Tele Wednesday, February 26, 1992 - North Shore News —- 43 Dishes from the Jewish diaspora THOUGH THE Jews have been in this country since the very beginning of European immigration, we must tecognize that they are not the usual immigration group. Jeff Smith from Russia, Poland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal these were their homelands, yet all were Jews. There is a religious as well as an evhnic background there. The following recipes come from the many cultura! traditions that Jews call their own. There is a kind of common thread that runs through Jewish cuisine as a result of kosher food laws, and it has become asi absolutely wonder- ful tradition. Yes, this stuff is a bit heavy with chicken fat and sour cream. But to quote Itzhak Perlman, the greatest violinist of our time, ‘*So what are you worrying about? This stuff will just bring on heartburn a little quicker!”” _Now and then you have to celebrate! Eat well. L’Chaim! HINT: To render chicken fat. While chicken fat can be purchas- ed in any Jewish market, it is easy to. prepare fresh at home. It is cailed “‘schmaltz.”’ Simply combine chopped fresh chicken fat and skin with a little water in a small frying pan over medium-low heat until the fat is liquid and the solids have shrunk to very small, crunchy bits. This should take about 20 minutes. Strain the bits from the fat and use for other recipes. Watch carefully while rendering so the bits don’t burn. Refrigerate: the fat. They came NOODLE KUGEL 7 (Serves 8) This unusual dish is simply baked noodles with a sweetened cream cheese sauce. It is a sweet course to be served along with the main dish. 1 pound white egg noodles 1 cup milk i pound cream cheese, cut up 2 cup (1 stick) butter 5 tablespoons sugar | 4 tablespoon rendered chicken fat’ or salad oil ; 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel 1 teaspoon grated orange peel 4 eggs - - 1) cup wheat cereal (such as Wheaties) 3 tablespoons brown sugar Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again and set aside. ‘THE FRUGAL GOURMET in a -two-quart saucepan heat the milk and add the cream cheese and half the stick of butter. Stir until smooth and allow to cool a bit. Add the sugar, fat or oil and citrus peel. Mix well. Beat the eggs and stir into the cream sauce. Mix the sauce with the drained noodles and place in a “greased glass baking dish, eight inches square. Melt the remaining half stick of butter. Top the noodle dish with the cereal and the brown sugar. . Pour the melted butter over the top and bake in a 350°F oven for one hour. KASHA VARNISHKES (Serves 4 as a starch dish) This is a dish that was common among Russian Jews in the homeland. It is inexpensive to make and really quite tasty. The name literally means ‘‘kasha with bow ties.”’ 1 cup kasha buckwheat groats,| medium granulation 1 egg, well besten 2 tablespoons rendered chicken fat or vegeiable oil : 1 yellow onion, peeled and chop- 2 cups fresh or canned chicken stock Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste ’ 1 cup pasta bow ties In a small bowl mix the kasha with the beaten egg. Be sure all the grains are covered with egg. Place in a medium non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the kasha to the pan and, using a wooden fork, flatten it out a bit, stirring and moving it about the pan until the egg dries and the grains have mostly separated. Set aside. Place a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta bow ties. (Do not cook them yet.) In a four-quart heavy, stove- top covered casserole, heat the chicken fat or oil and saute the onions until clear, Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the salt and pepper and the reserved kasha. Stir a bit and cover, Cook over low heat, stirring now and then, until the kasha is tender, about 10 minutes. In the meantime, boil the pasta just until tender. Drain well and stir into the kasha. Serve hot. KNISHES (Makes about 4 dozen) This recipe for classic Jewish baked dumplings is based on in- formation offered me by Pauline Berlin, through the. goodness of Sunset magazine. THE DOUGH 1 egg Y% cup salad oil ¥Y% cup water 1 teaspoon distilied white vinegar 2% cups all-purpose flour . Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a heavy electric mixer. Mix with the dough hook until the dough is very smooth. Cover and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes. ; Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll out one piece of the dough into a very thin rectangle. Place a rope of the filling, about %-inch in diameter, one inch away from the long edge of the dough. Fold the long edge of the dough over to enclose the filling; press to seal. Cut the filled roll away from the rest of the dough. Using the narrow edge of the handle of a table knife, press and cut the roll into individual knishes, two inches long. , Place the knishes on oiled bak- ing sheets. Repeat with the re- maining dough and filling. Bake