Mime (Mime) Ruchel`s Recepten

Meet Mime Ruchel and spend some time in her kitchen -- the most wonderful place to be whether you're an experienced cook, or just starting out. Actually, many of Mime's loyal followers don't even necessarily cook, but enjoy the stories and the memories they bring back. Like us, you probably had your own Mime somewhere in your life, with a warm, comforting kitchen, and yes, lots of laughter and banter.

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A DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME PESACH

Pesach was late that year. Now how do I remember that Pesach was late? In
Canada, the snow had already started to melt! For those of you who are not
familiar with a snowy Pesach, let me tell you, no snow was a treat.

On the Canadian prairies, daylight savings time had not yet come into
existence. The time was the same winter and summer. Dad always said that
the reason the farmers always voted against daylight savings time was so
that they would not have to get up an hour earlier to milk the cows. Don't
ask.

Mime Ruchel was up at the crack of dawn, daylight savings time or not.
Pesach was just a few short hours away and Mime was doing the finishing
touches.

"I already did that section!" mother called out to her.

"It's NOT clean!" came back the reply. Nothing that anyone else had cleaned
was ever good enough for Mime Ruchel.

"Ruchel, stop panicking, we have an extra hour this year. We now have
daylight savings time and Pesach comes an hour later!"

Mime Ruchel gave her one of those looks. "You mean to tell me that because
the mishiganem (crazy) government decides that we don't know how to tell
time, our Pesach must start later? What would have happened if Moishe
Rabaynu would have waited another hour for daylight savings time to cross
the Red Sea? We would all have drowned and no one would be here to
celebrate Pesach! Pesach is an hour later this year, because the sun sets
later! Host gerhert, Cyndi?" (Rough translation -- have you ever heard of
such nonsense.)

Mime was on one of her tirades. "You mean to tell me the cows sleep in
longer in the morning, and stay awake longer at night? You mean to tell me
when I want to put the einiklech (grandchildren) to bed at 8 o'clock it will
still be light out and they will refuse to go to sleep? Will the 10 o'clock
news be the 11 o'clock news? The news will no longer be the news, it will
be an hour old! And this means Pesach will be later and I will have another
hour in which I have to clean and prepare? It was bad enough we had two
months of Adar and this meant I had to clean everything twice!"

"So vee is ess gescribben gevooren as mey miz onfaginen reinen far Pesach
duis toog nuck Purim?" (So where is it carved in stone that one must start
cleaning for Pesach the day after Purim?") mother asked with a twinkle in
her eye.

Mime went "humph" crossed her arms, sat and said nothing.

"Well thank you for the tea and cake Rochel. Your Pesach cake was a little
on the dry side, some crumbs went down the wrong way." Mime cleared her
throat. "For the Seder tonight, I will bring one of my cakes for dessert.

"Don't forget the stewed prunes to go with it!" Mother called out after her
as she left the house.

Mother sat down in a chair. Perhaps a better description would be collapsed
in a chair. "Well at least with your Mime Ruchel around I know that
everything is clean and in order. You know, Cyndi, after I cleaned
everything so throughly you think she didn't go over it again and again. I
tell you she brings hometz in with her and plants it just so she can say it
wasn't clean in here!"

"Mom, did you set the clocks ahead an hour?"

"Your Mime Ruchel did it."

As the afternoon wore on, Mother placed the food in the oven. The timers
had been set. The table was set in a simplistic elegance that to this day I
cannot duplicate. The lace table cloth was starched. Her best Pesach china
was set. Mother had a special set of Pesach silver which she had collected
piece by piece by submitting box tops and a few cents to a detergent
company. The special dish for salt water and eggs was one that her mother
had used at their Pesach Seders in Poland. Without this bowl, the Pesach
Seder could never be complete.

It was a tradition in our family that in the afternoon before Pesach we
would go on a family outing to the clothing shops where we would all get new
shoes and a special outfit for the Pesach Seder. I remember the excitement
of dressing for Pesach and going to shul. Father would be dressed in a
suit, no longer wearing the familiar leather apron that was his working
clothes trademark. Unlike his Shabbes suit which was blue, his Pesach suit
was black. Mother looked like a spring bride, with a hat that always had a
veiled netting 

It wasn't until well after sundown that we returned home and the Seder
would begin. Our Seder lasted well into the wee hours of the morning,
sometimes not ending until 3 AM. It was with a fondness and warmth (not to
mention hunger (literally)) that I remember my father's Seders. Of course
Mime Ruchel was present.

But this Seder was unlike all other Seders. Why is this night different
from all other nights you ask? Be patient. Remember Mime Ruchel had her
hand in this Seder.

