1,000 Jewish Recipes (157 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
These tasty patties can play a variety of roles on holiday or special occasion menus. They can be a Sukkot side dish for fish, meat, or chicken or, in vegetarian meals, for rice or the Romanian cornmeal dish called
mamaliga
. You can also serve them as a new type of latke for Hanukkah. The patties also make tasty appetizers topped with
Caper-Lemon Salsa
or served with
Spiced Yogurt
or
Sephardic Salsa
as a dipping sauce.
2
1
â
2
cups coarsely grated golden zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, or green-skinned zucchini (about 2 or 3 medium, total 10 ounces)
1 medium onion, coarsely grated
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
About
1
â
4
cup vegetable oil (for frying)
1.
Line a tray with paper towels to drain the patties. Combine zucchini and onion in a colander. Squeeze to remove excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl. Add garlic, salt, and pepper. Add beaten egg and stir in lightly. Stir in flour.
2.
Heat oil in a deep, large, heavy skillet. For each patty, drop 1 heaping tablespoon of zucchini mixture into pan. Flatten them slightly with back of a spoon. Fry over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Turn carefully with 2 slotted spatulas so oil doesn't splatter. Transfer to paper towels. Stir batter before frying each new batch. Add more oil to the pan as necessary, and heat it before adding more latkes.
3.
Pat tops of patties with paper towels before serving. Serve hot or warm.
This old-fashioned dish is a popular appetizer in Israel for weddings and other festive occasions. The eggplant can be served on its own or accompanied by a hot sauce. I like it with a simple topping of tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. If you prefer a lighter dish, prepare
Broiled Eggplant
and serve it with the topping.
Fried eggplant is also used for other preparations, for example, to prepare
Israeli Marinated Eggplant
.
When I have Chinese or Japanese eggplants, I skip the step of salting them.
1 large eggplant (1 to 1
1
â
2
pounds), unpeeled
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
7 to 8 tablespoons olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1
1
â
4
pounds ripe tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1
â
2
teaspoon dried oregano
Zehug
, hot sauce, or cayenne pepper, to taste
1.
Cut eggplant into 3/8-inch slices crosswise. To salt eggplant, sprinkle the slices lightly but evenly with salt on both sides and put on a rack. Let stand to drain 1 hour, turning slices over after 30 minutes. Thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
2.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Quickly add enough eggplant slices to make one layer; if you add them too slowly, the first ones soak up all the oil. Sauté eggplant 2 to 3 minutes per side or until tender when pierced with a fork. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spatula.
3.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan, heat, and sauté second batch of eggplant in same way. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons oil and remaining eggplant. Add more oil if necessary during frying. Transfer fried eggplant to paper towels and pat to absorb excess oil. Transfer them to a serving plate.
4.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Add parsley and toss over heat a few seconds. Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes, cilantro, and oregano. Season with salt, pepper, and zehug. Spoon tomato mixture over eggplant slices. Serve at room temperature.
Jews from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries often prepare cauliflower this way. This spicy, deep golden version is my mother-in-law's, and it is irresistible. She also liked to simmer the fried cauliflower in tomato sauce but members of the family usually snatched many of the just-fried florets before she had a chance to do this. You can serve these florets as an appetizer with tomato sauce for dipping, or as a side dish with
Spicy Beef Patties
.
1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1
â
2
teaspoon ground turmeric
1
â
2
teaspoon salt
1
â
4
teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1
â
2
cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs or 3 large egg whites
About 2 tablespoons water
About
1
â
3
cup vegetable oil
Fresh Tomato Sauce
or
Tomato Sauce with Mild Chiles
, optional
1.
Divide cauliflower into fairly large florets with stems attached. Cook cauliflower uncovered in a large pan of boiling salted water 2 minutes; it should be only partly tender. Drain and rinse gently until cool.
2.
Mix cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, cayenne, and flour in a medium bowl. Sprinkle cauliflower florets lightly with part of the spice-flour mixture. Add eggs and 2 tablespoons water to remaining spice mixture. Gently stir with whisk until blended to a thick batter. Dip a floret in batter; it should coat floret lightly. If batter sticks to floret in a thick layer, stir in 1 teaspoon water.
3.
Heat
1
â
3
cup vegetable oil in a large skillet, preferably with a nonstick surface, over medium heat. Holding a floret by its stem end, dip flower and part of stem in batter and add gently to oil. Dip 5 or 6 more florets. Fry dipped florets about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Continue with remaining cauliflower. Serve as soon as possible, with hot tomato sauce.
MARINATED VEGETABLES
For quick summer suppers, an easy way to have vegetables ready is to cook them during a cool part of the day. Instead of plain boiled veggies, I prepare marinated vegetables, which keep for several days. They make a zesty, cold, and refreshing first course for Shabbat meals, served in a bowl or spooned over a bed of salad greens. You might also like to serve them with
Brown Eggs
, a traditional Shabbat first-course of the Jews of Greece. Although the members of this community of Sephardic Jews are now few in number in Greece, their roots date back more than 2000 years.
This dish is also good as an accompaniment for barbecued chicken breasts, fish fillets, or cold cuts for weekday meals.
This version is lighter in oil than classic marinated mushrooms. You can also use the marinade of dry wine, olive oil, lemon juice, herbs, and coriander seeds with other vegetables, such as zucchini, cauliflower, baby onions, celery, carrots, and cucumbers.
1 large sprig fresh thyme or
1
â
2
teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1
â
3
cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1
â
2
cup water
2 tablespoons tomato sauce or 1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Juice of
1
â
2
lemon
1 pound small whole mushrooms, rinsed briefly
1.
Combine the thyme, bay leaf, wine, oil, water, tomato sauce, coriander seeds, salt, pepper, and lemon juice in a sauté pan. Stir and bring to a boil.
2.
Add mushrooms to pan. Cook uncovered over high heat, gently stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes or until mushrooms are just tender. Transfer to a shallow dish, discarding the thyme sprig and bay leaf. Adjust seasoning. Serve cool or cold.
A specialty of the Sephardic kitchen, this simple dish is one of the best ways to make use of the late-summer abundance of sweet peppers. It makes a terrific appetizer for Shabbat, Sukkot, or for any festive meal. This version is from my sister-in-law Mati Kahn who adds a touch of cumin to give the marinade a distinctive taste.
8 large red bell peppers, or 4 red and 4 green
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1
1
â
2
to 2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
1
â
2
teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper