Argentinian Cookies in Israel!

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Alfajores de Maizena (cornflower sandwich cookies)

Smack in the middle of our Israeli vacation we stayed in the town of Ramot Naftali, a moshav (settlement) in the Upper Galilee. This was our “base” for three nights and every day we pulled out maps, books and of course our computer to plan activities for the following day. Sadly, the internet connection only worked when I was outside sitting on the steps of our little cottage. But this little glitch didn’t stop us from being on the go, go, go!

One of the biggest highlights of this part of our trip, for me, was an intriguing woman named Miriam Bronstein, the owner of our Zimmer (an Israeli version of a bed and breakfast.) This lively lady was born in Argentina and now lives in Ramot Naftali with her husband and 13 year old son. Her other two grown children are quite a bit older (mid-20s?) and  live in Haifa and Tel Aviv. In addition to owning and managing the zimmer, Miriam sews wedding dresses on site. I don’t know how old she is but I speculate that I am many years her senior. At this stage of my life I don’t even try to guess one’s age!

Miriam and her cookies

I knew right away that Miriam possessed wonderful cooking skills. She provided a full Israeli breakfast for guests if requested – featuring delicacies like grilled vegetables, homemade biscuits with cheese and an array of fruit salads. Much to my delight, she was eager to discuss cooking concepts and recipes and we did the best we could given that my Hebrew is awful and my Spanish language skills not much better.

The first night we arrived Miriam brought the most unbelievable cookies to our room – alfajores de maizena, or cornflower sandwich cookies. The little pastries were beautiful and were the perfect compliment to the passionfruit and fresh figs we had in our room.

Those of you who know me best won’t be surprised to learn that I insisted on getting Miriam’s recipe. After a good deal of gesturing, a lot of pantomime and my attempts to use Spanish I was able to cobble together an actual recipe! The funniest thing to me occurred in the translation. One of the ingredients Miriam listed was “corn flour”, but after eating the cookies I couldn’t taste corn meal and asked her if this was yellow in color, coarse or fine flour. She gestured and I finally asked her to get the package so I could see what it looked like. Lo and behold, corn flour was really corn STARCH. And that made much more sense – although I have never baked a cookie with this much corn starch before.

The original recipe

This just goes to show that, if you keep an open mind, you never know where or when you might unearth a favorite new recipe. I certainly didn’t imagine I’d find the formula for Argentinian cookies in the heart of Israel!

Alfajores de Maizena (cornflower sandwich cookies) – dictated to me by Miriam.

The recipe was written in Hebrew and translated into English by Miriam after several phone calls to her sister!

Yield: 30-35 sandwich cookies

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Ingredients:
  • 8 ounces butter (2 sticks)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg + 2 more egg yolks
  • 1 Tbsp brandy
  • 1 ⅓ cup cornstarch
  • 1 cup white flour (or you can use cake flour which is better + ½ tsp soda in place of white flour and baking powder)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped
  • 1-2 cups Dulce de leche (you can buy this at a Mexican grocery store or make it from condensed milk)
  • 1 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut to roll the cookies
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 with oven racks in the middle. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg , beat well then add yolks one at a time. Add brandy, vanilla and lemon zest.

Stir together all dry ingredients and quickly mix into the batter until just combined. Divide into two smooth balls and refrigerate ½ hour.

Roll out each the dough balls onto pastry cloth or counter dusted only cornstarch (NOT FLOUR) to keep the dough from sticking. Roll into a ¼ inch thick circle. Using a glass (~1 ½ inch in diameter) dipped in cornstarch, cut little.circles and carefully transfer onto parchment-lined sheets.

Place cookie sheets in the oven and bake 15 minutes, switching the two sheets halfway through.

Remove the cookie sheets as the cookies are still white in color. Gently pull parchment with cookies from the metal cookie sheets and let cool. When the cookies are totally cooled carefully remove the cookies from the from the parchment.

