A tavola
in Italian means “at the table.” The table is where we gather to talk,
to socialize, to catch up, and most importantly…eat! At our table is
where it all comes together because it’s not just about the food, its
about stopping whatever we are doing and carving out some much-needed
time to nourish our souls and bodies in the company of loved ones. Food
stylist and recipe columnist, Renee Muller, invites home cooks to come
to the table and partake in some her family’s favorite kosher recipes in
her beautiful new cookbook, Our Table (Artscroll/October 2016; Hardcover/$34.99).
Throughout the pages of Our Table, Renee
walks readers through each recipe with subtle suggestions, insights and
techniques that turn good food into great food. Recipes are arranged
in chapters such as: Appetizers, Soups & Salads, Fish & Dairy,
Meat, Chicken & More, Snacks & Sides, and Desserts and Breads,
providing everything needed to create an easy weeknight meal or a
special holiday dinner. Some of the recipes in Our Table include:
-
Sweet Chili Salmon Cubes
-
Mushroom Barley Soup Done Right
-
Crunchy Asian Salad
-
Silan, Lemon, and Mustard Salmon
-
Tangy and Succulent London Broil
-
Fall of the Bone Tender Flanken
-
Pulled French Roast Sliders
-
Oven-Baked Honey Mustard Chicken
-
Homemade Egg Kichel
-
Light as Air Marble Cake
-
Buttery Chocolate Scones
-
Wähe – Swiss Fruit Tart
Apple and Honey Rosh Hashanah Muffins
Dairy/Pareve || Freezer Friendly || about 48 muffins
At our house, Rosh Hashanah cannot happen
without honey muffins. At least, that’s the way my kids see it. It’s a
family project, and by now, a family tradition, too. This recipe was
given to me by a relative in Israel who bakes them all the time and
claims that no matter how many batches she bakes, there are never
enough. She’s absolutely right. We once baked a quadruple batch of these
(sans the apples) for a bake sale on our block and we were left without
a crumb!
For the apples
2 Tablespoons butter OR margarine
4 Granny Smith apples, diced
4 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the muffins
2 cups prepared tea, lukewarm
2 cups sugar
2 cups oil
2 cups honey
12 eggs
6 cups flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 heaping Tablespoons cinnamon
-
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
-
Prepare the apples: In a saucepan, melt butter over a medium-low flame. Add apples, sugar, and cinnamon; cook until apples are fragrant and soften a bit, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
-
Prepare the muffins: In the bowl of a stand mixer, on medium speed, combine tea, sugar, oil, honey, and eggs. Mix until smooth. Reduce speed; gradually add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
-
Fill each muffin cup halfway with batter. (I like to use a cupcake pen for this; I find it very helpful.) Top with a teaspoon of prepared apples. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out almost dry with some moist crumbs attached.
note
The apples are
optional; I find that some children prefer the muffins plain. We add the
apple for Rosh Hashanah (very loudly singing, “Dip the apple in the
hooooneeeyy” as we do so) but throughout the year, we bake them plain.
tip
I recently discovered
an amazing gadget called “The Cupcake (or Muffin) Pen.” It really
removes the whole messy aspect of filling cupcake pans with batter. Look
for it in specialty equipment stores.
Sweet and Tangy Spare Ribs
Meat || Freezer Friendly || 4 entrée servings; 6 appetizer servings
A
friend once called me, asking for a meat recipe. “It has to be
amazingly good and incredibly easy,” she said. “I’m kidding,” she then
added, but I knew she really wasn’t. And I had just the thing. Whenever I
meet her husband, he makes sure to thank me, AGAIN, for “those awesome
ribs.” Where does it say that great dishes have to be long, hard, and
complicated?
about 8 (1-inch-thick) spare ribs, nicely marbled
2½ cups duck sauce
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 Tablespoon salt
black pepper, to taste
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a baking pan, arrange ribs in one layer. In a
medium bowl, combine duck sauce, water, teriyaki sauce, garlic,
paprika, onion flakes, salt, and pepper. Pour over ribs. Cover tightly
with foil; bake for 3 hours.
2. Let ribs cool; then refrigerate overnight.
3.
Preheat oven to 375°F (use the “roast” setting, if available). Remove
congealed fat layer from the ribs. Roast, uncovered, spooning sauce over
the ribs once or twice, until ribs are braised and glistening, about 20
minutes.
note
I like to cool the ribs
in the middle of the cooking process so I can remove the fat layer, but
it’s not a necessity. You can raise oven temperature, uncover meat, and
proceed with the braising part immediately after the 3-hour slow
roasting.
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