Hungarian cheese salad

Hi all,
It's been a very busy week, no time to breath let alone post.
One of the kids had an outpatient procedure. Another performed at the school play, yet another had a broken heart over a friendship that ended.
Yes I know she is only ten, and her friendships will change as often as the weather, but to her it was earth shattering!!
We tried our best to calm her down, I took her out for ice cream, and we had a heart to heart... nothing like mommy time. She has b"h calmed down.
Today for lunch I decided to treat her and make her favorite salad. Hungarian cheese salad. It warmed her little heart.
And she was all smiles. I hope this simple dish will become a favorite with your family as well.

Hungarian cheese salad
1 lb farmer cheese
1 large sour cream
1/2 purple onion diced in small
1 t Hungarian red paprika

Mix well together all the ingredients. Dieters tip: instead of sour cream I add milk to get the creamy texture, almost as good as the original!

Homemade chocolate fudge balls!

As soon as I saw this recipe on www.overtimecook.com I knew no matter how busy I am, or on what meshugane diet I'm on, I HAVE to make it!
Since I am a huge fan of chocolate, and keep cholov yisroel, every time I see chocolate fudge or toffee, I literally salivate.. yes I have been to Hershey's and oy was it hard. The smell of Chocolate, Chocolate everywhere, and none for me :(
When I heard my friend is making a kiddush this shabbos, I figured why not send this? I Made them into balls, it doesn't look as pretty, as I imagined it will be, but once you bite into them nothing other then gooey chocolate matters....
Not only is it as delicious as she claims, but it ended up being a real adventure, and an expensive one to boot!
By now you are wondering how does a 2 ingredient recipe evolve into such drama? Is she the king of the drama queen???
So here is my story :
In order for me to get the condensed milk, I had to schlepp to the other end of town. I bundled myself and my toddler, coats, boots, hats, scarfs, blankets all winter essentials!
It's a good half hour walk, which was nice and crisp. Thank god I got some air in my lungs. Because once we got to the supermarket my vivacious,mischievous little stinker was thrilled! Shopping with mommy, in a huge supermarket! Here's an opportunity for some exciting action, hu?
Can you guess? We usually do our weekly shopping, at the nearby Mom n pop grocer. He was literally in his very own Hershey park. As soon as he figured out that he can snatch items off the shelves, when mommy wasn't; looking, he got super busy. He dropped 3 yogurts, and a jar of sour kraut. It exploded all over the floor. Of course we had to pay for it all, and mommy quickly apologized, all flustered & Hence the expensive ingredients ;) and fun adventure!
Was it worthwhile? Oh yes it most definitely was. The taste that this leaves in your mouth, well let's just say it's priceless!!

Homemade Milk Chocolate Fudge

Adapted from overtimecook.com

Ingredients:

1 jar plus 4 oz sweet condensed cream from Bakers Choice,

3 (3.5 ounce) bars milk chocolate

Instructions:

Line an 8 inch square pan with foil and grease it well with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Fill a small pot halfway with water and bring it to a boil.

Choose a heatproof bowl that fits over the pot (double boiler style) and pour the condensed milk into it. Break the chocolate into squares and add it to the bowl. Place the bowl over the boiling water and turn flame to medium-low. Stir frequently until the chocolate and condensed milk are melted together and smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and place in the fridge for a couple of hours until completely set. Remove from pan and cut into small squares (don’t make the squares too big, as the fudge is very rich!). Store in the fridge. Serve cold.

Eggplant dip

I should really put a warning on this: if you make this once, get ready to put it on your weekly shabbos menu.

Being chassidish I have certain traditional foods that I prepare for shabbos every single week.
Challos, gefilte fish, salmon fish, chicken soup, kneidel, lukshen, eggs, cholent, potato kugel and kishke.
These are must haves at our family!
Then I add on whatever I'm in the mood of that week, which is usually different kugels and pies, salads and dips.
When my sefardi neighbor who makes tons of dips every shabbos, brought over some of this dip for me to taste. She winked at me and said, from now on your typical shabbos menu, will have a new addition. Oh how right she was, this has become a family favorite, and if I don't get to make it, I'm in trouble with my crew!
The beauty of this dip is that I use it for a salad dressing as well. Add it to some lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and croutons.
You got yourself the most delicious salad!

