Rosh Hashanah is a time for prayer, reflection and getting together with family members and eating. One of the many food customs for the holiday is eating round foods (representing the circle of life), apples (celebrating the food of the season) and honey (ensuring a sweet new year).

About two weeks ago I was working at the Museum when Debbie Sofer, one of our docents, who shares my love of cooking, called out to me. She was starting to prepare her Rosh Hashanah menu and was looking for an apple dessert. She showed me a recipe for “Mrs. Davis’ Apple Cake” in the The New York Times Jewish Cookbook, edited by Linda Amster, that we had in our bookstore. As Debbie started to describe the recipe to me, another docent, Henry Zimring, who had just finished giving a tour, piped in and said “Oh yes, the apple cake with the cookie dough crust. My mother made that all the time.” We laughed and as I looked at the recipe, I thought it sounded yummy. I grew up in a pie family but this looked like it might satisfy them as well. Debbie and I went on to have a lengthy discussion about how we like our apples cooked. I love the apples cooked and mushy, she likes them a bit crunchy still.

We were having a docent meeting at the Museum the next week and I decided to make the cake (good excuse for a try out). I made, it, eliminating the raisins and using margarine to make it pareve. It was a hit! Docents Roberta Koza and Rochelle Goldstein told me their mothers made this cake as well! And everyone seemed to love it. I thought it was terrific and when I make it again I think I will add cinnamon and sugar on the top. It will certainly sweeten the New Year for you and your loved ones. Shana Tova.

Mrs. Davis’ Apple Cake
Adapted by Andrea Abel from The New York Times Jewish Cookbook, edited by Linda Amster

Cake:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
Dash of salt
1/2 cup soft butter
1 egg

Filling:
5 tart apples
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup raisins (or substitute dried cherries or craisins)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add butter and egg. Alternately, the dough can be mixed in a food processor until it forms into a ball. Knead until dough is firm and shapes easily into a ball. Wrap in wax paper; refrigerate 1 hour.

Meanwhile, peel apples and cut into small pieces. Add sugar, lemon juice, raisins and cinnamon and let mixture steep until dough is ready. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter or use Baker’s Joy to grease a 9-inch springform pan. Divide the dough into thirds. Roll out one-third of dough and line bottom of form. I found the dough to be a bit brittle, so I rolled it out partway and then patted it into place. Roll out another one-third of dough into a strip and line sides of the pan about 2 1/2 inches high, pressing along bottom rim to seal bottom and sides.

Drain fruit mixture and pour into pastry-lined pan. Dot the top of fruit with dabs of butter. Roll out remaining dough and use a pastry cutter to make long strips. Place strips crisscross on top of filling. Bake until cake is golden brown and fruit is crisp/tender, 45-55 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings

Looking for something new

to try for this year’s Passover Seder?

Here are a few recipe recommendations from the staff at The Museum at Eldridge Street!

1. Gami’s Chopped Liver

Courtesy of Sarah Verity, Director of Visitor Services

My grandma never measures or writes down her recipes so these amounts aren’t exact – just my best guess as to what we use every year.

• 1 pound chicken livers
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 6 hardboiled eggs
• Olive or vegetable oil
• Salt

1) In a large pan or skillet, cook half the onions in oil until they are golden. Remove from pan and set aside.

2) In the same pan, cook livers over medium heat until they are cooked through.

3) In batches, blend together cooked liver, sautéed onions, raw onions and hard boiled eggs in the food processor or using a hand grinder. Be careful not to over-blend if you use the food processor!

4) Add salt to taste. Refrigerate over night.

5) Season with salt before serving.

Sarah and Gami

Chopped liver has always been a staple at our holiday meals since I was a kid. Of course as a child I thought it was disgusting and didn’t understand why all the adults went crazy for it. It used to be made each holiday by my grandpa (Papa), who loved liver so much he would order liver and onions in a restaurant (which I also always thought was gross). After he

passed away in 1995, my grandma (Gami) took over making the chopped liver. I don’t remember how old I was when I finally decided to taste it, but it was delicious! Over the years, we decided that Gami needed to pick a successor to learn all her recipes, so I became the designated chopped liver apprentice. For the past few years, my favorite part of Passover prep has been making the chopped liver together. When we first started I was still too grossed out by the chicken livers to cook them myself so I made her do that part, but now I can do the whole process myself (with her supervision and taste testing of course!) We even use the hand grinder that belonged to her mother (my great-grandmother Sarah, who I am named for). I love feeling connected to my ancestors through this very old, clunky kitchen tool while spending quality time with my Gami, and I look forward to someday passing it down to my own children and grandchildren.