Using a flat knife or offset spatula, spread the flat side of one cookie with dulce de leche. Sandwich the flat side of another cookie on top, and press flat sides of the cookies together, squeezing out a little dulce de leche so it is around the perimeter. You can also spread more dulce de leche around the perimeter if there isn’t enough to “ooze.” Roll each cookie in unsweetened shredded coconut.

I think next time I will dip half the cookie in dark chocolate. Yum!

You can search for recipes for dulce de leche-it can be made in the pressure cooker, stovetop or crock pot.

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The Perfect Piggy

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Marilyn

Piggy Steamer

I don’t own many non-essential kitchen gadgets or tools in my global kitchens…less is more in my book. However, I adore this cute, pig-themed silicone cover and employ it on an almost daily basis for steaming, and for pan frying. It’s star role, though, is to cover a bowl or plate before microwaving because it is heavy enough that it doesn’t curl or move around. (I detest using paper towels or plastic wrap in the microwave.) Steam comes out the piggy’s nostrils, and the holes in the nose provide a way to lift the cover with chopsticks.

I have gifted this to several friends and most of them tell me how much they love and use this whimsical kitchen tool. Purportedly this can be used to open jars too although I haven’t personally used it for this reason.

You can buy the piggy steamer on Amazon in either pink or white and in various sizes. I have the 7-inch model. If you end up with splattered tomato sauce or curry stains, it cleans up beautifully with Barkeepers Friend and even goes in the dishwasher!

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Homemade Crackers Redux

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Freshly Baked Crackers

You have read how I often – OK, usually – change recipes before I try to make a particular item and often afterwards when I do a taste test and decide it needs more or less of something. So with humility I am publishing my second rendition of crackers, first published in January of 2012. I made those crackers many times before posting my original version of the whole grain crunchy crackers.

Yet today, after baking countless batches, I streamlined my cracker technique, ingredients and method and in my humble opinion (or as the kids say, “IMHO”) they come out crisper and tastier. The chia seeds are a catchy ingredient, are they not? There is a lot less cleanup, or in Yiddish “Potchkey.” This is how we love them: dark brown and crispy. I continue to make these at least weekly if not more often. And credit goes to my daughter Rachel who bakes these often for her toddlers and who came up with the cutting-on-the-cookie sheet time saver!

Whole Grain Crackers

Makes ~8 dozen

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Ingredients:
  • 1 ¾ cup 100% whole wheat flour (I use WHITE whole wheat flour for breads – King Arthur brand now calls it Golden Wheat)
  • Heaping ⅓ cup toasted whole white sesame seeds (do not grind them):
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • Heaping ⅓ cup of either sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds (OR a combo of both)
  • 2 Tbsp flax seeds
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds (or you can use all flax seeds, 3 Tbsp total)
  • 5 ounces room temperature water-measure in a liquid measuring cup.
  • 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp canola oil
  • Coarse salt flakes and about 3/4 cup extra untoasted white or black sesame seeds to top the crackers
Instructions:

Combine whole wheat flour, sesame seeds and salt in a medium bowl.

Place sunflower seeds and/or pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and chia seeds  in a small coffee grinder (I have a Krups bean grinder from 40 years ago) and pulse 6 times or until it is ground finely. Add to the flour mixture.

Combine water, syrup and oil together, then and add into the flour mixture with a spatula or Danish whisk.   Use your hands to knead briefly 5 or six times and to form a smooth ball in the bowl. Be sure all the flour etc is incorporated. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and leave it for about 20 minutes or up to 12 hours. Do not refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350 convection or 350 regular

I coat half of the dough by rolling it in an additional 1/3   cup (estimated) of sesame seeds all over (kind of like coating a cookie)    To do this, I press half the dough into a 5 inch by 4 inch rectangle with my hands, put the sesame seeds on parchment paper  and press them into one side of the dough rectangle, then turn it over and press the remaining seeds into the other side.  I then roll it out on the parchment paper (I put the parchment on a silicone mat so it doesn’t slide around)vand make it about   16” x 11” (yes, I measured) . Finally sprinkle the dough liberally and evenly with fine sea salt and run the rolling pin over the dough to let the salt stay in the dough.   Last step,  cut it into squares right on the parchment lined sheet. Cut them all the way through with the pizza cutter but do not separate the pieces (see photo below). Slide the parchment onto an unrimmed cookie sheet.  I just make two cookie sheet’s worth, and both are totally filled. I sometimes need to trim one of the rectangles and put the shards on the other tray. The ever brilliant Rachel came up with this: substitute brown sugar for maple syrup – another friend of mine uses honey and all sunflower seeds.

