Home run for these all-star cooks

The Temple Beth-El “World Series of Treasured Jewish Family Recipes” winners proudly display their trophies.  (Left to right):  Lisa Brosofsky, winner of the People’s Choice Award; Rep. Aaron Regunberg, first runner-up for Best Recipe; Emily Torgan Shalansky, second runner-up for Best Recipe; and Bob Sandy, winner of Best Recipe.  Over 200 people tasted 27 recipes and raised over $6,000 to benefit the Rabbi Leslie Yale Gutterman Religious School. /PHOTO | JOHN TAVARES

On Oct. 25, Temple Beth-El, in Providence, held the World Series of Treasured Jewish Family Recipes. Affectionately called simply “the World Series” by many entrants, the fifth annual culinary event attracted chefs of all ages and included first-to sixth-generation family recipes.

The five judges sampled 27 recipes, each of which had its own story. Photos of family members involved in creating the dishes were propped up alongside printouts of the recipes and their origins.

Violet Orth, and her 8-year-old daughter Amy handed out cups of “152 Cucumber Salad,” named for the address of the diner where Amy’s great-grandparents regularly ate an earlier version of the salad. There was also “Grandma Yetta’s Jell-O Mold,” submitted by Kim Zwetchkenbaum, whose family has made it a tradition to parade around the room with the jiggling Jell-O before sitting down to eat it.

“The art is in the flip,” she explained, laughing.

Recipes also included Michael Chazan’s “Swarthmore tuna salad,” named for the birthplace of the recipe, Lynn Pohl’s healthier version of her mother’s polenta, and carrot and coconut cupcakes whose origins are debatable – while the Barefoot Contessa may have popularized the cupcakes, Zoey Finkelstein’s mother may have made them first.

While attendees crunched Mun cake cookies and slurped pumpkin soup, a warm community feeling grew in a way that only food can achieve.

People were still squeezing by each other to grab the last slice of cake or kugel when Beth-El’s Senior Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman took the stage to announce the winners.

Lisa Brosofsky’s “Aunt Shirley’s Noodle Pudding” received the People’s Choice Award. Emily Shalansky’s pumpkin soup took second runner-up for Best Recipe, and Aaron Regunberg’s “Uncle Eitan’s Shakshuka” took first. Bob Sandy’s pumpernickel bread and körözöt spread won Best Recipe. Prizes included a copy of “The Community Table” and a stylish chef’s hat.

Sandy’s recipe had a poignant back story. His parents survived the Holocaust by living in a place called The Glass House, where many Jews lived and were issued proof of Swiss citizenship, thus avoiding capture. There, his father baked for his fellow Jews.

This year’s event was judged by Katja Goldman, Lisa Rotmil and Judy Bernstein Bunzl, all of New York City, as well as Alison Bologna and Gail Solomon of Providence. Goldman, Rotmil and Bernstein authored the new cookbook, “The Community Table: Recipes & Stories from the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan & Beyond.”

They assert that Jewish cuisine and Kosher cooking are not necessarily the main point of the cookbook.

“It’s about community building and bringing everyone around the table,” Rotmil explains. Goldman added that the diverse and eclectic nature of the recipes is what gives the cookbook its community feel.

Some entrants had somewhat unconventional hopes: Frank Birch, who along with his wife, Lillian, concocted a gefilte fish dish with carrots, came hoping to win best-dressed.

“I’d just like to get the prize for best apron!” he exclaimed, standing up to show off an apron featuring a photograph of his grandson Aidan – who now sometimes cooks with his grandparents – as a 1-year-old with a pot and wooden spoon.

ARIEL BROTHMAN is a freelance writer who lives in Wrentham, Mass. She was the summer intern at The Jewish Voice in 2012.

Elizabeth Sandy’s Sheep’s Cheese Dip (Körözött)

Variants of this spread are found in Austria, Bavaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Albania and the Province of Trieste in Northern Italy. Its original home, however, is Hungary. The migration of Körözött across the Austro-Hungarian Empire and beyond is due to how wonderfully it goes with bread, especially pumpernickel. In Hungary Körözött is based on a fresh sheep’s milk cheese from the province of Liptó.

