Jewish Recipes
Latkes (Israeli Jewish potato pancakes)
Potatoes, peeled -- 2 pounds<?
Flour -- 1/3 cup
Egg, beaten lightly -- 2
Salt and pepper -- to seasonOil for frying
1. Grate the potatoes into a large bowl of cold water. Let the potatoes soak for 15 to 20 minutes, then drain and squeeze dry.
2. In a large bowl, mix the potatoes with the flour, egg, salt and pepper.
3. Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high flame until it begins to shimmer, or to about 365 to 375°F. Working in batches, drop spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil and flatten out to form patties. Fry until browned on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes, then flip and brown on the second side. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and hold in a warm oven as you finish the rest of the pancakes.
4. Serve warm with sour cream or applesauce.
Variations
Add some grated or minced onion to the potatoes for extra flavor. Use about 1/2 of a medium-sized onion.
Some recipes call for potato starch or matzo meal instead of flour. Use about 1/4 cup of potato starch or 1/2 cup of matzo meal.
Add chopped chives or parsley to the batter if you like.
SOUL FOOD
Upside-Down Cornbread Cake
FOR THE CORNBREAD
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
FOR THE SAUCE
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 stick butter
1 (15.5-ounce) can fruit cocktail, drained
1 (12-ounce) can maraschino cherries, drained
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup brandy
Whipped cream, for serving
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, heavy cream, eggs, butter, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a 9-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add sugar and butter and let melt. When melted, remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Be sure to place maraschino cherries evenly throughout. Pour in batter and smooth top with a spatula.
Bake 25 minutes, until cornbread is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
To serve, place a platter over skillet and invert cake. It should slide out easily. Slice into wedges and serve warm with whipped cream.
Makes 6 to 8 servings
SOUL FOOD SEASONING
If you want to keep a greater quantity of this useful seasoning
on hand, simply double or triple the quantities.
2 Tbsp ground red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp dark chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp thyme powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Mix all the ingredients together. Store in a sealed container. Makes about 3/4 cup.
Cajun Recipes
Creole Beans and Rice
1 pound dried red beans
1/4 pound salt pork
3 cups chopped onion
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 dashes hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried whole thyme
2 pounds Mettwurst or other smoked German sausage, cut into bite-size pieces
Sort and wash beans; place in large Dutch oven. Cover with water
2 inches above beans; let soak 8 hours. Drain. Cover beans with
water and add salt pork; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and
simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. Add remaining ingredients
except sausage and rice. Cover and cook over low heat for 45 minutes,
stirring occasionally. Add sausage pieces, and cook until heated
through. Serve over rice. Serves eight.
Quick Jambalaya
1 (16 ounce) package Hillshire Farm® Smoked Sausage
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1/2 pound large raw shrimp, peeled, deveined
6 cups hot cooked long grain white rice
1. Cut sausage into 1/2" slices. Melt butter in a 5 to 6-quart pan over medium-high heat. Add sausage, onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft and sausage is lightly browned.
2. Stir in tomatoes, pepper sauce, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Bring to a boil; add shrimp. Cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are cooked and opaque in center.
3. Gently stir in hot rice and cook 3-5 minutes or until heated through.
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
1 package chicken thighs (6 count)
1/2 package Hilshire Farms Polish Kielbasa (or other smoked sausage), sliced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 large white onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 cups white rice
2 1/2 cups water
12 oz beer
flour to coat chicken
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
a handful of chopped parsley
salt to taste
lots of cayenne pepper
Start off by washing the chicken and placing it skin side down on
a plate (you can remove the skin if you want). Now, depending on
how spicy you want it, coat the chicken with Cayenne pepper until
very red (I use a LOT of Cayenne in mine). Don't worry about
getting it too hot, since this is the majority of the pepper you
are going to add and it will cook into the rest of the dish. Turn
the chicken pieces over and lightly coat the skin side. Let sit
for 15 minutes or so to soak it all up.
