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Linda in Tennessee--My Personal Site..
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have you ever been "Jewish" a little comedy
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I grew up with a Jewish mother , but not a Jewish Father.....
we celebrated Christmas.......
i loved my Bubbe ( grand mother) we would visit her, when she lived in a Hotel downtown Los Angeles. she would make soup
for us one her Hot plate. Sonia wa my mothers Mother. I always remember her as beng old. i never knew my Zede (grandfather)
as he passed away when i was only a tiny baby.
Bubbe came to live with us for awhile when i was about 5. the time 1946 when my mother was to have my sister, Ronna.
Daddy built on to our very tiny place, to make a room for her to sleep. I don't recall how long she lived there.
When i was in the 10th grade, she came to live with us once again. We got a duplex,and we had the top floor, it was nice
and spacious. it was a 2 bedroom, and Ronna and i had one room and Bubbe had the other. My mother slept in what was suppose
to be the breakfast nook.. I enjoyed her with us. she mad wonderful Home made blintzes , with farmers cheese, and they melted
in your mouth. She of course made chicken soup..and many other specialities.
I am guessing she lived with us for about 2 years. she and my mother didn't especially get along, nor did she and Ronna.
For some reason she loved me. Bubbe taught me how to play Canasta. and we played for hours.
She also knew how to tell ones fortune with the cards. and when she did it came true. BUT she would only do it with a
brand new deck of cards. Heaven forbid they should be used !!
I don't remember wher she went, when we parted, But I think Uncle Joe got her another apt.
I graduated High School, and went the following Monday to Beauty School. i graduated, went to work,got married and had
my first child by the age of 19.
I did not know that Zede was a barber !! my bubbe was so proud of me. I would drive what felt like forever, to
get her and bring her back to the beauty shop and give her permanents.
It was such a joy to do this for her. she stood only 4 foot 6 and i had to sit her on 2 phone books.
( I will write more about this later)
I don't want any one to be offended at the following.......
Please read it and enjoy:
Memories of Real Jewish Cooking
from Lloyd Rubin
Where is that cooking now?
I'm talking about the lack of good old, down-home Jewish cooking in our homes. I am taking it upon myself to help out all
you frantic housewives out there, with wonderful menus that will lead your children to a healthy, happy, and loving family
unit as I knew it in my childhood.
First, go down to Filene's basement (A & S or Alexander's for New Yorkers or Carson's for Chicagoans), buy a housecoat
(schmata), and wear it all day, every day. Then go out and buy a live chicken, carry it wrapped in a newspaper to the Shoichet
(ritual slaughterer) who will slaughter it before your very eyes (some live markets had a Schoichet in residence as well as
chicken flickers). When you get it home, flick your chicken and make sure you don't leave in any pinchus (feather ends).
Next, go out and buy a four-foot-long carp with huge whiskers. Fill your bathtub with water and let the fish swim in it
for several days.
In the meantime, roll up your Berber broadloom, and remove it from the living room, polish the hardwood floors, cover them
in newspaper, cover your couch in clear plastic, or floral slip covers, and don't let anyone in your living room again .unless
they are company.'
Now you're a real "BALABUSTA," which is a term of respect used for an efficient Jewish housewife, and the essence of your
universe is in the kitchen. So get out your wooden matches, light the pilot light, get out the volgar holtz (wooden bowl),
hock the tzibbeles (onions) and knubble (garlic), and we're Jewish again.
Before we start, however, there are some variations in ingredients because of the various types of Jewish taste (Polack,
Litvack and Gallicianer).
Just as we Jews have six seasons of the year (winter, spring, summer, fall, the slack season, and the busy season), we
all focus on a main ingredient which unfortunately, and undeservedly, has disappeared from our diet.
I'm talking, of course, about SCHMALTZ (chicken fat). SCHMALTZ has for centuries been the prime ingredient in almost every
Jewish dish, and I feel it's time to revive it to its rightful place in our homes. (I have plans to distribute it in a green
glass Gucci bottle with a label clearly saying.....low fat, no cholesterol, Newman's Choice, extra virgin SCHMALTZ. (It can't
miss!)
