Comfort food: brown noodles

Ok, so if noodles implies egg noodles, this should be called brown pasta instead.  This is like rice-a-roni without the rice.   I find it comforting in the way that carbs and fats without much protein and no vegetables can be.  It is also very easy and lots of fun to make.  It is cooked like a risotto, in that you add the liquid a bit at a time.  However, it takes a lot less time than a risotto and the browning of the noodles beforehand helps to keep the noodles more al dente and gives them a great and distinctive flavor. It is the kind of thing that I make when there is nothing else in the house, or when there is wonderful stuff in the house, but these noodles are better.

The proportions below are a dinner for one or side for two or three.  You can double it if you want.  

Brown noodles

Ingredients

• 2-4 ounces very thin macaroni pasta like capellini, spaghettini or angel hair
• 1-2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• salt or salty seasoning (see below)
• 1-2 cups boiling liquid (see below)
• plenty of freshly ground black pepper
• grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsley (optional)

Method

1. Break up pasta in a large bowl, which will keep pieces from flying all over the kitchen.  In terms of texture, the pieces should be about 2-3 inches long, but this makes it more difficult to handle in the skillet without burning, so you can break them into much smaller pieces of about 1/2 inch to an inch if you want.
2. Melt butter on medium heat in an 8-inch nonstick skillet. Add the noodles and cook for about 5 minutes  stirring almost constantly to brown lightly.  Be careful not to burn.
3. Sprinkle with salt or seasoning.
4. Turn heat up to high and add liquid 1/2 cup at a time.  If the liquid is  boiling, it will go faster, 
5. As the noodles absorb the liquid, add another half cup.  You don't have to measure, the dish is very forgiving and the liquid will evaporate quickly.  
6. The noodles are done when the bend easily -- taste one to be sure.  It should not have a raw center.
7. Sprinkle with plenty of black pepper and if desired, cheese and parsley. 

Liquid:  This would be great with a homemade stock, whether vegetable or meat.  But it is plenty good made with water.

Salty seasoning:  You could use just a large pinch of salt and plain water, but when I make this I most often use a pareve soup powder like Osem.  I am not proud of this, but it works.  

Moroccan brisket, fartaytscht und farbessert

I posted an earlier, somewhat easier version of this recipe here.  Sometimes, though, it you are going to take on a brisket, which can be a formidable challenge to both wallet and health, you should really do it the best way possible, so I urge you to try it this way.  It is slightly but not much more difficult and basically just adds a browning step, but it is much much better.  We had it for Shabbat dinner
over Pesach and everyone agreed that it was worth the effort, which was my effort in any case.  I make this with a smaller cut of meat, which serves 6.  You can increase the quantity as long as you have a large covered roaster that will hold it in one layer.  I cooked it in a very large dutch oven.

Moroccan-style brisket

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds brisket, preferably second cut, or deckel
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 large onions, halved and sliced
• 4-6 cloves garlic, sliced
• salt, about 1 teaspoon
• pinch baking soda, optional
• Spice mix: 1 teaspoon  fine, freshly ground black pepper, 1.5 teaspoons ground ginger (fresh is very un-Moroccan), 1. teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cumin,  1 teaspoons of Aleppo or Kirmiz pepper (or a mixture of sweet and hot paprika, since the other peppers are probably not available kosher for Pesach)
• 20 pitted dates
• 2 oranges, cut into eighths
• 12 ounces merguez sausage  (available K for P)
• 1/4 cup orange juice or water
• 4-6 carrots, cleaned and cut into 2-3 inch lengths

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Dry the meat, heat the oil in a large casserole, and brown the meat in the oil on both sides.  It will probably take around 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, slice the onions and garlic and make the spice mixture.
4. When the meat is brown, remove and set aside, and add the onions to the fat in the pan.  Add the salt, and the pinch of baking soda (which will help them to brown more quickly).  Cook for about 10 minutes on medium until most of the liquid evaporates and the onions begin to brown.
5. Add garlic and saute for another minute.
6. Add spice mix, turn heat to low, and cook for about two minutes.  If the onions seem try, add about 1/4 cup water and deglaze the pan to dissolve the tasty crust forming.
7. Put the brisket back in the pan, and distribute the onions so that they are more or less evenly distributed on beneath and on top of the meat.
8. Surround meat with the dates and oranges (and if you like them super tender, the carrots),  cover the casserole, and let it heat for about 5 minutes.
9. Put the casserole in the oven and cook for two hours.
10. While the meat is cooking cut the merguez sausage and brown in a skillet.
11. Set aside, pour out the fat, and deglaze with the orange juice or water  Cook until reduced by around half.  
12. Taste the brisket for salt and add a bit more if needed, remembering that the merguez will add more salt. 
13. Top the brisket with the carrots, the merguez pieces, pour in the juice, cover and bake for another 1.5 to 2 hours until the meat is tender.
14. To serve, slice the meat across the grain on the bias. Place on a large deep platter and surround with dates, carrots, merguez and orange pieces. Taste the juices for salt and add a bit if necessary. If there are lots of juices and they are very thin, reduce them a bit, and pour over the meat. 
15. Serve with rice, quinoa, couscous or mashed potatoes to around 6 people or 4 teens.  This is also nice with some harissa or even Sriracha for those who like it spicy. 

This can be made in advance, but my preference is not to slice the meat until after you reheat it. Otherwise, it just takes like leftovers.

The meat:  Best for this is a nice fatty cut, like 2nd cut brisket or deckel.  I have made it with first cut brisket to my regret-- it is really too dry.  Your cardiologist will not approve, but how often do you eat brisket?  You might as well enjoy it.  If you can find beef cheeks, they would also probably work well in this recipe, though I have never cooked with them.  If it does end up dry, which may happen if you use a first cut, be particularly careful in the slicing.  Use a very long, very sharp carving knife, hold the meat down firmly with a large fork, and carve of thin (I am talking 1/8 inch here) about 20 degrees off the horizontal,  You will end up with large thin slices.  Topped with the juices, you will be able to pretend that they are not dry.

Cooking at Wilch Hall #3: Just Plain Rice

Now that you know how to cook vegetables, you need something to serve with them.  The logical, and one of the cheapest choices, is rice.

The ability to make rice is a basic survival skill.  I am sure that during your time in Wilch Hall you are all trying to make your dollars go as far as they can.  And, if you don't need this skill this year, you certainly will next year when you face either the job market or graduate school.

As essential as it is to be able to make rice,  it is paradoxically both a cinch, and something that a lot of people get wrong.  I wish I had a dollar for each time I was served a bowl of poorly cooked rice, that is either overcooked and mushy, or undercooked with a hard core, or both had and mushy at the same time.  I could never figure out how people achieve that one.  There is no need to resort to Minute Rice.  You don't need a rice cooker. And ignore the directions on the bags which generally call for too much water. (So, shockingly, did the article in the New York Times on preparing rice this past July.)  Just follow these directions, which is a much easier version of Pierre Franey's method that was published back in the 1970s.  

The basic recipe is simply 1 part rice to 1.5 parts water.  That is basically it.  But if you need a little handholding, here goes:

Just plain rice:

• Boil water in a kettle. Tea kettles are best for this.
• Measure the  rice and put it in a pot a pot (for 2 cups rice a 3 quart pot should be sufficient) with a tight fitting lid. Ideally, use a dry scoop measure for this.
• When the water boils, measure it (in a liquid measure, ideally pyrex) and pour it over the rice.  If you use 2 cups rice, 3 cups of water.  Give the pot a little shake so that the rice doesn't lie in a clump. Stir a bit if you have to.
• Heat on high until the water comes to the boil again.  
• Cover the pot and turn heat down to very low, and cook for 17 minutes.  It won't suffer if you forget about it and it goes for longer, but don't burn it.  
• Let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes, or longer, and serve.
• Makes enough for 4-5.

Details, details:

The rice:  a long grain like Carolina, Jasmine, or a cheap store brand is fine.  I advise against using this method for white basmati rice, which has to be handled differently. You may find yourself buying in quantity, in which case you should store it in a container with a bay leaf or two to keep the cereal bugs away.

 

Salt?: No need, no matter what they tell you. Rice is the stage on which the other food performs. Simple is better, especially with Asian foods. The food that you eat with the rice will provide the seasoning. If you are really hard up and don't have any food to go on top of the rice, you can always salt it after you cook it. 

The pot:  make sure that it is large enough or it will boil over, since the rice expands when you cook it.  The important thing is that it has a lid that fits.  

Cleaning up:  The rice will stick to the pot.  The easiest way to clean it are to soak the empty pot in cold water (with no soap).  For some reason, this makes it easier to clean up after coooking starchy foods cooked without fat.  

If you have almost nothing in the house and want a quick dinner:  Melt butter on the rice and add cheese to melt, tomato sauce (or salsa) if you want.  A fried sunny-side egg is good on this.  A fried egg is also good on plain rice with some soy sauce and if you have, scallions.  Yogurt on rice is a classic, and the Ayatollah Khomeini ate it every day for lunch.  (Better than Richard Nixon's cottage cheese with ketchup. Best of all not to talk about what Hubert Humphrey would eat.)  Make sure you use plain yogurt and season with salt and pepper, and if you have garlic and/or mint.  Full-fat yogurt is best in this, but lower fat versions are ok as well.  This is especially good with goat yogurt, if you can find it.  (They carry it at Trader Joe's.)