Heat the oil in the bottom of a large heavy cast iron or aluminum
pot (don't use thin aluminum or stainless steel since the rice will
tend to stick and burn if you're not really careful). Place the
flour in a paper bag (season the flour lightly with salt, cayenne
pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, etc). Place a couple of pieces
of chicken at a time into the bag and shake to coat.
Fry the chicken in the oil until golden brown. Don't worry about
cooking it all the way through just yet. Remove the chicken. Now
place the onions, celery, garlic and bellpepper into the pot (along
with a bit more oil if necessary) and saute them until the onions
are transparent, scraping the bottom of the pot often. Add the
rosemary, thyme and parsley and cook for a minute or so.
Place the sausage slices, chicken, and a little water into the pot
and mix well with the vegetables. Turn heat low, cover and simmer
for about 30 minutes (until the chicken is tender). Stir the
mixture frequently, always scraping the bottom to keep things from
burning (break the chicken up a bit with the spatula as it cooks.
It should break up naturally as the dish cooks, but this just helps
things a little).
When the chicken is cooked, add the washed rice and stir it into
everything for a couple of minutes. Pour the warm beer and the
water in and stir things for another minute or so. Taste it at
this point and adjust the salt if necessary. Now, keeping the heat
low, cover the pot and cook until the rice is tender (anywhere from
30 minutes to an hour). Stir the mixture every now and then,
scraping the bottom of the pot.
Cajun Roasted Potatoes
6 large white-skinned potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 green bell pepper, finely minced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely minced
1 small onion, minced
1 tsp ground thyme ot 1 Tbsp fresh
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
cayenne or chile powder to taste
Cut potatoes into one inch cubes. Place potatoes in a plastic bag
and toss with the other ingredients, or drizzle the potatoes with
the oil and sprinkle the other ingredients over the top. Arrange
potatoes on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with very small sides.
A deep pan keeps the chunks from browning well. Bake at 425 F for
about and hour. Turn the potatoes every 15 minutes or so so they
brown evenly.
Tex-Mex Recipes
Spanish Rice Recipe
2 tSpanish Rice Recipe
2 tablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
3 cups* chicken stock (or vegetable stock if vegetarian)
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
Pinch of oregano
1 teaspoon salt
*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.
1 In a large skillet brown rice in olive oil, medium/high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook onion rice mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened.
2 In a separate sauce pan bring stock to a simmer. Add tomato sauce, oregano, and salt. Add rice to broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Lower heat and cook 15-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6.ablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
3 cups* chicken stock (or vegetable stock if vegetarian)
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
Pinch of oregano
1 teaspoon salt
*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.
1 In a large skillet brown rice in olive oil, medium/high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook onion rice mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened.
2 In a separate sauce pan bring stock to a simmer. Add tomato sauce, oregano, and salt. Add rice to broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Lower heat and cook 15-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6.
Refried Beans Recipe
2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb or 450gm)
3 quarts of water
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
2 Tbsp pork lard, bacon fat, or olive oil (for vegetarian option)
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
Cheddar cheese (optional)
1 Rinse the beans in water and remove any small stones, pieces of dirt, or bad beans.
2 Cook the beans in water.
Pressure Cooker method Put beans into a 4 quart pressure cooker with a 15 lb weight. Fill up the pressure cooker with water, up to the line that indicates the capacity for the pot. Cook for 30-35 minutes - until the beans are soft and the skins are barely breaking open.
Regular method Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water - about 3 quarts for 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the batch of beans you have. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.
Strain the beans from the cooking water.
3 Add the onions and lard/fat/oil to a wide, sturdy (not with a flimsy stick-free lining) frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. (Note the onions are optional, you can skip them if you want.) Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste. Add a few slices of cheddar cheese, or some (1/2 cup) grated cheddar cheese if you want. When beans are heated through (and optional cheese melted) the beans are ready to serve.
Note that many recipes call for soaking the beans overnight and discarding the soaking liquid. We don't. We discard the cooking liquid and just add some water back into the frying pan when we are frying the beans.
Other Ethnic Recipes
