Essie’s Soup
Old Fashioned Carrot Soup
Borscht with Cumin and Crumbs
Kids are often fussy eaters. So you know you’ve cooked something really good when the little ones like it.
Here’s my grandson sipping up soup. Borscht to be exact. I’ve been experimenting with different versions. A few days ago I posted one for Borscht with Orange and Mint. But this one’s equally delicious. I have to confess the idea for this version came from a sample of Beet Borscht I tasted at Per Se, that fabulous, fabulous food heaven in New York. No, this recipe is not up to Thomas Keller’s restaurant standards.
But it is good and will do!
Borscht with Cumin and Crumbs
- 3 large or 4-5 medium beets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup cream, coconut milk or soy milk, optional
- 2 slices rye bread with caraway seeds
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Scrub the beets, wrap them in aluminum foil and roast for about an hour, or until the beets are tender. When the beets are cool enough to handle, remove the skins. Chop the beets and set them aside. Reserve any natural liquids that have accumulated. Heat the olive oil and butter in a soup pot or large saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the onion, apple, garlic and ginger and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the ingredients have softened. Add the beets (plus any accumulated juices), cumin, salt and pepper and stir. Pour in the water. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Puree the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor or blender. Return the soup to the pan to heat through. For a creamier, thinner soup, add the cream. Toast the bread slices. Chop or hand crumble the bread into the soup as a garnish.
Makes 4-6 servings
Carrot and Parsnip Soup
The Differences Among Matzo Balls
OMG it’s April already! April 1st! No fooling!
Passover is only 18 days away.
It’s not as if I haven’t been thinking about it. I have written three separate articles about it already (you can see one in Jewish Woman Magazine about Passover desserts here: http://www.jwi.org/Page.aspx?pid=2751) and the one at kosher.com about Haroset here: http://blog.kosher.com/2011/03/25/old-world-charosis-gets-a-hip-makeover/. The third article (on quinoa) hasn’t appeared yet and I’ll post it when it comes out next week.
But I haven’t really thought about my own Seder yet.
Except for the turkey. There’s always a turkey.
And there’s always a bunch of other stuff like spinach pie and braised eggplant. Cranberry sauce. A lot of veggies. And even though I like to make new recipes and serve less traditional foods, it wouldn’t be Passover without Matzo Ball Soup.
In our family we have had the same important discussions about these as everyone else: which is better, light fluffy matzo balls or chewy firms ones? Like politics, opinions on this subject tend to be definite and once decided, difficult to change.
When I was a kid and my grandma and then mother had the Seders, my cousin Essie would bring her famous matzo balls. They were cannonballs, like in a children’s picture book — you could picture one falling out of the plate and bouncing out the window and into the city streets and out into the countryside.
But her husband and kids loved them. Fortunately, my mother also made a batch of spongier ones too.
The difference among matzo balls has to do with how many eggs you use, what kind of fat you mix in, how much you handle the dough, how long you cook them, whether you include spices or chopped fresh herbs and so on and so on. I use goose fat, which I put in in the freezer in December (from the goose I make for Hanukkah) because it gives the matzo balls a smooth, rich texture. And I include chopped fresh parsley or dill because it adds some flavor but also enhances the look. And mostly I use chicken soup in the mix, though occasionally I will use seltzer instead.
Here’s the recipe we use. These make medium, slightly-firm, soup soaked delicious matzo balls.
Matzo Balls
1 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black or white pepper to taste
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or dill, or both, optional
4 whole large or extra large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup melted goose fat, chicken fat, margarine or vegetable oil
1/4 cup chicken soup, water or seltzer
In a bowl. combine the matzo meal, salt, pepper and parsley or dill (or both). In another bowl, beat the eggs, melted fat and soup together. Add the egg mixture to the matzo mixture and blend thoroughly. Stir in the liquid. Cover the ingredients and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. With wet cold hands shape the matzo mixture into balls 1/2-inch to 1-inch balls (you may have to re-wet hands occasionally). Add the matzo balls one by one to the boiling water. Lower the heat so that the water is at a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for at least 50 minutes (do not lift the cover) or until they are tender. Remove the matzo balls from the water. Place into the soup to soak up more flavor. Makes up to 20