Like the wonderful aroma of treasured family dishes, the memory that comes with it endures! What better time of year to honor treasured recipes from mom  — and grandma — than Mother’s Day!

Joan Jenkins said she has never met anyone more profoundly Jewish in heart and outlook and cooking than her grandma Ray. “My grandma made life more joyful with her meals and aromas and around the table conversations,” Jenkins told The Journal. “Her matzah balls floated in air; her kugels, omelets, baked apples, chopped liver, roast chicken, tzimmes and salads were all that type of deliciousness that only comes from that wonderful intersection of love and artistry.”

She added, “Most of all, I loved her cheese blintzes.”

Cheese Blintzes

3 eggs

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon rind, grated

1 1/2 cup milk

3 Tbsp butter, melted

Optional: 2 Tbsp cognac

In a bowl, lightly mix the 3 eggs. Stir in flour, salt and lemon rind. Add in milk, butter and, if desired, cognac.

Grease a small skillet lightly. Heat over a medium flame.

Pour in just enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Fry until brown, flip and remove from the pan quickly. Pile one on top of another until all are done.

Filling:

Mix all filling ingredients together. Put an overflowing tablespoon of filling in the center of each blintz. Fold over in all directions until the blintzes are rectangular.   

Melt butter in a skillet over medium flame. Sauté the blintzes until they are browned and a little crispy. Serve with sour cream and cherry preserves.

Award-winning chef, author and TV personality Pati Jinich (“Pati’s Mexican Table,” “La Frontera” and “Pati Jinich Explores Panamerica”) said that while her paternal grandmother, Bobe, cooked many wonderful things, nothing beat her Mexican-style gefilte fish

She used to make two kinds of gefilte fish every Friday: white (traditional) and red (a la Veracruzana). 

“The moment you sat down, she made you choose which [one you wanted],” Jinich told The Journal. “Invariably, after you choose, she’d ask, ‘You don’t like the way I make the other one?’”

“She’d barge in, make room on your plate and serve you the kind you hadn’t picked, right next to the one you had chosen,” Jinich continued. “She’d wait for you to taste it and tell her how good the one you hadn’t chosen was; then, she would eat right off your plate.”

The fish mixture, JiInich explained, is the same for both versions. However, the white is refrigerated, covered with the fish stock, which turns gelatinous as it cools, and is served cold. The red is poached in a thick and spiced-up tomato sauce, enriched with capers, green olives and mild pickled peppers and served hot. 

“The Veracruzana sauce is traditionally served over large fish, and its flavors showcase the intermarriage of Spanish and Mexican ingredients that took place throughout the years of Spanish colonization,” she said. “It was through the port of Veracruz that most European immigrants came into Mexico, like my Bobe.”

While Jinich never had a chance to serve her red gefilte fish to her Bobe — she passed away a couple of months ago— she wishes she had. 

“She would have been so proud,” Jinich said. “My gefilte fish will always be for you, Bobe, and just so you know, I always make the red and the white.“

Mexican Style Gefilte Fish

Makes 20 patties 

Fish Patties:

1 lb red snapper fillets no skin or bones

1 lb flounder fillets no skin or bones

1/2 white onion quartered, about 1/2 pound

2 carrots peeled and roughly chopped, about 1/4 pound

3 eggs

1/2 cup matzah meal

2 tsp kosher or sea salt or to taste

1/2 tsp ground white pepper or to taste

Red Sauce:

3 Tbsp safflower or corn oil

1/2 cup white onion chopped

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

3 cups fish broth or water

2 Tbsp ketchup

1 tsp kosher or sea salt or to taste

1/4 tsp ground white pepper or to taste

1 cup manzanilla olives stuffed with pimientos

8 pepperoncini peppers in vinegar brine or more to taste, chiles güeros en escabeche

2 Tbsp capers

Fish patty mixture: Rinse the red snapper and flounder fillets under a thin stream of cool water. Slice into smaller pieces and place in the food processor. Pulse for 5-10 seconds until the fish is finely chopped but hasn’t turned into a paste. Turn fish mixture into a large mixing bowl. Then place the onion, carrots, eggs, matzo meal, salt and white pepper into the same bowl of the food processor. Process until smooth and turn into the fish mixture. Combine thoroughly.

Red sauce: Heat oil in a large cooking pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, and let it cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent. Pour the crushed tomatoes into the pot, stir, and let the mix season and thicken for about 6 minutes. Incorporate 3 cups water, 2 tablespoons ketchup, salt and white pepper. Give it a good stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and bring sauce to a gentle simmer. Continue to simmer while you roll the gefilte fish patties.

Place a small bowl with lukewarm water to the side of the simmering tomato broth. Start making the patties. I like to make them about 3” long, 2” wide and 1” high, in oval shapes. Wet your hands as necessary, so the fish mixture will not stick to your hands. As you make them, gently slide each patty into the simmering broth. Make sure it is simmering and raise the heat to medium if necessary to keep a steady simmer.

Once you finish making the patties, cover the pot and bring the heat to low. Cook them covered for 25 minutes. Take off the lid, incorporate the manzanilla olives, pepperoncini peppers and capers. Give it a gentle stir and simmer uncovered for 20 more minutes, so the gefilte fish will be thoroughly cooked and the broth will have seasoned and thickened nicely.

Serve hot with slices of challah and pickles.