Straight from the kitchen of a fun, fabulous Jewish mom, Jewish Cooking Boot Camp: The Modern Girl’s Guide to Cooking Like a Jewish Grandmother, By Andrea Marks Carneiro and Roz Marks, is a guide to whipping up traditional favorites for a new generation. Handed down over the centuries, these recipes and tips will take even the most kitchen-challenged gal (or guy) confidently through the Jewish holidays, Shabbats, and other important occasions (like having a significant other’s mother over for dinner).

In addition to more than fifty easy-to-make, scrumptious, traditional (and nontraditional) recipes, Roz and Andrea provide expert tips from Jewish bartenders, nutritionists, and party planners; interviews with rabbis about creating modern family traditions; inspirational traditions from Jewish families around the globe; kosher wine pairings—and much more. Jewish Cooking Boot Camp takes every last ounce of intimidation out of Jewish cooking while serving up a hearty helping of family, culture, and other flavors to savor.

Here is a compilation of recipes gathered over the centuries…good old traditional holiday favorites that always seem to please.  Each chapter provides a little background (and a little fun) for those interested, as well as some inspiration in the form of real-world traditions from families around the globe.   This book isn’t about keeping kosher or following rules, but does aim to inspire you to host your own family holidays. 

You’ll find recipes for Onion Noodle Koogle, Red Wine Brisket, Spinach Cheese Squares, Blintz Souffle, Honey Cake, Passover Nut Cake, and the Best Flourless Latkes You Have Ever Had.

In addition to delicious traditional (and non-traditional) recipes, look for:
* Expert opinions and tips from Jewish bartenders, nutritionists, party planners and more
* Interviews with rabbis about creating modern family traditions
* Fun facts about Jewish food and traditions
* Favorite games and songs
* Fun and inspirational traditions from Jewish families around the globe
* Kosher wine pairings . . . and much more!

When I first received a copy of the new book, Jewish Cooking Bootcamp (published by Three Forks, an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press), I was elated. I love Jewish cooking - from the first bite. Jewish cuisine is first and foremost comfort food to me.  Whenever we travel, we try to scout out any Jewish restaurants (I still miss the Lincoln Del, from Minneapolis). Our daughter loves potatoes - and first had them in latkes. So this book was a gift, for sure, to a happy cook!

Jewish Cooking Boot Camp: The Modern Girl’s Guide to Cooking Like a Jewish Grandmother is an incredible resource - filled with recipes and culture and traditions. 

The recipes can be as simple as the one I've chosen to excerpt below (Cucumber Salad), or as traditional as several kinds of brisket. All throughout, the authors share of themselves - thanking Arlene for the Matzo Brickle for Passover Recipe, or the hilarious story of David's love for the Delicious Classic Cheesecake with an Oreo Cookie Crust. Since I've gotten the book, I've cooked many recipes (some more than once). Truly, it is a treasure.

Out of all the delicious recipes in the book, I've chosen to share a very easy one - Cucumber Salad. Why? Because it is cucumber season, our baskets are overflowing, and the only way that neighbors will take cucumbers is if I share them THIS WAY. Yes, I've gotten many repeat requests for this Cucumber Salad. When you've made a recipe 6 times in a week, you know it is a keeper - both the recipe, and the book!

Cucumber Salad
Serves 8-10
Prep time - 15 minutes
Refrigerate for at least 8 hours

2 c water
1 c distilled white vinegar
1 c sugar
2 T dill weed
5 medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper, chopped

1. Mix the water, vinegar, sugar, and dill in a large container.
2. Place the cucumbers, onion, and red pepper in the liquid mixture.
3. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

* This salad is best if made at least a day ahead of time. The longer it marinates, the better.

SEE? YUM!

We were lucky enough to sit down and talk with co-author Andrea Marks Carneiro. She's a freelance writer and editor based in Miami, Florida. She has worked on-staff at several national and regional magazines and has contributed to national and regional media including WE! Television, "Modern Bride," "Boca Raton" magazine, JuliB.com and Daily Candy.

