The Jewish holiday calendar calls for a variety of festive foods, and the focus this month is on pancakes, specifically those yummy potato latkes glistening with a sheen of good oil. The Hanukkah celebration of oil and foods cooked with it resonates with cooks, and so will several new books with recipes that can be enjoyed during the Jewish holidays as well as year-round.
The dishes reflect not only the traditional foods associated with Jewish cooking but also the influence of geography and other cultures on the cuisine. As Faye Levy, author of “1,000 Jewish Recipes,” said in a recent interview, “I wanted to show how exciting and diverse Jewish food is. A lot of people look at it as the deli with the kugel and chopped liver, or their mother’s matzo ball soup, but there is much more than that.” Here are some new cookbooks–for gift-giving during Hanukkah or just for yourself–that explore the flavors of Jewish cooking, plus recipes from them.
– “1,000 Jewish Recipes,” by Faye Levy (IDG Books, $35)
Whew! Levy is not kidding when she promises a bounty of recipes here, divided among chapters for holiday menus; soups; vegetable side dishes; dairy specialties; noodles and other pasta; breads and yeast cakes; and basics such as sauces and stocks. The onion-smothered chicken prepared in the Tribune test kitchen is a lovely supper dish: The chicken stews in a blanket of sliced onions and sweet spices until tender, creating a fragrant sauce for dipping bread. Recipes have helpful head notes with cooking tips and are noted with symbols to indicate whether it is dairy, meat or pareve (neither dairy nor meat). There is a calendar of the Jewish year and a very brief glossary.
The biggest disappointment is that the book is so plain. There are no photographs, no illustrations; just recipe upon recipe throughout. The sole design element is the use of blue ink on white paper, which helps brighten the book somewhat. But with so many recipes, perhaps there was no room for frills.
– “Sephardic Flavors,” by Joyce Goldstein (Chronicle, $35)
San Francisco-based Goldstein closed her restaurant, Square One, several years ago but continued to pursue her interest in the cuisine of the Mediterranean region through cookbook writing. With this latest book, Goldstein focuses on Sephardic Jews and the development of their cooking through settlements in Spain, Italy and the Ottoman Empire.
The result is a collection of recipes rich with fresh herbs and mild spices, fresh vegetables and grains, all presented in appealing dishes accompanied by beautiful, tempting photographs. Choices include meatballs with a variety of styles, such as almond or egg and lemon sauce; roast chicken with apples and pomegranate; and spinach and potato gratin. For a dessert typical of the Mediterranean, try the moist walnut cake (tispishti) with its fragrance of cloves, cinnamon, orange and lemon and a syrup topping scented with orange flower water. Chapters and recipes begin with explanations of the origin of the foods and their place in the Sephardic kitchen.
– “Healthy Jewish Cooking,” by Steven Raichlen (Viking, $29.95)
Raichlen, the author of 20 cookbooks, has won praise for writing about everything from the cuisine of Miami to barbecue to a series of low-fat cookbooks. He adds to the latter volumes with this cookbook, designed to lighten beloved but caloric Jewish dishes.
The book begins with a whimsical touch, the “Ten Commandments of Healthy Jewish Cooking,” which include “Roast Your Way to Aroma” and “Benefit from Broth.” Recipes that get the light touch range from cheese blintzes filled with fat-free cottage cheese and egg substitute and sweet noodle kugel with apples to veal meat loaf. Our tasters liked the cabbage rolls stuffed with lean ground turkey and topped with a sweet and sour sauce seasoned with raisins and chopped prunes. The last recipe in the book, “How to Hard-Boil An Egg,” is included because, as Raichlen says, “The simple hard-cooked egg is a cornerstone of Jewish cooking.” Pretty color photographs are spread throughout and make even the lowest-fat dish look appealing. Help for the cook is provided in a short glossary and a discussion of the kashrut, or kosher laws.
– “The World of Jewish Desserts,” by Gil Marks (Simon & Schuster, $30)
As in the preceding books, author and rabbi Marks also gathers recipes from around the globe, but makes less of a case for why these desserts are particularly “Jewish” as he claims in the title. As with many of the recipes included here, the Hungarian sugar cookies (klaitcha), Turkish semolina custard pie (galactoboureko) and Alsatian fruit custard tart (tarte Alsacienne) are not traced by Marks to Jewish culinary tradition either by origin or adaptation. But as an international dessert book, this is a fine resource. Dutch pastry twists (koeksisters) were a hit with the test kitchen tasters, who loved the ropes of airy dough, braided, deep-fried and doused with a syrup of honey, lemon and cardamom.
ONION-SMOTHERED CHICKEN
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
“This slowly cooked, gently spiced chicken with its rich onion sauce is wonderful with potato or vegetable latkes,” writes Faye Levy in “1,000 Jewish Recipes.”
3 pounds chicken pieces, patted dry
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup chicken stock
1. Sprinkle chicken pieces with pepper on both sides.
2. Heat oil in a deep large saute pan or stew pan. Lightly brown chicken pieces in 2 batches over medium heat. Remove with tongs to a plate. Add onions and cook over medium-low heat 10 minutes or until softened. Return chicken to pan and add any juices from the plate. Add cumin, coriander, paprika, garlic and stock. Cover and simmer, turning pieces once or twice, about 30 minutes for breast pieces and about 35 minutes for leg and thigh pieces.
3. Remove chicken pieces from pan but leave in onion. Skim fat from cooking liquid. Adjust seasoning. Return chicken to pan. Cover and warm over low heat about 3 minutes. Serve hot.
Nutrition information per serving:(calculated by the Tribune)
Calories ………… 690 Fat ………… 41 g Saturated fat .. 10 g
% calories from fat .. 41 Cholesterol .. 190 mg Sodium ……. 335 mg
Carbohydrates …… 15 g Protein …….. 63 g Fiber ……….. 2 g