Leftovers:  Put in a microwave safe bowl, cover with paper towel, and zap a minute or so until hot.  Or make fried rice. 

Not so plain rice

This is ever so slightly fancier, and is more suitable with European or American style dishes rather than soupy or stewy stuff.  

• Make just as you would make plain rice, but before you add the rice to the pot, put in 1-2 tablespoons of the fat of your choice (vegetable oil, butter, schmaltz, rendered lamb tail fat -- whatever moves you) and heat it on low.  Put in a bay leaf or two (this is optional, but bay and rice are made for each other), and warm in the fat.  
• Add the rice and turn the heat up to medium.  Stir for about a minute, until the rice turns an opaque white.  It shouldn't brown. 
•  Add the boiling water (or other liquid like stock or broth if you want to be really fancy).  Add salt, between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon per cup of rice. Use more with plain water, less if you are using broth or you will be serving the rice with highly seasoned food.
• As soon as the water comes back to the boil (it will be quicker than with plain rice since the rice is already hot) cover the pot and finish as above.

Plain brown rice

The nutritional advantages  of brown rice have been overrated.  However, you may find yourselves called upon to serve it in a college setting.  follow the plain rice version, using a brown basmati rice.  Cook for 35 minutes and let rest for at least 5.

Not eggplant parmesan

We had some beautiful, small eggplants fro the farmers market that, after cooking, turned out to be some of the sweetest and least bitter that I have ever had. I wanted to make a dish of Marcella Hazan's where you pan-cook eggplants with breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley and then melt on some fresh mozzarella.  However, Amy is (very successfully) following a low-carb diet, so I try to be a supportive spouse.  Breadcrumbs were out.  She doesn't even like to eat too much tomato sauce.  So working with what we had around -- mushrooms, miso, parsley and fresh mozzarella, I came up with this.  The mushrooms are delicious on their own since the miso heightens their innate umami-ness, but I think that they are even better in this dish.

Eggplants with mozzarella, mushrooms and miso

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1.5 pounds eggplant, more or less (I used four small light purple ones.  Use whatever you can get, preferring ones at the market that are firm and heavy in the hand.)
• 1 pound cremini (or your favorite) mushrooms, washed, stemmed and sliced -- see below for a quick washing technique
• 2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tablespoon sweet white miso (I love Two Rivers brand)
• 1/4 cup washed, chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
• 1/4 cup dry white wine.
• 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella (we always use salted), shredded or diced

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. If you are using small eggplants, cut them in half lengthwise and place in a lightly oiled (or sprayed) shallow casserole that will accommodate them in one layer.  If you use large eggplants, cut them in about 3/4 inch slices.  In any case, the eggplants should fit in your baking dish in a single layer. 
3. Drizzle the eggplant with oil (or spray them) and sprinkle with salt and bake them for 20 minutes, until the eggplant is tender when tested with a fork.  The time will vary widely depending on how you cut the eggplant.
4. Meanwhile, make the mushrooms.  Put about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet, add the mushrooms and sprinkle  them lightly with salt.  Cook them on high heat until they give off their liquid and it evaporates and the mushrooms begin to brown in the oil.  Turn the heat down and add the garlic and parsley and cook gently for about 2-3 minutes until the garlic looses some of its raw aroma.  (Adding the garlic late rather than early both prevents it from burning and preserves some of its pungency.)
5. Add the miso and stir to distribute evenly and blend with the mushrooms. 
6. Add the wine and boil down until the miso dissolves and the liquid reduces and thickens, about 2 minutes.  
7. Broil the eggplant for 2-5 minutes until nicely browned.  They can go from brown to burned quickly, so don't leave the oven and check frequently. If you are using eggplant slices rather than halves, turn them over if you want to brown the other side.  
8. Return the oven to 425 degrees.
9. Spread the mushrooms over the eggplant in the casserole, season with pepper and salt if needed (taste the mushrooms, which may already be quite salty) and sprinkle the top with the mozzarella.  Bake until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes.
10. Broil until the cheese browns lightly. (Again watch this carefully.)
11. Let rest a minute or two before serving.

Serves 4 with other dishes. 

Washing mushrooms: The conventional wisdom used to be to scrub each mushroom individually with a light damp paper towel.  This was said to prevent them from getting waterlogged, but life is too short. Try this instead: dump them into a bowl that will hold them comfortably, cover them with cold water, and swish them around for about 15 seconds.  Lift out the mushrooms and pour out the dirty water and rinse the bowl.  Repeat.  The mushrooms will now be pretty clean.  Dry them quickly with a paper towel, rubbing off any dirt that may remain.  If you are cleaning more than a few ounces of mushrooms, this is far faster than wiping them individually.

Haloumi salad

This is another recipe that isn't quite a recipe. It doesn't have to be. The quantities that I give are very imprecise.  It will come out good whatever you do.  Haloumi is a Cypriot cheese, usually made from goat or sheep's milk and looks and tastes something like feta, with less funk. Because it is low in acid, it behaves very differently from most cheeses under heat.  Its melting temperature is very high, so that you can fry or grill it and it will hold its shape and brown.  It is very popular in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East. Now that it is available in lots of supermarkets, even Trader Joe's, there is no excuse not to make it.

It is good fried by itself, added to shakshuka, or on a sandwich with grilled vegetables.  My favorite way toeat it however is in this simple salad.  Tomatoes, basil, haloumi, olive oil.  No vinegar.  The Catalans never add vinegar to tomatoes,  because they think that they already have sufficient acid. They are onto something.

Haloumi Salad

• Dice about 3/4 pound ripe tomatoes.  If you are using cherry tomatoes, halve them. Place on a platter and salt very lightly.
• Wash and chop a large handful of basil. You should have a half cup or so. Scatter it over the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil.
• Slice a block of haloumi, about 1/2 pound, and fry on high heat in a nonstick skillet until browned, about 3 minutes on a side.
• Put the haloumi on top of the tomatoes and basil, grind a little pepper on it, and serve at once.  Your first forkful will be significantly better than your second, so don't leave it around.
• You can add avocado or cucumber if you want, but why mess with perfection?
• Serves four as an appetizer or side salad, 2 for lunch.

Pasta with preserved lemons, garlic and chili

This is not a healthy dish.  I never thought that the pasta would be a concern and the quantity of butter no big deal, but this is apparently where we stand in terms of today's health wisdom.  But it is real good.  So enjoy it from time to time.

The recipe is based on a combination mentioned by Mario Batali in an interview once, and I took it for a few test drives and came up with that lies beneath.  The quantities of salty ingredients are variable.  The larger quantity makes for a more hard-hitting, assertive dish.  It is considerably milder but still quite tasty.  Serve this with an acidic wine.  I think it is better with red, so my first choice would be a Pinot Noir or  an Austrian Blaufrankisch.  It would  also go well with an dry Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc.  If the wine lacks acidity, it will come off as sweet, heavy and syrupy in combination with the preserved lemons, while the high acid wines are mellowed and compliment the dish perfectly.

This recipe serves four, and could easily be called Pasta with Forty Cloves of Garlic.  I find that it is easier to cook the garlic in a larger quanitity, but you can adjust the proportions for one or two servings.

Pasta with Preserved Lemons, Garlic and Chili

Ingredients

• 1 pound tubular pasta such as penne
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 40 cloves of garlic, peeled (pre-peeled garlic is fine)
• 2-4 large preserved lemons (preferably homemade, store-bought acceptable)
• 2-4 anchovies 
• 2-8 pickled chilis (these vary widely, I use Roland, which are about 2 inches long and  1/4 inch wide)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan or grana Padano

Ingredients

1. Bring a large (4-6 quart) pot of water to boil  (This is the first thing you should do when you get home if you are even contemplating making past, not that people do this much anymore.)  Salt the water more lightly than you might for pasta ordinarily since it will be dressed with salty ingredients, about 2 tablespoons for this quantity of water.
2. Put the garlic and seven tablespoons of butter in a small pot on medium heat.  When the butter melts, turn heat down to medium low and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.  You want the garlic to brown very lightly, but be careful that it does not burn.
3. Pour the garlic  and butter through a coarse strainer into a medium skillet.  Transfer the garlic to a cutting board. It will crisp up a bit as it cools.  
4. Remove the pulp from the preserved lemons, and sliver the peel.
5. Put the pasta into the boiling water.  Depending on more variables than I can list here, it will probably take between 8 and 10 minutes.  
6.  Put the slivered preserved lemon into the skillet with the butter and saute on medium heat until lightly brown.  Be careful that the butter, which will contain some brown residue, does not burn.
7. Add the chopped chili to the pan and saute a minute.
8. Add the anchovy filets and mash into a paste.
9. Slice the garlic. and add to the pan with the other ingredients.  Add the parsley and cook for about 30 seconds.  You don't want to cook it but you don't want it to be quite raw either.
10. Scoop out a coffee cup of pasta water and set aside. 
11. Drain the pasta and put it into a warmed serving bowl.  Add the remaining  tablespoon of butter and half of the grated cheese.  Dump on the ingredients from the skillet and mix into the pasta.
12. Serve quickly in warmed pasta bowls with the remaining grated cheese. 