Let's start, of course, with the "forshpeiz" (appetizer). Gehockteh leiber (chopped liver) with SCHMALTZ is always good,
but how about something more exotic for your dear ones, like boiled whitefish in yoyech (soup) which sets into a jelly form,
or "gefilteh miltz" (stuffed spleen), in which the veins are removed, thank G-d, and it is fried in, you guessed it, SCHMALTZ,
bread crumbs, eggs, onions, salt and pepper. Love it!
How about stewed lingen (lungs) -- very chewy, or gehenen (brains) -- very slimy. Am I making your mouth water yet? Then
there are greebenes -- pieces of chicken skin, deep fried in SCHMALTZ, onions and salt until crispy brown (Jewish bacon ).
This makes a great appetizer for the next cardiologist's convention.
Another favorite, and I'm sure your children will love it, is pe'tcha (jellied calves feet). Simply chop up some cows'
feet with you hockmesser (handl-chopper), add some meat, onions, lots of garlic, SCHMALTZ again, salt and pepper, cook for
five hours and let it sit overnight. You might want to serve it with oat bran and bananas for an interesting breakfast (just
joking ).
There's also a nice chicken fricassee (stew) using the heart, gorgle (neck), pipick (a great delicacy, given to the favorite
child, usually me), a fleegle (wing) or two, some ayelech (little premature eggs) and other various chicken innards, in a
broth of SCHMALTZ, water, paprika, etc.
We also have knishes (filled dough) and the eternal question "Will that be liver, beef or potatoes or all three?". There
also might be kasha (groats)..
Other time-tested favorites are kishkeh, and its poor cousin, helzel (chicken or goose neck). Kishkeh is the gut of the
cow, bought by the foot at the Kosher butcher. It is turned inside out, scalded and scraped. One end is sewn up and a mixture
of flour, SCHMALTZ, onions, eggs, salt, pepper, etc., is spooned into the open end and squished down until it is full, the
other end is sewn and the whole thing is boiled. Yummy!
My personal all-time favorite is watching my Zaida (grandpa) munch on boiled chicken feet. Try that on the kinderlach (children)
tomorrow. For our next course we always had chicken soup with pieces of yellow-white, rubbery chicken skin floating in a greasy
sea of lokshen (noodles), farfel (broken bits of matzah), arbiss (chickpeas), lima beans, pietrishkeh, tzibbeles (onions),
mondlech (soup nuts), kneidlach (dumplings), kasha, (groats) kliskelech and marech (marrow bones).
The main course, as I recall, was either boiled chicken, flanken, kackletten (hockfleish-chopped meat), and sometimes rib
steaks which were served either well done, burned or cremated. Occasionally we had barbecued liver done to a burned and hardened
perfection in our own coal furnace.
Since we couldn't have milk with our meat meals, beverages consisted of soda (Kik, Dominion Dry, Doctor Brown's or seltzer
in the spritz bottles) or a glezel tay (glass of hot tea) served in a yohrtzeit (memorial candle) glass and sucked through
a sugar cube held between the incisors.
Desserts were probably the only things not made with SCHMALTZ, so we never had any. Momma never learned how to make Schmaltz
Jello. Well, now you know the secret of how I've grown up to be so tall, sinewy, slim and trim, energetic, extremely
clever and modest, and if you want your children to grow up to be like me, you're gohnsen meshuggah! (completely nuts!)
ZEI MIR GEZUNT. (go in good health)...and order out
How to make home made Blintzes:
MAKE THE CREPES
6 eggs – use the large ones
1 cup – water.
1 cup milk –
2 cup flour – use unbleached
white flour –
1 pinch salt – Use Kosher salt, if you can. It has fewer stray flavors.
