Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook (21 page)

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

Bagels
is a roll. It's more of a varnished doughnut made with a special bread dough. It is a thing of beauty to behold, especially on a cold Sunday morning in the winter. The
bagel
is a lonely roll to eat all by yourself because in order for the true taste to come out you need your family. One to cut the
bagels,
one to toast them, one to put on the cream cheese and the
lox,
one to put them on the table, and one to supervise. That's My Jake. He supervises and the
bagel
wouldn't taste the same without him, so that's why these are called
Bagels
Jake.
Lox,
in case you didn't know, is like smoked Nova Scotia salmon, only saltier.

BAGELS JAKE

1 cake or package yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

%
cup lukewarm water

3 tablespoons melted shortening 3 cups sifted flour

i teaspoon salt

iegg

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. Add the shortening and mix together.

Sift the flour and salt onto a board. Make a well in the center and pour the yeast mixture and the egg into it. Work in the flour, kneading until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a bowl; cover and let rise for 45 minutes. Knead again for 3 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Roll between lightly floured hands into 8-inch strips. Form into doughnuts and press the edges together securely.

Place on a floured baking sheet and broil in a 400
⁰
oven for 4 minutes. Remove and drop into rapidly boiling water. Cook for 20

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minutes. Drain well. Replace on the baking sheet. Bake in a 400
⁰
oven for 15 minutes, or until browned on both sides.

To serve, slice through the middle horizontally and spread with butter or cream cheese.
Bagels
are particularly good with smoked salmon.

The family named this
challah
recipe after me. They insisted. They said of all the recipes this one brings to them the sweetest memories. To me too it brings memories. Of course, now the children are all grown up, but when they were small and I made
challah, J
would always make enough dough so that they could each make their own loaves. Each year as they got older I would give them more dough to make a bigger bread, and before you knew it they were making loaves of
challah
as big as mine. Time flies, especially in the
challah
department.

CHALLAH A LA MOLLY

egg bread
                                     
i cake or package yeast

Vs
teaspoon saffron

1 cup lukewarm water 4 cups sifted flour

i teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar 2 eggs, beaten

i egg yolk, beaten

Soak the yeast and saffron in the water for 5 minutes. Sift the flour, salt, and sugar together. Combine the yeast mixture with 1V2 cups of the flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Cover the bowl with a cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about

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30 minutes. Add the eggs and mix well. Add the remaining flour mixture and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a bowl, dust the top with a little flour, and cover with the cloth. Allow to rise until double in bulk, about 2 hours.

Knead the dough for 3 minutes. Divide it into 3 equal parts. Roll each piece between lightly floured hands into long, round strips. Fasten the 3 strips together at one end, and braid them. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise again for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 °. Brush the top of the
challah
with the egg yolk.

Bake in a 400
⁰
oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375
⁰
and bake for 35 minutes longer, or until delicately browned on top.

ONION KUCHEN (BREAD)

1 cup milk

^l
A
pound butter

1 cake or package yeast

V4
cup lukewarm water

3 cups sifted flour 1 teaspoon salt

\Vi
teaspoons sugar

4 onions, sliced thin

1 egg, beaten

Va
cup sour cream

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Combine the milk and half of the butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

Soften the yeast in the water for 10 minutes.

Combine the yeast and milk mixtures and mix well. Sift the flour,
Vi
teaspoon of the salt, and the sugar together and add to the yeast mixture, mixing well. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 1V2 hours.

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Noodles, Breads, and Pancakes

Melt the remaining butter in a skillet. Add the onions and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Cool. Beat the egg, sour cream, and remaining salt together.

Knead the dough. Break off pieces and roll into 2-inch balls between floured hands. Place on a baking sheet and flatten slightly. Press the saut^ed onions into the
kuchen.
Spread with the sour-cream mixture. Sprinkle with the poppy seeds. Let rise for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375
⁰
.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until browned on top.

POTATO DUMPLINGS

4 potatoes, peeled, grated, and

drained (about 4 cups)
Vi
cup sifted flour 2 eggs 2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon grated onion

2 tablespoons matzo or cracker

meal

Combine the potatoes, flour, eggs, salt, onion, and matzo meal. Mix well. Form into i-inch balls. If the mixture is not firm enough, add a little more flour.

Drop into boiling salted water. Boil for 20 minutes. Drain well.

Serve in soup or with meat dishes.

