Lentil Stuffed Peppers, Near Eastern Bean Stew & Killer Garlic Sauce for Purim or Any Time (Plus They Are Vegan)

Queen Esther is probably the most famous Jewish vegan. That’s because she is said to have only eaten beans, lentils and similar foods while she was in King Ahasuerus’ court in order to observe Jewish dietary law.

Even if you are not celebrating Purim, these recipes are delicious, but for Purim they would be very special. The stew features pomegranate molasses for a sweet-tart flavor that is a traditional component of Purim foods to recognize the threat and redemption the Jews of Persia experienced. The stuffed peppers fulfill the tradition of having foods with a filling to recognize the many hidden intrigues and twists and turns of the Megillah (or the telling of the story of Esther).

Pomegranate molasses is available in Middle Eastern and other markets. For the lentil-stuffed peppers, the tomato and garlic sauce play together very nicely, but you can skip the garlic sauce if you’d like. If the garlic sauce flavor is too strong for you, stir in some regular or non-dairy yogurt to taste.

Lentil-Stuffed Peppers with Two Sauces
Serves 4-6

I like the lentil-bulgur stuffing piled into a pita and drizzled with garlic sauce if you are not up to making the full recipe!

8 medium-large red bell peppers
2 Tbs. oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 cup chopped carrots
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup dried brown or green lentils
2 1/2 to 3 cups of vegetable stock
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 cups (packed) chopped chard
1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup cooked bulgur or couscous
1 recipe tomato sauce (below)
1 recipe garlic sauce (below)

Cut tops and a thin slice off the bottom of the peppers to level, reserve. Core peppers. Place in dish with 1/2 cup water in bottom. Microwave on high for 5-8 minutes, until the peppers are tender. Drain. Chop scraps and tops and reserve.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic, sauté until golden. Add carrots, celery and chopped bell pepper. Sauté 2 minutes. Stir in lentils. Add 2 1/2 cups of stock. Stir in spices. Bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, add chard. Stir. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes until lentils are cooked, adding more stock if needed. Stir in tomatoes and bulgur. Stuff bell peppers. Spoon tomato sauce atop peppers. Bake 50 minutes. Drizzle each pepper with about a tsp. of the garlic sauce. Heat and pass remaining tomato sauce.

Tomato sauce: Combine 16 oz. tomato sauce with 1 Tbs. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

Garlic sauce: Combine 20 cloves of garlic (peeled), 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1/3 cup olive oil in a blender. Blend until creamy. You'll only need a few tbs. for the peppers, store the rest in a sealed container in the fridge for other uses. It will add zip and zing to almost everything.

Near Eastern Bean Stew
Serves 4

2 Tbs. oil
2 cups chopped leeks (white and light green parts)
2 Tbs. plus 1 Tbs. minced garlic
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups chopped turnips
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cups chopped eggplant
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dried ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 1/2 to 2 cups vegetable stock
1-15 oz. can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 Tbs. minced fresh mint

Heat oil in a large, oven-proof pot over medium high heat. Sauté leeks and 2 Tbs. garlic sauté until light brown. Add carrots, turnips, red bell pepper and eggplant. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add spices and 1 1/2 cups of stock. Stir well. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Add beans. Stir well. Cover and keep at a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetable are cooked through, adding more stock if needed. Dish should be moist but not soupy. Stir in pomegranate molasses and dill. Have broiler heated. Combine 1 Tbs. garlic with breadcrumbs and mint. Scatter across the top of stew. Place under broiler until top is browned.
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A version of this article first appeared in j. weekly

Revisionist Meat Loaf. It's What's for Dinner -- Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf and Spanish Kale and Olive Meat Loaf

Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf

Meat loaf. Just saying those words seems to conjure a remembrance of a specific meat loaf recipe for most people. For many folks it’s family food, not something special for company, but meat loaf is too good to not get a chance to shine, so here are two untraditional meat loaf recipes to try.

The Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf started with my memories of my Eastern European Jewish grandmother’s meat loaf and her stuffed cabbage. In her honor, the meat loaf has a hard-boiled egg core, a cabbage wrapping and a sweet and sour tomato sauce to top it off. This is a good recipe to use with low-fat ground beef, since the cabbage keeps the meat loaf moist.

