Sabich

 An Iraqi Jewish classic becomes a new favorite

A few years ago, signs began popping up around Tel Aviv and beyond advertising a new delicacy: sabich. This savory combination of fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, hummus, Israeli salad, and assorted condiments is stuffed into a pita and drizzled with tahini sauce and amba, a mango pickle similar to the chutneys found in Indian cuisine. The dish is now a favorite all over Israel.

But sabich isn't new to everyone: Iraqi residents, who settled in large numbers in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, brought it (and amba) with them when they immigrated to Israel en masse during the early years of the modern state. There are many theories on the origins of the sandwich's name. The root letters of sabich--S-B-H--spell "morning" in Arabic, and in fact Iraqi Jews traditionally ate sabich on Sabbath mornings. However, some believe the letters stand for salat, beizah, hazilim (salad, eggs, eggplant)--the sandwich's main ingredients. Either way, the fusion of textures and flavors--crispy, crunchy, soft, creamy, tangy, and mildly spicy in every bite--is irresistible.

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A Cookbook Called Jerusalem

Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi were both born in Jerusalem in 1968. Both men had mothers who served lavish breakfasts with mystifying ease, and both inhaled falafel on their midday walks home from school, spoiling their appetites for "real" lunch. In many ways they led parallel lives, with one crucial difference: Ottolenghi grew up in a Jewish family in the western part of the city, and Tamimi in a Palestinian family in the east. These parallels and divergences are explored in their new bestseller, Jerusalem: A Cookbook.

The recipes in Jerusalem: A Cookbook are as diverse, colorful, and contradictory as the city's population. Traditional fare such as shakshuka and chicken soup are contrasted by a'ja (bread fritters), chermoula, seafood and fennel soup, and braised quail. The photographs are exquisite, an homage to the city as much as its food: men reclining on plastic chairs against a stone wall, smoking water pipes; a worker hefting wooden crosses through the Old City; lunch tables adorned with salads, pickles and pitas. At a recent event in New York City, Ottolenghi conceded that though food probably won't bring peace to the Middle East, it does bring people together, and that in itself is worth celebrating.

Borekas

Borekas are nothing short of edible perfection--heavenly little parcels of dough crisped with hot oil or melted butter and stuffed with any number of delicious savory ingredients. Nutritious and filling, they make a satisfying meal any time of day. And like Italy's calzone, Spain's empanada, and India's samosa, these pastries are self-contained, which makes them the perfect portable snack to power an afternoon spent browsing through the shuk, or just about any other activity.

Originally from Turkey, borekas (which comes from the Turkish word boerek, or pie) belong within the larger category of small savory pies common throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia. They are a favorite dish among Sephardic Jews who serve them on holidays and other celebratory occasions. According to The Book of Jewish Food (Knopf, 1996) by Claudia Roden, Iberian Jews included borekas as part of their Sabbath meals as early as the 16th century--a practice that continues today. Borekas are also popular throughout Israel, both as a breakfast dish and common street food.

Borekas are most often filled with either ground beef, cheese, or vegetables from spinach to eggplant or potatoes. They are traditionally made with a homemade pastry, but in modern kitchens store-bought phyllo dough is widely considered an acceptable substitute. The version below wraps a mixture of chopped spinach and two cheeses in flaky phyllo dough topped with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.

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Some Like Latkes Caliente!

Can American Jewish Parents Defuse the Christmas Seasonal Frenzy with Chanukah?

(Includes "Tex-Mex" Potato Latke Recipe
from "Divine Kosher (™) Cuisine Cookbook")

By Annette Keen

Many years ago I came across an article that asked a serious if rhetorical question. Is it possible in America for Jewish parents to defuse the super commercially charged Christmas Holiday season and celebrate Chanukah with their children in a nonmaterialistic, uncomplicated way? The sophisticated, relentless annual barrage that commercializes the holiday season, to the distress of many Christian parents also, is a double challenge to Jewish parents, especially of small children.

The advice was as simple as it was profound. Teach your children at Chanukah about the importance of the right not to assimilate, the difference between admiring glitzy things and hankering after them. Our holiday and theirs is about more than getting presents. Kids are smart, and they pick up at a very early age what parents authentically value. To inculcate both Jewish pride, tradition and values, parents must live their ideals. Make Judaism and its celebrations, in this case Chanukah, a meaningful and shared experience for the whole family by making the synagogue, religious school and home connection early in your life and the lives of your children. Here are some suggestions.

