So, I’ve been making variations of the same Jewish brisket- that I grew up eating and loving- for the last 40 years. My kids love my brisket, my parents loved my brisket, my brother Kenny and his family love my brisket, and I love it. That homey, Jewish flavor is so nostalgic of my childhood. I learned how to make brisket from my mother, but I improved upon her recipe by adding elements from my Aunt Florence’s recipe. As a child, brisket was probably my favorite dish, and every year at Passover, on the first Seder, I awaited the moment my Aunt Florence would carry her glorious brisket from the kitchen over the beautifully set table, hoping she would place the dish in front of me (which never happened). The recipe that I currently make which is easier to make than my Aunt Florence’s original, but comparable in taste is this one: http://judysrecipeconnection.com/judys-best-brisket/ I’ve noticed over the years that while my daughter Randi and her husband Dan really love my traditional brisket, my grandkids, Noah, Ezra, and Hannah, are not too crazy about it. Knowing how much they love the flavor of barbecue sauce, I decided to finally branch out, go out of my comfort zone, and make some barbecue style brisket. Well, to say that it was a success is an understatement. Last week, I delivered a “shissel” of this brisket to their house, and Randi face-timed me to show me the licked clean plates of the kids. In fact, I got to watch Ezra licking the last drops of sauce off his plate. That vision is what I live for! Before I left my house to make the food delivery (we’re in the midst of Covid-19), I allowed my son Benji to eat 3 slices of it, and between his facial expressions and sounds of ecstasy, you could say he liked it! So, I’ll make it again soon for everybody- including Danny (other son)- and even allow Benji to have more than 3 pieces.

Ingredients:

one 3 1/2 lb. to 4 lb. brisket to even a 5 1/2 to 6 lb. brisket

kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder

1 medium to large onion, sliced (optional)

barbecue sauce: 1 cup ketchup, 1/3 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar, 16 oz. hot water mixed with 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon Chicken Base OR 16 oz. chicken broth (I use the 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon with the 16 oz. water)

Secret Ingredient: S & F Sweet Bay Barbecue Sauce (I’ve only found it at Whole Foods so far)

1. Season both sides of brisket with kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Place in roasting pan, fat side up.
2. Mix ingredients together in a bowl for the barbecue sauce (above), and pour it around the brisket in the pan.
3. Slice onion (I’ve used it or not used it, and it really doesn’t make much of a difference).
4. Cover tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil.
5. Bake in 325 degree oven for 2 hours. Then take out, uncover, and add the secret ingredient: S & F Sweet Bay Barbecue Sauce (from Whole Foods). Schmear about 1/4 cup of this sauce over the top of the brisket. Then measure 1/2 cup more and pour it into the sauce in the pan- mix a bit to blend. Recover tightly and place back in oven for another 1 1/2 hours. Take out. If fork goes in easily, it’s done. If fork doesn’t, then recover and cook another 30 minutes. If fork still doesn’t go in easily, cook for another 30 minutes. It should be done after 4 hours total.
6. Take meat out of pan, and let cool in fridge. It’s much easier to slice when it’s cool or cold. Take out, cut off fat, and slice against the grain- slices should be about 1/4 inch thick. Place slices either back in the same pan you roasted the brisket, or in whatever casserole dish you plan to heat it up in. If you are using a different dish, then pour the barbecue sauce from the roaster into the pan with the sliced meat.
7. Cover with aluminum foil, and either refrigerate till you plan to use it, or heat it up (covered with foil) in the oven for dinner.
8. Note: If you did use a sliced onion, you may want to discard it before serving. If my grandkids saw those onion slices, that would turn them off to the dish.

For Erev Yom Kippur dinner last night, I made mashed potatoes.  I thought they were good, but my daughter Randi swooned as she ate some and said, “These potatoes are like fluffy clouds, they’re so light!  She asked me if I had done anything different than usual to which I said I didn’t, but I realized I’d better write down what I did do!