2. Passover Chicken – ala Silver Palate Cookbook

Recommended by Sharon Stein, Visitor Services Associate

Passover Chicken – photo courtsey of Simpleyrecipes.com

• 2 chickens cut into 8 pieces each. Murray’s or organic especially.
• 1/2 cup each of olive oil and good red wine vinegar.
• 8 or more clovers of garlic minced
• 1/2 cup of capers and some of the juice
• 1 small jar (you choose size) of stuffed green olives
• 1 or more cups of dried fruit. apricots and prunes or any other dried
• fruit
• 1/4 cup oregano
• Salt & pepper
• 6 bay leaves

1) Combine all of above in big ziplock bag and marinate turning frequently

a minimum of 1 night or over 2 or 3 days. The more you marinate the

tastier it will get.

2) Arrange chicken in pans with all ingredients. Best if you put dark meat

in one pan, white in another. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Add white

wine to pan as well. Cook at 350 for at least an hour basting a few

times. Serve with pan gravy.

Recipe can be doubled, etc. easily. Great leftovers…if any.

Your house will smell heavenly.

3. Carrot Souffle from Koshercooking.com

Courtesy of Hanna Griff-Sleven, Director of Cultural Programs

I first had this soufflé when I lived in Jackson, Mississippi. I got there just before Pesach, and one of the women I worked with who knew I loved to cook gave me this recipe. I am not a big carrot lover, so I was not at first impressed. Then, I had it at a seder I was invited to and couldn’t get enough. It’s delicious, almost sweet enough to be a dessert.

• 2lb fresh carrots, boiled until soft
• 6 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 6TBS matzoh meal
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 sticks butter, melted
• dash of nutmeg
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Topping (mix together):

Place carrots and eggs into food processor & puree. Add next 5 ingredients and process until smooth. Bake in greased 9×13 Pyrex pan at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Add topping and bake for 5-10 minutes more.

Can be made a day in advance.

4. Matzah Candy from the Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking by Marcy Goldman (1998)

Recommended by Sarah Verity, Director of Visitor Services

I love matzah candy!

• 12 matzo crackers
  

  Courtney Making Matzah Candy at Home

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two baking sheets

with aluminum foil. Place the matzo crackers in a single layer on the

lined baking sheets, breaking to fit, if necessary.

Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the matzo, and spread evenly with a heat proof spatula.

Place the caramel topped matzo in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Return

pans to oven to melt chocolate, about 1 minute. Smooth melted chocolate

to completely cover the caramel. Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.

Chill in refrigerator for 20 minutes, or until set. Break into small

pieces to serve.

Chag Sameach from the Museum at Eldridge Street! Let us know what are your favorite Passover food recipes and memories

Amy and Hanna in front of Streit's

Dim Sum, hand-pulled noodles and dumplings are a few of the food attractions of our neighborhood, but last Sunday visitors flocked to Eldridge Street for a completely different culinary experience: our annual Passover Nosh n’ Stroll.  Amy Stein-Milford, the Museum’s Deputy Director, and Hanna Griff-Sleven, Director of Cultural Programs, walked people through the streets of the Lower East Side, visiting food establishments that have been Passover favorites of the Jewish Community here for generations.

Nosh n' Strollers tasting hand-ground horseradish at The Pickle Guys

#1. The Pickle Guys

The Nosh n’ Stroll began with a brief history of the Eldridge Street Synagogue, and from there visitors followed the smell of fresh horseradish to the Pickle Guys, located just a few blocks away on Essex Street. Following the Eastern European tradition of letting the pickles sit in salt brine with garlic, spices, and no preservatives, the Pickle Guys offer an array of tasty treats, bringing their patrons back to the days of pushcarts and pickle barrels. As a pickler myself, I recommend the pickled pineapple! (Just be warned, this tangy treat can become addictive!)

#2. Vanished Eateries like Gertel’s Bakery

Gertel’s Bakery used to sell shmura matzoh, the delicious, round hand-baked stuff. The former site of Gertel’s is now an empty lot on Hester Street (pictured here). As Amy pointed out, it has left a literal hole in the community.

