Modern Jewish Comfort Food: 100 Fresh Recipes for Classic Dishes from Kugel to Kreplach

by Shannon Sarna

Overview

A satisfying collection of Jewish comfort food with classic dishes and modern variations.

A Forbes Best Cookbook of 2022

A Food52 Best Cookbook of 2022

Comfort food varies from person to person, family to family, region to region. As the author of Modern Jewish Baker and editor of The Nosher, Shannon Sarna has always wanted to tell the story of the Jewish people through food and continues to do so here in her latest book. Modern Jewish Comfort Food showcases recipes and variations that have shaped Jewish cuisine from around the world—including immigration waves from Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, New York City, and beyond.

Sarna shares many traditional dishes, and then provides exciting variations that will bring heartwarming comfort to the home kitchen. Her Basic Tomato & Pepper Shakshuka is cleverly interpreted into a deep-dish pizza; Classic Potato Latkes invite vegetable-focused variations such as Beet & Carrot and Summer Corn Zucchini; and a multitude of dumplings reflect the range of the Jewish diaspora. Sweets include two kinds of Israeli-Style Yeasted Rugelach, Funfetti Macaroons, and more—ready to complete the holiday dessert table. Modern Jewish Comfort Food will inspire home cooks to connect to Jewish foodways and explore the history of this diverse cuisine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682686980
Publisher:	Countryman Press, The
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	114,140
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Shannon Sarna is the author of The Modern Jewish Baker. She is the editor of the popular Jewish food site, The Nosher. Known for her nontraditional challah recipes, Shannon’s work has been featured in Edible Brooklyn, Parade, Modern Loss, and Buzzfeed. She lives in South Orange, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Introduction 8

