A good sign
The first bite is with the eye
By: Sharon Lurie
It was the ‘taste’ of nostalgia that encouraged me to do a Rosh Hashanah lunch for
this edition. For 20 years I always did 2nd day lunch, however, things change,
children get married, families grow, thank G-d, and we start sharing Yomtavim, “who’s doing
first night, who’s doing 2nd?” …and so it goes. This year I ‘banked’ 2nd day lunch
and reclaimed my spot! That way I won’t have to worry about load shedding as
cold meats and salads will be the order of the day and because it’s 2nd day
everybody will be more relaxed and not rushing to get home. I just love a buffet table
that makes the food on it look appetising by using lots of greenery, assorted fabric
textures, wooden boards, shining antique silver dishes and platters on different
levels. Remember, people eat with their eyes and food presented beautifully will
always be tried.
HASSLEBACK POLONY
1 polony (I prefer garlic)
Basting sauce
½ cup sweet chilli sauce
1 Tbl peri peri sauce (strength is up to you)
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup Chutney
Preheat oven to 200°C. Remove wrapping from polony/salami. Place polony on board with chopsticks on either side as you don’t want to slice all the way through the polony. Generously brush the sauce in between each slice of the salami. Wrap in tin foil and place onto baking sheet. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then open the foil carefully, and continue baking for another 30 minutes, basting every now and then with the sauce in the bottom of the tin foil. When cool, serve on fresh lettuce or baby spinach.
HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN WINGS
18 chicken wings
1 can Coca Cola
1 Tbl chicken soup mix powder
1 Tbl hot peri peri sauce
BASTING SAUCE
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbls ketchup
2 Tbls sweet chilli sauce
1 heaped tsp ready-made Colman’s mustard
3 Tbls honey
2 Tbls lemon juice
Preheat oven onto grill setting. Boil wings in coke and chicken stock, with the lid lying loosely on top, boil for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the wings with a slotted spoon and place them onto a baking tray. Mix the mayonnaise, sweet chilli sauce, mustard, and honey in a bowl. Paint each wing on both sides with basting sauce and place on the top third of the
oven under the preheated griller. Turn the chicken wings over once you are happy with the colour, allowing the underside to darken and crisp up. The sweet chilli sauce helps them to turn brown.
ROLL OF BEEF
2kg roll of beef
½ cup vegetable oil
3 Tbls beef spice rub (I like Woolworths)
1 Tbls coarse black pepper
Combine oil and beef spice rub and rub it over the entire roll of beef. Marinate overnight.
In a heavy based large frying pan or pot, fry the roll of beef, in the oil rub in which it
was marinating, until golden brown on all sides. Remove from pan when golden brown and roast COVERED at 160°C for 2 hours, turning over after an hour. A roll of beef is usually chuck off the bone or brisket and therefore needs low and slow cooking. Serve cold over fresh greens or baby spinach.
COCONUT BRITTLE CHICKEN
4 thick chicken schnitzel (sliced on the diagonal) into 5 or 6 pieces
MARINADE
¼ cup oil
2 Tbls sesame oil
2 Tbls chicken spice rub
3 Tbls sweet chilli sauce
1 Tbl hot chilli sauce – optional (for those who like a bit of a kick)
Mix it in a bowl and add the shnitzel to the sauce. Allow to Marinade for an hour and then fry the pieces in batches, over medium to high heat, in a large frying pan, until cooked through. Remove and allow to cool. Serve over fresh greens and sprinkle with coconut brittle available at Dischem.
KICHEL
3 eggs, separated
3 Tbls oil
3 Tbls sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking power
TOPPING
1 egg white lightly beaten sugar to sprinkle on top
Preheat oven to 180°C. In a large bowl beat the egg yolks, with oil, sugar, and vanilla. In a separate bowl beat egg whites until firm. Add the flour and baking powder to the egg yolk mixture and mix well. Fold in egg whites and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Roll out pastry very thin (2mm) on a lightly floured board. Cut into diamond shapes, paint with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 180° C for 12 to 15 mins.
MOCK CHOPPED LIVER
We all have our favourite chopped liver recipe or favourite deli to make it for us, but
do we have an alternative for the for the non-meat eaters? Now we do, and it’s just
as good on kichel!
3 Tbls vegetable oil
2 large onions chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp dark brown sugar
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in half a cup boiling water
500g sliced mushrooms
4 eggs (1 boiled egg for decorating)
1 tsp salt
1 cup (lightly toasted) walnuts
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Pepper, to taste
In the large frying pan fry the onions, sugar, and garlic in a little oil. When onions are brown, add the chicken stock and mushrooms and continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Place the cooked vegetables, walnuts, eggs (3), and black pepper in a food
processor. Blend until well-blended but not completely smooth. Adjust seasoning to
taste. Decorate with grated egg.
