Onion-Braised Brisket

I can't remember the last time we had company for dinner.  More recently, the idea of catching up to the household chores and making a dinner has seemed insurmountable.  So, we've been opting to go out for dinner with friends instead.  

A few weeks ago, I had a moment of denial (about the state of my house) and decided to invite a couple of friends for a pre-Passover seder.  I call it "pre-Passover"because we did it on Sunday night rather than Monday, after work.  Also, it wasn't really a seder.  We just ate a nice meal with some of the foods we'd traditionally eat at Passover and were motivated by knowing that our families would be doing the same thing in different parts of the world.  

There are a few things I love about Passover.  Yes, of course, they're mostly food related.  I love chicken soup with matzo balls.  I love charoset (with or without horseradish).  Last, but not least, I love horseradish and any dish that lets me indulge in my love for horseradish.  Food aside, I like the getting together with family aspect too, assuming those around the table have similar ideas about how long a seder should last.  

I recently received a sample of the second edition of The Healthy Slow Cooker.  After taking a first look through, I was immediately drawn to the brisket recipe.  

Onion-Braised Brisket

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

4 - 5 lbs. double beef brisket, trimmed

4 onions, thinly sliced on the vertical

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup beef stock

2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup beef stock

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley leaves

1. In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium-high heat.  Add brisket and brown well on both sides, about 6 minutes.  Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.

2. Add remaining tbsp of oil to stoneware (note: I think this should say skillet instead of stoneware).  Add onions and cook, stirring until they begin to turn golden, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, thyme, salt and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Add vinegar, mustard and wine and bring to a boil.  Cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan, for 2 minutes.  Stir in tomato paste and stock.  

3.  Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours, until brisket is very tender.  

4.  Transfer meat to a deep platter, slice and keep warm.  Transfer sauce to a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce head and simmer for 5 minutes to slightly reduce.  Remove from heat and add cornstarch solution, stirring until sauce thickens.  Pour over meat and garnish with parsley.

Verdict: The brisket was a bit of a saga.  Not at all due to the recipe itself.  I had to do quite a bit of work to get the brisket.  Initially, I figured I would just get a brisket from the kosher butcher.  But then I saw the price: $58 for 1.86 kg (4.1 lbs.).   There was no way I was going to spend that much on a brisket, particularly if no one eating it cared if it was kosher.  So, then I tried a non-kosher butcher.  They were $6.99/lb.  The price was better, but I wanted to check with one other place -- the beef coop I  often order my beef from, Fitzroy Beef Farmers.  It was a bit of a long shot because the only way you can get beef from them at this time of year is to pick it up at their drop off locations (a random parking lot) on their predetermined drop off days.  But luck was on my side.  Their briskets were $4.50/lb. and they had a drop off scheduled for the day before my dinner party.  Sold!  I requested a 4-5 lb. brisket.  

My next challenge came upon pick up.  You don't always know what you're going to get size-wise.  So, when R came home with a 7.29 lb. (frozen) brisket, I was a bit nervous about doing it in the slowcooker.  

  

Since it was frozen, I really couldn't separate it.  The brisket couldn't even fit into my largest frying pan!

I quickly gave up hope of getting this thing in my moderately-sized slow cooker.  I took out the turkey roaster instead.

That may have decreased the liquid.  That, and the fact that I didn't double the other portions of the recipe.  There wasn't enough sauce leftover to do step four.  But, there was still plenty of flavour.  It ended up coming out like pulled beef.  Everyone loved it!  I would definitely make this again.  Sorry for the lack of a nicely plated picture.  There was too much going on to pull that together.

Aside from the brisket, we had potatoes, chicken soup and matzo balls, salad, matzo...

...and my other two favourite: charoset and horseradish.  I used this recipe for the charoset with some modifications such as using grape juice instead of wine and almonds instead of walnuts.  Aside from that, I added more cinnamon and played with the quantities a bit to get the flavour I wanted.

It was so nice to have these leftovers to enjoy all week.

We didn't have as much leftovers of the dessert my friend brought, but it was delicious too.

