Aromas of Aleppo

Poopa Dweck‘s magnum opus is far more than just an ethnic cookbook. In its pages, the author lovingly brings us the history, the culture, the flavors and aromas of over 2500 years of Syrian Jewry.

As the author tells us in the Preface, the book…

…features dishes that are both disarmingly familiar, exotic, and, above all, healthful.

My community represents a link to a forgotten past. It is one of the few Jewish communities to live through the rise and fall of Moorish Spain and the Ottoman Empire and survive as a modern people in the West while maintaining its venerable traditions. Our soulful culture, with its fervid, tuneful songs and communal celebratory feasts, is at its most vibrant during the Sabbath, holidays, and life cycle events. One of the most artful representations of Aleppian Jewish culture is our food, whose story I have yearned to tell.

By coincidence (is there really such a thing?!?) I was playing Rabbi Moshe Tessone‘s CD Odeh La’El!, as I became engrossed in this coffee table sized, art-book quality tome. The writing is informative and fun, the evocative photography (the colors, the settings, the lighting, the angles, bespeak of a certain rusticity and a sedate elegance at the same time) and the recipes truly introduced me to a world which – as an Ashkenazic Jew – I barely knew. Between this beautiful book and the music I felt transported to another time, to an enchanted region, far from the hustle and bustle of New York and – at least for the moment – life seemed beautiful, simple and far more pure…

Looking through the old photographs, looking at the author’s family, looking at the recipes pictured, almost made me feel as if I was partaking of a holiday meal at her table.

While loeafing though the book I just had to immediately try a recipe. On page 162 I found one that called for some of my leftover matzah meal and tamarind concentrate, which I’d picked up in the nearby Sephardic neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Keftes

Tamarind-Stewed Meatballs

Meatball dishes such as keftes are a tradition all over the Middle East. Some regions use turmeric and others use sumac or lemon and mintas flavoring accents for similar meatballs. Aleppian Jews like to use a combination of tomato sauce and tamarind, the proportions of which can vary according to a family’s preference.

Meatballs:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons matzah meal
• 1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Sauce:

• One 6 ounce can tomato paste, or two 8 ounce cans tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon ou (tamarind concentrate, page 41), homemade or store bought
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1. To make the meatballs, combine the the beef, eggs, matzah meal, salt and Aleppo pepper. Mix well by hand. The mixture should be loose and moist so that it can best absorb the sauce and retain a velvety texture. Shape the meat mixture into walnut-size balls.
2. To make the sauce, combine the tomato paste, ou, lemon juice, salt, 1 cup of water, and, if desired, sugar, mix well.
3. In a large ovenproof saucepan, brown the meatballs, one batch at a time, in the oil over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes per batch.
4. Return all the meatballs to the saucepan. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes to thicken sauce and allow the flavors to integrate thoroughly.

Variation

For a tangier sauce, increase the ou by 1 1/2 teaspoons and increase the water by 1/2 cup. Or omit the ou altogether for a lighter, more refreshing sauce, especially if you are serving another dish with ou.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy! Sifrah daimeh – “May your table always be plentiful”

CS

Perfect Jewish

Published by Parragon Publishing, UK; 2008

From the dust cover:

The unique flavors of Jewish Regional cooking are brought to life in this fascinating new cookbook. It features an enticing range of 120 recipes from Jewish communities all around the world.

Perfect Jewish is a delightful cookbook by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen features both Ashkenazic and Sephardic dishes divided into 5 sections:

• Soups, aalads & appetizers
• Main dishes
• Light dishes and accompaniments
• Desserts, cakes & cookies
• Breads & pastries

The featured recipes cover Central, Eastern Europe and Russia, Spain, Portugal, the Middle East and North Africa. The selections and the beautiful photos paint a rich picture of our culture adapting itself to the various regions around the world that were graced with a Jewish presence.

The easy to follow, detailed recipes, and the mouth watering photos make this a must have book for every kitchen. It was hard to choose just one recipe out the many succulent selections but I finally decided upon something uniquely American, so we adapted (the original deli recipe calls for Gruyere cheese) the following from the book:

Detail from photo on page 142...