Cracker Dough Cut Into Squares-you can see the ground chia seeds

I bake the crackers for 18 minutes in my convection oven and don’t turn the pans. (If you are using a regular oven, bake at 350 for at least 20 minutes, switching the position of the cookie sheets halfway through. Watch carefully so they are very brown, as much as you like. We love them a pinch less than burned–in other words, very dark brown. Immediately slide  the parchment with the crackers onto the counter when you take them out of the oven. (The sheet would continue to cook them.) utes tops) When cool, they break apart easily along the pizza cutter lines. This is simple to do. Remember not to keep them sealed in plastic – I keep mine in an open jar on the counter (more accurately, in a small dish or we’d eat the entire thing in a day). I put out a few at a time. They store well in a paper sack.

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Perfect Post-Thanksgiving Soup

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Soothing Soup

The week following Thanksgiving is tough for me. All our out of town guests depart, one after the other… my house feels suddenly very quiet (but cleaner) … and I am stuffed with turkey, sweet potatoes, pie, leftovers and heavy food in general. Because I feel both full and empty at the same time – I always turn to warm, healthful, vegetarian soup containing vegetables and grains. My standard go-to: yellow split pea soup with barley. It’s an old standby, and after years of playing with the original formula, I have now perfected it to the point where it pleases me without fail. Plus – it’s so simple … just serve this soup after Thanksgiving with huge slices of whole grain bread and a simple green salad and call it dinner.

Vibrant Vegetables for Soup

Vegetarian Yellow Split Pea, Barley and Vegetable Soup

Serves 6 large eaters and can easily be doubled to serve a crowd or to freeze for later

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Ingredients:
  • ½ pound of dry yellow split peas
  • ½ cup pearl barley, measured then put in a strainer and rinsed
  • ½of a  bay leaf
  • 1 Tbsp fine sea salt
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ minced yellow peeled organic onion, diced ¼ inch
  • 2 cloves finely minced garlic (I mince this by hand)
  • 2 stalks of diced celery – dice 1/4 inch
  • ½ small diced peeled potato (1/4 inch pieces) – about ½ cup
  • 2 peeled medium diced ¼ inch carrots – about 1 cup
Instructions:

Bring the first five ingredients to a boil, turn heat to low and simmer covered for 40 minutes or until the split peas and barley are soft. Remove the bay leaf.

Meanwhile, sauté remaining ingredients for eight minutes in a frying pan on medium heat.  Sautéing the vegetables give a different dimension to this soup and any soup for that matter.

When vegetables are a bit tender and barley/yellow split peas are soft, add the vegetables to the soup. Cover and continue cooking together on low simmer for 20 minutes.

This can be done a day or two ahead of time – the soup thickens a lot when it is cold.

Heat and season the soup before serving with fresh ground pepper and more salt if needed to taste. (I did not add more salt). I add a pinch of dry mustard as well and ¼ tsp of sesame oil while heating the soup and I top the plated soup with some chopped fresh parsley and diced tomato if I have it around.

