Would this work?

Would goat cheese and leek patties with orange zest and Jerusalem za'atar taste good?

This would be a vegetarian play on a traditional prasa recipe, making it super Israeli by adding the goat cheese and Jerusalem za'atar.

Jerusalem Zaatar. Copyright Liz Steinberg

Would this work?

New Year's Leftover Matzah Ball Soup

January 1st this year, in Tel Aviv at least, was a cold and rainy day. The perfect day to make a soup out of leftovers around the house. As it was too rainy and cold for even the five minute walk to the store I started rummaging through the fridge and pantry to see what I had lying around. In the fridge I found a veal shank bone from some osso bucco I had made the other day. I had saved the bone to make some stock. I had a few veggies in the fridge too. However, it was only after looking in the pantry that the meal came together. From last Pesach I had a package of matzah ball meal.

Preparing the stock with onions, celery, carrot and veal shank bone.

I immediately started working on the stock. I diced the carrots, onions and celery and started sweating them in a big pot on the stove. I generously seasoned with salt and pepper. After about seven minutes I added the veal bone and thyme sprigs to the pot and sauteed for another minute. At this point I added a few cups of water and let the stock simmer for an hour and a half.

In the meantime I made the matzah balls by beating two eggs and adding the packet of matzah ball meal and a generous amount of spicy paprika. I mixed it together well and let it cool in the fridge while the stock simmered and developed. After the stock had been going for the hour and a half I strained the stock and eliminated the veggies and veal bone. I returned the broth back to the pot and brought it to a strong boil.

The matzah balls cooking away

I gently rolled out matzah balls and put them in the boiling stock. I like my matzah balls large and fluffy, so rolling them ever so lightly and as little as possible is critical. If you roll your matzah balls until they're compact you will have heavy and less tasty matzah balls. I let the matzah balls cook for about seven to eight minutes and the soup was ready.

The soup was really tasty, perfect for a cold, rainy day and a great start to 2011.

Yummm!

Recipe: Leftover Matzah Ball Soup

Ingredients:
1 Veal Shank Bone
2 carrots
2 onions
3 sticks celery
2 eggs
1 package matzah ball meal
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
Thyme

Instructions: See description above

Savor Israel

New Year's Leftover Matzah Ball Soup

New Cooking Technique - Octopus

On our tour yesterday I learned a new technique for cooking octopus that I want to share. A couple on the tour told me that their landlord in Cyprus, after killing the octopuses/octopi, puts them in a washing machine and turns on the spin cycle (no water) for 15 minutes to tenderize them. So next time you buy a new washing machine, don't throw away the old one, rather keep it as an octopus tenderizer.

New Cooking Technique - Octopus

Olive Time!

Every two years I make olives. Olives only bear fruit, or at least only bear the most fruit, every two years. It seems like all the olive trees in Israel seem to be on the same clock, because people only get excited about the olive harvest on the same second year.

The first time I made olives in Israel was while I was in the army. There were some olive trees on my base and I picked all the olives and made some really good varieties. My army buddies hated the base we were serving at so much they refused to eat the olives, but they missed out on a good batch. The second time I made olives I picked the olives from Ramat HaNadiv, near Zichron Ya'akov. Those also came out very well. This year I picked olives from my friend Yarden's olive trees at his home in Shaked. Yarden actually has an olive orchard just outside of Shaked, but they're young trees and won't bear fruit for a few more years. I have no doubt they'll be excellent olives when they'll be ready, but in the meantime the trees in his front yard are just fine.

Making olives is really, really, really easy. First, just pick them. Then, in order for them to soften and soak up flavors you have to make a slit in each one or crush them. Most people take their olives to a place with a crushing machine. These machines make slits in the olives automatically. I like to punish myself, so I make a slit in each one on my own. It takes a bit of time, but you feel more of a connection to each olive this way;-)

Once you've made a slit, somehow, in all of the olives put them in a bowl and cover them with water. The olives will start turning from the bright green color they are on the trees when ripe to the darker olive green color one is used to seeing when eating olives. This will take about a week to two weeks and you need to replace the water each day during this time.

Once your olives are the right olive green color you get to flavor them. Put them in an airtight jar and cover them only to the top with water. For each cup of water needed add one spoonful of salt. At this point you can add whatever you want to them. Lemon and garlic, hot pepper, red wine, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and the list can go on forever. This year I'm keeping it simple with just lemon and really hot peppers that I also picked from Yarden's garden. Once you have everything mixed around together cover the jar so its air tight and put it in a cabinet for at least 3 weeks and even up to a year. The longer the better. I usually wait a couple of months at least before opening them up.