Aren't we lucky?!

We talked about Jewish culture and cuisine, traditions, family history, and more. Here's what she had to say...

WE: Please tell us about your book, Jewish Cooking Boot Camp...

AMC: Jewish Cooking Boot Camp was designed as a go-to guide for a new generation of Jewish cooks. It was inspired by my friends, who all came to a very sudden realization that they were totally unprepared to host Jewish holidays, and had no idea how to recreate the traditional foods made by our mothers and grandmothers. In addition to recipes, I wanted to update it to create a fun, conversational tone-I tried to answer every question someone might have, from "How do I buy a brisket?" to "What kind of music should I play at my holiday party?" I also wanted to give people a primer on important facts and traditions specific to each holiday and to show them that it's ok to have fun and do things your own way, it doesn't have to be such a serious undertaking.

WE: Jewish culture and cuisine are practically inseparable. Can you please share why/how food is so important in Jewish culture?

AMC: To me, food has always been a huge part of being Jewish. Most of our holidays are based around meals-and specific meals at that. Whenever people found out I was writing the book they would immediately start suggesting recipes and it was funny that the same recipes kept popping up. Brisket, kugel, honeycake, latkes, stuffed cabbage, kasha, etc.. It's a huge part of Jewish culture. I think meals are also a time to really sit down and spend time with friends and family. One of the greatest mitzvahs you can do is to host guests at your table, and I think that the book really embodies that idea-showing your love for family and friends by cooking for them.

WE: In your book, you note that Jewish culture both embraces tradition and welcomes new traditions. Was it fun to explore different Jewish families and their traditions, to share in the book?

AMC: It was amazing! I was constantly calling my parents and my brother and sharing these crazy, funny, creative traditions. It's so much fun because whether you're laughing or crying or simply admiring other people's family traditions, you're always being inspired to create your own. It just shows how it makes holidays so much more special when you add your own family twist. I have a good friend whose mother is Jamaican and they always have rice and peas at their holidays. I love that because it really shows how they took a traditional Jewish meal and sort of gave it their own unique twist. I have another friend whose family is very fun and silly and they do live table theater at Passover, acting out the plagues for the younger kids. They get rubber bugs and fake boils...such a great idea!

WE: Where do your recipes come from?

AMC: The recipes came from everywhere. Most were handed down from my great-grandmother and even great-great-grandmother to my grandma, mom and aunt. My mom has had them for years and years. Like most of the women of their generation my great-grandmother (and even my grandma!) cooked without real recipes, so it's pretty rare to have the collection that we have. My grandmother was really good about trying to write things down, but even now we had to walk through almost every recipe step-by-step to make sure we had everything! You don't even realize that you're just throwing things in here and there. The rest came from friends and extended family.

WE: Can you please share some of your family's cooking history?

AMC: My grandmother came over from Russia in the early 1900s and her mother and grandmother were incredible cooks. It was a whole different generation from mine...they would literally spend hours making kichala and rugelach. They taught my grandmother and she taught my mom and aunt. Our family is very small but our holidays were always completely overflowing with food. I would say probably 50 or 60 percent of the memories I have of spending time with my grandmother revolve around being in the kitchen. Even my mom, who had her own successful career, would always make dinner every night, so even though I didn't really experiment with cooking until I was out of college, it was always a big part of my life.

Andrea Marks Carneiro and Roz Marks

WE: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

AMC: Just that I hope the book inspires people to try to host a holiday on their own and to attempt a little connection to their culture and traditions. It's definitely a scary prospect, but I tried to make it less intimidating and more fun. It doesn't have to be about rules; it's ok to do it your own way. My mom loves to say that two-thirds of being a good cook is having good recipes, so hopefully we can give people that!

WE: Thanks so very much, Andrea! As you can tell, I LOVE THIS BOOK! Congratulations on creating such an excellent resource and an already much-treasured cookbook.
 

Photos and recipe courtesy and copyright of Jewish Cooking Bootcamp.