Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook (3 page)

MARINATED FRIED FISH

2 teaspoons salt

Yi
cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons cold water

6 fillets of sole, or similar fish

4 tablespoons shortening

i cup cider vinegar

V4
cup boiling water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 onions, sliced thin

2 cloves garlic, minced

Vi
teaspoon pickling spice

Mix the salt and flour together. Beat the eggs and cold water together. Dip the fish in the flour mixture and then in the egg and water.

Heat the shortening in a skillet, and fry the fish in it until browned on both sides. Place the fish in a bowl or glass container.

Combine the vinegar, boiling water, sugar, onions, garlic, and

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

pickling spice in a saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes. Pour over the fish. Cover, and marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Serve cold.

CHOPPED BRAINS

2 calves' brains

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

2 onions, chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil
V4
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Wash the brains. Place in a saucepan with water to cover. Add the vinegar and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Drain well. Remove the membrane. Chop the brains. Add the onions, olive oil, pepper, and lemon juice. Mix well. Chill.

VEGETABLE CHICKEN LIVERS

2 pounds string beans 2 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons salad oil

1 onion, chopped

2 hard-cooked egg yolks

Y4
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the string beans and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and add 1 teaspoon of the salt. Cook over medium heat for 20

22

Appetizers

minutes, or until very tender. Drain. Grind the beans in a food chopper, or chop very fine.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Saute the onion in it for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add to the beans, together with the egg yolks. Chop until very fine and well blended. Add the pepper and remaining salt. Mix well. Pack into a bowl. Chill.

Serve on lettuce leaves.

For such a little thing to have four names is a little beyond me, but it only goes to prove that when something is good, it's good in any language. For instance, I always called it
nahit,
my grocer calls it
chick-peas.
Mrs. Maggi upstairs calls it
cecci
and Mrs. Flores from the Parents and Teachers calls it
garbanzos.
So there you are. Four names for one little bean and the translation of each is—delicious.

NAHIT

chick-peas
                                     
i pound chick-peas

2 teaspoons salt

Vi
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Wash the chick-peas. Cover with water and soak overnight. Drain. Add fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cover, and cook over low heat for
1V2
hours, or until tender. Drain. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 3 minutes, shaking the pan constantly. Let cool, but do not chill. Serve as a cocktail appetizer or as a snack.

²
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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

BAKED TONGUE ROLLS

2 cups chopped cooked tongue
Vi
cup finely chopped dill pickles 6 tablespoons melted shortening 6 hard rolls (oblong or round)

Mix the tongue, pickles, and 2 tablespoons of the shortening together. Preheat oven to 375 °.

Cut a 1-inch piece from one side of the rolls and scoop out carefully. Stuff with the tongue mixture. Brush the rolls with the remaining shortening. Place on a baking pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serve as a luncheon dish or late snack. Small versions of this dish make excellent
hors d'oeuvres.

note: If a smoother mixture is desired, grind tongue and pickles together.

GRATED BLACK RADISH

2 black radishes, peeled

1 onion (optional)

^l
A
cup rendered chicken or goose

fat
\Vz
teaspoons salt
Va
teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper

Grate the radishes and onion on a medium grater. Add the chicken fat, salt, and pepper. Toss lightly. Chill. Serve on lettuce leaves.

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5 (rubs

Soup in America is very refined. But when I was a girl, soup was for every day and not just for company or was it the kind of a day for soup? People ate soup because it was the cheapest way to feed the most people on the least food. Nowadays soup is a special dish and it's not such a necessity, but sometimes when the budget is low it's a good thing to remember.

Soup is really a Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde food. For company it's fancy, for every day it's cheap and easy to make, and it's also good if you feel like a plate. In your best dishes it's very distinguished indeed, and in your everyday dishes it's soup, and if your family is like my family it's not a meal without it. Sammy's favorite soup is any kind of soup so long as it has lots of things in it like noodles,
mandel, kasha, kreplach,
and maybe a few other things too. Sometimes the soup is so thick with different things, there's no room for the soup.

26

CREAM OF LIMA BEAN SOUP

\Vi
cups dried lima beans 6 tablespoons butter

6  scallions (green onions) or 2 onions, chopped

7 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

V4
teaspoon white pepper

1 cup light cream

Wash the beans. Place in a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, and let soak for 1 hour. Drain.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the scallions and saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the beans and the 7 cups of water. Cover and cook over low heat for 2 hours, or until beans are soft. Force through a sieve or puree in an electric blender. Return the mixture to a saucepan. Add the salt, pepper, and cream. Heat and serve.

²
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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

NOODLES AND MILK SOUP

4 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons flour 6 cups milk
1V2
teaspoons salt l tablespoon sugar
Va
pound fine noodles, half cooked, drained

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, stirring until smooth. Add the milk gradually, stirring constantly until the boiling point. Add the salt, sugar, and noodles. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

LENTIL SOUP

1 tablespoon shortening

1 onion, chopped

iVi cups lentils, washed and drained

2 carrots, scraped and sliced 7 cups water

1 tablespoon salt
^X
A
teaspoon pepper 6 frankfurters, sliced

Melt the shortening in a skillet. Saute the onion in it for 5 minutes. Add the lentils, carrots, and water. Bring to a boil; add the salt and pepper; cover and cook over low heat for 3 hours. Force through a sieve or puree in an electric blender. Add the frankfurters and cook 10 minutes longer.

28

Soups

TOMATO SOUP

6 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 can

($2) tomatoes
V2
cup water 1 onion, chopped 1V2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon sugar
V2
cup milk, scalded
Vi
cup light cream, scalded

Combine the tomatoes, water, onion, and salt in a saucepan. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Add the lemon juice and sugar. Cook 5 minutes. Correct seasoning. The soup should be tart and slightly sweet. Force through a sieve or puree in an electric blender. Add the milk and cream, mixing steadily. Reheat and serve.

PICKLE SOUP

5 dried mushrooms 7 cups water

2 onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced 1 carrot, sliced

1 bay leaf

3 potatoes, peeled and diced 1J/2 teaspoons salt

Vs
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 kosher-style pickles, diced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Soak the mushrooms in water to cover for 1 hour. Drain well.

Place them in a saucepan with the 7 cups of water, onions, garlic, carrot, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat

²
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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

for
1 hour. Discard the bay leaf. Force the mixture through a sieve. Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, and pickles. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, adding a little water if soup is too thick. Correct seasoning. Add parsley and serve.

This is nobodies
⁹
recipe. It was handed down.
Borscht
is more than a soup, it's a weather vane. When my family says they want hot
borscht
I know winter is coming, and when they want cold
borscht
I know how far can spring be behind? When I make cold
borscht
I am always in the middle of putting the clothes in the camphor and when 1 make hot
borscht
it's time already to get the winter clothes out of the closet. So
borscht
is not only a soup, it's a friend that comes and goes with the robins.

COLD BORSCHT

cold beet soup
                               
8 beets, washed and peeled

1 onion, chopped fine 2V2 quarts water

1  tablespoon salt
Vi
cup lemon juice 3 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream