Lamb with Chickpea Puree and Hot Mint Sauce

Lamb with Chickpea Puree and Hot Mint Sauce

Serving Size: 4 to 6


Ingredients 
1 shoulder of lamb, about 1.6 - 1.8 kg (3.5 - 4 lbs)
Sea salt and black pepper



Marinade
4 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 medium red onion, finely grated
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil


To serve:
1 quantity Chickpea Puree (see below)
1 quantity Hot Mint Sauce (see below)

Place the lamb in a large roasting pan. If you are using a shoulder, score the surface very lightly 1-2mm deep in a 1 cm criss-cross pattern to help the marinade penetrate the meat.

Mix all the marinade ingredients together except the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and rub all over the meat. Now add the olive oil (it can prevent the acidity of the lemon and vinegar from penetrating the meat), and leave to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, turning occasionally, or in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 160C (325F). Cook the lamb for a minimum of 3 hours, adding a small glass of water (125ml or 1/2 cup) to the pan after the first 30 minutes and each subsequent hour. Baste the lamb every 45 minutes. To test if the lamb is ready, insert a wooden skewer in the centre: if the meat is soft and has a lot of give, then it is done. Let it rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Chickpea Puree

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

3 large garlic cloves, minced

3 cups drained canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans; from about three 15-ounce cans), liquid reserved

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation

1. Stir cumin in dry skillet over medium heat until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. 
2. Transfer to mortar or spice mill; grind.
3. Heat 1/4 cup oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.
4.  Add garlic and cumin; stir 1 minute. 
5. Add chickpeas, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, paprika, and cayenne; sauté until chickpeas begin to darken, about 5 minutes. 
6. Pour chickpea liquid into 2-cup measuring cup; add enough water (if necessary) to measure 2 cups. 
7. Add liquid to chickpea mixture; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until chickpeas begin to soften, stirring often, about 10 minutes. 
8. Pour chickpea mixture into strainer set over bowl; reserve cooking liquid. 
9. Transfer chickpeas to processor; add 3/4 cup of reserved cooking liquid. 
10. Add 1/2 cup oil; puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Cool. 
11. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. 
12. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

Real mint sauce recipe

Preparation time

less than 30 mins


Cooking time

no cooking required


Serves 4


Mint grows so freely that once you know the trick you never need buy mint sauce again.

Ingredients

bunch of mint
pinch salt
4 tbsp boiling water
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 level tbsp caster sugar

Method

1. Strip off the mint leaves, sprinkle with salt and chop finely.
2. Place into a jug, add the sugar and pour over the boiling water, stir and leave to cool.
3. Stir in the vinegar and taste.
4. Add more water or vinegar and adjust seasoning to suit your taste.

Lamb with Chickpea Puree and Hot Mint Sauce

Lamb with Chickpea Puree and Hot Mint Sauce
Serving Size: 4 to 6

1 shoulder of lamb, about 1.6 - 1.8 kg (3.5 - 4 lbs)
Sea salt and black pepper

Marinade
4 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1/2 medium red onion, finely grated
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil


To serve:
1 quantity Chickpea Puree (see below)
1 quantity Hot Mint Sauce (see below)
Place the lamb in a large roasting pan. If you are using a shoulder, score the surface very lightly 1-2mm deep in a 1 cm criss-cross pattern to help the marinade penetrate the meat.
Mix all the marinade ingredients together except the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and rub all over the meat. Now add the olive oil (it can prevent the acidity of the lemon and vinegar from penetrating the meat), and leave to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, turning occasionally, or in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 160C (325F). Cook the lamb for a minimum of 3 hours, adding a small glass of water (125ml or 1/2 cup) to the pan after the first 30 minutes and each subsequent hour. Baste the lamb every 45 minutes. To test if the lamb is ready, insert a wooden skewer in the centre: if the meat is soft and has a lot of give, then it is done. Let it rest for 15 minutes before carving.

There’s a Yiddish expression to describe something that has no value: “an etrog after Sukkot.”

There’s a Yiddish expression to describe something that has no value: “an etrog after Sukkot.” Considering that an etrog can cost $30 or more before Sukkot—the holiday in which this citrus fruit is ritually important—and yet seems to be worth nothing once the holiday ends, it’s an apt expression.

So, what can you do with an etrog after Sukkot? It would be wasteful as well as disrespectful to simply toss this exotic fruit in the garbage—especially when there are, in fact, many uses for it.

