Tag: rosh hashanah appetizer

Simanim Ceviche

Believe it or not, I used to be that person who only ordered vegetables rolls at sushi spots, which eventually gave way to tempura rolls, but I was NOT into raw fish. It wasn’t the idea of it, more the texture for me – and I credit ceviche for being my gateway to loving sashimi! The beauty of ceviche is that the fish is “cooked” with acid (usually lime juice), which firms up the fish and changes the texture completely – the longer it sits, the more “cooked” it will be (overnight and it’s flaky!).  Now, I can’t get enough of raw fish – pass me the omakase, and it’s all due to this recipe.

While traditional ceviche uses lime juice, I incorporate all the citrus juices for an unbelievable marinade that’s loosely inspired by Peruvian Tigers Milk. In honor of Rosh Hashanah, I incorporate several simanim or symbolic foods including apple, pomegranate, leek and honey. The resulting dish is a textural dream and flavor explosion.

Wishing you a Happy & Sweet New Year!

Simanim Ceviche
YIELD: 6 appetizer portions

1 lb sushi grade salmon, diced small (may sub tuna or any flaky white fish)
⅓ cup leek, white party only, thinly sliced
1 jalapeño, seeds and veins removed, thinly sliced
Handful chopped cilantro
1 small green apple, peeled and diced small
½ cup pomegranate seeds

For marinade:
2” chunk of ginger
1 large clove garlic
Handful cilantro stems
1/4 c lime juice
2 tbsp each lemon, grapefruit and orange juice
1 tsp honey
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

To prepare the ceviche, place the marinade ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids.

In a large bowl, combine the salmon, leek, jalapeno, apple, pomegranate and cilantro. Pour the marinade over the mixture 30 minutes – 1 hour before serving and stir to incorporate.

Serving suggestions: dip the rim of a glass in citrus juice and tajin. Fill with ceviche.

PREPARE AHEAD: Prepare the marinade and store in a container in the fridge. Prep the ceviche ingredients and store in separate containers (you might want to dice the apple fresh so it doesn’t brown). Combine the ceviche ingredients into a large bowl, pour the marinade on 30 minutes – 1 hour before serving.

Related Recipes:

apple honey mustard salmon
simanim carpaccio
simanim roundup

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Hummus Simanim

As the New Year approaches, I always like to evaluate where I stand and think about what changes I want to make for myself in the coming year, both personally and professionally. For years, my goal was to take the necessary steps towards writing my own cookbook, and now that I have met that goal (far beyond my expectations, with our first printing of 15,000 books completely sold out in just 3 months!), I keep asking myself, “What’s next?”.


I’m not the type of person that settles on status quo – I’m always dreaming up the next big thing and finding ways to challenge myself. It’s like they say – “If you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind” – and I definitely believe in that.


Truth be told, once the book went to print, I was so emotionally and physically exhausted that I couldn’t imagine coming up with new recipes and ideas ever again! But as my workload lightened up this summer, I got back in the kitchen because I wanted to, not because I had to, and I found my groove again! I went back to my roots, the foods and the flavors that I love the most (yes, that means Israeli food!) and this amazing new recipe came to me! It’s simanim on steroids and it is everything you’ve ever dreamed of for your Rosh Hashanah table and more!

Simanim, or symbolic foods, are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah to symbolize our hopes for a sweet New Year. Some simanim include leeks, pomegranate, gourds (any type of squash), dates, black eyed peas or green beans, beets, carrots and fish head (some use ram’s head). These specific foods are eaten because their hebrew translation relates to specific blessings that convey our wishes for the coming year.


When I put the platter together, I couldn’t stop taking photos because, I mean, HOW GORGEOUS IS IT, amiright??? I all but maxed out my SD card and went. to. town. (No- I like seriously went to town, for some fresh pita!). I invited my neighbors over and we stood over my kitchen counter in the mountains, scooping hummus and salad onto blistered bread, the tastes of Israel growing stronger with each bite. It was a simple dish, but it captured everything I love about what I do – channeling my creativity, sharing with friends, cooking with color and putting a twist on tradition.