Uighur-style lamb stew, fartaytsht und farbessert

Regular readers of this blog (there must be at least 5 of you) will have seen the expression "fartaytsht und farbessert "  before.  I means translated into Yiddish (a Taytsh or German tongue) and improved, as in "Shakespeare, vartaytsht und farbessert."  (Readers of Kaaterskill Falls may recall the wonderful scene when an ambulance driver quotes Shakespeare to the Breuer-esque rabbi while driving him to the hospital, to have the rabbi respond, "Ach it is so much better in German.)

I have been blogging recipes for over four years and I feel like I am still getting the hang of it.  The real problem for me is what to do when I change how I cook a dish?  This happens often.  Many of the recipes of this blog are my personal favorites, and I modify them often until I get them right.   I have never really figured out if it is more appropriate to tinker with the original posting, which is what I usually seem to do, or writing a new post, which is what I am doing now.

I first posted on Uighur-style lamb stew in December 2009.  This recipe was adapted from the cookbook Beyond the Great Wall largely to make it a stew rather than a saute.  Over the years I have tinkered with it further   -- reducing the tomato, eliminating some vegetables, and modifying the technique to get this version.  It is truly farbessert.  It is also, for such an exotic sounding dish,  very straightforward and accessible.  It is not fast, but very easy -- you don't even have to brown the meat.  It requires no special techniques, ingredients or equipment, and will appeal to anyone who enjoys lamb, onions and garlic and who can appreciate the joys of meat cooked slowly on the bone.  I am minimizing the variations, notes choices and digressions that I usually include, and just giving to you how I think you should make:

Uighur-style Lamb Stew

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, quartered and cut into thin slices
• 8-10 cloves garlic (more if you want), peeled and sliced thin
• 3-4 pounds lamb stew on the bone (I use neck)
• 15 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes (I use Muir's Glen fire-roasted, which are not particularly smokey but have a wonderful rich flavor)
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (or 1 tablespoon of soy, 1 of Bragg's aminos)
• 2 sweet red peppers, cored and shredded lengthwise
• 1 sweet green pepper, cored and shredded lengthwise
• 8 ounces - 1 pound daikon, peeled and cut into 1/2 -3/4 inch cubes
• 1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-3/4 inch cubes
• 1 medium yellow or russet potato, washed and cut into eighths
• 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and halved
• salt
• chopped cilantro, Chinese black vinegar and Sriracha to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  
2. Saute the onion with the  oil in a large 5-6 quart pot that you can use on the stovetop and in the oven. Salt it lightly to draw out the moisture. Cook on medium stirring occasionally until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.  (It will go faster on higher heat, but you have to be careful not to scorch the onions.
3. Add the garlic and saute gently for a few more minutes but do not let the onions or garlic brown.
4. Add the lamb, and saute until it looses its red color, between 5-10 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and the soy sauce, bring to a simmer, cover and put in the oven and cook for about 2 hours, testing after 90 minutes to see if the lamb is tender.
6. Remove lamb from the oven, turn the temperature down to 200 degrees and bring the pot to a simmer on the stove, add the peppers and the daikon and cook for 15 minutes uncovered.
7. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for another 10 minutes.
8. Pick the lamb out of the stew, put in a dish, cover  and keep warm in the oven.  Add the green beans to the stew and bring it to a boil.
9. The green beans should be tender in about 5 minutes.  Once they are tender, remove all of the vegetables from the pot put them in a large serving dish, arrange the lamb pieces on top, cover and keep warm in the oven.
10. Bring the heat up to very high and boil until the sauce is very thick.  Pour over the lamb and vegetables in the serving dish.  
11. Taste for salt and add salt or soy sauce to correct seasonings. I find, esp. with kosher meat, it is plenty salty.
12. Although best served at once, it can be kept warm, covered in the oven for up to two hours.
13. Serve at the table with a dish of fresh chopped cilantro for people to add, and bottles of Chinese Jingiang black vinegar (you can substitute Worcestershire sauce if you must) and hot sauce.  I used to add them all, but now only use a little cilantro.
14. Serve with or on top of some rice or some kind of noodle. We have found artisanal pasta like orrechiette (Pugliese ear-shaped pasta) or capunte to be the perfect accompaniment!  It is also good with Turkish pide or Bukharan lepeshka breads.
15. Serves about 6, depending on the rest of the menu.

Slightly easier : You can just leave the lamb in the pot as you add all the vegetables, and not bother to boil down the sauce.  This will be soupier and should be served on top of a pasta in a Chinese soup bowl.

Degreasing:  Don't bother.  I am not even going to give this variation.  You don't eat like this so often so you won't be doing much damage.  Also, because of the bone, your actual meat consumptions in this dish won't be that large.  The lamb fat has lots of flavor.  

Elletaria cocktail

On thing that I have noticed about natural and human disasters is that you can't get into restaurants after they pass.  Living in our Upper West Side bubble, the greatest hardship that we faced after Hurricane Sandy were the crowds in the restaurants.  I mean, expecting NewYorkers to stay at home and cook for 3 days in a row is probably unreasonable, so people flooded into the restaurants once the re-opened.  It was exacerbated by people coming from neighborhoods without power.

Something similar happened in Boston after the lockdown following the marathon bombing.  You couldn't get into a restaurant the weekend after it was lifted.  We were in the South End and waits at several places were one hour and up.  We wandered away from the hubbub and came to Masa for what turned out to be a pretty excellent nouvelle Mexican meal.  (The place has lots of vegetarian and fish options and a good brunch and it is worth checking out it you are in town.)

One of the highlights for me was their Elletaria cocktail, which combines two of my favorite flavors, pear and cardamom.  (Elletaria is the botanical name of the genus of some of the common varieties of cardamom.)  They made the cocktail with crushed cardamom seeds, which although it gave it  a strong spice flavor, also made it unpleasantly gritty.

So here is my adaptation made with a cardamom syrup.  It requires a little advance prep, but don't be put off, since it is really very easy.  It is also flexible.  The quantities of ginger, lime and cardamom are to my taste, but you can adjust them however you want.  I make it with white tequila, but you could also use white rum. I am not sure why anyone would use vodka in anything. For teetotalers, it can be made without alcohol, just mix the base with some club soda.  I like to make sure that the pear base is well chilled and the liquor is frozen.  This keeps the drink nice and cold and leads to less dilution when the ice melts. We served it before Shabbat dinner this week and it was a big hit, with teetotalers and others.  This is best made as a pitcher drink:

The Elletaria

For cardamom syrup

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup green cardamom pods
• 1/4 cup white sugar

For pear base:

• 1 quart pear nectar, well chilled
• 6 limes
• 2-3 inch knob of ginger
• cardamom syrup

To complete drink

• 2 ounces of white tequila (or rum) per serving;  or 4-6 ounces of club soda
• 1-2 limes cut into wedges or slices
• ice cubes

Method

1. The syrup is best made a few days in advance, but can be made the same day if you don't have time.  Just allow time for it too cool.
2. Bring the water to the boil in a small pot.  Add the cardamom pods and boil vigorously 5 minutes.  The water will reduce quite a bit.
3. Add the sugar and boil 5 minutes more.  
4. Shut the heat, let it cool a bit, and then transfer it into a clean jar with the pods and chill until ready to use.
5. Put the pear nectar in a large pitcher, about 2 quarts or bigger.
6. Squeeze 6 limes and add the juice to the pear nectar.
7. Rince the ginger (no need to peel) and grate it either on a box grater, microplane, or in a mini food processor.  It you use the processor, you will need to slice it first.  You will be left with a coarse, wet ginger pulp.
8. If you are fussy, put the ginger in a sieve and press it over the pitcher into the pear nectar.  If you are not, take the ginger by the small handful and squeeze the juice into the nectar.  The second way is much more fun.  
9. Strain the cardamom syrup into the pear mixture, and chill until ready to serve.
10. Add ice to the pitcher until it is nearly full.
11. To serve, put ice is 8-10 ounce rocks glasses.  Pour about 1/2 cup of the pear base into each, add 2 ounces of tequila (more or less to taste) or club soda to fill the glass and stir to mix.  Garnish each class with a wedge or slice of lime.  If everyone is drinking alcohol, you can also use a slightly larger pitcher and mix the tequila with all of the pear base.

Potato chremslach, aka Martian spacecraft

I have a very clear memory of eating these potato patties at my grandmother's seders when I was young.  I don't think she made them after 1968 when she discovered cholesterol.  My cousins and I devoured them and we used to call them Martian spacecraft, probably because we had problems with the double "ch" sound.

