Klezmer Music

I've washed the tableclothes, eaten the last piece of cheesecake, put away the glasses, stored the extra chairs, and moved the furniture back where it belongs. All evidence of our annual January food extravaganza is gone—only the pictures, the food gifts and the memories remain. Everyone came on time, as is their thoughtful custom. By 2:00, we were noshing on chopped liver, pickled herring, a platter of sours, and bagels with cream cheese and lox. The fog that settled on Commencement Bay last week lifted by noonish so we all warmed and stretched in the sunshine.

We polished off matzo ball soup, challah, and a romaine walnut salad with roasted shallot vinaigrette before pausing a while to allow our stomachs time to re-adjust. A short walk in the brisk air did wonders for our appetites and it was back to the table for braised beef brisket, savory noodle kugel and carrot tzimmes.

This year's dinner was the twenty-first in an unbroken series; an event where life stories are shared, age markers are discussed, and travel plans revealed. Nancy Pringle is in the early throes of retirement, Spence Duncan is making his way through public middle school, MacGregor is doing battle with an aging roof, Marilyn and Fritz are still having too much fun in Canada to come back home, and Bob is winning over those grumpy doctors.

We are all so fortunate to share our lives with one another and look forward to the New Year and the new President.

Noodle Kugel
 
• 1 # cooked wide noodles
• 1 stick melted butter
• ½ cup finely diced shallots
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 leek, cleaned and finely diced
• 1 cup mushroom pieces
• ½ tsp. dried thyme
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 5 beaten eggs
• 3 gratings nutmeg
• 1 t. salt
• ½ t. white pepper
 
Sauté shallots, garlic, leek, mushrooms, and thyme in half the butter. Add mixture to noodles. Add eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese and seasoning. Melt remainder of butter and drizzle over noodle mixture. Pour into greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

This is a wonderful cheesecake recipe. Easy to make, not expensive, and reliable.

Lindy’s Cheesecake (from Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking)

Crust
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into bits
• ¼ tsp. salt

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Have ingredients for filling at room temperature.

Combine flour, sugar, and lemon zest in stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add egg yolk, vanilla, butter, and salt until it comes together—don’t over-mix. Flatten dough, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for one hour.

Remove the sides of a 9” springform pan. Oil the bottom of the pan lightly, and press some of the dough onto it to form a 1/8” thick layer. Bake the bottom crust in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.

Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then chill it in the refrigerator.

Butter the sides of the pan, attach it to the bottom, and press the remaining dough up the sides, 1/8” thick. Set aside.

Filling:
• 2 ½ pounds cream cheese—room temperature
• 1 ¾ cup sugar
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. orange zest
• 1 ½ tsp. lemon zest
• ½ tsp. vanilla
• 5 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• ¼ cup heavy cream

In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the cream cheese with the sugar, the flour, the orange and lemon zests, and the vanilla until the mixture is smooth. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl, once or twice.
Beat in whole eggs and yolks, one at a time—beating lightly after each addition. When all eggs are incorporated, stir in heavy cream.

Increase oven temperature to 525 degrees. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and bake the cheesecake in the middle of the oven for 12 minutes.

Decrease the heat to 200 degrees. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour more.

Let cheesecake cool in the pan, out of the oven, on a rack. Still in the pan, chill cheesecake overnight.

Serve cool, but not overly chilled.

Rugelach (from Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking)

Sour Cream Pastry:
• ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ sour cream
• 1 egg
• 2 ¾ cup flour
• ¼ tsp. salt
 
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed. Add the sour cream and egg to the creamed butter mixture and continue beating on medium speed until mixture is smooth.

Stop beating, add flour and salt all at once, then continue to beat on low speed until the dough holds together around the paddle.

Apricot-Walnut Filling:
• 2/3 cup apricot preserves
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• ½ cup sugar mixed with 1 Tbs. cinnamon

1 egg beaten for egg wash

1 Tbs. sugar mixed with ¼ tsp. cinnamon for sprinkling

Divide dough into four pieces. Shape each piece into 2” wide log, wrap in plastic, and chill for one hour. Let dough come to room temperature before rolling it out.

Position rack in center of oven, preheat to 350 degrees.

Roll out logs into 6” x 12” rectangles and brush with warm preserves. Sprinkle each piece of dough with 4 Tbs. nuts, then 1 Tbs. cinnamon sugar.

Roll up rectangles and slice into 1-1 1/2” pieces. Brush cookies with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place seam down on ungreased sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

As soon as rugelach come from the oven, transfer them to a serving plate. Cool before serving.