Chana Shimoni's kitchen stands on three things: salt, paprika and lots of love. As her son, I was fortunate to be able to enjoy Chana's Hungarian Jewish specialties at each meal. Find Chana's recipes for blintzes, kugels, lecho, gefilte fish, cholent, cabbage and noodles, noodli potato noodles and much more.
My parents were born in Hungary before World War II, and they both remember loving this Cabbage and Noodles dish as children. When they immigrated to Israel as teens, after surviving the horrors of the Holocaust, they brought memories of this dish with them. In time they began to make it in their Israeli home and serve it to their Israeli children. By the time I was born, this dish was a well-established staple in our Hungarian-flavored, Israeli home.
Blintz, which means "pancake" in Ukrainian, is a classic Ashkenazic Jewish food that probably originated in Poland. Blintzes are thin crepe-like pancakes folded around a filling. Cheese blintzes are traditionally served for Shavuot. In this recipe, donated by my mother Chana Shimoni, the blintzes are so delicious that there is no need to fry them after they are filled.
If you want your kids to eat more vegetables, try this cauliflower recipe. Dip the cauliflower in eggs and spices, and then bake in the oven. This low-fat, kosher cauliflower recipe is my children's favorite side dish.
Noodli, also known as Hungarian Potato Noodles, was my favorite dish as a child. Today I make them with my children. My family likes to eat Noodli in the winter at the Sabbath lunch meal.
Throughout my childhood in Israel, my mother served this simple Pashtayda Chuma (Brown Quiche). My siblings and I loved this sweet, cocoa-flavored noodle kugel. I was sure no one could cook better than my mom!
Throughout my childhood in Israel, my mother served this "Pashtayda Levana" (White Quiche) along with tuna fish and lettuce salad. We gobbled this dairy noodle kugel up in no time every time.
My Hungarian father makes this special Sweet and Sour Lettuce Salad, and my pickle-loving daughter gobbles it up. It is gentler than sauerkraut, but also dresses up meat sandwiches or makes a flavorful side dish.