The olives with the lemon, hot pepper, salt and olive oil. They're ready to soak up flavors for the next few months. 

Next weekend I'm going back to Shaked to harvest olives for oil. Stay tuned for my post on that. Also....stay stuned for my post in a few months when the olives are ready.

Olive Time!

Israeli Sangria Recipe

In honor of this week's wine festival I'm posting a recipe for Israeli sangria. Sangria is typically red wine, mixed with lemonade/sprite and various cut up fruits. You mix all of the components together, let it all sit for a while, and and it tastes really, really good.

To make sangria "Israeli" my first thought was to replace the lemonade with limonana. Limonana (Hebrew for lemon and mint) is a very popular drink in Israel that is basically lemonade with lots of mint added to it. The mint makes the drink very refreshing, and its one of the better coping mechanisms for the summer heat.

The fruits I would use for the Israeli sangria would be determined by the season. Plums, oranges, nectarines are all classic fruits for sangria and you can't go wrong with them. To mix things up a little you can also add Lychee, a seasonal summer fruit in Israel. While overall a sweet fruit, the natural small amounts of acidity in the Lychee add a nice element to the drink.

Sangria is a great drink with almost any meal and will sure to go over well at your next summer picnic.

Copyright: http://www.spanish-food.org.uk/2010/06/sangria-drink-spain/

Israeli Sangria Recipe

Ingredients:
Bottle of dry red wine
Lemons
Mint
Sugar
Plum
Orange
Nectarine
Lychee
Instructions:
1. Cut up one plum, one orange, one nectarine, and a handful of lychees. You can make a small dice or keep them as larger sized pieces.
2. To make the limonana squeeze the juice of four lemons into a liter and a half bottle. Add 10 mint sprigs and 3 spoonfulls of sugar. Fill the bottle with water and add a tray of ice cubes. Chill.
3. Mix a whole bottle of wine, half a liter of limonana and fruit together. Let sit for at least 2 hours and up to overnight in the fridge.
4. Sangria is best served chilled, but you can let the temperature return to room temperature if that's your preference.
5. Once it runs out, make some more!

Savor Israel

Israeli Sangria Recipe

Bellini's - Israeli Style

Its summer right now so it goes without saying that its really hot in Israel right now. One of the best ways to cool down, in my opinion at least, is a refreshing cocktail. Therefore, the next several posts will be great summer cocktails adapted to make them more "Israeli". 

A classic Bellini

Today's cocktail recipe will be an Israeli style Bellini. A Bellini is quite simple to make and is traditionally made up of two parts Prosecco and one part peach puree. Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine, but you can use a white Lambrusco, Cava or Champagne for this recipe. Any white sparkling wine that is not too dry will work just fine for this cocktail. The peach puree is very simple, as its literally just blended peeled peaches. To make the Bellini find a champagne flute and fill it about one third with peach puree and then fill the rest with the sparkling wine. Mix, make sure its very cold and you've got a great Bellini and refreshing summer cocktail. 

I'd been thinking for this blog for some time about how to best make it "Israeli" and it was actually my friend Liz (check out her blog) who had the best idea. Replace the peach with shesek! Shesek (in Hebrew) is a loquat and while not native or exclusive to Israel has become "Israeli" in my mind. Sheseks are available for only a month a year (around April) and a lot people (myself included) get really excited when they start showing up in the shuk. They have a subtle yet distinct flavor and are a great replacement for peaches in this recipe. 

Some beautiful Shesekim

So...my Israeli Bellini recipe is the following:

Ingredients:
Chilled Prosecco or any white sparkling wine
Shesek puree
Sugar (optional)
Mint

Instructions:
1. To make the shesek puree, peel the sheseks and remove the seed. Dice and blend well. Shesek is less sweet than peaches, so some may want to add some sugar or simple syrup to the puree depending on their taste. 

2. Fill a champagne flute one third full with the shesek puree. Slowly fill the flute the rest of the way with the sparkling wine. 

3. Mix well, and since this is an Israeli Bellini add a mint sprig for garnish. Enjoy!

Savor Israel

Bellini's - Israeli Style

Choresht Sabzi

Written by Alon Lewin-Espstein:
Growing up in an Ashkenazi house, I was not exposed until much later in life to Sephardic/North African cuisine, such as Kubeh, Jachnun, and Sabich which are some of my favorite dishes these days. Fortunately, it is easier to find restaurants or eateries in Israel that serve Sephardic inspired dishes than Polish, Russian or Romanian restaurants.