There is a rich folklore of Jewish customs concerning the post-holiday etrog. Traditionally, once it was retired from its ritual role, the etrog was turned over to women for secular uses. In The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary, Michael Strassfeld notes that the fruit, with its breastlike shape, was considered to have a special relationship to women, and a variety of Old World practices connected it to pregnancy and birth. A childless woman who wanted to bear a son was advised to bite the pitom (tip) of an etrog. A pregnant woman who ate the etrog after Sukkot, according to the Talmud, would give birth to a “fragrant” child—the equivalent of a “good” child. And a woman in labor could ease the pain of childbirth, it was said, by placing the etrog’s pitom under her pillow.

The belief that the etrog could ease the pains of childbirth also extended to jam or jelly made from the fruit. My bobba , Sarah Kaplan Drus who immigrated to the South Africa from Krakow in Poland, soaked etrog peel for days to decrease its bitterness and made it into marmalade, saving the precious jars of golden preserves to give postpartum mothers, including my own mother, to help them recover their strength after childbirth.

There are other classic ways of preserving etrog, or citron, that have less to do with folk wisdom and more to do with traditional uses of citrus fruits in general. The etrog can lend itself to a number of drinks. After Sukkot, John Kirkpatrick, an etrog-farmer in California, sells great quantities of the remaining fruit, as well as a related citron called Buddha’s Hand, to St. George Spirits for its citron-infused vodka. In Italy, a liqueur described as “the noble cousin of limoncello” is made with the rind of citron rather than lemon; Zaida Reuven, a Dallas supplier of etrog-and-lulav sets and author of The Esrog, calls such a liqueur “etrog schnapps” and provides a simplerecipe. The citron peel could also be used to flavor other beverages, such as lemonade or sangria.

Remember, Jews aren’t the only people who use the etrog: Candied citron, in particular, has a long non-Jewish history. Since the 15th century, when citron peels were soaked in seawater brine for 40 days before being submerged in a sugar solution, it has been a signature flavor of Christmas cakes such as Italian panettoneand English fruitcake. David Lebovitz, a pastry chef and cookbook author who lives in Paris, has experimented with making candied and glazed citrons. (As with all culinary uses of the etrog, it’s always a good idea to wash and scrub the peel to reduce any pesticide residue.)

Candied citron and citron preserves are fundamental to pastry making in Sicily, where the etrog (cedro, in Italian) is grown and sold. Tourists, seeing these giant citrons for sale alongside lemons and oranges at fruit stands, often remark that these are the largest lemons they’ve ever seen. But if they buy one expecting to find abundant juice, they soon realize their mistake: The pulp of the etrog is seedy and dry. The pith, however—that white spongy layer beneath the peel that is often bitter in lemons and oranges—is a wide expanse in an etrog and can be surprisingly sweet. Sicilians cut the pith into thin slices and sprinkle them with salt or sugar for a snack, or combine them in a salad with fennel, oil, salt, and pepper.

Ancient Greeks and Romans also ate etrog pith in salads, but in the ancient world the fruit’s most renowned quality—and likely what inspired Hindus and Buddhists, as well as Jews, to adopt it as a religious symbol—was what Theophrastus, the Greek philosopher and father of botany, described as its “exquisite odor.” Citron oil (“possessed of the most wonderful properties,” as one botanist wrote) became a sought-after luxury, the fragrance of royalty and affluence. In Roman times, when citrons adorned bridal chambers, it was also a perfume believed to inspire love. Botanists in antiquity offered a number of labor-intensive methods to extract the oil. One instructed the collector to rub cotton wool saturated in sesame oil onto the fruit as it grew, three times a day for 40 days. After these 120 rubbings, the perfumer picked the etrog and gently scraped the oil from the rind with a small silver spoon. Clearly the fragrance of etrog was thought to be worth such painstaking labor.

It’s far easier to make your own version of etrog-scented oil simply by infusing oil with the zest. Grate the peel of a cleaned etrog and put it in a small glass bottle so it fills half the bottle, then add almond oil, light olive oil, or another oil to the top. Set the bottle in a sunny place for a few days, shaking it a few times every day, then store at room temperature. Add a few drops of this scented oil to a bath, or fill a spray bottle with water and a few drops of the etrog oil for a pleasant air freshener.

Another way to employ the etrog’s lovely fragrance is to pierce the skin of the fruit and fill the holes with dried cloves, covering the etrog completely. As the etrog dries, it releases a wonderful scent and the whole fruit may be used as a “spice box” for the Havdalah ceremony to mark the end of the Sabbath.

