Joan Nathans Classic Israeli Schnitzel Recipes

KREPLACH I

Steps:

• Season the meat with salt and pepper, rub with the garlic.
• Place in a heavy pot and surround with the carrot, celery and 1 onion.
• Cook covered for about one hour or until there is almost no liquid.
• Add water to cover and simmer for 1- 1/2 hours.
• While the meat is cooking, slice the remaining 2 onions and saute slowly in oil until brown.
• Remove the meat from heat and let cool.
• Drain and coarsely grind with all the onions, adding a little broth from the meat if needed to make it moist enough to handle.
• Dough: Mix the oil, salt and water in a bowl.
• Gradually stir in the flour until a medium soft dough is formed.
• Place on a floured board.
• Knead until the dough is smooth and soft.
• A food processor will work fine for this.
• Cut the dough into 3 portions.
• Roll each piece into a rectangle about 1/8- inch thick.
• Cut into 2- inch squares.
• Fill each square with about 1 teaspoon of the meat mixture.
• Dipping your hands in flour, fold over into a triangle, and then crimp closed.
• Join the two ends together like a little ring, as with tortellini or wontons.
• Repeat with the rest of the dough.
• If you like, you can freeze the kreplach at this point.
• Place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.
• Transfer to plastic freezer bags.
• Otherwise, refrigerate until ready to use.
• To cook the kreplach, bring about 10 cups of water to a boil in a big pot.
• Add salt and about 20 kreplach at a time.
• When the kreplach have risen to the top, cook for another 5 minutes (al dente).
• Remove with a strainer into a bowl filled with chicken soup.

POLISH APPLE & CARROT TZIMMES (PASSOVER)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 2 1/2 quart casserole.
• Place the carrots in a saucepan, add about 1/2 cup water and cook, about 5 to 8 minutes, until tender. Add apples for last 5 minutes of cooking time. Drain and turn the carrots, apples and onions into the casserole. Add the raisins, sugar or honey, salt and pepper.
• Mix the orange juice and potato starch in a small bowl until smooth. Pour over the carrot-apple mixture. Sprinkle with the oil and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

PENGUIN BUFFET'S CLASSIC ISRAELI SCHNITZEL

Steps:

• 1. Place one cutlet at a time inside a large plastic bag. With a meat mallet, pound the turkey or chicken slice as thin as possible and season well with salt and pepper.
• 2. Spread the flour on a flat plate. Break the eggs into a pie plate and beat well. Put the bread crumbs on a third plate.
• 3. Pour the oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of 1 inch and heat over a medium flame until almost smoking.
• 4. Dip each turkey or chicken breast in flour, then in egg, and then in bread crumbs.
• 5. Fry the schnitzels for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
• 6. Drain the schnitzels on a plate lined with paper towel. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
• NOTE: You can also bake the breaded schnitzels in a 350-degree oven for a few minutes ahead of time. Then, just before serving, deep-fry quickly to crisp the outside.
• • This dish, a variation on veal schnitzel from Central Europe, is a classic example of the transformations common in Israeli cooking. Before Israel's swamps were drained in the 1950s to irrigate the desert, there was not enough grassland to pasture cows. Thus the first Central European Jewish settlers adapted one of their native dishes to use turkey meat, more easily raised in desert conditions. Subsequent immigrants have added twists from their own backgrounds, such as Yemeni Jews adding the Middle Eastern spice blend hawayij.

JOAN NATHAN'S CLASSIC ISRAELI SCHNITZEL

Steps:

• Place one cutlet at a time inside a large plastic bag. With a meat mallet, pound the turkey or chicken slice as thin as possible and season well with salt and pepper.
• Spread the flour on a flat plate. Break the eggs into a pie plate and beat well. Put the bread crumbs on a third plate.
• Pour the oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of 1 inch and heat over a medium flame until almost smoking.
• Dip each turkey or chicken breast in flour, then in egg, and then in bread crumbs.
• Fry the schnitzels for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Drain the schnitzels on a plate lined with paper towel. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.