< Previous43 SPRING Every year around March/April it’s Pesach (Passover) time. First, this means a lot of cleaning, and I mean a lot of cleaning. The kind of cleaning when you really need your bond money back asap and you know you are dealing with a dodgy landlord. The reason is to eliminate even the tiniest breadcrumb in the house during the week of the holiday when bread is forbidden … kind of a celiac festival, I guess. Secondly, it means a lot of cooking! When I was growing up, the food on our Pesach table changed every year and didn’t have a special theme, but before you got to the food there was a long night of reading, singing and blessing ahead. The blessing is done over a plate with plain ingredients, such as egg, bitter herbs, lamb shank, matza and horseradish, each one representing something specific and eaten one at a time. But then comes the charoset which gives a whole new spin to the plate. It is meant to look like clay, to represent the hard work undertaken by slaves in ancient Egypt. It is different in every Jewish culture, depending on your location – Ashkenazi Jews use a mixture of apples, walnuts and red wine, while us Iraqi Jews lucked out with the sweetest version of all – containing date molasses and walnuts – served on crunchy cos lettuce leaves. MAKES 12 2 baby cos (romaine) lettuce 150 ml (5 fl oz) premium date molasses (not syrup) 200 g (7 oz) walnuts finely grated zest of 1 lemon 5 mint leaves, shredded extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling Find the crunchiest cos leaves you can and wash them well. You’ll need 12 leaves for this recipe. Mix the molasses and walnuts together in a bowl to make the charoset. Place a spoonful of charoset on top of each leaf and garnish with lemon zest and mint. Drizzle with olive oil and serve. charoset in cos leaf 42 SPRING43 SPRING Every year around March/April it’s Pesach (Passover) time. First, this means a lot of cleaning, and I mean a lot of cleaning. The kind of cleaning when you really need your bond money back asap and you know you are dealing with a dodgy landlord. The reason is to eliminate even the tiniest breadcrumb in the house during the week of the holiday when bread is forbidden … kind of a celiac festival, I guess. Secondly, it means a lot of cooking! When I was growing up, the food on our Pesach table changed every year and didn’t have a special theme, but before you got to the food there was a long night of reading, singing and blessing ahead. The blessing is done over a plate with plain ingredients, such as egg, bitter herbs, lamb shank, matza and horseradish, each one representing something specific and eaten one at a time. But then comes the charoset which gives a whole new spin to the plate. It is meant to look like clay, to represent the hard work undertaken by slaves in ancient Egypt. It is different in every Jewish culture, depending on your location – Ashkenazi Jews use a mixture of apples, walnuts and red wine, while us Iraqi Jews lucked out with the sweetest version of all – containing date molasses and walnuts – served on crunchy cos lettuce leaves. MAKES 12 2 baby cos (romaine) lettuce 150 ml (5 fl oz) premium date molasses (not syrup) 200 g (7 oz) walnuts finely grated zest of 1 lemon 5 mint leaves, shredded extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling Find the crunchiest cos leaves you can and wash them well. You’ll need 12 leaves for this recipe. Mix the molasses and walnuts together in a bowl to make the charoset. Place a spoonful of charoset on top of each leaf and garnish with lemon zest and mint. Drizzle with olive oil and serve. charoset in cos leaf 42 SPRING94 95 AUTUMN This is a kind of vegetable pie, spicy and sweet with potatoes soaking up the chermoula. Perfect for autumn. SERVES 6 bunch of silverbeet (Swiss chard) 8 desiree potatoes, thinly sliced 200 g (7 oz) butternut pumpkin (acorn squash), peeled and thinly sliced sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling ½ red onion, sliced into rounds ½ × quantity Chermoula (see page 184) Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan-forced. Grease a 25–27 cm (10–11 in) round baking dish with olive oil. Remove the stalks from the silverbeet and tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the stalks for another use. To assemble the bake, layer half the potato, slightly overlapping, over the base of the dish, then add all of the pumpkin, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Add the silverbeet leaves, then the onion and season again. Mix the chermoula with 125 ml (½ cup) of water and pour it over the top. Layer the remaining potato on top and season with salt and more olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. When the potato is very soft, remove the foil and cook until the potato is browned on top. Allow the bake to sit for 20 minutes before eating. chermoula baked vegetables AUTUMN94 95 AUTUMN This is a kind of vegetable pie, spicy and sweet with potatoes soaking up the chermoula. Perfect for autumn. SERVES 6 bunch of silverbeet (Swiss chard) 8 desiree potatoes, thinly