The Spoon

The 8-day (7 days in Israel) Jewish Biblical Festival of Pesach (PEH-sahkh, PAY-sahkh = Passover), named for the ‘passing over’ of the Angel of Death that slew the first born sons of the Egyptians, celebrates the liberation of the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt and the beginning of the Israelite, now Jewish people, and has been continuously celebrated for more than 3,300 years. According to Biblical chronology, the Exodus from Egypt took place 890 years before the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 421 BCE, or in 1310 BCE, during the reign of the Pharaoh Adikam (not, as generally believed, and as portrayed in the movie “The Ten Commandments”, during the reign of Ramses II).

As commanded by the Almighty at Sinai (Ex. 12:14-20, 13:1-10 and Lev. 23:4-8), the 8-day Festival of Pesach begins on the 15th day of Nissan and ends on the 22nd day of Nissan (that’s the Babylonian ‘Nissan’, not the Japanese ‘Nissan’), which this year, this will be from sundown, Saturday, April 19 to sundown, Sunday, April 27 on the civil calendar.

As the only major Jewish celebration completely centered on the home and not in the synagogue, Passover is marked by special dietary restrictions, mainly the prohibition against using any grain or leavened product, other than matzoh (unleavened bread made from flour and water and baked for 18 minutes), and ritualized meals (Seders) that follow a specified order as written down in the Haggadah (huh-GAH-duh, the guide book for the Seder service that contains blessings, questions and answers, the story of the Exodus, and songs) on the first two evenings.

A favorite Passover breakfast treat is matzoh brei, French toast made with matzoh:

For Walter’s Pesach matzoh brei recipe, click more (more…)

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The one-day rabbinic Jewish Festival of Purim (PU-rim, PAWR-im), a very merry celebration of the events in the Megillah (m’-GILL-uh) Hadassah (Book of Esther), begins at sundown on Thursday, March 20 on the civil calendar, and with its costumes, noisemakers, food baskets, hamantashen cookies, a festive meal and carnivals, Purim is a favorite Jewish holiday for children and adults alike, especially for those with a great thirst because Purim requires more alcohol consumption than does St. Paddy’s Day.

Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern European) Jews eat hamantaschen (HAH-men-TAH-shen), tri-cornered fruit-filled cookies in reminiscence that the Persian Prime Minister, the evil Haman, was supposed to have worn a tri-cornered hat.

For a Blue Ribbon hamantaschen recipe, click more (more…)

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We recently returned from our annual trip to Zurich and Vaduz, Liechtenstein. That wonderful little principality tucked neatly between Switzerland and Austria with a population less than that of Missoula..including the damn chickens.

While in Vaduz my cousin Thersea cooked what she called a “traditional” dish that has no fancy name other than that found in her cooking notes…Fleischbällchen, so without further ado…Liechtensteiner Meatballs.

Meat Patties:

1.5 lbs ground pork
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons potato starch
2 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons chopped capers
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cooked beets
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

Cauliflower Cheese Mashed Potatoes:

1 pound redskin potatoes, quartered and boiled or steamed
1/2 pound cauliflower florets, cooked
3 tablespoons heavy cream
dash allspice
4 ounces Gruyere, Emmentaler, or Jarlesburg Cheese, coarsely shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

* In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the ground meats and all the ingredients from the potato starch to the chopped beets. Combine well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Form the meat mixture into small patties or meatballs, approximately 1-inch circumference.

* Heat in a large non-stick saute pan over medium high heat. Saute the patties until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer the patties to a plate lined with paper towels or a rack.

* In the same pan, over low heat, stir the flour into the drippings and gradually add the beef broth. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the liquid is slightly reduced. Stir in the cream and taste for seasoning. Return th cooked patties to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

* In the meantime, prepare the Cauliflower Cheese Mashed Potatoes. Coarsely crush the warm potatoes and cauliflower with a fork and season with the cream and allspice. Add the cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.