2 large eggplants
8 cloves garlic
2 cups lite mayonnaise
1/4 t lemon juice
1/2 t salt
Black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 550,
Line a cookie sheet with silver foil, with a fork puncture the eggplant every inch or two.
Broil for half an hour turn over the eggplant after the first 15 minutes. Or it will burn.
let it cool off and scoop out the insides.
Place in a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend for 3 minutes.

This freezes beautifully, and it keeps in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks.

The famous kugel blade!

I got quiet a few email's, regarding the kugel blade. Which one is it, the one with the tiny holes? The bigger holes? The S shape?
I figured let's clear the air,I will post a picture of this beauty!
Funny enough the first few years that I did kugel, I used the wrong blade, I was always wondering why my potatoes are not all mushed up as it should be, like my mother's kugel.
My mother still laughs from me cuz when I discovered my mistake, I  quickly ran home and started my very first heimishe balabustishe kugel!

Baked pastrami egg rolls

I have this foodie friend Chaye, I think every foodie needs such a buddy!
We share our passion for cooking, baking and anything food related.
It's just not fair that our waists don't agree with our passion :)
We love to check out lots of new restaurants, and try all kinds of different recipes at home.
She is my go to when I need any new and exciting recipes.
I needed something easy and presentable for tonight since I am sending supper to a neighbor. She gave me this recipe, At first when she mentioned egg rolls I was like come on something easier, but then I realized that no deep frying is involved. No hassle and no fat oh Yes it's definitely a winner. Thanks chaye !

1 package whole wheat 6" wraps
Oil for Sauteeing
4 slices pastrami shredded
4 slices smoked Turkey shredded
1 onion diced
2 T duck sauce plus some more to schmear the top
1/2 T  mustard
Saute onion, close flame and add pastrami, turkey, duck sauce and mustard.
Fill each wrap with 1 T mixture roll it up cigar style.
at the edges schmear some duck sauce so it won't open up when it is baking.
Place on a lined cookie sheet, the edges facing down and schmear some duck sauce on top,
Bake at 375 for 40 minutes covered, uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Honey mustard chicken skewer's

This Chanukah at our family party we played a great game.
Musical chairs with a twist, I wrote down on a piece of paper treats that the kids would love to get, and placed one on a chair. When the music stopped whoever got the chair with the note was the winner, we kept on going until all the notes where done.
The notes included some of the following :
You can have 10 minutes extra private time,
you don't need to make your bed one morning,
You can have an extra nosh this shabbos,
You can read a book with totty,
you get to tell mommy what to make for supper one night.

My daughter got to choose supper for tonight .
This is what she asked for.
My kids love love this dish, my husband devours it and I love making it. It takes minutes to prep, and it's seriously delicious!
Tonight while we eat this we will surely remember how much fun we had at the party!
What great memories do you have, of your family Chanukah parties?

Honey mustard chicken skewers:

1 1/2 lb cubed chicken cutlets
3/4 c mayonnaise
1 T honey
1 T mustard
1 c corn flakes crumbs

Combine mayonnaise, honey and mustard, take off a bit for dipping sauce.
Coat the cutlets in the sauce then coat with the corn flakes crumbs,
put it on the skewer sticks, place it on top of a 9x13 foil as pictured above,
bake uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes.
Drizzle remaining sauce and serve.

My overday potato kugel

What's a chasiddishe home without potato kugel for shabbos? Being that I'm a busy balabuste I cook all my food on Thursday. I will be posting a shabbos recipe every Thursday if you have any recipes you would like to see here, just whistle..... leave a comment.

When I was growing up there was no such thing as overnight kugel, let alone overday kugel. The concept wasn't born yet, now a days  who doesn't love it? It's served at every simcha and gathering.
Being that I sometimes work on Thursday's I like to come home to a wonderfully smelling home, mind you so do my kids. Today when we walked in all together after an exhausting day this delicious dish awaited us!
Enjoy and a gut shabbos!!

Recipe:
8 potatoes
6 eggs
1/2 c oil
3/4 T salt
Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 450
I grate the potatoes with my braun food processer, with the special kugel blade
Add the oil, potatoes,salt & pepper
mix by hand ( this is the trick to good kugel,so says my mother)
Pour in a 9x13 pan.
bake @ 450 for one hour, then reset the oven to 300, pour one cup water over kugel  and cover tightly with foil.
Place on top rack, on the lower rack place another 9x13 filled halfway with water.
Let it bake all day or all night.
Bon appetite!