In the kitchen with Henny: New York nostalgia

In the summer, I like to get creative with meals, turning them into family projects. We choose a theme to help us create the menu, and one of our favorites is old-time New York-style food. My parents grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, with Guss’ Pickles around the corner, knish vendors down the street, a bakery with authentic bagels, and the ultimate dessert: the black and white cookie. While I grew up in Brooklyn, I often visited my grandmother on Grand Street in Lower Manhattan, where I would nosh on these traditional New York-style foods. Also, many summers were spent in the Catskills, where my first stop in Woodbourne, New York, was always Mom’s Knishes, having been drawn by the heavenly aroma. I can still smell it when I close my eyes... So get creative, get nostalgic, think back to those foods that take you back to wonderful summer memories, and recreate them at home.

New York-style Bagels 

I remember experimenting with bread and bagels during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. My sister-in-law Sara sent a photo to our family WhatsApp group of the gorgeous bagels she made at home. She raved about how easy they were to make and how perfectly delicious they were with their crusty exterior and soft, chewy interior. Inspired, I caught the bagel bug and asked her for the recipe, which I tried immediately. My daughter and husband were ecstatic to have New York-style bagels with their choice of toppings. Now my daughter refuses to eat bagels anywhere else, insisting that mine are the best. Honestly, I find making these bagels easier than running to the store to buy them, and it’s much cheaper too.

Yields 8-10 bagels

Dough:

• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1 kilo (8 cups) sifted flour
• 2 Tbsp. dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 3 cups very warm water

For boiling:

• 16 cups of water in a stockpot
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar

For toppings:

• Onion flakes; poppy seeds; sesame seeds; kosher salt

In a large mixing bowl, add the dough ingredients in the order listed above. Mix with a large spoon or use a mixer with a dough hook attachment. Knead the dough well until it feels stretchy. Grease the bowl with a drop of olive oil, cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap (consult your local rabbi regarding separating the dough), and let it rise for 1.5 to 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F, ideally using the bottom heating element. Fill a wide stockpot with water, add the brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, line a tray with baking paper and sprinkle it with flour. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and divide it into eight equal parts (or 10 for smaller bagels). Roll each piece into a smooth ball; then use your index finger to poke a hole in the center and swirl it around until the hole is about 4-5 cm. (1.5 inches) wide. Place the bagels on the lined tray until the water boils.

Carefully add the bagels to the boiling water, three or four at a time, for three minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and return them to the baking sheet. Sprinkle your desired toppings on the bagels, and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Quick Dill Pickles

I can seriously nosh on pickles any day of the week, especially half-sour garlic dill pickles. As a kid, it was probably the first vegetable I actually enjoyed eating. I would look forward to every Shabbat lunch, when my mother served them. I remember going to the deli with my sister or brother and picking out pickles from a barrel. The man in the store would give us a container or bag, weigh the pickles we picked, and then add delicious pickle juice to keep them fresh. I usually ate one or two on the way home.

Since making aliyah, I’ve searched for pickles that brought back the same flavor as the ones from the big barrel. It wasn’t until my downstairs neighbor, Erika, brought up a jar of her homemade pickles for a Friday night dinner that I found the taste I remembered. One bite, and I was hooked. How did she capture my childhood in a jar? Intrigued, I set out to make my own that Sunday morning. After a few trials and errors, I can confidently say that I finally created that crunchy, perfect recipe, and the pickles are sitting in a jar in my fridge right now.

What’s great about these quick pickles, which we call “quickles,” is that they are ready in a day or two, unlike whole cucumbers, which usually take at least a week.

Yields an 800-900 gr. jar of pickles

• 2 or 3 large cucumbers
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 Tbsp. kosher salt
• ¼ cup vinegar (white or apple cider)
• 2 tsp. whole black peppercorns or 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• Handful of fresh dill leaves

Slice the cucumbers into discs, about 1-2 cm. in thickness, and place them in a jar, packing in as many as you can. Add the garlic cloves, salt, pepper, vinegar, and then some dill leaves. Fill the jar to the top with hot water, seal it tightly, and place it in the back of your fridge, where it’s the coolest. Let it sit for at least 24 hours, but know it gets better with age. I usually make them Thursday night or Friday morning, and they are ready to serve with Shabbat lunch.

