(¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·->Free Jewish Recipe Collection # 14<-·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯)

from: Spike's and Jamie's Recipe Collection

Many of these recipes have not yet been added to the recipe web site -  so you are getting a "sneak peak" of future additions. We hope you  enjoy these recipes!!!

Shalom, from Spike the Grate and Jamie the Webmistress



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This issue has recipes and informational commentary from the Israeli Cookbook by Molly Lyons Bar-David, published in 1964. I see that the author was the culinary advisor for El Al Israel Airlines. She interviewed immigrants from approximately “70 lands in Israel, all of whom are contributing to the new culinary melting pot of this ancient land.” 

THE SHARON’S SUBSTITUTE SUKIYAKI
A nice Purim dish from The Israeli Cookbook. Since the time of publication, Oriental vegetables, spices, and herbs have become available almost everywhere.

“Though Israel has no Jewish-Japanese community, it does have cultural and economic ties with the “Land of the Rising Sun.” The Japanese ambassador introduced the traditional sukiyaki “Friendship Dish” to Israel at the Sharon Hotel, and this Israeli version has become a piece de resistance on the menus. You can prepare it for parties as the Sharon does, substituting local fur unavailable Japanese ingredients, in a chafing dish at table, with all the ingredients beautifully laid out on a platter (or cook it in the kitchen in a heavy skillet, in about 20 
minutes).

“Celery stalks are used to replace the traditional Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi is a substitute for water chestnuts, and sweet potatoes replace the shirataki or bean sprouts (you can use carrots if you wish). These vegetables are not tradition to the dish, but the results are almost as good. This recipe should be made in two batches (unless your skillet is very large).”



6 tbsp peanut oil
2 lbs steak, cut into thin strips
1 cup thinly sliced onions
2 cups bean sprouts (parboiled sweet potatoes or raw carrots, in thin 3”strips)
2 cups coarsely shredded Chinese cabbage (or white cabbage)
2 cups water chestnuts (or kohlrabi, cut into thin strips)
1 cup bok choy, in thin strips (or celery)
6 oz mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup hot water
6 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dehydrated chicken soup (dissolve 1 bouillon cube in 1 cup hot water)

Heat the oil and fry the meat for 3 minutes, then push it to the edge of the pan.

Do the same with each vegetable, frying them for 2 minutes each, in the order in which they are listed (longest-cooking are fried first). Mix the water, soy sauce, and soup powder. Sprinkle over each vegetable right after frying. Add any of the remaining liquid after all vegetables have been fried, and cook everything for 5 minutes longer, stirring often. The vegetables should be crisp, but not raw. Serve with boiled rice and more soy sauce, if desired. Serves 6 to 8.

[] I would cook this in my wok. Since I am a person who never sends for things seen on television, it came as a surprise to me that I actually did that – I ordered “The Great Wok of China.” It is about as ugly a thing as one could have, but it does a marvelous job of stir frying. One must be quick upon washing it, to get it perfectly dry and apply vegetable oil to its surface immediately, or it will rust. I have been using that wok for about 15 years now, which means that it cost me about $1.00 per year! It is also good for deep frying, and actually anything that can be 
cooked can be cooked in a wok. A wonderful utensil.[]

[]For this recipe, virtually any veggies will do very nicely. I would put celery, as well as the Chinese cabbage, and carrots, whether bean sprouts were on hand or not. I find that most large cities in the US have ethnic markets where the esoteric ingredients can be found, in addition to ethnic sections of supermarkets.

I now live in a small town of about 50,000 people. We have a Chinese market, a Mexican market (Mercado), an Afghan market (wonderful flatbread and Oriental rugs for sale!), and a Kosher market. Incidentally, the Afghan market has a huge American flag in its window! []


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SYCAMORE FIG SOUP


“The sycamore fig tree is native to Israel and even in biblical times its figs were eaten and the trees tended. The prophet Amos was a “dresser of sycamores.” During Israel’s austerity days, with years of drought, this fruit was not disdained. It is good in fruit soups, along with other figs. The sycamore also grows in Egypt and is known abroad as Pharoah’s fig.” Israeli Cookbook

3cups sliced sycamore and/or other figs
3 cups water
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups orange juice
dash of ginger
sugar to taste
lemon juice to taste
2 fresh apples, grated
sour cream, if desired

Cook the figs in the water until mushy. Add the cornstarch and cook until clear. 

