Shalom Bayit

Yitzchak always strikes me as someone who got a raw deal. Not only was the akeida a traumatic event (there's an understatement) but the poor guy lost his mom, had twin boys (which can destroy anyone) and was tricked by his wife (on whose behalf he prayed to G-d). And to top it all, he lived between two giants. You can't live down Avraham, who practically invented monotheism; and you can't out do Ya'akov who has fathered no less than 12 (that's twelve!) sons. What's a fella to do?

Some people get all depressed when comparing themselves to others. Some even give up trying to live a meaningful life and just go through the motions. After all, if your father came up with the most revolutionary idea in history and your son established a dynasty while your one claim to glory was not being sacrificed,   wouldn't you feel a little unfulfilled? The poor guy never even left his homeland, while his father and his son traveled all over the known world. Talk about low self esteem.

Yet Yitzchak isn't bitter. He isn't resentful. He has every right to act out and be a menace to society yet he is a model citizen. He works hard and raises his herds, wandering from well to well and living a quiet little life, totally content with his place in the universe.

Hold on. Why did he wander from well to well? What was wrong with the first well he dug? And what happened to all the wells his father left him? Ah, well, it seems Yitzchak was a rich man. He inherited plenty from daddy and went on to get even richer simply by hard work and G-d's help. The neighbors were jealous. So, like all horrible neighbors throughout history, they sabotaged his wells by filling them with sand and rocks. Which is probably the dumbest thing one can do in the land of Israel, but that's Philistines for you.
So every time Yitchak had a well, it was filled up and rendered useless. Did he fight with the culprits? Did he try to reason with them, argue with them, sue them? Nope. He picked up and moved away and dug another well in the new place. Four times! Not once does he say "Excuse me, this here is my well, go find your own." Why would he take that bullying? Is it because he was afraid? Maybe he did not know how to fight. But the Torah said only a few verses before that he was a very, very rich man. A rich man can buy protection even if he himself can't fight. Why did he keep moving without protest?

Avraham was a warrior. We know that. Heck, he even argued with G-d. Ya'akov actually fought G-d. What happened to that gene of fighters when it was Yitzchak's turn? Went into hibernation? Why didn't he fight for his rights?

Some people are like that. We would rather accept hardship and less than we deserve in order to avoid a fight. Some call it defeatism. We call it keeping the peace. Even at the price of a sacrifice. What the heck, thought Yitzchak, I am rich enough to be able to dig all the wells that I want. Why fight over this. It will just cause a lot of shouting and pushing and someone might get hurt and really, it's fine, I'll just move. Again.

The world usually has no patience with such people. Pushovers, wusses, weaklings, all kinds of dismissive names are thrown their way. But these people are the ones who keep the world from exploding into a million pieces. Yitzchak wasn't alone. His great-great-great-great-granson, Aharon, was also a peace lover who kept quiet instead of screaming with pain. Where would we be if Yitzchak was into fighting? Did we really want the war in the Middle East to start that long ago?

Poor Yitzchak just wanted to live in peace with everybody and eat some game. Maybe a bison. Or a deer. Or a goat cooked in a special way to taste like deer. No, wait, that's not it. Oh, well.

Like every Jewish woman, I have my own recipe for brisket. Hubby loves it. I even gave it to my MIL and she even used it. But on Rosh Hashana we were at my friend Gail's house and she served brisket (of course) and my little one (the carnivore) said she preferred it to mine. I didn't care. I have no strong attachment to brisket. So I got the recipe and why don't you buy a piece of bison brisket and cook it for this Shabbat to see what Yitzchak was craving.

Gail's brisket

I have decided to bring this recipe exactly as Gail herself sent it to me because I enjoyed her unique style and wouldn't want anyone to miss out on it:


1. Get a nice cut of meat. I've used brisket, 2nd cut, French Roast. Whatever doesn't cost a mortgage payment.
2. At least one package  of Onion soup mix, a can of cranberry sauce, some wine, 4 or more onions ,about half a cup of ketchup , salt, (not much, as the  rest of the ingredients have enough already) and pepper to taste. The actual percentages are up to you, but I like the background taste to be onion-y. The sweet part is my Polish-Russian heritage (sweet kugel, sweet gefilte fish).
3. Braise the meat in the pan (or pot) in a little bit of olive oil, just enough for the meat not to stick.
Cover the meat with the rest of the ingredients, and set to simmer on the stove for at least an hour and a half. Then let cool for a while, slice the meat and return to the pot. You can leave it overnight and then just put the meat in an aluminum foil covered pan and let it cook at a 350 oven (or even less) while you prepare the rest of the meal. Serve it with the other items for dinner. If there are any leftovers, they will not suffer from re-heating.