It was when one of my good friends, that is half Persian himself, took me to an authentic Persian restaurant in southern Tel Aviv, that I discovered the unique flavors the Persian kitchen has to offer. That day we went to a little place called Salimi, which is on Nachlat Binyamin street, caught right in the middle of the bustle of Tel Aviv.

The place is small with not many tables, and has a tiny kitchen where the whole extended family who owns the place crowds in together. There is always a long line of people outside waiting for the next table to leave, eager to grab a precious seat.

Salimi during lunch is quite hectic and if you take your time on deciding what to order you might find out your waiter had already done it for you, which was what happened in my case. However, since my knowledge regarding Persian dishes wasn’t vast, it worked out pretty well for me. Among several dishes we had, one of my favorites was the Choresht Sabzi, a beef stew served with red beans over rice with an extraordinary green sauce made from a large variety of herbs including mint, cilantro, dill and celery. The dish brought such a circus of flavors to my mouth that I had to look for a recipe and cook it myself.

Choresht Sabzi

Ingredients:
750 grams of beef (cut up to chunks)
100 grams of red beans (soaked over night)
2 cups of washed and dried cilantro
2 cups of washed and dried dill
1 cup of washed and dried parsley
1 cup of washed and dried mint
300 grams of washed and dried spinach leaves
2 stems of washed and dried celery
1 peeled and washed celery root (diced)
3 peeled onions (finely chopped)
1 tbl of dried fenugreek leaves
4 black dried Persian lemons
4 regular lemons (squeezed)

Instructions:
1. Put all the herbs in a food processor and blend by using the pulse function until they are finely chopped (be careful to not reach the point where it gets pasty)

2. Heat an oiled frying pan and add the diced celery root and the finely chopped herbs. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until the liquids have evaporated. Take off of the heat and let it cool

3. Oil a big pot and put it on high heat. Stir-fry the chopped onions until the liquids have evaporated (do not wait until they turn golden)

4. Add the beef chunks and sear them until sealed

5. Add the beans

6. Add 2 liters of water and let cook on low heat for about 3 hours until the beans are ready and the beef is tender

7. Add the chopped herbs mix and the fenugreek leaves and cook for another 30-40 minutes as the liquids reduce

8. Add the Persian lemon, salt and pepper to taste, the squeezed lemon juice and cook for another 40 minutes on low heat

9. Serve on white rice

Savor Israel

Choresht Sabzi

A Damn Good Sandwich

I hope everyone has a nice Shabbat dinner this week. Tonight Jodie and I had a heck of a good sandwich, and here's how we made it with some pictures.

Ingredients:
Challah roll
Red Onion
Avocado
Tomato
Rocket leaves
Parsley
Cilantro
Egg
Mayo - Hellmann's
Goat's Manchego Cheese
Lemon
Olive Oil
Salt Pepper

Instructions:
1. Slice the tomato and avocado
2. Carmelize the onion
3. Mix the rocket leaves with the parsley and cilantro. Drizzle with lemon juice, olive oil. Salt and pepper.
4. Fry the egg!
5. Toast the challah roll and spread some good mayo on each side. Layer with the avocado, tomato, onion, slices of  cheese, green's mixture and fried egg.
6. Enjoy a great sandwich!

Unfortunately, its all gone. Cool place mats made out of banana bark from Uganda though. 

Savor Israel

A Damn Good Sandwich

Garlic Confit Bread

The latest post on the blog is about a memorable cooking workshop I participated in last weekend, led by Erez Komarovsky. The theme was breads and soups, and one recipe in particular stood out. I’m posting the recipe according to what I observed from Erez. Have fun baking and I hope it tastes great for all those that try.

