Miriam Kresh
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Posts posted by Miriam Kresh
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Pam,
The tomato wine has the very subtlest overtone of tomato, if you're in the know. Most people don't catch it. It is dry and crisp and should be served chilled. The golden color makes it different from most white wines; that plus the fact that it has a heavier body.
A tomato melomel (mead) I made last year was so tomato-ey that I decided to use it in marinades and for cooking; it's not a sipping wine. Any melomel I've made preserves the original character of the fruit distinctly; that is, the taste of the fruit, in fermentation, comes through strongly. I don't know why I thought tomato melomel would be different.
This summer I want to make the tomato wine from the very sweet yellow cherry tomatoes that I see everywhere. That should make an awesome wine. This is a frantic wine-making season; not only tomatoes, but piles of apricots, peaches, plums, prickly pear (not to get too onomatopaeic her) - beckon seductively from the vendor's carts in the shuk....I'd better get to work so my head will be free for the work with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvinon grapes, come autumn. I still have a year to wait till my 2005 bottles come into their own.
Miriam
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Hoping someone can help...is majadera pronounced "mahJAHderah", or "majaDERah"? Should I go to the Middle Eastern forum and ask there...?
I have given up attempting to pronounce French correctly; my Spanish and Portuguese trip me up every time. Ridi, Paliacci - see if I care.
Miriam
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Sorry, no "edit" function...
M.
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Rechovot,
I've been thinking about the oven temperature for this recipe, and realized I probably gave the wrong instructions. Since I've been baking on a seasoned clay flowerpot saucer (thread in the Baking forum), I've been setting the risen loaves onto the hot clay, then turning the oven down. I assume you're working with a conventional baking pan, so the temperature I indicated would be too low. Please note to change the temp to 350 (I've heard that called "the Jewish temperature"
). Going to edit the temperature on the original recipe now.
Best,
Miriam
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I went away overnight and came back to find all these great suggestions! I've ordered Cooking With Artisan Breads, not only because it looks interesting itself, but because of andiesenji's reference to stuffed breads. Long ago I read a short story by Colette, "In the Flower of Age", where right in the first paragraph, a character says,
"I'm preparing one of those warm breads for them, stuffed with crushed anchovies in oil and sweet red peppers, with a pinch of thyme..."
I've always wondered about that warm stuffed bread.
Then, opening up Elizabeth David's An Omelette And A Glass Of Wine, I see this: an essay called "Crackling", in which she describes how to make a breadcrumb-grilled breast of lamb. She said that this dish "...needs a bit a practice and a certain amount of dash." The meat is braised with aromatic vegetables and herbs till tender; pressed, the bones removed, then sliced. The slices are egged-and-breaded and allowed to bake once more for 20 minutes, then butter (in my case, margerine or olive oil) drizzled over them; then they are grilled till a crisp, brown crust is formed.
Well, now I have a handful of ideas for using up leftover bread. I might have to start baking bread for cooking with.
Miriam
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Arianna,
Could you give us your recipe for bread pudding?
We used to have a Mallorcan cook, Paquita; she couldn't cook, unfortunately, except for mayonnaise and bread pudding. Delicious bread pudding, she used to make, but her meals were disastrous. We'd get up from the table in disgust, leaving the food almost untouched, and my mother would find Paquita sitting in the kitchen and sobbing into her apron...she was very fat, I wonder what she ate.
But - this is not germaine. I'd still a like a tried and true, decadent recipe for bread pudding.Miriam
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Rechovot,
I think that with white flour, you'll need to add up to 1/2 cup more while you're kneading. The dough will not need to be sticky if you're working with white flour, just the standard "earlobe" texture ought to work fine. (Dark and whole-wheat flours do need more liquid than white.) Keep the temperature low, as in the recipe I gave: this will keep the crumb and crust tender.
Let us know how your challah turned out. Maybe next batch I'll pull myself together and upload a picture.
Miriam
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Aphra, those sound good, especially the crumb topping.