Schapiro's Kosher Wine

#3. Shapiro’s Winery The dynamic duo not only led us to local shops that are in the midst of Passover prep, but pointed out others that are no longer in business, but have still left their mark on the neighborhood.  The sign for Schapiro’s Kosher Wine can still be seen from the street and is a reminder of the changing times (and of many a person’s first drunken seder experience).

#4. Economy Candy

We recommend their chocolate-covered macaroons!

#5. Streit’s Bakery

Our stroll came to an end at Streit’s Bakery, which has provided Passover staples since 1925. Before even entering the bakery, the smell of fresh matzah (which Judy, the Education Director, and I realized smells remarkably similar to popcorn!) fills the air. As soon as you step into Streit’s, you are surrounded by Passover goodies: macaroons, candies and my personal favorite, chocolate covered matzah!  Amidst the flow of Passover shoppers, you can even see the matzah coming straight out of the oven. What better way to get our Passover preparation started than with a little nosh of warm, fresh matzah!

Click on the following link to see Matzah Coming Fresh Out of the Oven at Streit’s!

\What are your favorite Lower East Side food landmarks – Passover-themed or otherwise?

There’s always one surefire way to know that the Museum at Eldridge Street is gearing up for a big party – a fridge full of challah!

Join us this Sunday at 1pm for our Tu B’Shevat festival – where we’ll turn these big lumps of dough into delicious challah bread! While you’re at it, enjoy olive tasting, beer tasting and instrument making for the little ones. See you Sunday!

While growing up, the real sign of the start of summer was when my mother would switch from making hot borscht to cold borscht. The recipes for the two are quite different and serve distinct culinary purposes. Warm borscht usually includes some sort of meat and sliced cabbage, making it a hearty meal. Cold borscht is meant to be refreshing and light, with toppings such as cucumbers or a hardboiled egg.

Early members of the Eldridge Street Syngagoue brought  the traditional meal of borscht to the Lower East Side from Eastern Europe to satisfy the varied needs of the hot and cold months. The early members kept cool in the summertime by eating cold borscht and adding an American innovation – the egg cream! Follow their lead and try out the recipes below this summer.

A refreshing bowl of cold borscht made with a different recipe. Click the image for the source.

Sophie Ugelow’s Simple Borscht

Ingredients:

• 4 large beets with leaves
• 3 cups cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbs. lemon juice (or vinegar)
• 2 boiled potatoes cut in 1/2 inch pieces (optional)
• 1 peeled cucumber cut in 1/2 inch pieces (optional)
• 1 cup sour cream
• (This blogger recommends adding cubed hardboiled eggs and a sprinkle of dill or parsley as well!)

Directions:

1. Cut tops off beets and save leaves. Wash leaves well and cut ito 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices.
2. Peel beets.
3. Put whole beets and leaves into pot and add cold water. Water should cover beets plus one inch. Bring to boil, lower flame to simmer and cook until a fork easily goes into whole beet.
4. Remove beets and let cool. While beets are cooling, add sugar, salt and lemon juice to liquid. When beets are cool enough to handle, coarsely grate into soup. Refrigerate.
5. Serve cold with 1/4 cup sour cream and pieces of boiled potatoes, cucumbers, hardboiled eggs, or parsley. Makes four servings.

Old Fashioned Egg Cream

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of chocolate syrup (we recommend Fox’s U-bet)
• 1/2 cup of whole milk
• Seltzer
• Pretzel rod (optional)

Directions:

Pour the milk into a large glass. Add the chocolate syrup and stir well. Then tilt the glass and top off with a generous spritz or pour of seltzer. Serve immediately with a long spoon, straw or pretzel rod. Makes one serving.

Let us know how your recipes turn out! Also, we would love to hear your personal or family variations, so please post your additions or substitutions below.

Happy summer solstice everyone! Since today marks the beginning of the long, hot, sticky months on the Lower East Side, we at the Museum thought a little research about what life was like back in the turn-of-the-century summers would be appropriate. How did local residents beat the heat before air conditioned subways, ceiling fans, or even refrigerators? We have collected some of the best stay-cool tips from our neighbors past – stay tuned each week for a new summer tip fresh from the ice box.

"A summer scene in the streets of New York -- the ice-cream man." Thanks to the New York Public Library for the image! Click on the image for more details.

This week we decided to look into everyone’s favorite summer treat, ice cream!

