Zucchini and caraway dip

Caraway and harissa are classic Tunisian seasonings and pair well with zucchini in an appetizer salad.  However, the classic way of preparing this dish is to boil and mash the zucchini which leads to the water problem. (See my earlier post in connection with a zucchini and tomato salad.)   While you are left with a lovely light green puree, you are also left with something of a soggy, bland mess that seems not to hold and highlight the spices.  The better alternative was to grate, salt and then saute the squash.  The water was eliminated and the flavors concentrated. (My theory is that many flavors are fat, rather than water soluble and that vegetables are almost always bettter sauteed than boiled or steamed.)

Here is a less refined, easier and spicier version of the salad.  Rather than salting the squash after grating and letting it drain, I found that you can just saute it a few minutes longer.  It eliminates a step, a lot of mess, makes the saltiness of the dish easier to control and really doesn't take much more cooking.  By sauteing the squash with garlic, harissa and ground caraway, you are left with an extremely tasty puree that is a welcome relief from the usual appetizer salads. This is a good way to use up some of those large zucchini clubs that people seem to accumulate in July and August, but it is even better made with tasty, small, tender squash. 

Zucchini and caraway dip

Ingredients

• 2 pounds zucchini
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon harissa (preferably one with a good hit of garlic)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

 Method

1. Wash the zucchini well.  Zucchini often has a lot of grit embedded in its skin, and the best way to deal with this is to soak it for about 15 minutes.  Then run it under cold water, and scrape away any parts which are still gritty.  If it is a hopeless case, just peel it, it won't hurt the dish too much.
2. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater.
3. Heat the olive oil, reserving one teaspoon,  on medium high in a very large nonstick skillet and add the zucchini shreds.  Salt lightly.  
4. Cook  on a high flame for about 15 minutes, until the squash is well-cooked and lightly browned.  You will be left with about 2 cups.
5. Meanwhile, smash the garlic, peel it, and mash to a paste with some salt using the side and edge of a broad knife.
6. Move the zucchini over to the size and add about a teaspoon more oil.  While stirring, add garlic and saute around 30 seconds, add the caraway for 30 seconds more,  then the harissa for 30 seconds more.  Then incorporate the seasonings into the cooked squash.
7. Turn off the heat,
8. Makes around 2 cups. Serve with crackers, bread or raw vegetables as an appetizer spread to 4-8 people, depending on what else is on the table.  It also makes a nice sandwich spread on whole grain bread and topped with pitted oil cured olives, sliced feta cheese and tomatoes.

Terong terasi, varkashert : Umamified Indonesian Eggplant

A predominant salt flavoring in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines is some form of fermented shrimp paste.  In contrast to other parts of Southeast Asia, the shrimp paste in these countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia tends to be more heavily fermented and often dried. In Malaysia it is known as belachan, in Indonesia as terasi and in the Philippines as bagoong.  To develop the flavor even further, it is often fried or toasted before being used in a dish.   The smell, to most Westerners, is nothing short of revolting, but it is an essential element of the cuisines and adds an umami richness to the dishes where it is used.  (One day I will write a more extended discussion of fermented fish and seafood products and their role in Southeast Asian cooking.)

You can think of this particular dish as a Southeast Asian version of Imam Bayildi, a Turkish dish that means "The Imam Fainted." The most common version of the Turkish story is that an imam married a woman who was renowned and a good cook, and as a wedding gift they received enough olive oil to last for years.  She made him a dish of eggplant, onions, tomatoes and garlic cooked in olive oil, and he liked it so much that he asked her to make it every night.  She did, but after a week she said she could no longer make it because she had run out of olive oil, so the imam fainted.   In the Southeast Asian variant, the wedding gift is shrimp paste, and the imam faints when this runs out.   I'll take the olive oil. 

This having been said, something good is missing when you leave the shrimp paste out of the dish. This variant is intended for vegetarian, those who want to observe kashrut, who have shellfish allergies, or who may not want to be knocked over by the smell of shrimp paste when they cook it.  I substitute a deep red barley miso for the terasi and it is not bad.  Even better than that.  It is also quite easy, so try it.