I did think of French toast and bruschetta right after I posted; never mind, I'd like to see other people's ideas.
Does anyone make brown bread ice cream? I have never tasted this.
Miriam
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I've been baking a lot of different breads, and there is always some left over by the time I start a new batch. I have been slicing, toasting and processing it plain for breadcrumbs, and cut some up for croutons (well shmeared with an herby olive oil). Apart from those, I am out of ideas. I am not fond of stretching chopped meat or fish with bread (well, a little for texture sometimes), and so use the crumbs for coating foods, mostly.
Do you have favorite ways to use up bread?
Miriam
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I'll post the challah recipe here, for the meantime. I did go to RecipeGullet, but found myself hesitating to post it there because I don't know how to describe the flour I used in terms that make sense to folks outside Israel. It was Shtiebel's "country flour", which is light brown. It is not entirely whole-wheat, but has all the bran removed. These loaves have a soft crumb, due to the oil and the eggs.
For this quantity, I don't bother with the mixer, but mix and knead by hand.
Brown Bread Challah
Ingredients:
1 kg. light-brown flour, and more for the work top
1 3/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup corn oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 T salt
1 cube of fresh yeast
Method:
Put the yeast and all the water in a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle a little of the sugar over the water; let it all sit together for a while.
In the meantime, sift the flour. Pour it into a large mixing bowl.
Stir the yeast and water to dissolve. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the yeast into it. Don't mix yet; pour the oil, sugar, and eggs in, too. Mix slightly, and add the salt.
Beat the dough well, till it resists the spoon; a few minutes. Tip the dough out onto your table or work top, kneading in any remaining flour or scraps from the bowl.
Knead 10 minutes, sprinkling the dough ball with extra flour to keep it from getting too sticky to work with. Don't use much; up to 1/4 cup. You want the dough just a little sticky.
Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes while you wash the mixing bowls and spoon. Dry the large bowl and pour a few drops of oil into it.
Tackle the dough again; knead for one more minute to achieve a very smooth texture. Place the dough ball in the large bowl and turn it around in the oil a few times to coat it. Cover all with plastic wrap and place it someplace warm to rise till fluffy and almost doubled in bulk. It will not double completely. Rising should take an hour to an hour and a quarter, depending on how warm the dough is keeping.
Knock the dough down. Shape into three round loaves, or braid into two challot. Place the bread on the pan where it will bake.
Allow to rise 1/2 hour longer. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 300 F; 150 C.
If baking as round loaves, slash the surfaces just before putting the bread in the oven. Glaze with a beaten egg if desired, and if baking braided challot, it looks especially Shabbosdik.
Bake for 1 hour, then check for doneness. The bread may need another 10 minutes in the oven. Allow to cool on a rack, covered with a dry, clean kitchen towel.
Refrain from gobbling the bread up before Shabbos sets in. Once you've set the table and the folks are gathered around, I let you eat.
Miriam
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Shabbat dinner was:
Chicken soup (we like a lot of cilantro in our chicken soup)
Roast chicken with vegetables. Simple, but good - nobody jumped up from their chair complaining. I steamed carrots and some unpeeled garlic cloves; put them aside. In the same water, steamed about 5 small onions; put them aside. Still in the same water, steamed halved small potatoes.
Rubbed the chicken (cut into eighths) with Hawaj spice and paprika and thyme and S&P, then with olive oil. Squeezed a lemon over the whole. Put baking paper in the roasting pan; put the veg on top. Laid the grill over the vegetables; arranged the chicken on top. The veg finished cooking in the drippings from the roasting chicken...I'd forgotten how good garlic is roasted this way - you squish the sweet/pungent, chicken-flavored flesh out of its papery shell with your knife and spread it on your challah...oh Garlic Heaven. I feel like roasting about 3 heads of garlic like this next time. The chicken is merely the flavoring agent for the garlic. (Wampires, bevare.)
