorite - these days - at least where I live).

The variations in amounts of other ingredients depend on how big a brisket you have - medium (maybe 2-3 pounts) or large (maybe 4-5 pounds).

Line a large roasting pan with aluminum foil. Slice up 1-2 green peppers in thin strips. Put half on the foil. Use 1-2 packages of Lipton's onion soup mix. Sprinkle half on the peppers. Put the brisket on the foil fat side down. Smear about 4-6 cloves of finely chopped garlic on the top of the brisket. Put the rest of the green pepper on top of the brisket - and spinkle the rest of the Lipton's onion soup on top. Draw ketchup V's across the top of the brisket - not a huge amount of ketchup. Add 2-4 cups of water to the bottom of the foil. Cover with another piece of foil - and crimp edges tightly. Cook at 325 degrees for 3 hours.

Open foil package and mix stuff on top of brisket with the gravy under the brisket. Slice thinly on the bias - and place the brisket slices in an ovenproof dish with a cover. Add the gravy. Refrigerate at least overnight. Remove excess congealed fat if by some miracle you have found brisket which has a thick layer of fat on it. Reheat at about 250-300 and serve within a day or two or three. Leftovers will last at least a week.

I'll have to try the apple and onion variation on the kugel one of these days - but it won't be easy to convince my husband that anything is better than kugel with sour cream .

I don't cook lamb that often - but if you're really dealing with mutton - then what you're doing sounds like the best way to deal with it.

Where do you get chicken fat? Do you make your own? One year I looked for it in the stores - but couldn't find it. Lard yes - chicken fat no. Robyn

[Miriam Kresh]

Robyn,

Thank you for the brisket recipe. Chicken fat...I ask the butcher to save all the fat he cuts off my chickens when he joints them for me, and to throw in some fresh fat from his big plastic disposal bag. I don't need much, and do this only twice a year: Rosh HaShanah and Pesach time. Fat from 3 chickens is plenty for my needs; it's about 12 Tblsp. of shmaltz at the end.

You busy cooks may not see this till after Yom Tov, but to those reading, I wish a Shana Tova u'Metukah. Plenty of plenty, and plenty of peace - for Clal Israel and for the world.

Miriam

[Catherine Iino]

I just want to thank Rachel Perlow for the Golden Potato Kugel recipe. Delicious, but what I particularly want to thank you for is your wonderful instructions. As you did with the rainbow jello mold recipe, you make me feel as if there's a friend at my elbow, answering questions just as they pop into my head and sharing the fun. Happy new year, and thanks again.

[CaliPoutine]

I wish I had somewhere to go.  I really miss my family's dinners.  I think Im the only jew in this town.  Totally frustrating.

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Where is Exeter, Ontario? I'm in Ontario too - have dinner with us!

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Exeter is about 30 minutes N. of London. Thanks for the offer, I ended up not even cooking last night. I'm going to make some matza ball soup today, that will have to tide me over until I go back to Ft. Lauderdale next month.

[Barbara Moss]

Just starting with the many lists for the Break the Fast. If anyone has any interesting salads I would love to hear about them. I think I have done every make ahead salad under the sun.I have done most of the baking and the kugels are in the freezer. It doesn't seem like so much work if I do a little bit at a time.

[Pam R]

Just starting with the many lists for the Break the Fast. If anyone has any interesting  salads I would love to hear about them. I think I have done every make ahead salad under the sun.I have done most of the baking and the kugels are in the freezer. It doesn't seem like so much work if I do a little bit at a time.

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Yom Kippur thread over here!

[Miriam Kresh]

Well, peoples, what's cooking for Rosh HaShannah? Looking back at my own contribution to this discussion, I was dismayed to realize that the menu I jotted down for this year looks very much like last year's. Why so unimaginative, Miriam? I go around saying that our family party is so small these days, nobody expects a blow-out meal anymore...but I secretly know that it doesn't need to be a blow-out or even very big, to be memorable.

So far, this is the plan: go to the shuk and buy enough carp to have a kilo of ground, boneless fish for gefulte fish. I'll be visiting the shuk over and over again to stock up on the fresh veg and staples. Make the fish, freeze it.

Bake 6 round challot: 3 whole-wheat, 3 white. Freeze 'em.

Bake a honey cake: freeze it.

Start assembling ingredients for noodle kugel, potato kugel, matzah balls. Make 'em and freeze 'em. Good thing my mother's freezer is always empty; I couldn't stash all this stuff in mine.

And the menu for the 1st night so far:

Before anything else, the simanim. A fish head, which my husband actually enjoys eating, apples and honey, carrot tsimmis, steamed leeks in agvolemono sauce, beets as a sweet/sour salad, black-eyed peas, also as salad with plenty of onion and parsley. Pomegranate. Have I forgotten any? (Probably.)

chicken soup w/matzah balls

chicken baked with onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and apricots

noodle kugel, the one whose recipe I gave last year

veg: more from the simanim, that is, we just have a taste of each after Kiddush, keeping the main part for serving with the meal.

With the challah and the honey cake, that's going to be plenty. I don't even serve gefulte fish at the same meal with soup, because after that nobody has room for the rest. Tea for my Mom and me.

Wine, probably the Merlot I made two years ago. Same story this year with the grapes: they'll be ready while I'm in the throes of making Yom Tov. It irks me to see the rest of the guys in the co-op taking this so casually, and then it occurs to me: of ourse they can afford to be relaxed; they're *guys,* and their *wives* are at home cooking! Well, there are advantages...they don't allow me to do any heavy lifting or shlepping.

How about the rest of you?

Miriam

[scubadoo97]

I guess it's all about traditions. You make things that are familiar and that you associate with the holiday. For a lot of us this is not a time to experiment with new things but to hold on to old customs even though it's the new year.

My large extended family gets together to make the traditional dishes we have eaten on the holidays since before I was born.

The girls rolling leaves

Edited September 2, 2007 by scubadoo97 (log)

[scubadoo97]

stuffed mulberry leaves

stuffed squash

The elders, My mom and aunt, hollowing out the squash

meat balls, a type of keftes, that will be cooked in a spicy tomato sauce

stuffed veal breast

These are but a few of the dishes that will be on the table for Rosh Hashanah. It as become an event for the kids or cousins to get together and do the cooking that my grandmother would do alone for this large brood.

[CaliPoutine]

What are the mulberry leaves stuffed with?

[scubadoo97]

The leaves are stuffed with raw rice and ground meat with Middle Eastern spice mix. Mulberry leaves are very good and we like them better than grape leaves but when they are not available grape leaves will do. The same stuffing is used for the squash and veal breast.

[Miriam Kresh]

Well, I knew mulberry leaves are infused as a medicinal tea by the Chinese, but it never occurred to me to eat them. I stuff mallow leaves once or twice over the springtime, but mulberry...interesting. i guess this is the time of year to use mulberry leaves; they are big enough to stuff now, before they go yellow and fall off the trees.

So what spice goes into the stuffing? Something like baharat? That is, where is your family from?

And your photos are wonderful, Scubadoo. The food prep is fascinating, but I confess- I loved your mom and aunt, may they be healthy!

Miriam

[cakewalk]

My large extended family gets together to make the traditional dishes we have eaten on the holidays since before I was born. 

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Beautiful photos, and wonderful sentiments. I'm curious as to where your family, and your family traditions, are from. (I'm guessing yours is not a standard Ashkenazi meal!) I love the sense of continuity in the photos -- your mom and aunt, and "the girls." And in many years' time, there will be a new photo of "the girls," but this time the caption will read, "my mom and aunts," and there will be new "girls."

I'm going to try to make Taiglich this year. I've never done it before, but my hands have been itching to try this.

[scubadoo97]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

So what spice goes into the stuffing? Something like baharat? That is, where is your family from?

Exactly. Every one's baharat is unique. It's one thing that makes your dish taste different from the next persons. My family has Middle Eastern roots. Two grandparents from Aleppo Syria, one from Kilis Turkey, very close to Aleppo and one from Egypt. My grandmother was an amazing women. A couple of years ago we had a reporter come and interview us at one of our holiday cooking sessions. My grandmother had been interviewed for numerous articles in the past. We have a very big large family and we all are close and have fun together.

Here is the most recent article about our family's Passover traditions. Notice the same foods. The baharat recipe is included.

https://www.marketstreetmortgage.com/Commun...n/RalphBobo.asp

[Pam R]

Is it that time of year again? Great pictures, great traditions. I won't be doing any cooking for the family this year, but will be going to family. They take pity on us at the holidays, because we're in the kosher food business, by the time the holidays finally arrive, my immediate family can hardly stay awake at the table.

I'm going to try to make Taiglich this year. I've never done it before, but my hands have been itching to try this.

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I tried making Taiglach last year. . . needless to say, my results weren't worth posting. Please let us know if it works for you -- and what you do!

[Miriam Kresh]

That is just awesome, Scubadoo. I sometimes wish we were Sephardim, especially now that our family is reduced to four people in Israel (everyone else in North America). I see your grandmother, a"hs, started cooking 'way in advance - I was wondering how one woman could deal with all that single-handedly. Actually this encourages me; the only way I could see cooking for 6 meals was to freeze ahead. Now I feel validated.

The Baharat recipe looks very good. Here I buy Baharat in the shuk or the supermarket, and put some in meatballs. I like making my own spice mixtures; think I'll try your family's!

My gefulte fish came out sloppy. Tasty, but part of it disintegrated into the broth. Well, we'll eat the pretty ones and the other part, I'll have to think about. Tomorrow I spend the day baking challah, honey cake, and cookies. My late Dad used to put a shot of slivovitz in the honey cake. I'm thinking of getting a bottle of the stuff (ack!) and spicing up the cake with it in his honor. That bottle would last years; slivovitz is not my favorite. But it does add a certain zing to the cake. Hm. How would Slivovitz Chocolate Chip cookies go, I wonder.

Miriam