Traditional menu of Yom Kippur classics

Monday, Yom Kippur, is a day of fasting on the Jewish calendar. In keeping with the fact that this is the holiest of holy days, I have chosen to serve my family a traditional menu of our favorite classic foods before the fasting.

Being a modern cook, I have added a few of my own updated touches, but not too many. My goals are simple. I want to serve food that is hearty enough to last through the sundown-to-sundown fasting period, and it must be food that is not too salty or overspiced, so that thirst won’t become a problem or taste buds be overly stimulated.

Since the meal must be served early, most of it will be prepared in advance. About one hour before dinner, the chicken and kugel can be placed in a 375-degree oven. If the oven is small, the kugel can be baked earlier and reheated, or the chicken can be heated on the top burner.

The chicken broth, an all-time favorite, is heavy in rich chicken flavor and very light in salt. The Kreplach, oldest of all the stuffed doughs, is filled with kasha, or buckwheat groats, instead of the usual spicier ground meat.

A noodle and apple kugel supplies the necessary starch, and vegetables form a colorful garnish for the chicken--tiny onions, potatoes, carrots and mushrooms are roasted with the chicken.

For dessert, an aromatic classic honey cake, combined with bananas for a different flavor, is rich enough to make up for 24 hours of abstinence from sweets--or from any food at all, for that matter.

I’m including two interesting variations of the recipes in my holiday menu. In the first, the original apple kugel recipe can be transformed into a light-as-air Kugel Souffle. To do this, separate the eggs and fold in beaten egg whites at the end.

The other recipe turns classic chicken broth into a velvety vegetable soup via the blender or food processor.

If you fast, I offer encouragement; it’s not easy. But remember, these days a lot of people do it for healthful reasons, even when there’s no holiday involved.

GALA CHOPPED LIVER

2 onions, sliced

1/4 cup oil

2 pounds chicken livers

4 large mushrooms, sliced

1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

2 tablespoons brandy or Cognac

2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled

Salt, pepper

Wine Aspic

Saute onions in oil until lightly browned. Add livers, mushrooms and apple and saute, turning livers until brown on both sides. Do not overcook. Add brandy and simmer 5 minutes. Coarsely grind or chop liver mixture and eggs together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Line mold with wax paper or parchment paper and spoon in liver mixture. Cover and refrigerate. Serve with Wine Aspic. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Wine Aspic

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup wine vinegar

1 1/2 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate

1 1/2 cups Concord grape wine

2 teaspoons gelatin

Dissolve sugar in water. Cook rapidly until sugar becomes caramel color. In saucepan, heat vinegar, orange juice concentrate and 1 1/4 cups wine. Add to sugar mixture and blend. Simmer 5 minutes.

Soften gelatin in remaining 1/4 cup wine. Add to hot mixture and stir until dissolved. Pour into 8-inch square pan and chill until set.

CLASSIC CHICKEN SOUP

5 pounds whole chicken or chicken or turkey parts

3 onions, peeled and diced

5 stalks celery, with tops, sliced

16 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 to 4 large parsnips, peeled and sliced

8 sprigs parsley

Salt, pepper

Kreplach

Place chicken in large Dutch oven. Add water to cover and onions. Bring to boil. With large spoon, skim off fat that rises to top. Add celery, carrots, parsnips and parsley. Cover partially and simmer 1 hour. Uncover and simmer 30 minutes.

With slotted spoon, remove chicken and bones from soup. Remove meat from bones and return to soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool, then refrigerate.

When ready to serve, remove fat that hardens on top. Bring to boil, then simmer. Add Kreplach. Ladle into soup bowls with Kreplach. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Kreplach

Flour

2 eggs

Dash salt

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon olive oil

Filling

Combine 2 cups flour, eggs, salt, water and olive oil in bowl. Mix to form firm dough. Knead until smooth and satiny. Cover and let rest 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 parts. Cover 1 part and roll out other part on floured board 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into 3-inch squares.

Place 1 tablespoon Filling onto center of each square. Fold into triangle and seal. Place on towels. Repeat with remaining dough.

Drop Kreplach, 8 to 10 at a time, into boiling salted water. Simmer until Kreplach float to top. Remove with slotted spoon, then drain. Repeat until all are done.

Filling

1 cup kasha (buckwheat groats)

1 egg

2 cups boiling water or chicken stock

Salt

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms

1 bunch spinach, washed, blanched, drained and chopped

Pepper

Place kasha in heavy skillet. Add egg and cook until grains are separated and dry, stirring constantly. Add water and 2 teaspoons salt. Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet and saute onion until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and spinach. Simmer until liquid evaporates. Add cooked kasha and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well. Cool.

BLENDER CHICKEN SOUP WITH PARSLEY PESTO

Classic Chicken Soup

Parsley Pesto Sauce

Remove all chopped pieces of celery, carrots, parsnips and onions from soup. Place in food processor or blender. Puree, adding a few tablespoons soup. Pour into saucepan. Add additional chicken soup to thin to desired consistency. Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls and top with Parsley Pesto Sauce.

Parsley Pesto Sauce

1 cup parsley leaves without stems, tightly packed

1/2 cup basil leaves, tightly packed

2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts

1 to 2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

Dash sugar

Salt, pepper

In bowl of food processor or blender, combine parsley, basil, pine nuts and garlic. With motor running, slowly pour in olive oil in thin stream. Add sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Makes about 1 1/2 cups sauce.

OLD-FASHIONED ROAST CHICKEN

2 onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 green pepper, stem removed, seeded and diced

1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup oil

2 (3-pound) chickens, cut up

12 mushrooms, quartered

1/4 cup minced parsley

1 head garlic, separated into cloves and left unpeeled

1 tablespoon dried rosemary or thyme

Salt, pepper

Place onions, minced garlic, carrots, green pepper and undrained canned tomatoes in large roasting pan. Bring to boil, then add wine and simmer 5 minutes.

In large skillet, heat oil. Quickly brown chicken pieces on both sides to seal in juices. Place over onion mixture and baste with sauce. Add mushrooms, parsley, unpeeled garlic and rosemary and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bake, covered, at 350 to 375 degrees 1 hour or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Serve with mushrooms and unpeeled garlic cloves. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

APPLE-NOODLE KUGEL

3 cups flat noodles

Salt

1/2 cup melted margarine or oil

1 cup chopped apples

1/2 cup plumped raisins

3 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon sugar, optional

Cinnamon-sugar

Cook noodles in boiling, lightly salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain into large bowl. Add margarine, apples and raisins. Beat eggs with sugar and add to noodle mixture. Spoon into greased 9- or 10-inch square baking dish. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 375 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until top is brown and crusty. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

HONEY-BANANA CAKE

1 cup sugar

1 cup honey

1 cup oil

1/2 cup mashed banana

3 eggs, separated

1 cup cold black coffee

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Blend sugar, honey, oil and banana in large bowl. Add egg yolks and coffee and blend well.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and beat well.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter. Pour batter into greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees 1 hour or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 12 servings.

Note: This makes a dense, moist cake.