Ashkenazi Charoset

During the Passover holiday, when Jews tell the story of the biblical Exodus from Egypt, one of the ritual foods we eat is a paste called charoseth. Consisting of sweet fruit, nuts and wine, charoseth symbolizes the mortar which the ancient Israelites were said to have used during their enslavement to the Pharaoh.

Whereas Ashkenazi Jews tend to eat coarse, moist charoseth made from fresh fruit such as apples, Sephardic Jews prefer a smooth concoction made primarily from dried fruits. For a Sephardic charoset, see the 'Fig and Banana Paste' recipe below.

The most basic recipe for Ashkenazi charoset is to combine 2 parts chopped apples with 1 part chopped almonds or walnuts, then add about 1 tbsp. extra sweet red wine and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon for every apple used.

Here I have used some dried fruit, which was an action motivated out of desperation as I ran out of walnuts and had added too much cinnamon. But the results were good.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 crisp apples (such as Fuji or Gala), peeled and cored
  
• 3/4 cup walnuts
  
• 3/4 cup black raisins
  
• 6 black mission figs
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. honey
  
• 1/4 cup extra sweet red wine
  
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

RECIPE:

1. Chop the apples with the sharpest chopping knife you have (to prevent bruising) and immediately combine with lemon juice in a bowl.
2. Chop the walnuts by hand or in a food processor into 1/4" pieces. When chopping hard foods by hand, make sure that you cut with the rear of the blade (closest to your hand) while steadying the knife from the front with your off hand. This will keep the food from flying off the cutting board.
3. Chop the raisins and figs in the same fashion.
4. Combine all ingredients.

Serve within a few hours. It will still be delicious for a couple of days, but it will discolor and grow less crisp as time goes on.

Deviled Eggs

If you must serve boiled eggs, you might as well make them interesting. (Why anyone would serve boiled eggs outside of a religious ritual is entirely beyond me.)

Since aioli contains raw egg yolk, it is important to serve the deviled eggs on the same day that you make the aioli and make sure that you keep the eggs refrigerated until ready to serve.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 3 tbsp. horseradish aioli (see below)
• 1 tbsp. spicy mustard
  
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsely
• Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. To this, add all of the eggs and allow to steep for 13 minutes. Remove from hot water and immediately steep in ice water for several minutes.
2. Remove the shells, being careful not to damage the egg in the process.
3. With a sharp knife, cut each egg in half. Remove the hard-boiled yolk to a bowl; reserve the whites.
4. Combine the yolks with all remaining ingredients, pressing down with the back of a fork.
5. Put the filling into a resealable bag. Cut one corner off the bag at a 30 degree angle, creating an aperture a little narrower than the yolk-sized hole in an egg white.
6. Squeeze filling from bag into each egg with a circular motion. Smooth gently if necessary.

Sprinkle with paprika and garnish with additional parsely. Serve on the same day.

Fig and Banana Paste

This rich, smooth fruit and nut butter is one of the most attractive toppings for crackers or bread that I've ever tasted. It is a dark, intense paste with the consistency of peanut butter and a rich, aromatic body. Top with a bit of goat cheese on toasted baguette for a formidable hors d'oeuvre.

I originally posted it as a Sephardic charoseth recipe, and indeed it is based on one, but I simply felt it was unfair to limit it to that role.

INGREDIENTS:

• 20 black mission figs
• 1/4 cup raisins (dark or golden)
• 1 banana
  
• 1/4 cup very sweet red wine
  
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 3/4 cup almonds (chopped, slivered or sliced)
  
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. cloves
• 1 fresh jalapeño, stem and seeds removed (optional)
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put the figs in a food processor and puree for about a minute. (You may want to hold onto the food processor for this.)
2. Add the banana, honey and wine and jalapeño to the food processor and continue to pulverize for another minute or two.
3. Add the nuts and spices and continue to process until smooth, which may take several minutes.

Refrigerate if preparing ahead of time. Serve at room temperature.