* Serve the patties with the potatoes as an accompaniment.

Möge dir dein Weg leicht werden!

Mike

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Chanukah (KHAH-nik-uh; KHAH-noo-kah) recalls the struggle for religious freedom and commemorates the Rededication of the Temple following the victory of the Jews over the Seleucid Greeks in the year 165 B.C.E. Chanukah means Rededication.

The 8-day rabbinic Jewish Festival of Chanukah always begins on the 25th day of Kislev and, depending on whether Kislev has 29 or 30 days, ends on either the 3rd or 2nd day of Tevet. This year, Kislev has 29 days and thus this year Chanukah will end on the 3rd day of Tevet. (On the civil calendar, this year Chanukah begins at sundown on Tuesday, December 4 and ends at sundown on Wednesday, December 12.)

According to tradition: a single portion of oil, used to light the 7-branch Temple Menorah (the symbol of the Jewish faith), that was to last only one night, lasted eight nights. In commemoration, the 8-branch Chanukah menorah is lit, increasing the number of candles lit each night, until on the eighth and last night, 8 candles are lit. In many American households, red, white and blue candles are set aside for use on the final night.

Continuing the theme of the “miracle” of the oil, the custom is to eat foods fried in oil on Chanukah. Latkes, fried potato pancakes, is typical to almost every American Jewish household of Ashkenazic (central and eastern European) descent. Jews of Sephardic (Spanish and Portuguese) descent favor sufganiyot, fried jelly doughnuts.

For the latkes and sufganiyot recipes, click MORE:
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Since no one else has been filling these pages lately I figured I would brag on my Thanksgiving turkey a bit. I usually put the bird in a brine and this year I made a brine that was from Alton Brown.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large cinnamon sticks
• 12 whole allspice berries
• 12 white pepper corns
• sprig of fresh sage
• sprig of fresh thyme
• 2 gallons of water

Method:

Combine 1 gal of water with all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. The night before you wish to cook your bird place the bird in a container large enough to hold both the turkey, the seasoned water and the second gallon of water. I use a 5 gal. bucket that I bought in the paint department at Ace Hardware. Allow to brine a minimum of 6 hours but 8 to 12 is better. Place container in a cool place. Since salt is so hostile to bacteria there is no need to refrigerate. I put mine in the garage to both keep it out of the way and take advantage of the cool space.

There are lots of differing opinions about how to cook a turkey. I put mine in a 475 degree oven for an hour and the reduce the heat to 350 after covering the breast with a triangular piece of tin foil - not a tent but a piece of foil that is folded to just cover the breast tightly. When the internal temp of the breast reaches 161 degrees remove from the oven and let stand for 30 minutes. The residual heat will cause the breast temp to increase to about 170 during the resting period.

A few years ago I got a probe thermometer that has a cord going to the digital readout that sits outside the oven I think it’s one of the best investments a cook can make. Every time one opens up the oven the temp drops about 20 degrees thereby increasing the cooking time. This gadget saves that and has an alarm on it for when your food reaches the desired temp. It may not mean much for a turkey that you get on sale for 49 cents a pound just before Thanksgiving, but it’s good insurance for the next time you put a $60 prime rib in the oven to make sure you get the end product you’re looking for.

Anyhow, the bird turned out excellently. It was moist, perfectly seasoned, and had all those wonderful background notes from the sugar and spices. It’s just a little more work but pays big dividends (and the leftovers stay moist as well.).

This brine works well with chicken and duck too.

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Matt Frank, the Missoula editor at New West, picked Rebecca Schmitz’ Blue Onion Soup recipe for their current feature.

Good stuff, Rebecca.

And remember everyone, if you don’t post you won’t get your 15 minutes of fame.

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This is for all of us that do not like pureed squash. There is no law that states that winter squash has to be smooth and slimy or the consistancy of baby food.

