The Shabbat Table is the latest CJN column from noted chef and food blogger Norene Gilletz. Click here for last week’s recipes.
Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom! This is the first Shabbat after Passover. There is a custom to bake key-shaped challah (Schlissel Challah) in honour of the first Shabbos after Pesach.
If you’re looking to bring some international flare to your Shabbat table, you’ll love 100 Best Jewish Recipes, Interlink Publishing Group, from the legendary Evelyn Rose z’l, by way of her talented daughter, Judi Rose. This beautiful cookbook features the diversity of Jewish cooking through “traditional and contemporary kosher cuisine from around the world.”
Looking for an innovative way to prepare gefilte fish? In Evelyn Rose’s recipe for Gefilte Fish Provencale, “You poach the fish patties in a Provencale sauce with peppers, tomatoes, and herbs – and it’s absolutely glorious!” Judi says of her mother’s recipe.
Judi Rose took on the challenging task of narrowing down the thousands of mouthwatering recipes from her mother Evelyn’s illustrious career as an author and former food editor of the Jewish Chronicle into the 100 recipes their family loved best. Evelyn Rose’s culinary career spanned decades, earning her recognition as one of the world’s foremost Jewish food writers.
This culinary bible features Evelyn Rose’s own best-loved recipes, as well as those of her fans. With over a thousand recipes in her previous work, The Complete International Jewish Cookbook, choosing just one in ten was no mean feat. Drawing inspiration from the tastes and ingredients of foreign lands, incorporating current thinking on health and nutrition, and using new technology to save time and effort, the mother-and-daughter team share the keys to modern Jewish cooking and to securing its future with new generations of cooking enthusiasts.
When people would ask Evelyn Rose “What is Jewish food?” her answer was simple: “It’s food that Jews eat.” She was ahead of her time, traveling the world looking for different recipes, foods and ingredients.
The British-born queen of kosher cuisine passed away in May 2003.
Evelyn’s daughter Judi Rose cooked with her mother for over 30 years and they wrote two cookbooks together. Judi, a food writer, consultant, and culinary expert, now divides her time between London and New York.
Judi writes: “Whether the recipe’s heritage is haimische, Sephardi, Mediterranean, or Asian, my mother passionately believed that each dish must have ta’am – that extra something that makes it taste special, and so worth the effort for busy people to put on the table.”
Judi adds: “The dishes in this book have come from a wide variety of Jewish communities across the globe. They reflect the excitement, variety, flavour, history, and the love that is interwoven in “Jewish food,” and I hope that it will in some small way help to preserve it for generations to come.”
CHOLENT
This dish goes by several names, cholent, sholent, orshalet to name a few – and the ingredients, though basically meat, potatoes, and fat, vary according to the whim and location of the cook. But, as one Jewish food writer puts it, this ancient Sabbath recipe is best defined as “any dish that has the stamina to stand up to 24 hours in the oven.”
2 1/2 cups/1 lb/450 g dried butter beans (or lima beans), soaked overnight
4 lb/1.75 piece of boneless brisket point
1/2 tsp salt
20 grinds of pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp chicken fat or margarine
3 onions, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
6 peeled whole potatoes or 1 1/4 cups/8 oz/225 g pearl barley
1. Drain the beans well. Preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C.
2. Rub the brisket with salt, pepper, paprika, and ginger, then brown quickly in the chicken fat or margarine, together with the onions and garlic. Put in a deep earthenware hot-pot or Dutch oven. Add the bay leaf, beans, and the potatoes or barley.
3. Cover with boiling water, put a lid on the dish, and place in the oven or 30 minutes, or until the contents start to bubble. Turn the heat right down to 225 F/110 C, and allow it to cook overnight. Serve for lunch the next day.
Serves 6. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge; leftovers freeze for 3 months.
Variation:
- If you would like to serve the dish as an accompaniment rather than a main course, use only 1 1/4 cups /8 oz/225 g beans, 1/2 lb/225 g beef, and a knuckle bone, if available, for flavour.
SWEET AND SOUR PERSIAN CHICKEN (KHORESHT PORTEGHAL)
Gently does it when cooking this exquisite chicken dish in a fruited sauce. The dish is adapted from medieval Persian cuisine. Cubes of chicken breast are simmered in a lightly spiced orange sauce on the lowest possible heat until they are meltingly tender. Serve the khoresh with wonderful Persian Chello rice (below). It is equally delicious served at room temperature.