Garlic Confit Bread

Ingredients:
½ kilo organic whole wheat flour
½ kilo bread flour – high gluten
25 grams wet yeast or ½ spoon of dry yeast
3 spoons brown sugar
*¾ cup garlic confit
1 ½ spoon salt
1 ½ spoon rosemary
3-3 ¾ cups water

Instructions:
1. In a big bowl mix the flour and yeast.
2. Add water and start mixing and kneading for several minutes.
3. Add brown sugar and continue mixing and kneading until all together you’ve been kneading the dough for approximately 8 minutes. It is important not to knead for too long.
4. Add chopped rosemary and mix into dough. Add garlic and mix gently into dough as to not break the cloves. Add the salt and mix in as well. Continue kneading the bread very gently another 3-4 minutes.
5. Add 2 spoonfuls of the garlic confit oil. Mix into the bread.
6. Cover bowl with a nylon covering/trash bag and let sit for 2 hours. Keep outside of a fridge only if cold, otherwise in fridge.
7. Without touching the bread more than needed, lay out it as one long mass of dough on a floured surface.
8. With a cutter, make two inch wide strips.
9. Place baking paper on an oven tray and flour if dough is still sticky.
10. Take 4 strips of the dough and line next to each other. Press ends together and lay over a rosemary sprig on the oven tray.
11. If the tray is big enough add another set of 4 strips pressed together.
12. Place a nylon/trash bag back on the bread and let rest another 1 ½ hours.
13. Preheat oven to 230 C.
14. Flip dough so that the rosemary is on top of the bread now.
15. Before putting the bread in the oven place 8-10 ice cubes in the bottom of the oven to create steam. The steam will keep the bread moist and soft as it bakes.
16. Place the tray with bread in the bottom third of the oven.
17. After 20 minutes lower temperature to 180 C. Cook for another 20 minutes.
18. After the 20 minutes open the oven door to let out any remaining steam. Continue baking for another 10 minutes. This will create a crispy crust.
19. Serve and enjoy!

*Garlic Confit Recipe
Ingredients:
20 (can do any amount you want) heads of garlic
Olive Oil

Instructions:
1. Peel the garlic cloves and put in a stove pan
2. Pour olive oil into the pan until the garlic cloves are completely covered and add a small additional amount
3. Cook for 30 minutes at the lowest heat possible. It is important the oil doesn’t boil because it will burn the garlic.
4. You can store the garlic and oil together or separately in the fridge for several months.

Savor Israel
www.savorisrael.com

Garlic Confit Bread

Haiti

As everyone's hearts go out to the people of Haiti I thought to post some recipes of typical Haitian dishes. In addition to donating to organizations helping with the relief effort, we should try to incorporate some of Haitian culture into our lives. Try out these recipes I adapted from RecipeZaar.

Haitian Chicken with pikliz (www.foodgps.com)

Haitian Chicken in Spicy Tomato Sauce

This spicy chicken dish is full of local flavors typical to Haiti. Serve it over rice and alongside the pickliz vegetables in the recipe below.

Ingredients
1 medium sized chicken, cut into 2 breasts, 2 legs, 2 thighs
1 large onion – thinly sliced
1 scotch bonnet pepper or other very hot pepper – finely chopped
6 garlic cloves - minced
3/4 tomatoes - peeled and diced
3 tablespoons sugar (brown or demerara)
3 limes or lemons
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil – 2 to 3 tablespoons

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Wash chicken well & pat dry. Then rub each piece will with lime or lemons and season with salt and pepper.
3. In a large pan or pot heat oil and when hot sear chicken pieces skin side down until they have a nice golden color. Add the onion and peppers at the same as the chicken.
4. Combine in a bowl the garlic, sugar, tomatoes.
5. Remove pan from heat and drain excess oil, onions and peppers into the tomato mixture.
6. Place the chicken in an oven pan and cover with the tomato mixture. Cook for another 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
7. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice accompanied by pikliz vegetables.

Pikliz Vegetables

Pikliz (spicy pickled) vegetables are a staple of Haitian food. These pickled vegetables are served at almost every meal and are very spicy!

Ingredients
6 scotch bonnet peppers or a smaller amount of larger very hot peppers
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage or shredded cabbage
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot or shredded carrot
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion or shredded onion
4 whole cloves
1 teaspoon salt
8-10 peppercorns
3 cups vinegar

Instructions
1. Cut the off the tops of the peppers, and roughly chop
2. Place the peppers and the rest of the ingredients in a quart size jar.
3 Add the vinegar, close jar tightly, and let sit 24-48 hours before serving.

Notes: Refrigerate after opening the jar. The pikliz will store for several months.

Savor Israel
www.savorisrael.com

Haiti

How to make Latkes with Adam Teeter

I want to wish everyone a Happy Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanza and whatever other holidays are taking place at the moment. Hanukah is not, in my opinion, a great food holiday. At least not in comparison to other food oriented holidays. Thanksgiving is probably the best with its traditions of Turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, stuffing, leftover sandwiches the next day, etc. It's almost a full year away, but I'm ready for Thanksgiving already. Ramadan, ironically, is a great food holiday. While observant Muslims do fast (not the best way to enjoy food) during the daytime, each night there is a sumptuous feast. Even amongst the Jewish holidays, Hanukah doesn't do too well. Pesach Seder is an infinitely better meal than any Hanukah specific foods and meals.