Liptó túró cheese and Hungarian paprika are the key ingredients. Growing up in Detroit Körözött was always on the table from breakfast to late-night snacks. It was as ubiquitous as hummus is in Israel.

The problem with making authentic Körözött is that Liptó túró cheese is unobtainable. Feta, another soft sheep’s milk cheese, is normally too salty to be used in Körözött. Many recipes on the web just give up on the sheep’s milk cheese taste and use cream cheese or cottage cheese. When my mother visited Providence this summer, we experimented with the recipe, trying for something more authentic. The Eastside Marketplace has a U.S.-made feta with much less salt than other feta cheeses. In terms of its salt content its name, Narragansett Creamery Salty Sea Feta, is misleading. The result with this cheese isn’t quite as ethereal as a Körözött using Liptó túró, but it is really good. Perhaps this spread will spread across the USA.

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package of Narragansett Creamery Salty Sea Feta

Green parts of 10 scallions

5 (8 ounce) packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese

2 tablespoons of yellow mustard

5 tablespoons of Hungarian Paprika (avoid hot or smoked paprika)

Directions

Put the feta into a food processor with a regular blade and process until it is finely crumbled. Add the scallions and process in bursts until finely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients and process in bursts until the spread is smooth.

Emily Torgan Shalansky’s Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin

For Serving Pumpkin:
Use 1 large pumpkin, cut off the top and reserve.
Remove pulp and seeds.
Before putting the soup inside, rinse the inside of the pumpkin with a few cups of boiling water.
Pour in finished soup, then replace the top.

For Soup:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée
1 1/2 pounds peeled butternut squash, cut into chunks
3 cups broth (chicken for a meat meal, Osem Parve consommé prepared according to package directions for dairy)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Creme fraiche or Latin crema (a sour-cream like product available in specialty food stores), grated Gruyere, and croutons for serving.
Method
Heat the butter and oil in a stockpot, add the chopped onions, and cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the pumpkin purée, butternut squash, stock, salt and pepper.  
Cover and simmer about 30-35 minutes, until the squash is very tender.
Blend the mixture to a medium texture.
Return to the pot, add half-and-half, and heat slowly.
Add remaining tablespoon of butter.
Adjust seasoning to taste and serve with garnishes.

Lisa Brosofsky’s Aunt Shirley’s Noodle Pudding/Kugel

Ingredients

1/2 pound fine egg noodles (I use a whole bag of wide noodles)

2 cups milk

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar (I use some cinnamon sugar as part of the sugar)

4 eggs slightly beaten

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

4 ounces softened cream cheese (I use the whipped cream cheese)

1/2 stick unsalted melted butter

2 tablespoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except egg noodles. Cook noodles for 5 minutes in boiling water, drain and combine with milk mixture.

Pour into 13-x9-x2-inch greased baking dish.  

Drizzle 1/4 cup of melted butter over the top and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.  Serve hot or cold, with or without thawed frozen fruit.

Aaron Regunberg’s Uncle (Dodo) Eitan’s Shakshuka Recipe

Ingredients

2 white onions

2 cloves garlic

2 bell peppers

1 jalepeno pepper (adjust to taste)

1 Large can diced tomatoes

1/2 small can of tomato paste

6 eggs

Fresh parsley

Paprika, salt, pepper

Method

Saute chopped onion in a large pan with olive oil over low heat.

Add minced garlic.

Add chopped peppers (some people include diced carrots or mushrooms, which you would add at this point).

Once vegetables have begun to cook down, add diced tomatoes and tomato paste.

Mix in paprika, salt, and pepper to taste, as well as half of the fresh parsley.

Allow the sauce to slightly reduce, then crack eggs directly into the mixture.

Simmer over low heat until the eggs are cooked, then add the rest of the parsley and enjoy!