5 lbs. organic Idaho potatoes

2 sticks Whole Foods salted butter

about 1/2 cup whole, organic milk

salt (not kosher)

about 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Peel potatoes.  Cut into largish pieces and put in large pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil (uncovered), and simmer over low boil till you can put a fork into potatoes easily.  Drain in colander.  Put your sticks of butter back in pot to melt over low flame.  Add potatoes back in, and mash.  Add salt to taste and pepper too.  Then add milk, and mash till nice and fluffy.

I’m always searching of the perfect pie crust; I think I may have found it.  I liked the flavor of it, since it’s made with both Crisco and butter.  My son Danny just told me that he thought it was amazing, so I’ll probably stick with this recipe, at least for awhile.

crust: 

3 cups unbleached organic flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

12 tablespoons frozen salted butter

8 tablespoons crisco (that’s refrigerated)

8 tablespoons ice water

Put flour in food processor fitted with a metal blade.  Sprinkle salt over.  Then put cut up butter over flour and crisco over as well.  Pulse till you can still see some pieces of butter throughout. Pour water over, and pulse till dough comes together.  Dump on clean surface (I use a marble slab) and divide into 2 pieces, one being larger by about 2 oz. for the top crust).

Flatter each into a round disk and refrigerate wrapped separately in waxed paper or parchment paper for a few hours or overnight.

apple filling:

apples – about 12 medium to large apples- I use a variety of baking apples either from my local orchard, Terhune Orchards near Princeton, or from

Whole Foods.

scant 3/4 cup granulated sugar

about 1 1/2 teaspoons organic cinnamon (you many need 2 teaspoons to taste)

about 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons cornstarch or flour (I used cornstarch this time)

dash kosher salt

2 tablespoons butter, broken up for dotting over the top

Roll out smaller bottom crust, using enough flour to prevent sticking.  Place carefully in 9 to 9 1/2 inch pie dish.  Then spoon apples and most of the macerated cinnamon-lemon juice in. Dot with about 2 tablespoons butter. Then stick this in fridge while you roll out top crust.    After you roll out the top crust, carefully place over the apple filling.  Brush crust with a mixture of 1 egg and about 1 1/2 teaspoon milk or light cream (I used the light cream).  Then refrigerate or freeze for baking later. I freeze it uncovered for about 30 minutes before I wrap it up to give the egg wash some time to freeze.

Before baking, put  about 6 slits in the top for venting purposes.I bake it frozen at 375 degrees for about 1 hour and 10 minutes on lowest possible position in the oven  till the crust is nice and golden, and just before the juices start to erupt.

I’ve been making this spinach pie for years for my daughter and my grandkids.  During dinner tonight at my daughter’s house, my grandson Ezra said, “Safta, this is my favorite dinner!”  Noah chimed in his agreement.   They each had at least 4 or 5 pieces.  My daughter said, “This is the perfect comfort food.”  She commented that  it’s her favorite meal too.  She wasn’t too happy when I set aside a piece to bring home to my son Benji.  When I got home, Benji wasn’t too happy that I only brought one piece home for him. Updated comment from Feb. 24, 2021. Randi’s family came for dinner tonight, and she requested that I make this, especially since Ezra has just become a vegetarian (he used to loves meat, but he cares about animals). This came out so, so perfect. Ezra had 4 pieces, Noah had 3 (he held back due to lactose intolerance, Dan had 2 big pieces, Randi had 2 or 3, Benji had 4, I had 1, and Hannah had none (she ate the chicken with the crumbs). Ezra commented, “I really love this and I don’t really like Spanikopita at restaurants.”  I feel so happy!