Passover Mandelbrot

Passover, like most holidays seems to creep up quietly and then all of a sudden it's busy kitchen to the power of 10.  I really love this holiday but honestly, it's alot of work.  Anyone who tells you differently isn't the one doing the cooking.  Thank goodness for my sister (aka Auntie Takeout) who's stepped forward and is taking on alot of the work.

We cook at our own homes and then do the schlep to baba's place.  It's actually easier to do it this way than try to bring my mom to one of our homes.  It also leaves baba with enough leftovers for a week's worth of meals.  This year I'm doing the sides and desserts.
One of the desserts this year is mandel brot.   This recipe is a first timer for me and until now I had no idea how simple it is to make and I know baba will love these cookies.  They're really like a smaller and softer version of biscotti.  You also don't need a mixer for these - easy to put together by hand.

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup cake meal
1/2 cup potato starch
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
Whisk eggs and add sugar, continue whisking until well blended
Slowly incorporate oil and then both cake meal and potato starch
Stir in chocolate chips
Let mixture sit for 15 minutes
With oiled hands form 3 long logs (the mix will be sticky)
Bake for 30 minutes.  Take out logs and cut into approximately 12 slices per log and return to oven for 5--10 minutes to dry.

Fantastic!

Passover Popovers and Potatoes - The 3 P's

I think I mentioned previously that I found some interesting recipes on the King Arthur Flour Blog . I mean who knew that a flour company would provide such incredible recipe for flourless baking. Pretty impressive, n'est ce pas? I decided to try their Passover Popovers that I have to tell you are both easy to make and really far lighter than I ever expected them to be. Passover is all about using eggs as a leavening agent so don't go into cardiac arrest at the number of eggs in this recipe.




2 cups water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 to 1 1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup cake meal
1 cup matzo meal
12 large eggs

1. Put the water, oil, salt and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Stir in the cake meal, then the matzoh meal; the mixture will be very stiff. Set it aside to cool to lukewarm, about an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Use shortening or non-stick vegetable oil spray to grease a standard muffin tin; a standard 6-cup popover plan; or a 12-cup mini-popover pan.
4. Crack the eggs into a large measuring cup. With your mixer running, gradually pour them into the bowl. Beat till smooth; scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat till smooth again.
5. Scoop the stiff batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups about 3/4 full. You'll need to bake in batches; this recipe will make 28 muffin-size popovers; 15 standard popovers; or 30 mini popovers.
6. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 325 F and bake for an additional 35 minutes (mine took 30 minutes) (for the muffin-pan popovers); 40 minutes (for the standard popovers); or 25 minutes (for the mini-popovers). Popovers should be a medium-golden brown. To check if they're done, pull one out of the pan (they come out really easily) and break it open; the interior should be mildly moist, but not soggy.
7. Remove the popovers from the oven, and tilt them in the pan to cool. (I didn't do this part and they were still great)

Passover isn't the same without a Norene Gilletz recipe. This year we chose her Duchesse Potato Mounds with Mushroom.



10-12 large potatoes, peeled & cut up (about 4lb./2kg)
2 eggs plus 2 egg whites
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth (approximately)
2 Tbsp tub margarine, divided
salt and pepper to taste

Mushroom Filling

3 cups mushrooms, coarsely chopped (I used baby bellas)
2 onions, coarsely chopped (I used one large and was happy I cut it back)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
paprika, to garnish

1. Cook potatoes in lightly salted water until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain well. Place pan with drained potatoes over high heat for a minute to evaporate excess moisture. Mash potatoes until smooth.** Add eggs, egg whites and just enough broth to moisten. Beat well. Add 1 Tbsp. margarine and season with salt and pepper. Mixture should be firm enough to pipe through a pastry bag. Amount of broth used will depend on the size of potatoes and how dry they are when you mash them.

2. In a non-stick skillet, saute mushrooms and onions in remaining margarine on medium-high heat until nicely browned. If necessary, add a little broth. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.

3. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Place potato mixture in a large pastry bag fitted with a large star tube. Pipe potatoes into mounds onto prepared baking sheet, leaving a small opening in the centre of each mount. Spoon in some of the mushroom filling. Sprinkle lightly with paprika. (Can be prepared ahead of time) Bake uncovered at 400 F for 20 minutes, until golden

** - making sure the potatoes are mashed well is critical; if you have any lumps they'll get stuck in your tip when piping.
This will yield about 12 servings depending on how large you make them.
Reheats really well. Do not freeze

Verdict: I would make these over and over again. Everyone thinks it's magic when it's really so simple, pretty and delicious.

Easter and Passover usually fall around the same time. We'd like to wish all of our friends who celebrate Easter a soulfully enriching and joyous time with your families and friends.

Passover Cake and Kugel

Here it is, the evening before the first night of Passover which will begin at sundown March 29th and I couldn't have said it more aptly than Happily Losin It of Words & Weigh . I think it went something like "somehow Jewish housewives were left out of the freedom from slavery part when it came to Passover".

We've blogged about Passover in previous years here and here and both of these previous posts have been extremely popular consistently.

Today I'm preparing for tomorrow night's dinner and finished a couple of recipes that I think will be equally as popular. I happened to find a recipe on the King Arthur Flour site that looked pretty interesting. The important thing to note with this recipe is that if you use the glaze there is cream in it and wouldn't be appropriate with a meat meal.

Flourless Chocolate Nut Cake

10 large eggs, room temperature, separated
3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup chocolate chips
heaping 1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar, to mix with the egg yolks
2 cups diced pecans, finely ground; OR 2 cups pecan meal
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar, to mix with the egg whites

Glaze
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp espresso powder
3 Tbsp heavy cream

1. Lightly grease a 10" tube pan or angel food pan. For best results, cut a piece of parchment or wax paper to fit the bottom of the pan and grease the paper. (I did this and it worked like a charm) Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Separate the room-temperature eggs, putting the whites and yolks in separate large bowls.
3. Melt the two chocolates together, stirring till smooth and set aside. (note: best to do this over simmering water in a bowl to avoid burning the chocolate)
4. Beat the egg yolks till smooth and lemon-yellow. Add the salt and 2/3 cup sugar and beat again till thickened and lightened in colour.
5. Stir in the melted chocolate.
6. Stir in the nuts. They should be processed as fine as possible; they'll probably be a bit pasty.
7. Beat the egg whites and vanilla till foamy.
8. With the beater going, sprinkle in the 1/4 cup sugar, beating till soft peaks form.
9. With the mixer at low speed, gradually fold the whites into the yolk mixture, mixing gently till no streaks show.
10. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.
11. Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes (mine took 45 minutes) till a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and set it on a rack. Loosen the edges and let it cool in the pan for 1 hour. Loosen the edges again.
12. Invert the cake onto the rack and prepare the glaze
13. To make the glaze, combine all of the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl or saucepan and heat till the chips are very soft. Stir till smooth.
14. If the glaze isn't pourable, add more cream to thin it out. (I probably could have added more cream but as it's cooling and setting I can see it's smoothing out). Pour over the cake. It's OK if the cake is still warm when you glaze it.

Yield: 10" cake, about 16 servings.

My second find came from All Recipes . It's very quick and based on the reviews it should be a hit.

Matzo Apple Kugel

This dish can be served with either meat or dairy dinners. Can also be made ahead and cooked later.

4 matzo crackers, crushed
3 eggs beaten
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup applesauce (preferably unsweetened)
3 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries

For the topping:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
(I used half of this amount)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Place the crumbled matzos in a medium bowl and add enough water to cover. Let stand for 2 minutes, then drain off excess water. Do not squeeze.
2. To the bowl of matzo, add eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, lemon juice and applesauce. Stir to combine. Mix in the apples and dried cranberries. Spread the mixture evenly into a greased 2 quart casserole dish. Mix together the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.
3. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and the apples are soft.

Enjoy!
To all our friends who celebrate this holiday - Chag Sameach!!! Next year in Jerusalem!

Passover with Lori Lynn

Lori Lynn from Taste with the Eyes who is once again hosting the Passover Roundup is well known for her love of both family and tradition.