Cook’s notes:
  • To cool soup quickly so you can store it in the refrigerator and avoid leaving it out at room temperature, fill a large sink with ice and water (I happily have an ice maker in my freezer). Put the pot of soup in the sink so the ice water is above the “soup line” and stir occasionally. After a mere 15 minutes it cools down and is fridge ready. I use this method for anything that is hot and needs refrigeration to avoid leaving things at room temperature.
  • If you happen to have a chicken carcass or chicken bones left over (I always freeze mine when I roast chicken or make chicken breast on the bone) this can be added to the soup with the barley and split peas at the beginning. If you do this, remove the bones as you add the carrots and celery.
  • The soup, prep and all, takes about an hour –so I always use the time while cooking takes place to do other kitchen prep or chores. Today I made chicken sandwiches for lunch, salad dressing for the week, I rolled and baked crackers (made the dough last night), and made enough steel cut oats for the week as well!
  • In my picture of ingredients, you’ll see I used a small purple fleshed potato and a small Yukon gold potato instead of half a potato – next time I would only use Yukon gold potato as the purple potato had a weird color in the soup.
  • This soup freezes really well!
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Yearning for Thanksgiving Yams

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Sweet & Savory Sweet Potatoes

Sweet & Savory Sweet Potatoes

As I wrote last year, Thanksgivings are major celebrations in our family. So much so that I wrote down copious notes after last year’s extravaganza so I could adequately describe the day’s events. That said, it’s difficult to bring to life last year’s Thanksgiving…but I shall try…

In attendance last year we added my East Coast sister, her husband, their three grown boys, one girlfriend and two new babies. This clan joined my brother Kal, my brother Tim and his kids, my husband and our children, their spouses, a significant other, and four grandchildren – for a total of 23. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. Not to mention the nursing babies … we brought six gallons of milk and came home with zero, folks.

The Entire Clan

Knowing how much food we needed to prepare, my brother Kal’s twin sister Katie came out the Monday of Thanksgiving week to help cook while my brother Kal was working. Operating on East Coast time, she was up at the crack of dawn at his house here in Seattle baking, chopping and organizing for the big day. We both decided it was best to have lots of side dishes for Thanksgiving – even more than in years past so that there would be lots of leftover food to have the following two days. Braised fennel with olives, two squash dishes, sweet potatoes, mashed new potatoes, coleslaw, two kinds of cranberries, two kinds of stuffing, Pan Asian green beans…so much food it wasn’t even funny.

As always, we had the best time ever. Kal made two fried turkeys, and this year he had the peanut oil ratio for the deep fryer down to a fine science. I used a lot of leftover carcass and meat for a tremendous pot of turkey soup as always, and that was our lunch on Friday. In addition we lay out and consumed a smorgasbord each morning for breakfast, and 15 pounds of salmon for Friday night. Thankfully my son Jake and his uncle Tim took over dinner that night, concocting a soy/ginger/garlic topping for the fish that was fantastic. Marinated asparagus and a spinach/apple/walnut salad with pomegranate dressing rounded out the meal. Of course we ended with our unbeatable Black Bottom pies, a family tradition. Layers of bittersweet chocolate, pillowy soft custard and whipping cream in a flaky pie crust…what’s not to love?

A plate FULL of food

Each Thanksgiving I include a sweet potato dish topped with a brown sugar/butter/pecan crust in memory of my late sister-in-law Nancy. This was always the item she brought to Thanksgiving and I would not dream of eliminating it from our list of foods. I do all the prep at home and just bring it ready to pop into the oven for an hour. The sweetness of the dish is a nice accompaniment to the many savory dishes on Thanksgiving, and there is never so much as a crumb left.

Nancy’s Candied Yams

Serves 12-15

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Ingredients for the yams:
  • 4 lb garnet yams, peeled, cut into 1 inch pieces, steamed until soft and mashed
  • ½ cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 T grated orange rind
  • 2 T brandy (use more Orange Juice if you don’t want to use brandy)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 4 T melted butter
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
Ingredients for the topping
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions:

Mix first list of ingredients and place into casserole (9 x 12 dish). Mix second list of ingredients and spread over yam mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

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I-Have-Too-Much-Winter-Squash-Bread

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Wonderful Winter Yellow Squash Bread

One of the many places I visited this August was Iowa, home of my daughter, her husband and most importantly two of my grandsons. It was a whirlwind, 3 ½ day visit and required a LOOOOONG plane ride, or should I say rides plus a drive to her home. But it was worth it. I am always amazed at how much energy this family has, and equally shocked, yet pleased, with the quality of food they eat.