Indonesian-style Eggplant with Red Miso Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh, firm eggplants (I use 3-4 medium sized ones;  Japanese-style are also nice but should be prepared differently, see below)
• 6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 hot, fresh red chili peppers
• 1 tablespoon dark red barley miso
• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 shallots, peeled, halved and sliced
• 1/2 cup water

Method

1. Prepare the eggplants:  If using conventional or medium-sized eggplants, quarter them lengthwise and cut the quarters into one-inch chunks.  Place on a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with oil spray, and broil about 5 inches from the heat for 10 minutes.  Make sure not to burn them.  Turn off the broiler, and turn the oven to 350 and back for 10 minutes.  They should be tender, but if not, leave them in the turned off oven and they will soften considerably.  (You could also cook them on a grill.) 
2. If using long, thin Japanese eggplants, slice them into 1/2 inch disks and saute them on medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet, sprayed with oil spray, until tender and browned, about 10-15 minutes.
3. While the eggplants are cooking, using a mortar and pestle pound the garlic with the chilies and a pinch of salt until you have a paste.  Add the miso and pound a bit until almost homogeneous. (If you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can use a mini-chopper or make a paste on a cutting board using the side of a broad knife or cleaver.)
4. After the eggplants are tender, heat the oil on medium in a nonstick skillet and add the shallots.  Saute until soft and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the paste from the mortar and stir about 2 minutes until the aroma changes, indicating that the garlic is no longer raw.
6. Add the eggplant and stir until it is well incorporated.  Add the water and cook on high until most of it evaporates and you have a thick sauce and the eggplant is tender.  If it needs more time, add a bit more water and repeat.
7. Serves 4-6 as a side dish and goes very well with rice.

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.

Their finest hour: Paneer in tomato sauce with red peppers

Thanks in part to the exhibit at the Morgan Library, which I have not yet seen, Winston Churchill and his soaring rhetoric are in the press again.  One of his most stirring phrases is how the British resistance to the Nazi onslaught was "their finest hour." It got me to thinking -- what am I really proud of in life.  At the top of my list is certainly helping to raise two wonderful children, Maya and Harry, who have a loving and mutually nurturing relationship.  Another is the Moroccan dinner I prepared on New Year's Eve to usher in 1990 (a selection of seven salads, b'stilla, a tagine of whole red snapper with peppers and tomatoes, chicken with preserved lemons and olives, and a sweet lamb tagine with carrots and prunes).  I might put this simple dish somewhere on that list as well.

This is only possible because of the relatively recent availability of high-quality paneer (fresh, pressed Indian cheese) in a number of Indian groceries.  (I have even classified this dish as fast an easy. To be honest, many of the dishes that  I  put in this category are not, but this really is.) I go back and forth on whether or not life is too short to make your own preserved lemons.  I currently think that it is really worth it.  But life is definitely too short to make your own paneer and it is the kind of thing that I would only take on every year or so.  The product that I used is Nanak brand which comes in a 14 ounce block and makes it possible to produce dishes like this on very short notice.  (Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism, a religion centered in the Punjab, and this dish has some of the artery-clogging characteristics of Punjabi food in an age of relative affluence, albeit toned down a bit for American sensibilities. There are other brands of paneer on the market, including one that is organic and kosher and available in some neighborhood stores.) The only downside to using store-bought is that you do not get the fresh whey, which is very tasty in preparing rice and other Indian vegetarian dishes. 

I put this dish together in about a half hour a few nights ago. Steve, a college friend of my son Harry was visiting, and they wanted to save money so they ate home a lot. One evening I gave them the choice between pasta, eggs cooked with potato chips, and  Indian vegetarian.  Somewhat to my surprise, they chose the last. I made basmati rice, Begali cabbage with coconut (see the post on Cabbage and marriage ), a raita and came up with this dish as well.  If you live near a source of paneer, try this.  It makes a quick supper and will leave your friends and family very satisfied.