Just as the Seder was about to begin, Mother went into the kitchen "just to
make sure everything is alright." We heard her say a prayer that in not in
the Hagaddah. I do not believe it is in any regular prayer book. In loose
translation, "May the good Lord help me, and protect me from all my family,
especially those who help me clean for Pesach!" (Zol Hashem mich heeten from
aleh mineh mispuchah vos helfen mir reinen auf Pesach)

"What did I do this time?" I asked Mother.
"Nothing" came the reply. "WHERE is your Mime Ruchel?"

Uncle Leibel nudged her. "You have done something this time, Ruchel."

Mime Ruchel had a look of concern on her face. She took Pesach seriously.

"The meal has not even started to cook! R-I-V-K-A! I thought you said
that you had set the timers! The chicken is raw! The soup is cold! The
cakes are not baked! Vos is geshen (what has happened here!) Vey is tzu
mir, the clock on the stove is two hours behind. What did you do here?"

"What do you mean what did I do? Nothing. I adjusted the clock on the stove
for daylight savings time. You said Pesach would be later this year because
of daylight savings time. In order to make sure that Pesach would come in
at the same time as last year, I turned the clock back an hour. This way
Pesach would be on time!"

"This is worse than a nightmare Ruchel! You are supposed to turn the clocks
ahead an hour! Now we are two hours behind where we should be. I cannot
adjust or turn on the oven or burners because it is already Yom Tov! This
food will not be ready until midnight."

All of us laughed our heads off. "Ruchel', my father kibitzed, "you know
that this will mean that Eliyohoo H'novee will also be two hours late on
account of you. What do you think this will do to his schedule?" Dad
turned and looked at me . "How will he explain to the other families here
that your Mime Ruchel held up his visits to them? Your Mime Ruchel has
hit the jackpot with this one!"

It was one of the few times that Mime Ruchel was silent. The rest of us
enjoyed ourselves. That night the Seder did not start until after
midnight. It ended at nearly 7 AM.

As we got up from the Seder, Mime Ruchel finally spoke. With a glimmer in
her eyes she asked: "Is it still daylight savings time?"


Last Sunday I turned the clocks ahead an hour for daylight savings time. One
clock was deliberately turned back - a gift from my Mime Ruchel - a tiny
toy cuckoo clock.


Mime Ruchel'S CLEANING HINT
AND PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Oh, so you thought I would go directly into the recipes? FIRST we must
clean for Pesach, THEN we will cook!

Are you tired of dusting? Do you wonder where all the schmutz comes from?
Does it seem that you spend your entire life cleaning? Then recleaning?
Then dusting?

If you answered yes to any of the above don't think you are so special. My
Mime Ruchel had the same problem. So did her Mime Ruchel. Their solution
was to hire a cleaning lady. For those of you like me who can't afford this
luxury (if you knew what Empire pays you would surely understand), I have
the answer.

So to make a short story long, I have a way to minimize the dust that gets
into your house.

There is a new product on the market whose exact name I cannot mention in my
column, but it is the ad you have seen for little dusters that
electrostatically collect the dust and do not spritz it around. Yeah, you
know the one. The little dusters that fit onto their mop. Well, folks It
works! There are two brands on the market, they are both equally
effective.

But your Mime Ruchel (me) has discovered a new use for them. Dust, clean
the floor, that is what the company that makes them wants you to use them
for. But your Mime Ruchel, (my she is clever) has discovered that these
little dusters are the EXACT size to fit around the warm air vents grates in
your house!!!

At this time of year, I believe it is spring for you -- for those of us in
the Gulag it is still winter (it is snowing as I write this column), this is
the worse time of year for dust. Up here in Canada, I will have to wait for
the glacier to recede!

So you take out the little floor vent (about eight inches by three inches,
you wrap this little duster "Schmateh" around the bottom on the vent, and
you put the vent grate back into the floor.

The little holes in the duster catch the dust before it can circulate into
your house, and you may not have to dust from Pesach to Shavouth.

Anyhow, there is a little trick to cut down on the Pesach cleaning!

Please remember to remove them before next Pesach as they will have become
hometzdick!


R E C I P E S 

Now that we have cleaned we can start to cook.

For the past several years I have given you recipes for a traditional
Pesach. Rather then repeat myself - (Really folks just how many kugels do
you want to serve) I will ask that those of you who want a traditional
Pesach Seder please go to the ARCHIVES OF Mime Ruchel. These recipes have
not changed in centuries.

But this year, I want to add to the repertoire of Pesach recipes, by going
"light".
More and more of us are eating vegetarian, and this is the season for many
of the fresh young spring vegetables to come out. (In Mime Ruchel's day
she had to make do with whatever root vegetables were left in the root
cellar).