1/4 cup/60 ml olive or sunflower oil
1 1/2 – 2 1/4 lb/680 g – 1 kg boneless, skinless chicken breast, patted dry and cut into 1 in/2.5 cm cubes
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tspground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
8 grinds of black pepper
Approx. 1 1/4 cups/275 ml chicken stock
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 Tbsp/1 oz/25 g margarine
1 tsp sunflower oil
3 very large or 5 medium oranges, peeled and cut into pith-free segments
1/3 cup/3 oz/75 g granulated sugar
1/3 cup/75 ml white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed to a cream with 1 Tbsp water, if needed
1. Heat the oil, and fry the chicken over medium heat in a lidded sauté pan to seal it – it will turn white on all sides. Sprinkle on the spices and seasonings, mix well, cook a further 2 minutes, and then add enough stock to barely cover the chicken. Cover and cook on the lowest possible heat – with the stock just bubbling – until tender and white all the way through, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, slowly sauté the onion in the margarine and oil until it turns a rich, deep gold – don’t over-brown, since this will impair the flavour. Put the oranges in another small saucepan, sprinkle with the sugar and vinegar, and cook gently, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the fruit is sitting in a thick syrup.
3. Arrange the onion and its juices on top of the chicken, followed by the oranges and their syrup. Reheat very gently, covered, for 10 minutes. If the sauce seems thin, stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer, stirring, for a further 3 minutes until clear.
Serves 6. Keeps for 2 days in the fridge; do not freeze.
PERSIAN CHELLO RICE
1 1/3 cups/11 oz/300 g basmati rice
2 Tbsp salt
1/4 cup/60 ml oil
1. Soak the rice in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse under running water until the water runs clear.
2. Bring a large, heavy saucepan of water to a boil. Add the salt and rice and cook, uncovered, bubbling steadily, for 7 minutes, or until a grain feels almost tender but still has a little bite.
3. Turn the rice into the sieve and rinse under hot running water, then drain well to remove excess salt.
4. Put 2 Tbsp of the oil into the pan with 1 Tbsp water and heat until it steams, then spoon in the rice and cover with the second 2 Tbsp of oil. Wrap a dishtowel under the lid of the pan, then place it firmly into position so that you have a perfect seal. Steam the rice over very low heat for 20 minutes.
5. Spoon the rice onto a warm plate, then loosen the crisp layer sticking to the bottom of the pan and stir that into the rice.
Serves 6. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge; freezes for 3 months.
EGYPTIAN-JEWISH STUFFED EGGPLANTS
This is the way Egyptian Jews prepare stuffed eggplant. It is one of Judi’s favourite stuffed vegetable recipes. The dish reheats well.
3 glossy boat-shaped eggplants, each weighing about 1/2 lb/225 g, or 6 long, slender ones
1/4 cup/50 ml sunflower or other flavourless oil for frying (add extra if required)
flour, for coating
For the Stuffing:
1 lb/450 g ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
10 grinds of black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/3 cup/2 oz/60 g uncooked rice
For the Sauce:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
14 oz/400 g canned chopped Italian tomatoes, strained, or passata (tomato puree)
1/4 cup/2 oz/50 g brown sugar
juice of 1 large lemon (3 Tbsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch of white pepper
a little chicken stock or water if necessary
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Cut the eggplants in half length-ways and scoop out the flesh, leaving a good 1/4-inch/5 mm of eggplant all the way around. Roughly chop the scooped-out eggplant flesh, then fry until soft in a little oil. Add this to the meat in a large bowl, together with all the remaining stuffing ingredients, and mix well. Mound the meat mixture into each eggplant shell, pressing it in firmly.
2. Dip each stuffed eggplant in flour, then, very carefully, brown it quickly on both sides in a little hot oil. Arrange the browned eggplants in a wide casserole dish.
3. Start the sauce in the same oil. Cook the chopped onion, covered, until soft and golden brown, then stir in all the remaining ingredients for the sauce. When the sauce is bubbling, pour it around the eggplants – they should be just submerged. If not, top up with a little chicken stock or water.
4. Cover the casserole and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling nicely, then turn the oven down to 300 F/150 C and cook for a further 2 hours. When the eggplants are ready, they will have absorbed most of the sauce, leaving just enough to pour over each eggplant when it is served.
Serves 6. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge; freezes for 3 months.
Norene Gilletz is the leading author of kosher cookbooks in Canada. She is the author of eleven cookbooks and divides her time between work as a food writer, food manufacturer, consultant, spokesperson, cooking instructor, lecturer, and cookbook editor.
Norene lives in Toronto, Canada and her motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste good!” For more information, visit her website or email her at [email protected].