Thursday 14 March 2013

The Final Chremslach!

So delicious.
And what do you give your lovely Jewish veggie husband for a haimishe  treat ?
No not steaks or rich sea-food stews. But Chremslach – those deliciously golden, crisp matzo-meal pancakes gently fried in olive oil. He likes them with a pickled cucumber and brown sauce on the side but some like them sweet with the crunch of sugar and a squeeze of lemon for a fabulous treat.
The recipe is simple and flexible and means you can use up odd ends in packets of matzo meal or as I have done in the past, for Pesach to make them more interesting add grated ginger, chopped fresh coriander and chopped chilli according to your personal taste. They are also luscious with a generous portion of grated cheese added to the mix – veggie of course.
And if you are worried about your hair you will be scented with the smell of frying – not too romantic – wear old clothes and tie a scarf over your hair. Welcome!  You now look like your bubba! So don’t look in a mirror or open the door. I promise the results are worth it.       
                                                         Chremslach 
½ packet approximately 135 g medium matzo meal
3 free range organic eggs
375 ml milk
1-2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil to fry

'Okay so it's nearly Pesach so we're going to make a few more.'

 In a largish bowl combine all the ingredients and leave to stand to allow the matzo meal to swell.
Now add a dash of water, just enough to make a thick batter.
'Eggs, did someone say my favourite word.'

You cannot be totally accurate as the chremslach will always be different depending on the type of matzo meal used and the type of milk/water used. But embrace this as this is part of their charm. This time they were exceptionally thick and puffy but totally delicious.
Now pour a little olive oil into a frying pan and heat until hot but not smoking. Ladle the mixture into the pan allowing a space for them to expand slightly.

The smell will be glorious. When the mixture looks set, after about 3 minutes flip them over gently with a knife and fork and cook the other side.

Drain them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil and serve hot or reheat either in the oven or in the microwave.        
Enjoy folks and spoil your families with these economical delicious treats.    

Monday 4 March 2013

New Girls On The Blog.

We’ve talked about it for months and now it’s happening – Sarah Nathan, my darling daughter and the most wizard cake icer in the world and myself Ruth Joseph author of  Warm Bagels and Apple Strudel published by the fabulous Kyle Books have set up their blog at last. Mazeltov!
We intent to chat – well schmooze about the joys of cooking together and our love of veggie food. We plan to tell you when we devise new recipes and the highs and the lows of writing this blog and hopefully there’ll be a few jokes along the way. We are after- all the new girls on the blog. So come with us on our journey talking and cooking veggie food- Sarah loves to bake and her icing talents are renowned, and well her biscuits are fabulous and because we can’t have a house full of biscuits and nothing else, I tend to look at easy main courses that I can pop in the freezer and pull out for my lovely husband Mervyn adapting traditional recipes for lighter, healthier versions. After all I haven’t trained as a nutritionist for nothing. 
We hope you’ll enjoy the fun and always the laughter and maybe try the recipes.