Jewish penicillin - Jiddishe Mama's chicken soup with noodles and matzo balls (kosher, gluten-free)

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Every Jewish mother has their own version of this chicken and noodle soup - the cure-all-ailments-wonder.

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As the long-awaited spring sun finally graced Scandinavia with its rays, we honestly thought the worst was behind us. Temperatures, soaring higher and higher each day lulled us into thinking we'd survived the most critical period without any casualties.

Summer was on its way and with it our happiness could continue as one endless stream of care-free summer days and picnics. 

Oh, how wrong we were.

Only a couple of days after our return from the Champagne cruise the dark clouds started to gather in the horizon. First my throat started acting out, though luckily proving to be a false alarm. But then... then all Hell broke loose. The worst possible scenario came true. My eyes are welling up even as I'm trying to write this. 

Man flu. 

The most fatal of diseases got the best of Gothenburger, a professional soldier; my mean, lean killing machine. Ruthlessly the contraction stripped him bare of his highly honed survival strategies, regressing him to a 3-year-old toddler. 

"Hurts. Feels bad. I think I'm dying."

We were facing a battle not many survive. Fortunately one of us was up for it and knew exactly which guns to bring out. The big ones. A.k.a. Jiddishe Mama's Jewish chicken soup.

This is a soup every Jiddishe Mama and Bubbe (that's Jewish mamas and grandmothers everywhere) has in their recipe arsenal. Also known as Jewish penicillin, generations and generations have come to know its prowess. This soup is proven to cure any ailments life throws one's way, from heartache to flu.

An article published in an American medical journal shows the soup's miraculous healing properties are not entirely without scientific foundation: something in the chicken soup controls the white cells and helps the body fight the infection.

(Can any teenager think of anything more depressing? That even science shows how mothers really know best?)

Perhaps it's the nutrients in the soup? Perhaps it's the warmth that helps alleviate congestion? The hydrating qualities?

Or perhaps it's the key ingredient of any cooking: love?

The Jewish chicken soup is rather well known outside Jewish kitchens as well and I have a feeling many of you, too, will have at least heard of the most exotic element: the matzo balls?

While matzo meal (or the sheets you can grind into meal yourself) might be difficult to come by (sold at least in kosher delis) you can substitute them with water crackers.

(The soup is good and comforting even without the matzo balls and helps its stay gluten-free, too.)

You can also omit the noodles - in that case just use more root veggies. 

Instead of noodles/ spaghetti you can use any kind of pasta you want - the toddler within each patient tends to find teddy bear-shaped pasta particularly healing...

Serves 4-6

Jiddishe Mama's chicken soup - Jewish chicken soup with noodles and matzo balls:

1 whole 2 kg chicken)

about 2,5 l water

2 large carrots (or 3-4 smaller ones)

2 large onions (or 3 smaller ones)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp whole black peppers

3 large garlic cloves (or 4-5 smaller ones)

3 bay leaves

the stalks of a parsley bunch

the stalks of a dill bunch

1 large carrots (or 2 smaller ones)

1/2 of a large leek (or 1 smaller one)

75 g spaghetti or noodles (gluten-free if needed)

remaining herbs

Pat the chicken dry and place in the largets pot you've got. Pour enough water into the pot to cover the chicken by about 10 cm. Bring to simmer.

Roughly chop the carrots and onions. Bruise the garlic with the back of the knife.

Cook the chicken for half an hour, skimming the foam and fat that forms on the top (save 3 tbsp of chicken fat, schmaltz, for the matzo balls).

Once the foam stops forming, add rest of the ingredients into the pot and simmer for further 1,5 hrs.

Transfer the chicken out of the pot and drain the stock through a mesh sieve. Check the taste and season with salt and pepper or chicken stock cube as needed. Prepare the matzo ball mixture at this point. 

To maximize the clarity of the soup, you can cool the stock and then skim the fat layer gathering on the top while the chicken cools. 