Still, there are some unique food traits to Hanukah worth mentioning. Sufganiyot or jelly donuts are traditional to eat on Hanukah, and who doesn't love a jelly donut? However, I’m willing to guess though that most people identify latkes, or potato pancakes, as their primary Hanukah food treat. Who doesn’t like fried grated potatoes with applesauce on top? If you've ever wondered how to make latkes, well you're in luck this year. My friend Adam Teeter is now starring in his very own latke making instructional video. Learn how to make three kinds of latkes and enjoy the great soundtrack.

How to make Latkes with Adam Teeter

Corn and Carrots 2 Ways

I've been noticing on Top Chef, and some other cooking shows, that its become very popular to serve a dish that is a certain ingredient prepared in a few different ways. Beef three ways, for example. On the same plate you'll have a grilled steak, carpaccio, and a braised piece of beef. Today's recipe post is in that spirit as I share two different ways to prepare corn and carrots together in the same dish. By the way, did you know that corn in the plural is actually corns? Does anybody say that?

Corn and Carrots 2 ways

The first preparation of these two ingredients is to make corn and carrot fritters. The recipe is a variation of one I saw on the cooking blog No Recipes. They're easy and quick to make, and with the chili mayo dip are perfect for a cold evening. Should make approximately 12-15 fritters.

Ingredients:
Corn - kernels of two ears or one can

1 Carrot - shredded and squeezed of excess moisture

Cilantro (fresh) - 1 tbs chopped

2 Scallions - the white parts only, diced

1/2 Jalapeno - finely diced

Wheat flour - 1/2 cup

*can be replaced by corn flour in order to be Gluten free

Corn Flour - 1/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1 tbs

1 Egg

Spice mixture - 1.5-2 tbs total - Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Cumin, Curry

Mayo - 2 spoonfuls

Sweet Chili Sauce - 1 tbs

Instructions:

1. Mix the cilantro, scallions, corn, carrot, and pepper well together. Add the egg and mix until even.

2. Combine the flours, spices, and baking powder and whisk together.

3. Combine the flour mixture to the corn and mix well together. Add the water and mix again.

4. Coat a frying pan in oil until the whole pan is just covered. When oil is fairly hot add spoonfuls of the corn mixture making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Press down on the mixture if necessary to keep the fritters uniform in shape.

5. When one side is golden, flip over and fry until the other side is golden. When both sides are ready, take out and place on paper towels to drain any excess oil.

6. Mix the mayo and chili sauce until full incorporated and very smooth.

7. Serve with a small dollop of the chili mayo and enjoy.

The second recipe is a corn and carrot salad, using fresh corn and steamed carrots. Its a refreshing, tasty alternative to a classic green salad.

Ingredients:

Corn - Kernels of two ears or one can

2 Carrots - sliced thinly

Garlic - 2 cloves diced

Cilantro - 1 tbs chopped

Scallions - 1 white part diced

Dill - 1 tbs chopped

Lemon - juice of half a lemon

Olive Oil - 2 tbs

Red Chili Pepper Flakes - 1 tsp

Salt Pepper - to season

Instructions:

1. Steam sliced carrots until cooked, approx. 5 minutes. Combine with the salad hot, or if preferred to keep the salad cold, cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Combine the garlic, cilantro, dill, scallions, corn, carrot and mix well.

3. Add the lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Mix and its ready to eat.

Corn and Carrots 2 Ways

Is there anything better than a great chocolate chip cookie?

There's nothing Israel related in this post, just a recipe for some amazing chocolate chip cookies courtesy of the food scientists at Cooks Illustrated Magazine. What makes these cookies special is the whipping process, which makes them really light and soft.

