Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook (6 page)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped dill

3 teaspoons salt

Vi
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ground beef 6 tablespoons rice

^ie
gg

Vi
cup flour

2 egg yolks

Combine the water, beef bones, onions, carrot, celery root, and tomato in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 1V2 hours. Strain and return to the saucepan. Add the sauerkraut juice, parsley, dill, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and
V4
teaspoon of the pepper. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat while preparing the meat balls.

Mix the beef, 2 tablespoons of the rice, the egg, and remaining salt and pepper together. Shape into Vi-inch balls. Roll in the flour. Add the remaining rice to the soup. Add the meat balls. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually add 2 cups of the soup, beating constantly to prevent curdling. Return the mixture to the balance of the soup, mixing steadily.

Reheat, but do not allow to boil.

note: If desired, canned consomm6 can replace the homemade beef-bone stock.

FISH BORSCHT

beet, cabbage, and
                         
4 tablespoons shortening

fish soup
                                         
2 onions, chopped

1 head (about 2 pounds)

cabbage, shredded
Vz
pound mushrooms, sliced 4 beets, peeled and grated 7 cups water
^Vi
teaspoons salt
Vi
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup bread crumbs 6 fillets of fish (carp, whitefish, or sole)

Melt 1 tablespoon of the shortening in a saucepan. Saute the onions in it for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cabbage, mushrooms, beets, water, 2V2 teaspoons of the salt,
^l
A
teaspoon of the pepper, the bay leaf, lemon juice, and sugar. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 1 hour. Correct seasoning. Discard the bay leaf.

Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining salt and pepper. Dip the fish into the bread crumbs.

Melt the remaining shortening in a skillet. Fry the fish in it until browned on both sides and done.

Place a piece of fish in each soup plate, and pour the soup over it.

5o

Soups

FARINA SOUP

3 tablespoons shortening

1 cup farina

6 cups stock or canned

consomme
Va
teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper

Melt the shortening in a skillet. Add the farina. Cook over low heat until browned, stirring constantly.

Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan. Add the farina, stirring constantly. Add the pepper. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Correct seasoning.

RYE-BREAD SOUP

2 tablespoons butter 2 onions, chopped

5 potatoes, peeled and cubed

6 cups water

5 slices rye bread, trimmed, cut into cubes

1 bay leaf

2 stalks celery 4 sprigs parsley 2 teaspoons salt

V2
teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper 1 cup sour cream 1 egg yolk

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onions. Saut6 for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the potatoes and water. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the bread, bay leaf, celery, parsley, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf,

5i

The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

celery, and parsley. Puree the mixture in an electric blender or force the mixture through a sieve.

Beat the cream and egg yolk together in a bowl. Add 2 cups of the soup gradually, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Return the mixture to the balance of the soup. Reheat, but do not allow to boil. Correct seasoning and serve.

5*

Fish is a brain food, at least that's what everybody told me when I was a girl. I don't know what's the truth behind such a story, but for some people maybe it is. Fish is one
of
my favorites and I'm not any smarter than I ever was, but
for
My Uncle David's Solly the Doctor the story is different Fish is his favorite food, and smart he is. The fish recipes that I have here are the ones I like the best, and if you like them too it will prove that if I'm not so smart at least I know what's good. That's also important

54

TANTE ELKA'S FISH

Va
cup olive oil

6 onions, sliced

zVi
teaspoons salt

Vi
teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper 6 slices fish (carp, pike, or

salmon)
Y*
cup water i tablespoon vinegar i tablespoon sugar

1 bay leaf

2 lemons, sliced thin

2 tomatoes, peeled and sliced 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onions. Saut6 for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the fish. Arrange the fish on top of the onions.

Mix the water, vinegar, and sugar together and pour over the fish. Add the bay leaf and lemon slices. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the tomatoes and parsley and cook for 20 minutes longer. Correct seasoning.

Serve cold.

55

The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

Sometimes when time grows heavy on my hands and I have nothing to do I make this pickled fish. Why? Because in my house who knows who will fall in and visit, and if the unexpected comes by, what will I feed them? I mean it's not a visit unless you can have a little something, so the pickled fish is good. You can make it in your leisure and keep it in the Frigidator. It will stay there for two weeks at least, and you mean to say that in two weeks nobody will call? Don't be foolish.