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip the skin and remove the meat from the bones. Shred the meat, cut the leek and carrots to match sticks and break the pasta into similar length pieces.

Return the stock into the pot and bring to simmer. Add matzo balls and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Then add pasta/ noodles and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Then add veggies and after another 5 minutes the chicken. Once the chicken's heated through, stir in the remaining herbs. In case too much stock has evaporated during cooking, replenish it with some chicken stock.

Matzo balls (depending on the size makes 20-25 balls):

3 eggs

3 tbsp chicken fat (or vegetable oil)

85 g matzo meal (or finely ground water crackers; gluten-free if needed)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tl onion powder

1/2 tbsp finely chopped dill

1/2 tsp finely rated lemon zest

Blizz the matzo sheets or water crackers in a food processor until fine. Combine with rest of the dry ingredients. 

Lightly beat the eggs and add the fat.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir quickly. Cover and chill for half an hour (this helps shaping the balls).

Roll into small balls of about 2 cm (they double in size when cooked).

Cook in the soup as instructed above.

Another highly potent flu-repeller is also one of my all-time favourite recipes on the blog: my mango, chilli and ginger chicken. 

Are you guys familiar with Jewish chicken soup? Or do you have another trusty go-to-recipe when you're feeling under the weather?

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SHARING IS CARING!

Quick and easy weekday treat: pasta with pea pesto and crunchy bacon

Thirties are apparently the busiest years in anyone's life. And boy, does it feel like that, too. Usually though people my age are also juggling marriages and mortgages and children's football practices too, in addition to everything else. How that is even possible I don't know. I mean, how many hours do they have in their day?

Lately this rush hour of my life has been even more hectic than usual. Last time I got enough sleep was sometime at the beginning of the decade. The bags under my eyes are beginning to reach the point that the airlines will start charging extra for them.  

Even in the sleep-deprived haze I navigate my days in I still need to eat. This recipe is from one of the many, many enticing cook books that have been published this spring, which I have a whole stack to get through...

Serves 2

Pasta with pea pesto and crunchy bacon

170 g bacon

Pea pesto:

200 g frozen peas

1/2 bunch basil

1/2 dl grated Parmesan

1 tbsp oil

2-3 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove

1/2 dl pasta cooking water

Lemon oil:

1/2 dl oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

The zest of a lemon, in thin strips

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

To serve: 1 dl Parmesan shavings

Roast bacon until crisp, either in an oven or in  a pan over moderate heat.

Prepare the pea pesto by blizzing peas, basil leaves, Parmesan, oil, lemon juice and seasoning in a blender or a food processor. Add cooking water from pasta to reach the desired consistency.

This point at latest start cooking the pasta. Combine the ingredients for the lemon oil. 

Add lemon oil into the cooked and drained pasta. Add pea pesto and crumbled up bacon. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and serve.

Any fool-proof weekday dinner life-saving recipes you've come tor rely on?

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SHARING IS CARING!

Ham and pasta salad

The star of Finnish Christmas table is ham. A big ass ham. As a result, by now everyone's so sick of it they'll not want to see one for another year. But in case you're still left with some, this retro salad is a fine way of recycling it into good use. And a cheap and cheerful dish for parties and buffets. And picnics - we're only half a year away from summer!

In my childhood we never had issues with leftover ham: though I'm not much of a ham-eater (unless it comes from a black-hoofed Spaniard, of course...) my consumption during Christmas time got legendarily out of control. By Christmas Day my poor Dad had to cook another one as the first one had mysteriously disappeared into the bottomless stomach of his first-born...

And sure, after the non-stop food orgies that are Christmas you could substitute some of the mayonnaise in the dressing with say, Turkish yogurt, too. 

