No Business For A Nice Jewish Boy

My mother was a typical orthodox Roumanian Jewish lady. She baked her own bread, made chicken and chicken soup for Friday and blessed the candles. Passover dinner was a traumatic experience - waiting for my father to finish the four questions and the prayers while we all starved to death. We dipped our fingers in the wine and tasted, and by the time my father was finished, some of us were tipsy. And someone always got spanked.

When I was playing ball in high school, spending my weekends ont the field (defaming the Sabbath), coming home dirty and bedraggled, the neighbors weren't so tolerant. Their gossiping was always the same. "The Greenbergs are such a nice family. It's a shame one of them had to be such a bum."

Beef Stew Mamilige

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds stewing beef, cut in large pieces
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
3 medium onions, chopped
2 leeks, cut up (white part only)
2 tablespoons oil or other fat
3 cloves garlic, put through garlic press
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 ounces brandy
2 cans beef broth
1 cup Burgundy wine
2 carrots, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Season meat with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven or heavy pan, sauté chopped onions and leeks in 2 tablespoons oil until onions are golden brown. Add seasoned meat, crushed garlic, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon thyme. Add brandy and set aflame. Spoon until flame subsides. Add beef broth, Burgundy wine and carrots. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer meat and allow to cook until meat is tender (about 2 hours). Correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with mamilige.

MAMILIGE

4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups cornmeal
4 tablespoons margarine

Bring water to boil. Add salt. Add cornmeal slowly, stirring constantly. Reduce heat. Cook, stirring until mixture thickens. Add margarine. Continue to cook until mixture leaves sides of pan. Stir occasionally during cooking. Turn out on a platter. Serve with gravy from stew.

Serves 6