Like my mother, I am a master of disguise in the kitchen. She taught me well how to mask the identity of foods I made faces at when I was a child, just as my kids did at my table. It’s really quite a simple process, and once you get the hang of it, almost any disliked dish can undergo an extreme makeover that will appeal to the most finicky children’s taste buds.
Here’s what you do: Start with a small list (list A) of your kids’ favorites. My boys loved pasta, pizza, matzah balls, noodle and rice kugels, burgers and grilled cheese (pretty universal kids’ stuff). Then make a list (list B) of what turns them off: the usual suspects — dark green anything, squash, mushrooms, cauliflower. Match up items from list B that can be incorporated into foods in list A, so the result is a dish that takes on the persona of list A, the favored foods.
I used to accuse my mother of “cheating,” and my kids used to say “not fair” when such secrets were exposed, but these were little cover-ups about which I never felt guilty.
Golden Moon Matzah Balls? Easy! Just add pureed yellow squash to mixture and a new favorite is born.
Golden Moon Matzah Balls | Serves 8
2 eggs
2 Tbs. melted chicken fat, margarine or vegetable oil
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
1/2 cup pureed cooked butternut squash
1 cup matzah meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
4 quarts chicken broth
In a large bowl, beat eggs with chicken fat and broth until well-blended. Stir in remaining ingredients. Refrigerate about 1 hour.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
With wet hands, gently form matzah balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. (You should have about 28 balls.) Do not make them compact. Slip into boiling water. When they rise to the surface, turn water down to a bare simmer, cover and cook about 35 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Refrigerate if not using in the next hour or so.
Heat chicken broth with matzah balls. Serve soup with three or four matzah balls per person.
Green Rice Stars | Makes about 12
two 10-oz. pkgs. frozen spinach, thawed and excess moisture squeezed out
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 lb. grated mild cheddar cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
4 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch-square baking pan.
In medium bowl combine spinach, rice, 3/4 of the cheddar, cottage cheese and eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool about 10 minutes. Using 2- to 3-inch Star of David cookie-cutters, cut stars from spinach pie.
Louise Fiszer is a Palo Alto cooking teacher, author and the co-author of “Jewish Holiday Cooking.” Her columns alternate with those of Rebecca Ets-Hokin. Questions and recipe ideas can be sent to j. or to [email protected].