The challah turned out well. I've been experimenting with different flours and recipes for bread, so the challah is different every week.
Tomatoes are in full swing, so salad was yellow and red cherry tomatoes sprinkled with finely-chopped chives, olive oil, and salt.
Wine: Miriam's Tomato Wine 2005. Crisp and dry and golden. Nobody ever guesses what it's made of.
Miriam
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Matthew and Joiei,
Thank you for your thoughtful replies. I was especially glad to see the article which the Joiei's last quote refered to, which was written by a professional chef and presumably a reliable source. In my researches into home winemaking, I have found all kinds speculation and befogged theory regarding the role of alcohol, honey, and mead in Jewish history; it has amused and annoyed me that none of the good folk discussing this ever thought to consult a Jewish source or even ask a Jew. With regard to the traditional chef's uniform, I am satisfied, although it seems that the origins of the toque are unclear and still subject to myth.
I became interested in this subject after reading Margaret Atwood's "The Robber Bride", where one of the characters lectures on the history of military uniforms and how downright silly some of them were - such as the old bright-red uniform of the British soldier, which made him as visible to the enemy as a bonfire. The chef's uniform has always looked hot to me, considering that a kitchen is a hot enough place to work in so many hours a day; I was not aware that it has a cotton padding to insulate from cooking accidents. The twisted-cloth buttons, which I'd never observed, are practical. A tall headdress indicates high status in any society...now I'm doing a little speculating myself, it seems.
Miriam
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...particularly, why are chef's hats shaped the way they are? (I'm not sure where this question would fit in, so I posted it here.) I know almost nothing about the history of fashion, but it strikes me that uniforms in general serve a symbolic function rather than a practical one. The closely- buttoned white jacket of the chef looks uptight: why not more comfortable formal wear? The hat, which looks like an elongated souffle dish, must have an interesting origin. I am reminded of the top of a tajine, which is meant to be cooler than the saucer
...but I'm not being entirely facetious, I'm interested in knowing, if anyone can point me to a thread or a link or simply give me an answer. Miriam
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The Naked Chef?! We don't keep a TV, so I'm not sure of this. But I believe that's what I was told.
Miriam
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I have read that salmon may be wrapped in foil and cooked in the dishwasher as the dishes get clean - a handy way to save on electricity.
But I've never been tempted.
Miriam
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I haven't done that with ginger, but it sounds excellent. It reminds me of a book I own but which I've never done anything with, "Herbed-Wine Cuisine", by Janet Therese Mancuso. In it the author advises how to infuse red, white, and rose wines to use in cooking: with a rosemary and garlic Chardonnay, you can create an onion and zuke tart; a Chablis Blanc infused with herbs, lemon and garlic contribute to lemon stuffed fish fillets. However, the ginger and sherry sounds much more user-friendly, not to mention less expensive to keep on hand.
What I do is freeze a whole "hand" of ginger root and grate as much as I need while it's still frozen. If the frozen root is allowed to thaw out, it goes horribly mushy, so I pop it back into the freezer as soon as the grating is done. The ginger lasts a year frozen with no noticeable deterioration of flavor.
Does the roasted-garlic oil keep well in the fridge? In the springtime, I like to infuse olive oil with plenty of fresh green garlic and fresh oregano for salad dressing; it keeps for about 6 weeks, then the garlic starts tasting stale. I'm wondering if cooked garlic would keep longer. The taste is probably mellower than the bite of fresh garlic, yes?
Miriam
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Froze strawberries, when they were in season, for making jam later on. Departed from my usual chutney recipes to try out one in an Elizabeth David book, a mild apricot chutney. A huge bunch of basil came in the CSA box, so I made some pesto to keep in the fridge, and some to freeze. Frozen is never the same, but it's better than no pesto when basil goes out of style for the season. Oregano, sage, thyme and rosemary all dried and put away in jars. Oh yes, earlier I bought 10 kg. of green garlic, and hung it up in bunches to dry. When the stalks were withered and hard, I cut them and arranged the bulbs in large straw baskets. That should be enough garlic to last till next spring.