The Spanish Kale and Olive Meat Loaf features Iberian seasonings and pimento-stuffed olives.

Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf
Serves 6-8

6 large, green cabbage leaves
Oil spray
1 1/4 lbs. ground beef
1 cup matzo meal
1 egg, beaten
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes with liquid
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground dried oregano
1/8 tsp. paprika
2 hardboiled eggs, shelled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Immerse leaves in pot of boiling water, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 4-5 minutes until the leaves are pliable. Drain. Spray large baking dish with the oil spray. Lay 2 largest cabbage leaves stem end to stem end in the center of the baking dish. Set aside.

Combine meat, matzo meal, beaten egg, tomatoes with liquid, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and paprika. Mound half into an 8”x4” loaf in the middle of the 2 cabbage leaves. Press hard-boiled eggs into loaf end to end. Mound remaining meat on top. Drape 2-3 cabbage leaves over top of meat loaf, filling in gaps with remaining leaves. Fold up cabbage leaves from underneath to enclose. Spray top with oil spray. Bake, spraying cabbage with oil if it begins to dry out or get too brown, for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, until firm to the touch and cooked through. Let sit 20 minutes before serving. Serve with sauce (below).

Sweet and Sour Sauce: Plump 1/2 cup raisins in hot water for 20 minutes, drain. In a small pan combine raisins with 15 oz. can tomato sauce, 1 Tbs. brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. dried ground ginger, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Taste, adding sugar or vinegar as needed.

Spanish Kale and Olive Meat Loaf
Serves 6

2 Tbs. oil plus additional for greasing pan
1/2 cup chopped red onion
4 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups chopped kale or chard
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. ground beef
2 Tbs. tomato paste
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
10 queen-size, pimento-stuffed green olives, cut into fourths

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 Tbs. oil in pan. Sauté onions and garlic until lightly browned. Add kale, red pepper, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked. Oil an 8.5” x 4.5” loaf pan. Combine kale mixture with beef, tomato paste, eggs, bread crumbs, and olives. Put into loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until firm to the touch and cooked through. Let sit 20 minutes before serving.

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Originally featured in j weekly.  Also featured on About.com's Eastern European food guide.

Photos at an Exhibition Inspire White Bean, Kale and Cauliflower Salads with North African Flavors

The photography show that inspired these recipes is over now, but the San Francisco Jewish Community Center's "Harissa, Honey & Hyssop: Photos of North African Food" featured the colorful and evocative the work of Nelli Sheffer, an Israeli who specializes in food photography.

The show appealed to me not just for the vivid portrayal of the food but for the life and feeling that seemed to emanate from the people in the photos with the grilled corn, roast lamb and other foods featured in Sheffer’s photographs.  (To see info on this exhibit, please go the JCC's Katz Gallery site. To read a write up about the exhibit with some photos, please see this jweekly article. For Sheffer's site, go here.)

I’ve recreated some of the North African flavors of the exhibition in several cooked vegetable salads, a feature of many of the cuisines of the region.

Briefly cooking the kale in the Kale Salad and Garlic Salad with Lemon helps tame its assertiveness. The cauliflower salad uses the Tunisian condiment harissa in the dressing. Harissa, a chili-garlic paste, is available in many supermarkets and in specialty stores. If you would like to make your own, here’s my recipe. The white bean dish features radishes and carrots, frequent ingredients in Moroccan salads.

 

Kale Salad with Garlic
Serve s 4-6

1 large or 2 small bunches of Tuscan kale (also known as dino or black kale)
1-2 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp., packed, minced lemon zest
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. paprika
1 tomato, chopped into 1/4” pieces

Remove tough bottom stems from kale. You should have about 12 oz. of leaves. Immerse in boiling water. Return to boil. Cover and cook kale for 2 minutes. Kale should be pliable and somewhat tender. Immediately remove from pot, rinse with cold water and drain well. Pat leaves dry with paper towels.

Blotting, rolling and slicing kale

Stack 6-8 leaves. Roll from tip of leaf to stem. Gently squeeze bundle to remove any excess water. Slice into 1/4” strips. Repeat with remainder of kale. Place in large bowl, tossing to untangle kale strips. Dry again with paper towels if there is a lot of moisture.

