Tzimmes! Oy, that's sooooo good.

Since I’m sorta laid up, Suggie called and told me that she was bringing supper over. Period. Get used to it. She had made her favorite Tzimmes, in her grandmothers beautiful old casserole which must date from at least the 1920’s by the design. What could I say but “Uh. Okay.”

This dish is a tribute to the fall root vegetables and is so easy that even the novice cook can make it and have a standout wonderful meal that is both incredibly tasty, healthy and nutritious, and makes wonderful leftovers.

Tzimmes, a rich, sweet and savory casserole,  is of Ashkenazi Jewish derivation, and is traditionally served on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). This is a dish that can go from a very simple carrot dish cooked in honey, to a really full blown kitchen project passed down in families - and everything in between. It can be served several different ways, with brisket, short ribs of beef, roast beef or even chicken. Probably not so much with pork. That’s joke, son!

Suggie, the undisputed queen of TzimmesI took a look on the net and there are tons of different Tzimmes recipes, many with pitted prunes, apples, white potatoes and even pineapple. Suggie buries matzo balls (encased in mashed potato) and tender beef short ribs in hers, and then slow cooks it in the oven to a fare thee well.

This stuff is heaven on a plate. And that’s what her husband, Shelley claims (Tzimmes being his all time favorite dish).

This is the face of a happy man eating Tzimmes.

You can’t get much more thrifty than Tzimmes. Carrots and sweet potatoes are always cheap and plentiful. You can usually get the short ribs for a decent price - or use whatever cut of beef that’s on special that benefits from long slow cooking. That’s code for the cheaper cuts. And it really goes a long way in feeding a family or a crowd.

Ingredients and Technique

2 lbs of carrots, grated

1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice

1 small sweet onion, finely diced

1 lb of beef short ribs

2-1/2 cups water

1/2 cup all purpose flour, diluted with 1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar ( or can substitute honey)

1 tablespoon salt

Combine the carrots, sweet potatoes, onion plus sugar in a heavy, oven proof pot with a tight fitting lid. Put short ribs in down in the middle and cook on low heat for 2 hours on top of stove.

Meanwhile make your dumplings.

Dumpling Ingredients:

4 white russet potatoes, peeled, grated and cooked.

1 large egg, whisked

Salt, to taste

4 matzo balls. It’s fine to use a boxed Matzo ball recipe.

Grate and cook four white potatoes until tender. Drain well. Mix with a beaten egg and salt to taste. You will wrap four matzo balls in the cooked, mashed potatoes - which you are going to add later to the Tzimmes.

Remove meat and set aside. Mix Tzimmes thoroughly with the diluted flour mixture to thicken, and taste.  Adjust the salt and sweetness to your liking. Put meat back in center. Add dumplings around side and bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours, tightly covered.

This is the wonderfully warming dish you get to tuck into:

We served it with a big salad I’d whipped up:

Equal amounts of peppery Arugula and torn green leaf lettuce

1 green apple chopped

Crumbled blue cheese

1-2 stalks of celery, sliced on the diagonal

A handful of chopped nuts

Apple cider viniagrette dressing - Equal parts apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice. 2-3 tablespoons grapeseed oil ( you can substitute canola or a nut oil such as hazelnut or walnut). 2-3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar ( you can substitute maple syrup, or boiled apple cider syrup which is really delicious!). A dash of onion powder, Italian seasoning, sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Whisk all this together, and taste to adjust the sweet/acid/oil balance to your liking.

I topped the salad with whole leaves of fresh sage that I’d lightly fried in a tiny bit of oil until they were crispy, then quickly drained on a paper towel.

Bon appetit!

-maven

Don't get tricked by low-fat and low-sugar foods

The grocery store aisles are filled with products making glorious claims of low-fat and low-sugar, with the implied promise that they are healthier and a good choice for the weight concious consumer.

Whoa boy, is that a lie.

When they take fat out, they have to replace it with something to maintain taste and texture. The same goes for sugar.

When you’re scanning labels for what’s been taken out, take a look at what’s been put in under the radar.

Yogurt

Click to read more ...

Mark Bittman: Salad dressing for dummies

This is exactly how I’ve been doing salad dressing for the last 20 years. And I haven’t bothered with buying it for at least half as long.

It’s simply too easy to make it fresh and healthy on the fly.

Heavenly ginger galangal vinaigrette salad dressing

Not your typical Asian dressing, this features the flowery scent of Galangal, which marries perfectly with ginger in a lot of southeast Asian dishes. In this version, of my classic house made and fresh, vinegrette dressing, I combined the dressing with romaine lettuce, spring lettuce mix andfresh bite sized chunks of pineapple and avocado.

You’ll notice that I used light Agave Nectar instead of honey. The Agave Nectar has a very mild flavor and I chose it to just give these special spices a nice undercurrent of sweetness.

Click to read more ...

Fresh and easy: Ginger pear salad dressing

This just sort of popped into my head this evening, probably since I had some lovely ripe red pears in the fruit bowl. The other thing I had in the panty was a bottle of Ginger Syrup. With just basic and simple ingredients you can present an elegant salad. Voila!

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Simple salad dressing fast: fresh and easy

I honestly have not bought a bottle or jar of salad dressing in at least the last ten years - really, really true. When I discovered how fast and easy it was to make wonderfully fresh salad dressing in just a couple of minutes, I never wanted any more of that calorie and artificial ingredient laden glop taking up room in my refrigerator again. My friend Joy, asked me the other day at lunch to blog about salad dressing.

Here’s a video that shows you just how simple it is.

I pare it down to an even simpler method. I make my salad dressing right in the big old wooden bowl that I use for salads at our house. The key is to balance the acid and oil, then add the kicker such as mustard, garlic, anchovies, fruits, onions, bacon, citrus, horseradish, olives, Worcester sauce or whatever.

Always have a brick of good parmesan, too. I also use nuts very often in dressing or salads. Using a blender, chuck in some hazelnuts or walnuts, using a walnut oil, honey and lemon juice.

Fresh lemons are usually an integral part of my fresh dressings since they not only add the acid component but also temper it with a sweetness. Sometimes, I’ll even grate the yellow zest into the dressing.

Basic technique: Take a nice lemon and roll it on the counter to loosen up the juices, then slice in half and squeeze the fresh lemon juice right into the bowl. Add an equal amount of a high quality oil ( olive, walnut, canola for example ) and honey. Whisk to combine.

Add some freshly ground pepper, sea salt, some herbs d’ Provence and you’re done. Add the salad greens and what ever else, toss and eat. Badda bing, badda boom.

We made this the other evening, adding crushed ripe strawberries, diced fresh mango, romaine, baby greens and red onion. Wow! It’s a keeper.

Sometimes I add other ingredients.

For a quick and easy Ceasar Dressing: Olive oil, mashed garlic cloves rubbed around the bowl, mayonnaise, a bit of anchovy paste ( or even better- tinned anchovies ) and freshly grated Parmesan.

Whisk and and your romaine and croutons. What could be simpler?

For a honey mustard it’s a no-brainer: olive or walnut oil, honey ( a wild or forest honey adds an exotic surprise ), dijon mustard and a bit of mayonnaise. Whisk.

Instead of spending money on bottles of prepared dressing - often loaded with ingredients you really don’t want or need - spend the money on good oils and vinegars. They go a very long way.

You might choose from balsamic vinegars, cabernet or champagne vinegars, port or sherry ( one of my favorites!)vinegars.

My favorite olive oil for salads is Spanish Nunez de Prado. It actually reminds me of a sunny day and freshly cut hay fields. It’s very green and fragrant.  http://www.colorsofspain.com/Oil/Prado.htm

Another thing I keep on hand in my spice cabinet are: onion powder, granulated garlic powder, herbs d’ provence, thyme, oregano, italian seasoning, lemon pepper, and Penzeys’Mural of Flavor herb seasoning. I also keep a tube of anchovy paste in the refrigerator for Caesar dressing and to add that umami quality ( see the post on umami or fifth flavor ).

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html

Right now, Penzeys’ is offering a $9.00 gift card in every eight jar or larger gift box ordered before December 21st. Order a custom gift box to share with your family or friends and you keep the gift card for being such a thoughtful person. This makes a really neat gift, too!

maven