The most common chremslach  (the singular is chremsel, but you can't eat just one) are matzah meal or farfel fritters that are served sweet for breakfast or dessert.  These are completely different, and considerably less healthy.  They are made from mashed potatoes seasoned with schmaltz (rendered poultry fat -- do I even need to explain this?) and onions, stuffed with either chopped liver or gribenes (chicken cracklings),  dredged in matzo meal and shallow fried, preferably in schmaltz, but if you don't have enough schmaltz, a combination of schmaltz and oil will do fine.  You can consider this a healthy alternative.  They really do look beautiful sizzling away in a cast iron skillet, so I will try to remember to post a picture the next time I make these, in a couple of years.

I have though about making this for seder for several years, but reason (aka Amy) got the better of me.  This year, I found myself with a lot of chicken skin from which I made schmaltz and gribenes,  and I made these chremslach for hol ha-moed Shabbat dinner for six people, when my parents came over.  My father said they were better than what his mother used to make.  They are really not all that hard and can (and perhaps even should) be made in advance.

Chremslach

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds russet or other starchy potatoes, about 3 large
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup schmaltz, plus one tablespoon  (see  this recipe to make schmaltz)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• salt and pepper,  preferably white, but black is acceptable)
• 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup gribenes, chopped into small pieces if the pieces are large (these should be salted lightly if they are not already; see  this recipe to make gribenes)
• egg wash of 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup matzah meal, more if necessary.

Method

1. Peel the potatoes, cut into 1-2 inch chunks, and boil in well salted water until tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, saute the onion in one tablespoon of the schmaltz until soft and golden but not brown.  Set aside.
3. When the potatoes are tender, drain and return to the dry pan to steam on medium heat.  This will dry them out and make them nice and floury and easier to mash.  (The pot will look like it will never come clean, but just soak it in cold water without soap for about 30 minutes and the starchy stuff will come right off. )  Put the potatoes through a food mill or ricer and if you don't have one, mash them.
4. Mix the sauteed onions into the potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.  These will be some of the best mashed potatoes you have ever had.
5. When the potatoes have cooled a bit, mix in the yolks.
6. Divide the potatoes into 8-10 portions, each should be about the size of a smallish egg.
7. take one ball at a time and flatten it in our palm into a thick concave pancake.  Fill with a heaping teaspoon of gribenes, close up the ball and flatten into a patty the size of a small thick hamburger.
8. Dip you hands in cold water, and then dip one patty at a time in the egg wash and then in the matzo meal, and set aside on a place lined with wax paper.  Refrigerate for an hour, or overnight.
9. Heat fats in a skillet (preferably cast iron) on a medium flame until it sizzles when you dip a piece of potato in it, 
10. Carefully lower in one patty at a time, and fry for about 6 minutes on each side until well browned.
11. Drain on paper towel.  Since there is a good chance that these will not have heated all  the way through, heat these in an oven before serving.  They are also good made up to two or three days in advance You can heat them on 350 for 20 minutes, or leave them in a slow oven (250 egress) for an hour or more.  They will not dry out and be extremely crisp.
12. Serves 4-8 people, depend on appetite and risk tolerance.

A simple mess of greens for dinner

One of my favorite things to eat for a quick dinner is a dish of tender greens, sauteed in olive oil with garlic,anchovies and a bit of hot pepper, and served with grated cheese over garlic toast. That is basically the recipe right there,  but some of you may want more explanation.    There seems to be a trend towards radical simplification of the names of dishes in many restaurants, and I thought I would try it out, so here goes:

Greens

Ingredients

• 1 bunch greens, 3/4 pound - one pound (see below)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, more if you are not watching your weight or believe in the Mediterranean diet
• 3-6 cloves garlic, peeled, one kept whole to rub the bread and the rest and sliced thin (think Goodfella's prison cooking here)
• 1-6 fillets anchovy  (do not think about omitting, but use according to your taste;  4-5 seems right to me)
• hot pepper (optional, see below)
• salt and pepper to taste
• bread (see below)
• grated cheese to taste, about 1/4 cup, either Parmesan, Romano or ricotta salata
• optionally, some fresh whole milk ricotta and/or an egg fried in oil so the white is a bit crisp 

Method

1. Wash the greens well to remove any grit or other foreign matter.  This is best dones in a sink or large bowl in several changes of water.  Dump the greens in, fill with water, lift them out and repeat until no dirt is left behind.  It will go quicker if you cut off the base of the stems where the leaves come together and sand collects.  You don't have to dry the greens, just cut the stems from the leaves and set them aside to drain.
2. Prepare the bread if necessary (see below).
3. Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat.  Add garlic cloves (and whole pepper pod if using) and saute until soft but not brown, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the anchovies, and the crushed pepper is using.  Crush the anchovies with a spoon while they are a paste until they are mostly dissolved.  Add some freshly ground black pepper if you want.
5. Add stems and saute about 3 minutes.
6. Add the leaves and saute until wilted and almost tender.  This will vary with the greens used but took about 5 minutes with tender broccoli rabe.  If the dish seems dry, add a bit of water to the pan, about 1/4 cup, and heat until simmering. Taste for salt and pepper and correct seasoning, remembering that the cheese is salty too.
7. Put the bread in a bowl, top with the greens, and top with the cheese.
8. For a slightly more filling dish, smear the bread with some good fresh ricotta.  This is also good topped with a fried egg, wether or not you use the ricotta.
9. Serves one for dinner, a few more as a side.  It is great with a glass of full-bodied red wine, nothing fancy.

The greens:  most recently, I used over-wintered broccoli rabe from the farmers market.  This was sweet and not at all fibrous and worth seeking out.  Other nice alternatives, when they are available would be lamb's quarters, spinach or very young mustard greens.  Older broccoli rabe would also be fine, but would need to be cooked longer, and if you don't like the bitterness, blanched first.

Hot Pepper:  This depends very much on your mood and taste.  If you want some of the pepper flavor but no heat, use a whole dried red chili pod (I use the kind you get in Indian groceries, not a chile arbol).  Saute it with the garlic and remove before serving.  For medium heat, add some Aleppo pepper with the anchovies, or for more heat, a large pinch of crushed red pepper.   

Bread: The ideal bread here is a frissell, particularly black-pepper frissell, which is a slice of a dense Italian loaf baked until hard and dry.  I get mine from Terranova Bakery on 187th St. in the Bronx.  If you don't have access to a good Italian grocery or baker, Any coarse loaf would do, though I prefer whole-grain breads here, as long as they are not sweetened.  Most recently, I used a piece of whole wheat ciabatta and it was great.  Toast a slice until it is light brown, and then dry it out in a slow 225 degree oven until it is dry, about 15-20 minutes.  If you start with old stale bread you just need to toast it.  Rub the bread with a peeled garlic clove. 

Pasta:  These greens are also good over pasta.  See a recent blog post from the NY Times for a variation with kale.  

Aunt Rhoda's Famous Chocolate Chip Cake

Trust me on this one.  (I am talking about you Nancy Sinkoff.)  I rarely use convenience foods and I don't know if I have ever baked with a cake mix before I  made this cake.    But this is delicious.  It is not a pareve cake since it contains a pint of sour cream, but it calls for oil rather than melted butter, probably because it is easier.  I was tempted to make it with butter but didn't -- why mess with perfection?

Don't believe me?  Amy brought a selection of leftover desserts from our Hanukah party into work:  great homemade rugelach, teiglach, cookies, pecan bars, and this cake.  This cake is what disappeared, and they all insisted on getting the recipe.

Why famous?  In Daniel Mendelssohn's book, The Lost, he explains that in Jewish America, someone was  famous for something if they achieved renown in a circle of the same 10 or 20 people they usually socialized with.  His grandfather was famous for his stories.  My Aunt Rhoda was famous for this cake.  This  was one of the ubiquitous flavors of my childhood.  There was always some at my aunt's house, she brought it almost everywhere, and it was always available to cap off a day of overeating.  I hadn't eaten this since my aunt died nearly 20 years ago,  until my cousin Barbara (Rhoda's daughter-in-law) brought it to a Hanukah party.  At the insistence of Amy's colleagues, we got the recipe from her, and it tried it out and it worked like a charm.

And this is easy.  When I say a recipe is easy you have to take it with a grain of salt since I have my own standards for these things.  But this is REALLY easy.   You can get it into the oven in about 10 minutes.

Happiness is three or four pieces of chocolate chip cake and a quart of milk.  Don't mess with it,  just enjoy it. 

Aunt Rhoda's Famous Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 pint sour cream
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly.
3. Mix in sour cream and oil
4. Mix in the cake mix and the pudding.
5. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
6. Grease a 9X13 inch baking pan lightly with oil, butter or margarine. Add half the cake batter.  Sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar and half the chips.  Spread the remaining cake batter over this and top with the remaining cinnamon sugar and chips.  
7. Bake for 45 minutes.
8. Remove and cool before eating.  Cut into about 20 pieces. Amy likes if just after it cools but when the chocolate is still soft.  I prefer it the next day when the chocolate sets a bit.  There will be more than enough that you can enjoy it both ways.  
9. This cake is so moist that it lasts a long time, and also freezes well.  