The morning after I arrived, I awoke to find the following on the counter: a bowl of dry ingredients, another bowl of wet ingredients and a third containing chocolate and nuts. All the ingredients – ready to combine – for two freshly baked loaves of Rachel’s yellow winter squash bread … at 7 am Midwest time! Geez. Evidently the yellow winter squash plants in their garden produced a ton of squash. When in doubt about what to do with yellow squash (or plain old zucchini for that matter) make squash breads.

Ingredients - Ready To Go

You’ll notice this recipe makes two nice sized loaves because Rachel never makes a single recipe of anything. Like mother, like daughter! This is dense, moist, and flavorful – plus it’s a great on-the-go snack. It does not require a mixer or food processor – everything can be grated and stirred in using just a bit of elbow grease.

I-Have-Too-Much-Winter-Squash-Bread

Yield 2 loaves

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Ingredients:

Bowl #1

  • 4 ¼ cups coarsely shredded zucchini (don’t shred in blender – do this on a hand grater)
  • 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup plain applesauce (unsweetened)
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 TSBP + 1 tsp vanilla

Bowl #2

  • 3 cups white whole wheat flour (King Arthur is the brand I always use)
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 ½ tsp baking soda

Bowl #3

  • 1 ¼ cups semisweet mini chocolate chips (or you could chop up regular sized bittersweet chips into small pieces) (optional)
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions

(Here is Rachel’s version of the directions with some added notes from her mother)

Preheat the oven 325 and place a cooking rack in the middle of the oven.

Oil (I liberally brush on vegetable oil) two metal 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pans and put parchment paper into the bottoms, brush oil on the top of the parchment paper too.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with the first group of listed ingredients (Bowl #1).

In a mid-sized bowl, mix #2 ingredients.

Add #3 ingredients although both the nuts and the mini chocolate chips are optional.

Mix with a large spoon until combined and divide the batter between the two greased loaf tins. Even out the tops and put the pans in the oven. Bake 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the loaves cool 15 minutes on a baking rack. Shake gently to loosen and turn out loaves onto the rack. Cut off a piece while still rather warm, smother in butter or whipped cream cheese and eat some immediately!

NOTE: You could add warming spices such as cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg in the fall to make this more like a pumpkin bread. Replace the chocolate chips with chopped raisins or other dried fruit if you are, heaven forbid, not a “chocolate” person.

Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the sliced bread but time was of the essence, and when I got ready to shoot a nice picture it was time to go to the airport. Sigh…

Final note – if there’s any left (NOT the case in Rachel’s house) – this bread freezes for up to six months (wrap it tightly in foil).

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One-Pot Rockfish

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Marilyn
Fast & Fresh Rockfish

Fast & Fresh Rockfish

The first Wednesday of the month again? And how did it get to be NOVEMBER?? Yikes. Time flies when you are having fun for sure. But it’s already Thanksgiving month? What happened to October?

I’m posting a short, sweet post today – basically a recipe I made up and turned into a one pot dinner the other day.

I’d been to Uwajamaya to buy a hunk of salmon for our out -of -town visitors. As I gazed at the fresh seafood and fish, I longed for something easy to prepare for dinner that night as well. Petrale sole, my “go-to” fish, wasn’t shipped that day. Halibut was frozen. But the rockfish filets looked fresh and perfect – not so thin that they would fall apart but not so thick that it would take a long time to bake either.

Once home, I became resourceful. Out came an oval baking dish. I smeared coconut oil inside and loaded the bottom of the porcelain vessel with about 4 cups of fresh baby spinach from the farmers market. Then I sprinkled in some fresh sprigs of tarragon – the last of the year’s harvest (Sigh … another sign that winter is coming…). Slivers from a quarter of a yellow pepper and a quarter of a small onion found a home amongst the spinach leaves. I even grated a little lime zest on top of the spinach, and poured about two tablespoons of dry vermouth on top (I always have this in my refrigerator).