Paneer in tomato sauce with red peppers

Ingredients

• 8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tablespoon ghee or vegetable oil (if using ghee, you can go up to 2-3 tablespoons)
• 7 oz paneer (1/2 package of Nanak brand) cut into 1/2 inch cubes 
• 1 red pepper, cored and cut into strips
• 2 teaspoons whole cumin seed
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 15 ounce can crushed or diced tomato (the smoky flavor of fire roasted Muir Glen is great here)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder, to taste
• Salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon should do it, since paneer has little salt)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (for a real Punjabi delight you can go up to 1/2 cup) 
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala

Method

1. Put the ginger, onion and garlic in a mini chopper or food processor and grind until they are pureed.  Set aside.
2. Heat ghee on medium in a nonstick skillet until hot but not smoking.  Add the diced cheese and cook until brown on several sides.  Remove to a plate.
3. Add more ghee to the skillet if needed, and then add the pepper strips.  Salt lightly and cook on high until soft and brown in bits, but not mushy.  Remove these to the plate with the paneer.
4. Turn heat down to medium, add the cumin seeds, and cook until they turn a few shades darker.  Be very careful not to burn them.
5. Add the turmeric, stir once (you want to cook it slightly but not burn it) and add the past from the processor.  Turn heat to high and cook, stirring frequently, until the aroma changes, about 3 minutes.
6. Add the coriander and cumin and cook, stirring for another minute.
7. Add the tomatoes, and salt and cayenne to taste.  Cook on high heat until it turns into a sauce and the fat begins to separate, about 5-7 minutes. 
8. Turn the heat down and add the heavy cream.  Stir to incorporate and add the water.  It should be the consistency of a medium-thick bechamel sauce.  Cook on low heat to meld the flavors, and taste for salt and cayenne.
9. Return the paneer and peppers to the skillet and warm for a few minutes.
10. Turn into a serving dish, sprinkling with the garam masala, and serve at once.
11. Serves 4-6 depending on the rest of the menu.  Excellent with either basmati rice and Indian breads. 

Note on keeping paneer:  Paneer is perishable, fresh cheese.  Plan to use it withing a few days of when you open the package.  So, either double the recipe, or cook something else.  If you don't feels like an elaborate dish, it is very good pan fried in a little oil and served with a spicy tamarind or cilantro chutney.  It can also be cut into larger cubes of about 1 inch and cooked on the grill.  This is especially good if you slit the cubes and push in a stuffing of chopped green chile, ginger and coriander.

Peanut butter banana quesadilla

Maya and Andrew moved to Austin in November.  The disadvantage of this is that they are really far away.  The advantage is that we get to visit them there.  They live in a great neighborhood near South Lamar, and are walking distance from a great taqueria, a Lebanese baker and grocery store, a good bookstore, a branch of the Alamo drafthouse movie theaters, and the South Lamar location of the Kerbey Lane Cafe.  Being an Austin institution, Kerbey Lane specializes in locally sourced ingredients and excellent breakfasts and the menu has vegan and gluten-free sections.  Being an Austin institution, they serve queso (cheese melted in heavy cream) and you can get it on just about anything.

The first time we went, they offered a breakfast quesadilla made with peanut butter, bananas and cheese.   I made it at 6 this morning for Harry and his Year Course friend Laina before they left to work as volunteers at the Firefly music festival in Delaware.  Harry said that it sounded disgusting until he tasted it.  I hate the term crackalicious, but I have to admit that it is a necessary one.  There are few other ways to describe dishes like this. Here is my take on this dish, which varies somewhat from that served at Kerbey Lane.  It is impossible to give exact quantities, so I haven't.  You can eat it as breakfast, lunch, or almost any time of day:

Peanut butter banana quesadilla:

1. Put two flour tortillas on a cutting board.  It will serve two if you use eight inch tortillas.
2. Spread each with a thin layer of creamy peanut butter.  (For a real addictive treat, you can spread one of them with Speculous Butter, a cookie butter which tastes sort of like liquefied graham crackers and is sold by Trader Joe's.)
3. Top one side with bananas, sliced about 1/4 inch thick.  One large banana is enough for an eight inch tortilla.  You will need more for larger ones.
4. Sprinkle the bananas with about 1/4 cup of a salty hard melting cheese, like Cotija, Asiago or Romano.
5. Drizzle some honey on the other side, and then put the two tortillas together in a sandwich.
6. Spray a nonstick skillet with oil spray if desired, and heat it on medium-high.   If not using spray add some oil or melt some butter in the skillet.
7. Add the quesadilla (which is what the conjoined tortillas have become) and cook for about three minutes.  Flip carefully, fully expecting that some of the filling will ooze out, and cook for about three more minutes.  It should be nicely browned on both sides and the cheese inside should be melted.
8. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Eggs in coconut-cashew sauce

