Polish Nut Strudel
From Murder Before The Bell The administration building at
Central High School is set on fire to cover up the death of the principal. When
the new principal is charged with the murder, Rick Podowski and the Hefty Trio
work to prove their friend's innocence. As the plot thickens, they discover
their friend's involvement in illegal activities including prostitution and
police corruption.
Chapter 5 Holidays were
closely associated with food for Rick.
Starting on December tenth, he would prepare his famous Polish nut
strudel for his special friends, as well as serving it to all of his students
on the day before Christmas vacation.
Within a week, he reflected now, his freezer would be filled with this
delight. Each night he would knead the
flour, margarine, yeast, sugar, eggs, milk, and vinegar into a ball and then
place it in the refrigerator. The next
evening, he would prepare the stuffing of ground walnuts, egg whites, sugar,
and lemon. Then rolling the dough very
thin, he covered it with the stuffing, rolled it up, and baked it in the oven
for forty minutes. While the strudel was
cooking, Rick would prepare another batch of dough. Over the course of ten
days, he would make fifty rolls and for as many nights the sweet smell of the
strudel baking permeated his apartment.
The highlight of the year was the tasting of the first piece of golden
brown strudel hot from the oven. The
flaky dough with a slightly sweet taste from the walnut stuffing burst with
flavor in the mouth. Taken with a cup of
coffee or with any late harvest wine this was the perfect snack.
Sometimes around Christmas, he actually went to a Polish delicatessen in a small town near San Jose just to watch the old grandmothers scurry around and argue in Polish. Those were the times when he longed to be back in his grandmother’s house in Chicago on Christmas Eve where the smell of the ethnic food, and the old language permeated the air.
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| Roll out the dough |
Rick's Famous Polish Nut Strudel Rick makes fifty small rolls for all of his students and friends at Christmastime. People love it because it is not too sweet.
Serves 20 (10 small rolls)
5 cups flour
8 tablespoons sugar
1 pound margarine
4 egg yolks
1 cup milk
2 packages of dry yeast
1 tablespoon vinegar
Stuffing
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 pound walnuts, ground
Spread
1 egg white
In a food processor, make the dough in two batches, using ½ the ingredients for each batch. Combine the flour with the sugar; slice the margarine or add it in tablespoons. Add the egg yolks. Put the yeast in a 1/2 cup of warm milk and add it to the processor. Add the vinegar. Process until a ball forms. Put the ball into a large bowl. Complete the second batch, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
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| The Egg Whites and Nut Stuffing |
Beat the egg whites till stiff; add the sugar by spoonfuls, beating constantly. Add lemon juice, beat 1 minute more. Add the walnuts and mix slightly.
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| The dough with the stuffing spread on top |
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| Brush the rolls with egg whites |
Place
on a buttered cookie sheet seam down.
Spread with egg white. Bake in a
moderate 375-degree F. oven for 40 minutes (350-degrees for non-stick pans. Check at thirty minutes. Rick cuts the finished rolls in half and
stores them in his freezer.