I carefully removed the few bones from the rockfish filets with my designated kitchen tweezers. On top of the spinach mixture they went. A few heirloom cherry tomatoes were rolling around my vegetable drawer so they hit the chopping block and were cut in half and nestled around the fish. Lots of salt, fresh cracked pepper, some smoked paprika…the juice of half of a lime, and some slices of lime. Done. I covered the pan with foil and baked everything together in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes until the fish was opaque and flakey. The final flourish? A drizzle of browned butter.

Spooned over some previously served and reheated brown rice pilaf, I hit a “home run.” The spinach and vegetables wilted and were the perfect accompaniment for the subtle fish and brown rice which soaked up the juices and gave it texture. Fresh, flavorful and perfect for the first week of November.

I’ll be making this again this winter!

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Olives, Olives Everywhere

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Marilyn

Ancient Olive Tree

If you were to travel with me, you’d quickly learn that I am relentless about hunting down good food and partaking of food-related experiences unique to the region I’m visiting. Cooking classes? Sign me up. Food markets? No question. Tours of food production plants? Affirmative. When I travel, my passion for discovering new foods and ingredients becomes unparalleled and I’ve been fortunate to meet generous people who teach me about their cuisine, and chefs in restaurants who share their incredible recipes. Most recently, I stumbled upon one of my most cherished foodie finds!

As we drove out of Tel Aviv in our rental car and hit the road, Hebrew signage littered the highway. Now, I can read a little Hebrew if I already know the gist of what a sign might say, but on this stretch of road nothing was translated into English and I remained relatively clueless about what the billboards said. What was immediately recognizable was the abundance of olive trees planted throughout the terraced hillsides. Israelis serve olives fairly often and olive oil is part of every single meal!

We stayed overnight at a peaceful hotel called the Amirey Hagalil.  This beautiful inn and spa, nestled in the hills of the Upper Galilee, was surrounded by ancient olive trees.  So the next morning I asked the front desk person “Dona” about the possibility of touring an olive oil facility, and she happily directed us down the road to Kibbutz Farod – purveyors of the olive oil used at the Amirey.

The stars were aligned perfectly. We drove the short distance downhill, found the Kibbutz driveway about two blocks away…and the entrance to the village was gated and locked. Luckily a truck carrying supplies entered and we zipped through the entrance before the automatic gate closed. I got out of our white Toyota in 90 degree heat and found a woman at the “Saba Habib” olive oil plant. (“Saba” in Hebrew translates to grandfather.) No tours were being offered but the secretary of the facility happened to be there with her two month old son, and she kindly gave us a private, one hour tour of the facility. Even more fortunate – she spoke English!

Our Beautiful Tour Guide & Baby

I was in awe. The small, homey factory building is apparently rented from kibbutz members by fourth generation Arab Christians – the Habib family. I even had a chance to meet the Habib men and watch one of the women prepare some breakfast items in a small kitchen out back. As you might imagine – .

Saba Habib Olive Oil Factory's signage outside the factory

Here is the short version of processing olive oil, as best as I recall (sadly, I didn’t take any notes … silly me):

1) Small olives from trees grown all along the road adjacent to Saba Habib are hand-picked when ripe, then carefully washed to remove stems, leaves and debris.

Old Stone Crushing Olives

2) The large stone (pictured  above) crushes the olives to form a paste; the pits and skins that are strained from the oil, or Pomice, is sold for cattle feed and fuel for stoves.

3) The remaining oil is then poured into a chamber and slightly heated. Water separates from the oil, and is removed. The remaining oil is then stored at about 65 degrees to stabilize. Light, heat and air are eliminated this way, and the oil is kept for 30 days before bottling.

Bottling the Final Product

I purchased a bottle of kosher organic extra virgin olive oil for my Seattle kitchen. While I can’t read a lick of the Hebrew on the packaging, its beautiful label constantly reminds me of our visit to this stunning part of the world. In my eyes, olive oil will never be the same. Now I know how it is produced, and when I add the fragrant oil in salads, coat vegetables or drizzle it on fish fillets, I’ll always think of Saba Habib.