This dish reminded me how important it is to cook from a place of love – it is, after all, the secret ingredient that makes everything taste better – and that it’s food, family and tradition that brings us all together.

Wishing you all a healthy, happy and sweet New Year with much success in all areas of your lives. May we continue to reach milestones and share good news with each other this year!
Ksiva Vachasima Tova L’shana Tova Umisukah!

Hummus

2 cloves garlic
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp cumin
1 cup good-quality tahini paste, stir if separated
3/4 cup ice water
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Add garlic, lemon juice, salt, cumin, and tahini to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Puree the mixture; while the machine is running, pour ice water through the feed tube. Blend until mixture is very smooth. Add chickpeas; blend until creamy. Adjust seasoning, adding more salt, cumin, or lemon, if desired. To adjust consistency, add a bit of water at a time until desired thickness is achieved.

To assemble the platter: spread the hummus over a large lazy Susan or a shallow bowl. Place mounds of pomegranate blistered green beans, preserved lemon carrot slaw, beet salad, baharat roasted squash, sauteed leeks and pomegranate seeds in the center of the hummus. Add a few pitted dates. Drizzle olive oil over the hummus and serve.

Pomegranate Blistered Green Beans

1 lb green beans, trimmed
1 1/2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method:

Heat the oil in a wok or skillet. Add the green beans and saute over high heat for 4-5 minutes, or until tender-crisp and blistered. Lower the heat, stir in the garlic and saute until softened. Add the pomegranate molasses, salt, pepper and sesame seeds and toss until coated.

Preserved Lemon Carrot Slaw
reprinted from Millennial Kosher

1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup light olive oil
3 Tbsp minced preserved lemons
salt and pepper, to taste
3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
¼ cup packed parsley, roughly chopped

Method:

Add garlic, olive oil, preserved lemons, salt and pepper to a bowl; stir to combine. Pour mixture over grated carrots; stir in the parsley.


Beet Salad

1 lb. roasted or prepared beets, cut into wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
handful of parsley, roughly chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to coat. 

Baharat Roasted Squash

small butternut squash, peeled and diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp baharat
1 tbsp honey
kosher salt, to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the butternut squash on a parchment lined baking sheet and add olive oil, baharat, honey and salt, stir to coat. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Baharat recipe: combine 1 tbsp black pepper, 1 tbsp paprika, 2 1/4 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp coriander, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp cardamom.


Sauteed Leeks

2 leeks
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Cut off the upper portion of the leeks, keeping the white and pale green portion at the bottom. Chop the leeks. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the leeks. Saute until caramelized and season to taste, with salt and pepper. 

Related Recipes:

simanim fritto misto
simanim pasta salad
simanim holiday salad
hummus bassar
chestnut hummus

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Salmon En Croute with Creamed Leeks

Salmon en croute is one of my favorite dishes to serve for the holidays. It plates up beautifully, it’s so festive and it’s a winning dish all around! I mean who doesn’t love anything wrapped in buttery, flaky dough, amiright?

I usually go with a simple mustard and brown sugar mixture over the salmon, but I decided to take things up a notch using some of the traditional symbolic foods of the holiday, like honey and leeks. I love that you can incorporate more of those foods into the plated dish as well, and I went with pomegranate seeds and chioggia beets, ‘cuz could you just look at them?

Just call this Simanim Salmon En Croute ‘cuz it’s not only tasty, but so fitting in every way. And if you need a recap on the symoblic foods of the holiday, read this. I’ve also got a handy simanim recipe roundup from a couple of years back and then of course there are my other great simanim dishes like this couscous, this angel hair pasta, this beautiful appetizer and this holiday salad.

Growing up, Rosh Hashanah was a serious holiday and we always kept things intimate with just the family and a simple, traditional holiday meal. It’s that one time of the year to really focus on self introspection and prayer and I like to follow suite without complicating my menu. I don’t go all out with a bunch of different salads and desserts – I just keep my meal well-rounded with an appetizer (round challah with honey, fish and salad), entree (meat or chicken, tzimmes and roasted vegetables, beautifully plated) and a slice of honey cake with caramelized apples to finish the meal. Then I wrap things up and open my tehillim, because there is oh so much to pray for.