1 Chicken Soup 12

Chicken Stock 14

Classic Jewish Chicken Soup 17

Homemade Matzah Bails with Dill 18

Vegetarian Stock 21

Yemenite Chicken Soup 22

Savory Hawaij Spice Blend 22

Greek Lemon and Orzo Soup (Avgolemono) 24

Mustard and Dill Chicken Salad 25

Italian Lentils and Pasta 27

Kosher Ramen-Style Soup 28

Asian-Style Braised Flanken 30

2 Stuffed Vegetables 32

Eastern European Stuffed Cabbage 35

Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls 38

Stuffed Eggplant 39

Syrian Stuffed Zucchini with Tamarind and Apricots 40

Make It Passover-Friendly 40

Syrian Stuffed Onions with Pomegranate Sauce 43

Make It Passover-Friendly 44

Israeli Stuffed Peppers with Meat 45

Make It in a Slow Cooker 45

Vegetarian Israeli Stuffed Peppers 47

Make It Cheesy! 47

3 Kugel 48

Salt and Pepper Noodle Kugel 50

Gina's Hungarian Noodle Kugel 53

Sweet Dairy Noodle Kugel 54

Topping Variations 55

Pineapple Upside-Down Kugel 57

Yerushalmi Kugel 58

Mac & Cheese Kugel 61

Potato Kugel 62

Triple Veggie Kugel 65

Jojo's Cakey Crunch Sweet Potato Kugel 66

4 Shakshuka 68

Basic Tomato and Pepper Shakshuka 72

Small-Batch Challah Rolls or Mini Loaves 75

Smoky Vegan Shakshuka with Chickpeas 78

Mexican-Inspired Shakshuka 79

Shakshuka Pizza 81

Green Shakshuka 82

Summer Tomato Shakshuka 85

Easy Tahini Sauce 86

Quick and Easy Hummus 87

5 Schnitzel 88

Classic Chicken Schnitzel 91

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce 93

Coconut-Crusted Schnitzel Fingers 94

Sweet & Spicy Sriracha Mayo 94

Passover-Friendly Schnitzel 96

Baked Cornflake Schnitzel 97

Corn Schnitzel 99

Zucchini Schnitzel 100

Fish Schnitzel Sandwiches 103

Tartar Sauce 103

6 Meatballs 104

Easy Jewish American Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs 106

Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs in Tomato Sauce 108

Chicken Meatballs with Lemon Garlic Sauce 109

Creamy Zucchini Israeli Couscous 110

Lamb Meatballs with Two Sauces 111

North African Chraime Fish Patties 113

Chickpea Cauliflower "Meatballs" 114

My Mom's Italian American Meatballs 117

7 Dumplings and Pastries 120

Classic Meat Kreplach 122

Turn Kreplach Dough into Noodles 124

Red Wine-Braised Chuck Roast 125

Corned Beef and Cabbage Kreplach 126

Thanksgiving Turkey Kreplach 128

Turkey Stock 129

Sweet Cheese Kreplach 131

Georgian Meat Khinkali 132

Syrian Cheese Sambousek 135

Syrian Cheese and Olive Bites 139

Classic Potato Knishes 140

Sweet Potato and Sage Butter Knishes 143

Everything Bagel Knishes 144

Make Your Own Everything Bagel Spice 145

8 Latkes 146

Classic Potato Latkes 148

Pulled Brisket 151

Easiest Applesauce Ever 151

Beet and Carrot Latkes 152

Herb Zucchini Potato Latkes 155

Beet-Cured Gravlax 156

Cheese Latkes 159

Smoked Salmon Latkes Eggs Benedict 160

Summer Corn Zucchini Latkes 162

Sephardic Leek Patties 163

9 Sweets 164

Israeli Chocolate Hazelnut Swirl Cookies 167

Israeli Date & Walnut Swirl Cookies 168

Black & White Cookies 171

Coconut Macaroons 174

Chocolate Chip Macaroons 176

Funfetti Coconut Macaroons 177

Peanut Butter Chocolate Coconut Macaroons 179

Israeli-Style Yeasted Rugelach Two Ways 180

Toffee & Chocolate Mandel Bread 183

Chocolate & Nut Mandel Bread 185

Funfetti Mandel Bread 187

Matzah Toffee 188

Ideas for Matzah Toffee Toppings 188

Apple Tahini Crumble 191

Hawaij Coffee Spice Blend 192

Passover Fruit Crumble 193

Rainbow Cookies 195

Passover Rainbow Cookies 196

Basic New York-Style Cheesecake 197

Cookie Butter Cheesecake 199

Gluten-Free Mango Cheesecake with Coconut Almond Crust 203

Acknowledgments 205

Index 207

Editorial Reviews

05/02/2022

“What is so enthralling about Jewish comfort food is that it’s not a monolith,” writes Sarna (The Modern Jewish Baker), founding editor of The Nosher, in her exceptional latest. Mixing hands-on visuals, savvy tips, and tasty morsels of historical context, she endeavors to broaden interpretations of Jewish comfort foods, offering recipes inspired by the global Jewish diaspora, as well as the flavors of her Italian and Polish forebears. While traditional fare appears—chicken soup, kugels, schnitzels, latkes—modern twists on classic dishes abound (mac and cheddar cheese kugel, anyone?), as do seamless mash-ups of ingredients associated with Jews of Ashkenazi and Sephardic descent, such as the savory Syrian pastries called sambusek, which are stuffed with German Muenster cheese. A section of shakshukas, meanwhile, puts an international spin on the basic tomato and pepper dish—notably in a smoky vegan version with crispy chickpeas, a Mexican-inspired take with avocado and jalapeño, and a shakshuka pizza. As a “baker with a serious sweet tooth,” Sarna doesn’t skimp on the carbs or sugar: in a substantial chapter of desserts, Mandel bread—aka Jewish biscotti—is given the funfetti treatment with sprinkles and white chocolate drizzle, while a bright-tasting mango cheesecake with a coconut-almond crust is gluten-free and Passover-friendly. This invigorating work takes Jewish cooking to a whole new level. Agent: Judy Linden, Stonesong. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Helmed by Modern Jewish Baker author Shannon Sarna, this nostalgia-inducing collection of Jewish comfort food is equal parts smart and stunning. Recipe origins run the gamut from North Africa to New York City, and while there are plenty of classics—latkes, yeasted rugelach, Syrian sambusek, chicken soup, macaroons and more—almost every dish gets a delightful creative twist. You’ll be hooked from the first sentence: Sarna’s narrative is just as encouraging, thorough and warming as the recipes themselves. "

Forbes