Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (91 page)
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cups
Bourekas enclosing a potato filling are popular in many Sephardic homes and are widely available at bakeries. The potato can be mixed with a zesty cheese like kashkaval or feta. For a pareve filling, it can be flavored instead with sautéed onions. Follow the instructions in
Cheese Bourekas
to shape and bake the pastries.
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pound boiling potatoes
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cup finely crumbled feta cheese
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cup chopped green onions
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 large egg, beaten
1.
Put potatoes in a saucepan with water to cover and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat about 30 minutes or until very tender. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle.
2.
Peel potatoes. Cut each into a few pieces, place in a bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Lightly stir in feta cheese and green onions. Season filling with salt and pepper. Stir in beaten egg. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.
This tart has a delicious shell of flaky pastry and a creamy, bright green spinach filling. Be sure to season the filling well with freshly grated nutmeg, a great partner for spinach. Prepare the pastry shell at least a few hours before baking the tart to allow enough time to chill it thoroughly. You can bake the tart a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Before serving, warm it in a 300°F oven.
9- to 10-inch
Shell for Savory Tarts
Dry beans or rice (for weighting pie shell)
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pounds fresh spinach
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
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cup sour cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste
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cup heavy cream
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cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1.
Prepare pastry shell. Then, position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line pastry shell with parchment paper or foil and fill with dry beans or rice. Set shell on a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Carefully remove beans or rice and liner, and bake shell 8 to 10 minutes more or until lightly browned. Transfer tart pan to a rack and let shell cool. Move baking sheet to center of oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
2.
Remove stems of spinach and wash leaves thoroughly. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook spinach uncovered over high heat, pushing leaves down into water often, about 3 minutes or until very tender. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain well again. Squeeze out liquid by handfuls. Chop finely in food processor or with a knife.
3.
Whisk eggs with yolk, sour cream, and pinches of salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in heavy cream and chopped spinach.
4.
Return pastry shell to baking sheet in oven. Ladle spinach mixture slowly into shell. Sprinkle with Gruyere. Bake 30 minutes or until filling is set. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
 or
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Use this shell for quiches and for tarts and pies such as
Fresh Spinach Tart
and
Chard and Onion Pie
. If you wish to make the dough with pareve margarine, choose a firm stick margarine, not a soft tub margarine.
1 large egg yolk
2 to 3 tablespoons ice water
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cups all-purpose flour
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teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
1.
Whisk egg yolk with 2 tablespoons ice water in a small bowl. Set aside.
2.
Combine flour and salt in a food processor and process briefly to blend. Scatter butter pieces over flour. Mix with brief pulses until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour egg yolk mixture evenly over mixture in processor. Process with brief pulses, scraping down the sides occasionally, until dough forms sticky crumbs that can easily be pressed together (but before dough comes together in a ball). If crumbs are dry, sprinkle
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teaspoon water and process with brief pulses until dough forms sticky crumbs. Add more water in same way,
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teaspoon at a time, if crumbs are still dry.
3.
Using a rubber spatula, transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap up dough, and push it together. Shape dough into a flat disk. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or up to overnight.
4.
Butter an 8-inch fluted tart pan with removable rim. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to a round about
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-inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll it over tart pan. Gently ease dough into pan. Using your thumb, gently push dough down slightly all around the top edge of the pan, making top edge of dough thicker than remaining dough. Roll rolling pin across pan to cut off excess dough. With your finger and thumb, press dough gently against pan so that it rises
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-inch above the pan's rim. Prick bottom of shell lightly with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
Note:
Use these ingredients to make a 9- to 10-inch tart shell, following directions above:
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons ice water
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cups all-purpose flour
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teaspoon salt
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cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter or margarine
MAIN COURSES
You might like to plan your holiday menu around this lovely, festive entree. Serve the salmon hot or cold with a simple cucumber salad or an Israeli salad. You can serve more roasted garlic cloves separately so each person can squeeze some more sweet, smoky garlic on his or her portion. This will make a festive but light dinner, so you'll have room for a creamy noodle kugel, a cheesecake, or another rich Shavuot treat.
If you like, use the slim French haricots verts instead of the usual green beans, or serve asparagus instead. Whichever green vegetable you choose, its color will remain most vivid if you toss it with the dressing just before serving. If you don't have roasted garlic on hand and want a quicker dressing for this dish, serve
Chive-Caper Vinaigrette
instead.
5 cloves
Roasted Garlic
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
5 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
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4
pounds salmon fillet, preferably tail section, about 1-inch thick
1 tablespoon strained fresh lemon juice
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teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound green beans, ends removed
Lemon wedges
1.
Prepare roasted garlic. Then, squeeze garlic pulp out of the skins into a blender or small food processor. Add vinegar, salt, and pepper. Process until blended. With motor running, slowly add 5 tablespoons oil in a thin, steady stream. Transfer to a bowl, then stir in parsley. Adjust seasoning. Set aside.
2.
Sprinkle salmon with lemon juice and the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and rub over fillet. Sprinkle fish evenly with thyme, salt, and pepper.
3.
Boil green beans uncovered in a large saucepan of enough boiling salted water to generously cover them over high heat 5 to 7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain well again. (If you are cooking green beans ahead, and you want to serve them hot, you can put them back in a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain and serve them.)
4.
Line broiler rack with foil if you like, or brush it lightly with oil. Preheat broiler. Set salmon on broiler rack and broil 4 minutes. Turn salmon over and broil 4 to 5 minutes more. To check whether fish is done, make a small cut with a sharp knife in thickest part; color of flesh should have changed all the way through.
5.
To serve, toss green beans with 2 or 3 tablespoons dressing and salt and pepper. Spoon onto a platter. Put fish on platter and spoon remaining vinaigrette over it. Garnish with lemon wedges.