Need some help from Jewish mamas!

[weech]

My husband is Jewish and I'm not. He and his family don't practice at all, but they love love love Jewish food. Since I'm not Jewish I'm kind of at a loss when it comes to preparing traditional food! His grandmother has unfortunately lost a lot of her memory and can't give us her recipes, so I thought I'd check with the BBB mamas. :bowdown:

Anyone have some tried and true recipes for me? I found a couple brisket recipes while searching the boards, but nothing for matzah ball soup. Any suggestions would be a great help. I'm sure there's lots of foods I don't even know about yet!

[mommylamb]

I'm not always a great Jew (in more ways then one. For example, I can't stand koogle). I do make home made chicken soup, but if I do matzah balls, they're from a boxed mix. I also do an awesome brisket. Both of these recipes are simple, and while they may not sound entirely old world-ish, I promise that many a Jew would be pleased;).

Chicken soup

take the chicken and wash it off, remove the organs and put breast up in the pot. Just cover it with water. Add an onion (I just take the skin off and add it in whole, rather than chopping it at this stage). Add a good size clump of fresh dill. Add about 5-7 chicken bullion cubes (see, told you, not old world). Bring to a boil and allow to stay at full boil for 45 minutes.

Add a few carrots, a few parsnips and some celery (I add them in whole, not in pieces, but that's just me), and keep it at a boil for another 45 minutes.

Add more bullion cubes if it needs more flavor. That's all. The things that make one soup better than another IMO are the chicken you choose (capons are best I think) and the pot you use. My mother's pot came over from Russia with my great grandmother, and who knows how many generations used it for chicken soup before that. It makes the best soup. I've had my pot for 10 years now. Chicken soup is the only thing it's used for, so it's well seasoned, and I finally feel like it's starting to be a good soup pot. Another thing with the chicken, sometimes I like to get a pre-cut up bird because it's easier to get it out of the pot. I like to take the chick out,pull the meat off and add the meat back into the soup.

Brisket
Take brisket and put it fat side up on a big sheet of aluminum foil. Put a packet of knore french onion soup mix on top of the fat. Wrap it as tightly as you can in the aluminum foil and bake it on 300 for an hour/lb. the tighter you wrap it, the less likely juice will escape and the better it will be. Tricks are to use the wide size aluminum foil and to cook it the night before and let it sit in the fridge. If you cook it a week before and freeze it, then just reheat, it will be even better. Make sure to cut it against the grain.

[groundhog74]

I'll look around, I think I have a challah and mandel bread recipe.

[pinkmomagain]

Thank goodness my mom is still around to cook for us. I really need to learn though. I do know I couple of tips she swears by: always use a kosher chicken for the soup -- it tastes bettter (but you probably have to clean off some of the feathers), and use seltzer in the matzo balls it makes them lighter.

I do have a good recipe for brisket, but it involves alot of kooky ingredients. The recipe posted above sounds alot simpler.

[Canna]

For the matzoh ball soup - a few years ago we were visiting a friend and complimented her soup. She confessed that she made the Manishcewitz matzoh balls and soup that came in a box, adding her own fresh ingredients! Since then, my husband and I have been making it the same way. We add fresh celery, carrots, onion and a little parsley or dill. DH even told his mom and she tried it for a recent holiday. Its so very easy - it makes it possible for us to make this all the time with minimal effort and our kids love it. Shhhhhh...don't tell anyone!

[rkold]

All my cookbooks are still in boxes, but blintzes and potato knishes are also very traditional. :) I'm still a huge fan of black and white cookies. I use the recipe in the NY Cookbook.

If his family is Sephardic, different foods will be traditional than any of the things listed so far.

[hollybloom24]

I make this quite a bit in the fall:

Slow Cooked Brisket
Serves 6

• 1/2 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 and 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons water
• 2-3/4 pounds brisket, fat trimmed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

- Trim fat from brisket and salt and pepper both sides.
- Brown meat with olive oil in a pan on medium high, about 2-3 minutes each side, or until brown. (Can be done night before.)
- In a slow cooker, mix dry onion soup mix and water. Place brisket in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
- Cook on high setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

Goes well with roasted carrots and parsnips.

[hollybloom24]

For matzoh ball soup, I use the packaged mixes and add a little garlic to the mix.

I buy a whole roaster chicken (already cooked) and eat that for dinner one night. I save the carcass with some meat on the bones and throw it in a soup pot and cover with water, garlic, pblack pepper, one onion, a bag of baby carrots cut into disks carrots and two stalks of celery with a bunch of dill (to taste) and simmer the whole thing for about two hours. Check for saltiness levels, and add more if you desire. I pick off any meat that hasn't fallen off, and go through the soup looking for bones. It is a good two meal option and is quick and easy.

[mommylamb]

I think it's funny that every one of us said they make matzoh balls from a mix.

[lizzywednesday]

I 2nd the comment about Sephardi culture being different!

If he is Sephardi, though, I recommend the cookbook A Fistful of Lentils. One of my college BFF's married a Sephardi guy and that cookbook is how she managed to win his family over.

