A Very Gentile - and Jet-lagged – Rosh Hashanah

UPDATED:   Let's try this again.  I saw this on Internet Explorer today, I browser I don't typically use, and the first two posts were all mashed and mingled -- it was no good at all.  Apparently, there are some known compatibility issues with IE and Blogger - news to me.   Hopefully this works today, but I'm already looking at migrating to Wordpress so I can avoid this type of shenanigans in the future.

I was driving us home Friday evening after we arrived home in LA after 20 hours of travel when I heard something on KCRW about Rosh Hashanah. “Oh shit!” I said, “It’s Rosh Hashanah tomorrow!”

“What’s that?” Felix could have been referring to Rosh Hashanah or to the car in front of us. We were tired.

“It’s the Jewish New Year!”

He was relieved or unconcerned, or both.

I managed to sleep a solid 11 hours Friday night and woke up at 6:30 in the morning. I was at Whole Foods by 7am getting milk for coffee and a couple of urgent basic staples to fill an empty fridge. Due to jet lag and general Whole Foods seduction, that included a bottle of dry Vermouth and a “new” ancient alcoholic beverage made from some sort of root and cloves, and three packages of gartisnal oat cheese and some hand-pulled mozzarella. I also bought my Rosh Hashanah brisket, well sign-posted in the meat section for the holiday.

About 4:30 or 5 that day, crumbling like a toddler who’d missed her nap, I asked Felix f we should really eat the brisket that had been cooking for 7+ hours or if we shouldn’t maybe go out for Mexican. I had just learned that Rosh Hashanah was not in fact that day but would start the following day. I was distraught. Felix was again unconcerned.

“We could have the brisket,” I said, “but it needs more time. I need more time. There’s stuff I need to figure out.”

“We’ve been eating out for two weeks.” It’s been more than that, really – I don’t think I’ve cooked since wedding week, a month ago.

“But Rosh Hashanah isn’t until tomorrow.” I was seriously distraught.

“We aren’t Jewish.”

Point taken. While I’d shared many a Rosh Hashanah with friends over the years, leaving me with many good memories and a fondness for the holiday, Felix – meh, not so much.

But I still wasn’t up to finishing the brisket in any meaningful way and I realllly wanted to eat it on Rosh Hashanah, because it would have just been weird otherwise. So, I defrosted a quart bag of this chili from the freezer, which was truly delicious and ready in ten minutes.

Sunday I was able to finish the brisket with the attention it deserved. I was still pretty disastrous – I’d been up since 3 that morning, when my body declared it was done sleeping. That being said, it was quite tasty and if I could do it in the state I was in this weekend, you can do it – make this tangy, tender brisket, maybe next Rosh Hashanah – but double check the date.

Please note that this brisket is inspired by my friend Nicole’s mom’s brisket, but I’ve made a bunch of tweaks and additions. As such, and given that we are not actually Jewish, I have no idea if it’s still fit for the holiday table, for if you're just paying homage to the Jewish New Year, it'll do nicely.

Wicked Delicious Brisket

Ingredients

4 large onions, sliced

6 cloves garlic, whole

20 sprigs of thyme

10 sprigs of marjoram

3 lb brisket, fat layer trimmed (but not obsessively so)

3 tsp salt, divided

2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

6 oz tomato paste

4 oz dry vermouth

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp (heaping) Dijon mustard

2 tsp cider vinegar

½ tsp Worcester sauce

Directions

Layer 2/3 of onions, all garlic, and ¾ herbs (give or take) in the bottom of a 7 or 5 quart slow cooker. (See oven instructions below*)

Using half of salt and all of the pepper, season the brisket and lay it on top of your pile of onions and herbs.

Combine remaining six ingredients and remaining salt in a small bowl – I used my 4-cup measuring cup. The tomato paste won’t want to combine with the vermouth, but with a little whisking, it will do what it is told. Pour the sauce on top of the brisket, making sure to cover the meat.

Top with remaining onions and herbs.

Set your slow cooker for 2 ½ hours on high followed by 5 hours on low.

Ideally, you’ll have two days to do this – the flavor and tenderness really will be the better for it. At this point, you’ll transfer the whole mess to a baking dish, let it cool a bit, and move it to the fridge overnight.
Remove the chilled brisket and onion goo from the fridge about 2 hours before you’re ready to eat, so that you can make the sauce and have it re-heated in time for dinner, including buffer time for getting your sauce tasting just right.