Today we have a variety of lettuces, exotic fruits, and other delicacies
that are light are refreshing. Sorbets that are Kosher for Pesach are even
available.

So this year, my recipes will be for the days of Passover between the Yom
Tovim the Ha'alamoide. (If I had a Yiddish word processor the spelling
would be correct!)

Please note: For those who you who only use vegetables that must be peeled
on Passover some of these recipes may not be appropriate.

M E R I N G U E

No what could be lighter and more delicate than a meringue to compliment the
onset of spring?

First a few tips on meringues to ensure they come out right:

Check the date on your eggs - make sure that they are fresh and within a
week or MORE of the expiry date.

Take the eggs our of the fridge and leave at room temperature for about one
half hour before using.

To ensure that no egg yolk gets into the egg white. Use a separate bowl for
separating each egg from its white. This way if a bit of yolk get into the
white you only have to discard (or preferably use for another dish) one egg
-- not all of them.

Use a glass or stainless steel bowl to beat the egg whites. Plastic bowls
can maintain a trace of oil and can cause the egg whites not to beat to
their full stiffness.



Mime Ruchel'S CHOCOLATE MERINGUES

5 egg whites (use the yolks for a large omelette!)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Pesach cake flour
1 tsp Pesach vanilla or 1/4 tsp Pesach almond flavoring
2 cups coarsely shopped Pesach bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup KLP (Kosher L'Pesach) icing sugar

Line baking sheets with tin foil and lightly grease with a parve Kosher
L'Pesach oil.

In the top of a double boiler (or if you are very very careful, over an
extremely LOW heat) Place the egg whites. Bring the water to a simmer
first! Gradually add the sugar and mix with an electric beater on a low
speed to prevent the egg whites from turning rubbery. Cook until the egg
whites are cloudy. This can take from 7 to 10 minutes.

REMOVE FROM THE HEAT.

Beat with an electric mixer for about ten minutes or until the mixture is
cooled and has a shinny appearance.

Add the favoring and the cake flour.

Mix in the chocolate.

With a tablespoon drop the batter onto the lined greased baking sheets.
Bake at 350F for about twenty five to thirty minutes until the meringues
just start to turn brown.

Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Serve as a light dessert.


ALTERNATIVES:

Instead of dropping meringues by the spoonful onto the greased baking sheet,
use 1/4 cup of batter. These meringues will be larger. The meringues can
be topped with ice cream or sorbet, and fruit, berries and edible flowers
can be used as a garnish. When I was in Israel, I was able to get Kosher
L'Pesach flowers made out of colored sugar. These serve as a lovely garnish
in addition to the sliced fruit.

A nice touch for Pesach!



ORIENTAL CHICKEN WITH ALMONDS AND AVOCADOS

This is a variation on a chicken with "mandelin" (almond) recipe made by
Mime Ruchel and my mother.

I am not sure if KLP curry is available in North America. My friend is
Sefat Israel sent me a package this year. Thank you Rena!

2 tbsp each of potato or tapioca starch
Ice cold water
Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Blend the above ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.


4 EMPIRE chicken breasts skinned and boneless
cooking oil to saute the chicken, a few tablespoons will do)
1 diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
12 sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste if necessary (I don't use it--the curry brings out
the flavour)
2 ripened avocadoes, peeled and sliced NOT mashed
½ cup slivered almonds

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Heat the oil in a saute pan.
Brown the chicken until no pink colour remains.
Add the onions and saute them until clear.
Add the minced garlic.

Remove from saute pan and place in a bowl.

If necessary add a little more oil to the pan.
Add all the vegetables and the curry. DO NOT ADD the avocado or the almonds
yet.

Saute the vegetables stirring constantly, until the vegetables are crisp.
DO NOT OVERCOOK. This should not take more than 2 or 3 minutes.

Place the chicken mixture into the vegetables sauteing on the stove.


LOWER THE HEAT. 

Throughly mix the chicken with the vegetables.

Add the avocado and cook for about one minute.

Add the potato or tapioca starch mixture and turn up the heat. Sit until
mixture starts to boil and thicken

REDUCE HEAT.

Add the slivered almonds. Mix well.
Cover for about one minutes just so the almonds can soften.

Serve Immediately!


FRUIT TO THE RESCUE AT PESACH

Remember how Mime Ruchel complained (when did she stop?) About the Pesach
cakes being too dry? Well, this will make even Mime Ruchel's cakes a
delight - on second thought I will not go that far. This will dress up any
mistake you made in the Pesach cakes, including a giant crater in your
Pesach cakes. Some of the craters created in Mime Ruchel's cakes were
large enough to be featured in an atlas!