Usually when a new fruit crop comes in, like peaches and apricots, I make a small amount of preserves, but ferment most of what I buy. Last summer's wines are very good now!
I'm thinking of making oven-dried tomatoes this summer. I asked the CSA farmer to let me buy some of his expected tomato surplus for that. Another good way to use up tons of tomtoes is to cook your favorite tomatoe sauce down to a thick paste, spread it on wax paper and let it dry till leathery in a warm, ventilated place. Then cut this tomato leather into strips, roll them up in balls and store them in a jar. Use a tomato ball in any savory dish. Packed in olive oil, they also make a fine hostess or holiday gift.
And the valuable verdurette, which contributes depth to so many kinds of food. It lasts for a year in the fridge.
Miriam
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We just discovered that my husband is lactose-intolerant! Oy. I revised my whole Shavuot menu. The daytime meal was pareve: Nile Perch fillets in a Brazilian sort of tomato/onion & garlic/bell pepper/cilantro sauce. I did wish I had some dende oil (red palm oil, I think it's called in English) for that fish. Oh well. Sliced, steamed red potatoes, drizzled with rosemary olive oil and sprinkled with salt and black pepper. Beefsteak tomatoes, thickly sliced, spread with basil mayonnaise and topped with bread crumbs, then baked till bubbly and fragrant. Note to myself: try this with eggplant next time.
Salads were a bowl of finely shredded white and red cabbage with sunflower sprouts, dressed with olive oil, salt, a bissel sugar and apple cider vinegar; and the family favorite: tossed lettuce, aragula, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers in a garlicky vinaigrette dressing. Kind of heavy on the oil, there, I guess to compensate for the cheeseless menu. To compound the fracture, dishes of fat green olives, and za'atar for dipping the challah into.
Dessert was an orange-ginger sorbet and a cheesecake for the rest of us. I also made a milk-and-honey ice cream, not a total success because the honey has a distinctive taste that was a little too strong. It is thistle-flower honey which I bought for making mead (thought I was being so forebearing to sacrifice some to the ice cream
). In spite of all the olive oil, the meal was light enough to allow for renewed hunger by the time Shabbat dinner-time arrived.
Miriam
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For those with access to an unsprayed lemon tree, try adding one fresh, washed and gently dried leaf for every lemon in the recipe. It changes the color to a darker, greenish tone and gives a pleasant edge to the taste of the limoncello.
I have made pomelo wine, but not liqueur. I think I'll make small batches of pomelo, grapefruit, and tangerine liqueurs, limoncello-style. Thanks for the inspiration!
Miriam
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Coming in a little late in the week, but this was Shabbat dinner:
Chicken soup
Pan-roasted turkey wings
Glazed carrots and turnips
Potatoes mashed with cooked kohlrabi. It came out light and savory, especially because the potatoes had been cooked in water with some onion slices in it.
on the side: pepperonata, olives, sliced, salted cucumbers, za'atar dip.
Fresh, home-baked challah - I'm trying out new variations every week. This last one was made from dark flour (not whole wheat, I don't know what it may be called outside of Israel) and was salty, not traditionally sweet.
Dessert: raspberry, tangerine, and strawberry sorbets. I have been going sorbet-mad, too. The family does not object.
Wine: a dry orange melomel, one that just came ready. Backlog of meads to drink up in the house, and I promoised myself to stop all this brewing...but all the summer fruit is just coming into season and I don't know if I'm strong enough to resist their alluring looks...
Miriam
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A favorite hot-weather lunch in our house is curried turkey salad, made in much the same way as the chicken salads described above.
One turkey breast, poached in water with some white wine, bay leaves, a few peppercorns, one sliced onion and three or four garlic cloves, peeled and sliced into halves horizontally. A little salt in the broth as well. As soon as the turkey is tender, with no pink color left in the center, remove it from the broth. (Strain and use the broth for cooking the rice to accompany the curry).Allow the meat to cool.