Serves 4-6, as a part of a buffet up to 10 people

Ham and pasta salad:

200 g pasta (gluten-free if needed)

350 g ham, diced to 1 cm cubes

1 red pepper, diced to 1 cm cubes

200 g peas

200 g corn

Dressing:

2,5 dl mayonnaise

2 tbsp mustard (sweeter variety)

1 bunch chives

1,5 tsp granulated garlic 

salt, pepper to taste

Conbine the ingredients for dressing. Cook pasta according to instructions on the packet. Drain and rinse with cold water. Combine with rest of the ingredients and fold in the dressing. Check the taste and season as needed. Serve. 

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DIY Bissli - Israeli snacks made from deep-fried pasta

ALready in the first days of my latest trip in Israel a fellow traveller pointed out how "Israelis eat all the time". And "when they're not eating, they're talking about food" (no wonder I love the place!). And she had some truth in that: people eat out a lot and restaurants always seem to be full of families and groups of friends.

And between the meals and on the go they snack. Mostly on dreadfully healthy stuff such as nuts and seeds but Israel is also home to two rather peculiar snacks: Bamba and Bissli.

Bamba is insanely popular and makes up at least 25% of the whole snacks market. It's a cheetos-like snack made from puffed up, peanut butter (!) flavourd maize. It is actually so popular at one point I heard claims it was the main source of protein for Israeli children. Its staggering comsumption has also been given as the explanation to rarity of nut allergies in Israel. 

Bissli is my personal favourite and one of those things I just have to have when in the country. It is wheat-based and in essence deep-fried pasta. It comes in different shapes which tell, which flavour they are, the fusilli-shaped one (grill) being the bestseller. In addition to that there is pizza-flavoured Bissli, taco-seasoned Bissli and (it is Israel, after all..) falafel-flavoured Bissli. 

Satisfying your snack craving doesn't get much easier than this - this treat really only requires one ingredient: parboiled pasta. You can adjust the seasoning as you please - for the easiest way out just use ready-made taco or BBQ-seasoning. 

For pasta you can also use both gluten-free or wholemeal pasta. 

Bissli - Israeli snack made of deep-fried pasta:

250 g fusilli (or other pasta of your choice) 

grill seasoning:

1,5 tbsp onion powder

1,5 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp chillipowder

1,5 tsp pimentón (or regular paprika, though pimentón adds nice smokiness)

1,5 tsp ground coriander 

1,5 tsp salt

1,5 tsp ground black pepper

For frying: 1/2 l oil

Cook the pasta for a little more than half of the cooking time given on the package. Drain and spread out onto a tea towel. Leave to dry for 10 minutes. 

Combine the spices for the seasoning, check the taste and adjust if desired. 

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and deep-fry pasta in batches until golden brown. Quickly drain on kitchen towel and toss in the seasoning. Serve or store in an air-tight container. 

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Slow-cooked soy crumb Bolognese and Valdifalco Morellino di Scansano

In case the previous soy recipes there are still people among you who feel skeptic about the virtues of soy-based meat substitutes, I have a sure-fire hit on my hands. Right here, people Da bomb. Just keep reading and you'll soon see what I mean. 

Bolognese, schmolognese, you might say (in case you were drunk and/or fully versed in Yiddish), but stand corrected, that is so not the case. Slow-cooking mellows the flavours and results in  Italian comfort food at its best. This soy Bolognese is as comforting and full of love as Nonna's arms, whose embrace will make even the shittiest week seem like a distant memory. I dare you. Not one of you would ever guess it's vegetarian. Let me repeat that: not a single one. 

Sure, it takes some time for this pot of love to come together, but you know what? That's all it takes. No real work is required as it just cooks away on the stove, all on its own. And in the meanwhile you are free to engage i other acts of love. In the kitchen... or in any other room...!

Serves 4-6

Slow-cooked soy Bolognese:

a couple of tbsp oil
1 celery stick, chopped in small cubes
1 large carrot, chopped in small cubes
1 onion, chopped in small cubes
4 largeish cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1,5 dl red wine
half a bunch of fresh thyme (or 1,5 tbsp dried)
3 bay leaves
4 dl soy crumbs
5 dl veggie stock
2 tins finely chopped crushed tomatos
salt, black pepper

Sauté garlic, celery, onion and carrot in oil over medium heat (lest they burn) until soft and the onion is translucent. Add thyme, bay leaves and red wine. Let it come to boil and then add soy crumbs. Let them soak up the flavours for a couple of minutes and add veggie stock. 