Next time you encounter a fight you can afford to lose, ask yourself if it wouldn't be better to simply give in. After all, what can be more important than living without stress and strife?







Oops,


Rich pumpkin loaf

4 oz. softened cream cheese

¼ cup butter

1 ¼ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1¾ cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1. Put softened cheese, butter, and sugar in mixing bowl. Cream together well. Beat in eggs one at a time until blended. Mix in pumpkin.
2. In another bowl combine flour, soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and walnuts. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour all at once over batter. Stir just enough to moisten. Turn into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350F for 60-70 minutes until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove to rack to finish cooling.

Makes 1 loaf.

Sorry, everyone. I forgot this was lurking at the bottom of the post. So you will just have to suffer the indignity of an extra recipe that is in no way related to the post. Think o fit as a happy mistake.

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.

Holy Cow!!

One of my favorite verses in the Torah is Aharon's excuse for the golden calf. In Shemot chapter 32 verse 24 Aharon says : "I told them to give me their gold and I threw it in the fire and this calf came out". Never let it be said that our ancestors had no sense of humor.

The whole problem, I think, was that there were no iPhones, no Facebook and no Twitter back then. Personally, I am not involved with any of these infernal devices, but I must admit that, if Moshe's time on the mountain had been televised live, or, at the very least, updated on Facebook, the whole problem wouldn't come up. The people said "He's been there so long, who knows if he's coming back at all. Or if he is even still alive up there. I mean, there's no food or even water there" (remember: these people are big on the issue of food and water shortage). So, no sign of life. You never call, you never write. Of course they get antsy.

But, people, seriously? A golden calf? They sound like they are worried about Moshe's welfare. But really they worry about their own. They sound as if they think he might have abandoned them. But really they assume that he took G-d with him when he left. How could they miss the point so completely?

G-d is not Moshe's private property. G-d is everyone's G-d. You don't actually need a Moshe to have a relationship with G-d. So it's very sad if he died of thirst on the mountain, or sneaked away down the other side while no one was looking. But that does not mean G-d Himself had left.

Actually, it was their very actions that made G-d consider abandoning them and starting over with a new group. That was a close call. And Moshe, thank G-d, talked Him out of it. Now, that's what we need a Moshe for. Could be nice if we had one these days, huh?


But, back to my favorite verse. I won't give you recipe for veal as I oppose to eating veal because of moral reasons. But I did find a recipe for blackened beef, in a Passover cookbook of the New York Times (of all places) that my friend Mara gave me. So, Aharon, if you throw something in the fire, it comes out blackened, man. Not gold.



Southwestern Blackened And Braised Brisket of Beef

1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 pounds brisket (first cut)
1/4 cup Southwestern seasoning blend (see note)
3 medium onions, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
6 Bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock (or enough to cover)
1 Tbs margarine
Salt and freshly ground pepper


1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a 6-quart pan or Dutch oven.
2. Coat one side of the beef with half the seasoning blend, patting well. Place beef in hot oil (seasoned side down) and cook until brown and crisp. Coat the top side of the brisket with the rest of the seasoning and turn it so you can brown the other side. Remove meat from pan.
3. Add onions, carrots and celery to pan and cook, stirring, until the onions are golden brown. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add Bay leaves. Return brisket to pan and add enough stock to cover the meat.
4. Bring to a boil, cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Simmer until very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
5. Remove beef from the pan and set aside. Skim excess fat from the stock and strain the liquid (this is easier if you make it a day ahead and the fat congeals on top). 
6. Return strained liquid to the pan and cook until reduced  in half. Slowly whisk in the margarine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
7. Return brisket to pan (you can slice it first but make sure it rests for about 30 minutes, covered with foil, before you cut it) and reheat.

Serves 10-12

Note: If you can't find Southwestern seasoning (and why would you find it if you live in NJ?) mix equal amounts (or to taste) of ground ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, coarsely ground black pepper, kosher salt, dried basil, dried oregano, white pepper, chilli powder and cumin. 
If you don't have a super well-stocked spice cabinet, you may need to re-mortgage the house for this dish.


Which gives a new meaning to "I threw a lot of gold in the fire".

Second. Best.

Do you have a mother in law? Mine is a very strong presence in our lives. Hubby loves his momma very much. Sometimes, like most daughters in law, I suppose, I get a little jealous of just how much. My MIL is the quintessential mother. She will work herself to an early grave (G-d forbid) to serve her children (And grandchildren. And various family members. And guests. And people usually filed under "other".) Lazy bum that I am, it's impossible to compete. I could never spoil hubby the way his mommy can. Sigh.