Combine garlic, juice, zest, oil, cumin, sugar, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix well and toss with kale strips. Garnish with chopped tomato. Serve at room temperature.

Cauliflower Salad with Harissa
Serves 4-6

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. harissa (Tunisian chili-garlic paste)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt plus additional if needed
1 medium cauliflower
1/2 cup 1/4" chunks of red onion
3 Tbs. finely chopped fresh mint
3 tsps., packed, minced lemon zest

Mix juice, harissa, oil and 1/4 tsp. salt. Set aside. Core cauliflower and cut into 1 and 1/2” florets. Steam over boiling water for 4-6 minutes until tender but not cooked through. Immediately toss with harissa mixture and red onion. Mix in mint and lemon zest. Taste and add additional salt if needed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

White Bean Salad with Radishes and Carrots
Serves 4-6

1 and 3/4 cups cooked white kidney beans, rinsed and drained (15 oz. can)
1 cup 1/4" cubes of red bell pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (white and light green part only)
1/4 cup 1/8” pieces of red radish
1 cup 1/4" chunks of carrot
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp. salt plus additional if needed
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. finely chopped parsley

Combine beans, red bell, green onions, radish pieces and carrot chunks. Mix lemon juice, 1/8 tsp. of salt, paprika, cumin, garlic and olive oil. Combine with beans and vegetables. Stir in parsley. Taste, adding more salt if needed. Serve at room temperature.
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A version of this post appeared in the j. weekly.

Happy New Year to the Trees - Celebrate Tu B'Shevat with Fruit, Nuts and These Recipes

Cherry and Carob Cookies

Many Jews have become more aware of Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for trees, as the practice of celebrating the holiday with Seders and special meals has become more widespread.

Tu B’Shevat begins at sunset on February 7th and continues until nightfall the next day. The holiday was used to set the age of fruit trees for taxes and other purposes. There are several food customs associated with it. One is to eat a new fruit of the season. Another focuses on consuming the “Seven Species,” foods mentioned in the Torah as being special products of Israel – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. Some also include other fruits and nuts mentioned elsewhere in the Torah or associated with Israel.

The Seder was created in the 16th century and includes fruits that have several distinct characteristics: an inedible covering (such as citrus, pomegranates and pineapples), fruits with edible coverings but large pits (such as cherries, olives and carob), and completely edible fruits or ones that only have very small seeds (such as grapes).

Some of these Tu B’Shevat traditions are reflected in the following recipes.

Chicken with Olives and Tangerines
Serves 6

Fennel, squash, olives and tangerines combine to create a great dish for company or every day.  The idea came from having made some Moroccan orange and olive salads and really liking that flavor combo but only having Satsumas in the house when I created this.

1 1/2 cups seedless tangerine sections (such as Satsuma)
2 Tbs. grape seed or olive oil
2 lbs. boneless chicken thighs cut in 1 1/2” strips
2 cups of chopped onion
2 tsp. finely chopped garlic
1 1/2 cups chopped fennel bulb
1 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups of 1” cubes of butternut squash
1 cup water
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 Tbs. finely chopped fennel fronds, optional

Remove any excess white pith or strings from the tangerine sections. Set aside. Heat oil in large fry or sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown chicken strips, remove. Add onion and garlic, sauté until golden. Add fennel, red bell pepper and squash. Sauté 2 minutes. Add water, stir well, cover. Lower heat to medium and let steam, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed (do not let the pan go dry), until squash is almost cooked through. Remove lid, raise heat to medium high. Add cinnamon, pepper, salt and browned chicken and sauté until chicken is almost cooked through. Add olives and tangerines. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until chicken is done. Garnish with chopped fennel fronds if desired. Serve on top of cooked bulgur, couscous or barley.

Cherry and Carob Cookies
Makes about 24-30 cookies

These delicious, cake-like cookies are vegan. The carob adds a fruity note, but you could substitute chocolate chips if you'd prefer. Dried cranberries can also be substituted for the dried tart cherries. The cookies are very fragile when warm, plus they taste better when cool, so be sure to let them cool completely before eating.

