Modern Jewish Comfort Food: 100 Fresh Recipes for Classic Dishes from Kugel to Kreplach

This cookbook, just like Shannon’s first book, is a clear, accessible, and completely non-fussy guide to making delicious, nurturing, and yes, extremely comforting Jewish classics. My children have devoured everything I’ve made from this book, especially the meatballs and the chicken soup, which are now part of my permanent repertoire. Shannon’s love of Jewish tradition, and of the ways each community and each generation adds its own layer of history and meaning to their tradition, shines through on every page. This is a cookbook that I love to flip through and read and that has taught me a lot.Shannon writes from experience and these recipes truly work. They are the dishes she has made for family and friends for years and that have made her a legend among those who know her and have been lucky enough to sit at her table.

Nice book with a good variety of recipes. I made the Sweet Potato with Sage Knishes, and they came out very nice. I appreciated the clear and detailed directions which helped. Also, what was great was that in the header, the author gives a variation to make the recipe non-dairy which is very important to many people. I made the knishes non-dairy, and it worked very well. Now, here lies the problem: Many of the recipes are dairy with no alternative given. Especially, many of the desserts are dairy, including the Rugeluch, Black and White Cookies and a bunch more. Many include milk and butter. If that isn’t a concern to you, then you will enjoy this book. If you are the type to serve these dishes with a meat meal and are observant, you might get frustrated with the number of recipes you won’t be able to use. I didn’t take a star off for that, because it won’t affect everyone, but it’s important to know. Another error I found, which doesn’t bother me that much, is the yield measurement. For example, the knish recipe lists a yield of 2 dozen mini knishes. It makes considerably less, even according to the directions. It says to divide dough in half and cut each finished piece in about 8 pieces each. That was accurate, because I was able to get 8 and 9 knishes from each, for a total of 17 mini knishes. So, whether you get 16 or 17 knishes out of it, I don’t think that’s close enough to 2 dozen. It doesn’t bother me, because I know I’ll have to make 2 batches if I want more, but it took a trial run to find out.

I purchased this for one of my granddaughters because I enjoy Shannon Sarna's articles on nosher.com. It turns out that this book is a clear and basically easy primer of Jewish comfort food. Now I will order 2 more copies, one for my other granddaughter and one for me. I didn't think I needed another Jewish cookbook but this one really held my interest. Great job Shannon Sarna!

Several folks in my geographically and religiously diverse Jewish family bought copies of this book and we are cooking the recipes together even though we live far apart. The best part is comparing our results on the family chat! So much fun, and I highly suggest this to anyone looking to stay connected and enjoy some Jewish culture. It's delicious and a great way to share a meal even if we're far apart. Sarna's recipes and instructions make it easy, and her warm and authoritative voice shines through. Also the pictures make me drool in anticipation as we go through the book and decide what we will cook next!

They say "if the cookbook has even just one recipe that you like" and you add the recipe to your cooking/baking repertoire, the book was worth the investment.This is a visually pleasing book that contains many interesting recipes.Personally, I use recipes as "inspirations"; I often use a recipe as a base, and then I innovate (my husband says that to me recipes are suggestions :-)The first recipe I was "inspired" by: Mac n Cheese Kugel. I had so much fun adding and adapting to this wonderful base. My daughter and I have already bookmarked other recipes/inspirations to try.

We have purchased all of the cookbooks written by Shannon Sarna. So many fantastic recipes. They’re our ‘go to’ cookbooks for so many delectable things from dinner food to baked goods. Over the years we have changed our original recipes to Shannon’s. This book is no different. I just bought the book and have scanned through it and can’t wait to try some new recipes. It’s great having this book instead of looking on line for recipes. Everything we have made from Shannon’s cookbooks have always been a hit.

Modern Jewish Comfort Food is overflowing with well-written recipes, stories, and gorgeous photos. I was excited to see recipes that were familiar from my childhood but I had never made (knishes, kreplach, stuffed cabbage, and mandel bread), recipes from Mizrahi and Sephardic (Syrian stuffed zucchini and Yemenite chicken soup), and modern twists on classics (shakshuka pizza, Jojo's cakey crunch sweet potato kugel, and fish schnitzel sandwiches). I started working my way through the chapter called "dumplings and pastries" and am very happy with that decision! I know I'm going to be cooking from this book often.

Bought a copy for my daughter in law and each granddaughter. They loved them. Very pretty book with yummy pictures.