In our last post, we wrote about the tradition of making gefilte fish for this occasion. Here it is being served at our Passover Seder.



One of the reasons for our maintaining a blog is to keep a colour commentary and share family recipes that have been passed down through generations. Although not a direct contributor to the blog, a good number of our recipes are either directly received from babba, the matriarch of our family or an offshoot of many of her recipes.



After all the formalities are done, we settled in to play a crazy game of Apples to Apples that kept everyone laughing for the rest of the evening.



To all our blogging friends who celebrate Easter, our wishes for a meaningful holiday season filled with family, friends and good food.

Gefilte Fish for Passover

One of the best known of Jewish holidays beginning at sundown on April 8th is Passover. Our familiarity with Passover (or Pesach - pronounced pe-sach with a Scottish rolled ch) ties in with Christian history. The Passover in Christianity is depicted by The Last Supper.

One of the traditions of Pesach is the making of Gefilte fish which, admittedly is an acquired taste. I can remember the age long debate of whose gefilte fish is the best. The Jews from Poland made a sweeter tasting fish while the Jews from Russia made a more savory tasting fish. It's all what you grew up with. Everyone seems to guard their family recipe and claims that theirs is absolutely the best.

Gefilte fish is a ground fish recipe, popular with people of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage(eastern European heritage). Formally, it is a type of quenelle, a delicately flavored patty made of lightly seasoned ground fish or white meat. Similar dishes exist in many cultures in local recipes bland or spicy, served plain or sauced, and cooked in simple broth or as part of an elaborate fish stew.

Here's babba's recipe that's been kept under lock and key. We think it's "the best".



Since these are still cooling, you'll have to wait for the next post to see the plated version.

Ingredients

5 lb. pickerel fillets (you could use a combination of carp, pickerel and white fish)
2 large onions (divided
4 large carrots (divided)
1 parsnip
4 eggs (rule of thumb is 1 egg per pound of fish if the fish is filleted skin off)
1/2 cup grated ground almonds (divided)
4 handfuls of matzoh meal (approximately 1 cup)
1 Tbsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup sugar
6 cups water

Method

1. In a large stock pot slice 1 large onion and 2 carrots, salt,1/4 c sugar, 6 cups water.

2. Peel 2nd onion and cut roughly to fit meat grinder.


This meat grinder came to Canada with babba 50 years ago.

3. Remove skin from fillets (it's easier to ask the fish monger to do this)

4. Process carrot and parsnip on fine grater or grate with a box grater.

5. Put cleaned fish fillets and 2nd onion through meat grinder.

6. Add carrots, parsnip and onion to fish.


7. Add salt, pepper, eggs and 1/2 c sugar


8. Mix ingredients together - should be loose but hold together. If it feels too loose, add a little matzoh meal to the mix. At this point you may either form your patties or refrigerate the mix for 30 minutes to let it set.
9. With wet hands, create patties by gently rolling in a circular motion and shape like an egg.

10. Start pot to heat as you're shaping and layering your patties. Very gently lower them into the pot. Be sure not to disturb them until they're cooked and cooled.

11. A second layer is added over top the first layer.
12. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer, lid on for approximately 2 hours. After the first hour, sprinkle the remaining ground almonds to the pot.
13. To cool, put pot into a sink of cold water - about 1/2 way up the pot.
14. Once the fish is completely cooled, move to a serving platter and refrigerate until time to serve.
15. Serve with red horseradish.

Yield on 5 lb. of fish is 24 patties.

To those celebrating Passover - Chag Sameach!!

Matza Brie

Ok Kate, this post is for you... A kosher for Passover recipe.

For as long as I can remember, Giz would make me and actorboy matza brie (a.k.a. fried matza) around Passover. It's kind of like the kosher for Passover version of french toast. I like to eat it with sugar sprinkled on top. But, it's flexible because matza doesn't have a very strong flavour on it's own, so feel free to make adaptations (adding meat, vegetables, herbs, etc.).