• 1 box Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets
• 2 10 oz. boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained and squeezed pretty dry (hint- let it defrost overnight in the boxes sitting in a bowl. The liquid will seep into the bowl. Then I just unwrapped the spinach boxes, and squeezed the boxes to get rid of any more liquid! Then I squeeze the spinach dry by hand or press paper towels into the spinach to get the excess liquid)
• 3 extra large eggs
• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese (Sargento whole milk is best)
• about 8 oz. chunk feta from Whole Foods (It comes in a big box with 16 oz. of feta in brine- just cut half of the block for one recipe)
• about a heaping 1/3 cup Whole Foods grated parmesan
• about 1 tablespoon Litehouse dill
• about 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• pinch salt

Place frozen puff pastry in refrigerator to defrost.

In mixing bowl, put mostly dry, drained spinach, eggs, parmesan cheese.(not the mozzarella – wait till later to put that in.)  Break apart the feta into small crumbles  and add to mixture.  Add the dill, pepper, and salt.  Mix gently with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until all ingredients are incorporated. It will take a good few minutes. Then gently fold in the shredded mozzarella.

Grease aluminum pan that’s about 9 x 13 in. (sides are less than 1 inch deep).  Place parchment paper that’s a little longer and wider than the bottom of the pan, pressing it down into the corners. Then grease the parchment paper fully on the bottoms and up the sides.

Take 1 sheet of the puff pastry out of fridge and roll it out so that the size matches the bottom of your baking pan (about 9 by 13.  Sprinkle flour on the counter as necessary to roll out the pastry.  Fold up into thirds and Transfer to parchment lined pan and unfold.  Spread entire filling evenly over pastry,  all the way to the edges of the pastry.  Then roll out second sheet of pastry.  Place it over the filling, and turn the edges of the pastry over the filling and crimp it with the bottom layer of pastry.  Then make an egg wash of 1 small egg with 1 teaspoon half and half, light cream, or milk, and brush it generously over top of pie. Cut a few slits in the top.

I usually stick it in the freezer uncovered for at least 45  min.  or up to an hour before I bake it. If I’m going to leave it in the freezer longer, then I take it out after an hour or so and put a layer of parchment over it and cover the whole pan with aluminum foil (so the puff pastry doesn’t dry out in the freezer).

When you’re ready to bake it, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Uncover it if it’s covered, and place in middle rack of oven. bake about 20 min. Then raise the temperature to 400 degrees. Check after 10 min. to make sure it’s starting to puff. If it is, just bake another 20-25 min. If it isn’t starting to puff after 10 min at 400 degrees, just raise oven temperature to 425 degrees and it will definitely puff up and brown. It all depends on how hot your oven is. When I make this at home, I usually have to raise the temperature to 425 degrees, but when I make this at my daughter’s house, I only need to raise the temperature to 400 degrees because her oven is much hotter than mine. It’s ready when it’s all  puffed and browned perfectly all over.  Serve immediately!

I tried a new recipe for buttermilk pancakes that’s very similar to my other ones.  I was very happy with the result and so was my own personal Alex Si Hente (from the old Savarin Coffee commercial), my son Benji.  I also made them for my mother’s best friend Adele, and she enjoyed them as well, commenting that she loved my pancakes, but no others!

adapted from ohsweetbasil.com melt in your mouth buttermilk pancakes:

• 2 cups organic King Arthur brand unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 extra large eggs- fresh from the farm, separated
• 2 cups Friendship 1.5  percent fat (make sure you shake before using) 
• 2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter (either salted or unsalted- I happened to use salted)  

First, melt butter in small microwave-safe dish and set aside to cool.  Put dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.

Measure buttermilk in pyrex glass cup measurer.  Then add egg yolk to the buttermilk.  Add melted butter and mix till well blended.

In separate glass bowl by hand with wire whisk or using a hand-held mixer (I did this by hand), mix egg whites till almost stiff, but not quite.

Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and fold in with rubber spatula till almost smooth- but batter still has some lumps.  Then fold in egg whites gently.

Heat non-stick griddle.  Then coat very lightly with butter. Do not let your butter brown! Scoop 1/4 cup spoonfuls onto hot griddle.   Leave alone till you have the idea that the undersides are brown, use a spatula and peek under.  If sufficiently browned, carefully flip with a wide spatula.  Cook till browned nicely on other side.