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
200 grams unsalted butter/margarine
½ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 ¼ cup chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 190 C. Whisk flour, baking soda in a bowl and set aside
2. Cut ¼ of the butter into a few pieces and set in a large mixing bowl. Cut the rest of the butter up into pieces and put on a frying pan until melts. Once melted, continuously stir for a few minutes or until it starts to darken and become a more golden color. At this point stir in the melted butter with the non melted pieces in the mixing bowl until it is all melted
3. To the butter add sugar, salt and vanilla and stir until its all mixed well together
4. Add the egg and yolk and whisk for about 30 seconds until mixture is smooth. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes. Whisk for 30 seconds two more times and after each time let the mixture rest for 3 minutes. By the end it will be a very thick, creamy mixture and very difficult to whisk.
5. Stir in flour mixture and mix around until it’s all incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix in.
6. Divide dough into around 16 portions, no more than 8 per baking sheet. The portions should be in a ball and just over an inch high.
7. Cook for 10-14 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through.
8. Take them out and enjoy! And another amazing thing about these cookies is that somehow they get even softer the next day. So make sure you don't eat them all at once, and have some left over for later.

Is there anything better than a great chocolate chip cookie?

Simple Sabich Recipe

For those who want to try sabich at home, the recipe below is very easy to make. For those who want to make their own amba, view this recipe here.

Ingredients:
Pita (fresh and hot as possible) - 4

Eggplant - 1 medium sized

Hardboiled eggs (sliced) - 4

3 Tomatoes - diced

3 Cucumber - diced

1/2 Red Onion - diced

Juice of one Lemon

1/2 bunch Parsley - diced

Tahina - store bought

Hummus - store bought

Amba - store bought or from recipe above

Harissa - store bought

Canola oil - enough to cover thin eggplant slices by 1/2 inch

Instructions:

1. Slice the eggplant into thin slices, approximately 1/4 inch. Fry in canola or other vegetable oil until a dark golden color and pat dry with paper towels when done.

2. Dice your tomatoes, cucumber, onion and mix with the minced parsley. Add lemon, salt, pepper and mix together.

3. Spread hummus on the sides of the pita and place in one or two slices of eggplant and the slices of one egg.

4. Add a few spoonfuls of the salad (thinly sliced pickles can be added as well) and top with tahina, harissa, and amba as you like.

5. Enjoy on a relaxing Saturday morning as is traditional with Iraqi Jews.

Simple Sabich Recipe

Chicken w/Oaxacan Mole

I was in the US/Paris for the past week and half, and upon returning my Savor Israel partner Alon and his wife Becca had me over for an amazing dinner. The two recently returned from their honeymoon, part of which took them to the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Oaxaca is known for beautiful beaches, mountains, colonial-style towns, and its incredible food. While in Oaxaca they took a cooking class where they learned how to make a kind of mole. A mole is a sauce that can have dozens of ingredients and is very difficult to make. The goal is that one tastes each ingredient that goes into the mole, and when done well you truly taste the complexity of the sauce.

Using ingredients they had brought back from Mexico they made an excellent mole, and one that you can make fairly easily at home. Moles containing chocolate are generally referred to as Mole Poblano, as they originally hail from the city of Puebla. However, because this recipe uses Oaxacan chocolate I'm taking the liberty of changing the name a little. Here are the pictures and the recipe.

All the ingredients that go into the mole

The mole before it reduces and after an hour on the stove

Chicken w/Oaxacan Mole Recipe

Ingredients:
Chicken
1 chicken – cut into pieces w/excess fat trimmed away
5 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
Salt and Pepper

Mole
6 pasilla chilies
4 guajillo chilies
½ cup raisins
½ cup almonds
½ cup pecans
2 tablespoons shelled pumpkin seeds
½ cup sesame seeds
1 sliced banana
2 medium tomatoes (10.6 oz/300 g)
4 garlic cloves
½ onion - roughly chopped
4 peppercorns
4 cloves
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups Oaxacan chocolate or any dark chocolate - broken into small parts

Instructions:
1. Heat a stockpot with a little oil under very hot. Sear the chicken pieces until slightly golden. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper and saute for a minute. Add enough water until all pieces are covered in at least two inches of water. Boil for an hour and a half or until the meat is tender. Remove the chicken pieces and save the broth.
2. Make a cut down the length of one side of the chile. Like a butterfly cut. De-vein and de-seed them. Remove the top/stems.
3. Heat up a frying pan and fry each chili individually on each side. Remove them once they blister, approximately 30 seconds, being careful not to burn them.
4. Saute the raisins until they plump, then put them in some water to avoid hardening. Saute the almonds, pecans, and pumpkin seeds until slightly golden and set aside. Separately, saute the sesame seeds until they start to brown and set aside. Saute the sliced plantains for a minute and set aside. Finally, saute the tomatoes, garlic and onion for a few minutes until the onions start to carmelize and set aside.
5. In a blender, grind the chilies first with as much water or chicken stock as is needed. Then grind all the other ingredients: the raisins, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, tomatoes, garlic, onion and spices.
6. Pour the sauce into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the chocolate and any remaining chicken stock. Reduce to a simmer and stir consistently for over an hour until the mixture takes on a dark color and turns into a paste.
7. Place the chicken pieces in the sauce and let cook for a few minutes until warm. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Chicken w/Oaxacan Mole