The Reubens Sandwich

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp margarine softened
• 4 slices “deli” rye bread
• 4 – 6 oz cooked roast beef, or corned beef, or pastrami, [or a combination of any of these] thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup sauerkraut, well drained
• vegetable oil or margarine for frying
• Pickled cucumbers to serve [yes, there is recipe for these on page 41, if you are truly ambitious!]

Thousand Island Dressing

• 1 cup bottled or home made mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp ketchup or chili sauce
• 2 tbsp seeded and finely chopped green bell pepper
• 2 tbsp finely chopped pimento
• 2 tbsp finely chopped sweet and sour pickled cucumber

Following the great emigration of the 1880s, by the 1920s more than 2 million Jews were working in sweatshops. They bought kosher foods from Jewish neighbors and a great Jewish-American institution, the Jewish deli, was born. It served some fantastic sandwiches.

1. Dressing: Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl until well blended. Store, refrigerated, in an air tight container for up to one week.
2. Spread margarine on to one side of each bread slice. Lay margarine- side down. Spread the center with 1 tbsp each of the dressing.
3. Divide the roast beef between 2 bread slices tucking in the slices to fit. Divide the sauerkraut and make an even layer over the roast beef. Top with the remaining bread slices, margarine side out, and press firmly to compress the layers.
4. Heat a non-stick skillet or ridged griddle pan over medium-high heat. Carefully slide the sandwiches into the pan. Press down on on the tops of the sandwiches. Cook for 3 minutes or until the undersides are crisp and golden.
5. Carefully turn, press down again and cook for 2 minutes, or until golden and the beef is hot. Transfer to a cutting board Cut in half and serve with pickles.

Serves 2

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

This Evening’s Two Hour Internet Radio Show And a Recipe…

Last Wednesday’s live broadcast from Gotham Wines and Liquors‘ 8th Annual Wine Extravaganza, held at the West End Institutional Synagogue. We had some great guests on that show and made new friends. Unfortunately the .mp3 file got trashed, so we never got a chance to hear it the actual broadcast. Tonight’s show will focus on wine and food. Our guests will be several kosher winery spokesmen and distributors, then at the last half hour we will talk to Chef Jeff Nathan, Chef/owner of Abigael’s on Broadway.

We will discuss the reasons for the 4 cups of wine and other Pessach customs, we will hear about their selections from the various wineries, while Chef Jeff will explain the whole concept of the New Jewish Cuisine, which he made into a wildly successful series on Public Television. We will also talk about his journey to become a successful restaurateur and what Abigael’s is planning for Passover.

Please listen in to The Kosher Scene’s Show, this evening at 6:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern Time,

The first cookbook Jeff Nathan published – in 2002 –  Adventures in Jewish Cooking, included some great recipes that can be made on Passover. Here is one I intend to savor on the last day of Pessach, when I finally do eat gebroks. It will go perfectly with a glass of  Psagot Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Veal Chops Milanese with Tomato Salad and Arugula