3 pinches sugar
– what can I say, sugar isn't as sugary as salt is salty. Some oil – as little as possible. Like soya or canola
oil. Whip the first three ingredients to a frenzy. Or, at least until everything seems equally distributed. Now, adding a
little at a time, blend in the flour while continuing madly to whisk the batter. The idea here is to have as few little pits
of unblended flour as possible. When all the batter is blended, add the salt and sugar and continue to whisk it up. When the
salt &sugar have dissolved, strain the batter through a mesh strainer to remove any undissolved salt or sugar crystals,
pieces of random eggshell (Mendell!), bloppy parts of the egg, etc. When done the batter should be about as thick as a thin
eggnog.
Choose a middle-sized sauté pan (maybe 8inches in diameter.) The first time you make the crepes you might want to use
a larger one, because rolling and folding them into blintzes can be a challenge. And, as with mu shu pancake at Hong Fat’s
in New York, rolling your own crepe around a mound of filling can be daunting the first few (hundred) times. As far as the
pan is concerned, you can use a high quality "silverstone" or Teflon finished pan, or the one you always choose for omelets.
Any pan that will resist sticking is okay, so long as the pan itself is not a very lightweight pan. The heat has to distribute
evenly or the crepe thing won't work at all…lighter pans tend to transfer heat from the source through the bottom of
the pan without spreading it out evenly across the surface. Rounded corners work better than sharply vertical ones.
Drip a little of the oil into the pan, removing the excess so there is only a sheen on the pan. You can wipe it glossy
with a cloth towel if you have confidence in the pan. Heat the pan (not the oil) to a medium temperature.
When the pan is hot, drizzle a small amount of batter into the center of the pan, then immediately tilt the pan back
and forth, allowing the batter to spread to the edges. By tilting the pan before the batter sets, you will be able to get
the raw batter to spread around better. Try to keep the batter from pooling in the center or at any single place in the pan.
The idea is to form a very thin circle of cooked batter without holes in it. (Butter makes a bitter batter better…no
it’s a joke. I just always liked that tongue twister, it has nothing to do with this recipe.)
As soon as the batter sets and before it burns or sticks to the pan, turn the whole pan upside down over a moistened
cloth towel and give it a little knock to dislodge the crepe. You can tease it from the surface of the pan with a soft spatula,
if necessary. But, if it requires that you scrape it free, then the pan is too hot, or not slick enough or the batter is too
thin or thick or something else is wrong. (Good luck!) The crepe should be puckered and just barely brown in spots underneath.
On top it should have the raw looking color of eggnog. Stack the crepes about 4 or five high, each separated from the next
with wax paper. When you have made a few dozen – or run out of batter - sit down and thank your lucky stars you never
promised God that you’d do anything to make blintzes. (This enterprise takes practice, determination and patience.)
Recipe
MAKE THE CHEESE FILLING
2 eggs – beaten.
1/2 lb cottage cheese
24 oz farmer’s cheese. A typical package is 12 oz. If you
can’t find farmer’s cheese you can use ricotta. The consistency is right, but it changes the flavor slightly.
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract matzo meal – if necessary. We'll talk.
How Blend the cheeses. At the risk of offending Grandma Anna, it is really easier to do this with your hands. Just crumble
the farmer cheese, then shmush it all up. Wear surgical gloves if you must. Anyway, take the blended cheese and dry it out
by balling the cheese in, of all things, cheese cloth and squeezing out the liquid. If you can’t find cheesecloth, press
it carefully against the inside of a fine-mesh strainer-type colander.
In a non reactive bowl, blend in the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Now, here’s the tricky part. The cheese needs
to be stiff, but smooth. And, of course, until you have done this once or twice, it is hard to know what that really means.
The consistency should be along the lines of a slightly grainy, slightly soft cream cheese. Not quite the consistency of whipped
cream cheese, but getting there. So long as most of the liquid was squeezed from the cheese in the first place, the eggs will
help the mixture to tighten up a bit as it cooks. If you've left a lot of water in the cheese it will run out as the blintz
cooks. It’s not a pretty sight. If you think the cheese will be too wet, separate a little bit out and cook a couple
blintzes with it the way it is. If you are right, and water oozes out of the blintz as it cooks, add a matzo meal little by
little to the mixture until it works. Sorry, Erin, trial and error is the best I can offer.
