What the Kreplah!

Warm steam rises from a shallow bowl full of a rich, yellow broth seeded with orange carrots, green celery, white turnips, and chunks of tender chicken. The smell of rich chicken flavor flows into our noses as my family and I sit at my Aunt Polly’s dinner table during our Rosh Hashanah dinner.

We have always brought in the Jewish New Year with homemade chicken soup and this year was no different. I was honored to make this year’s soup and Kreplah for the celebration and share the whole experience with Brian.  Kreplah is very traditional for this time of year; they are Jewish dumplings or raviolis with a chicken filling.

To ensure a sweet and happy New Year traditionally we have apples and honey for dessert. I like to make Polly’s favorite, apple pie to fill up the sweet apple aspect.

For my family, chicken soup is served at the beginning of our meal during Passover and for the High Holiday. Rosh Hashanah and Yum Kippur (the Jewish High Holidays) are my favorite of all Jewish holidays that my family follows. It is a time of renewal–we apologize to people we may have done wrong over the last year, this way we start the new year with a clean slate. To me this holiday is about doing a self check–am I happy, proud, satisfied with who I am and how I treat the people around me? I then take steps to better myself. The high holidays are a time to reflect on the wonderfulness of life and appreciate what the world offers.

Making chicken soup is something I really love to do. Turning the simple, fresh ingredients from our local market into something that truly shows the beauty and bounty of the season, this is what the holiday is about!

To make the chicken soup I use just about any and every vegetable I can get my hands on. I save the skin of onions and the bottoms of mushrooms to toss into my broth, it all adds flavor, I just don’t use broccoli because it gives a spoiled taste. So my soup always taste just a bit different because I tend to have different vegetables at different times, I feel like it’s a great use for some of the extra parts of food I pay for but don’t always eat. Also it is a wonderful way to add amazing taste into the soup.

I cooked the broth all day with stock vegetables and with two chickens. When the chickens were cooked to a juicy perfect 165F I pulled them out of the broth because I think if you leave them in to cook longer the meat can become tough, mealy, and even dry. But don’t worry! After I picked all the meat off the bones I tossed the bones back in the pot to keep building the flavor of my broth.

While that was simmering I made some pasta dough. Kreplach is usually made with a dense dough with little egg unlike pasta dough that is loaded up with eggs! I just feel more comfortable working with pasta dough so that why I used it. I finely chopped the dark meat from the chicken and sauteed the onion, mushroom, carrot, and added fresh parsley at the end. I folded them into traditional triangles and froze them until I was at Polly’s house ready to reheat the soup.

After being quickly boiled in water, a few small triangles are placed in each blow of soup before being presented to the diner. The kreplah floats along with the chucks of white meat and other vegetables that were cooked in the broth after it was finished. The plump dumpling-like pasta is meant to help keep us full for the next day when we are supposed to fast.

Kreplah Filling (Makes: 2 cup)
1 Tbsp	Olive oil
1/4 cup	Mushrooms, finely diced
1/2 cup	Onion, finely diced
1/2 cup	carrot, finely diced
1 1/2 cup	Dark Meat from chicken, finely diced
1 tsp	Parsley, fresh, chopped
-Heat the olive oil in a small non-stick pan on medium-high heat. -Add all the finally diced vegetables and saute them until they become tender. -Mix in the dark chicken meat and add fresh chopped parsley. -Season with salt and pepper lightly to taste (remember the soup and pasta dough are salted). – Allow the mixture to cool well before forming the Kreplah.
Source: ChefsOnTheRoad.com

Pasta or Kreplah Dough (Feeds: 8 people)
2 cup	All purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
5 ea	Eggs, whole (plus one for egg wash)
3 ea	Egg yolks
1 tsp	Salt
-Combine the flour and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the eggs and mix. Knead dough for 5 minutes until elastic. -Cover dough with a towel and allow it to rest on the counter for 30 minutes. -Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, lightly dust each side of dough with flour and roll out through pasta machine on the highest setting. -Fold dough in half onto itself and roll through the highest setting one more time. -Continue to flour dough as needed, slowly decreasing the setting on the pasta machine and rolling through each time until the desired thickness is reached. -Cut sheets of thin dough into 2×2 squares, and store to the side until enough dough is rolled out and you can start to fill them. -To Make: -Egg wash half of the dough square lightly. -Spoon about a 1/2 Tbsp of filling into the center and fold into a triangle. -Lay flat on plate or cutting board and place in freezer until frozen, then they can be bagged and frozen for up to three months. -Boil a few kreplah at a time in salted water until tender and place at the bottom of soup bowl, then cover with chicken soup and serve.
Source: ChefsOnTheRoad.com

Apple Pie

In addition to making soup I also got to made my Aunt’s favorite holiday treat; apple pie! I used a homemade crust–this is what makes the pie for me! I realized while working in New York City that this is my favorite part of the pie. The slightly salty, very buttery flavors are just dreamy with the crunchy, crumbly tender crust. A good filling is always welcomed, too!

For apple pie I like to use tart apples.  The crispness provides a great texture and the lightly sour taste is a nice contrast from the sweetness. I sliced the apples very thinly and mixed them with brown sugar, regular sugar, a bit of lemon juice and flour, and some cinnamon.  I like to let the mixture sit for a while to allow the flavors to combine.

When making apple pie I also love to add a little bit of apple sauce into the filling which gives a little bit of a smooth texture. This is a trick I learned while I worked at The Modern in New York. I also learned that after the filling is poured into the pie shell, add about a quarter cup of heavy cream. This really adds a special flavor and creaminess to the pie.

Like all things in my family, the whole day  really revolves around food.  Ah, and such good food it is! My Mom calls chicken soup with kreplah “traditional Jewish penicillin” and having a chance to make the soup is a treat for me, and such an important part of our New Year’s celebration. For me to be entrusted with the task of making the kreplah, since it was my first time, was exciting.

Helping to nourish the souls of those I love through soulful chicken soup and pie, what could be better? This is what this time of year is all about; enjoying life! This was a wonderful New Year’s celebration for me and I hope next year will be sweet and happy and full of good food and great travels.