I find that there’s no need to overdo your menu when you learn to serve composed dishes that complement each other. Sometimes, when you make too much food, the beauty and flavor gets lost because there is just too much to go around. When I was in culinary school, my teacher gave the example of a woman wearing a simple pearl necklace versus someone who in dripping in lots of (too much) jewelry. Which one makes a better statement? Sometimes clean and simple is the better way to go.

Salmon En Croute with Creamed Leeks

4 slices center-cut salmon fillet, skin off
2 tbsp honey
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large leek, or two medium, sliced into half rings
2 tbsp refined coconut oil*
1/4 cup coconut milk*
4 puff pastry squares, or 1 sheet cut into 4 squares
1 egg + 1 tbsp water, beaten
sesame seeds

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the coconut oil over medium heat and add the leeks. Saute until wilted and starting to brown and caramelize. Add the coconut milk and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Simmer until creamy.

Season the salmon with salt and pepper and drizzle with honey. Spread leeks over the salmon and wrap in puff pastry, seam-side down. Brush the puff pastry with eggwash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cut a few diagonal slits in the pastry, taking care not to slice through the salmon. Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve warm over mixed greens with pomegranate seeds, shaved beets (chioggia beets pictured) and a light dressing of oil, lemon (or orange) juice, salt and pepper (or use this dressing).

NOTES:
* if you are sensitive to the flavor of coconut, you may use olive oil or trans fat free margarine in place of the oil and almond milk (or nondairy milk of your choice) in place of the coconut milk. Alternatively, you may leave out the milk for a less creamy texture.

** Feel free to add carrots, apples or any other simanim of your choice to the salad.

Related Recipes:

smashed potatoes with leeks
simanim fritto misto
honey fig roasted salmon
honey mustard salmon

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Simanim Fritto Misto
with Honey Roasted Garlic Aioli

I’m baaaaack!!!! After 2 months of maternity leave, some amazing bonding time with my delicious baby, and lets face it, plenty of adjusting to my new life with five kids (!!!), I’m so happy to tap back in to my creative energy and BRING IT!

Of course I must thank all my dear friends who filled in for me these past couple of weeks: Amy from WhatJewWannaEat, Sina from TheKosherSpoon,  Melissa from LilMissCakes, Miriam from OvertimeCook, Eitan from CookwithChefEitan, Melinda from KitchenTested and Whitney from Jewhungry! I hope you all enjoyed their recipes and guest posts as much as I did!

Now with Rosh Hashanah just a few days away, I really wanted to highlight the symbolic foods of the holiday, which include carrots, gourd (pumpkin), beets, leeks, green beans (or black eyed peas) and dates. It’s also customary to eat apple dipped in honey, a sheep or fish head, as well as pomegranate seeds. Many people of sephardic decent have a custom to hold a seder, where special blessings are recited over the simanim (symbolic foods) before they are eaten. It is not unusual for all or some of the ingredients to be cooked into separate appetizers, so I thought it would be fun to create one simple, yet sophisticated, dish that would incorporate most of these foods.

I was wracking my brain trying to think of something other than another boring “simanim salad” (you can watch me make an amazing one in this old post) when it came to me in the dead of night (while nursing my babes!); Fritto Misto! Fritto misto is Italian for “mixed fry” and is an assortment of lightly fried foods, often served as an appetizer. I know lots of people get scared off by the idea of frying, but if you do it right, this tempura batter is so light and elegant, and it’s not greasy at all.

The biggest trick to avoid having your food turn out greasy is to make sure it doesn’t soak up the oil. You MUST, MUST, MUST use a deep fry thermometer. It’s imperative to keep your oil at 350 degrees so that when the cold batter touches the hot oil, it immediately begins to fry and crisp up. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the thin tempura batter won’t hold on to the veggies.

Another trick to making perfectly crisp tempura fried veggies is to use seltzer in the batter. The air bubbles in the seltzer help to lighten up the batter. The cornstarch also contributes to a crispy coating.