In Milan, you’ll find golden-crusted veal chops so big they fill your plate. Before being cooked, they are pounded while still on the bone. This creates wide flaps of meat to allow for more crispy coating that everyone loves. A combination of matzo flour, matzo meal, and matzo farfel is my secret to creating a crunchier crust than is possible with bread crumbs alone. Using matzo also opens up the possibility of enjoying this dish right through Passover week. You will need a very large, 12-14 inch skillet to cook both chops at once. Of course, if you have two such skillets, you can invite a couple of friends over for dinner, doubling the amount of tomato salad.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 ripe tomatoes, preferably 1 red and 1 yellow, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, cut into thin ribbons
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Two twelve ounce bone-in veal chops, about 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup matzo flour (also called matzo cake flour)
• 2 large eggs, beaten with 2 teaspoons water
• 1/2 cup matzo meal
• 1/2 cup matzo farfel
• 1/2 cup olive oil (regular or extra-virgin)
• 6 ounces arugula, washed and dried, torn bite-sized pieces.
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. To make the tomato salad, whisk the lemon juice and oil in a medium bowl. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano and rosemary and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, while preparing the veal.
3. Place the chops between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper. Using a heavy mallet or rolling pin, pound the meaty part of each chop until it’s about 1/2 inch thick, to create chops with a thinner flasp of meat attached to the rib bone. (In Milanese restaurants, the veal is pounded even thinner and wider, but at home, practicality demands that you pound the veal to a size that will allow two chops to fit into the skillet.) Season the chops with salt and pepper.
4. Place the matzo flour in a shallow dish, the beaten eggs in a second shallow dish and the matzo farfel in a third shallow dish, Coat each veal chop with matzoh flour, then the egg wash, and then the matzoh meal.
5. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the chops and cook, turning one, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Place the browned chops on a large baking sheet. Bake until they feel firm when pressed in the center, 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Just before serving, add the arugula to the tomato salad and mix. For each serving place a chop on a dinner plate and heap the tomato salad on top. Serve immediately with a wedge of lemon.

Just like his other book (which we reviewed) and has become one of my favorites, this one is also chuck full of mouth watering recipes which I can’t wait to try.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

An Unusually Delicious Brisket

Growing up in Uruguay, brisket (pecho) was a staple at every major festive occasion in my parents’ home and my mother’s brisket was served at least once, usually twice, during the sedorim. Aah, my mother’s brisket filled the house with its aroma, I remember the anticipation with which I waited to have itagain and again… Over the years I tried to find different versions of this old favorite and found many succulent variations, but last night’s version served at Lévana’s cooking demo far outshines most! Here she adapted her famous brisket to Passover by changing her deservedly famous recipe. She used honey instead of the usual molasses and brandy instead of bourbon Lévana has graciously agreed to share her recipe, notice the unusual ingredients:

Brisket in Coffee Brandy Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 large onions, sliced very thin
• 1 brisket. 6 to 7 pounds, first cut. Rinsed and patted thoroughly dry
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee powder, decaf OK, mixed with 2 cups warm water
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 1/3 cup honey
• ¼ cup vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Scatter the onions in a pan just large enough to fit the meat.
3. Place the brisket on top of the onions.
4. Combine all remaining ingredients in a bowl, and pour the mixture evenly over the meat. Cover tightly with foil, and bake 2 hours.
5. Turn the brisket over, and bake uncovered 1 more hour.
6. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and wait about 10 minutes before slicing.
7. Meanwhile strain the cooking liquids into a small sauce pan, pressing hard on the solids (and discarding them), and reduce on a high flame to about 2 ½ cups. Let the brisket cool slightly.
8. Slice thin against the grain. In places where the brisket is very long, cut across first before slicing. Pour the gravy on top.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy! I most certainly did and will again.

CS

Enlightened Cooking

There is hardly anyone out there who has never indulged in some unhealthy eating. Why? Sure we know that it is probably not healthy, but “it is delicious,” we rationalize, “besides, how bad could it be if I only do it once in a long while?” Chances are we indulge in it more than once in a “long while,” chances are we probably pick up a few other such bad habits. For a long time, at least in most people’s mind, the choice was to deny oneself a lot of gastronomic pleasures or take chances.

Enlightened cooking, elegantly published by: Feldheim Publishers

In 2006 Nechama Cohen, the CEO of The Jewish Diabetes Association, published EnLITEned Kosher Cooking with over 250 recipes running the full gamut from the simple to the elegant. She writes in the Preface:

[...] in Deuteronomy (Devarim 4:15) it is written, “You shall be very careful of yourselves – V’nishmartem me’od l’nafshoseichem,” meaning we are obliged to take good care of our health and well-being. It is now becoming more and more clear that it is not only those with actual health problems who have to change their coking and eating habits. Everyone should see if they can make improvements! This is the first step in assuring a healthy future without complications from diabetes and all other terrible diseases that can, God forbid, be caused by obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.