Sausage with sweet and sour pears

Another gem from Rafael Pereira's tapas class. This has some of the fruit-and-wine flavors of sangria in a food context. This is a fine example of the kinds of foods that keep me from ever going strictly kosher. However, I think that this could be kosher-ified by replacing the sausage with a spicy beef meatball.

UPDATE 4/26/08: I tried this with apples and it was still quite tasty. Use crisp apples. Also, a clarification: do not peel the fruit. Finally, a thickener such as cornstarch is recommended. I have updated the recipe to reflect all three of these things.

UPDATE 6/29/08: I tried this with peaches and chourizo. Very delicious. Use somewhat under-ripe peaches so that they hold their shape. Also, when using a softer sausage like chourizo, consider cooking it in larger pieces and then cutting it into diagonals. This way, it will hold the shape that you cut much better.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 lbs (1 package) linguica, sliced 30 degrees askew into 1/4" slices
• 1 cup sugar if using dry wine, or 1/2 cup sugar if using sweet wine
  
• 1 cup red wine vinegar (or 3/4 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar)
  
• 1 cup red wine (if using sweet wine, reduce the amount of sugar)
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 pears (Rafael used green; I prefer Bosc or Asian) or crisp apples, cored and cut up (not peeled)
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, wine and cinnamon in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil and let simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
3. Add pears and let simmer, covered, for 20 more minutes.
4. Let this mixture sit out (at room temperature) overnight.
5. THE NEXT DAY, remove the pairs from the sauce and set aside.
6. Bring the sauce to a simmer; add the linguica and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
7. Remove the linguica to the container with the apples, keeping the liquid in the saucepan.
   
8. Stir the cornstarch into two tablespoons of water (or wine or vinegar, if you prefer), then stir this mixture into the sauce. Allow to thicken for a couple of minutes at low heat, stirring occasionally.
   
9. Pour the sauce over the linguica and apples and serve.

Salt Cod (Bacalao) Fritters

These delicious fritters came from Rafael Pereira's "Spanish Tapas" class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. His classes are highly recommended; I plan on taking more of them.

UPDATE 3/29/2008: I attempted to make these by sautéing instead of frying. Unfortunately, I found the fritters had the tendency to fall apart. I compensated by adding additional flour; this held them together but this created a 'flour pancake' taste that seemed ill-suited to the dish. I am going to experiment with corn-based strategies (corn flour? corn meal?) after Passover.

Rafael served them with an apple aioli; I plan on coming up with my own sweet aioli (perhaps a honey aioli?) before I post one here.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 lb. salt cod
* 3 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed
* 2 tbsp. flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, minced
* 1 medium onion, minced
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1/4 cup flour
* 2 tbsp. olive oil
* Salt and pepper to taste
* Oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak the salt cod for 8-12 hours in cold water, changing the water 3 times. Pat dry and mince.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium high skillet, then sauté the onions for 1 minute. Add the salt cod, cilantro, salt and pepper; sauté for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the mixture to the mashed potatoes. Gradually add the egg and the flour.
4. Refrigerate the mixture for one hour.
5. Heat vegetable oil for frying. Once hot, add heaping tablespoons to it, removing them after they have turned golden brown.

Serve immediately with aioli and Spanish red wine.

Olive and pecan tapenade

I have been taking a cooking class with Rafael Pereira, a very talented historian of Spanish and Latin-American cuisine, and one of his recipes (for olive pate) inspired me to create this recipe. In my opinion, this is best served with a dark, nutty bread or cracker, such as ak-mak crackers or whole-kernel pumpernickel bread.

You'll want to stay away from truly cheap-o, canned olives, but the simple olives you get in a jar are probably fine. Prepared with appropriate ingredients, this recipe is kosher (parve).

Serve with a fiery red wine such as a Rioja. It will bring out some of the subtler oils in the tapenade and expose qualities you never would have guessed were there.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 oz. green olives, pits removed
• 1 tin (2 oz) flat filets of anchovies, with oil
• 2 oz. pecans
• 3-4 cloves fresh garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. dry thyme
• pinch of cumin

DIRECTIONS:

Puree all ingredients in a food processor.