1 cup non-hydrogenated shortening, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened plain applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup apple juice
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup carob chips
1/2 cup dried tart, pitted cherries (or dried cranberries)
1/2 cup dried, unsweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup walnut pieces
Oil spray

Using an electric mixer, cream shortening and sugar. Stir in applesauce, vanilla and juice. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. With mixer on medium speed, pour a third of the flour mixture into the shortening one and mix until well combined. Repeat with remaining flour mixture. Stir in carob, cherries, coconut and walnuts. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie pans with oil spray. Roll batter into 1 1/2" balls. Place on greased baking sheets leaving about 2” space between cookies. Bake until cookies are golden with lightly browned edges, 15-17 minutes. Let cool on baking pans for 3 minutes and then move to cooling rack. Let cool completely before eating.

Pomegranate Juice Squares with Pineapple Chunks
Serves 4

Don't skip serving with the pineapple chunks, they are what makes the dish "come together." Canned pineapple chunks work fine for this recipe.

1 cup white grape juice
1 cup fresh pomegranate juice, cold
2 envelopes Kolatin brand unflavored kosher gelatin (see note below)
8 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained, OR 2/3 cup of 1/2” chunks of fresh pineapple
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds, optional

Heat white grape juice to a boil and keep at a simmer. Place cold pomegranate juice in bowl. Sprinkle gelatin on top, let stand 1 minute. Add hot juice and mix thoroughly until gelatin has dissolved. Pour into 8” x 8” pan. Cover and put in refrigerator until firm (4 hours). Cut into 1” squares. Combine the juice squares with the pineapple in individual dishes just before serving. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds if using. (Note: If using a different brand of gelatin, follow package directions on how to mix with liquids.)
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A version of this first appeared as an article the j. weekly.
Other posts on the holiday feature information on pomegranates and recipes for barley-olive tabbouleh salad, pomengranate fish and carob fruit nut bars.

Super Treats for the Super Bowl

Inspired by About.com's Eastern European Food Guide featuring one of my recipes (for stuffed cabbage meat loaf ),* as Super Bowl fare, I thought I would create a wrap up of recipes I think would be good choices for Super Bowl or similar get-togethers.

Here are some of my picks from past posts:

For a different dip try my Pumpkin Hummus
For a little something healthy offer up some Broccoli Slaw
Try these hot dog toppings, including a lentil chili (which would make a great stand-alone dish as well. The other toppings are tomato-onions and homemade relish. Try with my oven-roasted fries.
No one will ask where's the beef when they try these three lighter sandwiches - egg salad, smoked salmon and goat cheese with olives.
Try my version of street tacos with turkey carnitas
Potato knishes make great hand held food
Go for a  Spanish tortilla (a kind of sturdy omelet easy to cut into appetizer pieces) with a secret ingredient - potato chips
Try a five-way Cincinnati Chili
Think about having a soup bar - check out my soup listings for some ideas
My choice are Vietnamese Spring Rolls wrapped in rice paper or even lettuce - pre made or do it yourself - with shrimp or vegetarian
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*Note: that meat loaf recipe has not appeared in Blog Appetit yet, though. In addition to about.com, you can find it on line j. weekly. Update: 2/21/12 - that recipe is now posted on Blog Appetit.

Ohs of Joy -- Really Good Bagels Made at Home by Normal (Well, Pretty Normal) Folks Who Know From Good Bagels

Baked plain, salt and sesame seed bagels

There are a couple of ways to approach making homemade bagels.

The first is to be determined to make great, nay legendary, bagels better than one can get locally (unless locally is near a renown bagel making bakery), using techniques perfected by bagel makers of yore (specifically Bagel Makers Union 338).

The other way is just get a bunch of friends together to enjoy the process, bake some bagels and enjoy a nice brunch.



A group of friends, Gary and I opted to be social bagel makers and had a grand time doing it. We tested two recipes. One, quite frankly, made great pretzels. Which would have been fine except we were making bagels. The other made great tasting bagels. The crust wasn’t as shiny or crisp as we might like in an ideal world, but was more than good enough. The insides, oh my, but the insides. These bagels shone with inner beauty. The bite was pleasantly chewy with just the right amount of resistance; the taste was clean with just the right amount of tang. Spread with cream cheese, slathered with butter, encumbered with lox, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions, these bagels added to the experience. 