Separate the meat from the goo. Slice the meat in ¼ inch slices, wrap it in foil and return it to the fridge while you work on your sauce.

Pull out all of the herb stems and then run all of the tomato/onion mixture and juices through either a food mill or a food processor. If you use a food mill, which I did, you’ll lose some solids and may want to return the sauce to a small saucepan and reduce it a bit more, to thicken the sauce and concentrate the favors. If you use a food processor, your sauce will have a bit more body because you’ll have retained all of the solids. Either way, put your blended sauce in a pot and heat it up so that you can tweak the salt and pepper and make any other modifications you feel it needs (too sweet? Add a little more vinegar and/or mustard. Too tangy? Add a touch more cinnamon, etc.)
When you’re ready to reheat your brisket, you’ll pop the sliced meat in a baking dish and pour the sauce all over it, making sure to work it in between the slices. If your sauce is already warm or hot, it won’t take that long to get this heated through and bubbling.

Preheat your oven to 325 F and bake, covered with foil, 25 – 35 minutes, until bubbling and well-heated though.

Alternate Oven Directions

The first time I made a similar recipe (using chuck instead of brisket, but otherwise the same) I did it in the oven. It was before I had the world’s most amazing slow cooker – but it worked absolutely fine, if it was maybe slightly more demanding of my attention.

Preheat oven to 350.

Make sauce as directed and pour 1/3 in to the bottom of a 7 or 5 quart heavy pot with a tight fitting lid. Layer onion, garlic and herbs with meat as directed, topping the beef with the remaining sauce, instead of the full recipe of sauce.

Bake at 350 F for one hour. Give the onions a stir, topping the beef again with some onions and juices. Reduce heat to 275 F and bake for 3 more hours. Brisket should be easily pierce-able with a fork – if not, continue baking at 275 and check every 30 minutes until it is. When it’s fork-tender, proceed with chilling, sauce-making and finishing as directed above.

NOTES
I see no reason why you couldn’t do the first stage of the process two days in advance, making this a great make-ahead dinner party main dish.
I served this with a fingerling potato, grilled artichoke heart, and arugula salad with Dijon mustard vinaigrette, which made a great pairing for an everyday meal.

Getting by with a little help from my friends: Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Jalapeno Slaw

As mentioned previously, I’m recovering from a spinal surgery that has rendered me useless in the kitchen.  For the first couple of weeks, due mostly to the coincidental food poisoning less than a week after surgery, I was firmly anti-food.  I know I’m starting to return to normal not just because I can move my head a bit side to side, but because I’m itching to cook or bake (or even steam, for crying out loud, so long as it’s me doing it).  I have had this link open for days, but I’m nowhere near ready to knead.  And this  one has been calling to me again – all cinnamon spice and sweet.  When I can lift a pot in and out of the oven, I’m all over that one.

The worst thing about this stage of the healing process is boredom – I’m just vigorous enough to want to be active and social but it’s better imagined than done.  I get sore and cranky and sometimes just cry unattractively for no reason.  That’s just not fair to one’s friends, and my friends deserve the best.  I've had persistent, dedicated visitors these last couple weeks, armed with homemade scones or dinner or movies and unafraid to put goo on my wound or brave the grocery store at dinner time. 

It was weather for eating out this past weekend, and I’d been in pajamas for two weeks and I was aching to flex my hostess muscles.  Felix humored me with strict guidelines: he was not going to spend his day cooking and his night cleaning it up.  Therefore, I could play hostess if I took help – from the store in the form of prepared foods and from my lovely friends.

Before dinner we snacked on Cypress Grove goat cheese, local Adam’s Ranch olive tapenade, and crackers that are likely not as good as homemade, but are damn tasty nonetheless and require no baking or dish washing.