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Sesame Cookies

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Marilyn at Jaffa with Tel Aviv in the background

Our airplane bound for Israel this past September landed in the beautiful capital of Tel Aviv. I had never really spent much time in this cosmopolitan city so we quickly checked into our little hotel near Dizengoff Square and started on foot to explore the area. Around the corner was Amelia, a wonderful cafe serving delicious, traditional Israeli fare. We walked along the beach to Jaffa, an ancient port city and the place where “Jonah and the Whale” purportedly transpired – although we didn’t see whales. The sun was blistering and hot, and for the two weeks we vacationed in Israel I lived in tank tops, sun dresses and sandals.

The food in Israel? Let’s just say (and I am whispering this) … it is my favorite food of all time and of all places. Yes, I love it even more than Italian food. I mean, oranges being squeezed and sold as juice to passersby, vegetables of every shape and size – prepared in countless ways, fresh chopped salads and cheese for breakfast. Oh yeah, I loved it. And, to my delight, we found sesame seeds everywhere and in many dishes – sesame sauce, humus or just sesame seeds sprinkled about. I love sesame in all its forms: sesame oil, sesame seeds plain or roasted and sprinkled on top of olive oil coated vegetables, Halvah , Tahina (a traditional paste made from sesame seeds – commonly called “Tahini” in the United States )… you name it.

Halvah at a Jerusalem market – a local sesame seed/honey confection (pistachio is my favorite!)

In the upper Galilee (that you will read about in next week’s post), we saw Tahina being made up close and personal – watching toasted sesame seeds transformed before our eyes into the most decadent paste – we even tasted it as it dripped off the machine. All I can say is: wow. Intense. Tahina by itself is a little bitter tasting so it needs added sweet or savory items so that it can be the star.

I happen to also love peanut butter cookies, so I resurrected this recipe that originally came from Gourmet Magazine before it’s premature demise. As usual I have rewritten the directions and tweaked the quantities. I find that these tahina and sesame seed-laden little gems add some interest and beauty to a traditional cookie platter. As I have written before I am not one to make a fuss or take a long time to make or bake a thing. And these happily fit into my parameters: they are easy, different and fun to make. Who says? I says!

Says-a-me Cookies

Says–a–me Cookies

Yield: almost 2 ½ dozen. OK, I ate some of the raw dough … forgive me. After all, it doesn’t contain raw egg.

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Ingredients:
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup well-stirred Tahina – room temperature (I use Joyva brand roasted Tahina)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free double acting)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup or a little more sesame seeds to roll the cookies

Instructions:

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about one minute. Add the sugar and keep mixing for another two minutes until pale yellow. Add vanilla and Tahina and continue beating for another 30 seconds.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in two batches, mixing until combined. Transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a disk–cover with plastic wrap. The dough should come together well and feel like soft playdough. Chill the mixture for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Remove the saran wrapped packet from the refrigerator and form smooth, 1-inch balls of the dough and roll each ball in sesame seeds – ensuring each cookie is coated all over. Place the formed, rolled balls onto a waxed paper lined small tray, cover well with foil and refrigerate another hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place dough balls (they will now be firm) onto the cookie sheets, leaving three inches between the balls. I fit 12-15 on each cookie sheet.

Bake, with racks in the middle of the oven and switch the position of the two sheets halfway through baking. The cookies should be puffed and starting to crack, 12 to 15 minutes total.

Remove from the oven and cool on cookie sheets 10 minutes (cookies break easily), then transfer from parchment to a rack to cool completely. Eat and enjoy.

Notes:

These taste like halvah so if you are a halvah lover MAKE THEM!!

If you have a convection mode on your oven, bake the cookies at 330 convection for 14 minutes. You won’t need to switch the position of the cookie sheets with this feature.

The cookies keep for up to five days in a sealed container at room temperature or can be frozen for up to two months.

