Marry Me Brisket Sliders

A game-day treat that will have your guests begging you for the recipe (or your hand in marriage).

We recently served these brisket sliders for a holiday party and they were a HUGE hit. In truth, this is an adaptation of my Uncle David's famous brisket, which always disappears at the holidays. Why are they called "Marry Me" Brisket Sliders? Well, if you serve this treat to your intended, you are sure to win them over once and for all.

Now in terms of the slider buns, I know this can be a bit tricky so here are my suggestions:

BUY 'EM: Some kosher butchers and even supermarkets sell mini hamburger buns or sliders buns, and if so, this is clearly the easiest option! Check stores early because I am sure sliders are a popular treat for Superbowl watchers everywhere.

FAKE 'EM: Can’t find slider buns and don't feel like making them? You can either buy hamburger buns and using a round cookie cutter make mini buns, or buy hot dog buns or other longer rolls, and cut into pieces to the slider size of your choosing.

MAKE 'EM: Feeling ambitious and want to wow your friends? Prepare your favorite challah dough recipe and let rise per usual. Cut dough into 2.5 ounce pieces, and fold into challah knots. Glaze with egg wash and sprinkle with thick sea salt and/or sesame seeds. Bake around 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ingredients

2-3 lb brisket
1 Tablespoon salt
1/2 Tablespoon freshly grated black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 can beer
1 can ginger ale
1 bottle red wine
4 oz tomato paste
4 medium onions, cut into medium size pieces
2 onions, cut into quarters

Directions

Lemon Lavender Cake

Cake for a winter's morning.

By Tamar Fox

In Israel, Tu Bishvat, is at the end of winter, when the country is beginning to bloom, and the rainy season is in full force. It makes sense that rabbis living in the Middle East would have chosen to mark the birthday of the trees when nature begins to recover from the cold, and lots of fruits are newly available.
But for those of us living in North America, Tu Bishvat often comes at a time of snow, sleet, and freezing rain, when the fruit in the grocery store is mealy and a little gross.

So how do you celebrate a holiday of trees and fruits when not much is in season, and you don't want to eat fruit that tastes like a factory? This recipe calls for lemons, which are easy to get in the winter, and make for a strong and fruity cake. The lavender adds an unexpectedly gentle and soothing aroma. A perfect dessert for the end of your Tu Bishvat Seder.

Continue reading for recipe.

Chickpea Arugula Salad with Creamy Tahini Dressing

A light salad featuring two of the most popular ingredients in Israeli cuisine

The first mention of Israeli cuisine brings to mind two basic ingredients--chickpeas and sesame seeds. Both figure prominently in Israel's signature dish, the falafel sandwich: chickpeas appear in two forms--deep-fried (falafel balls) and pureed (hummus)--and sesame seed paste, called tahini, is drizzled on top.

What's the history and significance of these two ingredients? Chickpeas have a number of Jewish associations. They are traditionally eaten on Purim, because of the legend recorded in the Talmud (Megillah 13a) that Esther was a vegetarian during her stay in the court of Ahasuerus. In order to maintain the standards of kashrut, her diet included many beans, nuts, and seeds, including chickpeas. On Rosh Hashanah, there is also a tradition of eating chickpeas and other round foods, to remind us of the cyclical nature of life. Originally grown in the Middle East, chickpeas are common in traditional Sephardic foods. For example, a typical Sephardic stew for Shabbat, called Schina, contains chickpeas, rice, potatoes, meat, and whole eggs.

Sesame seeds hold a long history in Middle Eastern, and in Jewish, cuisine. Used since ancient times in India, and later, through Turkey and Persia, sesame seeds are a traditional source of oil and protein. Symbolic in Jewish foods, sesame seeds are sprinkled on food as a reminder of the manna gathered in the wilderness during the exodus from Egypt. They are sprinkled on a variety of foods in Israel, including pastries, breads, and candies.

In the salad recipe below, chickpeas receive a much lighter preparation than they do in fried falafel or long-cooking Shabbat stew. Here they are cooked briefly and tossed with spicy arugula greens and vegetables into a filling salad. Tahini is very versatile, and it is featured here as a creamy dressing, pumped up in flavor by the addition of roasted garlic.

I highly recommend using dried chickpeas, available in the bulk section of many supermarkets, or in Middle-Eastern or Indian markets. Their flavor and texture is far superior to the canned beans, and they are also more economical. Just remember to soak the dried beans the night before you want to make the salad. You can use canned beans if you are in a rush, but they will not have as much flavor.

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Meat Kreplach

A recipe for traditional meat dumplings. 

By Joan Nathan

There are various theories to explain the tradition of eating kreplach on Purim, but no one really knows why or when the dumplings appeared on the Purim menu. Nevertheless, kreplach have become a traditional favorite dish for Purim as well as for other Jewish festivals. The following recipe is reprinted with permission from The Jewish Holiday Kitchen (Schocken Books).

Meat Filling

1 small onion, chopped
3/4 lb ground meat (at least half cooked) or leftover brisket, chopped
1 egg
Salt and white pepper to taste

Noodle Dough

3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons water
2 cups all-purpose flour

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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.

Continue reading for recipe.
 

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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