The recipe for bagels that turned out to make a good pretzel (seriously, we were dipping the baked rings into salt and mustard) offered us ease, a quick rise (40 minutes), a dunk in boiling water and a 20 minute bake. I had the dough ready to go when our friends arrived ready to roll (or poke) the bagel dough in shape. The payoff was dense, hard bagels.

The other recipe I made the night before including shaping the bagels. They were kept in the fridge overnight and then boiled and baked the next morning. This is the batch we were in ecstasy about.

Basically I didn’t find making these bagels that complicated. You just had to follow the steps. Here are some tips based on my bagel making experience.

• Prepare to hand knead unless you have a truly heavy duty mixer. Bagel dough is stiff. It wants you to beat it up, so don’t feel guilty about pushing it around. Prepare to knead for at least 10 minutes. Think of it as working off the calories just eating one of these beauties is going to cost you. Since this dough is so stiff, be aware that if you are contemplating multiplying the recipe you’ll need forearms like Popeye and hands like a masseuse to knead more than one batch concurrently.

Teen friend's artwork from bagel party

• Recognize you are not a professional baker – you will make mistakes, but they will be delicious. I used oiled parchment paper to line the first batch’s baking trays (which some recipes recommended). I should have used cornmeal. My golden brown, perfectly round bagels stuck like an s.o.b. (son of a bagel) to that paper. What could we do? We left them on their parchment paper until the guests had arrived and could ooh and ahh over their supposed perfection. Then Gary sliced them off with a bread knife. 


• Give your bagels a good poke. Before we attempted this I read recipe after recipe and sought out photos and videos on how to shape the bagels. When I finally got down to actually shaping them I threw out all by notions of rolling out perfect rings and went for the ball and poke technique described in the recipe. Even the kids (ages 4-13) were able to shape great looking bagels. (Again, recognize you do not have your bagel making union card, so whatever gets the job done is fine, especially if you are a social bagel baker. Ignore this advice if you are attempting legendary bagels, this advice would then be heresy to you.)

• Be patient. The dough takes time to come together and absorb all that flour. It takes time to knead, shape and rise again. Boiling and baking really didn’t take that long, but you should wait until the hot bagels have cooled a bit so you can properly taste them (not to mention avoid burning hands and or tongue).

• Be skimpy with your toppings. Sprinkle perhaps a tablespoon or two of sesame seeds, poppy seeds or kosher salt over the top of your bagels. Too much will overpower the bagels. Respect the heritage of the plain bagel and the limitations of the home kitchen and do not attempt an asiago-cranberry-garlic-everything bagel. This is an abomination as per my official bagel religion. If you are an unbeliever, add your chocolate chips, but be prepared when you meet your bagel maker to answer for such transgressions.

What I would do different? I think I would play around with the boiling time (make it a bit longer) and maybe add some malt syrup to the boiling water to see if I could get a smoother, shinier crust with a tad more toothiness. (Some add an egg glaze before baking the bagels to replicate this crust, but I resisted that technique for purist reasons.) I would have used cornmeal on the baking tray (maybe with the parchment) so that the bagels wouldn’t have glued themselves to the paper and have had to be surgically removed.

I don’t like to repost other bloggers' recipes without permission and to be honest my Really Good Bagels recipe is not that different than the one posted by The Fresh Loaf blog and forum (the author who in turn adapted it from the book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.)  Thanks to Floyd Mann, the genius behind The Fresh Loaf, for his permission to reprint his recipe. The recipe is included at the bottom of this post, or you can click here  to see it instead.

Here are the changes I made to The Fresh Loaf recipe to create my Really Good Bagels:

Sponge:
The water should be lukewarm (hot tap water).

Dough:
I used the malt syrup. This is easy to find at Whole Foods and other natural foods groceries.

Shaping and forming:
I cut into pieces slightly smaller than Fresh Loaf did – about 4.25 ounces, resulting in 13 bagels (a baker’s dozen) and 1 mini. Using a scale really helped for this process. If you don’t have one, just try to get your dough pieces as even as possible.
 

Boiling bagels before baking

 
After rolling each dough piece into a ball and letting rest for 20 minutes I used the ball and poke method Fresh Loaf did, which is basically poking your thumb through the center of each roll and then, keeping your thumb in the middle, turning the dough to smooth and even out the dough ring. Make your hole about an inch or more in diameter to resist the forces of an overnight rising and subsequent baking and remain a hole.