Whirl the mixture in the blender. Add the remaining ingredients and 
chill thoroughly. Serve with a garnish of sour cream, if you like. 
Serves 4 to 6

[] I have to comment that it would serve about a thousand people like me! If somebody knows why one would eat fig soup, that person should send me an e-mail immediately. I am democratic enough to include recipes that I do not or would not like, because others may very well like them. I just have not under stood why people eat soup that is not hot and comforting or has no meat or veggies. When I declare that I am the “ultimate authority on everything,” it is obviously untrue, but it is great fun! []



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SUESSAPFELGEMUSE 
Vegetable Apples

“Somehow the apple, even more than the Biblical pomegranate, has become the symbolic “first fruit” of Rosh Hashanah. It therefore goes into the making of countless dishes both in Eastern and Western lands for this festival. The following is a Swiss-Jewish dish that is eaten instead of  vegetables with the main dish, since sweet foods are eaten in every course on Rosh Hashanah. “ Israeli Cookbook

3 lbs apples
4 tbsp fat
4 tsp brown sugar
4 tbsp water
1 cinnamon stick

Wash, slice, and core apples, but do not peel. Heat the fat and put in the brown sugar. Add the apple slices and toss. Put in the water and the cinnamon stick and cook over low heat until the apple slices are tender but not mushy (10-20 minutes). Serves 8 to 10.

[] Nice of me to send this out right after Rosh Hashanah – although there is no rule saying we can’t enjoy this dish any time. []



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PURIM STICKY SQUARES
for Purim

“In the Bible (Ezekiel 27), we learn how the merchants of yore traded in all manner of ingredients which were used in their cooking. Honey was the sweetening agent of their confections, so we have good reason to believe that their sweetmeats were sticky, spicy, nutty, and of a plain baked dough baked and then boiled in honey. Mediterranean cakes have indeed retained those characteristics through the present.” Israeli Cookbook

2 cups sifted flour
1 tbsp sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp cooking oil
1 lb honey
1/4 lb poppy seed

Mix the flour, sugar, eggs, and oil. Knead together and roll out very thin. Cut into squares and prick with a fork. Bake in a 375 degree oven until the dough is crisp (7-10 minutes). Boil the honey, and dip the squares in it for a few minutes. Remove and roll in the poppy seed.



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SPECIAL ORANGEADE


“About 1600, when sugar cane became plentiful, orangeades rose to popularity. They were made highly aromatic by the addition of flowers such as jasmine and carnations for perfume. Spices such as coriander seed, cinnamon, mace, and essences of rose water made the drink even more heady. The aphrodiasiac musk was sometimes added, so that the drink had much more than taste appeal as an aim. Orangeades are everyday drinks in Israel, the squash coming bottled in mandarin, orange, lemon or mixed syrups. Every housewife makes her own specialties, and here is [the author’s] mine.” Israeli Cookbook

sugar for frosting
crushed ice
6 tbsp mandarin syrup (or juice of 3 oranges mixed with 6 tbsp sugar)
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp light wine
1 tbsp ginger syrup or dash or ginger powder
6 cups water
6 orange slices, unpeeled and studded with a clove each, for garnish
6 sour cherries and 6 sprigs mint for garnish

Wet the tops of 6 glasses and dip in sugar to “frost” the rims. Half fill with crushed ice. Mix all the ingredients except the garnishes and pour into the glasses. Garnish with the orange slices studded with cloves, cherries, and mint sprigs. Serves 6

[] Here’s to you, Molly! []

Shalom

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