First, you break up the matza into smaller chunks. Depending on how hungry you are, I would go with 1-2 pieces of matza/person. Put the matza into a collander in the sink. Pour hot water over the matza to soften it. Be careful to not pour too much water. You want the matza to be soft, but not mush.



Whisk approximately 1 egg/piece of matza together and put soften matzas (matzot?) into the egg. I spent a bit of time separating the matza and making sure it was all well coated with egg.



Spread out matza-egg in a frying pan that has been prepared with melted butter or vegetable oil.



Allow everything to fry until the one side is a nice golden brown. Once the desired colour is achieved, flip the matza (this may require that you cut the matza in half in order to maintain the "brie structure" post-flip.



Add whatever you want on top of your matza. Without some sort of flavour (syrup, herb, sugar, preserve, etc.), matza brie will not be very flavourful.



Personally, I like to sprinkle sugar.



Also, with the warmer weather, a nice smoothie would be a great accompaniment to the matza brie. Truth be told, R and I eat smoothies throughout the year (he loves having a smoothie after playing hockey).



My smoothie tips are:

- Use at least some frozen fruit. By using frozen fruit, you don't have to add ice, allowing for a thicker consistency.

- Our smoothies are usually comprised of frozen strawberries (we flash freeze a bunch in the summer to last us the winter) and fresh bananas. I've also added mango or blueberries to the smoothie strawberry banana mixture. Mango was great...blueberries did't do much to change the flavour. The last component is apple juice. We add about 1/2-3/4 cup of apple juice.

Passover Crunchies

Passover begins Saturday the 19th at sundown. Basically, the celebration of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, this is a time when families and friends come together to recant the history of this exodus with stories and foods symbolic of this time. Now that's a really rough explanation but for those of you who have seen the Ten Commandments - the epic Charlton Heston movie - you'll have a sense of the history. It's important to note that it's not only Jews in the world who celebrate this time of year. Catholics also celebrate The Passover, although the symbolism and tribute to events is varied.

As the Jews left Egypt they were unable to leven bread and created an unleaven flatbread called matza (matzo, matzoh -everone spells it differently) To this day, during the period of Passover, it is forbidden to consume foods that contain leavening agents. It's kind of like a Jewish lent if you will. Matzoh is a pretty bland, tasteless cracker type of bread that takes on interesting appeal when mixed with large quantities of butter, eggs, jams etc. For those who have never seen it, here's a package of matzoh.




My good friend shared a confectionary recipe with me that's super simple, perfect for Passover and has kind of an almond roca kind of flavour to it (well, maybe that's a bit of a stretch - but it's good anyways).

Matzoh crunchies are so easy to make, and even easier to eat and you'd never know it was made of matzoh. We're entering this recipe for:



Lori Lynn at Taste With The Eyes sets the most beautiful table for her guests to celebrate Passover. Do make a point of checking out her blog - easy on the eyes and beautiful recipes too.

Ingredients:

3-4 (more or less) unsalted matzohs, enough to fit on to and completely fill your rimmed cookie sheet
1 cup unsalted butter (1 cup = 1/2 lb or 2 sticks)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (or more) chocolate chips
toasted almond slivers or slices

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Line a large cookie sheet with foil over the top edges and fold under; then cover the tinfoil with parchment paper



3. Place the matzohs onto the baking sheet, breaking as necessary to fit. It's okay if they overlap a little.



4. In a saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar and cook over medium heat (stirring constantly)



5. Remove the butter/sugar mix from the heat and pour it all over the matzoh, covering completely



6. Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350 F
7. Bake 5-15 minutes checking every few minutes to make sure the mixture is not burning. If it's browning too quickly, reduce oven temperature or open the oven door for a minute. It should be bubbling all over and starting to turn colour.
8. Remove baking sheet from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips all over the bubbly mixture matzohs. Let stand for a few minutes until chips start melting. If you're impatient like I am, turn heat off oven and just put pan back in for a couple of minutes to melt the chocolate chips.



9. While chocolate is still soft and melted, spread with spatula for even coverage and sprinkle with toasted almond slivers/slices






10. Put into the fridge to cool and harden (about 10 minutes) and then break into pieces. You have matzoh brittle!!