Cover and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Then add tomatos. Stir, season, cover and leave to simmer over gentle heat for 3,5 hours. 

Check the taste and season as needed. Serve.

Either with pasta..

... or keep going and turn it into a vegetarian/ vegan shepherd's pie.

You can use regular mashed potatos as well, but seeing how soy crumbs are so full of nutrients I opted for something equally nutrient and high in fiber and protein: yellow lentils. So, not only is this comforting and meat-free - this is practically super food! That ought to keep you loving long time!

Vegetarian/ vegan shepherd's pie with soy Bolognese:

1 portion of slow-cooked soy Bolognese

Yellow lentil mash:

5 dl yellow lentils

7.5 dl water or vegetable stock

25 g butter

1 egg yolk (for a vegan version use lentils' cooking water instead of butter and yolk)

3/4 tsp granulated garlic

3/4 tsp ground coriander

1,5 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt, white pepper

If you have time, soak the lentils in cold water for 20 minutes as this helps them cook faster.

Boil lentils until done (15-20 minutes) and drain. Puré with the rest of the ingredients, check the taste and season. 

Spoon into an oven-proof dish over the Bolognese layer. 

If you want, you can decorate it with fork (as in over here) or by piping little rosettes (as over here).

Bake at 225°  until golden. Serve.

This is perfect dish for a cozy Sunday lunch, so surely it deserves some wine to go with it, non?

And seeing how this is a celebration of Italian flavours, the wine I chose for this comes from Italy as well. Valdifalco Morellino di Scansano is Tuscan blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. 

Its got some tannins alright, but combined with the Bolognese's sweetness and softness (that's the magic of slow-cooking)  it provides a nice balance to it. 

A good pairing with tomato-based pastas and (vegetarian) stews and herbs such as fresh basil and rosemary are something this wine loves. 

And in case you're still not ready to give soy the go-ahead, try this traditional version with lamb or this homage to my heritage: reindeer herder's pie!

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The joys of working from home: pasta with oven-roasted tomato red pesto

Once upon a time a girl was working from home. You know, a girl that might have absolutely nothing to do with reality, so let's call her... a Food Blogger. Now, a working from home-kind-of-day would have been perfect for something gloriously slow-roasted, but since our Food Blogger was so damn lazy busy, she never quite found it in her the time to go all the way to the shop (across the street).

Sure, a stew of slow-roasted meaty deliciousness might have been a bit tricky since she was also taking part in a Meat-free October (as I said, this story has nothing to do with any actual persons...)

For reasons the Food Blogger's hazy terribly efficient brain full of all sorts of important things couldn't quite remember, she did have a 1,5 kg of tomatos in the fridge. So, instead of a juicy bit of pork neck they found their way into the oven instead. After 4 hours they had dried and aromatized (big on making up her own words, this Food Blogger I see) as their flavours had concentrated (ooh, and fancy cheffy words as well!) 

So, the Food Blogger blizzed them into a pesto. Since our Food Blogger had a bit of an aversion to cheese (again: a totally fictional character!) she went for a Parmesan, a.k.a. dairy-free a.k.a. vegan pesto. And hey presto, a one-ingredient pasta sauce was done!

And then the Food Blogger managed to photograph the food in daylight (oh, the joys of working from home) and lived happily ever after.

(And then George Clooney called, invited himself over for a spot of lunch, fell madly in love with our Food Blogger, begged her to run off to Italy with him and then everybody lived happily ever after. The End.) 

(See, told you. Totally fictional.) 