There is much to recommend this book, but we’ll just single out a few things. Not only is it well organized, not only does each recipe have its nutritional facts listed, but under the name of each recipe it tells you whether it a Low Fat, or Fat Free,  Reduced Carb, or Low Carb. Among its 15 Appendixes are: How to Calculate Carbs, another on Calcium-Rich Choices, Nutrition Facts for Fruits and Vegetables (based on a USDA National Nutrition Database), Eyeballing Food for Portion Size, Food Equivalents to name just a few.

The cookbook claims it does not sacrifice on flavor, while providing for healthy eating. We decided to test the truth of such a statement so we made this easy recipe:

Delicious!

Lemon Chicken

Low Carb, Low Fat / Yield: 4 servings

This chicken dish is easy, tangy and delicious.

Directions

• 11/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, partially frozen
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• non-stick cooking spray
• 2 cups dry white wine
• Sugar substitute equal to 1/4 cup sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons soy or whole-wheat flour
• 1 bunch watercress, stems discarded
• 1 large head radicchio leaves, separated

Garnish

• lemon slices

Directions

1. Using a sharp knife, slice each chicken breast diagonally into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Pound the pieces in a plastic bag until they are 1/4-inch thick.
2. Heat oil and spray in a large non-stick skillet. Add half the chicken. Cook over medium heat until barely done, about 1 minute per side; they will not be white in all places. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and repeat with the rest of the chicken, adding spray if necessary.
3. Using the same skillet and lowering the heat, carefully add wine, sugar substitute and lemon juice to the skillet, season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat and bring to a boil.
4. Dissolve flour with 1/2 cup of the prepared liquid after it has cooled, and add to the skillet.
5. Return chicken to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until the slices are completely white, about 5 minutes.
6. Line a platter with the watercress and radicchio, and arrange the chicken slices on top. Garnish with the sauce and lemon slices and serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size (slice) 1

• (oz) 5
• (g) 150
• Calories 203
• Protein (g) 32.5
• Carbs (g) 1.8
• Fat (g) 3.7
• Sat. Fat (g) 0.5
• Cholesterol (mg) 77
• Sodium (mg) 160
• Calcium (mg) 34
• Fiber (g) 0.4

Exchanges

• Lean meat protein 41/2

We liked the taste, it compared quite favorably with the traditional recipe for Lemon Chicken. We used edible flowers for garnishing, they tasted nice and greatly enhanced the looks. By the way, you may use potato starch instead of flour and you will have a Pessach recipe!

This cookbook definitely proves you do not need to sacrifice taste to eat truly healthy. Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Horseradish Crusted Standing Beef Roast

When I first moved to the US, as a teenager in 1962, I discovered that American Jews – except for Passover – only ate horseradish with gefilte fish. Back in Uruguay, where I lived prior to immigrating to these shores, we would have horseradish with meat at almost any time we ate meat (daily!). In America that suddenly wasn’t cool… Arguing with Americans on this was futile… ahh, the American Jewish palate seemed so uneducated at that time. Fast forward 49 years… and we caught up with the rest of the world, we adapted all their seemingly strange foods and often improved them. When I came across this recipe, by Laura Frankel, it brought back some great memories and I knew i’d have to try it tonight.

Detail of photo from: theheritagecook.com

Serves 6-8

Something wonderful happens to horseradish when it is cooked. The pungent root vegetable so tearfully familiar during Pesach becomes sweet and savory once cooked and slathered all over gorgeous beef. The king of all meat cuts is a perfect celebratory gorgeous hunk of meat. It looks intimidating-but is actually really easy and can be done ahead of time and kept warm.