SO MAKE THE BLINTZES, ALREADY
What
1 egg – beaten well, with a couple of drops of water.
How Lay out the crepe with the soft side down - that’s the side that looks like eggnog. (You want the mixture to
come into contact with this side of the crepe because it has been cooked a little drier than the eggnoggy side. Any wetness
in the cheese mixture will be absorbed somewhat by the drier side of the crepe. The soft eggnoggy side will begin to deteriorate
in contact with wetness from the cheese.) Depending upon the size of your crepes, spoon three or four tablespoons of the mixture
onto the crepe just where the smile would be if the crepe were a face – about 1/4 of the distance from the bottom. Instead
of a smile, spread the cheese mixture into the shape of a bar about 1 1/2 inches wide, 3/4 inch high straight across the crepe
until it extends within an inch of the outside. Now, carefully fold the edges of the crepe below the smile up to the edge
of the cheese and cover the cheese with the crepe. If you've done this right, the edge of the bottom of the crepe should just
cover the cheese. Brush the exposed, eggnoggy side of the crepe with a little of the beaten egg. This will help it stick to
the other face of the crepe when you put them together.
Without letting the cheese spread toward the top of the crepe, bring the two sides of the crepe in until they fold over
the edge of the egg-ed crepe, forming three sides of the blintz. Again, without letting the cheese spread, turn the blintz
over and over, rolling it toward the top of the crepe. Brush the beaten egg along the inside surface of the last part of the
exposed crepe just before you seal the blintz completely. Set it aside on the folded edge and admire that handsome thing,
why don't you. Be proud of yourself, Girlfriend. Okay, enough, now roll the other 17 blintzes, stop wasting time.
The blintzes can be cooked now or set aside in the refrigerator. They may even be frozen uncooked . If you intend to
freeze them before cooking them, it’s best to freeze them on wax paper, without allowing the blintzes to touch one another
before they freeze. (You leave them alone for one minute, one minute alone, I tell you, and those blintzes are going to cause
trouble!)
Cook the blintzes in a little soya or canola oil. Some people swear by butter, but I think the butter has a tendency
to leave a burnt taste if you try to fry them at too high a temperature. For best results, cook the blintzes in about a 1/4
inch of oil over a low-moderate fire. Cook the blintzes on the folded side first, then, when the blintz begins to turn golden
brown, turn in the direction of the fold (another words, pretend you are still rolling the crepe around the cheese.) By the
way, if you have a light touch, the best way to handle blintzes in a frying pan is with a pair of cooks’ tongs, rather
than trying to turn them with a spatula. The blintzes are done when both sides are golden brown. Blot the excess oil and serve
with sour cream or some fresh berries or berry fruit preserves. you can dust the blintzes with powdered sugar and offer sour
cream as a condiment. I find them sweet enough without the sugar. You decide. It’s a free country.
here is a photo of my grandmother and grand father
before i was born in 1941
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a lttle more on the food:
400 Years of Eating Survival Tools
A pancake-like structure not to be confused with anything the House of Pancakes would put out. In a latka,
the oil is in the pancake. It is made with potatoes, onions, eggs and matzo meal. Latkas can be eaten with apple sauce
but NEVER with maple syrup. There is a rumor that in the time of the Maccabees they lit a latka by mistake and it burned
for eight days. What is certain is you will have heart burn for the same amount of time.
Matzoh
The Egyptians' revenge for leaving slavery. It consists of a simple mix of flour and water-no eggs or flavor
at all. When made well, it could actually taste like cardboard. Its redeeming value is that it does fill you up and stays
with you for a long time. However, it is recommended that you eat a few prunes soon after.
Kasha Varnishkes
One of the little-known delicacies which is even more difficult to pronounce than to cook. It has nothing to
do with Varnish, but is basically a mixture of buckwheat and bow-tie macaroni [noodles]. Why a bow-tie? Many sages discussed
this and agreed that some Jewish mother decided that "You can't come to the table without a tie" or, G-d forbid "An elbow
on my table?"
