1,000 Jewish Recipes (101 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
When I was a child, my mother usually made this hearty tzimmes (Ashkenazic stew with sweet vegetables) for our family's Rosh Hashanah dinners. She made it the old-fashioned way, with beef, sweet potatoes, and prunes.
You can prepare the stew 1 or 2 days ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. Reheat it in a covered pan over low heat or in a 300°F oven.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes, or beef for stew
2 large onions, chopped
4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
1
â
2
teaspoon salt
3 to 4 cups water
1
1
â
2
pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and diced
1
â
4
cup brown sugar or honey
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
1
â
2
pound pitted prunes
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1.
Heat oil in a Dutch oven or heavy casserole over medium heat. Add meat in batches and brown well on all sides. Remove from pan. Add onions and sauté until they brown thoroughly. Return meat to pan and add carrots, salt, and enough water to just cover. Bring to a boil, skimming occasionally. Cover and simmer over low heat, skimming once or twice, for 1 hour.
2.
After stew has cooked 1 hour, add sweet potatoes, sugar, and pepper and mix gently. Push vegetables into liquid. Bring to a boil. Partially cover and simmer over low heat 30 minutes. Meanwhile, soak prunes in enough hot water to cover for about 30 minutes.
3.
Gently stir stew once. Remove prunes from their liquid, reserving liquid, and add prunes to pan. Uncover and simmer 30 minutes more or until meat is very tender. Occasionally stir very gently.
4.
Mix flour with 2 tablespoons prune soaking liquid in a small bowl. Gradually stir in about 1 cup of stew broth. Add this mixture to stew, stir very gently, and simmer about 5 minutes or until thickened. Adjust seasoning. Serve hot, from a deep serving dish.
A tradition in Moroccan homes is to serve couscous with seven vegetables for Rosh Hashanah, because seven is thought to be a lucky number. The vegetables vary among different communities but usually include orange winter squash, carrots, chickpeas, and leeks or onions. The couscous is also embellished with raisins for sweetness for the New Year.
Generally the vegetables are cooked in a delicately seasoned broth with meatâeither lamb, beef, or chicken. On other occasions the couscous and stew is served with harissa, a spicy pepper paste, but many families avoid it for Rosh Hashanah.
If you wish to cook couscous the traditional way, steam it above the simmering broth; set the couscous in its steamer on top of the broth pot.
1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), sorted, or one 15-ounce and one 8-ounce can, drained
1 or 2 beef soup bones
2 large onions, sliced
1
â
4
teaspoon saffron threads or ground turmeric
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 quarts water
2 pounds beef chuck, excess fat removed, cut into 1
1
â
2
-inch cubes
2 large leeks, split, cleaned, and cut into 2-inch pieces
One 14
1
â
2
-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
3
â
4
pound butternut squash, banana squash, or other winter squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice (about 2 cups)
4 medium (
3
â
4
pound) carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small turnip, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium (
1
â
2
pound) zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
Pinch of ground cinnamon
3
â
4
cup raisins
1 pound (2
1
â
2
cups)
Traditional Steamed Couscous
, or quick-cooked according to package directions
1.
Rinse dried chickpeas, if using. Cover them with cold water in a large saucepan and soak them overnight.
2.
Drain soaked chickpeas. Return to saucepan. Add 1 quart cold water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about 1
1
â
2
hours, adding hot water occasionally to keep them covered with water. Add a pinch of salt and continue simmering 30 to 45 minutes more or until tender.
3.
Meanwhile, put beef bones in a large pot and add onions, saffron, salt, and pepper. Cover and heat 5 minutes over low heat, stirring. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat 30 minutes. Add beef chuck and simmer 1
1
â
2
hours.
4.
Add leeks, tomatoes, butternut squash, carrots, celery, turnip, and cooked or canned chickpeas to broth. Bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes, add zucchini, then continue to simmer 10 more minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender. Discard bones. Add cinnamon to broth. Adjust seasoning.
5.
Transfer 1 cup broth to a small saucepan. Add raisins and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender. Cover and keep them warm.
6.
Prepare couscous.
7.
To serve, mound couscous in a cone shape on a large platter. Garnish top with raisins and a few chickpeas. Spoon some of meat and vegetables onto platter around couscous. Serve broth with remaining meat and vegetables from a tureen. Serve couscous in shallow bowls, and spoon meat, vegetables, and broth over it.
Prunes are traditional in tzimmes because they are a common dried fruit in Eastern Europe, where the stew originated. They lend a delicate sweetness to the red wine sauce in this tzimmes. Today, cooks take advantage of the many dried fruits available to flavor their tzimmes. I find that dried apricots are a perfect complement for veal tzimmes because of their lively color and flavor. Serve the dish with rice pilaf or boiled potatoes.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless veal, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup veal or chicken stock
1
â
4
teaspoon ground allspice
1
â
4
teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 cup dried apricots
3
â
4
cup small pitted prunes
1
â
2
teaspoon sugar, or more to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1.
Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add veal and sauté lightly in 2 batches, removing to a plate as it changes color.
2.
Add onion, carrot, and celery to pot and sauté about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 30 seconds, stirring, until bubbling. Add wine, stirring until smooth and scraping in brown juices. Bring to a simmer. Stir in tomato paste. Add stock, allspice, cinnamon, and bay leaf. Mix well.
3.
Return veal to pan. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Add apricots and prunes and simmer about 30 minutes or until veal is tender when pierced with a knife. Remove bay leaf. Skim as much fat as possible from sauce.
4.
Add sugar to sauce. Adjust seasoning, adding salt, pepper, or more sugar if needed. Serve hot.
Classic tzimmes recipes call for beef but I often celebrate Rosh Hashanah with a lighter twist on the traditional Ashkenazic specialty by making it with turkey. Another bonusâthe cooking time of the dish is shorter.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless turkey fillets, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 onions, chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1
2
â
3
cups turkey or chicken stock, or broth mixed with water
5 large carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
1
â
2
teaspoon salt
2 large boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice
1 pound orange-fleshed sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into large dice
1
â
4
cup honey
1
â
2
teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
1
â
2
pound pitted prunes
1.
Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add turkey and sauté lightly in 2 batches, removing each to a plate as it changes color. Cover and set aside.
2.
Add onions, cover, and sauté about 10 minutes, stirring often, until light brown. Stir in flour and cook 30 seconds, stirring often. Add stock, stirring until smooth and scraping in brown juices. Bring to a simmer.
3.
Add carrots, salt, and enough water to just cover. Bring to a boil, skimming occasionally. Cover and simmer over low heat, skimming once or twice, for 10 minutes.
4.
Add boiling potatoes and sweet potatoes to pan. Add honey, cinnamon, and pepper, and mix gently. Push vegetables into liquid. Bring to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
5.
Gently stir stew once. Add turkey cubes and prunes. Cover and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes or until turkey pieces are tender when pierced with a knife. Shake pan occasionally to prevent sticking but avoid stirring so as not to break up ingredients. (Stew can be made 1 day ahead; reheat in a covered pan over low heat, stirring often, or in a 300°F oven.)
6.
Serve from a deep serving dish.