Ingredients

• 1 4-rib roast (about 9 pounds), cut from the small end or first cut with the chine bone cut off (ask your butcher to tie the bones on to the roast)
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 red peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper
• 6 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 cup prepared white horseradish
• 2 bulbs of garlic, roasted and the soft garlic squeezed out
• 1 750 ml bottle dry red wine (I prefer Cabernet Sauvignon)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

1. Lay the rib roast, bone side down, in a large heavy duty roasting pan. Scatter the vegetables around the roast. These will be the base for wine sauce later.
2. Season the roast with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Mix the horseradish and roasted garlic together.
3. Generously smear the mixture over the rib roast. Place the prepared roast in the pre-heated oven and roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature of the oven to 325 and roast for an additional 60 minutes.
4. Insert a meat thermometer into the the thickest part of the roast and when the temperature registers 115 (for rare-medium rare)-remove the roast. Loosely tent the meat with foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes. This will allow the final temperature to be around 125-130. The internal temperature will continue to rise in a process called carry-over cooking.
5. Remove the meat and place the roasting pan over a burner at medium heat. Add the wine and gently scrape up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until the wine has reduced by ½. Strain out the vegetables and discard. Adjust seasoning with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
6. Remove the bones and slice the meat. Serve on a platter with wine sauce and sautéed mushrooms if desired.
7. To hold the meat for Shabbat-once the meat has reached the desired temperature, turn off the oven and remove the meat as in step 4. After the meat has rested and any carry over cooking is finished-return the meat back to the warm oven-allow the door to stand slightly open and the meat will stay warm for another 30 minutes or more.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

The Greater Joy of Cooking and the Perfect Sesame Chicken

The pace, pressures and responsibilities of our daily lives often make us feel like life is running us instead of the other way. Thursday night was a fortunate slice of moments lived well. I got some precious time with my teenage son who had returned from Yeshiva for the weekend. He was hungry and was in the mood for something different. Hunting through cookbooks and the net, he opted for sesame chicken.

We followed an easy recipe he found on allrecipes.com. As we prepared, mixed and measured, we schmoozed and caught up on our week. We waxed philosophical, we laughed, retuned and and cooked a wonderful meal that was gone in record time.

Perfect Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 dash sesame oil
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat – cubed

• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon chile paste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water

• 1 quart olive oil for frying
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Sift flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, sherry, 2 tablespoons water, vegetable oil, and a dash of sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.
3. Heat olive oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce overtop. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish.

Serve with rice – Yields 6 servings.

We had some sauce left over and a chicken was on the counter destined for the Shabbos table. Instead of spicing it my usual way, I used the leftover sesame chicken sauce to baste and baked it at 375 F. till golden – about 90 minutes. It tasted moist,  sweetly delicious, with a balanced chili powder kick. Everyone loved it! Bypassing the fatty fried part of this classic sesame chicken recipe while retaining the essence of it’s  flavor was a cool guilt-free variation. Im a big believer in Ms Frizzle’s (The Magic Schoolbus) famous mantra “take chances, makes mistakes. Get messy!

Susie Fischbein certainly had the right idea about spending time with your kids in the kitchen, we’ve been doing it for years and it’s a chilled way to catch up, bond, create new memories spiced with the joy of being together.

Enjoy!

SYR

RELATED POSTS

Chicken and Fruit Fricassee

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Tikka Masala

Cooking Pasta: Debunking the Myth

Part of coming of age and the endless struggle for self is the establishment and ascendance of individual truth, honing mind and temperament, discriminating fact from fancy, empirical evidence from legend and myth.

I thought I had arrived in so many ways and then reality hit me like a flung wet noodle against the wall of my existence. We’ll save for another venue all the charming folktales of my youth soberly and maturedly dispensed with. But there I was, sitting pretty on the comfy wine colored couch, reaching for a bleached white conch shell that sits atop a wicker woven basket poised for reminiscence, aside other brilliant priceless colored stones, crystals, odd shaped rocks and shells randomly picked for their momentary significance and tangible recall. As I held the conch to my ear, I heard the voice of my nine year old neighbor and friend – Batya – herself clearly establishing her own unique truth sets, say:

- You know, that’s not the sound of the ocean you’re hearing, that’s just the echo of the air in the shell.

- What??? That can’t possibly be true, I know it’s the ocean, the waves of the very ocean that the shell came from.

I was not going to let this cute but clearly misinformed enfant terrible wreck my personal objects de time machine recall. Of course, we did what sensible people  do in such circumstances, we checked Wikipedia online.