Boiling and Baking:



I added the baking soda to the water and boiled the bagels about 1 1/2-2 minutes on each side.
I baked them for about 10 minutes total at 500 degrees (I did not adjust the heat down as Fresh Loaf does).

Below is The Fresh Loaf's bagel recipe, reprinted with permission.

Yikes - Sorry

I am more behind in keeping up the blog than normal, but I promise to catch up soon.
In the meantime, I have written a few recipe concepts over at my all vegan all the time blog, Dish it Up Vegan.  Please click over there to see some of what I've been eating.

Say It With Cookies - Happy Holidays

These gorgeous cut-out linzer cookies were made by the wonderful Anita Chu of Dessert First and part of the recent holiday cookie swap at the home of La Vie En Route blogger Annelies Hyatt Zijderveld.

There was lots of good cookies, good cheer and good company, but probably the most fun was had by rearranging the letters left of Anita's cookies once you ate one.  It became kind of a game, if you ate one you had to play cookie anagrams and make sense of the remaining letters.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.
All the best for 2012

Faith

P.S. What cookies did I bring?  I brought a version of my peppermint candy cookies.

Nothing Says Chanukah Better than Vegan Latkes

Vegan latkes use flax seeds as binder

Tonight's the first night of Chanukah (or Hanukkah or Hanukah or even Xanuka). It's always very special watching the glow of the menorah's candles in the darkened room surrounded by those I love. (You can find links to all my Chanukah posts here)

Since I'm about 99.9% vegan these days (I do still create and sample non-vegan recipes but I don't inhale), I thought I'd try adapting my latke recipe so I could scarf them up just like everybody else.  The recipe worked well and the non-vegans who sampled the test batch liked them just as much as I did.  The flax seeds gave the latkes a faintly nutty taste that was very pleasant.  Since the symbolism of the fried potato pancake at Chanukah is all about the oil, not about the egg, a vegan latke is perhaps unorthodox but still in keeping with holiday tradition. If you would like the recipe and technique to make the more traditional latkes, please click here.

Vegan Latkes
Serves 6 as a side dish, if this is a main course serves about 4.  If you are feeding folks that like to grab the hot latkes right out of the fry pan for a little taste or nosh, yield will be significantly less.

I use flax seeds that come preground. I don't peel the potatoes. Shredding the onions with the potatoes is alleged to help retard browning, however once the potatoes are fried, any discoloration can't really be seen.

4 Tbs. ground flax
3/4 cup of water
3 lbs. of russet, Idaho or other baking potato, peeling optional
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Canola or other frying oil

Mix the ground flax seeds with the water.  Stir or whisk until combined.  Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick and gelatinous.

Shred potatoes alternating with onion.  (Larger shreds produce lacier latkes with rougher edges. Fine shreds or grated potatoes produce more "pancake"-like latkes.)  Squeeze dry and discard liquid.  Stir in garlic, salt, pepper and flax seed mixture.  Mix well.   Let sit for a few minutes so mixture can bind.

In a very large skillet (the heavier the better) over medium-high heat, heat oil that is about 1/4-inch deep until it is very hot. (I drop a bit of batter in to see if it sizzles with bubbles all around.)  Take a handful of the batter (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup depending on how large you want the pancakes) and press the the batter between two hands to make a patty, squeezing again to remove any moisture. Place carefully in the hot oil, pressing down with a spatular on the latke occasionally to flatten it some what.  Do not over crowd the pancakes in the pan. Fry them until browned on both sides and crisp on the edges, adding more oil as needed. Drain on parchment paper (see note below). Repeat until all latkes are fried. Keep cooked latkes warm in a low (250 degree) oven if desired.

Note:  The flax seeds not only "glue" the potato shreds together, they also cause the latkes to stick to paper towels or brown paper bags (the usual medium for draining them).  Use the parchment paper instead to avoid or lessen the problem or pat the latkes with a paper towel and set them directly on the serving platter.

Pot Roast 101 and a Recipe for Pot Roast with Tamarind

Gary likes to shred our pot roast. We served it in its sauce over latkes.