Start with your favorite winter squash. Hubbard, butternut, buttercup, acorn or, post Halloween, pumpkin. Seed, peel and dice into squares, chunks, whatever.
Take an equal amount of par cooked potatos and rough chop in chunks like the squash.
Do the same with an onion and green pepper (optional).
Put the vegetables in a single layer on a greased sheet pan, brush liberally with butter, olive oil or a blend such as Smart Balance. If you like the flavor, sprinkle salt and granulated garlic on also. Roast in a 350 degree oven until the squash is al dente. Don’t be afraid to dig in with a spatula and turn the mix so it browns evenly.

Serve as an alternative to hashbrown or fried potatos.

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Do you have any zucchini still hanging around your kitchen? You know, those gargantuan stringy seedy suckers no one likes to eat? If so, great, because they’re perfect to use in this simple cake recipe. If not, than any size zucchini will do. This is one of my favorite things to make in the autumn, when overgrown zucchinis are everywhere and the warm smell of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg perfectly complements the fall foliage.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour milk (if you don’t have any going bad in the fridge right now, 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar stirred into it will do)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups unpeeled grated zucchini
1/2 cup good quality bittersweet chocolate chips (or, if you’re like me, as much as you can put on top of the batter)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and butter and flour a 9″ x 12″ pan. Cream together the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla and soured milk. Beat all these ingredients until well blended. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add to the creamed mixture and beat well. Gently fold in the zucchini. Be sure not to over mix the batter at this point. Pour it into the cake pan and evenly scatter the chocolate chips on top. They will sink into the batter as it bakes. Bake the cake at 325 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. You can serve it as is, or decorate it with a dusting of powdered sugar.

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You’ll notice that when you open any post by clicking on the headline there is a link at the bottom that reads “Printable Page”. This will give you the recipes and the comments without the graphics, sidebar, etc.

I’ve been meaning to add this for a while but, you know, a blogger’s work is never done.

Dave

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Giardiniera is Italian meaning “pickled vegetables” (from Italian “giardino” which means “garden” in English.) Usually when one finds giariniera outside of greater Chicago it means a mix of pickled peppers, cauliflower, carrots and pimiento. Although that has a nice application the vinegar based pickling juice is too tart for other applications. Hence, for things like hot dogs and Italian Beef Sandwiches an oil cured mix is preferable. Here’s how I make mine.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh Serrano peppers - 1/8 inch slice
• 2 carrots - 1/4 inch dice
• 1 cup cauliflower - 1/4 inch dice
• 2 stalks celery - 1/8 inch slice
• 1 cup large green pitted olives - rough chop (Don’t be cheap - spring for the good ones.)
• 1 cup pickling salt.
• 2 tbs crushed oregano
• 1 tbs crushed chili flakes
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• enough extra virgin olive oil to cover

Method

1. Combine all of the vegetable - except the olives - in a large bowl. Add the whole cup of salt and mix completely so the salt covers the vegetable. Add enough water to just cover the mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 12 hours.
2. Drain the vegetable mixture and rinse very, very well to remove as much salt as possible.
3. Add chopped olives and remaining spices. Mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into jars (I use 1 qt canning jars and this usually makes 2 - 3 qts depending on the size of the veggies.) Pour olive oil into jars to cover (top off after 30 minutes when all the air has had a chance to escape from the veggies.)
5. Put in fridge for at least 48 hours before serving.

This recipe is a rough guideline and you can change it to whatever your tastes are. Some people use green or red peppers and reduce the amount of Serrano peppers for a milder mix. I often will let the Serrano’s ripen to red before using to reduce the heat and keep the flavor.

This mix will keep well about 3 months in the refrigerator. Depending on the quality of the oil it may have a tendency to “gel” when it’s cold. Simply take it out a half hour before serving to restore its consistency.

This goes great on Italian sausages, eggs, spicy tuna salad as well as hot dogs and beef sandwiches.

And, if 2 to 3 quarts is too much for you remember that the holidays are on us soon and this makes an excellent gift for the “spicy” eaters in your life.

Buono Appetito

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