I shouldn’t have, I know it now….. there are certain life mysteries that are best left alone… but there it was, the total deflation of spirit and romance and everything that’s right with the world….”What you are actually hearing is the sound around you vibrating as an echo in the air within the shell.” Who the heck needed to hear that, to know that? Great! Take the technicolor out of my universe… Hey, absolute reality is not all it’s cracked up to be. I know a butterfly flitting it’s wings impacts the climate at  the opposite end of the globe, and I know with the ten percent of my brain operational part of my brain that yawning is contagious, chicken soup cures a cold and that the five second rule applies. So maybe being primordial isn’t such a bad thing… No such thing as fairy dust?!?!?!? P’shaaaaaawww! What a world, What a world!!!

So talking about cooking pasta. Here I was thinking I had reached maximum maturity when I learned that al dente is très chic, that the “if it sticks” rule really does work and that salt in boiling water is a good thing along with a few drops of oil, so that the pasta doesn’t stick. When I really pay attention, I even cover the pot after its come to a boil and let it stay on low simmer.

Anyway, here are a few things I’ve learned since. Feel free to write in and further debunk my myths.

1. Use a one to four ratio of water to pasta – four parts water to one part of pasta. Pasta needs room to cook.
2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of salt for each gallon of water.
3. Bring it to mighty bubbling boil, and then let it simmer for a minute or two till done.
4. Don’t add oil… get this: oil makes the pasta slick and then all the wonderful sauces can’t adhere to it.
5. Furthermore, after you drain the pasta, don’t rinse it. The starchiness too is a binder for whatever you will be adding to your pasta dish. The only exception is when you are making a cold pasta salad, then it is preferable to rinse the pasta first.

See? Some things are worth knowing after all. By the way, that gum I swallowed approaching the shiva house… seven years until it dissolves. Well what you can’t see can’t hurt you, right? Right?

Photo from: http://www.6ixpassions.com

Stir Fry Beef on Penne Pasta (adpated from 6ix Passions)

Ingredients

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, cut into strips
  
• 1 lb beef, cubed
• 1 red pepper, cut into strips
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 8 broccoli florettes
• Mango Salsa
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook the penne pasta al dente (cooked through, tender, but still offering some resistance to the bite).
2. Stir fry beef with Spanish red onion, mushrooms, red peppers and broccoli
3. Toss on the pasta with mango salsa.
4. Sprinkle with fresh parsley

Enjoy!

SYR

Stir-Fry Beef on Penne Past

Jack’s Gourmet – Part 2

What I like about Jack’s Gourmet sausages most, specifically and because of their superb taste, is the many dishes they can be used in. This past Tuesday I made a Sausage Pizza using both their Sweet Italian and the Hot Italian sausages and I used SYR‘s simple recipe.

SYR's Sausage Pizza, "delicious" hardly does it justice...

SYR’s Sausage Pizza

Ingredients

• 9” pizza crust (I used a crust from Tradition, made with honey, with raised edges to avoid spillage)
• Pizza Sauce (enough to fill the crust)
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms, chopped (you may use any other kind of mushrooms as well)
• 6 Pearl onions, chopped (little, sweet, Vidalia onions might even work better)
• 1 elephant garlic clove, chopped
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 10 grape tomatoes, sliced (you may use any other kind, including sun-dried tomatoes)
• 1 Jack’s Gourmet Sweet Italian sausage, sliced
• 1 Jack’s Gourmet Hot Italian sausage, sliced
• Oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Put crust in oven for 7 minutes to make it crisp.
3. Take out crust and pour in pizza sauce, thin and evenly.
4. Suatee the chopped mushrooms, onions, and garlic, lay them out on the sauce.
5. Sautee the spinach and the basil, add on the sauce.
6. Add the sausage slices, alternating each time between the Sweet Italian and the Hot Italian.
7. Sprinkle the whole with the oregano. salt and pepper.
8. Put in oven for 15-20 minutes or until sausage slices look slightly brown.