This yields enough red pesto for 4-5 portions of pasta

Red pesto made of oven-roasted tomatos:

1,5 kg tomatos

3/4 tsp sugar

2 tsp Herbs of Provence

3/4 tsp granulated garlic

salt, black pepper

oil

For the pesto:

1,25 dl oil (left over oil from sun-dried tomatos works brilliantly)

1 large bunch of basil (2 handfuls for the pesto itself, rest for serving)

1/2 dl pine nuts (now with the pumpkin season on you could use pumpkin seeds as well)
1 tsp red wine vinegar

salt, black pepper

Cut the tomatos in half, remove the hard core and place on a baking sheet-lined tray the cut side up. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle the herbs and seasoning on the tomatos. Roast at 100-125° for 3,5-4 hours (depending on your oven). 

Let the tomatos cool down. Reserve 1/3 of the tomatos for serving and cut them into strips. Whizz remaining tomatos with rest of the ingredients, check the taste and season as needed. 

Cook pasta in salted water until done, drain (reserve some of the liquid), stir in pesto and add a bit of cooking liquid if needed to make it runnier.  Fold in tomato strips and rest of the basil leaves. Serve.

PS. Equally good on bread, too!

PPS. The pesto can be made ahead  as it'll keep (covered with a layer of oil) for days.

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Squid and macaroni

Our January was not spent abstaining from alcohol, meat or... well, anything really. See, the simple creatures that we are, we've yet to realize that gluten is the worst poison out there and how eating pasta is pretty much reason to anything that's going on in the world. 

One day I actually saw a headline screaming how "just one portion of alcohol a day might decrease one's life expectancy". Crikey. Gotta love the health and safety lobby for their tireless stupidity efforts. Hey, here's a scientifically proven fact! Every bloody day decreases one's life expectancy!!!

So, what did I do? Decided to combine all my vices (well, not all of them: even the ethnic stores won't stock George Clooney's eyes or Sasha Baron Cohen's smile...) and came up with this dish to feed friends that turned up for dinner a few weeks ago.

Anyone who'e ever read my blog knows I absolutely love all the members of the octopus family. Though I've also come to the confusing realization that my passion is not shared by many. Definitely not by my friends. "Tasteless", "rubbery" and "icky" are just about the nicest descriptions I've heard being used. 

I dare you: try any of these recipes and I think you'll find that doesn't have to be the case. This pasta swiftly became one of my own favourites too. And my friends? Couldn't get enough.

The ideal pasta shape for this would be something small and circular. In the style of the squid rings themselves. Simply because that makes eating easier. And trust me - you'll want to eat this. A lot of this. 

PS. Though an entire kilo of squid might seem like a lot, it isn't. Once it's been thawed and cleaned, you're only going to be left with about 550-600 g. For instructions as to how to clean a squid, click away here!

Serves 4-6

350 gr pasta

1 kg frozen squid, thawed, cleaned and cut into 3 cm rings

a couple of tbsp olive oil

2 large onions

3 large garlic cloves

3 anchovies

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 1/4  dl red wine

4 dl fish stock

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp dried oregano

500 g passata (or finely crushed tomatos)

to serve: 1 handful of fresh parsley, chopped, the finely grated zest of 1 lemon

kourallinen tuoretta persiljaa hienonnettuna, 1 sitruunan kuori raastettuna

Pat the squid dry and fry quickly in batches on the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Set the heads/ tentacles aside for serving. Cook pasta in boiling, salted water for 3 minutes. Drain and keep warm until they go into the sauce to finish cooking.

While waiting for the pasta water to boil, prep the sauce. Peel onion and garlic and slice finely. Sauté in oil until translucent. Add anchovies, tomato paste, oregano and red wine. Stir and cook for a minute or too and then add fish stock and passata. Season, bring to boil and let boil without the lid for about 10 minutes. Then add pasta and squid and continue cooking until they're done - about 10 minutes. Every now and then stir to make sure nothing sticks to the pan. If at this point the bake looks too liquid, continue boiling for a couple of minutes uncovered. 