If the Tahina has separated when you open the jar or can, try to whisk it to emulsify. If you are impatient (like me) you can also dump the contents of the can into the food processor to combine. Scoop back into the can or jar and measure away.

For added depth of flavor, toast the sesame seeds before rolling the cookies.

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Homemade Hummus Hits the Spot

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

A plate of fresh hummus (in Acco at an Arab market)

“I’m in Israel!” These are the words that happily ran through my mind as our plane touched down in

Tel Aviv last month. I kept pinching myself and telling myself that it was true … I was in Israel. This was my fourth journey to this beautiful country. My first trip was in 1974; ten years later I attended my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah; I returned with Sister Susan for a group tour in 2000; and now I was finally back. For such an ancient country, I felt surprised to see how much things had changed in the decade since my previous visit. I noticed way more shops and a lot more technology – basically everything seemed more modern. Thankfully – one thing seems to remain the same…hummus. One of my favorite things to eat, it remains a ubiquitous food in Israel. And it is goooooood.

Spices at a Tel Aviv market

Call me  a bean lover and a huge hummus fan. Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) serve as a kitchen staple in my global kitchen. These beans are used throughout the Mediterranean areas of the world and I’ve learned to include them in all kinds of ways. I cook them fresh and have some frozen in small quantities for added protein in salads, soups, and even main dishes.

While I typically don’t like to boast, I’ll pit my version of hummus against almost anyone else’s. My recipe is adopted from Cooks Illustrated magazine – though I changed quantities and added my own twist. I begin with dried garbanzo beans, although canned beans are OK if you aren’t into cooking beans. After I soak and simmer the garbanzos, I combine them with freshly squeezed lime juice. Most recipes list lemon juice as an ingredient  but I have to be different, and I always have a bag of limes in my refrigerator. My little “twist”, or signature, involves the addition of smoked paprika – a spice I simply adore. It adds another dimension to hummus – not readily identifiable to most – but it infuses a complexity to the final dish.

I use the savory spread to build a vegetable sandwich where I layer slivers of colorful peppers, thinly sliced cucumber, some pickled onions, shredded carrot, arugula … just typing this makes my mouth water. Or I serve hummus as a dip with blanched or raw vegetables, snow peas, carrot slices, and pita bread or even my seeded crackers. Hummus freezes for up to six months so when my mission is to prepare hummus, I do it in a big way and freeze a few pint containers. Yes, I know you can buy hummus at Costco, Trader Joes or most grocery stores in the US, but try making it just once. You might discover, as I did, that it is easy to prepare and way better than anything you can buy.

B’tayavon! (Hebrew for Bon Appétit)

Homemade Hummus

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Ingredients:
  • ¼ cup juice from the garbanzo beans (if you make your own) OR ¼ cup water if from a can
  • ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
  • ⅓ cup tahini, stirred well (I use Joyva brand)
  • 2 Tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil PLUS some to drizzle on top and garnish
  • 14 oz can of drained, rinsed garbanzo beans OR 2 cups freshly cooked beans
  • 1 clove garlic, cut into 4 pieces
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions:

Combine lime juice and water (or bean juice if using homemade beans) in small bowl.

Whisk together tahini and the olive oil in second small bowl. It takes a bit of elbow grease to combine.

In a food processor, pulse beans, garlic, salt, smoked paprika, and cayenne. After it is chopped a bit whirl them together for about 15 more seconds. Scrape the sides of the work bowl with a rubber spatula. With the food processor running, add lime juice-water mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Scrape down the work bowl and keep processing for another 60 seconds.

With the machine running, add oil-tahini mixture in steady stream through feed tube; continue to whirl until the hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

Taste the mixture and add more lime juice or salt as needed. Personally, I always add a lot more lime juice and a little more salt too. Put the hummus into a storage container and seal it, and store it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. I like to serve this at room temperature so take it out of the fridge in plenty of time. Drizzle generously with olive oil and serve.

This keeps really well in the freezer for up to 2 months and in the refrigerator for at least a week well covered.

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