Reintroducing YAFFA SHEPSEL, a culinary expert by virtue of
experience, tenure and seniority, a grandma a few dozen times
over, bli ayin hora, none of whose children or
grandchildren are undernourished. A hit-or-miss, hit-and-run
cook, she works by rule of thumb-and-forefinger, that is, a
pinch here, a toss there. Her recipes are not exact and must
be taken with a grain of salt, or sugar, or allspice,
whatever your own instinct and sense of taste tells you.
She's intuition, ready to share her experiences, good or bad.
Yaffa believes in cooking by feel and taste and acquiring a
sixth sense that lets you look at a recipe and know how it
will come out - and make half a dozen improvisations and
variations the next six times round.
So here goes, try to get the hang of it and you'll become an
intuitive cook as well.
STRAWBERRIES - In General and For Pesach
When I started giving - and getting - strawberries for
shalach monos, I realized that people don't know what
to do with them, and when they receive them even in their
basic form, they are amazed how good they are.
I RECEIVED them as-is, as if all you do is use them for
decoration. I GAVE THEM sugared. "How do you get such
delicious syrup? Do you add water?"
Don't you dare! Here's how to treat this treat: cut off
stems, wash according to halachic regulations, slice into
about thirds or quarters, then place in your storage
container/bowl and sugar them. A kilo of strawberries needs
about 3/4 kilo of sugar. Toss lightly to make sure the sugar
coats them all. Cover. After an hour at room temperature, or
a few hours in the frig, they will have made their own syrup.
You can pour off this syrup for use, and sugar again. I don't
know how many times you can `milk' your strawberries and
still get that delicious syrup, but go ahead and try - and
let me know.
Let me tell you what happened to me: I had an open bowl of
sugared strawberries in the frig. when my son's shipke
(canned chili peppers, real hot stuff) tipped and some juice
poured into the bowl. I had to throw away the syrup, and
rinse the remaining strawberries, but I started all over
again with sugar, and the syrup I got very shortly after was
just as good as new.
Oh, the wonderful things you can do with strawberries and
syrup (except for dieting)! 1) Serve as is, as a dessert. 2)
Serve with sour cream. 3) Serve with whipped parve whip
during the year or with a white whip of your own for Pesach
(see below).
(And an aside at this point - in our home, we don't eat any
fruits or vegetables on Pesach that cannot be peeled. So how
do strawberries slip in? There is another rule that if
something is already treated and wet - halachically called
lach b'lach - by the time you recite Kol
chamira, whatever was chometz on it is nullified
already. So we prepare kilos of treated, sugared strawberries
in advance, freeze, and use it on Pesach. This is also how we
have cooked peppers in tomato sauce etc. prepared in
advance.)
4) STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
Take three egg whites and some strawberries with syrup, about
2 cups. Start whipping as is! You may have to cover the mixer
with a towel or plastic bag since to begin with, this
shpritzes. You will surely be very skeptical about this
mixture getting stiff, but trust me, Savta Strawberry-Girl,
that it will. It'll get stiffer and stiffer, and by this
time, you will be able to add more strawberries to increase
the amount. (Listen to your editor and add a grain, only a
grain, of salt, to keep the mixture stiff.)
This strawberry dessert is good frozen or refrigerated as is,
garnished with some real strawberries with syrup.
5) STRAWBERRY JAM. Sure, you can buy it by now, but Pesach is
the time for exercising your homemaker's talents and doing-it-
yourself. Most jam recipes call for one kilo sugar per kilo
fruit. I personally think this is too much and use about 3/4
kilo.
You can have whole strawberry jam or preserves. For each
kilo, add two finely grated sour Grand apples, to provide the
pectin needed to coagulate the jam. For preserves, you can
blend the strawberries with the apples. Add juice of one
lemon (careful not to let any pits sneak in), and then cook.
Put in a big saucepan, since this has a tendency to overflow.
Stir over low flame, preferably with a wooden spoon, often,
until it becomes thick, but not too thick.
The thicker it is, the more difficult it will be to spread.