[Fairy]

I don't know anyone who makes matzo balls from scrach matzo meal, actually! I like Streitz's mix best. Manachevitz is ok, but Streitz I like better. For chicken soup, I actually use all dark mean -- so like 8 legs. I put a parsnip, whole onion, few stalks of chopped up celery, and a bunch of baby carrots (or chopped up regulars) into a pot. Then I put in six or eight chicken legs, then fill it to nearly the top with water. Bring it to rolling boil, then turn it way down to simmer. You can't cook it too long, but I'd go at least 90 minutes. I've gone almost 3 hours before. I don't do boullion cubes cuz it's salty, I do the bullion paste. I forget the name of it, but I'll try to go find it it's in my pantry. Don't put it in right away, wait an hour after simmer, taste it, then add a heaping TBL. Go another 30 minutes, taste it, add another tbl till you're happy.

Strain out ALL THE CHICKEN. You want BROTH. Put the chickn in a container, the veggies in a container, and then you have just broth. Then when I heat it back up, I add in just the veggies I want in it. If you're a chicken person, the add chicken. If you're not, make chicken salad!

ETA --> My matzo balls SUCK. I mean, I seriously cannot make these coem out. other peoples are good, mine are not. I have no talent for these.

[lizzywednesday]

I don't know anyone who makes matzo balls from scrach matzo meal, actually! I like Streitz's mix best. Manachevitz is ok, but Streitz I like better. For chicken soup, I actually use all dark mean -- so like 8 legs. I put a parsnip, whole onion, few stalks of chopped up celery, and a bunch of baby carrots (or chopped up regulars) into a pot. Then I put in six or eight chicken legs, then fill it to nearly the top with water. Bring it to rolling boil, then turn it way down to simmer. You can't cook it too long, but I'd go at least 90 minutes. I've gone almost 3 hours before. I don't do boullion cubes cuz it's salty, I do the bullion paste. I forget the name of it, but I'll try to go find it it's in my pantry. Don't put it in right away, wait an hour after simmer, taste it, then add a heaping TBL. Go another 30 minutes, taste it, add another tbl till you're happy.

Strain out ALL THE CHICKEN. You want BROTH. Put the chickn in a container, the veggies in a container, and then you have just broth. Then when I heat it back up, I add in just the veggies I want in it. If you're a chicken person, the add chicken. If you're not, make chicken salad!

ETA --> My matzo balls SUCK. I mean, I seriously cannot make these coem out. other peoples are good, mine are not. I have no talent for these.

Do you mean "Better than Boullion"? My mom loves that stuff!

[happymom]

I don't know anyone who makes matzo balls from scrach matzo meal, actually! .

LOL, I do! I have to say though, they dont taste that much better than my MIL's Streit's matzoh balls.

I cook yummy meals every weekend for shabbos- I make all the traditional foods (challah, gefilte fish, chicken soup, matzoh balls, a variety of kugels, yummy chickens and meats etc), plus lots of other delicious dishes. There are so many great cookbooks out there. There is one cookbook author- Susie Fishbein- who has a few cookbooks that are sort of a contemporary/gourmet twist on traditional kosher Jewish cooking. I really enjoy her cookbook called "The Kosher Palette".

If you need recipes for anything specific, just let me know!

[HIU8]

I have never made matzah balls from a mix. I make them from scratch they are super easy: Matzah meal, egg, oil, water and then put in fridge or freezer for 15-30 minutes. Some people use seltzer instead of water. I personally have gotten good results from both.

For the chicken stock I use a whole soup chicken, onions, carrots, celery. I let that cook for a couple of hours (I do add salt to taste) and I will add boullion if I need to embellish (5 extra people who I didn't invite show up). I sometimes put the carrots and cut up chicken in the soup with the matzah balls. This is my mother and grandmother's recipe and it is super yummy. My kids ask for this all year long.

I also do a brisket with onion soup and chili sauce
We also do apple raisin kugel (I like it better than noodle kugel).
THe one item my kids are crazy for is gefilte fish. They like the jarred manischewitz. I like the frozen log (oh well). I have never made that from scratch but I have had it made from scratch (it's good).

[sewarsh]

also, in case you are interested, Trader Joes sells great challah bread to go wtih whatever you make. (makes amazing french toast too).

[sewarsh]

I have never made matzah balls from a mix. I make them from scratch they are super easy: Matzah meal, egg, oil, water and then put in fridge or freezer for 15-30 minutes. Some people use seltzer instead of water. I personally have gotten good results from both.
(it's good).

Are you sure you're not Jewish? :)

[HIU8]

I am. I have tons of cookbooks from my mom and grandma also. Although the tried and true has always worked for us.

FWIW, my other grandmother made sinkers that were GROSS.

The one thing I don't do is make my own Challah. If I had more time I would do more. My kids are big ethnic food lovers though. Although my mom can keep the lox wings to herself (lox wings are the gills and they SMELL LIKE FEET when cooked).

