Tofu vaVohu

At last, a stew that does justice to the namesake of this site. Dark and profound, this sweet stew has its roots in Korean braised beef and ma po tofu. I am quite pleased with it.

The peppers provide an important flavor dimension, so if you're averse to spice, replace the 6 jalapeños with 3 poblanos. The jalapeño version is surprisingly moderate, however.

Notes: I tried cutting the peppers thin and adding them directly rather than roasting them separately; this turned out poorly. Chopped up steak, particularly cuts that tenderize well in stews, is better than hamburger. Chop in a food processor or slice into small pieces as preferred. You can replace up to 1/4 cup rice vinegar with lemon juice (1 lemon = 1/4 cup vinegar); in this case, add more sugar to offset the additional acidity.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs. soft tofu, cut into 3/4" cubes
  
• 3/4 lb eggplant (1 large), cut into 1" cubes
  
• 1/2 lb ground beef
  
• 6 whole jalapeños (or 3 whole poblanos)
• 2 packages (10 oz. each) crimini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
• 1 cup reduced-sodium tamari
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:

1. Broil the peppers on high for 6-8 minutes, turning once.
   
2. Combine rice vinegar, tamari and brown sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
   
3. Combine tofu, beef, eggplant and mushrooms in a stew pot. Bury the peppers in the mixture. Pour vinegar mixture over these ingredients.
   
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer covered for an hour, stirring every ten minutes until liquid covers all the vegetables.
5. Remove several tablespoons of liquid in a cup. Add one tablespoon cold water, then combine with corn starch. Quickly stir this mixture back into the stew.

Garnish with grated carrots or beets. Serve with steamed bok choy and brown ale.

Beef Barley Soup

I honestly can't believe I didn't already have this recipe written up on the blog. Not a cold month goes by where I don't make this at least once, either with beef or with dark meat chicken: both work equally well.

Don't bother making this soup if you don't have homemade broth. The recipe is designed to emphasize each of the ingredients, so bad ingredients equal bad soup.

As with lamb, the meat will become tough if you allow it to reach a boil. I should probably measure the actual temperature I use with a meat thermometer and put it here.

The fundamentals are the use of mushrooms, onions, rosemary and butternut squash--and, of course, the technique. There is a good deal of give in how to make the stock. I often use a half a cup of fresh cider (or a bottle of hard cider or brown ale) in place of the apple. Use beers only with beef; avoid them with chicken. Do not use wine, light-colored beers or porters. Don't use sweet potatoes; every time I try using sweet potatoes, I regret it.

The recipe, as written, gives a soup so hearty you can almost eat it with a fork. Add more broth if desired.

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 cups homemade chicken broth
• 2 lbs. shoulder chuck, trimmed and cut into 1" cubes (or boneless chicken thighs, cut in half)
• 1 sour apple, finely minced (food processor is fine)
  
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 10 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small (1 to 1 1/2 lb) butternut squash, cut into 3/4" cubes
• 2 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 3/4" cubes
  
• 4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
  
• 1 cup barley, rinsed
  
• 1/3 oz. fresh rosemary, removed from its stem
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• Olive oil for sauteing
• Salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the beef and sear on all sides until brown. Remove and set aside.
3. Add more olive oil if needed. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the onions, garlic and sugar; sauté until the mixture begin to turn golden, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms and continue to sauté for 5 more minutes.
5. Add the apples and rosemary; continue to sauté for a few minutes more.
6. Add the dry barley and continue to sauté for 5 minutes more, stirring constantly. The barley will absorb liquid from the other ingredients and roast slightly.
7. Add the beef and the remaining vegetables; mix thoroughly.
8. Pour broth over mixture; cover and set heat to low. Allow to cook for approximately 1 1/4 hours, being careful to keep heat just below a boil.
9. Add salt to taste.

PAIRINGS: Serve with hard cider or brown ale.

Cholent

On the Jewish sabbath, it is not permitted to create or adjust a fire. This has been extended to all heat sources, making it essential to create foods that can keep cooking all through the sabbath day. Cholent is a sabbath stew so tightly bound to the old-world weekly sabbath rituals that one might reasonably call it a ritual of its own. My version uses a hell of a lot more onions than would typically be found because, hey, onions are fantastic.

Since you are blasting the meat for so incredibly long, it's especially important to use a rich, marbled cut that won't dry out as you cook it. With beef, I prefer flanken (also known as 'boneless short ribs'), but you could also use brisket. Lamb would work very nicely!