Blintzes
Not to be confused with the German war machine. Can you imagine the N.J. Post 1939 headlines:"Germans drop tons
of cheese and blueberry blintzes over Poland - shortage of sour cream expected." Basically this is the Jewish answer to crepe
Suzette.
Kishka
You know from Haggis? Well, this ain't it. In the old days they would take an intestine and stuff it. Today
we use parchment paper or plastic. And what do you stuff it with? Carrots, celery, onions, flour and spices. But the trick
is not to cook it alone but to add it to the cholent [see below] and let it cook for 24 hours until there is no chance
whatsoever that there is any nutritional value left.
Kreplach
It sounds worse than it tastes. There is a Rabbinical debate on its origins: One Rabbi claims it began when
a fortune cookie fell into his chicken soup. The other claims it started in an Italian restaurant. Either way it can be soft,
hard or soggy and the amount of meat inside depends on whether it is your mother or your mother-in-law who cooked it.
Cholent
This combination of noxious gases had been the secret weapon of Jews for centuries. The unique combination of
beans, barley, potatoes, and bones or meat is meant to stick to your ribs and anything else it comes into contact with. At
a fancy Mexican restaurant [kosher, of course] I once heard this comment from a youngster who had just had his first taste
of Mexican fried beans: "What! Do they serve leftover cholent here too?!" My wife once tried something unusual for
guests: She made cholent burgers for Sunday night supper. The guests never came back.
Gefilte Fish
A few years ago, I had problems with my filter in my fish pond and a few of them got rather stuck and mangled.
My son [5 years old) looked at them and commented "Is that why we call it 'Ge Filtered Fish'?" Originally, it was a carp stuffed
with a minced fish and vegetable mixture. Today it usually comprises of small fish balls eaten with horse radish ["chrain"]
which is judged on its relative strength in bringing tears to your eyes at 100 paces.
Bagels
How can we finish without the quintessential Jewish Food, the bagel? Like most foods, there are legends surrounding
the bagel, although I don't know any. There have been persistent rumors that the inventors of the bagel were the Norwegians
who couldn't get anyone to buy smoked lox. Think about it: Can you picture yourself eating lox on white bread? Rye? A cracker?
Naaa. They looked for something hard and almost indigestible which could take the spread of cream cheese and which doesn't
take up too much room on the plate. And why the hole? The truth is that many philosophers believe the hole is the essence
and the dough is only there for emphasis.
Now let's eat!
A Quick Chicken and rice soup:
Chicken Rice Soup recipe
1/4 cup or less olive oil
4 to 5 small leeks, washed thoroughly and sliced
1/2 cup rice, uncooked
*
6 cups fat free chicken broth (one large can College Inn)
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut up with skin removed
2
tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon
white pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
Chopped parsley for garnish
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch
pieces
In a pressure cooker, heat oil and add leeks and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring
often, for about 1 minute. Add broth, chicken, lemon juice, celery, parsley, salt and pepper, bay leaf and tarragon. Secure
lid. Over high heat, develop steam to high pressure. Reduce heat to maintain pressure and cook for 10 minutes. Release pressure
according to manufacturer’s instructions. Remove lid.
Remove chicken from soup. Remove chicken from bones, cut into 1 inch cubes, add to soup. Remove bay
leaf. Discard bones. Add carrots and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until carrots are tender. Refrigerate and skim
off any fat that develops. Serve hot with chopped parsley as a garnish.
Makes 6 servings.
* May substitute 2 cups of noodles, broken into pieces, for the rice.
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BEST EVER CHALLAH/CLASSIC CHALLAH
Source: The Spice and Spirit Cookbook by The Lubavitch Women
- 2 ounces fresh yeast OR 4 packages dry yeast
- 3 1/2 cups warm water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
- 13 to 14 cups flour (With this amount, a bracha is required when separating challah)
- 6 eggs slightly beaten
- 1 cup oil
Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl. Then add sugar, salt and half of the flour. Mix well. Add eggs and oil, then
slowly stir in the rest of flour until the dough become quite thick.
When dough begins to pull away from sides of bowl, turn onto floured board, and knead for 10 minutes. (This I do in the
mixer, with the 'dough hook')
Add only enough flour to make dough manageable. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, and springs back when pressed
lightly.
Place dough in a large oiled bowl. Turn so top is oiled as well. Cover with a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place.
Let rise 2 hours, and punch down every 20 minutes or so. Separate challah with a blessing.
Divide dough into 4 to 6 parts, and shape into loaves, place in well greased bread pans or on greased baking sheet. Let
rise until double in bulk.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Brush tops of loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until browned.
You can also add 2 teaspoons vanilla to dough before kneading. Also, raisins can be added at this step, before kneading.
Notes: 1) I prepare this the night before, letting the rising step take place overnight.
2) When using an electrical mixer, make in 2 batches, as you'll burn out the motor of the mixer, if you do it all at once.
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Taking a break from work
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will add later
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interesting facts:
DATING A NON-JEW WOULD BE AN UNSPEAKABLE CATASTROPHE, AND PERHAPS EVEN BRING ABOUT THE END
OF CIVILIZATION
Do you want to be responsible for the wholesale destruction of the Jewish people? Is that what you want? Would that make
you happy? Because it would kill your father and me. What, there aren't enough smart, good-looking, responsible, family-oriented
Jewish girls in your synagogue youth group? A shiksa will only want you for your money. And she'll cheat on you, too. Plus,
they have no taste. Do you know they eat Wonder Bread with mayonnaise and bologna? Is that the diet you want to have? Is that
the diet you want your children to have? And how will you raise your kids? They'll have no identity. The Jews will die out,
as a result of your stubborn refusal to date a nice Jewish girl. Is that what you want - to bring about the end of your people?
Very smart. What did I do to deserve this? Haven't I always given you everything you wanted? Let it be on your head. And sit
up straight. You want to have back problems when you get older?
GOOD FURNITURE LASTS MUCH LONGER IF YOU NEVER USE IT
Why do we keep plastic covers on the couch and chairs? Because they're for company only, not for daily use. If you have
to sit during non-company times, choose another couch or chair. Why? Oh, I don't know - maybe it's because we don't want dog
and grape jelly stains all over our fine furniture for our guests, after your father has worked his fingers to the bone earning
the money so we'll have a nice home, not that you've noticed. Maybe we don't want springs and stuffing to be poking through.
Maybe we'd like to have at least one room in this house that doesn't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger had a riot in it. Maybe
we'd like to have one piece of furniture that our pets and kids don't cause to disintegrate. If that makes us mean or weird
or unfair, so be it. Now, get off the couch. And go wash up. I made matzoh brei.
Yiddish:
Bubbe could say words, that i had no clue what they were, But i could tell by the sound of her voice, that she meant
what she was saying. Sonia was a Russian Jew...she came from Russian to England , then to Canada, then to The USA. what a
life she must have had.
Yiddish, it's not a
Subtle language,
An immigrant's tongue used
By greenhorns pouring
Into New York
ghettoes
To live in
Overcrowded tenements.
Black and white words
In counterpoint;
Uncompromising, they
spill
Out dramatically,
With unrestrained emotion.
Yiddish, it's a harsh language
Fit only for
the street,
A gutter tongue tossing
Out hard
Hail pellet words.
Listen to the 'k's,
Shnook, trombenik,
shtunk;
They cluck and peck at you.
Chutzpanyik, nudnik, clutz,
In staccato cadence they
Beat
a raw tattoo.
Yiddish, how contemptuous
It sounds;
Strident as a pushcart
Vendor's shouts,
Attacking
both Jew and non-Jew:
Gonef, finagle, fegin,
And the worst of all
Goy: The Goyim:
God forbid you
should marry one!
It's a shande-
A slap in the face.
Yiddish, it's the coarse
Cry of the
yentes
Raucously clamoring
To be heard.