The chips:  The recipe calls for 12 ounces, but most packages nowadays have either 10.5 or 11 ounces. One of these packages is fine, and throw in a few extras if you have.  The better the chips the better the cake.

Pulled barbecue, farkashert, simplified and just as good

A while ago I blogged about a version of pulled barbecue made with turkey thighs.   The recipe calls for marinating the thighs in a chili and vinegar paste with whole garlic under the skin, roasting the thighs, removing the skin and mashing the garlic to a paste with the drippings to make a sauce, adding some vegetables, and sauteing it all together.  Delicious, but quite a patschke (Yiddish for a big deal).

I had my family over for dinner this evening, and wanted to try this, but didn't want something quite as involved.  I love chicken thighs, which are tastier and stay moister than the breast, even when boneless and skinless.  I had been meaning to try the method published in the Kitchn for baking boneless thighs so I tried it with the pulled barbecue.  It was so easy that it could be made for a weeknight dinner, and I actually think it is just as good, or better, than the more laborious method.  This is probably going to be my last recipe for 2012 -- try it!

Pulled chicken  barbecue,  the easy way

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
• 4 cloves peeled garlic
• 1 teaspoon chitpotle powder
• 2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
• 2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
• 1 tablespoon  mustard
• 1/4  cup cider vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of smoky barbecue sauce, or a bit more to taste (if the sauce tastes good, it is good, just don't overdo it)

Method

• Whirl the garlic, chili powders and paprika, mustard, cider vinegar, oil and salt in a mini-chopper  or blender to puree garlic and combine ingredients and make a marinade paste.
• Marinate the thighs in the paste for 1 hour to overnight (in the fridge), but if possible bring to room temperature before cooking.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Remove the thighs from the marinade and place them, with the marinade that still clings, in a baking dish large enough to contain them in one layer, with the smooth side where the skin was down.  Bake 10 minutes.  Turn them and bake another 10 minutes.
• Mix the drippings with the barbecue sauce and spread it over the thighs.  Broil on High for 5 minutes.  Cut into  the thickest piece to see if they are done.  You can also check with a meat thermometer to make sure the temperature is 165 degrees.  If not, return to the oven and cook on 350 for another five minutes and check again.
• Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Remove the thighs from the dish to a cutting board and shred with the grain.  You could pull it apart with two large forks for superior texture, but this is much easier and still real good.
• Pour the juices in the pan over the chicken and mix well.  If not serving immediately, this can keep for a while in a very low oven, well covered.
• This is great served on rolls or french bread with a vinegary cole slaw.  Beer goes without saying.  

Singapore chili chicken on toast

Exoskeletons do not fit comfortably into an observant Jewish diet.  With the exception of a few species of locusts, which some Yemenites eat, Jews who observe the dietary laws refrained from eating Arthropoda which includes crustaceans  ( shrimp, lobster, crab, prawn  etc) as well as insects and spiders.   While few miss the grasshoppers ( chapulines in Mexico, served w tortillas and guacamole as well as in many other preparations) many consider forgoing shrimp, lobster and crab and act of true self-denial.  For me, the taste of the flesh is almost beside the point.  What I miss is the joy, experienced in its purest form in an Asian, especially Malaysian restaurant, or in a Maryland crab house, of sucking spices off shells.  If you are like me, this dish is for you.  Even if you aren't, and eat lobster and crab all the time,  it is very good, and cooking chicken is a whole lot easier than cooking crab or lobster.

This dish is inspired by the Chili Crab with Toast of the Fatty Crab and Sam Sifton's Fathers' Day interpretation with lobster from the New York Times, neither of which I have had, both of which I occasionally dream about.  Chicken, especially the backs, substitute very nicely for the crustaceans and give lots of spice-sucking pleasure.  To mellow out the sauce, rather than the obscene (in a good sense) amount of butter that is called for, I use light coconut milk, which avoids the meat-dairy prohibition (not to discuss here the issue of why chicken is considered meat like a milk-producing mammal).  The total experience is different (I assume) but still more than satisfying. It is a mess in the best sense of the word.  Lobster bibs would not be amiss, and use lots of napkins.

The dish looks harder than it is and takes about an hour, beginning to end.  the chicken is browned in the broiler or on the grill after simmering (what I call Filipino Adobo-style) which makes it a lot easier, and gives you nice crisp and tasty skin at the end. We experimented with several different garnish combinations, and thought that the mint and salty roasted peanuts were the best.  We also tried a variety of breads and did not come to a consensus, so I discuss this at the end.  The recipe below serves 8.  You can halve it and just use the chicken, but you may want to throw in some wings or backs if you have any around for the chewing pleasure.

To drink, beer is the logical choice, but some reds could stand up to it, like a good Aussie Shiraz or a Monje Tinto Tradicional from Tenerife on the Canary Islands -- we are talking serous terroir here.  A truly beautiful pairing is Cassis, not the black currant liqueur but the white wine from Provence. This would go particularly well with  Vietnamese red cabbage salad, though the pecans are optional and the grilled chicken or tofu unnecessary.

Singapore Chili Chicken with Toast

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 inch piece ginger, finely chopped
• 2-3 stalks of lemon grass, outer leaves removed and cut into two inch pieces
• 30-50 fresh curry leaves (optional but highly desirable)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 15 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 chicken, about 3 pounds, cut into eighths
• 3-4 pounds chicken backs and wings
• 12 ounces tomato paste (one large or two small cans)
• 2 cups white wine or vermouth (you can substitute water, just add more lime at the end)
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce; if not available substitute 3 tablespoons brown sugar and an additional tablespoon of soy)
• 4-6 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
• 2 cans  light coconut milk (you can use regular)
• juice of two limes
• bread:   8-12 large slices peasant bread, lightly toasted and rubbed on both sides with garlic (see below)
• 1/2-1 cup roasted, salted peanuts chopped
• 1/2-1 cup chopped fresh mint

Method

1. Heat the oil is a very large pot on medium heat and add the ginger, lemon grass and curry leaves.  Saute for two minutes until fragrant.
2. Add the onions and saute on high for 5 minutes until soft and just beginning to brown around the edges.
3. Add the garlic, turn heat down to medium and saute another minute.
4. Add tomato paste and saute with the aromatics until glossy.
5. Add the vermouth or water and stir until you have a saucy consistency.
6. Add the chicken and the parts, and stir well to combine.  Simmer for about 10 minutes on medium covered.  It is not necessary to brown the chicken.
7. Add the soy, kecap manis, coconut milk and  4 tablespoons of Sriracha.  The chicken should be just about covered, if not add more water.
8. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  The chicken will be done when the meat and skin starts to pull away from the bones.
9. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the toast and garnishes.
10. Remove the chicken to a large baking or broiling pan (lined with foil if you want to make clean up easier)  with skin side down to start.  Broil about 6 inches from the heat until well browned, between 5 and 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over and broil on the skin side until well browned.  Turn off the oven if the sauce is not finished.  If you have a gas grill, through the chicken on that on high heat and grill until well browned on all sides.
11. Meanwhile, boil until the sauce is very thick , about 10-15 minutes.
12. Add the lime juice.  Taste the sauce and add more Sriracha if you want.  You may find that the coconut milk has blunted some of its edge.
13. To serve, take one or two very large, deep platters and put half of the toasted bread on the bottom.  Arrange the chicken on top of the bread and pour the sauce on top.  Arrange the remaining toast around the edges so that it remains crisp.  Sprinkle with chopped mint, then the peanuts.  (I like the larger amounts of garnish, esp. the mint.)
14. Serves 8 generously.

The bread:  My son and I thought that this was best with a plain white peasant bread.  We were fortunate to have a loaf from the Terranova Bakery, which is in the Arthur Avenue neighborhood of the Bronx.  They also make nice pepper frissell, which are hard biscuits, which is what my wife preferred.  No need to toast these. A toasted sourdough would also be good.  I would avoid any bread that is too sweet, or a whole-grain bread.
 

Grandma Jenny's stuffed cabbage

My father's mother was a fabulous cook of the Litvak variety.   There are many recipes for stuffed cabbage (in our family, holishkes or gewicklete kroyt) out there.  What made hers so much better than the others?  I think there are three "secrets":  she put flanken and/or stew meat and soup bones in the pot, which added a lot of flavor and richness to the sauce;  she used sour salt (citric acid) and NEVER vinegar or lemon juice to make it sour since you want the pure sweet and sour flavor and not the taste of vinegar or lemon; and   she added prunes to the pot, which made the sauce richer and tastier.

My grandmother's cabbage recipe died with her.  Barbara, my cousin Lonnie's wife, sat with her one afternoon to try to learn how to make it, but didn't get too far.  My grandmother was not a great teacher, and the concept of measuring ingredients was as foreign to her as the Queen's English.   I have tinkered with the recipe over the years, and found a lot of help in Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking , particularly in getting the sweet/sour balance of the sauce right, but departed from it in significant ways, especially in the use of bones and prunes.  Making this is a labor of love, with the accent on both labor and love, but well worth the effort. 

Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 to 2 1/2 pounds ground beef (not too lean -- chuck works well)
• 1/2 cup rice, boiled for 3 minutes (I like short grain pudding or risotto rice, but Carolina will work as well;  just avoid fragrant rices like jasmine or basmati)
• 3 eggs
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (challah crumbs from last week's bread are best, but panko or any old breadcrumbs will suffice)
• 2 onions, coarsely grated
• Salt and pepper (depending on the quantity of meat and whether it is kosher, 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of salt and about 40 grinds of a pepper mill;  use less if you are unsure and test as below)

Sauce

• 28 ounce can tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon sour salt 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup water or stock

For assembling the dish

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 heads of cabbage (you should be safe with one 4-5 pounder and one 3 pounder)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 6 pieces flanken, about 2 pounds -OR- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds meaty soup bones and 1-2 pounds of stewing beef
• 1 pound pitted prunes

 Method:

1. Soften the cabbage leaves by your favorite method (either freezing and defrosting, blanching, or microwaving -- all are described following the recipe). I prefer freezing and defrosting.  Since you never know exactly how many usable leaves a cabbage will yield, I think it is a good idea to have two on hand.  You don't want to be caught short.
2. Set aside the larger cabbage leaves for stuffing, and the center of the cabbage and smaller leaves for the pot. You should have between 15-20 large leaves.
3. To make the filling, put the beef in a very large bowl, and make a hollow in the middle of it.  Break the eggs into the hollow and beat.  Add the remaining ingredients.  I prefer the full amount of salt and pepper, but you might want to cut down.  Mix well with your hands and set aside.  If you do not trust your instincts on seasoning, take a small piece and fry it quickly in a nonstick skillet and taste.  Adjust salt and pepper accordingly.
4. Combine the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
5. Take a large, heavy ovenproof 6 to 8 quart casserole and oil it with the vegetable oil. 
6. Shred the reserved inner leaves of the cabbage as well as any torn leaves.
7. Set the shredded cabbage, chopped onions, prunes and meat on a cutting board in separate piles.
8. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees.
9. Put about 1/3 of the shredded cabbage and chopped onions in the bottom of the casserole.  Arrange 3 pieces of flanken (or the soup bones) on the bottom.
10. Stuff the cabbage leaves, starting with the largest leaves.  Lay a leaf on a cutting board with the top closest to you and the rib away from you.  If the rib is still very tough, cut it out.  (I find that this is less likely to happen with frozen defrosted leaves.) Take a small handful of beef and form it into a meat ingot of about 2 inches by 1 inch by 3/4 inch. Place it near the top of the cabbage leaf about 1inch from the end.  Fold the end of the cabbage over the ingot, and then fold over the two sides.  Roll the leaf up.  You should have a fairly compact roll. 
11. As each roll is done, place it in the pot to make one layer.  You will probably have about 8 rolls.  As the leaves get smaller, you will use somewhat less meat for each.
12. Scatter 1/2 of the prunes on top, and then top with 1/3 of the cabbage and chopped onions.  Put the remaining flanken or stew meat on top, and then arrange the remaining rolls on top.  If you have any meat filling left, you can either make them into meatballs and add them to the pot if there is room (they benefit from a quick browning first) or make them into old-fashioned hamburgers which are best pan-fried and served well-done. 
13. Top with the remaining prunes, cabbage and onions.
14. Pour the sauce ingredients over the stuffed cabbage.  It should come nearly to the top.  If not, add some water.
15. Place a  lightly oiled heatproof plate slightly smaller than the diameter of the pot over the cabbage.  This will weigh down the rolls slightly and improve their texture. 
16. Bring the pot slowly to the boil, cover, and then transfer to the oven.  If your pot is very full, put a pan that is larger than the casserole on a lower shelf in the oven.  Put some cold water in the pan.  This will catch boilovers and prevent you oven from smoking up and your fire alarm from going off. 
17. Cook for 3 hours. 
18. Take it out and cool off before refrigerating.
19. Reheat in the oven for a long time before serving 8 as a main course and 12-15 as an appetizer.  My grandmother would usually serve it with mashed potatoes or rice, but I think that all it needs is some challah to soak up the juices. 

Preparing the cabbage:  Although it takes planning, I find that freezing and defrosting the cabbage works best.  Start by removing the outer leaves of the cabbage.  I have read that the heads are so tight that this will remove any dirt, and that you actually add more contaminants by rinsing it with tap water at this point.  Who knows?  Core the cabbages carefully (you don't want to mess up too many leaves) and place in the freezer.  This takes up a lot of room, so be prepared.  Freeze for about 2 days, and then defrost in your refrigerator for about two days before proceeding with the recipe.  Alternatively, place one cored cabbage in a large pot, add boiling water, and after 5 minutes remove it and peel off those leaves which you can.  Replace the cabbage in the pot and continue until the leaves are too small to stuff.  You an also microwave the cabbage in a large microwave-safe dish for about 8 minutes, remove, peel off the leaves, and then return and zap some more.  I think that you can see why I prefer the freezing method, even if it takes up a lot of valuable freezer real estate and is a bit mafia-ish, sort of like having a head in your freezer. 

The meat:  To me, this is the key to the dish.  In addition to enhancing the flavor and texture, you have a good amount of meat that you can serve to those who claim not to like cabbage.  My grandmother would always use flanken but this was before chefs had discovered short ribs and it was considered a budget cut.  I find that meaty soup bones sold but kosher butchers are often bony flanken at less than half the price, and I use that for the bone layer.  For the meat layer, I would recommend chuck or kalechal, or even brisket if you can find it at a good price.

Sauce variations: I prefer scant, thicker sauce.  If you prefer a thinner one, substitute about 1 quart tomato juice for the puree and water.  You can use raisins if you must, but you will be missing out on the true experience.

Thai chicken tofu burgers

As I have remarked in other posts, I am not a fan of ground poultry dishes, though I make and eat them for economy and health.  But I really like these burgers.   The tofu has the effect of both lightening the ground chicken and keeping it moist, and the Thai seasoning,  a traditional combination of white pepper, garlic, and coriander roots (Thai cuisine is one of the few that use the roots of this plant) lends the dish a deep savory flavor.  I make it with a pound and a half of ground chicken because that seems to be the size of all the packages in the market.  This makes about 10 patties.  You can adjust the recipe proportionately to make more or less. This is based on a Japanese dish, and I will suggest some substitutions to make this at the end.  But if you can find coriander roots, do try it this way:

Thai chicken tofu burgers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken breast
• 1 pound superfirm tofu (Nasoya markets this) or 1 1/2 pounds pressed extrafirm tofu (see below)
• 1 cup panko crumbs
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon whole white peppercorns (you can substitute black but they will darken the dish)
• 8-12 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 tablespoons coriander roots (see below)
• 1-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Bragg's Aminos or light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon  salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions

Method

1. If you do not have superfirm tofu, take extrafirm or firm tofu, wrap it in paper towels, put it in a dish with a rim. Weight it down for about a half hour.  I use a pot filled with water or a heavy Thai mortar.  Pour away the considerable water that exudes.
2. Grate the tofu using the largest whole of a box food grater.  This will go fairly quickly and I don't think that it pays to dirty a food processor for this.
3. Mix the chicken, tofu and panko crumbs in a large mixing bowl.  This is best done by hand (remove all rings, etc.) but us a large mixing spoon if you must.
4. Roast the peppercorns in a hot skillet until they are aromatic and a few shades darker.  Put them in a mortar along with the smashed peeled garlic cloves.
5. Prepare the coriander roots: cut them off the stems, and scrape off the hairlike small roots with your fingernails. You should be left with just the main white roots.  Chop these coarsely and measure them.  You should have between one and two tablespoons, which would be the yield of a large bunch of fresh coriander. (Don't get bent out of shape if you can't get enough roots, but this recipe should be incentive to start accumulating them whenever you have coriander.  Clean and freeze them until ready to use, and defrosted, they will be easier to pound in the mortar.) Add these to the mortar.
6. Pound the peppercorns, garlic and coriander root to a paste.  Adding a teaspoon or so of coarse salt can help the process along.  You can also use a minichopper, but it has to be able to handle small amounts efficiently.
7. Heat 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Add the paste and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, until the aroma changes, about 3 minutes.  Set the paste aside on a plate to cool for a few minutes, then add to the beaten egg and mix into the chicken. 
8. Mix in the Bragg's or soy, the fresh coriander, the scallion, and more salt if you wish.
9. Form into 10 patties about 1 inch thick.
10. Spray a nonstick skillet with oil spray and heat on high.  Add 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon of oil.  After about 30 seconds, when the oil is very hot, add 4-5 patties.
11. Cook the patties on one side for three minutes, the turn and cook on the other side on high for three minutes.
12. Turn the heat down to medium low, cover the pan, and cook the patties for an additional 5 minutes on each side. If you don't have a cover that fits the skillet, just drape it with aluminum foil.
13. Repeat with the remaining patties.
14. These can be served hot or cold, on buns or rolls or without.  I happen to like them on a toasted roll smeared on one side with a mixture of dark miso, mayo and Sriracha, and on the other side with ketchup and a few slices of avocado.

