Dishy ways to deliver family togetherness

Sharon Lurie

Honey glazed beef with caramelised onions and julienne carrots

This meat dish is one of those dishes that isn’t just packed with flavour, it’s a reminder of how meat should taste on Rosh Hashanah. From the moment I start cooking, I’m immediately transported back in time, memories start flooding back, and I get to relive the warmth of family togetherness. As Oscar Wilde said, “Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.”

Ingredients

2½ kg brisket

1kg baby onions (to make peeling easier, place into a bowl and cover with boiling water for five minutes, then pour off water)

1 tsp crushed fresh garlic

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

3 Tbsp honey

½ cup chutney (hot or mild)

500ml red wine (merlot or cabernet sauvignon)

100g tomato paste

1 beef stock cube dissolved in one cup boiling water

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

500g carrots cut julienne style

1 extra-large cooking bag

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees centigrade.

Brown the meat in a large pot or large frying pan – big enough to hold the whole piece of meat – over medium to high heat on the stove.

Place a cooking/roasting bag into a roasting dish.

Remove the meat from pot/pan and place into roasting bag. I prefer cooking brisket in a roasting bag as it keeps the meat moist.

To the same pot/pan used to fry the brisket – do not wash – add a little more oil, and fry the onions until lightly brown.

Add garlic, ginger, honey, and chutney, and give it a good stir.

Add wine, tomato paste, bay leaves, and beef stock, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for five minutes.

Pour the sauce over the meat, place the carrots on the side of the meat in the roasting bag, and cover the roasting dish with tin foil. Roast for three hours, then remove the tin foil, leaving the meat still in the roasting bag, and cook for a further hour, which will allow the onions to caramelise.

Carefully remove from the bag, slice, and place onto a serving platter with the onions and carrots on the side. Serve with rice.

Should there be any leftovers, shred the meat, and serve it on challah the next day with mustard pickles and pickled cucumbers. If you find that there isn’t enough gravy for the next day, add a little of your favourite barbecue marinade.

Cinnamon and honey infused babke

Ingredients

1 cup cream (250ml) or coconut cream to keep it parev

10g active dry yeast

2 tsp honey

2 eggs

10ml vanilla essence

½ cup sugar

2 flat tsp salt

4 cups all-purpose flour (level cups)

225g butter at room temperature (divided into four)

1 cup raisins (optional)

Cinnamon butter

½ cup soft, room-temperature butter or plant butter to keep it non-dairy

½ cup treacle sugar (soft brown sugar)

½ cup honey

2 heaped Tbsp cinnamon

Pinch salt

2 tsp vanilla essence

Combine all the cinnamon butter ingredients.

Method

In a large bowl – I used my bowl from my Kenwood machine as I’m going to knead it in my machine – place warm – not hot – cream, yeast, and honey into a bowl and mix. Then set aside for 10 minutes to allow yeast to activate.

Add sugar, flour, salt, and eggs, and mix with a wooden spoon to form a “scraggly” dough.

Using a dough hook in your machine, start kneading the dough on low speed for about five to seven minutes. This can also be done by hand.

Add the first quarter portion of butter. After two minutes, add the next portion of butter until you’ve incorporated all four portions.

Stop machine, and scrape down sides after each butter addition. Knead for a further 10 minutes on low speed.

The dough may be a bit sticky to touch. Don’t worry, as the oil on your work surface will make it more manageable.

Oil a work surface lightly and turn the dough out onto the oil. With the heel of your hand, shape the dough into a large single tight ball. Rub a little oil – one tablespoon – over the dough, and place it back into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover – I like to use a large plastic bag – and allow to double in size.

Turn dough out, and press it to deflate gently. Roll dough out lightly to form a large rectangular shape. Spread the cinnamon butter over the surface of the dough. Roll up tightly along the long side of the dough, then slice about 5cm wide and place them flat side down in a loaf pan, with the spiral facing you.

Depending on the size of your loaf pan, you’ll probably have enough dough for two loaf tins. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and let it proof at room temperature for about one hour or until it has doubled in size. Egg wash the babke.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 170 degrees centigrade. Bake the babke in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.

Optional topping extra: combine one cup sifted icing sugar and three tablespoons of boiling water to make a pourable icing. As you remove the babke from the oven, pour the icing over.

Lauren Boolkin

Simanim salad

Some Simanim include leeks, pomegranate, gourds – any type of squash – dates, black eyed peas or green beans, beets, carrots, and a fish head. These specific foods are eaten because their Hebrew translation relates to specific blessings that convey our wishes for the coming year.

Ingredients

600g butternut

1 Tbsp sunflower oil

1 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 Tbsp honey plus 1 tsp honey

1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

500g green beans boiled or steamed

150g mixed rocket and watercress leaves

6 baby beetroots lightly covered in olive oil

Pomegranate seeds for garnish

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp rice vinegar (or red wine vinegar)

2 Tbsp water

¾ tsp salt

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade, and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Slice the butternut into thin pieces, and toss with the sunflower oil, the sweet chilli, and one tablespoon of the honey. Roast until the butternut is soft and slightly charred on the edges.

On another baking tray, roast the unpeeled beetroot until it is soft.

Layer a large platter with the rocket and watercress, add the cooled green beans, peeled and quartered beetroot, and roasted butternut. Sprinkle on the pomegranate seeds and toasted sesame.

Dressing

Whisk together the rice vinegar, sesame oil, the extra teaspoon honey, the water, and salt. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Drizzle on before serving. If the dressing is thick, add a little more water.

Soya honey chicken with orange quinoa

I like to cook this chicken on the braai, basting every so often with some of the reserved marinade. It works almost as well on a grilling rack in the oven. Serve it with some rice or maple orange quinoa. Chicken portions work too, as do schnitzels. In fact, the schnitzels could be sliced and added to the butternut salad for Shabbat lunch.

Ingredients

2 spatchcock chickens

1 cup honey (wipe the measuring cup with oil so the honey plops out easily)

4cm piece of fresh ginger

½ cup soya sauce or liquid aminos

4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

⅔ cup fresh lime juice

1 small red onion

2 tbsp Italian parsley

Method

Blitz all the ingredients except the chicken in your food processor. Pour three quarters of the marinade into two Ziploc bags – one for each chicken. Place the chicken into the bags, one bag per chicken, and shake it around to make sure the chicken is well coated. Marinade the chicken overnight. Braai the chickens for 45 to 60 mins until cooked through, basting every 10 minutes with the reserved marinade.

Orange quinoa – adapted from Whisk by Ami magazine

This can be made a day ahead of time.

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil

1 red onion

1 clove of garlic

2 cups quinoa

4 cups cold water

¾ tsp salt

Zest of one orange

¼ cup maple syrup

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Chopped dates (optional)

Chopped parsley

Raisins (optional)

Method

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil, and cook the chopped onion and garlic until translucent. Add the quinoa, and stir it into the onions. Add the water and salt. Bring to the boil, and then reduce the heat to medium. Cook until all the water is absorbed – 15 minutes. While the quinoa is boiling, whisk together the orange zest, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, and the remaining three tablespoons of olive oil. Add to the quinoa, and garnish with chopped parsley, chopped dates (optional), and raisins (optional).