But, compared to Rivka, I have it easy. Her MIL was dead. How do you compete with that? Death of MIL should make it easier, you say? Huh! Consider this: Yitzchak was very much attached to his mom (sounds familiar?) and her death hit him hard. The Torah says he brought his bride into Sarah's tent and she was a comfort to him after his mother's death. So, first of all, that's a pretty heavy load to carry, being a comfort to your brand new husband over a death that, in all probability, happened before you ever met. And second, if he was that broken, what could Rivka possibly do that would compete with the giant shadow cast by Sarah?

I firmly believe that each generation should be better than the one before (which, I realize, never happens, but is nice as an idea) or else what's the point? If we do not improve the race from generation to generation, how can we ever hope to be good enough for the Moshiach? So a daughter in law should be better than a mother in law in terms of housekeeping (oops), child rearing (as if) and cooking (hear that hollow laughter.)

OK. Not happening. But it's good to have something to dream about.

Anyway, my MIL makes this unbelievable chicken. In truth, she got the recipe from uncle Solly but still. She only make it twice a year (Pesach and Rosh Hashana) and I wait with bated breath (salivating all the way) for its appearance. I usually eat nothing else at the holiday table so as not to interfere with the flavor of the chicken. 

The problem is, the recipe sounds completely fictional. No one believes it. Neither did I until I tried it out of desperation and saw "ki tov".

But, as I said, daughters in law should strive to improve the MIL's legacy or we will still be stepping in place at the end of time. And here's the fun part: this dish creates leftovers that are not readily usable and I, MIL2.0, have found a use for them. So there.


First, the fictional chicken. Remember this is a recipe that makes no sense yet works like a dream.

Take one whole chicken. Put (breast side down) in an aluminum disposable (very important) pan. Add 2 or 3 onions sliced into thick wedges (about 12 wedges per onion). Sprinkle with a little (or a lot, your choice) kosher or other coarse salt. Place in middle of preheated oven at 350F. Cook for at least 2 hours, preferably 3, possible to go for 4 (but check it). The chicken should be a nice brown, lots of juices in the pan, onions mostly light brown (some darker than others) and the chicken looks like it's dried out. It's not.


That's it. I know, it sounds weird. But it works. Now for the "daughter in law living up to the MIL's legendary image" part. I made this chicken and used way more onions than we could possibly eat with the chicken. Do we throw them out? G-d forbid. After all, my MIL is Iranian. For my non Israeli readers, in Israeli folklore, Iranians are the cheapskates. So there was no way she would approve of me throwing out the extra onions. And here is what happened:



Stuffed mushrooms with leftover onions


6 large onions that were cooked with chicken as described above
1/3 - 1/2 cup (or more as needed) of pan juices from said chicken
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 Lb ground beef
2/3 cup mixed grains (see note at the end) measured before cooking, cooked in vegetable or chicken broth.
14 very large white mushrooms (And I do mean very large, about 4 inches across. If you can't find them, use smaller ones but then I don't know how many this will make). Stems removed, peeled if you wish to (I always do).
Extra virgin olive oil (about 3-4 Tbs)
1/4-1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth


In a food processor, grind onions with balsamic vinegar and about 1/2 cup of the chicken's pan juices. This will take some time and will produce a thick sauce (like oatmeal). 

Brown the ground beef in a pan (you can use a little oil or not, your choice), until no longer pink.

Mix beef with cooked grains. Add half the onion/balsamic vinegar sauce to the beef and grains mix. Mix well. There's no need for any spices (especially if you used salt with the chicken).

In a shallow baking dish spread the olive oil (enough to coat the bottom a little). Arrange mushrooms in dish (I had to use two large dishes. The mushrooms take up a lot of space). 

Stuff each mushroom with the beef and grains mixture (about 1 or 2 Tbs each, at least). Heap it up nicely. 

Spoon one tablespoon of the remaining onion/balsamic vinegar sauce over the stuffing in each mushroom. Pour whatever sauce remains around the mushrooms.

Add the broth to the sauce in the dish (if you used more than one dish because of space issues, use 1/4 cup for each dish).

Cover tightly with foil.

Bake at 350F for an hour.

Serve warm.


Makes 7 servings as a main dish; 14 as an appetizer.



Note about the grains: I used some sort of parboiled mixed grains I got at Costco, but any mix of grains will do. You can use leftovers of rice, wheat , barley, quinoa, millet, whatever. The more types of grains - the better the taste of the final dish. If using leftovers, you'll need to guess about the amount since the amount given in the recipe is before cooking. Basically, there was the same amount of cooked grains as cooked ground beef. Work from this.



And remember, the best mothers in law are those who leave room for their sons' wives to outshine them. It's for your own son's benefit when you really think about it, no?