139. Matzo Brei (p. 630)

A few months ago, I read Ruth Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires. It's the story of Ruth's time as the restaurant critic at The New York Times. Like a lot of people, I've fantasized about being a food critic, but as Ruth's book shows, it's not as glamorous as it seems. Sure, you get to eat out at fancy restaurants like Le Cirque and Daniel (and somebody else pays for it!), but eating out almost every night means that you miss a lot of meals with your kids. And as a new father who usually gets home after my son is asleep, I understand how difficult that can be. There's a touching scene in the book when Ruth gets home after a lousy meal at a highfaluten restaurant, and for some reason, her son is still up. She whips up a batch of Matzo Brei and has, what I think she might agree was the best meal that she wrote about in the book.

Ever since I read that book, I've been looking forward to making this recipe. I had some matzos leftover from the Haroseth that I made, so, last Saturday, I decided to make this for breakfast. First, I broke up a matzo into a sieve. (The Book calls for four, but I was only making half of the recipe, and my matzos were huge, about 7 inches square, so I couldn't see using two of them for one person.) I ran some cold water over the pieces to moisten them just a bit. Then I put the pieces in a bowl and added a couple of eggs and some salt and mixed it up with a fork. I heated a generous amount of butter in a pan and then added the egg and matzo mixture and cooked for a few minutes.

Now, as you can see from the picture above, this is not the prettiest thing that I've cooked so far in The Project, and I wasn't too impressed after the first bite. But, as I kept eating, I liked it more and more. The eggs were tender and buttery and the matzo gave it some substance and a nice crispiness.

Speaking of Ruth Reichl, her new book, Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way, was published last week. The description on Amazon calls it "a clear-eyed, openhearted investigation of her mother’s life" drawing from her mother’s letters and diaries. Ruth sometimes talks about her mother, and her cooking, in her letters from the editor in Gourmet, so I feel like I already have a little bit of a sense of what Ruth's mother was like. I'm looking forward to reading the book and getting to know her better. Ruth's going on a book tour to promote the book, and it'll be bringing her to a few cities in my neck of the woods. I'm hoping to make it to one of the events, and who knows, maybe I can even convince her to sign my copy of The Gourmet Cookbook.

Date Cooked: April 18, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+

132. Passover Sponge Cake with Apples (p. 711)

One of the things that I've enjoyed most about The Project is learning more about various cultures as I organize my cooking around the different holidays throughout the calendar. I've made Coquilles St. Jaques on Bastille Day and Crepes on Candlemas. The Book's excellent collection of Jewish dishes are a great example of how cooking can be a cultural education. I've made Honey Cake on Rosh Hashanah and Date Walnut Rugelach for Hanukka. I made this recipe, along with the Ashkenazic Haroseth, for Passover.

One of the most recognizable Passover traditions is the prohibition against consuming, or even possessing, chametz (fermented items leavened breads and cakes and most alcoholic beverages). That means no yeast breads, and depending upon the branch of Judiasm, no chemical leavners like baking soda and baking powder, either. This recipe relies on beaten egg whites to give it lift.

To make this cake, I first sifted together some matzo cake meal and some potato starch and set it aside. Next, I separated six eggs and beat the yolks with some sugar, lemon zest and juice and then I stirred in the cake meal mixture. After that, I cleaned the beaters and beat the egg whites (if you don't clean the beaters before beating the whites, any yolk left on the beaters will prevent the whites from beating properly). I added a little bit of sugar and kept beating until I got "stiff, glossy peaks." Then I folded the fluffy egg whites into the yolk-cake meal mixture.

To assemble the cake, I spread about a third of the batter into a springform pan. Then I put down a layer of thinly-sliced Golden Delicious apples and sprinkeld them with a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar. I added another layer of batter, another layer of apples, sugar and cinnamon, and a final layer of batter. I cooked it for about an hour and cooled and unmolded it.

The cake tasted pretty good. It was sweet and tender, if just a little bit chewey. It looked very nice when sliced with the pretty layers of apple slices and cinnamon. The only clue that this was a "Passover" cake was a very slight hint of that distinct matzo flavor.

I took this cake to work and left it in the kitchen in the morning. It went over pretty well. Just after lunch, there was only a small slice left. I was very disappointed, however, that the office cleaning lady threw away the bottom of my springform pan. Can you believe that!?! In her defense, she might have mistaken it for a disposable pie plate. I'm sure it wasn't malicious. But, the result is that I need a new nine-inch springform pan.

Date Cooked: April 5, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: B

131. Ashkenazic Haroseth (p. 902)

I'm not Jewish, but when I was a little boy, I attended a Jewish nursery school because it was only a few blocks from our house. Ever since I then, when we made construction-paper Seder Plates, I've had an interest in Jewish food and culture.