Kasha Knishes

Kasha, or kosemet in Hebrew, is buckwheat. It has a very Jewish feel to it as it originated in Russia and Eastern Europe. Traditionally used as a porridge and added to pasta dishes like kasha varnishkes (kasha and pasta bow ties), kasha is also famous for being a hearty and delicious knish filling. Kasha has a nutty flavor and contains essential minerals like iron and magnesium. These knishes make a delicious addition to any meal. While you can use ready-made pastry dough, I recommend using the simple dough recipe below for the best results.

Yields 2 dozen mini knishes

Dough:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. white vinegar
• 1/3 cup oil (vegetable or olive)
• ½ cup warm water

Kasha filling:

• 3 potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil 
• 2 onions, diced
• ½ cup kasha 
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• Egg for egg wash

Mix the dry dough ingredients together, and then add the egg, water, oil, and vinegar. Mix well until the dough forms. Cover the dough and refrigerate for an hour to 90 minutes. Boil and mash the potatoes, and set them aside. Sauté the onions in olive oil until soft and translucent. In a small pot, add 2 tsp. olive oil, the kasha, and 1 cup of water. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 18 minutes until soft.  Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F) and line a baking sheet with baking paper. On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it’s thin and smooth. Use a large, round cookie cutter, about 9-10 cm. in diameter, to cut circles in the dough. Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each circle, leaving the edges empty. Bring up the dough around the filling, and pinch the ends together, forming a round dumpling. Place the knishes on the baking sheet, and repeat until all the dough and filling are used. Brush the knish dough with an egg wash before placing them in the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Black and White cookies

I remember walking past the bakery and seeing large black and white cookies calling to me from the window. Soft and cake-like cookies with sweet white and chocolate glaze on top. Cookies that made me question whether I liked the white or chocolate better. Those cookies were a staple in every New York kosher bakery. Years ago, when I was craving them, my friend Ilana Epstein, who wrote the recipe for The Jerusalem Post in 2000, shared her perfect replica of the black and white cookie recipe with me. With her permission, I’m sharing it with you again, with some minor tweaks – plus a gluten-free version.

Yields 2 dozen medium-sized cookies 

• 1½ cup sugar
• 1 cup vegan butter (I used nutrina)
• 4 eggs 
• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 4¾ cups flour (gluten-free option)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

White icing:

• 4 cup icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup hot water
• 3 Tbsp. oil
• 4 drops of lemon juice

Chocolate icing:

• 3 cup icing sugar
• ¾ cup cocoa
• ½ cup hot water
• 3 Tbsp. oil

Preheat oven to 170C/350F.

Combine the sugar and butter and mix until fluffy. Add the eggs, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract, and lemon. Use a mixer on medium speed until smooth, and then combine dry ingredients – add about a cup at a time while mixing, and blend well until the batter is smooth.

Use a large spoon or an ice cream scooper to drop spoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. To check their readiness, touch the tops of the cookies to see if they bounce back; if they sink in, let them bake a bit more. Carefully place them on a cookie rack to cool.

Gluten-free option: 

Use a gluten-free flour substitute that has xanthan gum in it or add in ¼ tsp of xanthan gum.

For the icing: After the cookies have cooled, prepare the white icing by mixing the icing ingredients in a bowl. If the mixture is too runny, add more sugar. To catch any drippings, place a sheet of baking paper under the cookie racks. Spread the white icing over half of each cookie and let it dry. 

Next, prepare the chocolate icing in a separate bowl, and ice the other half of the cookie. Allow the icing to harden completely before storing the cookies.

I HOPE you enjoyed my walk down memory lane and feel inspired to take your own trip back in time. Summer is the perfect season to get creative with meals, especially if you have kids at home. Cooking together can be a fun and educational way for them to become more confident and efficient in the kitchen. I’ll be busy cooking and baking with kids in my kitchen camp this summer, and I look forward to encouraging their culinary creativity!

Henny is a kitchen coach who teaches women how to plan meals and cook so they can get dinner on the table and prepare for Shabbat and holidays on time. To book her for one-on-one coaching or an event: www.inthekitchenwithhenny.com