JIAS (Jewish Immigrant Aid Services) Toronto exists to promote and facilitate the lawful entry of Jewish refugees and immigrants into Toronto, Canada, working to advance the well-being of newcomers by providing a full range of outreach, support, counselling, training and referral resources, to help Jewish newcomers integrate into the Jewish Community of Greater Toronto and Canadian society at large. 

Services/programs include: Immigration information and referral, Advocacy and liaison to immigration authorities, Settlement and adaptation counselling, Orientation to Toronto and its Jewish Community, Financial assistance for those who are in need and are eligible, English as a Second Language Instruction, Social Support Groups, Community integration programming includes welcome events, "Family Matching" activities for children and teens, synagogue affiliation for Jewish holidays and more.
The following recipes were contributed by Joanna Sasson Morrison.

Menu:

• Potato Leek Soup
• Salmon with Parsley Sauce
• Salad with Portabella Mushrooms
• Cookie Cream Cake

Potato Leek Soup

This recipe is modified from a version that called for homemade chicken stock and potatoes that you boiled and mashed yourself. Using the instant varieties imparts all of the flavour in a fraction of the time. You'll be pleased with the results!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of leeks
• Olive oil to saut? leeks
• 1/4 cup instant chicken soup powder
• 1 envelope instant mashed potatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

Garnish:

• Croutons
• Fresh chopped dill

Directions:

1. Leeks need to be cleaned well as a lot of dirt gets trapped between the layers: Slice the leeks in 1/2-inch slices. Fill a large bowl with water and drop the leeks in. Separate the leek rings (as you would onion rings) and swish the leeks around a bit. The leeks will float on top and the dirt will sink to the bottom. Remove the leeks with a slotted spoon.

2. Saut? the leeks in olive oil in a large soup pot until soft. Do not brown the leeks. When the leeks are soft, fill the pot nearly to the top with water. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.

3. Add instant chicken soup. Add mashed potatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add chopped dill. If you have an immersion blender, use it to pure? the soup right in the pot. Otherwise, pure? the soup in batches in a food processor.

Tips: Can be made ahead and frozen if desired. At serving time, heat soup and ladle into bowls. Place a tablespoon of croutons in centre of each bowl. Sprinkle some dill on top of the croutons and a bit more around the soup.

Salmon with Parsley Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 long salmon fillet, cut into 6 portions (each portion should be about 3 inches wide)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• 1 bunch parsley, stems removed
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375? F. Place salmon in a greased baking dish. Pour lemon juice and water on top. Cover dish and bake salmon about 20 minutes, until cooked through.

2. Chop parsley as fine as possible in a food processor. Saut? garlic in olive oil (do not brown garlic). Add salt. Slowly drizzle in more olive oil and stir it into the parsley until the parsley turns into a thick sauce.  You want to achieve a consistency similar to pesto. Season to taste with more salt or garlic if needed. Cook 5 minutes on low flame until parsley wilts. Spread a generous serving of sauce over each piece of salmon.

Salad with Portabella Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1 package portabella mushrooms (about 6-8 large mushrooms)
• 1 bag mesclun greens
• 1/4 cup red onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 English cucumber (the long, seedless variety)

Marinade:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salad Dressing:

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp mustard
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup oil

Directions:

1. Slice the portabella mushrooms 1/4 - 1/2-inch wide. In a bowl, mix together marinade ingredients. Put portabella slices in a bowl and marinate a minimum of 1 hour. You can do this ahead and marinate in fridge overnight.

2. Cook the mushrooms in a pan with the marinade, until the mushrooms are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Remove mushrooms with slotted spoon. Discard marinade.

3. Prepare the salad dressing: Pure? the dressing ingredients with an immersion blender or food processor. You can make dressing ahead of time and store in fridge.

4. Peel cucumber. Slice lengthwise into quarters. Cut each strip into thin slices. Toss together greens, red onion, and cucumber. Toss with salad dressing.

5. Place a portion of salad on each place and top each portion with several slices of mushroom. The mushrooms can be served warm or at room temperature.

Cookie Cream Cake

A very impressive and elegant dessert. The layers are actually large cookies. This cake must be made ahead and allowed to sit in the fridge for a minimum of 1 day. The cookies will get soft from the filling and take on the consistency of thin cake layers.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter or margarine, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 boxes instant vanilla pudding
• 1 pint whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350? F. Cream together the butter/margarine and the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add the flour and baking soda; mix well. If the dough seems too sticky to roll out, gradually add a bit more flour.

2. Divide the dough into 5 equal portions. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out 1 portion of dough into a circle. Place a pot lid on top of the circle. If your lids have a very thin lip, you can press down and use the lid as a cookie cutter. Otherwise, use a knife to cut around the pot lid. Transfer the parchment paper with the large circle "cookie" onto a baking sheet. Repeat with four remaining portions of dough.

3. Once you have 2 cookies ready, bake in a 350? F oven for 15 minutes, until edges get the first hint of golden colour. Do not overbake or cookies will crack. As soon as first cookies are done, continue baking the rest. Roll out any leftover dough scraps into random shapes, and bake with the last batch of cookies.

4. While you are waiting for the cookies to bake, prepare the filling: Make the pudding according to package instructions. Whip the cream. Gently fold whipped cream into pudding.

5. Choose your four best cookie layers for the cake. Lay the first cookie layer down on a serving platter. Tuck strips of wax paper slightly under cookie all around (for an easy clean up if any of the filling drips onto the plate). Spread a generous layer of filling on top of cookie. Continue alternating cookies and filling, until the 4th cookie has filling on top. Spread some filling around sides of the cake as well.

6. Put the 5th cookie and any cookie scraps in a Ziploc bag. Crush the cookies, creating coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs all over top and sides of cake. Remove wax strips and place in fridge for 1-3 days.

Tips: As you are assembling the cake, if some of the layers crack or break, no worries! Put the pieces together on top of filling as best as possible. The filling will hide any 'mistakes'.
This dough recipe is also good for Hannukah cookies.