A new study claims that comfort food actually does nothing to comfort people, reports New York Magazine. Apparently when it comes to our feelings, all foods are created equal, and the thing that really makes us feel better is… time. (Or rather, the passing of it.)

You know what I say to that? F*&k science. F*&k empirical evidence. I believe in comfort food. Comfort food is the 14th principle of Jewish faith. That distant rolling sound you’re hearing is 500,000 bubbes clutching their pearls in horror, because they know what you need right now: a hot bowl of homemade motherf*&king chicken soup. Not some bullshit “study” suggesting you eat a “neutral” food like a “granola” bar. That granola bar can kish mir in tuchus. I’m making one of these Jewish-y comfort food recipes for dinner tonight. You should too.

1. Dulce de leche Cheesecake for Shavuot (or the late-Fall blues)
2. Joan Nathan’s Chicken Soup
3. Stuffed Cabbage Kugel
4. Spelt Honey Challah
5. Kasha Mac and Cheese
6. Southern Chili Cholent
7. Sufganiyot (Israeli jelly donuts)
8. S’mores Rugelach
9. Shakshuka
10. Chicken Schnitzel

The post New Study: Comfort Food Doesn’t Actually Comfort You appeared first on Jewcy.

Bubbes are magical, and luckily, not mythical, creatures. Long before J.K. Rowling created Bert Bott’s Every Flavor Beans or Butterbeer, bubbes were creating matzoh ball soup to fill your stomach and warm your soul. We might not have lightning bolt scars, but we have kneidlach.

Everyone has their own version of the dish. Some make it with noodles, others like their matzoh balls the size of bowling balls, and then there are those who prefer more vegetables then liquid. Let’s not forget the timeless debate over floaters and sinkers—the question of whether matzoh balls should be fluffy and float above the soup or dense and sink to the bottom of our bowls.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what side of the argument—there’s a reason why Jewish delis may not abide by the traditions of kashrut, but observe the tradition of matzoh balls with the utmost strictness. While it is often served on Passover, the cold winter days are prime matzoh ball soup season.

Growing up, my mom would ask my sister and me each week what we wanted featured on the Shabbat menu, and matzoh ball soup was always on the top of the list. During the winter months, we told our mom that we wanted soup to warm us up. During the summer months, we claimed it was hot outside so we wanted it to be hot inside too. That’s because matzoh ball soup is magic. When you eat it in the winter, it transfers you to a better place, like your bubbe’s kitchen perhaps. So why not become her favorite grandchild and take her and that soup on an exotic vacation—like the Caribbean!

That’s exactly what this recipe does. By adding some traditional Caribbean ingredients like coconut milk and cinnamon, you’ve boarded the plane. This recipe is a play on your bubbe’s traditional soup served Friday night and a pumpkin chicken soup served in Jamaica every Friday afternoon. It has matzoh balls much like the ones you remember eating at the Seder but the ginger and fresh coriander leaves help create a new memory. Instead of just having chicken in your pot, this recipe adds some fresh pumpkin, a handful of spices, and coconut milk in order to create a refreshing new chicken broth.

The flavors in this dish are much more powerful than the traditional bland chicken soup, and show just how much can be done with a timeless classic in the modern kitchen. Caribbean food is big on strong spices that can sometimes be a bit intense for some, the coconut milk not only helps cool down the soup but also provides an interesting flavor not often found in matzoh ball soup. The soup emits a powerful aroma that will fill your kitchen not only with its scent, but with hungry customers.

Not Your Bubbe’s Caribbean Matzoh Ball Soup
Serves about 8

Ingredients:
Spiced Matzoh Ball
1\2 tsp ginger
1\2 cup unpacked cilantro, diced
4 large eggs
1\4 cup seltzer
1 1\2 tsp salt
1\4 tsp black pepper
1 cup matzoh meal

Caribbean Chicken Soup Broth
1\2 tbsp allspice
1\2 tbsp turmeric
1\2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
4 shallots, thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1 1\2 lb pumpkin, cut into bite sized pieces
3 cups coconut milk
5 cups of chicken bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. To make your matzoh balls, whip all your ingredients, except your matzoh meal, together in a medium bowl.

2. Once the ingredients are combined well, add the matzoh meal. Be careful to mix your batter evenly in order to prevent clumps of matzoh meal sticking to the sides.

3. Refrigerate your batter for at least 1 1/2 hours.

4. Once you are ready, boil a medium pot of salted water. After it reaches a soft boil, continue by creating balls out of the batter in the palm of your hand.

I recommend wetting your hands in order to prevent the batter from sticking. The balls should be no bigger than a ping pong ball in order to prevent you from serving your guests beach balls with their soup.

5. Let your matzoh balls cook in the boiling water for about 40 minutes or until they have nearly doubled in size and are floating above the water’s surface.

6. While you wait for the matzoh balls to cook, start preparing your soup. Set a large pot over a medium heat and toast your spices until they become fragrant.

