Red Grape Soup

There’s more to it than just vegetables, and/or noodles. Not only is soup good comfort food in the winter, not only can it warm a cold bodyon a freezing winter day, it can also cool us on a hot summer day. Pamela Reiss, in her Soup -A Kosher Collection gives us many delicious recipes of every kind, ranging from winter comfort types to refreshing summer ones.

Photo by Michelle Furbacher, page 190 Soup - A Kosher Collection

Here’s one I tried last evening, it was easy to make and absolutely delicious:

Serves 5

This lovely, elegant chilled soup is wonderful as a starter. Taste one of the grapes before you cook them; if they are exceptionally sweet, you may want to hold off on adding the granulated sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb red grapes
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup dry red wine

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a soup pot, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer on low for 5 minutes, or until grape skins start to split.
2. Purée the soup. (Use a blender, a hand blender, or a food processor to purée a soup. Do it in small and be very careful. Put a towel over the top of the food processor or blender to prevent any hot soup from spaying. If you are concerned about processing the hot liquid, allow the soup to cool beforehand.
3. Pour the soup through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any seeds and skin, and transfer to a clean bowl. Chill the soup for for a minimum of 4 hours, or until it is completely cold.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Oyfn Pripetchik… – In the Fireplace…

It snowed overnight, after most of the snow and ice on the ground had just about melted away…

This morning's view from my apartment window

Oyfn pripetchik brent a fayerl
Un in shtub is heys.
Un der rebbe lernt kleyne kinderlekh
Dem alef-beys.

A fire is burning in the fireplace
and its warm in the house,
as the Rabbi is teaching little children
the aleph-beys.

Street view...

It’s cold and Shabbos is coming and as we recharge our batteries from the week’s harsh realities, or we contemplate on the week’s successes, there is that special Shabbos food to warm us, to comfort us. Cholent, kugel (whether potato or lokshen – noodles) and more.

As we sing Shabbos zmiros, as we tell over divrey Torah there is a warmth that permeates the heart’s own hearth – the tiny inner pripetchik where the pintele yid is always burning, always reminding one who and what he or she is. Regardless of the weather outside, whether cold, freezing, warm or hot, the heart’s temperature is perfect, as the mind feels uplifted by the niggunim, by the words of ancient wisdom, by the stories that touch one’s soul and the body enjoys those special flavors of the Shabbos food (the same food, prepared the exact same way, just tastes so different during the week).

[..]Gliklekh iz der yid vos lernt toyre,
Vos darfn mir nokh mer?

Happy is the Jew who learns Torah
What more do we need?

(Oyfn Pripetchik - Old Yiddish song)

Talking about the special taste of Shabbos food, I came across this easy recipe, on The Food Network, by Joan Nathan, it is different and very good:

Vegetable and Fruit Kugel Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 apples, grated
• 1 large sweet potato, grated
• 4 carrots, grated
• 1 cup matzoh meal
• 1 stick pareve margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 24 paper muffin cups
• 2 (12) cavity muffin tins

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
2. Place the paper muffin cups in the muffin tins.
3. Pour the batter into the cups. They should be two-thirds full.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done in a preheated 350 degree oven.

A gutten Shabbos – Shabbat shalom umevorach, gentle reader.

CS

Etrog Recipes

Photo by: The Kosher Foodies

You spent a lot of money for a nice looking etrog, used it for all of eight days and Sukkos is over. Now what do you do with it? Many readers asked us for etrog recipes, after scouring the web we found this one at Torah Women.org:

Etrog Jam

*Please keep in mind that etrog are sometimes raised commercially not as food and may be saturated during growth with pesticides. Please ensure that your etrog is safe for consumption.

Ingredients

• 1 etrog (citron)
• 6 cups water
• 3/4 cup sugar

After the Hebrew holiday Succoth, families everywhere will have an extra etrog which can make a delicious jam. Here’s Green Prophet’s recipe to make your own:

Slice and remove as many seeds as possible. Try slicing the long way into eighths to get seeds out as efficiently as possible. There are a LOT of seeds in an etrog so allow at least 1 hr for this step.

Chop fruit into very small pieces, including the peel, consider for this step using the food processor.

Cover fruit with water and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. Next, bring everything to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Drain fruit.

Cover fruit with water and simmer again for 20 minutes, then refrigerate everything for at least 12 hours. Drain. Cover fruit with water and simmer uncovered again for 20 minutes. Drain fruit.

(These steps are important since if you skip them the finished product will be bitter!)

Cover fruit with water and add most of the sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Be careful here, if you leave it for a minute it can burn on the bottom. If it does burn, do not stir up the burned parts into the jam. Dump the stuff into a clean bowl, wash out your pot, put the jelly back in and continue.

Taste to see if you need to add more sugar. Continue simmering for ½ hour or more. The temperature should be 220º–222º, the water should be syrupy and the fruit should be clear-ish.

It should cool and congeal, if it is still runny some people add ¼ – ½ cup of orange marmalade per quart to add “pectin” and cook 15-20 minutes more. Personally, I think that however it comes out is nice.

And at Chabad.org we found this recipe that is sure to become a favorite:

Etrog Schnapps

Ingredients:

• Up to 3 Etrogs (citrus)
• 3 cups Vodka
• 1.5 cups superfine sugar

Rinse the Etrogs well, and peel the thick yellow skin. Place the peels in a 4-cup container, and add 2 cups of vodka. Store for a minimum of 48 hours in a cool, dark place. Remove the peels from the vodka. Add all the sugar and stir until the liquid is clear. Add the remaining cup of vodka and stir until the mixture is clear. Seal the top and keep it in a cool place for about 6 weeks.

The schnapps will have a distinctive citrus aroma, and a delicate and sweet flavor. A wonderful addition to any occasion.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

SYR