PICKLED FISH

6 onions, sliced

12 thin slices fish (salmon, pike,

or whitefish)
1V2
teaspoons salt
Vi
teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper 3 cups water 34 cup white vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons pickling spice 2 bay leaves

Place 3 of the onions on the bottom of a saucepan. Arrange the fish over it. Add the salt, pepper, and water. Bring to a boil. Cook over low heat for 35 minutes.

Arrange alternate layers of the fish and remaining onions in a bowl or jar. Combine the stock, vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Pour over the fish.

Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 days before serving. The jellied fish will keep for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

56

Fish

PICKLED FRIED FISH

Y$
cup flour

2 teaspoons salt

V\
teaspoon pepper

6 slices fish (pike, whitefish, or

sole) 4 tablespoons shortening i cup vinegar 2 onions, sliced thin 2 bay leaves

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A
teaspoon pickling spice 4 peppercorns i tablespoon sugar i lemon, sliced i tablespoon olive oil

Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together. Dip the fish in this mixture lightly. Melt the shortening; fry the fish in it until browned on both sides. Place in a bowl or jar.

Combine the vinegar, onions, bay leaves, pickling spice, peppercorns, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the lemon and oil and pour over the fish. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

The fish will keep for a week or more.

FRIED MACKEREL

Vi
cup flour

3 teaspoons salt

Vi
teaspoon pepper 6 fillets of mackerel

4 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

V4
pound mushrooms, chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

Mix the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and J4 teaspoon pepper together. Dip the fillets in this mixture. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Fry the fish in it until browned on both sides. Remove fish and keep warm. Melt remaining butter in the skillet. Saut6 the onion and mushrooms in it for 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice and remaining salt and pepper. Cook 1 minute. Pour over fish and serve.

JELLIED CARP WITH GRAPES

4 tablespoons olive oil 2 onions, chopped 2 cups boiling water 1 cup dry white wine
1V2
teaspoons salt
V2
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

6 slices carp

Vs
teaspoon saffron

2 teaspoons gelatin

3 tablespoons cold water 1 cup seedless grapes

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Saute the onions in it for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water, wine, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; carefully place the fish in it. Cover and cook over low heat for 45 minutes. Carefully transfer the fish to a serving platter.

Dissolve the saffron in the fish stock. Soften the gelatin in the cold water for 5 minutes and add to the stock, stirring until dissolved. Correct seasoning and discard bay leaf. Arrange the grapes around the fish and pour the stock over it. Chill until jellied.

58

Fish

Some people you can teach and some people you can't. Dora makes
gefilte
fish like nobody. She used to come to my house to be with Sammy. They had a crunch on each other, and between the comings and the goings and the excuses for Dora to come down by us, I showed her how to make
gefilte
fish. Listen, one excuse is as good as another. So Dora learned how to make fish and with her own improvements on the recipe it's out of this world. Sammy says she makes the best
gefilte
fish and I know that Love can be blind, but the appetite is a different story altogether, and My Sammy knows whereof without a doubt.

DORA'S GEFILTE FISH

chopped fish balls
                     
4 pounds fish fillets (whitefish,

pike, or other fresh-water fish —use 2 varieties if possible)

Head and skin of fish

5 onions

4 teaspoons salt

1Y2
teaspoons white pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

2 eggs, beaten 5^2 cups water

3 tablespoons cracker or matzo

meal 2 carrots, sliced

Grind the fish and 1 onion in a food chopper. Place in a wooden bowl; add 2 teaspoons of the salt,
Va
teaspoon of the pepper, the

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

sugar, eggs,
Vi
cup of the water, and the cracker meal. Chop until fine in texture and well blended.

Place the fish head and skin in a deep saucepan. Slice the remaining onions and place over them. Add the carrots, remaining water, and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to an active boil. Shape the chopped fish into 2-inch balls between wet hands. Carefully drop them into the saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat for
\Vi
hours. Shake the saucepan frequently. Correct seasoning.

Remove the fish balls carefully. Strain the stock into a separate bowl and chill until jellied. Serve the cold fish and the jelly with fresh horseradish.