NOCKERL

EGG DUMPLINGS
                                         
2 eggS

V3
cup cold water

1 teaspoon salt

V*
cup sifted flour

Vi
teaspoon baking powder

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Beat the eggs, water, and salt together. Add the flour and baking powder, mixing until smooth.

Drop by the teaspoonful into boiling salted water. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the
nockerl
rise to the surface. Drain well.

Serve in soup, or with
paprikas
or goulash. They may also be eaten plain with a little melted butter or other shortening.

FARFEL

EGG BARLEY
                                               
2 eggS

Vi
teaspoon salt

2 cups sifted flour

Beat the eggs and salt together. Add the flour gradually, adding just enough to form a stiff dough. It may not be necessary to add all the flour.

Break off pieces of the dough and roll into pencil-thin strips between floured hands. Set aside for 1 hour.

Chop the dough into small pieces about the size of barley. Let dry for several hours on a flat surface.

Drop half of the
farfel
into boiling soup and cook for 15 minutes. The remaining
farfel
may be stored in a covered jar. Serve the
farfel
in the soup.

If desired,
farfel
may be served as an accompaniment to meat dishes. Cook half of the
farfel
in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain well and prepare in the following manner:

3 tablespoons shortening 2 onions, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

V2
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Melt the shortening in a skillet. Add the onions, salt, and pepper. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the
farfel
and saut£ for 5 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Serve hot with meat dishes.

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Noodles, Breads, and Pancakes

This recipe comes to me from Muttle. Muttle is the family problem because everything he does he does wrong. The Pancake Noodles is the only thing he ever did right, and Jake thinks that that was a mistake too. Jake says he probably started out to poach eggs and this is what happened, but nevertheless I like to give credit where credit is due, so here is Muttle's recipe for Pancake Noodles. Jake to the contrary.

MUTTLE'S PANCAKE NOODLES

3 eggs

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sifted potato starch

3 tablespoons matzo meal

3 tablespoons shortening

Beat the eggs, water, and salt together in a bowl. Add the potato starch and matzo meal. Mix well.

Melt half of the shortening in a 7-inch skillet. Pour 3 tablespoons of the batter into it, turning the pan quickly to coat the bottom. Fry until lightly browned on both sides. Roll up and keep warm while preparing the balance of the pancakes. Add additional shortening as necessary.

Cut into V6-inch strips. Serve in soups.

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MANDLEN

BAKED SOUP NOODLES
                             
2 eggS

2 teaspoons salad oil

Vi
teaspoon salt

i cup sifted flour

Vi
teaspoon baking powder

Beat the eggs lightly. Add the salad oil and salt. Mix together. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the eggs, adding just enough to make a soft dough. It may not be necessary to add all of the flour mixture. Knead for a few minutes.

Break off pieces of dough and roll between floured hands in pencil-thin strips. Cut into Vi-inch lengths. Preheat oven to 375
⁰
.

Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Shake the pan frequently while baking.

Add to consommes or beef soups at the last moment before serving.

ALMOND DROPS

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon flour or potato starch

1  teaspoon salt

Vi
cup ground blanched almonds

2 egg whites, stiffly beaten Fat for deep frying

Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Add the flour, salt, and almonds. Mix well. Fold in the egg whites.

Heat the fat to 375
⁰
. Drop the batter by the
Vi
teaspoonful into it. Fry for 2 minutes, or until browned. Drain well.

Serve in soup.

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Noodles, Breads, and Pancakes

EGG DROPS

iegg

3 tablespoons water 3 tablespoons flour
V^
teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons chopped parsley (optional)

Beat the egg and water together. Add the flour, salt, and parsley. Mix until smooth. Drop by the
Vi
teaspoonful into boiling soup. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. The egg drops are particularly good in beef or chicken soup.

LIVER DUMPLINGS

l tablespoon shortening l onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

i pound calf s liver, skinned

iVi
teaspoons salt

V4
teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper 3 tablespoons flour

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

Vi
cup melted chicken fat

3 tablespoons bread crumbs

Melt the shortening in a skillet. Saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Grind or chop the liver and saut6ed onions until very smooth. Add the salt, pepper, and flour, mixing very well. Add the egg yolks and mix well.

Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them into the liver mixture gently.

Drop the mixture by the tablespoon into boiled, salted water. Boil

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for 25 minutes, or until dumplings rise to the surface. Drain well and serve with the melted chicken fat and bread crumbs. Serve as an accompaniment to meat or poultry dishes.

FARINA DUMPLINGS

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter
Vi
cup farina

\Vi
teaspoons salt

V4
teaspoon white pepper

2 eggs, beaten