Haroseth, or charoset, is one of the six elements of the traditional Seder Plate. Each of the items on the plate recalls a part of the Jews' exodus from Egypt. This element, with its dark color, and pasty, pebbly texture, is meant to represent the mortar that the Jews used during their enslavement to build the storehouses of Egypt. Symbolism aside, this dish tastes nothing like mortar. In fact, it was pretty good. The Seder Plate has a reputation as being more of a traditional than a gastronomical experience. But, while the bitter herbs and shank bone don't seem that appealing, haroseth is said to be enjoyed libreally and is a favorite of children.

This recipe,* which comes from the Ashkenazi branch of Judiasm in Eastern Europe, combines chopped Macintosh apples, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and a generous splash of Passover wine. Apparently these are all ingredients mentioned by King Solomon in The Song of Songs. All you do is combine the ingredients and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to develop. Serve it on matzos and enjoy!

The area I live in doesn't have a particularly large Jewish community, and I think that's why I had a tough time finding the ingredients for this recipe and the other Passover dish I made (a Passover Sponge Cake with Apples that I'll post about next). For this recipe, I was able to find matzos at my usual grocery store, but it wasn't until I got home that I noticed that they weren't "Kosher for Passover." Same with the Manischewitz wine I bought. The grocery store had just run out, so I went to the New Hampshire State Liquor Store. Under a handwritten sign that said "Kosher Wine for Passover" I found a few lonely bottles of Manischewitz Elderberry wine. The Book calls for the Concord Grape variety, but it was either Elderberry or nothing, and I figured that it was close enough. Well, when I got home and did a little bit of research, I learned that Elderberry is the only variety of Manischewitz that's not available "Kosher for Passover." Thankfully, I was looking for "Kosher for Passover" items for reasons of authenticity rather than religion. Otherwise, it would have been a real challenge to make these two Passover dishes.

As I said, this dish was pretty good. It wasn't amazingly great, though. The apples stayed crisp and sweet, and the cinnamon was a clean and bright note, but the wine was the dominant element in the recipe, giving the haroseth a cloying sweetness and booziness. I found it a bit liquidy too, which suprised me, since I was expecting the apples to soak up more of the wine. In all, I'm glad I made this recipe, and I'm enjoing snacking on it from the refrigerator this week, but I don't think I'll make it again.

Date Cooked: April 4, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B-

*This recipe is not on epicurious.com.

84. Date Walnut Rugelach (p. 682)

I promised three cookie posts. But, I just couldn't resist the urge to make this recipe* for these delicious treats in honor of Hanukka. So, here's a bonus cookie post, at no extra charge.

Essentially, these cookies are tiny little tarts - little triangles of pie dough filled with dates and walnuts and all rolled up. I've always wondered if there was anything better than pie crust. Well, I've got my answer - pie crust made with crem cheese! First, I combined cut up pieces of cold butter and cream cheese, sugar, salt and flour. I pulsed these ingredients in the food processor until it came together as a dough.

I put the dough out onto my baking mat, broke it into six more or less evenly sized pieces. After a little firsage action, I patted each piece of dough into a small disk and put them in the refrigerator to get nice and firm.

Meanwhile, I made the filling. I took a pound of pitted dates and whizzed them in the food processor until they were nice and finely chopped. I did the same with some walnuts. I mixed the dates and walnuts together with some sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract.

Next, working one at a time, I rolled out each dough disk into an eight-inch round (I used a dessert plate as a guide for the size). I sliced the round into eight wedges, keeping the wedges together for the time being. I brushed the wedges with some apricot preserves that I had warmed on the stovetop. The Book calls for apricot jam, but I could only find preserves. It worked out just fine, but I think that The Book had in mind something without chunks of apricot. Then I spread some of the filling around on the wedges, leaving some space around the inside and outside edges. Finally, I rolled each wedge up, and put them on a baking sheet, tucking the loose ends under to keep the filling in. Finally, I baked the rugelach until they were puffed and golden.

You often hear about food being so good that it's "dangerous." But, other then fugu, most food isn't really dangerous. Rugelach just might be an exception. Rugelach is served at Hanukkah to commemorate the bravery of Judith, the biblical heroine who ingratiated herself with an enemy general by feeding him cheesecakes and pancakes. Once he was lulled into a stupor by all that she had fed him, she cut his head off. So, you just might think twice when someone offers you rugelach. But just try and resist them.


Date Cooked: December 21, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: A-

*The recipe in The Book is very similar to the one on epicurious, but some of the proportions are a little different.

57. Honey Cake (p. 705)

One of the things that I enjoy most about The Project is learning about the history and culture of the dishes I'm cooking. As the Jewish "Days of Awe" approached, I took a close look at the recipes listed under "Jewish dishes" in The Book's index for something to make in honor of Rosh Hashanah. I decided on this recipe for honey cake, which, with a little help from Wikipedia, I learned is traditionally served on the Jewish new year, to symbolize the hope for a "sweet" new year.







The cake is a dense, sweet cake, richly flavored with cinnamon, ginger, coffee and a little bit of burbon (Jack Daniel's, thank you very much). We liked this cake for dessert, but it was even better for breakfast, as suggested by The Book's blurb, toasted with a schmear.





Date Cooked: September 28, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+