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions on Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is this Sunday night/Monday, which for me means no cars in the streets! Each year I'm blown away by how amazing it is to walk through a city with literally not a single car, save the occasional ambulance and police car doing regular patrols. The air quality is a lot better, kids play in the middle of the streets, and I go for walks on the main highways. It's awesome! I'll definitely be posting pictures of the no car phenomenon we can all thank Yom Kippur for.

Back to food...along with cars, cows are a huge producer of CO2 gases. In the spirit of trying to reduce CO2 emissions, here are a few recipes, perfect for breaking the Yom Kippur fast, that are meat free.

Zucchini Carpaccio w/Crumbled Feta

Ingredients:
2 zucchinis

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Feta cheese - several ounces

Instructions:
1. With a mandolin or carrot peeler, slice the zucchini lengthwise to get very thin slices. Lay out on a plate with as little overlap as possible.

2. Drizzle with olive oil, sa

lt and pepper.

3. Crumble feta cheese over the carpaccio strips and let the strips marinade for 30 minutes.

4. Serve and enjoy!

Southwestern Salsa Stuffed Avocado

Ingredients:
5-6 Avocados

Corn - kernels of two freshly cooked stocks or half a can

1/2 Red Onion - finely diced
Jalapeno - half of one pepper, finely diced

Cherry Tomatoes - one package, quartered

Lemon juice - 1 lemon

Salt

Pepper

Instructions:
1. Cut the avocados in half, lengthwise and throw away the pit. Place on a serving tray.

2. Mix the corn, red onion, jalapeno, cherry tomatoes. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

3. Place a spoonful or two of the salsa mixture in the avocado and serve.

No cars on the streets! (Tel Aviv, Yom Kippur 2008)

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions on Yom Kippur

Finished school and modern Israeli Ravioli

Hi, sorry for the delay between posts. I'm going to try to post more frequently, but I finished my MBA at the beginning of the week! and the last few weeks have been a little crazy. Now that I'm done with the MBA I have more time to focus on the Savor Israel blog, so keep checking frequently for new recipes and articles on food and Israel.

Rosh Hashana begins this Friday evening, and in honor of the Jewish New Year I'm posting a recipe worthy of a dinner for this holiday courtesy of the Israeli chef Aharoni. There are ingredients I view as very Israeli like the silan (date honey), lamb, garbanzo beans, and cherries. The silan (honey) is symbolic of rosh hashana, and it was in fact date honey, not bee honey, that was first eaten in biblical Israel. The fusion between Italian and Middle Eastern cooking also seems very modern Israeli cooking to me as well. So we'll call this is a modern Israeli Rosh Hashana dish. Wishing everyone a wonderful start to their new year.

Lamb Ravioli in a Silan, Cherry and Shallot Sauce (courtsey of Aharoni)

Ingredients:
Sauce
Shallots – 12
Cherries (seeded) - 1 pound
Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
Black Pepper - to season
Garbanzo beans - 1 can (cooked beans)

Sugar - 1/3 cup

Squeezed Lemon Juice - 1/2 cup
Silan (regular honey can be used as a substitute) - 1/3 cup

Chicken stock - 1 liter

Pasta - Ravioli

see linked recipe

Pasta maker or rolling pin

Ravioli filling

Ground lamb - 1-1.5 pounds

1 Red Onion - finely minced
Parsley - 1/2 a bunch, finely chopped
Salt - to season
Pepper - to season

Instructions:

Sauce

Saute whole shallots with pepper and cumin seeds until shallots are well carmelized in a big pan
Add cherries and garbanzo beans and saute for five minutes on medium heat
Add chicken stock, sugar, lemon, and silan. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to a simmer
Cook for 45 minutes until almost liquid has almost completely reduced

Ravioli (altnernatively, you can buy ready made Ravioli at the store)

While the sauce is reducing prepare the pasta dough. There are hundreds of ways to make pasta dough, and I by no means know which is the "best". Here's a link to a good recipe if you don't have your own favorite way.

To make the filling for the raviolis, mince the red onion, and mix in a bowl with the ground lamb, salt and pepper. Saute until the lamb is cooked. Review the ravioli recipe link on how to prepare the raviolis once you have made the dough and the filling. Cook the raviolis for 3-4 minutes and place aside.

