Around the Shabbat Table (2 page)

CLASSIC CHALLAH

MARY'S ONION CHALLAH

CHOPPED CHICKEN LIVER FROM THE RUE DES ROSIERS

GRATED BLACK RADISH AND ENDIVE SALAD IN SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE

CLASSIC CHICKEN SOUP

TWO CLASSIC MATZOH BALL RECIPES

FRIED ONION AND CHICKEN KREPLACH

CHEATER'S CHICKEN IN THE POT AND ALMOST-HOMEMADE SOUP

CHILLED MINTED CUCUMBER SOUP

GEFILTE FISH QUICKLY STEAMED BETWEEN CABBAGE LEAVES

MOROCCAN FISH WITH CHICKPEAS AND SAFFRON-LIME AIOLI

ITALIAN-JEWISH MARINATED FRIED FISH (
PESCE EN SAOR
)

LEMON-ROASTED CHICKEN

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH WITH
NOCKERL
(DUMPLINGS)

CLASSIC SWEET-AND-SOUR STUFFED CABBAGE

EASY ONION-BRAISED BRISKET

FLANKEN WITH TART GREENS

COFFEE-SPICED POT ROAST WITH KASHA KREPLACH AND TOASTED GARLIC CHALLAH CRUMBS

SEPHARDI-STYLE STUFFED MEATBALLS WITH CELERY ROOT AND CARROTS

DUCK AND WHITE BEAN CHOLENT

HERBED BEEF CHOLENT WITH ONION GONIFS

GARLICKY LAMB AND LIMA HAMIN WITH LITTLE EGGPLANT BOATS

ISRAELI SALAD

RHUBARB-PRUNE TSIMMES

SPINACH CHEESE SQUARES

KASHA VARNISHKES WITH FRIED EGGPLANT, MUSHROOMS, AND ONION MARMALADE

ONION-CRUSTED LIGHT POTATO KUGEL

FRESH CORN KUGEL

SAUTÉED CABBAGE AND GARLIC NOODLE KUGEL

JEWELED BROWN RICE

DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE WITH FRESH PINEAPPLE, PISTACHIOS, AND MINT

JEWISH SAUTÉED APPLE CAKE

ROASTED APPLE–WALNUT NOODLE KUGEL

UPSIDE-DOWN CARAMEL-CRANBERRY-PECAN NOODLE KUGEL

CLASSIC NOODLE KUGEL

CLASSIC CHALLAH

yield:
2 MEDIUM LOAVES

Bread has always been the heart of the Jewish meal. When the benediction over the bread is made, it is unnecessary to recite prayers over any of the other foods eaten.The exception is the Kiddush, the blessing chanted over wine that introduces every Sabbath and important holiday. At these times the challah is covered with a white cloth, some say to protect it from embarrassment at seeing the wine blessed first. The two uncut loaves of challah on the Sabbath table echo the double portion of manna God provided to the wandering Israelites before each weekly Sabbath. The seeds usually sprinkled on the braided breads before baking symbolize the manna enveloped with dew to keep it fresh-tasting for the following day.

After the
motzi
(bread blessing) is recited, some families slice the challah and others quite literally “break bread”—tearing off knobs of the twisted bread with their fingers, rather than cutting it with a knife. They remember the verse in Exodus 20:22 comparing a metal knife to an instrument of war and don't wish to profane the newly blessed loaf.

Then everyone eats a piece of the egg-rich bread and the Sabbath dinner begins.

2 envelopes (
¹
⁄
₄
ounce each) active dry yeast

¹
⁄
₄
cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar

¹
⁄
₄
cup mild olive, avocado, or other favorite mild oil, plus additional for greasing the bowl, plastic wrap, and baking sheet

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons table salt (not coarse salt)

4 to 5 cups bread flour, plus additional for dusting the work surface, kneading, and shaping the dough

For the Topping

1 large egg lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

HAVE
all ingredients, except topping, at room temperature.

POUR
1 cup warm water (100 to 110°F) into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and add 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Allow the mixture to dissolve and proof, 5 to 10 minutes.

ADD
the remaining
¹
⁄
₄
cup sugar, the oil, eggs, and salt to the yeast mixture. Pulse for a few moments to combine. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, pulsing briefly after each addition. After you've added 4 cups, process briefly until the dough forms a ball around the blade. (If the dough seems too moist, add additional flour in small increments through the feed tube until the sides of the processor bowl are clean but the dough still appears to be a little sticky.) Continue processing for 2 to 3 more minutes to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.

FORM
the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place until double in bulk, 2 to 3 hours. (Or start the bread the day before you plan to bake it, and let the dough rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator. Allow it to come back to room temperature before proceeding.) To test whether the bread has fully risen, gently press it with a fingertip. If the indentation remains, the dough has risen sufficiently.

PUNCH
the dough down, then let it rise a second time until double in bulk, about 2 hours.