The thinner, the more mileage you'll get out of it. And
you'll need that mileage, it will be so good.
6) COOKED STRAWBERRY COMPOTE. Take your s/w/s (strawberry
with syrup), about two cups, add 2 cups of water, lemon juice
and cook. Before it boils, dissolve about 3 tablespoons
potato starch in half a glass of water and then pour into
pot, stirring well to avoid lumps. When it boils and
thickens, turn off flame.
7) VARIATION ON STRAWBERRY COMPOTE. Cook as above 6) but in
the potato starch mixture, add 2 egg yolks and mix well, then
pour into pot, mixing well, until it boils and thickens.
Beat up whites until stiff, then SLOWLY fold the HOT compote
into the whites. This will puff up to a light and delightful
dessert. Serve hot or cold, not frozen.
*
WHITE WHIP - BASIC WHITE FROSTING
I promised you a parve white whip. This is a basic frosting
to be used all year round, but can also serve as a topping
for a fruit dessert. Beware, it's very sweet.
(In one of your cake recipes, preferably a brownie or
chocolate cake, substitute two yolks for one whole egg and
you'll have the two egg whites necessary for this frosting.)
INGREDIENTS: Two egg whites, one cup sugar, few grains of
salt. Optional: some vanilla.
In saucepan put the whites and sugar/salt. Turn on low fire
for a few minutes until you feel the upper side of the
saucepan hot to your touch. Start beating right away with
your handmixer. When the pot is hot, turn off flame and
continue beating until very stiff. It will be if you get the
hang of it. That's all there is to it. Experiment with one
white if you're leary.
TIPS ON GEFILTE FISH
Housewives are always complaining that their gefilte fish
won't hold together on Pesach without matza meal. I haven't
had any problems, that is, with carp.
Carp is a gluey fish when ground. Add the normal amount of
grated onions and carrots and eggs (I use two per kilo of
ground carp). Mix very well. Let stand for about ten minutes
and you'll see that there is no liquid. Mix again. You can
drop balls into boiling water containing your favorite
spices, onions and carrots. By the way, I use my peeler to
make very thin slices of carrots which look very nice on the
serving platter.
Another trick I have is to pour some mixture in sandwich
bags. I think they have kosher l'Pesach plastic bags, since
one kind was questionable. Anyway, smooth and round off the
mixture into the bottom half of the bag and fold under.
Should look like a sausage. Pierce a few times with fork or
knife so that it will interact with the juice in the pot.
Cool for at least a day in frig before removing the plastic
bag and slicing. Another nice serving trick is to embed a
carrot into the middle of the mixture in the bag. When you
remove to slice, you will have the carrot right there!
*
And finally, from fish to nuts. Make your own SOUP NUTS or
CREME PUFFS. Same recipe, just the size differs.
I refuse to take responsibility for this one but I know my
daughter made it and it came out scrumptuous. I am just
suggesting the idea, which is a basic creme puff recipe, with
the potato starch cut down to half the flour and oil
substituted for margarine.
INGREDIENTS: 2 cups water, half cup oil, one tsp. sugar, dash
of salt, 1 cup potato starch, 6 eggs.
INSTRUCTIONS: In large saucepan over medium heat, boil water,
oil, salt and sugar.
Turn off fire, add potato starch and mix very well with
wooden spoon. Turn fire on again and mix energetically until
mixture separates from side of pot.
Put mixture into mixture bowl, beat and wait a few minutes
until cool. Add whole eggs, mixing well after each one. You
are ready for baking. Place small or large spoonfuls or put
batter into plastic bag with one corner cut out and swirl
onto greased sheet and bake in HOT oven until golden. Let
cool.
Creme puffs can be filled with whatever and confectioner's
sugar sprinkled on top. Soup nuts may be eaten as is or with
soup.
[FEEDBACK, PLEASE.
Your editor would very much like to know, for future
reference, if you like this style of cooking advice or if it
annoys you. Or what, in general, you would like to see in a
Cooking Column. Gourmet or basic?]
Happy Family Eating. Chag Somayach!