Start early: Children begin early to sort out their identities. Encourage them to talk about their feelings of inundation or confusion at this time of year. There is understandable anxiety in being a minority; every child wants to belong. Stress the upside to being unique, having a special heritage of courage, heroism and pride.

Send them to Hebrew School: For formal instruction and camaraderie, Jewish education is crucial.

Teach by example: Attend synagogue services, and enjoy home celebrations with family and friends.

Make Chanukah meaningful: Endow your holiday with things that delight, educate and personalize. You can give each child his or her own menorah to light, so that the house is enchantingly aglow each evening. Encourage kids to display their menorahs in their room year round with other Judaic items.

It’s not only about receiving gifts: Have kids also give holiday gifts. They can bring used toys, books and clothes to a hospital pediatric floor, or to a shelter.

Feed kids' senses: Fill your home with the aromas of special holiday foods, both traditional and trendy. (See recipe below.)

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Chanukah Recipe
“Tex-Mex” Potato Latkes Heat Up Chanukah
From Divine (tm) Kosher Cuisine Cookbook 

By Annette Keen

1 cup corn
½ cup chopped onions
2 chopped green onions
3 tablespoon chopped green pepper
3 tablespoon chopped red pepper
1 tablespoon grated ginger root
2 minced garlic cloves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs separated
vegetable frying oil
Caliente Sour Cream

Mix all ingredients together except egg whites and oil. Beat whites at mixer high speed until stiff. Fold into corn mixture. Spoon in batter by tablespoons into skillet of heated oil Fry each side until golden brown. Drain. Serve with Caliente Sour Cream.

Potato Latkes as Only Martha Stewart Can Do It

Ingredients

• 4 large russet potatoes, peeled
• 1 small white onion, finely grated
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup beer
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Pink Applesauce for Potato Latkes, for serving
• Sour cream, for serving
• Osetra caviar, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Grate potatoes in long strips, using smooth strokes to run potatoes across grater into a large bowl of ice water. Using a strainer or slotted spoon, transfer potatoes, reserving liquid, to another large bowl lined with a clean kitchen towel; gently squeeze dry.
2. Set reserved liquid aside for 10 minutes to allow starch to sink to the bottom; carefully pour liquid from the bowl, reserving milky residue (potato starch) and discard. Transfer potatoes back to bowl with potato starch.
3. Add onions to bowl; stir in eggs, beer, flour, salt, and pepper.
4. Line a baking sheet with paper towels; set aside. In a heavy nonstick skillet, heat 1/4-inch of oil. Spoon 1/2 cup of potato mixture per pancake into skillet. Make a few at a time, being careful they don't run into each other.
5. Fry on both sides until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to prepared baking sheet to drain. Keep warm in oven while preparing the others. Serve hot with applesauce, or sour cream and caviar, if desired.

 For more Martha Stewart recipes for Hanukkah dinner and latkes, click here.  There's also a great recipe for Vegetable Latkes made with carrots and parsnips.

Tel Aviv’s ‘Pita Nazi’

Sabich, the ultimate Israeli street food, has made a legend out of quirky store-owner Oved Daniel

While hummus, falafel, and even shawarma are known around the globe, the ultimate Israeli street food—sabich—remains one of the country’s best-kept secrets.

Sabich is a pita stuffed with fried eggplant, hard-boiled eggs (traditionally haminados, which are the brown eggs from Sephardi-style cholent), hummus, tahini, and vegetable salad, while some versions contain boiled-potatoes as well. Pickled cucumbers, chopped parsley, and onions seasoned with purple sumac are usually added, as well as a Yemenite hot sauce called skhug, and amba—a thick yellow sauce containing pickled mangoes, fenugreek, and turmeric.

Making sabich sounds simple enough, but preparing it just right is an art form that few truly master. And the truest master of this culinary art is Oved Daniel, Israel’s most revered sabich-maker, who declares without false modesty that he is the Diego Armando Maradona of sabich. For 27 years, Oved—like Maradona, he’s generally referred to by one name—has been dominating Israel’s sabich scene from his little corner on Sirkin Street in Givatayim, a small city bordering Tel Aviv. During that time, his establishment has become an institution that customers flock to from all over the country. But now, the man who is as much a legend in the world of sabich as Maradona is on the soccer field has granted a highly coveted franchise to two young men, Maor Ben-Tov and Aviv Shary, who this month opened the very first branch of Oved’s Sabich in Tel Aviv proper.