Based on impressions from this beautiful essay on cholent.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium Spanish onions (about 1.5 - 2 lbs), sliced
  
• 10 oz. Crimini or Baby Bella mushrooms, scrubbed and sliced
• 4-6 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
  
• 1 1/4 cup dry beans (any), rinsed and soaked overnight
• 3/4 cup pearl barley
• 1 1/2 lbs. red bliss potatoes, skin on, cut into large chunks
• 3-4 carrots, washed and cut into large chunks
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 lbs. beef brisket or flanken (boneless short rib)
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. paprika
• Salt and pepper
• Several whole raw eggs (optional), rinsed
  
• Olive oil for sautéing
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Once hot, add olive oil and allow to warm.
2. Add the onions and mushrooms along with the sugar. Sauté, turning frequently with a spatula, until beginning to caramelize: about 25-30 minutes.
3. Add the whole garlic cloves and continue to sauté about 5 minutes more. (The garlic will still be white.)
4. In a crockpot, thoroughly combine the caramelized vegetables, the beans, barley, carrots, potatoes and paprika.
   
5. Bury the beef in this mixture.
6. If you have room in the crockpot, bury some eggs in the mixture at this point as well. The egg white will turn an incredible caramel color.
7. Cook in the crock pot on low for a minimum of 8 hours, and as many as 18.

Serve at any time after the first 8 hours. Since you can't shut off the heat on shabbos, it's not uncommon to see people start eating the cholent after 8 or 12 hours, and then again several hours later.

PAIRINGS: I know that beef and beans and barley all fairly scream out 'red wine' (or dark beer), but I find that the entire dish has a sufficiently dark and brooding character that I really crave something a little bit sweet and fruity. Sweet white wines like Gewürztraminer and Riesling come easily to mind, or even a tawny port. A hard cider would also do the job.

Traditionally, people drink hard liquor (often scotch and vodka) on shabbos, although I've never been too crazy for that.

Gahntze Tzimmes

Tzimmes, a sweet, heavy, root vegetable side dish, is made gahntz--whole, full--when cooked with beef or chicken. It is served at most holidays, especially Passover, when the high fiber content is particularly welcome. This New England adaptation makes use of one of our most beloved local vegetables: the butternut squash.

If you happen to dislike slow cookers (but why?), you could prepare this the old-fashioned way by blasting it in a 400 degree oven for an hour, and then turning it down to 300 and blasting it for 4-5 hours more. (Yeah, I'll take the slow cooker.)

Obviously, this thoroughly Yiddish dish can be prepared kosher (fleishig).

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small (2 - 2 1/2 lb) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
  
• 1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced (or baby carrots)
• 2 lbs. flanken or brisket, chopped into pieces (or cut the meat off 4 lbs. of short ribs)
• 1 lb. dried fruit (usually prunes and apricots)
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• Several cups boiling water
  
• Ground cloves
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground allspice
• A dash of ginger (optional)
  

DIRECTIONS (LAZY):

1. Put the beef, carrots, squash, potatoes and dried fruit in the slow cooker.
2. Combine the brown sugar, flour and spices. Add some of the boiling water so it all dissolves.
3. Pour this over the tzimmes. Pour enough boiling water in that it's near the top of the tzimmes. Turn heat to low and let cook for 8-10 hours.

DIRECTIONS (AMBITIOUS):

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
   
2. Place the vegetables and dried fruit at the bottom of a casserole and combine.
   
3. Brown the beef in a deep skillet, then place on top of fruit and vegetables.
   
4. Add the orange juice to the skillet and deglaze with a spatula. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in brown sugar, flour and spices.
5. Pour over tzimmes. Pour enough boiling water in that it's near the top of the tzimmes.
6. Bake, covered, at 400 for an hour.
7. Reduce heat to 300 and bake for another 4-5 hours.

Serve hot. Even better left over.

Short ribs

This slow-cooker recipe works well with many stewing meats, so long as they are rich enough not to dry out. Short ribs and their boneless counterpart (known in Yiddish as flanken) are far and away the most impressive, but a shoulder chuck roast will hold up pretty well, too.

The single most important seasoning here is cloves; this cannot be omitted.

But as I think I mentioned in an earlier post, the real secret ingredient in sweet red sauces for beef in Yiddish-American cooking is soda: cola for dark sauces, and ginger ale for light ones. I have also experimented with cranberry and orange juices to good effect. (Orange juice ends up tasting like tzimmes.)

It's impossible to provide proportions here as it is completely a matter of personal preference. Since the sauce contains no raw meat, you can taste it until it "seems right"--and remember, of course, that it will be made far richer and milder by stewing with the beef.

INGREDIENTS (SAUCE):

• 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
• Plenty of molasses
• Ground cloves (this is essential)
• Spicy brown mustard
• Cider vinegar
• Chopped garlic
• Allspice
• Nutmeg
• A little cola or ginger ale
• Salt

INGREDIENTS (BRAISE):

• 4 beef short ribs --or-- 2-3 lbs. flanken or shoulder chuck roast
• 2-3 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 1 onion, sliced

Arrange the potatoes at the bottom of the pot, followed by the onions, and then the short ribs, then apply the sauce to the top of the ribs. It will drip down as it cooks, so don't worry too much about spreading it around. It's OK to put some ribs on top of others; if you do that, put some sauce on top of the first layer before putting the second layer on. Cook in the slow cooker for 8-10 hours on low. Serve warm with kashe or rice.