Serve immediately with butter and pure maple syrup.

I’ve made many different recipes for corn bread and corn muffins.  I happened to have on hand a mix from Stonewall Kitchen for cornbread which I used for corn muffins.  Although I usually am pretty negative towards mixes, I have to admit that this one was great.  The muffins had that perfect taste between savory and sweet, slightly reminiscent of the sweet Thomas Toaster Cakes I loved when I was a kid.  My daughter in law really enjoyed them, and she requested I make some for her to take back to Vietnam with her.  I didn’t have another of that mix, so I had to choose from one of the many recipes I’ve used in the past.  I settled on one I haven’t made for years from my old Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  The muffins came out great.  The second batch I made, I divided the batter in half and I added 1 cup of fresh blueberries to the one half.  I actually added an extra tablespoon of sugar the second time I made the muffins, and I liked the end result.

Adapted from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook recipe entitled, “Rich Corn Cake” :

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal  (I used Quaker yellow cornmeal)
• 1 cup organic unbleached flour (I always use King Arthur Flour)
• 4 tablespoons sugar (I used 5  the second time)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (original recipe calls for cream of tartar)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream (I use Daisy because it is the purest brand of sour cream)
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 extra large eggs
• 4 tablespoons melted butter (I used salted) 
• optional – blueberries-  about 1 cup for half the batter if you want to do half muffins plain and half with blueberries.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Put 12 paper muffin cups in muffin tin.

In mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

Mix milk, eggs, sour cream with a whisk.  Then pour in melted butter (but slightly cooled).  Mix with whisk. Add wet ingredients to dry.  Mix quickly with rubber spatula just till combined and you can’t see any streaks of the flour.  Scoop into muffin cups.

Bake 20 minutes, just till tops are starting to brown.

Eat hot with lots of butter!

This recipe turns out fudgy with a crackly top.

• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons cocoa 
• 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 light brown sugar
• 3 extra large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• a very heavy 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (recipe called for 2/3 cup, but I’d say I added an extra 2 tablespoons of flour to that)
• 1/2 kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

I made this recipe today in honor of my grandson Noah’s seventh birthday.  It was his special request. When they came out of the oven, my son Benji couldn’t wait to eat one warm.  He said, “You can’t buy brownies like these anywhere- in a restaurant, supermarket, anywhere.”

Over a pot of simmering water, put a glass bowl.  Put butter and oil in, melt a bit, and put chocolate chips in.  Mix over simmering water till melted.  Take bowl off heat.  Add cocoa, sugars, espresso, eggs, vanilla.  Mix till blended.  Add flour, baking powder, salt.  Mix with rubber spatula just till blended.  Grease pan.  Put parchment paper in with overhang.  Grease parchment.  Put batter in.  Bake at 350 for about 20 min. till toothpick comes out clean. Cool before slicing.

For my new granddaughter’s baby naming party, I wanted to make one more spectacular hot brunch item. I’ve made my french toast bread pudding recipe a few times to rave reviews, but there’s something I don’t like about it, and that’s the syrup that’s on the bottom.  It’s too sweet for me, mostly. I found a recipe on Kitchen Treaty called Cinnamon Blueberry Overnight French Toast that I mixed with my own recipe. So I pretty much kept the custard part of my recipe, added a sprinkling of blueberries, and sprinkled the top with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Most importantly, when I took the masterpiece out of the oven, I drizzled the entire top of it with pure maple syrup.  Oh my gosh, I can’t express how delicious this was.  Everyone who ate it loved it and commented on the absolute perfection of the dish.  My daughter called me to tell me that I need to make one entire casserole for her family because she did not get enough of it and because her husband got none.  This is an outstanding recipe, and what makes it even better is that you can prepare it a few hours ahead, or the night before, as I did, and bake it off the next day.