SIMANIM SUSHI SALAD
1 litre ready-made sushi rice (available Tiberius and Moishies)
½ cup finely grated carrots
1 English cucumber peeled, seeded and sliced matchstick style
1 Granny Smith apple, finely chopped, skin on
½ cup chopped spring onions
100g shredded smoked trout/salmon
½ cup defrosted frozen corn
8–10 snap peas sliced
1 small red/green pepper finely cut
1 avocado pear sliced/chopped
Edamame beans
Sesame seeds
The ingredient options as well as toppings for your salad are endless.
DRESSING
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sesame oil
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbl brown sugar
5–6 plump dates
1 tsp grated horseradish or 1 tsp mustard/wasabi powder
1 Tbl grated ginger
Blend together in a liquidiser of with a hand blender until well combined. Pour over salad and sprinkle with any of the toppings below.
Toppings:
Cashew nuts
Toasted ramen noodles
Sesame seeds
Crispy fried onions
FRESH ASIAN CUCUMBER SALAD
3 English cucumbers sliced 2 mm thin
¾ cup rice vinegar
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup sesame oil
¾ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup soy sauce
1 hot Birds Eye chilli
Place everything into a jug and blend with a hand blender until smooth. Pour over cucumber, mix well, cover and refrigerate.
MADE IN THE USA SLAW
500g cabbage shredded cabbage
100g toasted slivered almonds (optional)
DRESSING
½ onion roughly chopped
1 hot bird’s eye chilli (seeds removed)
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
½ tsp crushed fresh garlic
2 Tbl honey
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp celery salt
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
Combine all the above with a hand blender or in a liquidiser until
HONEY, GINGER CAKE
440g plain flour 3½ cups flour
1 Tbl baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt.
1 tsp ground ginger spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon.
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
250ml vegetable oil 1 cup
½ cup golden syrup 175g
½ cup honey 175g
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of one small orange (1 Tbl)
250ml freshly brewed strong tea
Honey Ginger Glaze
¼ cup ginger syrup (remove pieces from syrup and finely chop)
¼ cup honey
3 Tbls boiling water
Mix all of the above together and pour over cake as it come out of the oven.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a Bundt tin. In a large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Meanwhile place a teabag in one cup of boiling water with the orange zest and allow them to brew for a good 15 minutes. In another bowl beat the eggs with the sugar until light and creamy, reduce the speed and add the oil, honey and syrup (oil first then use the same cup to measure honey and syrup and it will slide out of the cup easily). Combine on low speed then add the dry ingredients alternating with the cooled orange infused tea. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients, mixing until well combined, but don’t over mix. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. As the batter is loose it may take extra time, depending on your
oven. While the cake is still hot, pour the sauce over the cake.
ICE CREAM
This ice cream was one of my mother-in-law’s favourite desserts and she alternated it every Shabbos with a halva version. It was always made in a round Tupperware ring mould which when turned over onto a serving platter had its own unique fluted design. The hole in the centre of the mould very often housed strawberries or extra pieces of peanut brittle.
1 litre parev vanilla ice cream (ready-made or homemade)
250g peanut brittle roughly chopped & 100g to decorate
Additional options to add to ice cream:
Chocolate/hazelnut spread, softened and swirled through ice cream
Crushed chocolate chip biscuits
Mini marshmallows
Crumbled brownies
Chocolate chips
Crushed chocolate covered honeycomb
Halva
Allow ice cream to soften at room temperature. Just soft enough to be able to fold in the peanut brittle. Should you wish to add more ingredients to the ice cream, I would consider using more ice cream. Re-freeze and just before serving sprinkle with 100g brittle set aside for serving decorating.
CHOCOLATE RICE KRISPY TREATS
¼ cup melted coconut oil or margarine
500g baby marshmallows
200g dark chocolate (broken into pieces)
7–8 cups rice krispies
Place all the ingredients except rice krispies into a plastic bowl and microwave on
high for 2 minutes. After two minutes, stir ingredients then continue to microwave at 30 minute increments until all the ingredients have melted. Remove from microwave and Immediately start adding rice krispies, two cups at a time. This way you can ensure they are well coated. Place spoonfulls into cookie cups and refrigerate until ready to serve. Place a glacé cherry on top for decoration.
