Sweet-and-sour cabbage rolls with turkey stuffingFor many years my mother made stuffed cabbage the traditional way, with a filling of beef and rice. Because nutrition was important to her, she started using ground turkey in the stuffing more and more often. These cabbage rolls cook in a sauce of chicken broth, sauteed onion and tomato paste, flavored with raisins and lemon juice.Makes 6 servings.a 1.4-kg (3-pound) head of cabbage, coredStuffing:1⁄2 cup long-grain rice1 to 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil1 medium onion, minced2 garlic cloves, minced1 tsp. ground paprika225 gr. (1⁄2 pound) ground turkey1⁄4 tsp. salt1⁄2 tsp. ground black pepper1⁄4 tsp. cayenne pepper or paprikaSauce:1 to 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil1 medium onion, minced1⁄2 teaspoon ground paprika3 cups chicken broth, skimmed of fat2 Tbsp. tomato paste1⁄3 cup raisins1 Tbsp. lemon juice1⁄2 tsp. sugar salt and freshly ground pepperCarefully remove 15 large outer cabbage leaves by cutting them from core of cabbage. Put leaves in a large pot of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.Transfer them carefully to a colander and rinse gently with cold water. Pat dry with a towel.Coarsely chop remaining cabbage, add to boiling water, and boil for 2 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well.For stuffing: Boil rice uncovered in a saucepan of 3 cups boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Transfer to a bowl. In a nonstick skillet heat oil, add onion and cook over medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Add garlic and paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute.Transfer mixture to bowl of rice and let cool. Add turkey, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.Knead by hand to blend ingredients thoroughly.For sauce: Heat oil in a large heavy casserole, add onion and cook over low heat, stirring often, 2 minutes. Add paprika and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat.Trim thick ribs of each cabbage leaf slightly so leaf can be easily bent. Put 2 tablespoons stuffing on stem end of each leaf and fold stem end over it. Fold sides over stuffing to enclose it.Beginning at stem end, roll up leaf to a neat package. If any leaves are torn, add a piece of another leaf, and use to make more cabbage rolls. Arrange cabbage rolls tightly, with seam end facing down, side by side in casserole. Chop any remaining leaves and add to casserole.Add 2 3⁄4 cups broth to casserole.Mix tomato paste with remaining broth and add to casserole. Bring to a simmer.Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.Add raisins, lemon juice and sugar and simmer for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When serving, spoon a little sauce over cabbage rolls.Apple Blintzes with walnuts and wineApples cooked with wine and sugar and combined with walnuts make a delicious filling for blintzes.These blintzes, sprinkled lightly with cinnamon and sugar, are a lovely finale to the holiday dinner.You can make the filling 1 or 2 days ahead and keep it in a covered container in the refrigerator.Makes 6 servings.Apple filling: 900 gr. (2 pounds) apples, sweet or tart 2 to 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, or 2 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil (for sauteing apples) 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 cup dry or sweet wine, white or red 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon 6 to 8 Tbsp. sugar, according to sweetness of apples and wine 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts12 blintzes3 to 4 Tbsp. butter or margarine (for frying or baking) 2 to 3 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts (optional, for sprinkling) 1 tsp. cinnamon mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar (for sprinkling)For filling: Peel and halve apples. Core them and cut them in thin slices. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet or saute pan. Add half the apples and saute over medium-high heat, turning pieces over from time to time, for 2 minutes. Remove to a plate. Heat remaining butter in pan and saute remaining apples.Combine all apples in the pan. Add wine, cinnamon and 6 tablespoons sugar and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes or until apples are just tender. Raise heat to high and cook, stirring often, until mixture is thick and most of liquid evaporates. Remove from heat. Taste and add more sugar or cinnamon if necessary; heat, tossing apples gently, just until sugar dissolves.Stir in chopped walnuts Spoon 2 to 21⁄2 tablespoons filling onto brown side of each blintz along one edge.Fold over edges of blintz to right and left of filling over so that each covers about half of filling; roll up, beginning at edge with filling.Blintzes can be baked or fried. To bake them, preheat oven to 220ºC (425ºF).Arrange blintzes in one layer in a greased shallow baking dish. Dot each blintz with small pieces of butter. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until heated through and lightly browned.To fry blintzes, heat butter in a skillet, add blintzes open end down, and fry over low heat 3 to 5 minutes on each side; be careful not to let them burn.Sprinkle blintzes with walnuts and cinnamon-sugar before serving. Serve hot.Carrot-apple kugelThis colorful, loaf-shaped kugel is adapted from The Hadassah Jewish Holiday Cookbook edited by Joan Schwartz Michel. The kugel can be baked in a moderate oven, or can be baked overnight at a very low temperature for Shabbat.Some cooks use little or no sugar in a kugel like this in order to serve it as a side dish; others sweeten their kugel generously and serve it for dessert. You can taste the mixture before adding the eggs and adjust the sweetness to your taste.Makes 10 to 12 servings 8 carrots, peeled and grated3 apples, peeled, cored and grated1 cup dried cherries1⁄2 cup pistachio nuts1 cup matza cake meal or regular matza meal1⁄2 cup oil 1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice2 to 3 tsp. grated orange zest1 tsp. ground cinnamon1 tsp. salt1⁄2 tsp. ground ginger1⁄2 tsp. ground allspice2 Tbsp. to 3⁄4 cup sugar, according to sweetness desired4 eggs, lightly beatenPreheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF) to bake the kugel the conventional way, or to 205ºC (400ºF) for the first step before baking it overnight. Grease two 20- x 10-cm. (8- x 4-inch) loaf pans.Combine carrots, apples, cherries and pistachios in a bowl. Add matza meal, oil, lemon juice, orange zest, cinnamon, salt, ginger, allspice and 2 tablespoons sugar.Taste, and add more sugar if you like. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Divide mixture evenly between the pans.Cover tightly with foil.To bake the kugel conventionally, bake it at 180ºC (350ºF) for 1 to 11⁄2 hours or until firm.To bake kugel overnight, bake it at 205ºC (400ºF) for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to lowest temperature and bake kugel overnight.
A feast for the Torah
From Ashkenazi kugels to Sephardi burekas, Jews prepare festive meals particular to their cultures.
Sweet-and-sour cabbage rolls with turkey stuffingFor many years my mother made stuffed cabbage the traditional way, with a filling of beef and rice. Because nutrition was important to her, she started using ground turkey in the stuffing more and more often. These cabbage rolls cook in a sauce of chicken broth, sauteed onion and tomato paste, flavored with raisins and lemon juice.Makes 6 servings.a 1.4-kg (3-pound) head of cabbage, coredStuffing:1⁄2 cup long-grain rice1 to 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil1 medium onion, minced2 garlic cloves, minced1 tsp. ground paprika225 gr. (1⁄2 pound) ground turkey1⁄4 tsp. salt1⁄2 tsp. ground black pepper1⁄4 tsp. cayenne pepper or paprikaSauce:1 to 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil1 medium onion, minced1⁄2 teaspoon ground paprika3 cups chicken broth, skimmed of fat2 Tbsp. tomato paste1⁄3 cup raisins1 Tbsp. lemon juice1⁄2 tsp. sugar salt and freshly ground pepperCarefully remove 15 large outer cabbage leaves by cutting them from core of cabbage. Put leaves in a large pot of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.Transfer them carefully to a colander and rinse gently with cold water. Pat dry with a towel.Coarsely chop remaining cabbage, add to boiling water, and boil for 2 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well.For stuffing: Boil rice uncovered in a saucepan of 3 cups boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Transfer to a bowl. In a nonstick skillet heat oil, add onion and cook over medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Add garlic and paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute.Transfer mixture to bowl of rice and let cool. Add turkey, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.Knead by hand to blend ingredients thoroughly.For sauce: Heat oil in a large heavy casserole, add onion and cook over low heat, stirring often, 2 minutes. Add paprika and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat.Trim thick ribs of each cabbage leaf slightly so leaf can be easily bent. Put 2 tablespoons stuffing on stem end of each leaf and fold stem end over it. Fold sides over stuffing to enclose it.Beginning at stem end, roll up leaf to a neat package. If any leaves are torn, add a piece of another leaf, and use to make more cabbage rolls. Arrange cabbage rolls tightly, with seam end facing down, side by side in casserole. Chop any remaining leaves and add to casserole.Add 2 3⁄4 cups broth to casserole.Mix tomato paste with remaining broth and add to casserole. Bring to a simmer.Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.Add raisins, lemon juice and sugar and simmer for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When serving, spoon a little sauce over cabbage rolls.Apple Blintzes with walnuts and wineApples cooked with wine and sugar and combined with walnuts make a delicious filling for blintzes.These blintzes, sprinkled lightly with cinnamon and sugar, are a lovely finale to the holiday dinner.You can make the filling 1 or 2 days ahead and keep it in a covered container in the refrigerator.Makes 6 servings.Apple filling: 900 gr. (2 pounds) apples, sweet or tart 2 to 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, or 2 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil (for sauteing apples) 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 cup dry or sweet wine, white or red 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon 6 to 8 Tbsp. sugar, according to sweetness of apples and wine 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts12 blintzes3 to 4 Tbsp. butter or margarine (for frying or baking) 2 to 3 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts (optional, for sprinkling) 1 tsp. cinnamon mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar (for sprinkling)For filling: Peel and halve apples. Core them and cut them in thin slices. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet or saute pan. Add half the apples and saute over medium-high heat, turning pieces over from time to time, for 2 minutes. Remove to a plate. Heat remaining butter in pan and saute remaining apples.Combine all apples in the pan. Add wine, cinnamon and 6 tablespoons sugar and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes or until apples are just tender. Raise heat to high and cook, stirring often, until mixture is thick and most of liquid evaporates. Remove from heat. Taste and add more sugar or cinnamon if necessary; heat, tossing apples gently, just until sugar dissolves.Stir in chopped walnuts Spoon 2 to 21⁄2 tablespoons filling onto brown side of each blintz along one edge.Fold over edges of blintz to right and left of filling over so that each covers about half of filling; roll up, beginning at edge with filling.Blintzes can be baked or fried. To bake them, preheat oven to 220ºC (425ºF).Arrange blintzes in one layer in a greased shallow baking dish. Dot each blintz with small pieces of butter. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until heated through and lightly browned.To fry blintzes, heat butter in a skillet, add blintzes open end down, and fry over low heat 3 to 5 minutes on each side; be careful not to let them burn.Sprinkle blintzes with walnuts and cinnamon-sugar before serving. Serve hot.Carrot-apple kugelThis colorful, loaf-shaped kugel is adapted from The Hadassah Jewish Holiday Cookbook edited by Joan Schwartz Michel. The kugel can be baked in a moderate oven, or can be baked overnight at a very low temperature for Shabbat.Some cooks use little or no sugar in a kugel like this in order to serve it as a side dish; others sweeten their kugel generously and serve it for dessert. You can taste the mixture before adding the eggs and adjust the sweetness to your taste.Makes 10 to 12 servings 8 carrots, peeled and grated3 apples, peeled, cored and grated1 cup dried cherries1⁄2 cup pistachio nuts1 cup matza cake meal or regular matza meal1⁄2 cup oil 1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice2 to 3 tsp. grated orange zest1 tsp. ground cinnamon1 tsp. salt1⁄2 tsp. ground ginger1⁄2 tsp. ground allspice2 Tbsp. to 3⁄4 cup sugar, according to sweetness desired4 eggs, lightly beatenPreheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF) to bake the kugel the conventional way, or to 205ºC (400ºF) for the first step before baking it overnight. Grease two 20- x 10-cm. (8- x 4-inch) loaf pans.Combine carrots, apples, cherries and pistachios in a bowl. Add matza meal, oil, lemon juice, orange zest, cinnamon, salt, ginger, allspice and 2 tablespoons sugar.Taste, and add more sugar if you like. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Divide mixture evenly between the pans.Cover tightly with foil.To bake the kugel conventionally, bake it at 180ºC (350ºF) for 1 to 11⁄2 hours or until firm.To bake kugel overnight, bake it at 205ºC (400ºF) for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to lowest temperature and bake kugel overnight.