PUNCH
the dough down again and divide it into six equal pieces. Using your palms, roll the pieces into identical ropes about 10 inches long. Braid the ropes into two loaves, using three ropes for each loaf. An easy way to do this evenly is to start the braid in the middle, braid to one end, then turn the loaf upside down and braid to the other end. Turn the ends under and press down to keep them joined together.

TRANSFER
to a greased baking sheet. Apply the first coat of egg wash (reserve the rest), brushing it all over. Cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rise for a third time until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

PREHEAT
the oven to 350°F. Mix about 2 tablespoons of poppy or sesame seeds, if using, into the remaining egg wash. (If omitting seeds, apply the plain second egg wash glaze.) When the loaves have risen, brush the glaze over the top. Bake about 35 minutes on the middle rack, until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a rack and let cool, or remove from the baking sheet and place directly on the oven rack to cool in the oven with the door left ajar.

COOK'S NOTE:
You can flavor the bread with ground spices, such as cinnamon or cardamom (about 2 teaspoons); fresh herbs, such as chopped dill (up to
¹
⁄
₄
cup) or rosemary (no more than 3 tablespoons); or a hint of tarragon paired, perhaps, with aniseed or fennel seeds sprinkled on top instead of poppy seeds. Add the spices or herbs when you add the oil, etc., to the yeast. Another tasty variation: sprinkle lightly with coarse salt instead of, or in addition to, the seeds.

MARY'S ONION CHALLAH

yield:
2 MEDIUM LOAVES

Though he lived to be 94, my grandfather never tasted an ice cream that could match the ones he remembered buying from the old Turkish vendor back in Minsk or Smolensk before he arrived in New York at age 12.

He taught me a valuable food lesson: our most cherished food memories inevitably lead to disappointment. Perhaps that is because our culinary selves are constantly evolving—we taste the world with a different tongue at various times in our lives. Or maybe no real food could ever live up to one garnished with the patina of memory, burnished with age.

For me, with Ratner's oniony egg rolls, it was a little of both. In the years since the demise of the beloved dairy restaurant on Delancey Street on the Lower East Side, I've tasted many versions of the rolls, some purportedly made exactly according to the recipe published in
The World-Famous Ratner's Meatless Cookbook.
None excited the way the oniony little breads, smeared with cold sweet butter, did.

To paraphrase, the fault was not with the rolls, but with me that they were underlings. What I was after was far more oniony and buttery-tasting than the rolls had ever been.

My good friend Dr. Mary McLarnon, a consummate baker, had never tasted Ratner's onion rolls, but as I explained the taste memories that I wanted this book's challah to channel (challah and Jewish egg rolls are often made from the same rich dough), her blue eyes lit up. Since the bread had to be pareve, we talked about doing a triple rise to achieve the butteriness. A few days later, Mary dropped off two fragrant loaves for us to taste.

Not satisfied, Mary kept working on ways to boost the onion flavor until it tasted as incredibly aromatic as it smelled. The touch of cumin, reminiscent of Alsatian-Jewish bakeries, somehow made it more buttery.

Finally Mary brought two more loaves when Alex was home for Thanksgiving vacation. There were five of us that night—Alex, her boyfriend, my brother, my husband, and me—and we polished off every crumb.

It wasn't Ratner's onion roll. It was better.

2 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into coarse chunks (about 1
¹
⁄
₂
pounds)

3 large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered

1 cup onion-garlic liquid (reserved from recipe)

2 envelopes (
¹
⁄
₄
ounce each) active dry yeast

1 teaspoon plus
¹
⁄
₄
cup sugar

¹
⁄
₄
cup plus 2 tablespoons mild olive oil

2 large eggs

Table salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin, preferably freshly toasted

4 to 5 cups plus 1 tablespoon bread flour, plus additional for dusting the work surface, kneading, and shaping the dough

Coarse salt

Oil for greasing the bowl, plastic wrap, and baking sheet

1 large egg lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for glaze

HAVE
all ingredients, except glaze, at room temperature.

IN
a food processor, pulse the onions and garlic until finely chopped but not pureed. Drape a damp, thin kitchen towel or double thickness of cheesecloth over a strainer set in a bowl. Scrape the onion-garlic mixture onto the cloth, gather the ends of the cloth together, and twist and wring until you have squeezed as much liquid as possible into the bowl, reserving it. Set aside the onion-garlic mixture. Don't bother to wash out the food processor.

MEASURE
the reserved onion-garlic liquid, adding enough plain water, if necessary, so that you have 1 cup. Warm the liquid to 100 to 110°F, and add it to the food processor. Sprinkle the yeast over the liquid, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, and allow the mixture to dissolve and proof, 5 to 10 minutes.

ADD
¹
⁄
₄
cup oil, the remaining
¹
⁄
₄
cup sugar, the eggs, 2 teaspoons table salt, and cumin. Pulse for a few moments to combine. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, pulsing briefly after each addition. After you've added 4 cups, process briefly until the dough forms a ball around the blade. (If the dough seems too moist, add additional flour in small increments through the feed tube until the sides of the processor bowl are clean but the dough still appears to be a little sticky.) Continue processing for 2 to 3 more minutes to knead the dough until smooth and elastic.