1,000 Jewish Recipes (233 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
A favorite on Sephardic tables, black-eyed peas often appear in a tomato sauce. Traditional cooks pair them with white rice but today more and more people are serving brown rice, not only for its nutritional value but also for its good taste.
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4
pound dried black-eyed peas or 4 cups frozen black-eyed peas, cooked according to package directions
7 cups water
3 cups vegetable stock or more water
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2
cups long-grain brown rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped (optional)
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
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2
teaspoons ground coriander
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2
teaspoons paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
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4
teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
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4
cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1.
Pick over dried peas, discarding pebbles and broken or discolored peas. Rinse well. Put peas in a large saucepan and add 7 cups water. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat about 1
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2
hours or until tender.
2.
Bring stock to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Add rice, cover, and cook over low heat 40 to 45 minutes or until just tender. Transfer to a large bowl, fluff with fork, and cool.
3.
Heat oil in a heavy nonstick skillet, add onion, and sauté over medium heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes; when onion begins to brown, add 1 tablespoon water and continue to sauté until deeply browned. Add garlic if using, then diced tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes.
4.
Drain peas, reserving cooking liquid, and return to saucepan. Add tomato sauce from skillet, tomato paste, cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Bring to a simmer. Cover and heat gently 5 minutes. If you would like peas to be in a thinner sauce, add about
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4
cup pea cooking liquid.
5.
Fluff rice with a fork. Adjust seasoning and transfer to a serving dish. Add half the parsley. Serve hot, with about
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cup of the black-eyed peas ladled over rice for garnish, and rest in a shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle rice with remaining parsley.
Sephardic Jews cook lentils often, pairing them not only with rice but also with bulgur wheat. Like lentils with rice, lentils with bulgur is most enjoyed with plenty of well sautéed onions. If you shop at Israeli or Middle Eastern markets, you will most likely find coarse or large bulgur wheat, which is good for this dish. Otherwise, use the more commonly available medium bulgur wheat granules. Serve this as a hearty vegetarian entree, accompanied by one or more raw vegetable salads such as Israeli salad or red cabbage salad. It's also good with chicken dinners.
1 cup lentils, sorted
2 cups vegetable stock, or stock mixed with water
4 to 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
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4
teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 cup bulgur wheat, large- or medium-grain
Cayenne pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1.
Combine lentils and 2 cups stock in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes or until lentils are just tender. Drain liquid into a measuring cup and add enough water to make 2 cups; reserve.
2.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they are well browned, about 15 minutes. Remove half of onion mixture and reserve.
3.
Add garlic and cumin to onions in pan and sauté 1 minute. Add onion-garlic mixture to pan of lentils. Add measured liquid and bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper flakes, and bulgur wheat and return to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat about 15 minutes or until bulgur wheat is tender.
4.
Add reserved onions to pot. Cover and let stand 5 or 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning, adding pepper and cayenne to taste. Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley.
Jews from Tunisia make this dish to use up leftovers from Shabbat. They simply spice up some cooked couscous and heat it with cooked vegetables. Traditionally, it's made from couscous that was already steamed but today it's easy to use quick-cooking couscous.
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2
to 2 teaspoons harissa or bottled hot pepper sauce, or to taste
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2
teaspoon caraway seeds
3 large cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons water
2 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
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2
cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup diced cooked carrots
1 cup diced cooked zucchini
1 cup chopped cooked cauliflower or broccoli
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3
cups couscous or one 10-ounce package
1.
Combine harissa, caraway seeds, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, water, and 1 to 3 tablespoons olive oil in a bowl. Whisk to blend.
2.
Bring stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan with remaining tablespoon oil. Add carrots, zucchini, and cauliflower and bring to a boil. Stir in couscous and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Add sauce to couscous, cover, and let stand until ready to serve. Fluff with a fork before serving. Adjust seasoning.
A popular dish in the North African kitchen is chicken with vegetables in a tomato broth, served with a steaming mound of couscous. Here is my pareve version that I make with tofu. It is much quicker and easier to prepare than the classic and is a favorite in our household. Homemade
Harissa
adds the best flavor but store-bought works well for this recipe.
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
1 large onion, cut into thin slices
1 small green pepper, diced (optional)
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
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2
teaspoons ground cumin
1 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or one 28-ounce can tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
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cup vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
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to
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2
teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
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2
pounds zucchini, cut into 1-inch dice
One 14- to 16-ounce package firm or extra-firm tofu, cut into
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4
-inch dice
One 15-ounce can white beans or chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
Bottled harissa, or other hot sauce or salsa
1.
Heat oil in a heavy, wide stew pan or Dutch oven. Add onion and green pepper, if using, and sauté over medium heat 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, cumin, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring often, 7 minutes.
2.
Add tomato paste, stock, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes to stew pan and bring to a boil. Add zucchini and cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Add tofu, cover, and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until zucchini are tender. Add beans, if using, and heat through. Adjust seasoning.
3.
Prepare quick couscous. Spoon couscous onto center of a large platter. Spoon tofu and some of zucchini around it. Sprinkle tofu and vegetables with chopped cilantro. Serve remaining vegetable sauce and harissa separately.
BLINTZES, SANDWICHES, AND PIZZA
The filling for these easy-to-make blintzes is Mexican inspired, seasoned with jalapeño peppers, cumin, and cilantro. The blintzes are rolled in a tortilla instead of the usual blintz crepe. It's a pleasure to make them, now that several kinds of kosher tortillas are available. If you like, choose a tortilla flavored with tomato or herbs. Use tortillas that are thin, fresh, and pliable; they won't work if they're old and stiff.
This recipe is pareve. For dairy meals, you can sprinkle a little grated cheese on the blintzes before baking, and top each blintz at serving time with a dollop of sour cream or of
Garlic-Yogurt Sauce
.
2 cups
Tomato Sauce with Mild Chiles
, or your favorite tomato sauce
Sephardic Salsa
or
Cilantro Salsa
(optional)
About 3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
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pounds onions, halved and sliced
2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, seeded if desired, minced (see Note)
One 14
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2
-ounce can tomatoes, drained and chopped
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2
teaspoons ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
8 to 12 flour tortillas, plain, whole wheat, tomato, or herb
Fresh cilantro sprigs
Avocado slices
1.
Prepare tomato sauce, if using homemade. Prepare salsa, if using. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy stew pan. Add onions and sauté over medium heat 5 minutes. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring often, 15 minutes or until tender and beginning to brown. Stir in jalapeño peppers, then tomatoes, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes or until mixture is thick. Stir in cilantro. Adjust seasoning; add cayenne, if using.