So the guests are here, and the cake is a disaster! Check out the fridge
for whatever fruit you have on hand; apples, pears, cherries, peaches,
bananas, who cares? You are desperate! GEVALT the mother-in-law is coming
up the sidewalk!

4 cups of sliced and peeled fruit, apples bananas, pears, strawberries, -
raspberries, blueberries, saskatoons, or cherries you do not have to slice!

Cinnamon and icing sugar to sprinkle on top

2 tbsp KLP margarine (Parve is best)
½ cup sugar
4 -5 tablespoons water
3/4 cup icing sugar

In a pan combine the sugar, water and margarine.
Place on the stove.
Don't forget to turn on the heat! It is Pesach you do not know if you are
coming or going. It is easy to forget to turn on the heat. I remember when
Mime Ruchel forgot to turn on the heat---oh sorry, you want to cook in a
hurry, I will not bore you with Mime Ruchel antics now. Your doorbell is
ringing.

You start to talk to G-d "Dear Lord why did I invite all these people to
dinner?"

Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a
boil. Lower the heat!

Add the sliced fruit to the pan and stir. Add the icing sugar and stir
until the icing sugar is absorbed into the fruit mixture.

Remove from heat.

Now the rest is up to you. Do you want to cover up the hole in the Pesach
cake. Dump - oops, I meant spread this mixture over the entire crater in
the cake, sprinkle with icing sugar and cinnamon and have all your guests
admire what you have done, or slice the cake and spoon some of this fruit
mixture over each slice and garnish with a sprinkling of icing sugar and
cinnamon. The choice is yours.

Mime Ruchel's "Never-Fail" (excuse me while I laugh) Pesach cake in the
Archives.

Enjoy!


STUFFED "SEAFOOD" AVOCADO With MAYONNAISE FOR PESACH

You may make the mayonnaise yourself and save enough money to invest in
internet stocks, or you can buy KLP mayonnaise at your store.

KLP mayonnaise in Canada is so expensive that I would have to take out a
second mortgage. So I will give you the recipe here.

Also, we now have brought to us, and the new kosher butcher here spared no
expense in doing so, Kosher L'Pesach pollack flakes disguised as "crab"
meat. Now Mime Ruchel would claim that this is not a substitute for her
gefilte fish, but it will give you a light, unique and different taste.

AVOCADO TIP:
Brother is now telling me that asparagus have tips, avocados have pits.
Everyone in the family has to get into the act.

When you cut an avocado and you are interrupted, you have a problem. Your
avocado will turn black. In order to prevent your avocado from turning
black, brush the exposed meat with a bit of lemon or lime juice! It will
stay green and fresh!

Each avocado will serve two people. So depending on the number of unexpected
guests you have invited, that is the number of avocados you will need -
divided by two!

6 - 8 ripened but firm avocados
lemon or limes juice to brush on the edges of the cut avocadoes.
Salt and pepper to taste
parsley springs as a garnish
1/4 cup chopped green onions or chives
1 16 oz package of KLP pollack flakes.
½ cup KLP Mayonnaise 

In a bowl, shred the pollack flakes, blend in as much mayonnaise as you need
to moisten, and mix thoroughly. Add about one tablespoon of lemon or lime
juice for an added flavour. Freshly squeezed lemon on lime juice has more
flavor.

Mix in the chopped green onions or chives.

Cut the avocados lengthwise in half and remove the pit. Brush the exposed
edges with a liberal dusting of lemon or lime juice. With an ice cream
scoop or spoon stuff the pollack salad into the indentation made by the
avocado seed.

Place a leaf of lettuce on a small salad plate and place one avocado half on
the lettuce leaf. Garnish with a spring of parsley.

KLP MAYONNAISE

2 eggs (if you have leftover yolks use them here - the whites are not really
necessary)
1 tsp salt
1 cup oil
1 - 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Place the chopping blade in your food processor. If you are doing this
without a food processor use an electric mixer, but remember that the oil
must be poured in very very slowly and evenly or the mayonnaise will curdle.

Put the eggs, salt and lemon juice in the bowl of the food processor with
the salt.

Turn the speed to high.

Add the oil through the top of the food processor. Certain brands such as
Cuisinart (the food processor NOT the oil) have a little tiny hole in the
base of the plunger to let the oil come through. If you do not have this, I
suggest that you place the oil in a clean dishsoap dispenser and squeeze the
oil into the beating mixture very slowly.

The mayonnaise will start to form as a result of the high speed beating of
the oil.