Japanese style: omit the paste of coriander root, garlic and peppercorn, as well as the coriander leaves.  Grate a 2-inch piece of ginger and squeese the juice out in your hand directly into the chicken mixture.  Add about 1/2 teaspoon of Togarishi or other Japanese hot-pepper based spice mix if you would like.\

Salmon with miso and black sesame seeds

This is a riff on my salmon with wasabi peas , in which the fish is slathered with a combination of white miso, ginger juice and mayonnaise, which is in turn topped with ground wasabi peas.  This is the dish that Maya's friends always request when they come to dinner.    Here, dark barley miso gives the fish a much richer flavor, and the black sesame adds crunch, flavor and a dramatic appearance.  I would say, a bit reluctantly, that I prefer this to the old version.  It is easy to double or halve, but 2 pounds of fish will serve 4 very generously, with there likely being some left over for lunch:
Salmon with miso and black sesame seeds:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds salmon fillet
• Salt
• 1 generous tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 scant tablespoon dark red barley miso
• Togarishi (Japanese pepper and spice mixture) or cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup black sesame seeds (I find that they work better if they are not already roasted)
• oil for greasing the baking pan

Method

1. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and set aside, ideally for an hour to come close to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Oil a bake and serve dish that will hold the salmon snugly, and put the salmon fillet in it.  (You may also like the dish with foil which will make it much easier to clean.
4. Combine the barley and the mayonnaise in a small dish.  The quantities are approximately, and add more mayo if you want to make it easier to spread.  Add about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon togarishi if you have, otherwise a generous  pinch of cayenne.  Spread it over the fish.  If it doesn't cover it, make more of the miso mayo mixture. You can use a rubber spatula for spreading, but it works much better if you use your fingers.
5. Sprinkle the fish generously with the sesame seeds so that they make a thick coating.
6. Put the fish in the oven and bake 15 minutes (a bit less if it is thin, a bit more if it is thick or very cold).
7. Remove and serve hot or room temperature.

What kind of salmon?  Farmed salmon works fine here and is a lot cheaper, but it is most wonderful with wild salmon.  Because it is leaner and thinner, I find the wild salmon tends to cook faster.  You could also make this with arctic char. 

How long do I cook it?  For me, less is more but some folks like their salmon nuked.  I tend to like it medium and 15 minutes would be more than enough especially since it will continue to cook if you let it rest and come to room temperature.  A lot about the cooking time depends on the thickness and temperature of your fish, the size of the piece, and the temperature of your oven.  If you test it in the center and there is some slight resistance, it is medium, and if it flakes easily, it is well done.

Variations:  If you are cooking more than one piece of salmon, try one this way and one topped with wasabi peas.  You can also use the white miso and mayonnaise spread with a topping of roasted white sesame seeds.  One particularly attractive way of doing it is to use a large fillet, and top half (the long way) with the black sesame seed and the other half with wasabi peas or white sesame seeds.  It is easiest to do this if you work with one half of the fillet at a time and keep the other covered with wax paper.

Pulled Barbeque, Farkashert

The Jewish prohibition on pork goes deep.  This is not to say that there are no fans of the meat amongst the tribe.  But archeological excavations in ancient Canaan turned up pork bones in all settlements except for those of the Israelites. (For an interesting take on the Jewish taboo on pork and its possible origins, see this Smell Test by Shmarya Rosenberg in Tablet Magazine, where he discusses some insights inspired by Christopher Hitchens.  Don't read this near meal time.)  However, pork has numerous distinctive characteristics that make it a wonderful cooking medium -- witness the spread of pork belly to almost every high-end menu in the civilitzed world.  There is discussion in the tradition about whether pork is prohibted because it is disgusting or because it is delicious and the prohibition tests the faithful.  I definitely hold with the latter.

Pork is ultimately irreplaceable, but Jews have tried for centuries to substitute.  The most noble efforts were those of the Jews of Germany, represented in the US by the late and much lamented Bloch und Falk which made kosher cold cuts that tasted like treyfe cold cuts but out of veal, goose and who knows what.  In many recipes on this blog, I substitute vegetarian or turkey sausage for pork products.  However, it is more difficult to substitute for uncured fresh port.

A few years ago on Christmas day we went to a Kosher Gospel concert and brunch featuring Joshua Nelson. At the brunch, they served a creditable pulled barbeque made out of chicken thighs. This was in a spicy tomato sauce, and a classic pulled pork would be much less saucy. But, given the substitution of the main ingredient it is more than not made.  I have been playing around with this dish for a few years and found that a spice rub of vinegar, garlic, and smoky chili and paprika worked well in a home oven. Although I started making it with chicken, I have recently switched to turkey.  Although I prefer the taste of chicken in general, it makes no difference in this dish and the turkey is far easier, since  instead of needing two to three thighs to serve each person, one turkey thigh serves two to three. 

The following recipe serves 4 generously.  It can be multiplied -- I have made it with up to 10 thighs. It is mildly spicy, so increase the quantity of chitpotle chili if you want it spicier, though this is not always a great idea if you are serving a crowd.

Pulled Turkey Barbeque

Ingredients

• 2 turkey thighs, about 1 pound each

  Marinade

•  8 cloves peeled garlic
• 1 teaspoon chitpotle powder
• 2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
• 2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
• 1 tablespoon  mustard
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

  Remaining ingredients

• 8-10 cloves peeled garlic
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, quartered and sliced
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, quartered and sliced
• 1/4 sweet green pepper, sliced
• 1 jalapeno chili , quartered and sliced (optional, and remove seeds and ribs if you want it milder)
• 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (from a can is fine)
• 2 tablespoons smokey barbecue sauce (any good commercial sauce is fine)

 Method

1. Drop the garlic cloves for the marinade into a food processor or blender with the motor running to chop finely.
2. Add remaining marinade ingredients and process to have a smooth paste.  Add a bit more vinegar or water if you need to.
3. Rub the marinade into the thighs and set aside in the refridgerator for a day or two.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
5. Flatten 8 of remaining garlic cloves and slip under the turkey skin.  Put the thighs in a roasting pan in which they will fit rather snugly, and roast until tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes.  Particularly if the pan is large, the fat may begin to smoke, so after a half hour, pour some boiling water into the pan so that it doesn't.
6. Meanwhile, saute the peppers and onions on medium high in the oil in a nonstick skillet until soft and just beginning to brown.
7. Add the garlic, saute another minute, and then turn heat down to medium low and add the paprika. Saute another minute or so.
8. Add the tomato sauce and barbeque sauce, bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer about 5 minutes.  Set aside until the turkey is done.
9. Check the turkey to see if it is tender and the meat pulls easily from the bones. Otherwise, cook about 10 minutes longer.  Remove from the oven and set aside for about 10-15 minutes until cool enough to handle.  Removed the skin, scrape off the garlic cloves, mash them and mix into the sauce.  Set the skin aside for other uses. (See below)
10. Pour off the juices from the turkey roasting pan and skim off the fat.  The easiest way to do this is to pour them into a Pyrex measuring cup and put it in the refrigerator or freezer until the fat rises to the top and can be removed more easily with a spoon.  If you can wait long enough, it will solidify. Discard the fat.  Unlike other rendered poultry fats, turkey fat is of little gastromic interest.   Add the juices to the sauce.
11. Deglaze the turkey pan.  If it is heatproof, add a little water to it and bring to the boil, scrapping up the juices that have stuck to the pan.  (If the dish is not heatproof, you can do this in the microwave.)
12. Shred the turkey.  This is ideally done by hand, which I consider to be kind of fun.  Cut the meat off the bones with a knife, which will allow it to cool more rapidly.  Separate it according to the musculature, and then pull the meat into long shreds with the grain.  As an alternative, you can hold the thighs down with a  fork, and to shred off the meat with another fork.  It works best it you use large sturdy serving forks here.   Don't be tempted to just cut it with a knife.  Proper shredding is one of the keys to success. 
13. Add the turkey to the sauce, and reheat either on top of the stove, or in an ovenproof serving dish.  You can either heat it on 350, or go for the long haul and leave it in a slow oven.  One of the beauty of poultry thighs is that their flesh stays moist long after the point where breasts would be like so much sawdust. 
14. Serves 4 generously.  Goes well with coleslaw, cornbread (I may post a pareve corn bread recipe soon) or garlic bread, and baked beans.  Serve with a variety of hot sauces. It can also be served on Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns as a sandwhich. 

What to do with the turkey skin?  Just eat it.  It will come out of the oven crisp, spicy and wonderul, but it won't be so appetizing for long.  So, after you scrape off the garlic for the sauce, eat as many skins as you want while they are still warm and crisp, and share the rest with people who you like if they are around.

Jambalaya, farkashert

Kosher jambalaya?   Not impossible, but since pork is pervasive in Cajun food, and in just about all cooking from the  American South, you have to be a little flexible.  I worked out this variation with chicken and some kosher sausages that I like (OK, I am addicted to them). Over the next couple of months I also hope to post some other farkasherte Southern dishes like a pulled barbeque made with chicken thighs.  