for the custard:

• 1 challah (I use Zommick’s 15 oz. challah, which I buy at Stop and Shop
• 8 extra jumbo eggs
• 2 cups light cream
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch kosher salt
• 1 1/2  to 2 cups of blueberries (optional, but I used them)

for the topping:

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 

essential ingredient for serving:

about 4-6 oz. pure maple syrup- medium grade

Directions:

1.  Cut the challah into slices about 1 inch thick.  Then cut the slices into pieces about 1 to 1 1/2 inches big.  Let them sit out to get a little stale.  If I don’t have the time for that, I put them on a cookie sheet and stick them in a 200 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes (I did this for baby naming party).

2.  Grease sides and bottom of large oval or rectangular 9 by 13 pan with butter.

3.  Place the pieces of challah in so they fit like a puzzle.  If you have to squeeze a few in, that’s fine, but use the entire challah.

4.  Sprinkle the blueberries on top of the challah pieces; you can push some of them down a little into some crevices.

5.  Whisk the eggs, light cream, sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla in a mixing bowl. Ladle the custard evenly over the bread.

6.  Refrigerate over night or for a few hours till you are ready to bake.

7.  Before you put into the oven, sprinkle the topping evenly over the top, using all of it.

8.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 min. until top is puffed (even the center) and a toothpick comes out clean.

9.  Take out of the oven, and immediately drizzle the maple syrup all over the  top of the casserole.

10.  Serve immediately!

When my children were little, I found a recipe for macaroni and cheese on the back of the Creamettes box.  This was the recipe I made for years and years.  I recently made it again instead of the recipe I’ve made for the last 10 years (Judy’s Creamy and Delicious Macaroni and Cheese), and I discovered that I may like it more because it seems a little less rich.  It’s basically the same as my current recipe except that it has much less cheese.

• • 2 cups elbows (I like Creamettes) (about 1/2 of 1 lb. box)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • scant 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
  • 10 oz. Boars Head or Whole Foods Brand yellow American cheese
  • 2 1/2 cups whole organic milk

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add flour, salt, and pepper.  Whisk over medium heat for about 2 minutes.  Add milk gradually.  Whisk over medium heat for about 10 minutes till starts to thicken a little, but not too much.  Add in the cheese.

Cook pasta in boiling water till just cooked- not overcooked.  Drain in colander.  Butter a casserole dish.  Pour sauce into casserole.  Pour the macaroni noodles in and mix together till noodles are evenly coated with the sauce.

Cook at 375 degrees for about an hour till the cheese starts to rise to top and brown and the edges start to get brown and crusty looking.

I’m always trying new recipes I think my grandkids might like.  I made this simple recipe yesterday.  I was skyping with my son Benji who’s in Vietnam right now.  We were discussing all the different recipes he wants me to make when he gets home in a few weeks. I was showing him pictures of the beefaroni I was cooking and he told me that on the night he gets home from Vietnam, he wants that dish waiting for him.

• 1 lb. good chop meat from Whole Foods
• 1 28 oz. can organic crushed tomatoes
• 1 medium to large onion chopped (optional if making for children who don’t like onions)
• about 6-7 garlic cloves chopped
• salt
• pepper
• dried oregano (about 1 teaspoon)
• about 3/4 lb. of macaroni
• parmesan for serving

Saute onion for a few minutes in about 2 tablespoons olive oil till soft.  Add garlic and saute a few minutes. Add chop meat and brown over low flame.  Add salt and pepper and oregano.  Then add tomatoes and pure.  Break up the chunks of tomatoes with the spoon or spatula you are using to mix.  Cook over medium to low flame about 15-20 min. You don’t want to reduce or lose too much of liquid, cause you’ll need it.

Boil your water and cook pasta till al dente.  Drain, and add about 3/4 of the box or pound to the meat sauce.  You’re ready to serve.  If you are serving it later, just heat it up in the microwave, because baking it in oven will dry it out.