Cut the meat into chunks of the size you feel comfortable eating. Some like it diced, some like in pieces about the size of a walnut. 'Tis up to you. Put the turkey pieces in a large bowl.
1/2-1 cup of good-quality mayonnaise, depending again on personal preference. You can always spoon more into the salad if you started out too stingy. Mix 2 tsp. of fresh, fragrant curry powder into the mayonnaise, and add the curried mayo to the turkey pieces. Again, more or less curry, as taste dictates. James Beard's suggestion to first simmer the curry in butter (margerine for this kosher cook) sounds cogent; I'll try that next time.
Now. Chop 1 sweet red pepper, and a little yellow or green bell pepper if you want, about 1/4 cup celery stalks, 1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, 1/4 cup spring onions, 1/4 cup walnuts or peanuts or cashews. Measure out 1/4 cup black raisins. Mix each ingredient, one by one, into the curried turkey. It will be colorful and fragrant and very, very good to eat. Serve cold (needn't be said, but I said it).
Have ready little plates of chutney, different kinds if possible (one sweeter and one hotter), grated coconut, more chopped nuts, more diced spring onions, more raisins. You can obviously leave out any of the sweet/crunchy ingredients and simply place them in these small plates as additional goodies for people to choose from.
Serve with hot rice and a simple vinaigrette-dressed leafy salad. Suggested drinks: lemonade and very cold beer. White or rose wines, of course, if desired, but cold beer for me is the best.
Miriam
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Dry the leaves, store in glass jars away from the light, and chuck some into winter soups. Food as medicine: dandelion leaf and root are good liver support and help you get through the winter dismals till springtime brings fresh greens again. I find that any soup with a handful of dandelion leaves in it brings compliments, although the eaters may not be aware of the secret ingredient.
If you make your own pasta, simmer the leaves in a little water till they're tender, then incorporate them into your dough as you would with spinach.
If the dandelion is young and tender, roll some up into bundles and dunk them into fritter batter - then fry up. Very good, especially with the dipping sauce of choice.
Make sure that no stalks are included in your dandelion leaves; they contain a natural latex and are not edible.
Miriam
I used to make beer from the roots and leaves of dandelion...ah...
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While waiting for Tim to return, I'll offer my own experiences, if they interest anyone. I have seen, as Joni Mitchell sang, both sides now.
In my teen years, we moved from the States to Latin America, where my father was president of an international bank's public relations branch. It was easy to fall into life as a pampered teenager whose parents employed a full household staff: two housemaids, a cook, a chauffeur, a gardener and a weekly cleaner to deal with the heavy work. My mother, herself Latin American, ran a tight ship with no waste, but in no way was there a feeling of miserliness or exploitation of the servants. The staff could eat in the kitchen what we were having at the dinner table if they chose, although they often prefered rice and beans. We ate rice and beans too: the cuisine was just good, fresh, daily Latin American fare.
My father paid good wages, allowed the expected days off and vacations, and gave the housemaids who stayed with us for several years extra personal benefits, such as paying for their dental work. My parents felt responsible for these young women, who had been accompanied by their mothers when interviewing for their jobs, but there was no system of insurance, pension, or benefits other than salary and days off. It was done the old-fashioned, patriarchal way. I hope things have changed for employees in Brazil since my time there; conditions we now think of as normal were considered "good"conditions then.
Fifteen years later, I had moved to Israel, married, had three children, and suddenly divorced. I had total responsibility for the kids and no job - and no up-to-date, marketable skills. It was a bad time, a time when my hair turned white overnight as I cried and clutched myself and wondered how we were going to survive. Well, I thought, if I have to clean houses, that's what I'll do. So when an ad appeared in the paper: "Housekeeper Required" - I called up and arranged for an interview.