This method combines Cajun seasoning with Spanish technique, so that the rice is not mushy and you are left with soccarat, the wonderful crust that you sometimes get at the bottom of a pan of cooked paella.  Most recipes for jambalaya that I have seen use long grain rice and cook it covered in liquid for 45 minutes.  This adapts a paella-method, which cooks the rice stove-top or unconvererd in the oven (or on an open fire), or, as I do here, a bit of both.  I thought the results were quite good.  I hope that you do too, and don't miss the pork. 

Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 1-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 12 ounces spicy sausage, cut into half inch pieces (see below)
• 3 tablespoons spice mix
• 1 chicken cut into 8-12 pieces or 8-12 thighs
• 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, white and some green, trimmed and sliced
• 4 stalks of celery, trimmed, strined and chopped
• 4 green frying peppers or 2 large green bell peppers, seeded, deribbed and chopped
• 1 jalapeno chili, chopped (optional)
• 8 - 12 cloves sliced garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
• 2 1/2 cups medium grain Spanish rice (I use Montisia, from near Tarragona, since it is the cheapest of the Spanish rices at the local market)
• 15 ounce can chopped our diced tomatoes (I like Muir Glen fire roasted with green chili here)
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used Manishewitz out of a box, you could use homemade)
• salt to taste

Method

1. You will need a dish that you can cook on the stove and that will withstand very high oven temperatures. It shouldn't be too deep, since evaporation is key to this method of cooking rice.  A classic paella pan works well, but is difficult to negotiate on the stove.  I used a large, oval enameled cast iron casserole, about 2 inches deep. The pan should be large and deep enough so that it won't boil over, which may set off your  A large  5-6 quart flameproof casserole would probably work as well, but you run a greater risk of mushy rice.
2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Remove the racks or adjust them so that they are on the highest shelves, since the pan will rest on the bottom of the oven. (If you have an electric over, put one rack on the lowest shelf.
3. Put a little oil in the cooking dish, and brown the sausage pieces well on all sideson medium-high heat for about 10 minutes.  Watch the fat so that it doesn't smoke, and adjust the flame accordingly. Remove to a bowl when done.
4. Meanwhile, dredge the chicken pieces in the spice mix. If you are calorie counting, take off the skin first, but after making this both ways we agreed that the skin adds more than just grease and it is worth accounting for the extra calories.  (See below)
5. Add as many pieces of chicken as will fit comfortably to the pan, and brown well on all sides. Remove pieces to dish as they brown, and add the remaining pieces.
6. Add all of the vegetables except the chili and garlic to the fat in the pan, and cook on high heat until they begin to caramelize.   
7. Add the chili and garlic and cook for a minute or two.  Add the bay leaf, thyme, and paprika and mix well.
8. Add the rice and mix in until it is well coated with the fat, and then saute another minute or two.
9. Add the tomatoes and cook on high for a few minutes until most of it is absorbed.
10. Add the broth, along with the accumulated chicken juices (euphemism for fat). Stir the sausage into the rice, arrange the chicken pieces on top, bring to a boil, and cook uncovered over high heat for 5 minutes.
11. Transfer the pan to the bottom of the oven, and cook for 25 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.  If you would like, you can move it to a higher shelf at the end broil for a few minutes to crisp the chicken skin.
12. Cover the pan very loosely with foil, and leave in the oven at least 5 minutes.
13. Serves eight.

Sausage:  This and the tasso ham are the challenges, since there are no real kosher equivalents.  I just leave out the tasso.  One could try pastrami, but the flavors of coriander and mustard seed would be outof place.  I use Lower East Side  brand Spicy Beef and Red Pepper Sausage, made of course in Newark.  It is like a spicy frank, but with coarser meat, and I find it quite tasty.  You could substitute any of the spicy kosher sausages, precooked or otherwise, though I would avoid ones with North African flavors.  Neshama makes a kosher andouille which would probably be very nice, though I am hooked on the LES spicy beef. A semi-dry turkey cubano would also work.

To skin or not to skin? This is really acceptable if you skin the chicken, particularly if you use thighs which are more difficult to overcook.  However, leaving the skin on adds a lot.  Many flavors are fat-soluble, and the extra dose of chicken fat carries the spice very nicely.  The skin, especially if crisped at the end is delectable.  And, finally, much of what we mistake for moisture in food is actually salivation, our own physiological reaction to fat.  Every week I have eaten this dish, I have lost weight, even making it with the skin on.  Your call. 
  

Spice mix:  Using a clean coffee grinder reserved for spices, grind fine 3 dried red chili peppers, 1 tablespoon dried thyme,  2 teaspoons each black peppercorns, dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon each of sea salt and smoked Spanish paprika.  You will use 2-3 tablespoons for this recipe, and save the rest for other uses.  You could also use a prepared cajun spice mix.

Timing, pans ovens and racks:  The precise timing and method that I have given has worked for a very large skillet a bit deeper than a paella pan, and  rectangular enameled cast iron dish.  It is impossible to be precise here.  Sometimes you just have to go with your good sense and wing it.  The pan should uncovered and be relatively wide relative to its depth. If you like your rice crusty, the bottom of a gas oven works best.  If you don't, or have an electric oven, put it down close near the heat source.

Yemenite Beef and Potato Stew for Passover and Year Round

(I originally posted this in 2011 -- hear are some update notes from 2018:  We served this stew for the first seder this year and it was a big hit.  Because many people prefer chicken to beef, we used the chicken thighs instead of the beef bones, and came to the conclusion that the flavor was better, and the bone-in chicken also added a gelatinous richness to the sauce that was perhaps better than the version with beef bones or short ribs.   So, I added the option of chicken back into the recipe.  Also, we noticed that a freshly opened, new package of cumin bought for Passover made a real difference -- so make sure that your spices are fresh.)

It is a little late to be posting this recipe.  Pesach is almost over, and the temperature is approaching 70 degrees, and this dish is both Passover and cold weather food.  I have never figured out why countries like Yemen and Brazil make such wonderful rib-sticking cold weather dishes.  My recipe is adapted from the one in Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook , which is one of those rare cookbooks where all the recipes are good.  I have yet to make anything from there that hasn't been wonderful, but of all the recipes, this may be our favorite.

Our seders tend not to be gefilte fish, soup and kneidlach and brisket affairs.  People get that elsewhere and on other nights, and have come to expect other things from us.  So this was our main dish, and we have been eating it for dinner on and off since the beginning of the holiday.  The main challenge in making this was in adapting it for my garlic-o-phobe mother, so we did a trial run a few weeks before the holiday and much to my surprise, we didn't miss the garlic.  Also, Levy used a combination of beef and chicken and I find that the chicken gets too overcooked, so I substitute short ribs, which also give the sauce a lot of richness.  I also eliminate the water to concentrate the flavors and make it easier to serve on plates. (You may have to add water depending on the moisture of the other ingredients.)  Finally, I serve it with a fresh chutney of cilantro, chili, walnuts and fruit which livens it all up.

This is a great one-dish meal any time of year.  The potatoes soak up the flavor of the sauce.  It can be reheated many times.  And though it takes a few hours to cook, it requires very little work.  The hardest thing is peeling the potatoes:

Yemenite Beef and Potato Stew

serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 very large onion, chopped
• 8-15 cloves garlic, sliced (optional -- one day I will do a side by side test)
• 2-3 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• salt to taste
• 2-3  tablespoons tomato paste
• 14 ounce can diced tomatoes , drained (or half of a larger can)
• handful chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2-3 pounds beef stew (chuck or shank) cut into chunks if possible
• 2 pounds meaty beef bones, short ribs or flanken
• 8-10 medium red potatoes, peeled
• 3-4 chicken thighs, skinned if desired (recommended if not using beef bones)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Saute onion in oil in a very large casserole (the largest flame and ovenproof one you have, 7 quarts or larger ) until soft but not browned.
3. Add garlic if using and saute for a minute.
4. Add spices and saute on low for about three minutes, stirring.
5. Add tomato paste, stir, and then add tomatoes and parsley.
6. Mix in stew meat, short ribs and potatoes, bring to a simmer, cover and put in the oven.
7. Bake for 1 hour.
8. Add chicken if using, pushing it down into the sauce.  Cook for 2 more hours.
9. That's it.  You can hold the dish for another hour or two in a turned off or low oven.
10. Serve with green walnut fruit chutney (recipe below), harissa or  schug (Yemenite hot sauce).  Although it doesn't need it, this goes very well with rice (we are enthusiastic kitniyot eaters) and also with quinoa.  

Green Walnut Chutney:  Put a handful of walnuts, a sliced green chili (I used a serrano with the seeds still in for heat), a small peeled, cored chopped granny smith apple, a peeled clementine (check for seeds), a handful of cilantro and a large pinch of salt into a blender or small processor.  Process until smooth.  You can substitute other nuts or leave them out altogether, but I find that they both give the chutney substance and keep it from turning dark.  Use this within a few days.