Cookery

Another delicious recipe from Denise Phillips

For more recipes and inspiration visit my website: www.jewishcookery.com

Rojak Fruit & Vegetable Salad

Hailing from Singapore, this salad brings together fruit, vegetables and crispy tofu. Suitable for vegans, gluten free and dairy free guests too! It is a sweet and spicy salad that is ideal as part of a buffet or enjoyed as a healthy side dish with your main course. The dressing uses tamarind which is a seed pod from the tamarind tree. This has a unique sweet and sour flavour and used is extensively in SE Asian and Indian cooking. It can be found in a jar as a paste or as a block.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Serves: 6

Ingredients 2 large ripe mangoes 150g radishes – finely sliced 1 cucumber – deseed and cubed 1 ripe pineapple – peeled and cubed 125g baby spinach 350g firm tofu 1 fresh red chilli – deseeded and finely chopped 100g unsalted peanuts 4 tablespoons vegetable/ rapeseed oil

DRESSING 2 limes 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons runny honey 1 teaspoon chilli paste 1 teaspoon tamarind 1 teaspoon light brown sugar

Garnish: Sprigs of mint Method 1. For the dressing, combine the zest from 1 lime and all of the lime juice with the remaining dressing ingredients. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Transfer to a jug and set aside. 2. Slice the cheeks from the mango and finely slice each one into lengths, removing the skin. 3. Finely slice the radishes, then deseed and cut the cucumber into cubes. Peel the pineapple and cut into 1cm cubes. 4. Mix the mango, radish, cucumber, pineapple and spinach in a salad bowl. 5. Cut the tofu into 2cm cubes. Finely slice the chilli. 6. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the peanuts on a tray and toast for about 10 minutes. Set aside. 7. Add the oil to a frying pan and sauté the tofu. Fry for about 10 minutes, or until deep golden on all sides. Sauté the chilli for 2 minutes so just soft. 8. Remove and leave to drain on kitchen paper, then scatter on top of the fruit. Drizzle over the dressing and top with the toasted peanuts and sprigs of mint.

Tu B’shvat

BY DENISE PHILLIPS

Tu B’shvat, the festival of trees, starts the evening of Sunday 16 January, and in Israel it is a national holiday. Tu B’shvat literally means 15th of the month of Shvat, the day it occurs in the Hebrew calendar, but the number 15 also refers to the name of G-d which connects the physical to the spiritual side of this world and the next.

A popular way of celebrating this festival is to eat different types of fruits, especially the 7 biblical species – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. It is a way of honouring the specialness of the land of Israel.

However, Israel is now a major producer of food – growing more than 40 types of fruit in abundance. As well the oranges and grapefruits that we know so well, they are big growers of avocados, bananas, apples, olives, cherries, figs, plums, nectarines, grapes, dates, strawberries, prickly pear (tzabbar), persimmon, pomegranates and loquat (Israel is the second leading producer of loquat after Japan).

Loquat is quite unknown in this country, but it tastes sweet, yet slightly tart, with notes of citrus. Be sure to choose fully ripe loquats, as immature fruits are sour. Ripe ones turn a bright yellow-orange and are soft to the touch. Loquats bruise easily and have a relatively short shelf life, rendering them near impossible to find in commercial supermarkets which answers perhaps why we can’t get them!

However, you can purchase prickly pear in the UK. To make these cactus fruits more friendly, the prickles are removed before they are sold. Prickly pears are ripe when they give slightly in the palm of the hand. The flesh inside is golden yellow or red, dependent on the country of origin, with a cool, refreshing taste like that of watermelon. To prepare: Cut the pear in half and peel off the skin or scoop out the flesh with a spoon, discarding the seeds. Sprinkle with lemon or lime juice.

Persimmon or Sharon fruit are now in season, and they are ripe when they have a deep orange colour and the skin has a slight softness. If in doubt, slice off a small amount of the fruit and taste it; a ripe persimmon should taste pleasant and sweet, not sour, or bitter and you can eat the skin.

They are a good source of vitamins A and C as well as manganese, which helps the blood to clot. They also have other antioxidants, which help reduce the risk of many serious health conditions including cancer and stroke.

Be adventurous this Tu B’shvat and choose and try an unusual fruit. Specialist greengrocers have plenty.

And to share a quote from Proverbs, Chapter 3 verse 18, ‘The Torah is a tree of life to those who grasp her and whoever holds on to her is happy’. We would like to take this opportunity to express how deeply touched and overwhelmed we were by the outpouring of heartfelt תוליפת, multitudes of thoughtful, caring sentiments, acts of support, assistance & comfort by so many individuals & organisations from within the הליהק and beyond throughout the period of our wife/mothers illness and during the week of shiva. This truly demonstrated your deep care and concern and was a source of much קוזיח to us all. Words alone cannot express our sincere תרכה בוטה for your kindness. We feel privileged to be part of such a special community. לארשי ךמעכ ימ! Each and every one of you should be הכוז to only much תוחמש and טנוזג and be spared from any sorrow.

ונימיב הרהמב המילשה הלואג תוארל הכזנ Family Yodaiken