While the original ice cream cone was invented in St. Louis in 1904, a local Italian immigrant New Yorker named Italo Marchiony invented a new model of ice cream cone. We discovered that his teacup shaped mold was actually patented a year earlier, in 1903. From an account written by his daughter, we found that he started his cool confections career as an ices vendor on Wall Street in the 1890s. He peddled his sweet treats in small liquor glasses, but the expense of maintaining the cups and replacing the broken ones motivated our friend Marchiony to invent an edible, and thereby disposable, ice cream container. This container design was successful enough for Marchiony to open up a series of pushcarts selling his new treats all over lower Manhattan – possibly one in our neighborhood! This local merchant turned innovator recreated how New Yorkers enjoyed their traditional summer snack.

Here in our neighborhood, people of all ages would enjoy a refreshing “pennylick”. This name referred to the price of a scoop of ice cream and the small liquer glasses used before Marciony’s innovation. We could not find any information, but were curious about whether the price changed with the advent of the edible cup.

I began my internship with the Museum at Eldridge Street on June 1st, just a short while before the Egg Rolls and Egg Creams Festival. I gleaned inspiration for the following meal from the mixture of cultures I witnessed at the festival. I began to explore the Chinese neighborhood in search of authentic, homemade Chinese groceries to prepare for my first Monday night dinner. After searching far and wide for Hanna’s, the Director of Family History and Cultural Programs, favorite homemade tofu store, I stumbled across a woman on Grand Street with nothing in her modest store but a table, a cash register, one large boiler, and two buckets of tofu. Holding grocery bags containing the homemade tofu and fresh vegetables (which totaled $5.50, any college student’s dream), I returned to my apartment. With little else in my cupboards, I pulled together a simple stir fry recipe. This Jewish boy’s love of food combined with the Chinese influence of the neighborhood came together to create one scrumptious meal!

This image is from our friends at www.TheLoDownNY.com! Check out their article about the Tung Woo Co. by clicking on this image.

Maple and Soy-Glazed Tofu & Veggies

For the glaze
· 1.5 cup chicken broth
· 4 tablespoons maple syrup
· 3 tablespoon soy sauce
· 1 tablespoon lemon juice
· 1 thin slice of lemon (if available)
· 3-4 garlic clove, smashed
· salt & pepper
· hot crushed red pepper
· dry basil
· 1 tbs. chunky peanut butter

For the tofu
· 1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and patted dry
· 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For the veggies:
· Stir fry various veggies, such as sugar snap peas, broccoli, eggplant, cauliflower, etc. in a little bit of EVOO and water. Add salt, pepper, and 2 cloves of garlic.

2. Meanwhile, in a skillet, combine the broth, syrup, cider, soy sauce, lemon juice, and garlic. Boil for 5 minutes, then whisk in the cornstarch and cook, whisking constantly, until the glaze thickens, about 1 to 2 minutes more. Set aside.
3. Slice the tofu into 1/2-inch-thick slabs. Then use a knife or a cookie cutter to create cubes or playful shapes. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and sear until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes a side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

And did I mention that the tofu at the Tong Woo Co. on Grand Street is by far the best I have ever had? The owner is also extremely friendly. Do not hesitate to strike up a conversation with this fascinating woman. Enjoy the recipe!

–David Schlenker

Searching for a recipe for your Shabbos meal? You can call your bubbe — but if that fails, we’re here to provide your weekly fix. On tap this week is a garlicky summer gazpacho and a sweet sangria for all of your ceremonial needs.

Garlicky Summer Gazpacho

Garlic, the favored seasoning of Jewish cooks worldwide, provides a spicy kick to this summer soup. Easy to make and serve, this promises to be a hit at your Sabbath table.

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle tomato juice
• 5 cloves garlic
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 large cucumber
• half a bunch parsley
• half a bunch chives
• black pepper and salt to taste

Roughly dice vegetables. Add all solids to blender with tomato juice to cover. Blend until desired smoothness is reached. Add salt and pepper to taste. Voila! A first course that takes no heat and just 5 minutes to prepare.

Summer Sangria

Tired of the same old Manischewitz kiddush wine? Try this sweet sangria as a fresh alternative. With a heady mix of fresh fruit and alcohol, your guests will be saying “Amen!”

Ingredients

• 1 bottle red wine
• 1 mango, sliced
• 2 cups of fresh raspberries (or thawed frozen)
• 1 lime, sliced
• 3 oz brandy
• 2 tbsp of superfine sugar
• 1 can club soda

Combine all ingredients except club soda in a pitcher and refrigerate overnight. Before serving, stir in club soda. For an extra treat, freeze a few of the raspberries and use as ice cubes!