Shana Tova u’Metukah

I have been busy preparing for Rosh Hashana and have finally completed everything I intended to make for Friday and Saturday.

I made 4 round challot, one plain and three with dried apricots, dried cranberries, raisins, dried cherries and dried apples. I used the new Kitchenaid to knead the dough and I am very happy with the results. I am back making challah like I used to make in the States. I finally learned how to braid a round challah from this website. I found the website by chance and called Mr. BT to come to my study so I could butter him up to help me with the braiding. He said, “It looks a bit complicated, maybe you should just do it the way you always do.”. I said, no, I would like to give this a try and if we start bickering over it, I will go back to the old way. Well, we figured it out and we didn’t fight about it. Happy days!

For dessert, I am bringing poached pears and Mr. BT’s pomegranate sorbet. We decided to do a light dessert this year. The pears are not too sweet and have a lovely spicy aroma that permeates from the kitchen. I think they will be a big hit.

Printable version here.

Poached Pears
Serves 8

1 bottle semi-dry white wine, such as Emerald Reisling
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 sugar
2 strips of orange zest
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
10 whole cloves
8 firm ripe pears
Juice of 2 oranges

In a pot big enough to hold the pears snugly, put all of the ingredients except for the pears. Bring the liquid up to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pears, cover the pan, and gently poach the pears for about 30 minutes until the pears are soft, but not mushy. Turn off the heat and let cool.

The pears can be poached up to 2 days ahead and kept in the poaching liquid in the refrigerator.

Saturday, I am serving chicken soup with kubbeh which I will blog about in a few days and Sunday, I am making a surprise, so you will have to wait.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova u’Metuka to you and your family.

May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life and we hope you have happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

Chag Sameach,

Mr. BT and Baroness Tapuzina

Rosh Hashana 5770 Planning

It has been a long August without you, but I was swept away in work. Three of my colleagues were either on vacation or maternity leave and it left me holding down the fort. I just didn’t have the energy to spare for my poor neglected blog. But, I am back and I have a Wine Festival to report, a very interesting winery that is a 10 minute drive from my house, and my birthday celebration at work tomorrow. My birthday is actually this Friday.

But first things first, I must think about Rosh Hashana planning. This year, I am going to Jerusalem and am responsible for bringing the challot and dessert. I am going to be making the following:

One plain and one fruit and nut challah

Magical Honey Cake

Baked Apples Stuffed with Fruit and Nuts (without the custard sauce)

Poached Pears (water, brandy, little sugar, 2 strips of orange zest, piece of sliced ginger root, cinnamon stick, cloves)

Here are some interesting ideas for you and your loved ones (meat and dairy):

Roast Chicken with Dried Fruit and Almonds

Cornish Hens with Dried Apricot Sauce

Sephardic Spinach Patties

Fennel and Pistachio Salad

Beetroot and pomegranate salad

Carrot and Date Salad

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Butternut Squash and Preserved Lemon

Roasted Pumpkin with Dried Fruit

Apple and Calvados Cake

Apple and Honey Ice Cream

Apple and Honey Sorbet with Pomegranate Sauce

Yogurt and Honey Semifreddo

What are you making this year?

A Honey of a Dinner

We had a lovely time with my family in Jerusalem for Rosh Hashana. When we came back, I decided to continue the New Year’s celebration and make another special dinner for just the two of us. I know that I have blogged a lot about beef here, but we are really not big beef eaters: we eat a lot more fish and chicken. However, I found a nice reasonably priced piece of beef shoulder, which believe it or not, I have never cooked before.

I started looking at recipes and none of them really turned me on. I didn’t want to do the standard carrot, potato, and onion pot roast. Finally, I found a recipe called Boeuf a la Mode, which sounded like beef with vanilla ice cream. Actually, it is a quick and easy recipe that doesn’t require long hours in the kitchen. The spices gave a nice subtle flavour to the fork-tender beef. I served it with roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli.

I also made a creamy and delicious honey-thyme ice cream from The Cook and Gardener cookbook. I made it with Israeli citrus honey and a touch of Provencal chestnut honey that I brought back from our trip to the South of France and Provence a couple of years ago. It gave it a nice smokey flavour. The thyme was not overpowering, but you can definitely taste it. I really loved this ice cream and it was an excellent compliment to the honey cake I made.

Boeuf a la Mode
Serves: 4-6

1 kilo (2 lbs) beef shoulder roast
4 cups thinly sliced onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon ras al hanut
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup dry red wine

Preheat oven to 160C (325F). Combine salt, ras al hanut, and pepper. Rub seasoning on both sides of the meat.