My mother was the queen of the pot roast, so making pot roast is part of my culinary heritage.  It’s a natural for holiday dinners (such as Chanukah or Rosh Hashanah) since your can cook it in advance and just reheat before serving.  In fact, it is almost required to cook in advance. There are two reasons for that. The first is that the flavors just get even better by letting it sit overnight and eating the next day.  The second is that there is absolutely no predicting when the pot roast will be done.  It could take two hours, it could take four.  I had one particularly reluctant specimen take eight hours until it reached the perfect you could cut-it-with-a-fork tenderness.

Making pot roast is really very easy, but here are some tips to help ensure success:

• Cut away any extra surface fat, but don’t pick a piece of meat that is too lean. (That eight-hour pot roast was very, very lean).  I like to use boneless chuck roast, which I find flavorful and relatively economical.
• Be sure to use a flavorful liquid and enough of it.  Think of the liquid as your flavor vehicle. In the recipe below I use tamarind and tomatoes for flavoring.  You could use wine and or broth for a more traditional pot roast flavor combination.
• Be sure to add enough seasoning.  However, if you are using a kashered piece of meat you might want to go sparingly on the salt and season the gravy/sauce to compensate after you taste the cooked meat and sauce.  I find that meat that has been kashered (salted and drained according to the Jewish dietary laws) retains some residual salting and I can’t predict how little or much that will be.
• Use a heavy enough pan or put a flame tamer or heat diffuser underneath a thinner pot to be sure you have even heat and to avoid burning.
• Leave yourself enough time.  With a pot roast, meat passes through stages from raw to appearing to be cooked but hard as rock to full submission with the desired degree to tenderness.  The long, moist-heat cooking is breaking down the proteins and connective tissue, so you can’t just give a time for cooking a pot roast.  Keep checking, add more liquid if need be and keep cooking until a cooking fork pretty much glides through the meat.  If your pot roast is recalcitrant and just won’t get to that final stage of melt-in-the-mouth softness, you have two choices. Store it in the cooking liquid overnight and cook it further the next day and see if even more cooking will help or shredding it instead of slicing it against the grain.  Serving the pot roast shredded over mashed or boiled potatoes, noodles, soft polenta or similar is actually our favorite to serve it.

Pot Roast with Tamarind and Syrian Jewish Flavors

Serves about 6

The tamarind adds a slight tart note to the sauce that really complements the rich beef flavor. 

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 lb. boneless chuck roast

1-28 oz. can whole tomatoes, undrained

½ tsp plus ¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground allspice

1 tsp. brown sugar

4 tsp. plus 2 tsp. tamarind paste or concentrate

1-2 cups of water

2 Tbs. tomato paste

Add oil to a large, heavy pot. Heat over medium high heat and add onion slices.  Sauté until just softened then add garlic and sauté until onions are golden.  Remove onion and garlic from pot and reserve.  Add meat and brown on all sides. Lower heat to medium.  Add back the onions and garlic.  Add tomatoes with their liquid.  Using a spatula break up tomatoes into fourths. Stir. Add ½ tsp. of the salt and the pepper, cinnamon, allspice and stir. Add brown sugar and 4 tsp. of tamarind paste. Add enough water to bring liquid mixture to the top of the chuck roast.  Stir well.  Add tomato paste, stir again.  Bring the meat and liquid to a simmer.  Cover and lower heat to keep at a simmer, mixing sauce and turning meat occasionally until meat is as tender as you like, approximately 2 to 4 hours.  Remove meat to a cutting board until cool enough to handle.  While the meat is cooling, raise the heat on the liquid, add the 2 remaining tsp. of tamarind paste and cook uncovered at a low boil, stirring occasionally until it has reduced down to a gravy or sauce-like thickness. Taste and add in the ¼ tsp. of salt if desired.  Slice the meat thinly against the grain or shred.  Mix the meat back into the reduced sauce and reheat and serve or (preferably) store the meat in the sauce overnight in the refrigerator and gently reheat the next day.

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For a round up of Chanukah (Hanukkah) recipes and information on Blog Appetit, including recipes for potato pancakes (latkes), check out this post.
For other pot roasts on Blog Appetit - check out the zippy cranberry version or my spicy pot roast with a kick
For pot roast recipes from around the web, check out Kayln's Kitchen's crock pot version, Simply Recipe's several recipes and Pioneer Woman's pictorial tutorial and recipe.