It's the holidays and time for Rick Podowski to make his famous Polish Nut Strudel
The recipe is found in Murder Before The Bell
In Murder Before the Bell, Rick Podowski and the Hefty Trio fight to save their friend accused of murdering the school principal. The story begins when Rick arrives at Central High School and sees the administration building engulfed in flames. Later, the police discover the charred body of the principal and as the police start to gather evidence to frame the acting principal, Rick and the Hefty Trio start their own inquiry.
They discover that their friend and the principal are both involved in illegal activities with a South Vietnamese Colonel who runs a language school on the campus every Sunday. The community loves the Colonel and is unaware that he owns a house of prostitution in the neighborhood and employs a local Mexican gang for security. A rival gang wants part of the action and the excitement begins.
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.
