Mealtime Magic: Holiday Recipes from Kosher by Design

The Jewish High Holidays are a time when friends and family come together and ring in the new year with delicious meals prepared with love.  Best-selling kosher cookbook author, Susie Fishbein, suggests trying some fresh and exciting new flavors and tastes for your holiday table with recipes from her new cookbook, Kosher by Design Brings It Home. The final installment in Susie’s groundbreaking Kosher by Design series offers 115 tempting international recipes culled from her 15 years of traveling the world and trying new ways to cook interesting and delicious meals. Along with moving stories gleaned from her cooking demos, Susie shares her favorite recipes she learned from the great chefs she encountered in Italy, France, Mexico, Israel, and across North America.

In bringing her culinary travel experiences “home,” Susie has filled the book with entertaining anecdotes and finely spiced recipes that allow readers to experience a wide array of flavors and tastes.  You don’t have to be Jewish or keep kosher to love Susie’s collection of picture-perfect recipes.  

Chapters take you from Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Poultry, Meat, Dairy/Fish, Side Dishes and Desserts - -  everything for any occasion, menu and taste.  This year celebrate the sweetness of the holiday with Kosher by Design Brings it Home.

Recipes from Kosher by Design Brings It Home by Susie Fishbein

Mesorah Publications/March 2016

Roasted Eggplant with Silan Techina

yields 6 servings

Eggplant in some form or another can be found on every restaurant menu in Israel. Halved roasted eggplant is the ambassador of these appetizers. Gorgeous, simple, and healthy, with its smoky aroma and smooth cooked center, it is the perfect starter. Roasting the eggplants on the open flame adds so much flavor but can be a bit messy; make sure to cover the grates with foil to catch the charred skin — or follow this recipe for an oven-baked version.

Silan Techina:

1 cup raw tahini (sesame paste)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

pinch kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

½ cup warm water, plus more as needed

¼ cup silan (date syrup)

Roasted Eggplant:

3 large, long eggplants

1/3 cup olive oil

salt

pepper

pomegranate seeds, for garnish

radishes, sliced paper-thin on a mandolin, for garnish

scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Prepare the silan techina: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal “S” blade, purée the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, ½ cup warm water, and silan. You may need a bit more warm water to thin to desired consistency. Set aside.

Prepare the roasted eggplant: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, cutting straight through the green stalk. Using a small sharp knife, make 3-4 “X” marks to score the eggplant flesh without cutting through to the skin.

Place the eggplant halves, cut-side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush them heavily with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes; the flesh should be soft, flavorful, and nicely browned. Remove from the oven; allow to cool.

Transfer the roasted eggplant to a platter or plates for serving. Drizzle on the silan techina; garnish with pomegranate seeds, radish slices, and scallions.

Pumpkin Braised Short Ribs

yields 5-6 servings

If autumn had a celebrity dish, this would be it. These short ribs will be the reason your succah or Thanksgiving table is the place to be. The long, slow cooking time yields rich, succulent results. If the ribs don’t come tied, you can use kitchen twine or silicone bands. It’s just for prettier presentation so that they don’t fall off the bone.

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon ground sage

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 pounds (10-12 large ribs, each 4 x 2 inches) thick short ribs, each tied

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 onion, peeled, cut into ½-inch dice

24 ounces (2 [12-ounce] bottles) pumpkin ale or other beer

1½ cups or 1 (15-ounce) can canned pure pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

2 tablespoons dark molasses

3 cups chopped curly kale

Combine the flour, sage, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish or tin. Coat the ribs on all sides with the seasoned flour. Shake off excess.

Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat for 3 minutes. Add the canola oil; wait a minute or two, until the pan is very hot and almost smoking. Place the short ribs into the pan; sear until they are nicely browned on all three meaty sides. You will have to sear the meat in batches. Do not crowd the pot. Be patient; allow 4-5 minutes per side. When the ribs are nicely browned, transfer them to a plate to rest.

Reduce heat to medium; add the onion. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the browned bits in the pan. Cook  3-4 minutes, until the onion just starts to soften. Add 12 ounces of beer. Stir. Add the pumpkin. Stir in the tomato paste, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, vinegar, and molasses. Mix well. Bring sauce to a boil.

Return ribs to the pot. Stand them up if needed to fit all. Add the remaining 12 ounces of beer to almost cover the ribs. Add as much of the chopped kale as fits. Cover the pot. Simmer on low for 3 hours.

Transfer the ribs to a large platter. Spoon lots of braising juices over the ribs. 

Susie Fishbein is a world-famous kosher cook and author. Her acclaimed Kosher by Design series (including Kosher by Design Entertaining, Short on Time, Kids in the Kitchen, Passover by Design, Cooking Coach) has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide and has led to hundreds of personal appearances from coast to coast and abroad. Susie has been the featured celebrity guest on cruise ships as well as at culinary adventures in France, Italy, Israel, and Mexico. Profiled in The New York Times and on CNN, Susie has been named one of the 50 most influential Jews by The Forward. A media favorite she has been a guest on scores of network TV and radio shows such as NBC’s Today and Martha Stewart Radio. Susie was featured at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival at Disneyworld, and taught at New York’s De Gustibus cooking school, as well as a featured celebrity teacher on cruise ships. In recognition of National Jewish Heritage Month, Susie was an honored guest at the White House. She annually leads international culinary tours. She lives with her family in New Jersey. 

For more information on Susie and the Kosher by Design series, visit www.KosherbyDesign.com.