The lady of the house was impressed by my approach with small children (there were five kids under age 10 in the house). The women who supplied me with references were warm in my praise; they were all friends and neighbors with whom I had traded many babysitting favors. In brief, I was accepted and spent the next two years as housekeeper and cook for the family. During that time I retrained in office work and management. My schedule was very full: at work by 8:00 am, out again at 3:00 pm, on to classes and then shopping on the way home for dinner with the kids.
It was not easy work, but at least I convinced my employers to hire someone to do the really heavy stuff. I tidied up, washed the previous night's dishes, cleaned wherever necessary, did all the family laundry, and cooked lunch and dinner. I shopped for the food as well. I would have a 15-minute consultation with the wife every morning (rarely had anything to do with the husband), during which time she would bring me up to date with kids sick at home, meal requests, expected visits from plumber or electrician or any other outside worker, deliveries to deal with. Basically I did for my employer what three women had done for my mother before. When she left the house to go to her yoga class or meet with her friends, she went in peace of mind, knowing that her home was running like clockwork; that her kids would be served the kind of lunch they liked and that later she and her husband would sit down to a nice dinner together, he in his ironed and starched shirt, she in her hand-washed silk dress, all cleaned, laundered and catered by me.
When the family would go for a month-long vacation once yearly, I checked in every week to make sure everything was in working order. Upon their return, their fridge would be stocked with fresh food and a chicken soup. Bread and fruit would be arranged in baskets on the table. The cleanliness and comfort were like that of a good, old-fashioned hotel. Time also proved my honesty; as is Tim's creed, I maintained total transparency in all my purchasing and money alloted to me for household use.
What about the relationship betwen us, how did I feel becoming a domestic servant - a "treasure" - after having once lived a life even more affluent than my employer's? Well, I thought it important to maintain a pleasant face and to be discreet. It's true, a person has no secrets from his servant. I changed the sheets, so I knew who was still having accidents at night, and how often my employers were intimate. Their habits, crises, family dynamics and complications, were all known to me, and believe me, I didn't especially relish the privilege. It became natural to become incurious; the less I knew, the better.
Over time, I discovered that there was a self-referential, self-congratulatory core inside every one of them. It was cool to speak to their servant in a democratic way, but I could sense the distance of a rooted snobbery. Their children were abominably spoiled and arrogant. Little by little, I came to despise the family. I had, not too long before, moved in wealthier circles, bought more expensive clothes and enjoyed more exotic vacations; the great difference between us was not in any basic human worth but in their greater income. Or my lesser one. I never, by the way, mentioned my background to them; they knew I was originally American, divorced and raising three children alone. That was enough.
Working as a servant downgraded my social image, as I found out when I started dating again. Older friends, and even my rabbi, advised me not to tell men about my job. I was stubborn; I thought that the right man would admire me. They were right, and so was I, but I did find myself, several times, sitting across the table from an attractive man whose eyes emptied of warmth and interest the minute I described how I supported my family. I resented that: what was shameful about hard work? However it didn't get better till I rejoined the outside world again.
I stayed till jobs in the office world seemed likely to materialize, then gave two weeks notice. It was a wonderful feeling of release. The wife tried to manipulate me into staying at least one more month, but as I was being paid hourly, by law I was free to leave even from one minute to the next. I felt no great compassion; I'm sure they found an adequate replacement for me quickly.
Twelve years ago my real partner and I met. We married and have the great pleasure of a young child in the house again. My three older ones are grown up and flown away. While I don't expect to ever enjoy the financial ease I knew in Brazil, I can now afford to pay a young woman to clean the apartment every week. She is thorough and honest, and she won't be with me much longer: she wants to study medicine. I don't see why she shouldn't succeed. I wish her immense good luck.
Miriam
What We're Cooking for Shabbos: 2004 - 2006
in Cooking
Posted
That should be alliterative fruit...my husband corrected me last night. Couldn't sleep till I'd put all those apricots, peaches, plums and prickly pears perfectly to bed.
Miriam