Putting it all together

Take the raviolis and lay them in the sauce once it has almost completely reduced and cook for another three minutes.

Lay the raviolis on a serving plate and pour the sauce on top. Enjoy and Shana Tova!

Finished school and modern Israeli Ravioli

Figs and Alon and Becca are back

As Rosh Hashanah approaches certain seasonal foods are appearing in the markets including one of my favorite fruits...figs.

Roasted figs with goat cheese is one of my favorite foods and its so easy to make. Just pre-heat your oven to 350 F. Place figs in an ovenproof tray and make a slit almost all the way through the fig. Slice a thin piece of goast cheese and put in the fig. Season with a very small amount of black pepper and bake for 10-15 minutes. If you want, you can add a drop of balsamic vinegar on each fig once they're out of the oven. The sweetness of the fig and acidity of the vinegar blend well together.

Alon, co-founder of Savor Israel, just came back from his honeymoon in Mexico and Cuba today! Tomorrow evening he and his wife, Becca, are coming over and I'm making mojitos with the limes I was given at Mezcal and figs with goat cheese. I'll be sure to take pictures and post those.

Figs and Alon and Becca are back

Weekly Recipe - Summer Salad

Its hot right now in Tel Aviv. I don't know exactly how hot or what the humidity level is, but that doesn't matter. Its really hot, and nobody wants to be eating anything that is hotter than the temperature outside. My first suggestions is a popsicle. The Arctic popsicles you get in Israel are the best, but I'm sure all frozen sugar water anywhere it is tastes pretty similar.

My other suggestion is trying out this great recipe to help cool you down a little, or at least not heat you up. It also tastes great.

Cherry tomato, Garbanzo and Hearts of Palm Salad

This salad is one my favorites any time of the year. Hearts of Palms is one of my favorite foods, and I try to put it in as many dishes as possible. You can call this dish an example of Mediterranean Latin fusion salad if you want. Add shelled Edamame beans (cold, of course) and you've got a Mediterranean-Latin-Japanenese fusion salad for whatever that's worth.

Ingredients
1 can of ready to eat Garbanzo beans
*you can also buy the dried beans and soak them overnight in water
1 cans worth of Hearts of Palms - cut thinly to 1/2 inch thick depending on taste
10-15 cherry tomatoes - quartered
1/2 red onion - finely diced
Basil - roughly chopped. You can use parsely instead if you prefer.
Juice of half a lemon
Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Steps
1) Drain the garbanzo beans from the can and rinse to remove the can liquid
2) Mix the beans together with the chopped hearts of palms, quartered tomatoes, diced onion and basil.

3) Add the lemon juice, a few second pour of olive oil, salt and pepper
4) Mix well and enjoy

Weekly Recipe - Summer Salad

Welcome to Savor Israel Blog

I think its fitting that the first post on the blog be a recipe. So here's one my favorite recipes because it is so unique. Courtesy of my friend Sherene Suchy.

Moroccan Kebabs in a Melon

This unusual dish combines simple yet wonderfully kebab-style meatballs and melon. The meatballs cook inside the melon soaking up the subtle sweetness of the melon. For some, the taste may be at first strange, but the result is complex and delicious! You'll be sure to wow your dinner guests with this dish.

Ingredients
4 canteloupe melons
1-1.5 lbs ground beef/lamb or combination
2 eggs
Raisins - roughly chopped
Pine nuts - roughly chopped Fresh Parsley - finely chopped
Cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon or to personal taste

Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste

Steps
1) Preheat oven to 350-375 F. Cut off just the very top of the melon, approximately 1/2 inch from the top. Put the top aside and save.
2) Scoop out with an ice cream scooper or a spoon, most of the melon inside. Leave about a 1/4 inch of melon on all sides. Put the melon aside and save.
3) Mix the ground meat, egg, raisins, pine nuts, parsely, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a bowl and form meatballs. This should make approximately 16 small meatballs.
4) Saute meatballs on a very hot pan to sear the outsides and keep the juices from escaping. Saute for a few minutes, until the sides are starting to brown well.
5) Place four meatballs in each melon that has been scooped out. Add back in chunks of melon that were reserved and any extra raisins or pine nuts if there were extra.
6) Place top back on the melon and wrap in aluminum foil. Place upright in the oven and cook for 1hr.
7) Make sure the meatballs are fully cooked and enjoy!

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