If you have a green thumb, you may want to try growing your own etrog tree from seed. Remove the seeds from your etrog, wash them, and plant them in a well-drained potting mix. Keep the plants warm and moist, and repot when necessary. If you are patient and care for your citrus plant well, in about four or five years you may have your own home-grown etrog to use on Sukkot—and after the holiday ends.

Chocolate chip and halva challah

Chocolate chip and halva challah

If you’ve never made challah before, this is your chance. And we want to see your pictures when you make it!

This challah recipe uses the same dough as our previous challah recipe (the famous cinnamon roll challah) but with a different filling. However, this time we let the dough rise a second time and a gave it a second eggwash before baking. This makes sure it stays together during baking- so no leaky filling. *** Pro tip: check out the round braid. It’s easier than it looks. Go for it!

Ingredients (1 challah)

Dough-
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
2/3 cup warm water
3 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (and another 1 for egg wash)
4 cups flour

Filling-
halva
chocolate chips

Directions:

First you need to activate the yeast. Whisk the yeast with 1 teaspoon of honey and warm water and wait a few minutes until it looks foamy.

Add 3 tablespoons of honey, the olive oil, salt and eggs. Mix with a wooden spoon and gradually add in the flour. When the dough forms into a ball, knead for 5 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 hour.

When the dough has doubled in size, separate it into 4 equal parts. Shape each part into a ball, and roll into a circle. Sprinkle the halva and chocolate chips onto each of the 4 circles and roll into a long rope. Stretch the ropes as long as you can and braid. Pinch the ends. Now for braiding. You can follow the pictures below or watch the video to learn the braid.

Step 1: set the four braids like in the picture below. Fold the ends of the ropes over each other.

step 2: now the remaining 3 sides

Step 3: now we fold the ropes from 2 different sides like below

Step 4: Squeeze the two ends together

Step 5: Tuck below

Brush the braided dough with egg wash (which is just a beaten egg) and let rest for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 °F or 190 °C.

Brush with egg wash again and sprinkle halva crumbs on top. Bake for 30 minutes. If the top begins to brown too quickly you can cover it with foil. Shabbat shalom!

Tabbouleh Salad With Cauliflower Rice

This Tabbouleh Salad With Cauliflower Rice Is Heaven In A Bowl

The key to amazing tabbouleh salad is in the parsley.

Video:

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

1/2 small cauliflower

2 cups of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (approx 3 bunches)

1/2 cup of mint, finely chopped

1 Persian cucumber, chopped (the normal kind in Israel)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 small white onion, chopped

1/4 cup quality olive oil

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cumin

PREPARATION

For the cauliflower rice:

1. Cut the cauliflower in half. Cut out the hard core. Cut into pieces that fit in the food processor.

2. Place pieces in food processor. Pulse about 5 times or until pieces are the size of rice. You can also use a hand grater for this step.

3. Transfer the cauliflower rice to a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 2 1/2 mins. This leaves the cauliflower rice with a little crunch- which we love for tabbouleh salad! If you want the cauliflower rice to taste more like actual rice, microwave for 3 minutes.

For the salad:

Literally just add everything to a bowl and mix. But there are a couple important tips if you want a more authentic tabbouleh salad:

Tabbouleh tip #1: It’s all about the parsley. Parsley should be the main ingredient in the salad- get some fresh parsley!

Tabbouleh tip #2: Make sure the parsley and mint are dry before adding to the salad. Use paper towels or a spin dryer thing. Any extra water in the salad is bad.

Sweet Noodle Kugel with Jam Pokes

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6-8)

8 oz extra-wide egg noodles

3 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick / 113 grams)

8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, room temperature

16 oz (453 g) cottage cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup golden raisins

cinnamon, for topping

5 tbsp blueberry jam

5 tbsp apricot jam

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C

2. Boil egg noodles in salted water for 5-7 mins until al-dente. Strain.

3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar. Mix well then add the melted butter, cream cheese, cottage cheese, vanilla extract and golden raisins. Mix and mash with a fork until all the pieces are broken up.

4. In 8×8 inch non-stick (or greased) baking dish, add the strained egg noodles and the egg mixture. Mix carefully with a spatula without breaking the noodles. It should be very liquidy.

5. Now we do the ‘pokes’. Take a spoon a make a little hole in the kugel. With another spoon, drip about a tablespoon of blueberry or apricot jam into the hole! Repeat about 9 times or until you think the kugel has enough jam. This is a top-secret kugel trick!