To make green mayonnaise simple add a spring or two of parsley into this
mixture.

Do not over beat. The mayonnaise should be smooth and creamy.


VIOLET AND WHITE TZIMMES
Aha! I Have your attention! How do you make a violet and white tzimmes?
This really is a combination of a vegetables and fruit commonly used at
Pesach. I first tasted it at a Seder at my friend Molly's. It is very very
simple and a little different from the regular potato and carrot tzimmes.

What are the mystery ingredients? Potatoes and prunes - please do not close
the book on this one -- try it first!

1 large onion diced
enough oil to saute the onion
6 - 7 potatoes chopped into bite sized pieces
1 package 16 oz prunes that you have cooked in a quart of water
DO NOT THROW OUT THE WATER
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

In a Dutch oven saute the onions until clear.

Add everything except the prunes to the pot. This includes about 3 cups of
the juice that resulted when you cooked the prunes. If you have dried
prunes, simply cook them according to the instruction on the package and
save the water. Remove the prunes from the water but I stress, save the
water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about one hour.

Add the prunes and continue cooking for about ½ hour. Great as a side dish
to compliment the matzo.


CUCUMBER MANGO PESACH CHICKEN FOR PESACH

Brother used to call this mangled Peach Chicken. What do brothers know?
He didn't hesitate to eat it though!

4 skinned boneless Empire Chicken breasts
Oil to drizzle over the chicken
Salt and pepper to taste

1 long cucumber peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 mango peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
(Yes, take out the pits)
1 - 2 sprigs of chopped fresh parsley
1 green onion stalk finely chopped
1 red onion finely chopped
juice from one freshly squeezed lemon

In a large bowl that you can put in the refrigerator mix together the
chopped cucumber, mango, red onion, green onion, parsley and lemon juice.
Season with salt pepper or garlic salt as per taste.

Place in the fridge until you are ready to use.

Either drizzle the chicken breasts with oil and grill on the barbecue or
saute the chicken breasts in a skillet with a little oil and salt and
pepper. I find that the heat of the barbeque and the leanest of chicken
breasts makes it a difficult meat to grill, therefore I recommend that you
saute the chicken on the stove.

Saute until no pink colour remains. Season with salt and pepper or garlic
salt to taste.

Place the chicken on a plate and top with the vegetable fruit mix. Put
another sprig of parsley on top as a garnish.

Ripe peaches may be used in place of mangoes.


REFRESHING CHICKEN SOUP
Don't tell Mime Ruchel about this one. We are adding sweet potatoes to
this soup!

2 - 3 tbsp oil
1 bunch parsley
½ EMPIRE CHICKEN - use any boneless cut and cut it into one inch strips
2 cloves garlic
1 onion minced
2 large sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into one inch pieces
4 cups Mime Ruchel"S CHICKEN SOUP (as adapted by my mother so "as it
should taste better") NO SUBSTITUTIONS The recipe is in the archives!
1 package spinach finely chopped

Remove any tough stems from the parsley. In a pot large enough to cook soup
saute the onion and garlic in the oil. Add the parsley. Put this into a
small bowl. We will return it to the pot later. Do not use high heat as
this will burn the garlic.

Brown the chicken strips in the pot and then put them in the same bowl as
the parsley.

Now put the sweet potatoes and Mime Ruchel's Chicken soup into the pot and
bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until the sweet
potatoes are soft.

With a hand held machine (the same one that sends the mashed potatoes across
the room) mash the sweet potatoes. You can use a blender, a hand held power
chopper, or simply use a potato masher. Add the parsley and chicken and
simmer for another 15 minutes. Now add the spinach and simmer. Remember
the spinach must be finely chopped or you will have long green strings of
"Ich veiss nischt vos" swimming in the soup.

Pour into soup bowls.

Garnish with a sprig of parsley.

Ignore any comments from YOUR Mime Ruchel.

KINDERGARTEN BANANAS
This "recipe" was brought home by my friend five year old daughter from
Jewish Kindergarten. I do not know what the source is.

I really think that the teacher forgot about some ripe bananas she had in
her cupboard!

4 -5 really ripe bananas (Don't forget to peel them!)
½ cup cocoa
½ cup water

Pour into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
Pour into "popsicle" mold and freeze, as a treat for the kids over Pesach.
Alternatively, pour into molds, freeze and serve with fresh fruit as a cool
dessert.

So there you have it folks, a little variation on what we normally eat at
Pesach. As I said the traditional recipes can all be found in The Archives
of Mime Ruchel, but for a change why not try something new?

Happy Pesach.