Growing up in Givatayim and being weaned on Oved’s Sabich, Ben-Tov and Shary always wanted to open a branch of their favorite street-food stand. After studying at Tadmor School of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management in Herzliya, working at several restaurants, and pestering Oved about it for no less than three years, their dream finally came true. On the first Friday of November—following a grueling two-month apprenticeship at Oved’s original stand—Ben-Tov and Shary opened their place on Karlebach Street. On the back of their black employee uniforms they have printed Oved’s slogan that shamelessly advertises “the best mana in the universe.” Mana in Hebrew means portion, dose, or serving, and the word is used in reference to a pita-sandwich, as well as when talking about heroin—which tells you how Israelis think about sabich.

Continue reading for more of the article and the recipe.

Sweet Potato Kugel

A sweet and earthy treat for the Shabbat (or Thanksgiving) table 

In her renowned cookbook, Jewish Cooking in America, Joan Nathan shares the memories of "Jewish homesteader," Sophie Trupin, recalling her life as a Jew on the American frontier:

"I was busy in the kitchen, carefully scooping out the eggs encased in layers of hardened coarse salt. I then began peeling pounds of potatoes, which my mother would grate on the fine side of the grater. My mother was making a huge potato kugel, made from fresh potatoes, onions, eggs, a little flour, and baked with plenty of goose fat. It wasn't Friday night, but my mother put a white linen tablecloth over the oilcloth-covered dining table."

Sophie's austere frontier life likely resembled that of her ancestors in Europe, where her mother's kugel recipe originated. According to food historian Rabbi Gil Marks' The World of Jewish Cooking, Jews have been making these starchy baked puddings since the seventh century.

But it was the Jews of Rhineland who perfected the notion of cooking bread dumplings inside Shabbat stew, and eventually outside of the stew pot in round, covered dishes. Kugel got its name from the word koogel (German for "ball"), which referred to the kugel's shape.

Today, inter-family debates rage over the best kind of kugel. Some people swear by a savory potato kugel, filled with sautéed onions and schmaltz. Others prefer a rich lokshen (noodle) kugel, stuffed with cheese and either sweetened with raisins and cinnamon, or made savory with sour cream. Still others scoff at any kugel except the simultaneously sweet and peppery Yerushalmi kugel, which Marks says was popularized by the Hasidim of Jerusalem in the late 18th century, who migrated to Israel from Eastern Europe.

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Jewish Coffee Cake

No coffee required.

Ashkenazic coffee cake, most often made with sour cream, is a dish with a history going back to 17th century Eastern Europe. Recipes for this pastry have changed over time. Though the original Jewish coffee cakes called for coffee as one of the main ingredients, today most such cakes are perfect partners for a hot cop of joe, but are totally caffeine-free.

In contemporary Jewish homes coffee cake is often served for breakfast on Shabbat and holidays, and at the break fast table after Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av. When enjoying coffee cake after Shabbat, some families like to sprinkle the fragrant spices used in havdalah on top of the cake. Sweet, and containing nuts, cinnamon, and/or chocolate, a slice of coffee cake is one of the best ways to make a meal special.

This recipe comes from my mother, who liked to make coffee cake for celebratory brunches. The filling can be adapted for the crowd. If you're hosting some chocolate-lovers, try the chocolate filling. If your family gobbles up raisin challah, try the raisin-nut filling. The simple combination of pecans and walnuts in the nut filling is surprisingly elegant. Any way you go, you're bound to end up with a table full of smiles and crumbs.

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Pumpkin Challah

Perfect for a Fall Shabbat

I have never met a homemade challah I didn't like. There is something undeniably cozy and inviting about warm, fresh bread on the Shabbat table. Few other tastes can rival this. On the other hand, challah's ubiquitous appeal means that it's hard to find one loaf that stands out from the crowd. Enter: pumpkin challah.

With a heady mix of pureed winter squash, cinnamon, and cardamom braided into deep, strawberry-blond loaves, pumpkin challah is at once exotic and familiar to my Ashkenazic taste buds. A rare find, indeed.

In Maggie Glezer's indispensable baking book, A Blessing of Bread, she writes that pumpkin challah--a.k.a. pan de calabaza--is a Sephardic specialty imbued with deep meaning. Like other foods made with pumpkin, it represents the hope that God will protect the Jewish people just as the pumpkin's thick shell protects the flesh inside.

Sephardic Jews traditionally serve this bread during Rosh Hashanah, when eating auspicious, symbolic foods is especially popular. Still, it is equally delicious served on any cold autumn or winter Shabbat when the added heartiness and kick of spice can be fully appreciated. Needless to say, the leftovers make a spectacular base for challah French toast.

Continue here for recipe.