6. Dust the top with cinnamon (just a thin layer). On a low oven rack, bake for 40 mins or until the edges are crispy to your liking.

Sweet Noodle Kugel with Jam Pokes

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6-8)

8 oz extra-wide egg noodles

3 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick / 113 grams)

8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, room temperature

16 oz (453 g) cottage cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup golden raisins

cinnamon, for topping

5 tbsp blueberry jam

5 tbsp apricot jam

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C

2. Boil egg noodles in salted water for 5-7 mins until al-dente. Strain.

3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar. Mix well then add the melted butter, cream cheese, cottage cheese, vanilla extract and golden raisins. Mix and mash with a fork until all the pieces are broken up.

4. In 8×8 inch non-stick (or greased) baking dish, add the strained egg noodles and the egg mixture. Mix carefully with a spatula without breaking the noodles. It should be very liquidy.

5. Now we do the ‘pokes’. Take a spoon a make a little hole in the kugel. With another spoon, drip about a tablespoon of blueberry or apricot jam into the hole! Repeat about 9 times or until you think the kugel has enough jam. This is a top-secret kugel trick!

6. Dust the top with cinnamon (just a thin layer). On a low oven rack, bake for 40 mins or until the edges are crispy to your liking.

Al Ashi Restaurant, 4 Olei Tziyon St., Jaffa Tel: (03) 648-5748

Arab haute cuisine:More than a meal

Celebrity chef Salah Kurdi opens Al Ashi in Jaffa.
Al Ashi restaurant in Jaffa. (photo credit:PR)

The fine dining restaurant Al Ashi, helmed by Salah Kurdi of Israeli reality TV fame, has made quite a splash in the Hebrew press since it opened in August in the same place as his previous restaurant, Al Jamila. Located on the main thoroughfare leading to the Jaffa Flea Market, Al Ashi (Arabic for “the chef”) boasts an impressive decor, with a decorative tile floor, stone walls and a timber ceiling. Pleasant vocal Arab music plays in the background.

There is only one specialty cocktail (NIS 45). A blend of gin, arak, coriander, syrup and lemon, garnished with ribbons of cucumber and a sprig of cilantro, the nameless cocktail was bracing and refreshing.

The complimentary house bread, which resembled a baguette that had been pressed flat, was served with olives and tehina and, best of all, olive oil sweetened with pomegranate concentrate.

The menus, in both English and Hebrew, were quite detailed.

Unfortunately, there were more than a few inconsistencies between the two languages. For example, mutton (keves) was almost always mistranslated as lamb. In other instances, secondary ingredients were misrepresented – fortunately, with no negative impact on flavor.

The starters we had were all beautifully presented, starting with the kubbe labaniyeh (NIS 48).

These were pear-shaped bulgur dumplings filled with cheeses, green zaatar and spinach with ground almonds, accompanied by black eggplant purée and beet purée. The kubbe were perfectly fried, and the filling positively delicious.

The kubbe sayade (NIS 49) was chopped white fish in a crispy bulgur coating on a bed of puréed cauliflower and strained yogurt, garnished with dill and red chili pepper. The cannoli-shaped kubbe were not very crispy but still fried with a deft touch, while the fish was fresh, moist and flavorful.

The meat shush barak (NIS 46) was the starter recommended by our waiter. What the menu termed “pastry pockets” were actually round ravioli stuffed with ground mutton and served in a yogurt and hot mint and sauce, topped with slivers of crispy fried garlic.

The best way to describe this dish is an Arab version of kreplach.

Together with the distinctive sauce, this was an outstanding dish.

The kadayef belahma (NIS 43) were crescent-shaped turnovers filled with ground mutton on a bed of tehina, chives and mint, served with a slightly piquant tomato salsa and red onions in sumac (another departure from the menu). The kadayef were fried just right, while the dish as a whole represented a wonderful interplay of flavors.

The starters were not large, so my dining companion and I had no trouble splitting four of them, with room left for two main courses.

The lamb chops (NIS 150) were another recommendation of the waiter. The four chops, served on a bed of celery root purée together with stuffed vine leaves, were pink throughout and were melt-in-yourmouth succulent.

The arbaat ayoub (NIS 85) was a tower of fat fresh sardines stuffed with herbs and stir-fried spinach, garnished with baby asparagus and served on a sauce that was like a thin corn chowder seasoned generously with garlic and pepper.

Fans of good-quality canned sardines will appreciate this upgraded version, which leaves an aftertaste of heat.