Mime Ruchel'S METHOD FOR PREPARING HORSERADISH
This was first featured for Pesach 1998

At the back of my father's shoe store there ran a fence which enclosed a
small yard. Along the fence only one thing would grow--horseradish. The
amount of horseradish that would grow wild here could supply the entire
Jewish community of our city not only for Pesach but for an entire year.
Every year at Pesach Mime would show up checking on the horseradish.

"Please Ruchel, don't even ask, take all that you want. Take all of it for
all I care," said my mother. " I can't stand to grate that stuff, it is
just awful. I will go out and buy a jar of prepared horseradish."

"Why waste money when you have such beautiful horseradish growing right
here? That is a crying shame to let this go to waste," pleaded Mime
Ruchel."I will show you how to grate the horseradish. It is not so bad."

"Ruchel, is this another one of you manists or does this really work?" asked
my mother.

"You'll see." said Mime.

"See..I can never see when I grate that horseradish, My eyes tear."

Mime pulled out some of the best roots of the horseradish. They made
their way to my mother's home and into the kitchen.

"Is the kitchen ready for Pesach?" Mime inquired.
"Ruchel........." Mother gave her one of THOSE looks.
"Do you have any rubber gloves?" Mime Asked my mother.
"Of course."
"Are they your Pesach gloves?"
"Ruchel....what is this--the inquisition?"
"Do you have a vegetable peeler?" asked Mime, ignoring Mother's remark.
"Milchig, fleichig, pareve and all are Kosher L'Pesach." snipped Mother.
"Pareve" answered Mime playing Mother's game.

"Where did you put the horseradish?" asked mother.
"in the fridge" said Mime. "I want it to cool off".
"Veh is tzu mir" said mother under her breath.

Mime started the cold water running at full speed.
She put on the rubber gloves. Mom threw her hands up in exasperation and
stood back and watched. I was told that "your Mime Ruchel is up to
something."
Mime took the horseradish out of the fridge. It was cold.
Wearing the rubber gloves she peeled the horseradish with the vegetable
peeler, sending the peelings down the garborator. All the while the cold
water was running.

"Quick Rochel" she called out, "Get me a piece of wax paper."

She cut the horseradish into 1 inch pieces and wrapped them in the wax
paper.
These pieces she placed in the freezer.

"Rochel," she said to my mother. "Never use plastic wrap. Always use wax
paper. When you take the horseradish out of the freezer, the wax paper will
peel off easily. The plastic wrap will stick."

"Oh yes Rochel, I will need your Pesach meat grinder with the fine blade."
"Why ? Is the food processor too modern for you, Ruchel?"
"If you use the processor, you will get fumes and the house must be
evacuated." quipped Mime. "if you GRIND or GRATE the horseradish there
are fewer fumes."

Mother got out the Pesach meat grinder.

"Enough work for now," said Mime as she rinsed the rubber gloves off in
soap and COLD water. "Let us have tea."

Tea lasted for 2.5 hours while they exchanged recipes and planned their next
shopping trip. Mime and Mom's shopping trips were like detailed military
maneuvers.

After tea, Mime took the horseradish out of the freezer.
Mom lined the little individual horseradish dishes with green lettuce "so as
it should look nice."
Mime put on the rubber gloves and grated the frozen pieces of horseradish
one at a time right into the individual dishes.

There were no fumes.

Another round won by Mime Ruchel.

Mime Ruchel's Mailbox

B"H

Dear Tante Ruchel:

I just found my way to your part of the Empire Kosher website. I am so glad I did, your webpages remind me of my grandmothers' kitchens, may they rest in peace. I have been trying for years to find a recipe that my Tante Fanny used to make, may she rest in peace. It was called T'bunyetseh. I think it was a cabbage soup or perhaps an onion soup. It was from Russia. May Tante Fanny went to her eternal rest beforeanyone could document this most wonderful dish. Do you think you might be able to find it for me? Thank you so much. May you have a Joyous and Blessed Chanukah.

b'Shalom

Michael Green

Dear Michael:

Thank you so much for reading the Mime Ruchel column. I have tried several versions of this soup, and hopefully this recipe may come close. If it is not please write me again, and we will try again.!

This is a Ukrainian version of a cabbage and onion soup. The beets give it a red colour much like a borscht but it is vegetarian. The lemon juice keeps the red colour of the beets from going brown. Try it without the beets and lemon juice if you so desire. Do let me know how successful you are with it!

