photo taken by Tracy Benjamin, on September 11, 20110, CC licensing

For best results, use high-quality fresh unsalted butter. Since you'll be reducing the butter by evaporating the water in it, you'd wind up with an inedibly salty butter if you start with the salted kind.

photo taken by jspatchwork, on October 9, 2011, CC licensing

Yield: 8 generous servings

Dried mushrooms flavor the brisket as it cooks, then fresh mushrooms are sautéed and added to the gravy just before serving, so they retain their meaty succulence.

1 ounce dried wild mushrooms, preferably boletus--that is, porcini or cèpes; shiitake don't work well here (1/2 to ¾ cup)

photo taken by Aelle, on July 24, 2005, CC licensing

Adapted from Cucina Ebraica by Roberta Anau and Elena Loewenthal

photo taken by Olga Massov, on October 27, 2008, CC licensing

Yield: about 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 large egg
1 cup kasha, preferably medium- or coarse-grind
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth or water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Schmaltz (rendered poultry fat), butter, or margarine

photo taken by sierravalleygirl, January 18, 2006, CC licensing

From Jewish Holiday Cooking: A Food Lover's Treasury of Classics and Improvisations by Jayne Cohen (Wiley)

Yield: About 10 servings

photo taken by di.wineanddine, on February 19, 2011, CC licensing

From "A Festival of Latkes," by Jayne Cohen,
Bon Appetit Magazine, December 2008
Yield: about 2 cups

Ingredients:

photo taken by Mr. Usaji, on February 3, 2008, CC licensing

Recipe adapted from 

Jewish Food: The World at Table by Matthew Goodman (HarperCollins 2005)

Serves 6 to 8

photo taken by TheDeliciousLife, on January 11, 2010, CC licensing

"This part of Fifth Avenue always seemed fat to him, fat and prosperous: like chicken schmaltz."--Henry Roth, Mercy of a Rude Stream