In large roasting pan, arrange half of onions and garlic. Set roast on top of the onion mixture. Top with remaining onions, garlic, and red wine. Cover pan tightly with foil. Cook for 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 hours, or until pot roast is tender.

Remove pot roast to serving platter; keep warm.

Skim fat from pan juices and onion mixture. Carve pot roast into thin slices. Spoon onion mixture over pot roast. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Honey-Thyme Ice Cream
adapted from The Cook and the Gardener by Amanda Hess
Makes about 1 liter (quart)

2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup citrus honey
2 teaspoons chestnut honey (optional)
5 egg yolks
16 sprigs fresh thyme

Heat the milk, 1 cup of cream and the honey in a heavy saucepan just before it begins to boil. Take off the heat immediately; add the sprigs of thyme and let it steep for about 30 minutes.

Strain the milk mixture, place it in a clean saucepan, and bring the milk mixture to simmer over medium heat.

In separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into yolk mixture; return to same pan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across (do not boil). Strain into another medium bowl; chill covered until cold.

Process chilled custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to container; cover and freeze.

Not my Grandmother’s Honey Cake

We didn’t have a Rosh Hashana tradition of making honey cakes in my house. I didn’t even know there was a tradition to serve honey cake during this holiday. We made Honigkuchen, which were basically lebkuchen, a type of spice cookie that we always made for Hannukah. My grandmother always made Noodle Schalet (Noodle Pudding, not Kugel, with eggs, lemon zest and raisins) with lemon sauce for dessert. We had Suesse Apfel (carmelised apple slices in honey) as a side dish with roast beef.

So when I moved to Israel, people started asking me what does your mother put in her honey cake? Does she put nuts in, coffee or tea, schnapps, only cinnamon? I had no idea what they were talking about. All of the supermarkets and bakeries were selling different types of honey cakes. The few times I had them in the States, I always remembering them being dry and inedible. I made my first honey cake a few years ago and I could have built a house with it. It was heavy and dry. Then, I made the Beekeeper’s Honey Cake and it was less dry.

I finally decided which cake I am going to make for Erev Rosh Hashana, the Magical Honey Cake. As most of my regular readers know, I usually have to tweak a recipe and this time was no different. I used Janna Gur’s recipe as a base and added a few more spices, some orange rind, and substituted cranberries soaked in rum for the raisins. I cheated and tasted one of the cakes on the second day, it is moist, spicy and bursting with flavour from the honey. This is going to be my tried and true honey cake from now on.

Magical Honey Cake
Adapted from “The Book of New Israeli Food” by Janna Gur
Makes 3 loaf pans

6 cups + 3 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1-1/2 cups honey
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tablespoons instant espresso coffee
1 cup boiling water
2 level teaspoons baking soda
Zest of two medium oranges
1/3 cup dried cranberries soaked in rum, just to cover
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F). Grease the loaf pans.

Mix the flour, sugar, and spices in a bowl. Add the honey, oil and eggs, and whisk into a smooth batter. Dissolve the coffee into 1 cup of boiling water. Add the baking soda to the batter, and then add the coffee. Gently fold in the orange rind, cranberries and rum, and the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pans and bake for approximately 45 minutes until the cake is dark brown and the toothpick is clean with a few crumbs adhering.

Cool the cakes completely and wrap with aluminum foil. Place in a cool, dry place to mature for 7 days.

Rosh Hashana 5769

Chag Sameach everyone! We have been invited to family for the holiday and I will be bringing dessert. I am still trying to decide which cake I am going to make, but I wanted to share some of my ideas with you before the holiday begins. I will post which one I make as soon as I decide. Here are my choices:

Greek Pistachio Honey Cake

Ka’ikeh b’Ah’sal (Honey Cake With Sesame Glaze)

Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Honey Cake

Beekeeper’s Honey Cake (I made this last year)

Magical Honey Cake
From “The Book of New Israeli Food” by Janna Gur
Makes 3 loaf pans

6 cups + 3 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon
1-1/2 cups honey
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tablespoons instant coffee
1 cup boiling water
2 level teaspoons baking soda
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F). Grease the loaf pans.
Mix the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the honey, oil and eggs, and whisk into a smooth batter. Dissolve the coffee into 1 cup of boiling water. Add the baking soda to the batter, and then add the coffee. Gently fold in the raisins and the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pans and bake for approximately 45 minutes until the cake is dark brown and the toothpick is clean with a few crumbs adhering.

Cool the cakes completely and wrap with aluminum foil. Place in a cool, dry place to mature for 7 days.

