1,000 Jewish Recipes (291 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
1
â
4
cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1
â
4
teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1.
Peel and seed tomatoes (see
Peeling and Seeding Tomatoes
), reserving their juice for other uses. Dice tomatoes.
2.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy skillet. Add chiles and bell pepper and sauté over medium-high heat, turning often, until their peels blister and begin to blacken in spots. Put all peppers in a plastic bag and close bag. Let stand 10 minutes.
3.
Peel chiles and pepper, discarding seeds. Cut into small dice.
4.
Combine diced tomatoes, chiles, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and remaining oil in skillet. Bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat, stirring often, about 30 minutes or until sauce is thick. Add cilantro, if using, and cook 5 more minutes. Season with cayenne.
This spicy sauce is delicious with
Spiced Roasted Turkey
or roast chicken. If you like, stir a little of the cooked bird's roasting juices into the sauce. For meatless meals, the sauce gives a lift to beans, brown rice, or couscous.
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, minced
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 or 3 jalapeño peppers, ribs and seeds removed, minced (see Note)
Three 28-ounce cans tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2
1
â
2
teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1
â
2
teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
1
â
4
teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt, to taste
Heat oil in a large saucepan, add onion, and sauté over medium heat about 7 minutes or until beginning to brown. Add garlic and jalapeño peppers and sauté 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and bring to a boil, stirring. Add cumin, turmeric, black pepper, pepper flakes if using, and salt. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat 20 minutes or until thickened to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
Note:
Wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers. If not using gloves, always wash your hands after touching hot peppers.
As a young newlywed in Israel, I saw my neighbor putting peppers on her gas burners and wondered what she was doing. I learned she was charring the skins, and that this was a common technique in Israel for getting the smoky flavor found often in grilled foods. You can use a burner to get this effect if you line the base with foil first to keep it clean. Instead, I generally use the outdoor grill or broiler.
Grilled peppers are one of the most useful culinary preparations to have. They make a delightful first course or accompanying vegetable but they are also the basis for numerous appetizers, salads, and sauces. I generally grill red, orange, or green ones. Yellow ones tend to get brown spots on the meat if you grill them even a bit too much. This doesn't harm the taste, only the presentation.
Another way to get delicious smoky flover is to roast the peppers. (The similarity in flavor often causes grilled peppers to be called "roasted red peppers.") If you like, preheat the oven to 450°F, roast them, and peel them the same way; they will take a few minutes longer and will become softer than grilled peppers.
8 large bell peppers
1.
Preheat grill or broiler. Put peppers on grill or broiler rack about 4 inches from heat. Grill or broil peppers, turning every 4 to 5 minutes with tongs, about 15 minutes total, or until their skins are blistered and charred. Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly, or put in a bag and close the bag. Let stand 10 minutes.
2.
Peel peppers using a paring knife. Halve peppers; note that there may be hot liquid inside. Discard caps, seeds, and ribs. Pat dry if desired; do not rinse.
3.
Serve in halves or in wide strips. Serve warm, cold, or at room temperature.
My Moroccan friends prepare these for festive meals and serve them along with the main course, rather like a hot chutney.
I like to use heart-shaped dark green poblano chiles, which have a good flavor. (The names for these aren't uniform; they are labeled pasilla chiles in California.) Chile experts describe them as mild to medium-hot, but most of those I have tried have been hot to my palate. If you would like a milder chile, use Anaheim chiles, which are long and light green or red. If you want even hotter ones, use green or red jalapeño peppers. Whichever you choose, do let your guests know that these are not bell peppers.
4 fresh poblano or 8 jalapeño peppers (see Note)
About 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste
1.
Preheat broiler or grill. Put chiles on broiler rack or on grill about 2 inches from heat. Roast chiles, turning them often, until skin blisters and chars on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let them burn.
2.
Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly, or put in a bag and close bag. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel using paring knife. Discard cap, seeds, and ribs. Be careful; there may be hot liquid inside. Drain well and pat dry.
3.
Cut chiles lengthwise into strips about
1
â
4
-inch wide. Transfer to a shallow dish. Sprinkle lightly with oil and salt. Serve at room temperature.
Note:
Wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers. If not using gloves, always wash your hands after touching hot peppers.
This wonderful sauce is redolent of the favorite flavors of North African Jewsâcumin, garlic, cilantro, and hot peppers. Serve it with just about any dish, from vegetarian entrees to fish to chicken, or use it to lend a lively touch to rice or couscous. You can also use it as a sauce for cooking veal or chicken, as in
Moroccan Jewish Chicken in Grilled Pepper Sauce
. If you like, prepare a double recipe and keep some on hand in the freezer.
2 green bell peppers
1 large red bell pepper
2 jalapeño peppers (see Note)
1 tablespoon olive oil
One 28-ounce can tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1
â
4
cup minced fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt, to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1.
Preheat broiler or grill. Broil green and red bell peppers, turning every 5 minutes, until their skins are blistered and charred, a total of about 20 minutes. Broil jalapeño peppers, turning often, about 5 minutes. Transfer peppers to bowl and cover; or put in a plastic bag and close bag. Let stand 10 minutes.
2.
Peel bell peppers and jalapeño peppers using paring knife. Halve peppers; discard seeds and ribs. Cut bell peppers into
1
â
2
-inch dice. Chop jalapeño peppers.
3.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, garlic, cilantro, paprika, cumin, and salt. Cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring often, about 20 minutes or until sauce is thick. Season with cayenne. Serve hot or cold.
Note:
Wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers. If not using gloves, always wash your hands after touching hot peppers.
Artichoke bottoms are favorites in the Sephardic kitchen for salads, appetizers, and stuffings.
Many people prepare them by cooking whole artichokes and removing the leaves. Here is the way that chefs prepare them; the cooking time is shorter and the artichoke bottoms remain firmer. It does involve shaping the artichoke bottoms with a knife. Chefs use a sharp, sturdy knife. In the home kitchen, I find a serrated knife is easiest.
One adaptation I make to the chef's technique: I don't throw out the artichoke stems. I cook them along with the artichoke bottoms. Once you remove their skins, they are tender inside and taste like the artichoke bottoms.
2 lemons, halved
4 large artichokes
1.
To shape the artichokes: Squeeze the juice of
1
â
2
lemon into a bowl of cold water. Break off the stem of 1 artichoke and the large leaves at bottom. Put one artichoke on its side on board. Holding a very sharp knife or serrated knife against the side of the artichoke (parallel to the leaves), cut the lower circle of leaves off, up to edge of artichoke heart, turning the artichoke slightly after each cut. Rub cut edges of artichoke with cut lemon. Cut off leaves under artichoke's base. Trim all dark green areas from base. Rub again with lemon. Cut off central cone of leaves just above artichoke bottom. Put artichoke in the bowl of lemon water. Repeat with remaining artichokes. Keep artichokes in lemon water until ready to cook them. Discard the removed leaves.