Check the taste, season as needed and fold in tentacles, chopped parsley and lemon zest. Serve. 

A good wine pairing for this is Planeta Etna Rosso, made of Nerello Mascalese  grape variety grown in the vulcanic land at the foot of Mt. Etna. It's bright mineralic acidity has proved to be a good match with tomato-based pastas and even seafood - just try this baby octopus recipe cooked in sherry!

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Autumn ravioli

A little while back I got some feedback from one of the readers via blog's Facebook page. Apparently ravioli are a total waste of time. And pelmenis take far too much work, too. I would like to point out that neither of the recipes he'd used were mine...

I couldn't agree less. I genuinely believe that making one's own pasta from the scratch is one of the best things one can do in the kitchen. Well, if one is not seeking culinary inspiration from 9 1/2 weeks, that is...

And once you've got the right tools, it's easy, too. The situation has dramatically improved since the first time I made pasta int he form of these spinach and ricotta-ravioli. Now I've got a digital scale that measures the flour perfectly, a food processor that prepares the dough and to top it all off a pasta machine. And not a carpal tunnel syndrome in sight!

If making pasta sheets form scratch isn't your thing however, you can use fresh lasagne sheets. And I've heard store-bought wonton wrappers make for a great shortcut too!

And to make things even more convenient, apples, sage and mushrooms were all courtesy of my colleagues' harvest. Oh, I'm spoiled. Instead of good pork sausages you can use ground pork too in which case you might need a bit more fennel and sage. Though, if your sausages are very strong, you might not need to add them at all. Owing to the fattiness of the sausage meat the ground pork version tends to be a bit drier.

For pasta recipe please see here. I made mine with 300 g of flour, but the eggs I used were smaller, so in addition to the 3 eggs I also used an extra yolk. Just listen to the dough, it will tell you if it's too dry and needs more eggs. I used am 8-centimetre diameter glass and got 32 ravioli.

Knead the dough so it's smooth and elastic, wrap in cling film and let rest in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

300 g good pork sausages (without the casing) or ground pork
200 g wild mushrooms 
1 large shallot
7 sage leaves (finely chopped a little under 3 tsp)
1 apple, peeled, cored and cubed (100 gr)
1,5 tsp fennel seeds, gently toasted and ground
salt, black pepper
pinch of nutmeg (or allspice)

Fry mushrooms on a hot, dry pan until the moisture has evaporated and they start getting a bit of colour. Toss in a small knob of butter and move aside. Leave half for serving and roughly chop the rest.

Peel, core and dice the apple to small cubes. Fry in a bit of butter until golden and move aside. 

Peel and finely chop the onion. Sauté in a bit of butter. Add into the pan the pork and brown. Then add fennel, sage and rest of the ingredients. Check the taste and season as needed. Let cool.

Divide the ravioli dough in 4 and keep remaining segments covered while working on one. Run it through the pastamachine using the biggest setting (mine was 7 according to instructions of the machine (mine suggest repeating this 5-6 times). Lightly dust with flour between each round if needed. Then turn the dial don a notch, run the dough through and turn it down again. Repeat until you've got the right thickness (I finished after setting no 2). Spoon the filling ( a little less than 1 tbsp) on the sheet leaving enough space in between. Repeat halfway up the sheet. Brush the edges and space between the filling with water or leftover eggwhite and fold the other half on top of the filling. Pinch the dough firmly around the filling making sure there's no air and cut into desired shapes. Place on a gently floured surface and cover with tea towel until all the ravioli are done and ready to go into the pot.

Depending in the texture (and flour content) you can work the leftover pasta dough into one more sheet. Not for a third round though as the dough starts to get too dry by then. 

Bring a big pot of salted water to boil and cook ravioli until done (about 3 minutes). Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and serve with the remaining mushrooms. And some toasted pine nuts should you have some. Perhaps with some browned sage and garlic-butter, too..?

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