I washed it down with a glass of well chilled Bartenura Asti Spumante. Scrumptious and delightful pairing I would have enjoyed it tremendously even if I had ordered it in a restaurant!

As for tonight, I’ll be getting a little more adventurous by making this salad:

Radicchio, Mango and Pomegranate Salad with Sausage

Ingredients

• 2 medium shallots, sliced 1/8 inch thick (about 1 cup)
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon NatraZyle Xylitol (you may use granulated sugar, if you wish)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed mango juice
• 2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1pound radicchio and curly endives mixed, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup cubed mango
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (from 1 small pomegranate)
• 1 Jack’s Gourmet Boereworks sausage, sliced
• 1 Jack’s Gourmet Mexican Style Chorizo sausage, sliced

Directions

1. Prepare an ice water bath by filling a bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside. Bring a small saucepan of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add shallots and blanch until tender, about 30 seconds. Drain shallots and place in the ice water bath until cool. Drain and set aside.
2. Combine vinegar, NatraZyle, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the Xylitol, or sugar, has dissolved. Pour the boiling liquid over the reserved shallots and pickle until the shallots are slightly wilted and have lost any sharp taste, about 5 minutes.
3. Drain the shallots into a strainer set over a large, heatproof salad bowl, collecting any pickling liquid in the bowl; set the shallots aside.
4. Whisk the mango juice, mustard, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper into the pickling liquid. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
5. Heat the sausages in a sautee pan with a small amount of oil until golden brown on all sides, approximately 4-6 minutes.
6. Add the sausage slices to the salad.
7. Add the radicchio, curly endives and mango slices and toss well to combine. Top with pomegranate seeds, pickled shallots and serve.

The contrast between the mild Boereworks and hot Mexican Style Chorizo combined with the rest of the salad should be very interesting. I can’t wait!

CS

RELATED POSTS

Jack’s Gourmet – Part 1

Sausage Pizza (Kosher)

Radicchio, Mango and Pomegranate Salad With Sausage (Kosher)

Turkey Recipes – Part 2

Since yesterday, we brought you Chef Lévana’s Spice-Rub Roasted Turkey, we felt we should continue with another recipe that also calls for a rub. From the Kosher Delight website:

Herbed Turkey With Roasted Garlic Gravy

INGREDIENTS

Garlic-Herb Rub

• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
• 12 garlic cloves

Turkey

• 1 whole garlic head
• 1 (15-pound) fresh or frozen turkey, thawed
• Cooking spray

Roasted Garlic Gravy

• 2 (14½-ounce) cans kosher fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Photo credits: http://divascancook.blogspot.com/

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. To prepare garlic-herb rub, place first 5 ingredients in a food processor; process until finely minced. (Note: Make the garlic-herb rub up to one day ahead and rub under the skin of the turkey, then let the turkey chill.)
3. To prepare turkey, remove white papery skin from garlic head ( do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap garlic head in foil. Set aside.
4. Remove and discard giblets and neck from turkey. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Spread garlic-herb rub under loosened skin and rub over breast and drumsticks. Gently press skin to secure. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under turkey.
5. Place turkey on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Insert a meat thermometer into meaty part of a thigh, making sure not to touch bone. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour. Add garlic head to pan; bake an additional 2 hours or until thermometer registers 180 degrees F. Place Turkey on a platter, reserving pan drippings; let stand 20 minutes. Discard skin.
6. To prepare gravy, place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 4-cup glass measure. Pour pan drippings into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain drippings into glass measure, stopping before fat layer reaches opening (you should have about 2/3 cup). Reserve 1 tablespoon fat; discard remaining fat. Add enough broth to drippings to measure 3 cups; reserve remaining broth for another use.
7. Separate roasted garlic cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins. Heat reserved fat in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic pulp and flour; cook 30 seconds or until lightly browned, whisking constantly. Gradually add broth mixture, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Yield: 15 servings (serving size: 6 ounces turkey and about 3 tablespoons gravy).

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

RELATED POSTS

Turkey Recipes – Part 1