Chocolate Challah

A chocolate twist on an old standard

If you're a baker-at-heart who loves to play around with fancy measuring spoons and flour sifters, you may want to shield your eyes from this recipe. We'll admit it: this one's more for the folks who are better at buying food than making it, which is totally ok, especially when you're talking about candy bars and delicious breads. What it lacks in technique, it makes up for in sheer Turducken-style ingenuity. And caramel.

Recipe provided by Yosef I. Abramowitz:

Put two Milky Way bars in the middle of whatever favorite challah-dough recipe you like. Packaged, prepared frozen challahs, like those sold at many supermarkets, work well. Defrost and slice them down the middle lengthwise to make an opening in which to put the chocolate.

Bake. Serve warm.

If the Milky Way Challah is already baked and cooled off, it can be microwaved for 60 seconds before Shabbat candle-lighting and motzi, the blessing over the challah.

If you need a classic challah recipe, try this one.  

Matzah Balls

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Sinkers or floaters? That was the question always asked of Grandma Minnie's kneidels [matzah balls] at the first seder. Would her always delicious matzah balls sink to the bottom of her wonderfully rich chicken soup, or would they float delicately over the surface. The answer to the question was never certain; some years they sank with a slightly chewy texture and other years they floated with a melt-in-your-mouth lightness. What causes the difference? It comes from the ratio of eggs to matzah meal and the amount of air whipped into the eggs. Too much oil added to the mix will make them sink, as will removing the cover while they cook.

Some of you may like "floaters" and others may like "sinkers." Below you will find some of my favorite matzah ball recipes and some that have been sent or given to me over the years.

Continue here several wonderful recipes and helpful hints on making your perfect knaidel.

Roasted Chicken

In theory we would love to imagine and create new menus with fresh ingredients and ideas every week for Shabbat. But the fact is, it's really not so easy! Shabbat comes around exactly once a week, never soon enough, but always sooner than expected. This versatile recipe for roast chicken is the sort of meal you can either throw together in a pinch or re-invent with every chicken you make.

This version is autumnal, but you can substitute in any vegetables and spices that you like. Zucchini or other summer squash, peppers, any winter squash, mushrooms, celery, carrots, even brussels sprouts are all good options depending on what you have on hand and what's in season. And feel free to experiment with herbs, either dry or fresh. The only mandatory item is the chicken.

Chicken is often the center of the Shabbat dinner, and with good reason. For generations Jews have been making variations of this recipe to serve to their families on Friday nights. Both simple and adaptable, this recipe is a staple in Jewish kitchens around the world.

Do yourself a favor--always keep a chicken in the freezer. If your pantry, fridge, and cupboards are basically bare, you can still make a whole meal out of that chicken.

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Simple, Kosher Meals for the Sukkah

 Sukkot, Judaism's Feast of Tabernacles, follows quickly after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Thus, there is a lot of holiday cooking and guest entertaining in a short amount of time. This menu includes special Sukkot recipes that are quick to prepare and easy to serve in a Sukkah.

  

Simple Red Pepper Soup

This vibrant, colorful soup, thickened with potato and sweetened with pears, tastes as good as it looks.

 

Maple Chicken with Potatoes

I turn to this recipe whenever I am rushed and need to quickly prepare a kosher meat meal that kids will also eat. Peel and cube potatoes, place chicken pieces on top, pour maple syrup (parve) on top, and bake. I like to serve the Maple Chicken and Potatoes with roasted asparagus or peas for a complete meal.

 

Roasted Broccoli is the perfect side dish. Since this recipe is pareve, it can be eaten with a meat or dairy meal. Roasted Broccoli is easy to make, healthy, delicious and even colorful. For extra color and more flavor, add sliced red peppers.

Yom Kippur: Break Fast Meal

 After we have spent Yom Kippur repenting, praying and fasting, one tends to feel a great of sense of rejuvenation. At the end of Yom Kippur, Jews traditionally share a joyful Break Fast meal with family and friends. The Yom Kippur Break Fast is generally a festive breakfast menu consisting of foods such as eggs, cheese, bread.

Yom Kippur Break Fast Menu and Recipes

• Whole Wheat Bread or Bagels with various spreads such as tuna fish, egg salad, cheese, butter and jam.
• Egg Souffle 
• Potato Cheese Bake
• Blintz Souffle
• Cottage Cheese Noodle Kugel or Cream Cheese Noodle Kugel 
• Mandelbroit Cookies
• Sour Cream Coffee Cake or Fat-Free Cinnamon Sponge Cake
• Fresh Fruit Salad
• Beverages such as fresh juice, tea and coffee

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