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Two beautiful new Jewish cookbooks provide Passover inspiration
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Passover Rolls from "Jewish Traditional Cooking." -
Quinoa Salad with Figs and Mint from "The New Jewish Table." -
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Just in time for Passover, two colorful new cookbooks bring multiethnic and modern influences to an ancient and storied cuisine.
Ruth Joseph and Simon Round wrote "Jewish Traditional Cooking" as an ode to the role of food in Jewish culture.
"The taste of Jewish food ... manages to soothe the pain of past troubles by replacing them with tastes that remember all that was good and precious. That is nostalgia," they write in their introduction.
But while steeped in tradition, Jewish cuisine also has changed through the years, reflecting the dispersion that has scattered Jews all around the world. New spices and flavors have been added over time. Ms. Joseph and Mr. Round aim to reflect both the traditional and the innovative in their book.
Meanwhile, Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray, the husband-and-wife team who co-own and operate Washington, D.C.'s Equinox Restaurant, couldn't help but meld Jewish cooking with other traditions -- she's Jewish; he's not. In their restaurant, they serve regional and seasonal cuisine with some Italian preparation influences, but as a family, they also mark Jewish holidays. For instance, they serve a Passover Seder for family and friends in a private dining room at the restaurant.
And Mr. Gray isn't shy about saying it was hard to learn kosher regulations.
"It was a steep learning curve for me that first year [of cooking a Seder meal], not mixing milk and meat, the whole flour thing. I think I tried to put a pasta dish on the menu and Ellen just rolled her eyes at me."
But now he's got it down. In their book, they focus on fresh produce, local sourcing, and modernized versions of Jewish classics such as matzo ball soup, kugel and brisket. And they tell their story through bantering exchanges in "his" and "hers" voices, like this exchange about brisket:
Todd: The exalted position that brisket holds in Jewish American cooking cannot be underestimated. My first exposure to it was interesting as well as inspirational.
Ellen: He came over to our house for the holidays and had his first brisket, which (sorry Mom) was somewhat dry ... Unfortunately, Todd met my grandmother and Aunt Lil in the last few years of their lives when they weren't cooking much anymore, so he never got to taste their brisket, which was glorious.
Todd: The thing about brisket is that it needs to be braised low and slow... The traditional way of making Jewish brisket is as a pot roast: searing it and braising for three hours or so in a fairly low oven, often with lots of onions. I like a non-traditional version that utilizes French technique... It's an elegant, modern version of brisket.
Here, we share that brisket recipe, plus the Grays' quinoa salad and Ms. Joseph and Mr. Simon's recipe for Passover rolls. All three recipes are suitable for Passover.
Todd's modern day brisket
PG tested
Full disclosure: I didn't read the recipe ahead of time. It was late evening, and when I came to the part where it says "bake ... 3 to 4 hours," I pretty much knew I wasn't going to get back up at 1 a.m. to take the brisket out of the oven. So I cheated and did that step in the slow cooker overnight instead -- and it turned out great.
-- Rebecca Sodergren
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3-pound beef brisket, trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 springs fresh rosemary
2 springs fresh thyme
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups veal stock (see note)
2 cups dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the salt, paprika, mustard seed and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the brisket. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the brisket and cook until brown on both sides, turning once -- 5 to 7 minutes per side.
Transfer the brisket to a baking dish. Then add the rosemary, thyme and garlic. Add the chopped vegetables and pour in the veal stock, wine and vinegar. Cover the dish with heavy-duty aluminum foil and bake until the brisket is fork-tender, 3 to 4 hours. Transfer the brisket temporarily to a plate while you strain the liquid through a mesh strainer into a small saucepan (discard the herbs, vegetables and garlic) and wash and dry the baking dish.
Return the brisket to the clean baking dish. Place another heavy dish on top of it, directly on the meat, to weight it down. The ideal weight for this is 21/2 pounds, so add some canned goods to the top dish. Then wrap the entire assemblage in foil (over weights and all) and refrigerate overnight and until shortly before ready to serve.
Meanwhile, heat the strained braising liquid over medium heat until it is reduced to about 21/2 cups -- about 20 minutes. The finished sauce should have a glaze-like consistency. Taste the sauce and add salt or pepper if you wish. Refrigerate the sauce until ready to reheat the brisket.
Shortly before ready to serve, remove the brisket from refrigerator and transfer to a cutting board. Also remove the sauce. Cut the brisket into 3-inch cubes. You don't want to waste any of the meat, so the cubes don't need to be exactly this size or perfect along the edges. Place the brisket in a pan just large enough to hold it in a single layer. Pour in enough sauce to just cover the meat (you may add a little stock or water if there isn't enough sauce to do this). Heat over low heat until warmed through -- about 10 minutes. Spoon the brisket onto a serving platter; pour the sauce over and serve.
Note: Veal demi-glace is available ready-made at some grocery stores or online. It may be diluted with water (2 to 3 parts water to 1 part demi-glace) for use in place of homemade veal stock if desired.
-- "The New Jewish Table" by Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray (St. Martins, 2013, $35)
Quinoa salad with figs and mint
PG tested
12 dried figs
2 cups quinoa
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup red wine vinaigrette (see recipe)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise including part of the green
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon salt
sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
Place the figs in a medium heatproof bowl. Add boiling water to cover; set aside until plump.
Rinse quinoa in water and drain. Combine the quinoa and stock in a medium saucepan. Bring to boiling over high heat; lower the heat to low, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and fluff with a fork.
Drain the figs in a colander; transfer to a cutting board and cut into quarters. Pour 1/2 cup of the red wine vinaigrette over the quinoa and toss to mix. Add remaining ingredients and toss to mix. Taste the salad and add more salt or pepper if you wish.
-- "The New Jewish Table" by Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray (St. Martins, 2013, $35)
Red wine vinaigrette
PG tested
3/4 cup reduced red wine (see note)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 cup canola oil
1 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Place the reduced wine, vinegar, egg yolk, mustard and honey in a blender. Pulse to combine and then slowly drizzle in the canola and olive oils, pulsing every so often to combine; run the blender for 30 seconds to fully emulsify. Transfer to a storage jar; season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Note: To reduce red wine, pour 1 liter of wine into a medium saucepan. Bring to boiling over medium-high heat. Boil, uncovered, until reduced by three-quarters (until about 1 cup remains) -- this should take about 30 minutes. Let cool.
-- "The New Jewish Table" by Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray (St. Martins, 2013, $35)
Nutty Passover rolls
PG tested
32/3 cups fine matzo meal
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons superfine sugar
3/4 cup chopped almonds or walnuts
1 cup light olive oil
8 organic free-range eggs
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift the matzo meal into a mixing bowl, and add the salt and sugar. Toast the almonds or walnuts in a dry frying pan until they start to color, remove to a plate, and set aside to cool.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat 2 cups water with the oil until it comes to a boil. Quickly pour in the matzo meal and beat hard over the heat until the mixture starts to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Beat the eggs, and slowly add them to the pan, beating really well between each addition. Keep beating until the mixture is glossy and smooth. Fold in the toasted nuts and set aside to cool.
Shape the mixture into 40 golf ball-sized balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them out to allow room for them to spread. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until lusciously golden.
-- "Jewish Traditional Cooking" by Ruth Joseph and Simon Round (Kyle, 2013, $29.95)
First Published March 21, 2013 12:00 am