This dish uses a cashew chutney from Kerala that would taste good on floor tiles.   The chutney is based one in Yamuna Devi's Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, a wonderful but rather idiosyncratic cookbook.  It is not just vegetarian, but Vaishnava (followers of the Hindu god Vishnu), and avoids onions, garlic and mushrooms for a variety of reasons that I am too lazy to get into at the moment.  I also find a number of  weird undercurrents  in terms of the guru-disciple relationship and Hindu nationalism.  But perhaps I am too sensitive.  It is a great cookbook, with hundreds of recipes and lovely line drawings,  and you can just add onions and garlic wherever they seem to fit.

Over the years I have put this cashew chutney to a number of uses including many of which Yamuma Devi would certainly not approve.  It  is an excellent condiment for an Indian meal, a great dip for raw vegetables, and a versatile sauce starter for sauteed vegetables, fish, chicken and even hard-boiled eggs.  I developed the last dish to round out a meal of leftovers from a vegetarian Indian meal that we had a few days earlier.  It is a cinch, and quite delicious an is similar to a number of Indian dishes based on hard-boiled eggs in a creamy, spicy sauce. The recipe for the chutney comes first, and then the eggs.  I will write up a few variations in the coming weeks, all of which follow the same principles.

 

For the cashew chutney

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and diced
• 1-2 small green hot chili peppers, sliced,  with seeds if you want a kick (I used Serranos)
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 cup coarsely chopped coriander leaves and some of the stems
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4-2/3 cup water

Method:

1. Put the cashew in a mini-chopper and grind to a coarse powder.
2. Add ginger, chili and lime juice and process until pulverized.
3. Add salt and coriander, and process until ground.
4. With the motor running, slowly dribble in the water.  Use as little as possible until the mixture becomes a smooth paste.

Eggs in coconut-cashew sauce

 

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon-2 tablespoons oil (coconut or light sesame oil for authenticity, though I use canola for health)
• 1/2 tablespoon black mustard seeds
• 20 fresh curry leaves rinsed and dried (optional, if available)
• 2 shallots, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 of the above recipe of cashew chutney
• 14 ounce can coconut milk (I used light and it was fine)
• 8 hard boiled eggs, peeled and halved
• Salt to taste

Method

• Heat the oil in a medium skillet until hot (lower heat is needed if you are using the coconut oil. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop.
• Add the curry leaves if using and give them a few stirs.  Add the shallots and saute until soft, about 3 minutes.
• Add the chutney, the the heat down to medium low and saute, stirring ocassionally, until it looses its raw aroma.  This should take 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in the coconut milk until well incorporated, and simmer for a few minutes until you have a smooth sauce.  (I think the lite coconut milk actually works better than the full fat, since it will not break up as easily because of all the vile stabilizers that it contains.  If you use regular coconut milk, be very careful not to let it boil.) 
• Add the eggs, cut side up, spoon the sauce over them, and simmer on low for 3-5 minutes (depending on their starting temperature) to warm them through. Add additional salt if necessary.
• Serves 4-6.  The gravy is excellent spooned over rice.

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.\

Cabbage salad with za'atar

This is an easier and tangier version of the Hungarian cabbage salad that I posted a while back.  I have altered the seasonings considerably.  Overall, I prefer this one, and it goes well with an Israeli omelet or simply grilled or pan-fried chicken cutlet  or tofu (with shawarma seasoning if you want) in pita of laffa bread with some hummus or tahini for a very easy meal.  It is also a good accompaniment to a Middle Eastern meal and makes a nice lunch with some feta. 