For the main event I chose pulled pork sandwiches with slaw.  I used a good quality store-bought sauce but made a great dry rub for my pork butt (shoulder) and Felix did the literal heavy lifting – putting two four-pound roasts in the oven, well rubbed, for 7 hours.  I used this method and a combination of dry mustard, brown sugar, salt, pepper, hot chili powder and a chili powder blend (Penzey’s Chili 3000, which I didn’t love in chili and repurposed as a rub with great results).  Small brioche rolls were purchased and Felix made our absolute favorite slaw recipe, below.  It’s adapted from Smitten Kitchen and originally Bobby Flay’s.  It’s genius, particularly if you’re not a huge mayo fan and you like some kick.  In this case, slaw should be on the sandwich, of course, but it makes a great side dish for enchiladas or tacos or ribs or burgers on the grill.

Our friend Nicky brought a bean and avocado salad – citrusy and smoky and substantive – and our Rachel brought a bright, sharp wild arugula, tomato and avocado salad of which I had thirds (!) .  Finally, or should I say (Grand) Finale, Molly brought these cookies by Ronnie Fein.  Absolutely amazing team effort - I'm so grateful.

Jalapeno Slaw

1 cup green onions, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 jalapenos, stem removed and seeded
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1/2 cup pure olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

1 very small head or ½ large head purple cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Combine first six ingredients in blender and puree until very smooth.  When ready to serve (and not before, unless you want a sodden, soggy, separated swirl of sad cabbage at your supper), combine shredded cabbage and dressing.  I like to put the cilantro leaves on the top of the serving bowl or platter, rather than mix them in.

Enjoy – this made for a wonderful, low stress meal among friends when I desperately needed it.  There’s nothing like breaking bread with friends to make you feel like part of the world again – particularly if that bread is full of pork.

Quickie Weeknight Chicken Curry

I've mentioned before that weeknight cooking is to cooking as commuting is to driving.  All the same mechanics, but none of the thrill.  I'm always happy -- finding water on a desert island-level happy -- when I stumble on an easy weeknight meal.

Last week I took a whack at an easy curry, hoping to save money on take-out, and I stumbled on meal that requires few ingredients and takes little hands-on time.  This won't rock your world if you're a real curry aficionado, but if you need something cozy and mildly kicky that doesn't take all night, this is great.  I've eaten it four times in a week and I'm not sick of it yet.

Ingredients

2 TBS vegetable oil
2 medium onions, quartered and sliced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 inch of fresh ginger root, grated
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine, but adjust cooking time and trim well) cubed in 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 1/2 TBS good quality curry powder
pinch cayenne
1 cinnamon stick or 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup good quality chicken stock
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices
1 package frozen chopped cauliflower
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen petite peas
1/3 c Greek yogurt (2% or whole fat - you're less likely to have the sauce "break" if you use whole fat)  Note: If you plan to freeze this, don't add the yogurt until you thaw and reheat.
cilantro
unsweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

 Over medium-high heat, saute onions, garlic and ginger.  Don't be afraid to let them sizzle and get a little brown -- the more color you have now, the more flavor you'll have later.  While you've got this going on, trim and cube your chicken breasts.  When the onions are all translucent and partly browned, add the dry spices -- curry, cayenne, and cinnamon.  When really fragrant, add the cubed chicken breast - mixture will be fairly dry in the pan.   Add the wine and reduce until it has barely evaporated, and then add tomatoes and chicken stock.  Finally, add cauliflower and bring to a simmer.

I've been using my amazingly awesome slow cooker, the insert of which is flameproof.  At this point in the cooking, I put the insert back in the slow cooker base and cook it on low for about 30 minutes.  You can achieve the same result, but with a bit more vigilance, on the stove on low.

Give it a taste at this point and adjust salt, cayenne, and acid.  With the last batch I needed to add a tsp of honey -- the tomatoes weren't quite as sweet as they could have been.  Add your peas at this point -- they won't take long to come up to temperature.  Finally, add your Greek yogurt.  Alternately, you could add 1/4 cup coconut milk.  If you do this, you most definitely won't need honey -- the coconut milk will add sweetness.  Simmer a few minutes to thicken.

Serve over rice and sprinkle with cilantro leaves and toasted coconut and some store bought nan, heated in the oven.  When my stepmom made curry when we were kids she always added cashews and raisins to the top, too, and it was one of my favorite meals. (Honestly, hers was better but I've never been able to get the recipe out of her.)  I've developed a strange dislike for fruit in my food over the years so I skip the raisins.  The coconut, because it's unsweetened, I still love.

Serves 4 with leftovers.