The last, and equally important thing that contributes to a light, crispy tempura is to use ice cold seltzer and mix the batter in a cold bowl, set over a bowl of ice water. If you’re batter is nice and cold, it will work it’s magic when it hits the hot oil and you’ll get yourself a non-greasy addictive appetizer.

Of course I couldn’t just make a mix of fried simanim, it’s got to have a dip! So I indulged in some amazingly sweet and caramelized honey roasted garlic. How gorgeous??? I mix that all up with some mayo, meyer lemon zest and juice and voila – sweet, light and delicious aioli that pairs perfectly with the fritto misto.

But I couldn’t stop there. Because I had a vision. A vision of the most elegantly set holiday table, complete with individual boxes of Simanim Fritto Misto at each place setting! It’s been a while since I posted table setting ideas (these apple napkins were fun!), and I really wanted to indulge.

Since I left the apple and honey out of the fritto misto, I put out some beautiful farm-fresh apples with an assortment of honeys. I love to serve different flavored honeys, it makes things so exciting and fun! I also skipped the pomegranates in my fritto misto (because I can’t fry teeny tiny little seeds!) so I put out some Vintage pomegranate seltzer instead. We’ve pretty much got everything covered besides for the Sheep’s head. I’ll let you figure that one out ;)

To set your own tables like this, lay a long strip of burlap down the center of the table. Place a cake stand over a large matching platter. Fill the platter with apples and place an assortment of honeys on the stand. Use milk glass or mason jar cups and set out boxes of simanim over coordinating napkins. Tape some neutral colored gift tags onto the boxes, write the name of each guest on their corresponding box and finish with a twine bow. Don’t forget the Vintage seltzer!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my comeback post, there’s a little something for everyone. If you like to be try new things in the kitchen, go for the fritto misto. Hate frying? Make my honey roasted garlic aioli for dipping your Rosh Hashanah challah. Love to set a beautiful table? Take some inspiration from my tablescape. And most of all, have a healthy and happy SWEET NEW YEAR.

Shanah Tova!

Simanim Fritto Misto

1 bunch carrots, sliced in half vertically
1/2 lb. green beans, ends trimmed
1 delicata squash, sliced into rings, seeds removed
2 small beets, sliced into thin wedges
1 leek, white and pale green parts only, cleaned and separated
a few medjool dates, sliced in half, pit removed
1 c flour
1 c cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
2 cups chilled Vintage seltzer
canola oil for frying (about 1/2 gallon)
meyer lemon wedges for serving
honey roasted garlic aioli (recipe follows below)
special equipment: deep fry thermometer

Method:

Pour oil into a wide and shallow pan (wide enough to fit the long carrots) fit with a deep fry thermometer. Heat oil to 350 degrees.

In the meantime, in a bowl set over a second bowl of ice water, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Add in the seltzer, mixing until just incorporated (it’s ok if some small lumps remain, you don’t want to overmix). The batter will be very thin.

Working with a few vegetables at a time, dip into the tempura batter and fry, turning and separating the vegetables, as needed. The green beans, leeks, and dates will take about 2 minutes, the squash and carrots will take 2-3 more, and the beets may need a bit more. Drain on paper towels and remove to a wire rack.

Divide the simanim fritto misto among appetizer plates and serve with lemon wedges and honey roasted garlic aioli.


Honey Roasted Garlic Aioli

2 heads garlic
2 sprigs of thyme
1 1/2 tbsp honey, divided
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp meyer lemon zest
juice of 1/2 meyer lemon
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off about 1/4 inch off the top of the heads of garlic to expose the tops of the garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and 1 tbsp honey and season with salt and pepper. Top with thyme and wrap in foil. Bake until garlic is deeply golden and caramelized, about 45-55 minutes.

Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and place in a food processor or blender. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice and zest, remaining 1/2 tbsp honey, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.


This post was sponsored by Vintage seltzer. All opinions are my own. 

Related Posts:

apple stamp napkins
holiday salad with apple and honey vinaigrette
simanim roundup
angel hair simanim pasta salad

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