8 - 12 cups of cold water

5 or 6 carrots peeled and cut into small pieces

3 potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

2 large onions thickly sliced

oil in which to saute onions

1 small head of cabbage shredded or chopped

4 beets - cooked and washed and shredded

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

dill - fresh and lots of it

salt and pepper to taste

flour to thicken if necessary

Pour the water into the stock pot.; This is very important. Without water one cannot make soup! Do not measure the water exactly--just fill your stock pot. Something tells me that your grandmother or Aunt did not measure the water either. They used " a bissell" or "genug vasser."

In a pot large enough to hold the beets cook them in water. Add the lemon juice so that the colour of the beets is not lost. Make sure that the beets are well washed. I suggest that you peel the beets and shred them BEFORE you start cooking. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook until tender. It is not necessary to boiling them constantly - a medium high heat should do it. Do not be in a hurry as you will boil away the flavours!

In a very large skillet saute the onions until they are clear. Add the cabbage plus a cup or so of water to help soften the cabbage. Cook over a medium heat until the cabbage is tender.

Add the cabbage mixture to the other vegetables that should now be cooking on your stove. REDUCE THE HEAT! Simmer until the vegetables are thoroughly mixed and tender. Add salt and pepper and dill at this point. Serve hot.

Mime Ruchel used to add a cup of tomato juice to this. I don't know why. I think it was left over from Uncle Leibel's drink of beer and tomato juice and she just wanted to use it up! It adds a bit of flavour. If you want a thicker soup --add a tablespoon of flour dissolved in cold water to the mixture.

Dear Mime Ruchel-

I am desperate to find a recipe for taglach (did I spell this correctly?) Can you help me find one? I have looked everywhere and even contacted my local kosher supermarket to see if their bakery had one on file!

I hope you can help!

Happy New Year!!!

Dear Jackie:

Thank you for reading the Mime Ruchel column. Do I have a recipe for tayglach?? Why didn't I think of posting this one? Thank you for

reminding me of a favorite delight of my childhood. I assume you mean the tayglach that were soaked in honey and eaten and not the tayglach that

were dropped into Mime Ruchel's chicken soup! If you want that recipe write me again.

But here is the recipe for theses crunchy little honey tayglach that Mom used to make at Rosh Hashanah. It is out of one of her Jewish recipe books that was probably published prior to World War Two. I am translating from the Yiddish.

6 eggs

4 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg(?) I tried it. It's OK

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 pound ground almonds

Syrup

2 cups liquid honey

2 cups white sugar

Beat the eggs until foamy. Sift the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar into the egg mixture. Mix until a stiff dough forms. Roll out

onto a floured pastry board and knead about 100 times or two to three minutes. Break off a small piece of the dough and roll between your hands

until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Lay out this "snake" on the pastry board and cut it into 1/4 inch long pieces. Continue until all of the

dough has been used up.

In a LARGE pot on the stove (you do not want this to boil over or you willhave a gooey mess that you will be cleaning up from now until Pesach!)

bring the honey and sugar to a boil. Drop the bits of dough in a few pieces at a time. When all the tayglach are in the pot cook over a low

heat--simmer--for about twenty minutes.

Mime Ruchel'S SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION NUMBER 612: Placing a wooden or metal spoon in the pot--but DO NOT STIR the mixture--prevents the pot from boiling over. (It increases the surface tension.) On a wet board or cooks sheet, spread the almonds evenly.

With a slotted spoon remove the tayglach from the boiling syrup. Place on the wet board or cookie sheet covered with almonds. Take a cooking spoon (kocklefel) and flatten the tayglach evenly--about 1/2 inch thick.

Let cool at room temperature.

You can now cut the tayglach into squares about one to one and one half inch square.

These can be stored forever, once they have cooled.

Makes several dozen which will vanish very quickly when your guests arrive!

Have a happy and healthy New Year!

Brown Gravy for Tongue (or Pot Roast)
I have made you wait much too long for the recipe for the yummy brown gravy. It should go very well with the yummy tongue recipes.

Drippings from the roaster
Flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

Whole mixed peppercorns, green, red, white and black

Take equal amounts of drippings from the roaster and flour from the bin. Yes, you, the educated one - that means if you take 1/2 cup of drippings you must take 1/2 cup of flour. Oy, are you a maven!

Do you have a gravy separator? It looks just like a measuring cup however
the spout starts from the BOTTOM edge of the cup. This allows the fat to
rise to the surface and you will only be pouring out the juices from the
dripping. If you don't have one, spoon the fat off the top. Of course it
will make a mess. What did you expect?

Did I tell you to put all these ingredients directly into a pot? Put the
ingredients directly into the cooking pot. This way you will have one less
dish to wash.

Add the flour about one tablespoons at a time to the WARM drippings. Mix
thoroughly. Use an electric hand mixer if you have one.