7. Add the shallots and garlic to the pot. Cover the pot and cook them covered until they begin to soften.

8. Add the rest of the soup’s ingredients to the pot and allow your soup to reach a soft simmer.

9. Add your spiced matzoh balls to the pot in order for them to absorb some of the soup’s flavors.

10. Cook your Caribbean chicken soup broth for about 40 minutes, until the pumpkin has softened.

Also try:

Not Your Bubbe’s Tu B’Shevat Seder

Not Your Bubbe’s Downton Abbey Viewing Party

Not Your Bubbe’s Recipe: Almond Olive Oil Cake

The post Not Your Bubbe’s Recipe: Blizzard-Friendly Caribbean Matzoh Ball Soup appeared first on Jewcy.

Rosh Hashanah is over, and it’s time to start acting on your new year’s resolutions. Although you might have decided to stop smoking under the heady influence of too much honey and/or red wine, the time has come to put down your final cigarette, throw out the pack, and start afresh. Of course, as we all know, this is easier said than done. How will you survive the next few weeks? My suggestion: Since every second you are not smoking will feel like a thousand years anyhow, why not look back through the ages for some Jewish motivation? Below are some reasons to quit smoking that draw on our Jewish heritage.

1. Feel close to the suffering of your forefathers. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are all about feeling the sting of sacrifice; as you sit in a semi-catatonic state and contemplate which of your fingers would be most painful to gnaw off (and therefore most distracting from the nicotine cravings), imagine what our forefather Isaac must have felt, about to be sacrificed like a goat. Then imagine you are the goat. See? Life could be worse!

2. Finally be able to sit through a holiday meal. At long last, you will be able to sit from gefilte fish to rugelach, without taking a suspiciously long “bathroom break” in the middle of an interminable holiday meal. However, even quitting smoking does not guarantee that you will be able to sit through another one of your Uncle Morris’ tirades on politics without feeling restless and irritable.

3. Save money. Yes, this plays into a lot of Jewish stereotypes, but our wandering people have certainly required fiscal responsibility to ensure that they would get through the tough times (and there have been a lot of tough times). Protect your wallet like a true member of the Chosen People. Plus, the money you save on cigarettes can buy a lot of kosher pizza and prayer books and things!

4. One less thing to make Yom Kippur torturous. ‘Nuff said.

5. You will no longer smell. Throughout Jewish history, anti-Semites have claimed that Jews smell; one Medieval writer even cautioned that you can “identify the Jew by his reek of garlic,” according to the Wikipedia page on anti-Semitism. While stopping smoking will have no effect on your garlic consumption (and in fact might increase it due to the compensatory munchies), you will no longer make strangers’ noses wrinkle up on the subway, or announce your entrance with an overwhelming stench of smoke.

6. Things will become slightly less awkward with your relatives. At family shivas, for example, your aunts and uncles will no longer glare at you and mutter, “You’ll be next if you keep smoking!” Your mother will stop worrying about your habit, although she will probably find other things to worry about (have you considered announcing your intent to stop smoking at your wedding? Oh, you’re not getting married this year? Why not?)

7. You will suddenly have new reasons to pray. Informal, meditative prayers are a great way to get through the ordeal of quitting smoking; plus, your interior monologue will already sound pretty close to the Book of Job at this point anyhow (“Dear God, help me get through this day without murdering anyone in cold blood.”) (“Dear God, was nicotine another one of your cruel jokes, like this pounding headache?”). When your prayers become indistinguishable from kvetching, rest assured that this is also a Jewish art, one that it definitely serves your interests to perfect. If you are considering joining a minyan to help break up your suddenly smoke-free days, remember to brush up on your pronunciation; it is “shema,” not “shemarlboro,” Yisrael; likewise, “camelluyah” is not the opening to any of the psukei d’zimra.

8. Food will taste and smell better. The Jewish culinary tradition is as vast and wide-ranging as our peripatetic history. Blast your newly sensitive taste buds with some Teimani jachnun or kibbeh, or stick close to Eastern European comfort food like cholent, and the ubiquitous chicken soup. Bonuses of cholent: if you eat enough of it, you will still be emitting clouds of gas like you did when you smoked!

9. Increase your lung capacity. While this is a general health benefit, it will also increase your ability to do all kinds of Jewish things, like blowing shofar (it’s well known that heavy smokers can produce only like three seconds of a tekiah gedola, which hardly counts) and, later on in the year, saying the names of all the sons of Haman in one breath.

10. Better your odds of living to 120. 120 is the age Moses lived to according to the Bible, and “may you live to 120” has been a traditional Jewish blessing ever since. While it’s a long shot for any of us, stopping smoking will certainly increase your chances of arriving at this august milestone; plus, you will live longer in general, and don’t you want to live long enough to spoil/guilt/annoy/smother/dandle/embarrass/tell stories to your many bouncing Jewish grandchildren?

(Image via Shutterstock)

The post 10 Jewish Reasons To Quit Smoking appeared first on Jewcy.