Schlemiel, shnorrer, dumpkopf:
It snipes at the whole mishpocheh.
Such a momza; stop kvetching;
You believe that fekokteh story?
I'll give you a kayn
aynhoreh!
The yente
She's got chutzpah!
Yiddish, it's a soft rhythmic
Cradle,
full of 'l's, rolling
Out like dough.
Bubbeleh, ketseleh, maydeleh,
A soothing lullaby, warm
As a
baby's blanket;
Mazel, qvell, shayne kinder
Have some ruggelah.
Smell the challah.
Inviting kitchen words
Come, meine kinder,
Come.
Yiddish, it's such a
Flurry
of commotion,
Ongepotchket, full of schmutz
And tchotchkes.
Hurry, dust, hurry, hurry!
Cook the cholent,
Bake the babkah, the kugel.
Sizzling potato latke sounds
Pepper the house
In preparation for Shabbat,
A day of quiet
Prayer.
Yiddish, it's a tongue
Of contrasts: a dichotomy.
It's intolerant, emphatically so,
Flamboyant and schmaltzy,
A blaze of
firecrackers;
Yet gentle as a confetti rain,
Warm and cinnamon-scented
A strudel.
So there you have
it
Yiddish,
The language of
My ancestors.
She was a character.................................
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How to make a delicious Brisket:
Brisket done right is heaven in your mouth. Brisket is an artform, and true devotees of the art are forever perfecting
their craft. Be prepared to allow about 20 hours on this one, most of it unattended.
Serving size
10 big eaters
1
13-17lb brisket, UNTRIMMED
For the rub all ingredients are approximate, but I'll guess as close as I can:
1 T fresh
ground pepper
1 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
1 T cayenne
1 T paprika
1 T salt
1/4 C fresh oregano, OR
1
T dried oregano
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C cooking oil
1 big onion, sliced thin
3 big cloves of garlic,
Sliced
long ways into
Thick slivers
For Sauce:
All the reserved brisket juice with onions, fat removed.
3 C
ketchup
1/2 C molasses
1/2 C honey or Karo syrup
1/2 C Worcestershire
1/3 C white vinegar
1/4 C mustard
3/4
C brown sugar
1/2 can of beer, if you like to drink beer while you BBQ
Large aluminum baking pan
Foil
Charcoal
Hickory
chips, soaked in water
Preparation
Preheat oven to 275. 275 is the MAGIC NUMBER for brisket. Any hotter and
it will be tougher than hell.
Line your baking pan with foil. You'll probably need to seam two pieces together by folding
so it will be big enough to seal around the whole brisket.
With a narrow knife, cut little slices into the meat side ang
slip in the garlic slivers. Spread dry ingredient on to the meat side mostly, some on the fat, then rub in with the oil so
its rubbed in GOOD. Place sliced onions in the pan, then put the brisket in fat side UP. It will probably not fit in all the
way, that's why the foil has to be big. Wrap the foil up tight, and place in oven overnight, about 12 hours.
Next morning
when your house smells GOOD, take it out of the oven and let it cool an hour or so. Carefully lift out the brisket onto a
big platter. Pour the remaining juice and onions into a bowl and remove the fat out of the broth. This is the base for your
sauce.
Soak your hickory and fire up the grill or smoker to 275, no higher than 300. If you don't have a smoker, put
the fire at one end of the grill, meat at the other. When coals are ready, put it on an oiled grill, the fat side UP, add
wet hickory for more smoke, close the lid and let it go for 3-4 hours. Slop some sauce on every half hour, add more hickory,
and check the heat. Low heat, lots of smoke.
For the sauce, put broth and cooked onions into a big saucepan. Add the
rest of the ingredients and adjust to taste. I use a handheld blender to break up the onions. Let it simmer low while the
brisket's on the grill. Put a little on the brisket every time you check the fire.
When it's done it will be dark brown/black
on the outside, tender and moist. Let it sit at least 30 min before trying to slice or it will fall apart.
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