Add the salt and pepper to taste. I don't know how much - I don't know your
taste. Use twice the amount of salt than pepper. I told you this was a recipe using higher mathematics!

Now things get complicated. We need eight times the amount of water than
you have flour and drippings. So if we used 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup
drippings we need 4 cups of water:

We need four cups of water.

Place the pot on the stove. Turn on the heat. So far so good folks?
Keep stirring the mixture with the electric mixer.
GRADUALLY while heating the mixture and stirring it (Yes, you can do more
than one thing at a time!) add the water.

Bring to a boil while stirring constantly.

If needed you may add a few drops of liquid browning for richer color.

Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add a tablespoon or so of mixed whole peppercorns.

Spoon hot over slices of baked tongue.

It is YUMMY!

About Eggplant Kugel


I am sorry for the delay in responding to your request, however this recipe
did take some time.


2 large eggplants or 3 little ones

PIERCE the skins of the eggplants with a fork and place in the microwave on
a platter and cook for about 15 minutes or until done.
Alternatively bake in a 350F oven for about 1.2 hour to 45 minutes.

Please make sure you pierce the skins. Otherwise you will have the recipe
for Mime Ruchel's exploding eggplant.
I charge extra for that one!

1 large diced onion
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. ground oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. rosemary
salt and pepper to season
1 tablespoon or so of sugar
2 well beaten eggs

Pareve margarine to dot on top

Cut the eggplants in half and scoop out the pulp into a mixing bowl. Throw
out the peel. It is very bitter.

Mix all other ingredients except the margarine together.

Grease a loaf pan.

Pour ingredients into the greased loaf pan.

Dot the top of the loaf with margarine.

Bake uncovered at 350F for about one hour or until the kugel is golden brown.

Sweet Peppers

Dear Mime Ruchel:

I am trying to find a recipe for sweet peppers. Please help me!

Sam Kuras

Dear Sam:

In order to find a recipe for sweet peppers you should look on the third shelf in my basement, below the pear and apricot preserves and just slightly to the right of the four dozen tins of canned pumpkin I got on sale last October.

OK enough of the schtick. My Mime Ruchel had a recipe for sweet peppers that never failed. "Howdid this happen?" you ask. Of course, she got the recipe from my mother, who had diligently translated it into simple Yiddish. I am sure it was originally found on the back of some canning jar box probably in the 1940's. Anyhow, who ever originated this recipe - thank you. NO, it was not my Uncle Leibel.

2 lbs each red sweet peppers, green peppers and yellow sweet peppers
2 bulbs of garlic with at least 12 cloves in it
3 1/4 cups sugar
3 cups vinegar (5%)
3 cups water
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pickling salt

Sterilize 12 one quart mason jars. You can do this by bringing them to a boil in a large canner (or pot) on the top of the stove. Make sure that when you do the lids you NEVER touch them with your hands as this contaminates them. Use tongs.

Separate the garlic into cloves and peel all the cloves. Place one or two cloves in the bottom of each sterilized jar.

Cut the tops off the peppers are rinse them with ice cold water to remove the sides and inside what-nots. (You do not want to know what the Yiddish word for that is!) Slice the peppers on a mandolin slices. I do circular cuts--it makes the peppers look fancier when you serve them to company.

In a large pareve pot (one big enough to hold all of this--(yes a 12 quart pot will do - 8 quarts - well - OK try it - but nothing smaller - it is not my fault if everything will overflow.......) put the water, vinegar, sugar and salt together and bring to a boil. You do this by turning the heating element under the pot to the high position. When the bubbles come steadily to the top and the pot is hot it is boiling.

Add the pepper slices and continue to cook just until the mixture starts to boil again. REMOVE FROM HEAT. We do not want to overcook the peppers.

Using the tongs fill the jars with the pepper strips. With a ladle pour the brine over the pepper strips in the jars and leave 1/2 inch space from the top of the jars.

Try not to use metal instruments. If you must use metal be aware that the garlic may take on a bluish tinge. Do not get frightened - it is only garlic, but it means it has come into contact with a metal utensil. Use a plastic instead of a metal spatula to remove any air bubbles. Run the plastic spatula around the inside of the jar of peppers to remove any trapped air bubbles.

Seal the jars.

Process in the water bath for about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool before storing. When you hear the lids go "ping" you know you have sealed the jars properly. This usually takes about 20 minutes after the cooling process begins.

Hint: If you do not have a canner to do the water bath in, simply fill a large pot of water making sure that the water comes over the top of the jars. Boil for about 15 minutes.

Peppers are ready to eat in a few days. I keep a constant supply of these on hand - they are a very colorful condiment.

© Gojlem Deutschland