11 minute read
The Nosher
High Holidays Recipe: Braised Short Ribs With Honey And Thyme
By Ronnie Fein
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(JTA) -- Some people think of short ribs as rustic fare. But they are an ideal choice for the High Holidays – and not just because of the honey representing a sweet New Year.
Serve them with a thick and glossy gravy: They look impressive and substantial, keeping with our hopeful and festive feelings.
And there’s a bonus: Short ribs taste even better a day or so after cooking, so you can make them ahead, skim the fat and just reheat. The addition of honey in this recipe adds just a hint of sweetness to the dish, a good balance to the spicy chili sauce and tangy Balsamic vinegar
I serve these on cooked egg noodles, but mashed potatoes would be welcome, too.
INGREDIENTS:
• 4-5 pounds boneless short ribs • all-purpose flour • 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, approximately • 2 large onions, sliced • 2 cloves garlic, chopped • 1 1/2 cups red wine • 1 1/2 cups stock or water • 1 cup bottled chili sauce • 1/4 cup honey • 3 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Dredge the meat in some flour and shake off the excess. Heat 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a large saute pan or oven-proof casserole over medium heat.
Add the meat a few pieces at a time and cook them for 3-4 minutes per side or until lightly browned. Add 1-2 more tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan as needed to prevent sticking.
When the meat has browned, remove the pieces to a dish and set aside.
Pour the remaining 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil into the pan. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Return the meat to the pan.
Pour in the red wine, stock, chili sauce, honey and Balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper.
Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook for about 3 hours or until the meat is tender (or place in the oven at 275 degrees). For best results, when the meat is tender, separate the meat and sauce and place in the refrigerator.
When chilled, remove the fat that rises to the top of the sauce. Place the meat in an oven-proof serving dish, cover with the sauce and reheat (about 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 325 F.). Makes 6 servings.
Credit: (Ronnie Fein)
TORAH
Continued from Page 7 this was a license to change those demographics. When the Arabs left in fear, their villages were razed and they were not allowed to return.
According to the many diaries that Yosef Weitz left behind, he carried out this plan with a heavy heart, as he did feel compassion for the Arab refugees he was creating, but he felt at the time that it was “us or them.” He assumed the surrounding Arab countries would absorb the Palestinians, whereas Jewish refugees had nowhere else to go.
But the Palestinian refugees were not absorbed, and he had a change of heart — especially in 1967, when occupying the West Bank and Gaza Strip reversed much of what he had accomplished. With annexation, Palestinians would again be a majority on this land. With occupation, Jews would be mistreating the stranger. At that point in history, the Jews were no longer the powerless refugees they were in 1948. But matters were out of his hands.
This week’s Torah portion tears me apart — if we are truly meant to read it as a recipe for how to live today. But what if we aren’t? What if we are meant to read it as a recipe of what not to do today? What if instead of trying to repeat history, we are meant to correct it? The Jews were sovereign on this land twice already, and it did not end well.
As Ruby tells Tikvah about her mandala art in my novel: “These paintings combine the linear and the circular. As does life. We move forward as we spiral back to our core. Each reconnection to our essense strengthens us for the next spiral. Hopefully even correcting past mistakes, healing old wounds.”
Should we insist on the borders God promised us in (Deut. 10:23), or should we take the spiral path forward, look beyond Deuteronomy, inward to our “hearts of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:29), and find a new way to live here in this land that does not pit “us” against “them”? I am part of a growing movement in Israel to create a shared society, a true partnership of equals. It is hard work, but it is the only way to spiral out of this vicious cycle dating back to the biblical Ishmael and Isaac.
In my novel, when Tikvah and Ruby meet, they are suspicious and fearful of each other. But slowly, as they recognize each other’s humanity and acknowledge each other’s pain, they build a deep and true friendship which ends up being the corrective of the novel’s backstory in 1948. Let’s hope fiction can one day become reality.
NOSHER(food)
Best Wishes to My Many Supporters for a Happy New Year
Thomas J. Capella Jefferson Parish Assessor
Judge Sidney H. Cates, IV
Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans
High Holidays Recipe: This Sweet Treat Is Like Baklava
By Ronnie Fein
(JTA) -- During the High Holidays, I always make my family’s recipe for a dessert called turte, which is similar to Greek baklava. Rather than walnuts, however, it’s made with almonds and drenched with a thick sugar syrup instead of honey.
Turte is a specialty from the eastern part of Romania called Moldavia, where my grandparents were born, and is sometimes made with thin pancakes. My grandma made it with strudel dough.
I recall watching her make her own dough for this dish, as well as her fabulous potato strudel, laying the paper-thin dough across the entire kitchen table. I did that once -- then switched to store-bought.
