The Jerusalem Cookbook has so many recipes that I need to make! But this is the first one that jumped out at me, and I’m so glad I made it. It’s a simple recipe that can be made in advance, but since it’s lamb and has pine nuts in it (which I usually leave out, as you know), it can be served as a fancy dish or a weeknight make ahead dinner (my favorite).
I love chummus (some people call it hummus)! In my neighborhood, there’s no lacking of delicious chummus. But if shabbat is in only a few minutes and you can’t leave the house because there’s food in the oven, homemade chummus is something that’s almost as easy as walking across the street and buying some. All you need is a few ingredients and a food processor.
It’s a great dish to bring to a party with some cut up veggies, so that’s why we decided to contribute it to Ali and Matan’s virtual sheva berachot. Mabrook to the newlyweds! Continue reading
What is sambusak, you ask? It’s like a bite-sized turnover, an empanada or a pie. The dough is a savory butter pie crust made with a mixture of semolina and all purpose flours, and the filling is a simple cheese mixture. And that’s it; we just made cheese sambusak! (Just kidding, I’ll go into more detail soon.)
These can really be filled with anything, but we eat two kinds: cheese or meat. And cheese sambusak is the best kind, especially because if you’re making the filling meat, you can’t make the dough with butter. Continue reading
Shana Tova!
When Resident Magazine asked us to share some holiday recipes with them, we knew we wanted to share some traditional Sephardic Jewish food, as opposed to the better known matzah ball soups. Here’s a dish that we’ve been eating for Rosh Hashana forever.
Now with an updated picture! Don’t hesitate to make this delicious meal for Shabbat.
Kibbe cherry is a traditional Friday night dish. Usually we serve it in a pretty bowl, but we couldn’t take the picture on Shabbat, so this is the picture you’re stuck with! Don’t worry, it tastes a lot better than it looks in this picture, we promise! Continue reading
Shabbat shalom and welcome to our first installment of recipe and wine pairings! This is a quick, yet special Shabbat dinner and here are two great kiddush wine options for you to enjoy with it.
Many food magazines and websites give wine suggestions with their meals, but they never ever suggest kosher wines. And why would they, they’re not kosher websites. But we are!
There are a lot of things you can stuff with hashu to turn into a meal. This time, I used ground turkey and (half-cooked) brown rice to make a healthier mechshe.
Since our mom doesn’t like onions, this mechshe wasn’t something we ate much growing up, but it’s definitely still one of my favorites! I love the flavor of slow-cooked onions, which get sweet and caramelized in the oven, and the contrast with tart tamarind sauce is perfect.
Since stuffing these is quite a process, I like to make a double batch and freeze half, so that next time the cravings hits, I can cook up a batch right away; no need to defrost, just cook the frozen onions for a bit longer.
I made this a while ago, but was hesitant to share it because of its mixed reviews. Some people thought it was too sweet, others not sweet enough. I even got one “this is the most delicious thing ever!” So I guess it’s up to you to judge…I happened to like the slightly bitter chewiness of the candy, and snacked on it for weeks.
Remember back when we made ejjeh potato? Though we posted it as a Chanukah treat, it’s also really a great lunch box staple along with this, ejjeh parsley. We also love making leek ejjeh for Rosh HaShanah, by the way. Continue reading
I have a confession to make. We made kaak a really long time ago. Probably more than 6 months ago, actually. We just never got around to writing up the post because the pictures were stuck on Adele’s camera, and because we had so many other interesting things to share with you. Better sooner rather than later, right?
Now that Passover won’t be back for another year, maybe we’ll make a giant batch of kaak for our freezer.
Kaak are bread sticks, but instead of being actual stick shapes, they are formed into rings. They are flavored with kemun, kizabrah, mahlab, and yansoon. Or cumin, anise, and cherry pit. I wouldn’t say that they’re hard to make, just time consuming. You need to shape each ring, then bake at two different temperatures. If you have two ovens, then this might be a little easier than it was for us. Anyone want to buy me a double wall oven? I promise you a batch of kaak! We baked these in Adele’s not-so-giant Manhattan kitchen. And hey, if we could do it there, then it can be done anywhere. You just have to have some patience. Continue reading