There is a limited list of wines exclusively from Israeli wineries, with four available by the glass. We enjoyed our glasses of Flam Classico (NIS 45), a full-bodied Merlot blend, and a Binyamina Shiraz (NIS 32).

The dessert menu offered six tempting choices, from which the waiter recommended the stuffed figs (NIS 34). They were dried figs dipped in a beer batter, lightly fried and stuffed with fresh fruit, served on a cardamom-infused crême anglaise studded with pomegranate seeds. It was like figs tempura – light and sweet. Just what a dessert should be.

The Halawet nebi Rubin (NIS 35), meanwhile, had a more candy-like feel: cylindrical morsels of pumpkin cooked in spiced sugar water and smothered in strands of halva. It called to mind Turkish delight, with lots of pistachios for welcoming crunch and contrasting texture.

We washed down dessert with traditional Arab tea and Turkish coffee. Since the hot drinks were served with a small platter of fenugreek cookies, this could have been a dessert in itself (NIS 30).

The writer was a guest of the restaurant.

Al Ashi
Not kosher
4 Olei Tziyon St., Jaffa
Tel: (03) 648-5748

Mexican Restaurants in Tel Aviv .... the very best of the best

BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANTS IN TEL AVIV





After living in San Diego for 12 years, which is more Mexico than U.S. in many regards, the Mexican cuisine has become one of my favorites. There is nothing like a good burrito to comfort my stomach and a margarita for my soul. Or vice versa. Hence I was so happy when a Mexican trend made it’s way to TLV. Here is a quick review of the relevant current options, andare andare!




Burning Tacos | 97 Allenby



Burning Tacos has recently gone through a bit of a change – but thankfully the food is still amazing! Now located in a larger restaurant at Allenby 97, chef Michael produces two burritos that are excellent and fresh, not too expensive, with lots of flavour and overflowing with cilantro (which is oh, so important). There is also awesome corn freshly made with a flame. The service can be a little slow at times, BUT the food is worth it!


Word from the Group: “you should def try burning tacos, it’s amazing, and my friend, Juan who is mexican said it tastes just like his mom’s tacos yummmmm”


Taqueria | 28 Levontin



In some sense this is the first restaurant that started the trend here. It is a sit down option with waiters, reasonable prices, a cool ambiance and a good number of menu options. The nachos are excellent as is the burrito bistec.

Mex & Co | 122 Ben Yehuda



If you like choices and always want to create your own very special burrito/taco/platos – then this place is for you! With five categories that will allow each person in your party to have a completely different dining experience! The chicken is great and there many vegetarian options are quite good!

Mexicana | 7 Bograshov



This is one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in Tel Aviv, and you can tell – it is looking a little bit out of date compared to all the new hip places that are opening up. On a positive note, Mexican chef Daniel Ovadia, who visited TLV recently, ranked it’s mole as one of the best.

South Tel Aviv
Mezcal | 2 Vital Street



A bar/restaurant that has stood the test of time. The food here is very Mexico-City’sh according to one of my Mexican friends. The tacos are good as are the many choices of tequila.

Word from the Group: “technically by taste I’d give Mezcal rank #1, I feel they are a bit more authentic and better quality, certainly they make the best Margaritas, however they are far more pricey and I prefer to choose El Taco when considering what you get for your buck, even Changos at time.”

Diego San | 2 Hamashbir



I was super excited about this place, one because of the name which brought me back to San Diego a bit, and two because Korean-Mexican fusion is all the rage in the U.S. for the last few years. The food was good, though I was expecting more flavour. They do have things on the menu you won’t find anywhere else though, with ideas from the Korean-Mexican trend with roots in the West coast.

Changos | 25 Washington



Another Florentin gem with great atmosphere and an awesome location in the “Washington piazza”, perfect for taking your tacos out there. The food is fresh, the portions are medium to small, the salsa is very good and they do have aqua fresca!!!

Word from the Group: “go to Changos, in my book they are #1 Ima true JAP from LA meaning I was raised by a Mexican(s) I grew up eating chimichangas and Enchiladas. Changos is AUTHENTHIC. Best verde, Carne Asada, fresh corn tortillas, I can go on and on and always do on these threads because satisfactory Mexican food is somewhat religious to me.”

North Tel Aviv
Mexicana Yermiyahu | Yermiyahu 17



Formerly El Taco, the once amazing place has been bought out by Mexicana – and unfortunately the menu has changed and the prices have increased – porque mi amigo, porque!