[Clarity]

I also do a brisket with onion soup and chili sauce
We also do apple raisin kugel (I like it better than noodle kugel).
THe one item my kids are crazy for is gefilte fish. They like the jarred manischewitz. I like the frozen log (oh well). I have never made that from scratch but I have had it made from scratch (it's good).

Got recipes? I host Hanukkah for my dh's family and would love the brisket and kugel recipe. :) They sound delicious!

[weech]

Thanks everyone! The brisket seems pretty straightforward... definitely think I can handle that. I'm going to make brisket and (vegetarian) matzoh ball soup for a dinner on Thursday. I think I'll buy some challah, and I got gefilte fish and horseradish last night. Am I missing anything!?

Can you make kugel in advance?

I'm excited!! Thanks again :yay:

[alirebco]

Chicken soup is really easy. It tastes best if you can make it with kosher chicken, the salt gives it more flavor. Take a whole chicken cut up and toss it into a pot with enough water to cover the chicken. Once it starts boiling, then skim the fat, and turn it down to simmer for at least an hour or until it tastes like chicken soup. Then add in chopped carrots, onions, parsnips, and dill and/or parsley.

Matzo balls are really easy - take matzo meal, eggs, oil and mix in a bowl, put in frig for 20 minutes, then roll them out and let boil for 20 minutes in the pot. I leave the matzo balls until last. I use my mom's recipe which uses more oil and they are nice and fluffy, not hard balls like rocks.

[luckytwenty]

When it comes to both eating and cooking traditional Jewish food, I'm a bad Jew. I do have a great Jewish apple cake recipe if you need a dessert (the trick is using pineapple juice instead of orange juice.) Sorry I can't help!

[rkold]

Thanks everyone! The brisket seems pretty straightforward... definitely think I can handle that. I'm going to make brisket and (vegetarian) matzoh ball soup for a dinner on Thursday. I think I'll buy some challah, and I got gefilte fish and horseradish last night. Am I missing anything!?

Can you make kugel in advance?

I'm excited!! Thanks again :yay:

This is instant but...

If you can find the Carmel brand instant "chicken soup"... it's actually the base I grew up with when my mom made matzoh ball soup (we made our own matzoh balls but used pre-made chicken broth, go figure lol) it uhhh is actually vegetarian and contains no chicken in it.

You can make challah, the hardest part IMHO is braiding it together. If there are any Jewish bakeries near you, they'll have better challah than Trader Joe's. I adore Trader Joe's in general, but there challah is just not as good as one of the local Jewish bakeries I use to go to before moving to CT.

[reissgirl]

You can make a kugel in advance maybe 2 days? For an old classic, I would search for a potato kugel recipe. I make potato kugel but can't give you an exact recipe.

Matzo ball mix is, IMO, just more expensive than buying regular matzo meal. It's just matzo meal with spices so the only difference is that you don't have to measure the salt and pepper. If you buy a canister of matzo meal, it should have a recipe on the back. That's what I use. The last time I made matzo balls, I whisked the egg whites by hand first for a couple of minutes. Then I added the egg yolks and other ingredients. That seemed to help make them a little fluffier.

I make my chicken soup in a pressure cooker. I've made it without a pressure cooker but I cook the soup for 3+ hours.

I only like dark meat so I use 4 leg quarters, skinned (to cut down on the fat). I chop up carrots, parsnips, turnips, leeks, celery and - optionally - an onion. I always add a few cloves of chopped garlic and a sweet potato, although that's not strictly traditional - it makes the soup darker and the flavor is a little more robust. I also sometimes add zucchini because it's my favorite vegetable. Then I stem a bunch of parsley and a bunch of dill and wrap those in cheesecloth so they can be discarded when the soup is finished cooking. Cover all if these ingredients with water and add salt and pepper. Sometimes I add some soup mix but you can also just use some onion and garlic powder. I don't use the cubes because those have MSG - I but some mix that doesn't have MSG.

If using a pressure cooker, bring to a boil and then simmer for at least an hour. If using a regular pot, boil and then simmer for a few hours.

We usually can't wait so we eat some soup right away. After refrigerating overnight, skim the fat. The flavor gets better and better on day 2, 3...

I second the vote for the Kosher Palette cookbook, although most of the recipes are not traditional.

Enjoy.

[noodle]

DD went to Jewish preschool and thinks we're Jewish. :)
I got pretty good at challah last year and make it almost
every week now. I learned how to braid from smittenkitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/best-challah-egg-bread/).

You all have given me the guts to try matzoh ball soup again.
My first tries were pretty far from yummy.

[lizzywednesday]

...

I second the vote for the Kosher Palette cookbook, although most of the recipes are not traditional.

Enjoy.

I third it.

My college BFF (who grew up Ashkenazi but married a Sephardi) used to cook out of it every Shabbat ... there is a recipe for a from-scratch chocolate-coffee liqueur cake in there that is TO DIE FOR. Seriously. (And I believe it's also pareve, so it's perfect for Shabbat!)

FWIW, I am not Jewish, but my friends consider me an honorary Jew.