With the advent of the Hebrew
month of Elul and shofar blowing every morning, it is clear that Rosh Hashanah
is just a few weeks away. We start to
prepare the physical aspects of the Holiday, and work to uplift ourselves
spiritually,. We want everything to be
special and meaningful for the New Year.
Our meals have particular significance, with Rosh Hashanah “simanim”
foods such as beets, carrots, leeks, pomegranates, honey, round challahs, fish,
and dates, just to name a few on our table.
In our efforts to elevate ourselves, we give special important
characteristics to our foods. After all
“you are what you eat”! By assigning
spiritual attributes to our Rosh Hashanah foods we uplift our meals from the
mundane to the holy. We are saying that
we recognize that our foods are not just sustenance, but have the ability to
bring us closer to G-d.
I hope that these recipes will
help uplift your Rosh Hashanah and the rest of your New Year! Shanah Tova!!
Pomegranate and dried
cherry glazed chicken skewers (20-24 skewers)
The blessing for pomegranates on
Rosh Hashana is: “...sheyirbu
zechuyotenu” may our merits be increased.
These skewers make a beautiful
appetizer. I like to use the ridiculously red Torani pomegranate syrup which
gives the skewers a beautiful red color.
It can be found in the liquor section of your local grocery store. If
you can’t find it, you can also use any other pomegranate syrup in it’s place.
1 ½-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts - around 3
breasts
2 cups pomegranate syrup (like Torani)
1 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
½ cup dried cherries
24 7” long skewers
non-stick vegetable spray
additional dried cherries for garnish
Line a large baking sheet with
foil. Spray with non-stick vegetable
spray. Set aside
Remove the tenders from each
chicken breast. Set aside. With a very sharp boning knife, slice the
chicken breasts in half to give two very thin cutlets. Slice each half into 3 long
strips. Repeat with the remaining
cutlets. If the tenders are thick, slice
them in half for 2 thin tenders.
Thread the chicken onto the
skewers. Place into a large baking dish
with at least 2” sides. Pour the
pomegranate syrup over the chicken and let marinate for 30-45 minutes, turning
the chicken periodically.
Place the skewers on the prepared
baking sheet, reserving the marinade.
Broil on medium, with the pan in the middle of the oven, until the
chicken is cooked through but not dry.
While the chicken is baking,
place the marinade in a 4 quart pot. Add
the cornstarch, soy sauce and canola oil.
Whisk until the cornstarch is completely blended. Cook on medium-low heat until the sauce
thickens. Add the dried cherries. Stir to combine.
When the chicken is cooked
through, remove from oven and spoon sauce over them. Serve warm with additional dried cherries as
garnish.
Honeyed spiralized
red/gold beet salad
The blessing for honey on Rosh
Hashana is: “...shetichadesh aleynu shana
tova umetuka” We should have a new good and sweet new year. The blessing for beets on Rosh Hashana is:
“...sheyistalku oyveinu” our
adversaries should disappear.
I’m a kitchen gadget lover - but
only useful kitchen gadgets! The latest
(and greatest) kitchen gadget to hit the market is the spiralizer. It takes “boring” vegetables and makes them
cool and pretty. This salad will wow
your guests with its taste and beauty. If you don’t have a spiralizer you can
julienne the beets instead.
2 medium yellow/golden beets
2 medium red beets
1/2 small onion thinly sliced
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon dried parsley, or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
Spiralize the gold beets into a medium bowl, then spiralize
the red beets into a separate larger
bowl. Reserve the extra pieces from the
spiralizer and set aside for the Beet
Borscht.
Add the onion and honey to the red beets. Add the gold beets to the larger bowl and
toss to combine. Top with the dried
parsley. Serve room temperature or cold.
Fresh Beet Borscht
When I first started spiralizing
beets, I ended up with the extra ends and middles. When you end up with extra
beets...you make borscht! I remember
going to my Bubbies house as a young girl and sharing borscht “mit potatoes and
sour cream” along with a “glezzle of teh”.
As I’m the only one of my immediate family members who has fond beet
memories - this borscht will be all for me!!!
I added beet root powder to this
recipe to give the borscht a more beety, borschty flavor. You can purchase kosher beet root powder on
amazon.com or at your local health food store.
If you can’t find it you can just omit it from the recipe.
