To be or not to be traditional

I had a great deal of difficulty deciding which recipes to select this year. On the one hand, I was tempted to go the traditional route – chopped liver, gribenes, and tzimmes. On the other, I feel that we are all longing for spring and all the bounty of summer. So, I settled on a bit of both. Hope you enjoy!

Simanim salad

Serves 10

Ingredients

4 beetroots (it’s nice to mix and match different colours and varieties)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 packet baby spinach

1 packet rocket

1 packet red lettuce or mixed greens

2 blood oranges

1 grapefruit

2 baby fennel bulbs

1 avocado cubed

¼ cup chopped dates

½ cup pomegranate seeds

½ cup toasted pistachio nuts (leave out if you don’t eat nuts on Rosh Hashanah)

Dressing

⅓ cup olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tsp honey

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 tsp salt

Black pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 220C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper, and peel the beetroot. Toss them in a small bowl with two tbsp olive oil, and place them on the lined baking sheet. Roast them until soft. It takes 45 to 60 minutes.

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together except the olive oil. Slowly pour in the olive oil while continuing to whisk. Set aside.

Arrange the greens on a round platter. Top with the sliced oranges and sliced grapefruit. Add the cooled sliced beetroot, slivers of avocado, and thinly sliced fennel. Garnish with the toasted pistachio nuts, chopped dates, and pomegranate seeds.

Mini chocolate pomegranate cakes

If you don’t have mini-Bundt tins, don’t stress, you can make one large one. The baking time will be longer, so you would need to watch carefully. The cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean. I bought my tins from Yuppiechef, but I believe they are easily available. My long-suffering husband found a pomegranate orange juice mix at Freshfellas, it worked perfectly, and we had no difficulty finishing the bottle of juice. PS, don’t finish the juice before you’ve made the glaze.

Ingredients

4 jumbo eggs

¾ cup brown sugar

1 cup castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup pomegranate juice

½ cup oil

½ cup cocoa powder

1¾ cup flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

Method

Preheat your oven to 180C. Spray your Bundt pans well with Spray and Cook, and then toss a little flour around the tin. Check that all the crevices are coated. Beat your eggs and both sugars together. Add the vanilla, oil, and pomegranate juice.

In another bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda. Add this mixture to your egg mixture, and combine well with a metal spoon. Fill the tins two-thirds full, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Check on them as the baking time will vary according to the size of your tin. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool completely before removing them from their tins.

Glaze

Ingredients

1½ cups icing sugar

1½ tbsp pomegranate juice

Water if necessary

Method

Combine the ingredients and drizzle over the cooled cakes. Top with pomegranate seeds.

Chopped liver with gribenes

As a young child, I remember my great-grandfather eating gribenes. I had no idea what they were made from, but the yumminess remained with me in the recesses of my brain. Miracles of miracles, they appear to be making a comeback! Yes, I know they are like mini atomic bombs for your heart, but you have to try them at least once in a lifetime!

Ingredients

500g kashered livers (try get them at the last possible moment)

250g chicken skins roughly chopped

3 onions thinly sliced

3 tbsp sunflower oil

6 hardboiled eggs (reserve two for garnish)

1½ to 2 tsp salt

Ground black pepper

Method

Rinse the chicken skins and place them in a pan over low heat. Sprinkle with ½ tsp salt. Cook until they are golden and crispy. Pour into a sieve and save the chicken fat in a glass jar for later use.

In the same pan, on a low heat, cook the onions in the oil until they are soft and limp. It takes a long time. Add the livers and cook gently just until they are no longer red inside. Using the mincing attachment of your Mixmaster or food processor, mince the livers, onions, and four of the eggs. Some people use a potato masher, I haven’t tried this, but it may be worth a shot. Season with salt and pepper. I like to add a small amount of the chicken fat to the mixture so it’s not dry. (Remember Jewish cooking is very much a touchy-feely thing.)

Place the liver on a platter, and garnish with the gribenes and grated egg.

“In Romanian tradition, garlic is used in excess to keep the vampires away. In the Jewish tradition, a dispenser of schmaltz is kept on the table to give the vampires heartburn if they get through the garlic defense.” Calvin Trillin