Shepherd's Pie

This is one of my favorite comfort foods, and it's very easy if you have leftover potato knish filling (or any mashed potatoes, really). I find that the knish filling really made a perfect topping for the shepherd's pie.

The potato knish filling is essentially just mashed potatoes prepared a particular way, and I don't feel like writing it again, so I refer you to that recipe.

If prepared appropriately, this recipe can be kosher (fleishig).

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 cups potato knish filling (see below)
  
• 1 lb. green peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 tbsp. brown mustard
• 3 tbsp. ketchup
• 1 tbsp. molasses
• Worcestershire sauce
• Yolk of one egg

RECIPE:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
   
2. If peas are frozen, defrost in the microwave.
3. Crumble and brown the beef in a frying pan, stirring frequently.
4. When the beef is brown on the outside, add the mustard, ketchup, molasses, and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Cook for another minute or so.
   
5. Transfer beef mixture to a casserole dish.
6. Top beef with peas.
   
7. Spread knish filling evenly over the peas using a spatula.
8. Beat the egg yolk together with some more worcestershire sauce or some water; brush onto top of pie.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is somewhat crisp and the egg mixture has turned golden brown.

Serve warm with a green salad.

PAIRINGS: Goes well with a bitter stout such as Guinness.

Slow-cooked barbecue pot roast

The sauce for this was based on a barbecue sauce recipe from the back of a Grandma's Molasses bottle. While this sauce would be totally inadequate for that purpose, it does taste a lot like some of the zestier Ashkenazi recipes for flanken (boneless short ribs). Coca-Cola (or ginger ale) is the secret ingredient to many of these recipes.

In college, I discovered that a well-marbled shoulder chuck, when slow-cooked, developed the consistency of flanken. So for when you make that banana ketchup, here is an exotic variation on a well-rehearsed Yiddishe soul-food.

(If you don't have any banana ketchup, you can substitute 12 oz. (2 cans) tomato paste, 3/4 cup molasses, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup vinegar or lemon juice, some garlic, and a bit of ginger for that part.)

INGREDIENTS:

Sauce--

• 2 cups banana ketchup (see below) or the substitution described above
  
• 3/4 cup Coca-Cola
  
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup coke or ginger ale
  

Pot roast--

• 3-4 lb. shoulder chuck pot roast
• 2 large onions

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients for sauce and set aside.
2. Slice the onions and place at the bottom of a slow cooker.
3. Brown pot roast on all sides and place in slow cooker.
4. Pour sauce over pot roast. Set slow cooker to low and allow to cook overnight (8-10 hours).

Serve with barley.

Pasta with sweet beef sauce and yogurt sauce

The inspiration for using a cumin-based sweet beef sauce with a yogurt sauce came from the Afghani pumpkin dish, 'kaddo.' (Eventually, I'm going to get around to making that.) The beef sauce is sweet and spicy, while the yogurt sauce is sour and rich, and the interplay is unique and enjoyable. I'm not sure if this dish is for everyone; I'd be interested to get feedback on it before I serve it to a group.

The yogurt sauce is also great on its own with macaroni or tortellini.

INGREDIENTS:

Pasta and beef sauce:

• 1 lb. ground beef or lamb
  
• 1 lb. frozen or fresh okra, cut or whole
• 1 large can (about 1.5 lbs) chick peas, drained and washed
• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• 1 lb. penne pasta
  
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
  
• 1 tsp. ground mustard seed
• 2 tbsp. molasses
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Yogurt sauce:

• 1 lb (1/2 carton) non-fat yogurt
• 2 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup ground Parmesan
  
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 head fresh dill, finely chopped
  
• Lots of fresh black pepper

RECIPE:

1. Cook the pasta and set aside.
2. While the pasta is cooking, combine all ingredients for yogurt sauce in a bowl and set aside.
   
3. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan. Add onions once very hot; sauté until golden.
4. Add the garlic, beef and spices; sauté the mixture over high heat until meat is browned.
5. Add the okra, garbanzos, vinegar and molasses; sauté another couple of minutes.
6. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, for another 5 minutes.
7. Stir in pasta.

Serve the pasta with the yogurt sauce. I usually serve the hot pasta with the cold yogurt sauce, but you may prefer to gently warm the yogurt sauce in a small saucepan. I wouldn't get it too hot, though.

PAIRINGS:

Use a full-bodied red, but make sure that it isn't too acidic. Acidity tends to play poorly off of cumin dishes, especially when they are spicy.