2 large beets, sliced into 1 ½ by
¼ inch strips
remaining beet scraps from the
spiralized beet salad cut into small strips
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons beet root powder (optional) - but give the
borscht a more borschty flavor)
8-10 cups water (8 if not adding the beet root powder)
Combine all the ingredients into a large stock pot. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat
to simmer. Cook for 1 hour. Serve hot or cold, topped with boiled
potatoes and/or sour cream. Thanks
Bubbie!!!
Honey and Cracked
Rosemary Tri-Colored Roasted Carrots
(1 pound)
The blessing on Rosh Hashanah for
carrots is: “...”sheyikareh g’zar dinenu,
v’yikru lifanechah zechuyoteinu” The decree of our sentence be torn up, and
that our merits be proclaimed before You.
I recently found gorgeous
multi-colored baby carrots in my local restaurant supply store. I was grocery cart snooping (as always!) and
the gentleman in the next aisle had them on his industrial sized cart. My first
thought was - ROSH HASHANA! I asked him
where he had found them, then ran to grab my own 5 pound package. Sadly, my package only had orange and yellow
ones - there were only 2 package left and none with purple carrots. Big. Sad. Face. When I returned with my carrots, sad that I
didn’t have the beautiful purple ones -
he gallantly offered to give me his!!! Thank you my fellow shopping hero. I hope you have a happy and healthy New Year!
You can find multi-colored
carrots at Trader-Joe’s and some grocery and fruit stores.
This recipe can be doubled or tripled or quadrupled etc.
1 pound tri-colored carrots
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
1 teaspoon cracked rosemary, or 1
tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
salt and pepper to taste
non-stick vegetable spray
additional honey for drizzling
Preheat oven to 325℉ or 300℉
convection for a convection oven.
Line a large baking sheet with
foil and spray with non-stick vegetable spray.
Set aside.
Scrub the carrots clean, then
thoroughly dry them. Place them in a large bowl and toss with the oil and
honey. Arrange them on the prepared
baking tray, making sure that they don’t overlap. Sprinkle the rosemary, salt and pepper on the
carrots. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn
the carrots. Return the carrots to the
oven and bake for an additional 15-30 minutes until the carrots are slightly
browned and soft.
Remove the carrots from the oven
and arrange on a serving tray. Drizzle
with additional honey before serving.
No-Bake Pomegranate Mousse Pie (makes two 9” pies)
This is the perfect light and creamy ending to your huge Yom Tov meal. It’s quick to make, and doesn’t require precious oven time to prepare. Using ready-made graham cracker crusts also speeds up prep time so you have more time to spend with your family and guests!
- 2 9” ready-made graham cracker crust
- .3 ounce package Double Berry Jel Dessert
- ½ cup Pomegranate Cranberry Juice Blend, cold or room temp (I use Langers)
- 4 cups whipping cream, divided
- Dried cranberries and/or fresh pomegranate seeds for garnish
Combine dessert jel and juice in a small bowl. Fill a small saucepan with 1 ½ inches of water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a very low simmer. Set the small bowl in the saucepan and stir until mix is completely dissolved in the juice and warm to the touch (not hot). Remove from the water and set aside.
Whip 2 cups of whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Add the Jel/juice mixture to the whipped cream and re-whip until stiff. Spoon into the ready-made graham cracker crusts. Smooth the top using an offset spatula.
Whip the remaining 2 cups of whipping cream. Spread or pipe decoratively on the top of the filling. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Slice and serve garnished with dried cranberries or fresh pomegranate seeds. Can be made in advance and frozen. Defrost slightly before serving.
Note: For an even bigger pomegranate flavor, add 2 teaspoons of pomegranate extract flavoring to the mousse.
Kosher
Everyday is dedicated to the memory of my father
Dr.
Theodore Saltzberg - Tuvia Ben Nachum Z”L
May
his memory be for a blessing - Yihi zichro baruch.
JewishExponent.com, aish.com, Mishpacha Magazine’s Kosher
Inspired Magazine,
The Chicago Tribune Syndication,
or on Facebook at Edible
Experience by Sharon
Matten.
These
recipes are for sole, personal use of visitors to Sharon Matten -Edible
Experience Kosher Everyday. Edible Experience Kosher Everyday recipes are
for your enjoyment but are not to be posted or reprinted without express
permission from Sharon Matten. Thank you!!
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