I have also found some interesting recipes for the rest of the meal:

Rubuh’ (roast veal stuffed with spiced ground meat and rice)

Ejjeh b’kerrateh (leek fritters)

Georgian Meatballs with Pine Nuts and Sour Cherries

Georgian Chicken in Pomegranate and Tamarind Sauce

And you can always use my recipes from last year: Rosh Hashana 5768 and Chag Sameach – Shana Tova

Rosh Hashana 5768

Chag Sameach everyone! I hope you had a nice meal with your family. We went to my cousin’s house for the first night of Rosh Hashana and had a lovely time.

We invited some friends of ours for dinner last night. My husband made a Rosh Hashana favourite and I introduced several new surprises to our repertoire. Everything was delicious.

The cake calls for sour cream and one of my guests has a dairy allergy and can only tolerate butter in baked goods, so I substituted a non-dairy yogurt in its place. It worked fine.

And in case you are wondering about why I served a dairy cake, we keep kashrut according to the Italian tradition which is one hour between meat and dairy.

Our menu was:

Cocktails

Provence des Papes Savoury Biscuits

Rosemary Cashews
Cocktails

First Course
Apples with honey
Pomegranate seeds

Ducklava with Chestnut Honey

Main Course

Clay Pot Festival of Fruits Chicken
Couscous
Green beans

Round Challah with dried fruits and nuts
Golan Winery Sion Creek red wine

Dessert

Beekeeper’s Honey Cake
Mango-Nectarine sorbet

Provence des Papes Savoury Biscuits
Restaurant: La Garbure (Châteauneuf du Pape)
Chef: Jean Louis Giansilly
Serves 4

5 garlic cloves
3 sprigs of basil
5 tbsp olive oil
50g (3.5 tbsp) pine nuts
300g (1.3 cups) flour
10cl (.4 cup) warm water
10cl (.4 cup) olive oil
2 tsp salt
25g (1.7 tablespoons) baking powder
4 egg yolks
Ground pepper

Prepare a pesto by crushing the garlic cloves with the basil, olive oil, and pine nuts.
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, virgin olive oil, egg yolks, warm water, and some ground pepper. Add the pesto and blend well to obtain a smooth dough.
Roll into a long snake and slice the into 1/4 inch (6mm) wafers and bake at 180C (350F) for about 10 minutes (depending on size).

Clay Pot Festival of Fruits Chicken
Serves 4-6
This recipe was created by my husband for the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashana. It is a fruity, but not overly sweet dish.

1 chicken, cut into eighths
1 onion, thinly sliced
4-5 whole garlic cloves
2 cm fresh ginger, grated or chopped finely
1 quince, cored and cut into eighths
10-20 majhoul dates, pitted and cut into quarters
10 dried figs, stem removed and cut into eighths
10-20 dried sour apricots, cut into quarters
20 walnut halves
Couple of pinches of black pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup water
½ c pomegranate molasses
½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
olive oil

On a low heat, place the olive oil in the clay pot, just to cover the surface. Add the onions when the oil is hot, but not sizzling. When the onion is soft, add the garlic. When the onion is lightly brown, turn up the heat and add the chicken pieces, stirring constantly until browned, approximately 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on a low flame for approximately 1 ½ hours, stirring every 15 minutes and checking that there is enough remaining liquid for a nice sauce.

Server with nut-studded rice or couscous.

Chag Sameach – Shana Tova

At sundown on the 12th of September is the beginning of the Days of Awe which last ten days including the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana and ending with the 25-hour fast of Yom Kippur. During these ten days, we are suppose to meditate on the subject of the holidays and ask for forgiveness from anyone we have wronged.

During this month and the beginning of October, I will be blogging on holiday dishes for Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

I would like to wish my family and friends a Joyous and Healthy New Year. May yours be a sweet year and may your names be inscribed in the book of life.

To those of you observing the upcoming month of Ramadan, Ramadan Mubarak, which means “Blessed Ramadan”.

Shana Tova and Chag Sameach!

Baroness Tapuzina

In preparation for Rosh Hashana, I made a round challah with dried fruits and nuts using my favourite challah recipe. I have heard many reasons why a Rosh Hashana challah is round instead of braided. Some of the reasons are:

• They represent a crown that reflects our crowning G-d as the King of the world.
• The circular shape points to the cyclical nature of the year.
• It stands for the circle of life, and the hope that our lives endure without end.
• The round challah is the true form of the original round showbread loaves that were kept on the Temple altar. ( Note: Twelve flat loaves, for each of the tribes, were set in two stacks on the Temple altar. It wasn’t until the 15th century that challahs were made in any other shape.)

I add the fruits and nuts before the first rise. I added apricots, cranberries, golden raisin, figs and walnuts.

After the first rise, I punch the dough down, form a long snake and then coil the challah, to make a spiral shape.

Let the dough rise for two to three hours and bake as directed.