Jewish Holiday Features Hearty Harvest Menu

Many of the Succot customs center around food. Celebrated by Jews for eight days, the holiday begins this year at sunset on Friday and is referred to as the Jewish thanksgiving.

During the holiday, it is traditional to build a succah, a small booth or hut that resembles the temporary shelters of harvest workers in ancient times. The roof is covered with leaves and branches and the inside is adorned with fruit, flowers and bunches of grapes. Usually all meals for the eight days of Succot are eaten in the succah.

It also is part of the tradition to serve a variety of steaming casseroles, because foods are usually not prepared in the succah and piping hot food must be carried from the main house to the temporary one. Casseroles are a perfect choice; they can be prepared in advance and reheated and will stay hot while being transported from oven to table.

Another Succot custom is the serving of stuffed foods--kreplach, blintzes, cabbage, peppers and other vegetables--stuffed with meat or grains. These dishes too lend themselves to casseroles.

A hearty harvest stew served inside of a large pumpkin would make a great addition to a menu. Other favorite casserole recipes contain fruits, root vegetables and grains that are available from the autumn harvest.

Lemon-flavored desserts are always welcome and refreshing. The lemon cake recipe following uses generous quantities of both fresh lemon juice and peel and is appropriate for the holiday, since lemons are in the same family as the esrog , or citron, which is part of the Succot observance.

Another dessert recipe using lemons is a casserole--a new, lighter version of kugel.

SUCCOT MENU Harvest Stew in Pumpkin Sweet and Sour Stuffed Cabbage Rice and Fruit Stuffed Peppers Succot Lemon Cake Dessert Noodle Kugel HARVEST STEW IN PUMPKIN

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds lean boneless beef, cubed

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

3 potatoes, peeled and diced

2 parsnips, peeled and sliced

1 large rutabaga, peeled and diced

2 turnips, peeled and diced

2 small cabbages, shredded

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup dry red wine

1 bay leaf

Salt, pepper

1 (7- or 8-pound) pumpkin

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet and saute onions and garlic until tender. Add beef, stirring and turning pieces often to brown evenly. Add carrots, sweet potato, potatoes, parsnips, rutabaga, turnips and cabbage to pan and saute until vegetables are tender-crisp. Add tomatoes, broth, wine and bay leaf. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 1 hour.

Cut off top of pumpkin and scoop out seeds reserving them to toast and serve as snack. Brush pumpkin on inside with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle meat mixture into pumpkin shell.

Place filled pumpkin on baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees 1 hour or until meat and pumpkin are tender. To serve, place pumpkin on large platter and scoop out some of pumpkin with each helping of stew. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

SWEET AND SOUR STUFFED CABBAGE

2 medium heads of cabbage

2 pounds ground veal, beef or turkey

1/4 cup grated onions

6 tablespoons minced garlic

1 potato, peeled and grated

1/4 cup rice

2 eggs

Salt, pepper

1/4 cup oil

2 onions, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

Juice of 2 lemons

Remove core from each cabbage. Steam cabbage in large saucepan over simmering water until tender enough to separate leaves and fold without tearing.

Combine meat, grated onions, 3 tablespoons minced garlic, potato, rice and eggs in large bowl and blend well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat oil in large heat-proof pot and saute chopped onions, remaining 3 tablespoons minced garlic, celery and green pepper until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, brown sugar and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Additional brown sugar and lemon juice may be added, if desired. Bring to boil and let simmer while preparing cabbage rolls.

Place 1 cabbage leaf on flat surface, shape about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture into ball, place on root end of cabbage leaf. Roll up to enclose filling, envelope-style. Repeat with remaining meat mixture and cabbage leaves.

Place cabbage rolls close together in tomato sauce. Cover pot, bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, then bake at 350 degrees 30 minutes, until flavors blend. Makes about 10 servings.

RICE AND FRUIT STUFFED PEPPERS

Quick Tomato Sauce

8 large sweet red, green or yellow peppers

1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, chopped

1/3 cup sliced dried prunes

1/3 cup sliced dried apricots

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Salt, pepper

2 cups vegetable stock, chicken broth or water

3 tablespoons pine nuts

Prepare Quick Tomato Sauce and set aside.

Cut off stem ends of peppers, (1/2 inch from top) remove seeds and inner white ribs. Blanch and invert to drain while preparing filling.

Rinse and soak rice in hot water to cover 30 minutes, then drain. Heat oil in skillet and saute onion until tender. Add prunes, apricots, parsley, cinnamon, turmeric, stock and drained rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well. Bring to boil, cover and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stuff peppers with rice mixture and cover with stem ends of peppers. Stand upright in casserole and pour hot tomato sauce around peppers. Cover and bake at 350 degrees 1 hour or until tender, basting occasionally. Makes 8 servings.

Quick Tomato Sauce

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 cup water

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup golden raisins

Salt

Combine tomato sauce, water, lemon juice, brown sugar, raisins and salt to taste in large pot. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Cover and set aside. Makes about 3 cups.

SUCCOT LEMON CAKE

6 eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 3/4 cups sifted flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

Powdered sugar

Beat egg whites in large bowl of electric mixer at medium speed until foamy. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until stiff peaks form when beaters are slowly raised. Set aside.

In small bowl of electric mixer, with same beaters, beat egg yolks at high speed until very thick and lemon-colored. Gradually beat in remaining 1 cup granulated sugar, continue beating until mixture is smooth.

Combine flour and salt and blend into egg-yolk mixture, alternating with lemon juice. Fold in lemon zest. Using wire whisk or rubber spatula, fold yolk mixture gently into egg white mixture.

Pour batter into ungreased 10-inch tube or Kugelhopf pan. Bake at 350 degrees 50 to 55 minutes, until cake springs back when pressed with finger. Invert on wire rack and cool completely. Just before serving sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

DESSERT NOODLE KUGEL

1 (12-ounce) package wide egg noodles

1/4 pound unsalted margarine

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 apples, peeled, cored and diced

1/3 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup golden seedless raisins, plumped in additional orange juice

Salt

Cook noodles in boiling salted water 20 minutes. Drain. Toss in margarine, stirring until margarine melts. Add sugar, eggs, cinnamon, apples, orange and lemon juices, raisins and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly.

Pour into greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees about 1 1/2 hours or until crusty. Serve warm or cold. Makes 12 servings.