There was a time when I could find authentic strudel dough, but these days I use phyllo, which is not exactly the same (it’s thinner and more papery), but still absolutely fine. And it’s a whole lot easier.
This is such a wonderful treat, whatever your background. It’s sweet, crumbly and tender, and the fragrance of cinnamon is enchanting. The original recipe did not include orange peel, but I think it gives the cake a refreshing quality.
INGREDIENTS:
For the cake:
• 1/2 pound phyllo dough • 1/2 pound melted butter • cookie or cake crumbs or ground nuts • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped almonds • 2 tablespoons sugar • 2-3 teaspoons freshly grated orange peel • 1 teaspoon cinnamon • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg • For the syrup: • 3/4 cup sugar • 3/4 cup water • 1 teaspoon orange flower water or 2 tablespoons orangeflavored brandy or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
DIRECTIONS:
Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Layer half the phyllo dough in a 9-inch square baking pan (or use a 9-by-13-inch pan), brushing with half the melted butter and scattering crumbs between layers.
In a bowl, combine the chopped almonds, 2 tablespoons sugar, orange peel, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place the nut mixture over the layers of dough.
Cover the nut mixture with the remaining phyllo leaves, separating them as above with melted butter and crumbs.
Brush the top layer with the last of the melted butter. Score the dough with the tip of a sharp knife into squares or rectangles.
Bake for 30 minutes. Raise heat to 400 F. and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Make the syrup: Combine the 3/4 cup sugar and the water in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring only until sugar dissolves. Cook at a boil for a few minutes until the liquid has thickened, but do not let it become caramel colored.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the orange flavoring. Pour the syrup over the warm cake.
Let the cake cool and cut it into pieces where you have scored the top Makes 8-12 servings.
Credit: (Ronnie Fein)
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High Holidays Recipe: Chilled (Or Not) Fresh Tomato Soup
By Ronnie Fein
(JTA) – You hear it every year: The High Holidays are either early or late, never on time.
This year is an early one – real early. Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown Sept. 6, the night of Labor Day for Americans. Fortunately, it’s also the peak of tomato season, so why not include some in your holiday meal?
This soup, made from fresh tomatoes, has lots going for it: You can make it ahead by four or five days; you can enrich it with dairy or nondairy milk or cream if you wish; and it’s delicious either hot or cold.
While it is lovely as a first course for dinner on the first or second night of Rosh Hashanah, I’ll be serving this at room temperature in juice glasses to my break-the-fast guests as we gather after services and need a little nosh before our post-fast dairy meal.
You can warm it up, too, for Sukkot for those chillier nights in the sukkah.
INGREDIENTS:
•2 tablespoons olive oil •3 thick scallions, chopped •2 large cloves garlic, chopped •2 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped •4 cups vegetable stock •2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil •salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste •6 tablespoons uncooked white rice •1 cup dairy or nondairy milk or cream, optional •Garnish (fresh herbs or croutons)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about another minute. Add the tomatoes, stock, basil and salt and pepper.
Bring the soup to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Add the rice, cover the pan and cook for another 20 minutes.
Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Serve hot or let cool. Stir in the milk if desired. Chill completely.
Serve garnished with fresh basil, parsley or Italian bread croutons. Makes 8 servings.
Credit: (Ronnie Fein)
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Continued from Page 16 to life with drama and touches of humor.
“Starlight Soup: A Sukkot Story” Elana Rubinstein; illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar Apples & Honey Press; ages 7-10
Just in time for Sukkot, Saralee Siegel is back in a chapter-book series about the endearing, spunky school-age girl whose magical sense of smell saves the day in the original, “Once Upon an Apple
Cake: A Rosh Hashanah Story.”
Saralee’s grandfather, Zayde, the patriarch of the family’s popular Siegel House restaurant, asks her to create a zippy new recipe to excite customers for the seven-day fall festival, when Jews eat in small, open-roofed huts and welcome guests. Standing in her family’s large sukkah, Saralee’s senses waft up to the starlit skies and fill her with the fragrant aromas. Magically the flavors transform pots of boiling water into Starlight Soup -- it tastes like everyone’s favorite food.
Meanwhile, Saralee’s best friend, Harold, whose family owns a rival Jewish restaurant, is plotting his own Sukkot celebration. Trouble stirs the pot when Saralee’s soup overpowers everyone’s tastebuds and ruins their appetites.
What will Saralee do to make it all better? The book’s school setting is Jewish with racially diverse kids. Jennifer Naalchigar’s blackand-white, cartoon-style illustrations enliven the pages.
Happy
New Year from The Jewish Light
Best Wishes to all of my friends in the Jewish Community. Thank you for your continued support. Charlie Kerner Justice of the Peace
Jefferson Parish 3rd Justice Court
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