at 425°F, uncovered, until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. POTATO ONION FILLING 4 large yellow onions, peeled and finely chopped Y% cup butter Y% cup rendered chicken fat 3% pounds potatoes, peeled Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Saute the onions in the butter and chicken fat until golden. Boil the potatoes, drain and mash. Add the onions, along with any - oil that remains in the pan. Season with the salt and pepper. Photo submitted FUN, EASY to make personal pizzas tor kids. Personalize PERSONAL PIZZAS Kids will find these fun to make, and to eat! ~ Ease of baking: easy Preparation time: 20 minutes Baking time: 17 minutes Makes: six individual pizzas Freezing: excellent CRUST: 3 cups (750 mL) all purpose- flour 2 tbsp. (30 mL) baking powder 1 tsp. G mL) salt % cup (175 mL) shortening 1% cups (375 mL) milk TOPPING: 1 19 oz. (540 mL) can pizza or spaghetti sauce 5 cups (1,250 mL) shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese (or a mixture of both) 1 smaii red pepper, sliced 1 small green pepper, sliced 1% cups (375 mL) sliced maskrooms % cup (175 mL) sliced pep- your pizzas peroni or diced ham Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). : . Combine flour,. baking © powder and salt in bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry « blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk all at once to dry ingredients and stir with a fork until soft dough is formed. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently eight to 10 times. Divide dough into six pieces. Roll or press cach piece into a five-inch (12.5 cm) circle on ungreased baking sheets. Bake crusts at °425°F @20°0) for five minutes. Spread sauce evenly "over crusts. Sprinkle with half. of cheese. Top with peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni or any of your own personal favorite toppings and cover with Tes - maining cheese. , Bake eight to 12 minutes longer, or until crust is golden. Think about signals sent by smoking fat Inquisitive SUE WILSON ANNE GARDINER SMOKE SOMETIMES signals the need to learn more about the fats we use in frying. And if that. smoke is accom- panied by an acrid smell, it’s a sign that the fat has decomposed. Smoking points are very much a part of cooking with fats. Shortenings are fat in semi- solid form. Oils are liquid fats. While water evaporates at 212°F (100°C), fats can be heated to much higher temperatures. So they’re a good medium for con- ducting heat to food. As we saute fish and chicken we create new flavors, browning and a crispy coating that cannot be duplicated by cooking methods that use moisture, such as simmer- ing or braising. Like water, fats break down when they become too hot and this temperature is called their **smoking point.’? When fat decomposes, its glycerol breaks down to free fatty acids and acrolein. The smell comes with the release of acrolein which is ir- ritating to both your eyes and your nose. Fats from different sources smoke at different temperatures. Generally, vegetable oils, without added emulsifiers, are used for deep-frying foods because their smoking points are at least 420°F (216°C). Food browns and devel- ops flavor and crispness between 350°F and 390°F (177-199°C). So when frying with these fats there’s a fair margin of safety. Olive oil has a smoking point of 390°F (399°C), somewhat lower than most vegetable oils. Foods pan-fried or browned in olive oil need watching more carefully. Butter, margarines and shorten- ings that are mixtures of animal and vegetable fats decompose at lower temperatures. They are best suited to pan-frying- As butter blackens and breaks down most easily, it’s often combined with margarine cr olive oil, which have slightly higher smoking points. Fats with added emulsifiers are designed for baking, not frying. Emulsifiers, often listed as mono- or diglycerides, lower the smoking point of shortenings and oils to about 350°F (177°C) — too low to successfully brown. Fat used repeatedly for deep- frying breaks down at pro- gressively lower temperatures. It darkens in color and thickens with reuse, and the amount absorbed by. food increases. Finally, it smokes at a temperature tco low for frying. Batters also break down fat so it can’t be reused as often. For ef- ficient reuse, filter cool fat through several layers of cheese- cloth to remove food particles and add 15-25% fresh fat each time. Smoking point is not just con- fined to frying. Greased cookie sheets show shortening breakdown as a gummy residue that builds on the edges of the pan and smokes as cookies bake. In the case of Yorkshire pud- dings and popovers, there’s a fine line between getting the pans hot enough to create steam and the fat breaking down. Use an oil or shortening with a high smoking point to grease the pans. Then, smoke becomes the signal that the pan is extremely hot and ready for the batter. So think about the signals sent by smoking fat.