Cabbage salad with za'atar

Ingredients

• 12 ounces to 1 pound of cabbage (1/2 of a smallish head)
• Salt
• Olive oil, about 1- 2 tablespoons, more if you aren't worried about calories
• 1/4 cup finely sliced red onion or shallot
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots (more or less and optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (optional)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• Pinch of sugar and of a a hot pepper (cayenne or Aleppo are nice, use more of the latter)
• 1/2 tablespoon za'atar 

Method

1. Clean the cabbage by removing the outer leaves. I have heard that once you do this, the cabbage is so clean that tap water will only make it dirtier.Cut in quarters and remove the core.
2. Shred very finely. You can use a mandoline if you have one. What I do is cut it into very thin shreds with a very sharp knife, starting at the top with the cut surface facing down. After several cut, given the way I hold the knife, there will be an overhand, so I rotate the cabbage so that the cut surface faces up and continue cutting it into fine shreds, almost slivers. You are almost scraping the cabbage, as if you were cutting shawarma or gyros off  the spit.  This doesn't take long and the cabbage seems to come out fine enough this way.
3. Put the cabbage in a large bowl and salt lightly. Toss in the remaining ingredients.
4. Weight down the salad: this softens it without blanching. Cover the top with some plastic wrap or wax paper, put a plate or pot cover on it, and weight it down with a heavy object. I use a Thai mortar. A large can would do as well. Leave it for as long as you want, but at least an hour.  Chill when it softened to your taste.
5. Toss and taste for salt before you serve. This amount should serve 4 as a side dish.. 
6. The cabbage  is best later the day you make it or the next day. It can be kept longer, but should not be considered a long-term asset.

Za'atar: Za'atar is an herb in the same family as thyme in oregano that grows wild in the Middle East.  It is also a spice mix containing this herb, sesame, sumac and some other seasonings.  Use the spice mix in this dish.  The precise mix will vary, but I tend to use Galil brand which is available at the local supermarket. You really won't go wrong with any of them.

Shad charmoulayit

Charmoula is a North African seasoning paste used for fish.  The version that I use most often is by Paula Wolfert and contains garlic, cilantro, parsely, paprika, cumin, olive oil and salt.  Typically, the fish is coated with the charmoula and  is cooked slowly  in a tagine, a kind of casserole, for a long time with vegetables and, if you are lucky, preserved lemons.  It is one of the world's great dishes, but it does take time.

This recipe is my own quick take on fish with charmoula.  I doubt that this is an authentic recipe. I also doubt that the word charmoulayit means anything in any language though it is my attempt at creating a Hebraicized  Arabic adjective.  Rather than cooking it long and slow I have used most of the charmoula seasonings in a very fast saute.  Shad is in season, ever so briefly, so I enjoy it while I can.  It is very rich but otherwise relatively mild, and though my wife claimed not to care for shad,  the spices cut through some of the richness quite nicely and she liked this.  (It is also cheap, only $9.99 per pound at Citarella's.)  I have also used  butter rather than olive oil and added capers and preserved lemon peel.   I left out the garlic since it can burn when cooked quicky on high heat, but you could add a clove or two.  Prep takes about five minutes, cooking another five. What could be bad?

This recipe serves two and you could double or triple it, but some things like shad are too good to share.

Shad charmoulayit

  

Ingredients

• 12 ounces to 1 pound boned filet of shad
• 1/2 teaspoon each sea salt, ground cumin, paprika and Aleppo pepper
• Peel of 1/2 preserved lemon, pulp removed and shredded
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed.
• Small handful chopped fresh coriander, well rinsed and chopped

Method

1. Cut the filet  in half crosswise to make it easier to turn.  Pick out any bones that remain if you can.  (If you can't, don't worry about it, they will come out much more easily onces the fish is cooked.)
2. Rub both sides of the fish with the salt and spice mixture and set aside while you do the rest of the prep. 
3. Spray a medium nonstick skillet with vegetable oil spray if you want, and the heat it on medium.  Add the butter and let it melt.  (If you want garlic, I would add two crushed cloved here and let them cook in the butter on low heat for a minute or two to season it, then remove.)
4. Heat the skillet on high, and add the preserved lemon peel.  Cook for about a minute and add the fish, flesh side down.  Cook for two minutes.
5. Flip the fish and add the capers and cilantro.  Cook for three minutes skin side down.
6. If you don't trust me that the fish is done, test it with a fork or knife.  Transfer to plates with the juices and serve.  This goes very nicely with roasted fingerling potatoes, a crusty baguette, or toasted Turkish pide bread. A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or a Sancerre are good wines to serve with this.

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.