Huh?

Parashat Tzav is very confusing. There are so many types of sacrifices. And each has its own sub categories. And each has detailed and precise steps to it. I am beginning to feel sorry for the Kohanim. Poor men. It must have taken 3 years of study just to figure out the simple, everyday process. Never mind the holiday stuff. I suppose that's why the high priest was held in such esteem. The man knew so much he could do the Yom Kippur stuff while fasting. Awesome.

Anyway, for us simple mortals, just reading the parasha can result in a migraine. Maybe I'll try a flow chart.... Next year, G-d willing.

But Tzav was the parasha of my youngest's Bat Mitzva and so I have a fondness for it. Also, it speaks to me because there are a lot of meat and grains being cooked. Some to be eaten by the kohanim, some to be eaten by the people, some to be totally burned on the altar. And it's all, as I said, very confusing.

Incidentally, I have finally managed to get my kubbeh the way we like it and that's a very confusing, complicated recipe, too. So it fits. I think.

The great thing about this is that it cleaned out both the pantry and the freezer of non-Pesach stuff. Just in time for Pesach. (Note to my friend Debbie: I know, I know, I should have posted this earlier so you could have utilized it on time. Soooorrrry)

Now, for this recipe you need to buy something called bulgur (the spelling might be different in your store). In Hebrew, for some reason, it is called burgul. Same thing. This is a wheat product. The closest I can describe it is "wheat groats". And here is the important part: there are three or four levels of 'grind' available. You'll need the extra fine one. Best place to look for it is Israeli stores. Middle Eastern ones carry it, too (like Corrado's in Paterson) but the hechsher is iffy (as in: I am not sure if it has hechsher). So first obtain this and get some farina as well (this is sort of like cream of wheat)

Got everything? Let's cook.


Iraqi Kubbeh



Dough:

2 1/4 cups extra fine bulgur, soaked for one hour in plenty of water than drained (use very fine sieve) and extra water squeezed out.
2 cups farina
2-3 Tbs olive oil
1 egg
1 tsp turmeric
3/4 -1 tsp salt

Filling:

1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup coarsely chopped and lightly roasted walnuts
5 Tbs vegetable or olive oil
1 pound ground meat (beef, lamb, turkey or a mix)
Leaves from 8 stems of parsley, chopped
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp hot or smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon

 Soup:

2 medium beets, peeled and cubed
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed (or any other kind of squash)
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
6-10 cups water (or broth if you want a richer flavor)
1 Tbs sugar
Juice from 1 1/2 lemons (fresh juice, please)
1 Tbs chicken bullion (the Israeli brands are very good and you can get the kind without MSG)
1 tsp hot paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander


1. Mix all filling ingredients and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. After draining and squeezing the bulghur, combine it with the rest of the dough  ingredients (start with the smaller amounts and add as needed). Knead it for a while until you have a mix that you can work with. You will need to make balls from it and then fill them so the mixture needs to hold together but be flexible enough to be shaped. It takes some practice to get the right consistency.  

3. Form dough into balls that are slightly smaller than tennis balls. Flatten each ball in the palm of your hand so it form a nest. 

4. Put about 2-3 teaspoons of filling in the 'nest' and close it to form a ball. Important: this is a frustrating step as the dough will insist on either not sticking, tearing or mixing with the meat. Again, it takes practice. The goal is to form filled balls where the filling is completely engulfed in the dough, but the walls of the ball are not so thick that the filling gets lost in the dough. Keep wetting your palms. It helps in the shaping of the dough.

5. Line up the filled balls on a platter. They can wait a little until you make the soup. You will have about 15-22 balls, depending on individual sizes, your technique and so on.

6. In a very wide, quite deep pot (I suppose I mean 'dutch oven'), saute the onion in oil until slightly browned. Add spices and mix for a minute over medium heat. Add beets and squash. Mix to coat the veggies with the spices. Add 6 cups of water or broth and bring to a boil.

7. Carefully add filled balls, one by one, gently lowering each into the boiling broth. Add liquids as needed to cover the balls. Return to boil.

8. Lower heat to low. Cook, partially covered for 45-60 minutes, until vegetables are soft and the kubbeh (that's the proper name for the filled balls of meat and dough) are a nice pinkish color. Turn kubbeh over halfway through cooking. Keep adding liquids to keep the kubbeh covered at least 3/4 of the way.

Serving size: 2 kubbeh served with some of the liquid and veggies.

Warning: This is not nearly as good the next day. Unfortunately it makes a lot so you'd better practice on smaller amounts and make the whole thing only for a crowd. 

And: you may have plenty of filling leftover (depending on how well you can stuff the kubbeh without them tearing apart). If you add some binder (breadcrumbs, leftover cooked rice, flour, even ground potatoes) they make excellent meat patties. Just fry them in more oil than you would regular patties.


And if you think this recipe is complicated, just go and read parashat Tzav.