sliced 200 g (7 oz) butternut pumpkin (acorn squash), peeled and thinly sliced sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling ½ red onion, sliced into rounds ½ × quantity Chermoula (see page 184) Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan-forced. Grease a 25–27 cm (10–11 in) round baking dish with olive oil. Remove the stalks from the silverbeet and tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the stalks for another use. To assemble the bake, layer half the potato, slightly overlapping, over the base of the dish, then add all of the pumpkin, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Add the silverbeet leaves, then the onion and season again. Mix the chermoula with 125 ml (½ cup) of water and pour it over the top. Layer the remaining potato on top and season with salt and more olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. When the potato is very soft, remove the foil and cook until the potato is browned on top. Allow the bake to sit for 20 minutes before eating. chermoula baked vegetables AUTUMNAUTUMN 102 The combination of grains with the sweetness offruit is one we really like. The fruit often appears indried form, such as sultanas, but when quince are inseason,this is our fruit of choice. We char the quince in a chargrill pan first, then glaze it with date molasses before roasting in the oven toget even more quince love. SERVES 4 200 g (1 cup) pearl barley pinch of saffron threads 40 g (⅓ cup) walnuts 40 g (1½ oz) shelled pistachios 3 quince 2 tablespoons date molasses sea salt flakes 150 ml (5 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 1 brown onion, sliced wild fennel or fennel fronds, to serve 1 lemon, halved Preheat theoven to 160°C (320°F) fan-forced. Lightly grease a roasting tin. Bring a largesaucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Add the barley, then reducethe heat to medium and cook for about30 minutes, until soft. Drain and transferto a large bowl. Immediately stir through the saffron. Meanwhile, spread the walnutsand pistachios separately over a baking tray and cook for 8–12 minutes, until fragrant and lightly coloured. Leave to cool,then chop the nuts. Cut each quince into quarters and scoop or cut outthe seeds and the core. Heat a chargrill pan over high heat until very hot,then add the quince and chargrill forabout2 minutes each side, until char lines appear. Place the quincein the prepared tin,pourover thedate molasses and sprinkle with a little salt.Transfer to the oven and bakefor 8–10 minutes, until softenough to bite. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of theoliveoil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 15 minutes or until caramelised. Add the caramelised onion, nuts, remaining oil and a few fennel frondsto the pearl barley. Squeeze in the juice of one of thelemon halvesand season, to taste, with salt. Transfer toa serving dish and place the quinceon top. Thinly slice theremaining lemon and add to thedish, along with a little morefennel. roasted quince,pearl barley, walnut, pistachio, saffronAUTUMN 102 The combination of grains with the sweetness offruit is one we really like. The fruit often appears indried form, such as sultanas, but when quince are inseason,this is our fruit of choice. We char the quince in a chargrill pan first, then glaze it with date molasses before roasting in the oven toget even more quince love. SERVES 4 200 g (1 cup) pearl barley pinch of saffron threads 40 g (⅓ cup) walnuts 40 g (1½ oz) shelled pistachios 3 quince 2 tablespoons date molasses sea salt flakes 150 ml (5 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 1 brown onion, sliced wild fennel or fennel fronds, to serve 1 lemon, halved Preheat theoven to 160°C (320°F) fan-forced. Lightly grease a roasting tin. Bring a largesaucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Add the barley, then reducethe heat to medium and cook for about30 minutes, until soft. Drain and transferto a large bowl. Immediately stir through the saffron. Meanwhile, spread the walnutsand pistachios separately over a baking tray and cook for 8–12 minutes, until fragrant and lightly coloured. Leave to cool,then chop the nuts. Cut each quince into quarters and scoop or cut outthe seeds and the core. Heat a chargrill pan over high heat until very hot,then add the quince and chargrill forabout2 minutes each side, until char lines appear. Place the quincein the prepared tin,pourover thedate molasses and sprinkle with a little salt.Transfer to the oven and bakefor 8–10 minutes, until softenough to bite. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of theoliveoil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 15 minutes or until caramelised. Add the caramelised onion, nuts, remaining oil and a few fennel frondsto the pearl barley. Squeeze in the juice of one of thelemon halvesand season, to taste, with salt. Transfer toa serving dish and place the quinceon top. Thinly slice theremaining lemon and add to thedish, along with a little morefennel. roasted quince,pearl barley, walnut, pistachio, saffron 117 AUTUMN We use silverbeet leaves a lot at the shop: torn into stews and salads, blanched and dragged through garlic and chilli. This is a special way to cook the big, beautiful, slightly bitter leaves. We soften onion, celery and carrot into a sweet stuffing, then roll the stuffing in the leaves and poach them in a tomato and cinnamon sauce. As they cook, they become gentle and mellow! Break them open with a knife and fork and let the filling mix with the sauce. SERVES 4 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) very ripe or tinned tomatoes 60 ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, smashed 1 cinnamon stick 2 brown onions, finely diced 2 celery stalks, finely diced 2 large carrots, finely diced sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper 8 large silverbeet (Swiss chard) leaves, preferably intact, without holes If you’re using fresh tomatoes, score a shallow cross in the base of each tomato. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the tomatoes and boil for 2 minutes or until the skin starts to come away from the base. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the tomatoes into a bowl of cold water and leave to cool. Peel the tomatoes and crush them with your hands into a bowl. Keep the cooking water. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic in a large frying pan over low heat and cook for 1 minute or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the tomato and the cinnamon stick and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the oil floats to the top. Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the vegetables for 15 minutes or until they are softened, but not coloured. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and set aside to cool. Remove the stalks from the silverbeet leaves, then shave the white end of each leaf. Return the cooking water to the boil and blanch the silverbeet leaves, one at a time, for 2 minutes. Scoop out the leaves using a slotted spoon and plunge into iced water. When cool, place the leaves in front of you and add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable stuffing to the base of each leaf. Tuck in the sides and roll the leaves into eight parcels. Take a piece of plastic wrap and twist it around each parcel to make a ball shape. Unwrap the balls and transfer to the tomato sauce, then simmer for 30 minutes or until the sauce is reduced and thick. Leave to sit for 20 minutes, or even a few hours before serving. stuffed silverbeet leaves in tomato–cinnamon sauce 117 AUTUMN We use silverbeet leaves a lot at the shop: torn into stews and salads, blanched and dragged through garlic and chilli. This is a special way to cook the big, beautiful, slightly bitter leaves. We soften onion, celery and carrot into a sweet stuffing, then roll the stuffing in the leaves and poach them in a tomato and cinnamon sauce. As they cook, they become gentle and mellow! Break them open with a knife and fork and let the filling mix with the sauce. SERVES 4 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) very ripe or tinned tomatoes 60 ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, smashed 1 cinnamon stick 2 brown onions, finely diced 2 celery stalks, finely diced 2 large carrots, finely diced sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper 8 large silverbeet (Swiss chard) leaves, preferably intact, without holes If you’re using fresh tomatoes, score a shallow cross in the base of each tomato. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the tomatoes and boil for 2 minutes or until the skin starts to come away from the base. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the tomatoes into a bowl of cold water and leave to cool. Peel the tomatoes and crush them with your hands into a bowl. Keep the cooking water. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic in a large frying pan over low heat and cook for 1 minute or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the tomato and the cinnamon stick and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the oil floats to the top. Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the vegetables for 15 minutes or until they are softened, but not coloured. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and set aside to cool. Remove the stalks from the silverbeet leaves, then shave the white end of each leaf. Return the cooking water to the boil and blanch the silverbeet leaves, one at a time, for 2 minutes. Scoop out the leaves using a slotted spoon and plunge into iced water. When cool, place the leaves in front of you and add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable stuffing to the base of each leaf. Tuck in the sides and roll the leaves into eight parcels. Take a piece of plastic wrap and twist it around each parcel to make a ball shape. Unwrap the balls and transfer to the tomato sauce, then simmer for 30 minutes or until the sauce is reduced and thick. Leave to sit for 20 minutes, or even a few hours before serving. stuffed silverbeet leaves in tomato–cinnamon sauceNext >