For the Purim Palate
By: Sharon Lurie
…a pinch of Persia
FRESH BASIL INFUSED TOMATO SOUP AND KREPLACH
Kreplach are traditionally eaten 3 times a year: Yom Kippur, Hoshana Raba, and Purim. After many a frustrating attempt at making kreplach, I now purchase them from my favourite Butcher or Kosher supermarket! I suggest you do the same… it just makes life less stressful! As with the symbolic secret little pockets of meat hidden in the dough representing the unrevealed secrets of Purim, so too there must be a secret to making Kreplach!
Ingredients
A little oil for frying
1 large onion, chopped
½ tsp crushed garlic
3 tins chopped tomatoes
1 TBL sugar
3 vegetable cubes
1 litre tomato juice (I use All Joy)
2 TBLs flour/cornflour mixed with 1 can coconut milk
Handful of basil leaves
Fry onions in a little oil.
Add garlic and canned tomatoes (with juice).
Add sugar, crushed vegetable cubes, and tomato juice and allow to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
Dissolve flour in coconut milk, mix well, and add to soup, whisking all the time.
Add basil and blend with an immersion/hand blender
PERSIAN FLAT BREAD
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 TBL sugar
1 x 10g rapid rising yeast
2 tsp salt
1½ cups warm water and 2 TBLs oil (start off with one cup water and gradually add more as needed)
In a bowl sift flour, add sugar, yeast, and salt. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the water and oil into the middle. Draw the flour in towards the water and start forming a dough. Knead until smooth, cover, and allow to rise for 45 minutes until double in size. Divide dough into golf size balls. Roll out into paper thin flat rounds of dough and allow to rise, covered, for 30 minutes. Fry on a fat free pan over medium to high heat until lightly brown on each side. Probably a minute each side. They should be soft, so place them one on top of the other, as they come off the pan. Keep them all covered until ready to use.
BOLOGNAISE HAMANTASCHEN DRIZZLED WITH PESTO
450-500g Puff Pastry
1 large chopped onion
1 tsp freshly crushed garlic
500g beef minced meat
3 TBL tomato paste
1 tsp sugar or equivalent sweetener
1 TBL cornflower dissolved in ½ cup cold water
Salt and pepper to taste
Fry chopped onion until golden brown. Add garlic and cook for a further two minutes. Add mince and fry until cooked through. Add tomato paste, sugar, dissolved cornflour, salt and pepper. Continue to cook for a further 4 – 5 minutes until mince is cooked through then set aside. Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Meanwhile unroll the pastry. Pastry purchased in a roll is usually ½cm thick when unrolled. This is the correct thickness for the pastry. Cut the dough into triangles with the base of the triangle being +/- 10cm long. The reason for this being that the bottom and sides still need to be folded in to create thicker sides to house the mince, as per pic. Bake the pastry shells at 200°C until it starts to puff up and turns lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Fill with meat. (I prefer to work with the warm meat so that it doesn’t have to sit in the oven for too long to warm through as the pastry will brown quickly.) Return to oven and bake until golden brown and meat in the centre is hot. Remove from oven drizzle with pesto and serve.
PESTO DRIZZLE
2 TBLs ready-made basil pesto mixed with 2 TBLs olive oil (I used Princess Basil Pesto available at your local supermarket)
NUTTY, POMEGRANATE CHICKENS
Yes, the long list of ingredients may drive you a little nutty, but the taste that lies therein makes it so worthwhile.
500g basmati rice
12 chicken thighs (skin on, bone in)
Salt to taste
2 red onions, peeled and each cut into 8th’s and separate onion leaves.
3 TBLs vegetable oil
1 tsp cardamom spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground sumac
2 tsp harissa paste/spice
1 can chickpeas, drained
100g roughly chopped almonds
100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
Juice of one small lemon
Orange zest and juice of one orange
2 cinnamon sticks
100g pomegranate seeds
2 TBLs chopped mint
2 TBLs chopped coriander
Boil the rice as per instructions on packet and set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 180°C. Fry the onion leaves in oil. Add the cardamom, ground cinnamon, ground coriander, sumac, and harissa spice and continue to fry for a minute or two. Arrange thighs in a roasting pan (about 25 x 35 cm) and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Remove the spiced onions and scatter them amongst the chicken; roast for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, baste the chicken and onion with the juices in the pan and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the cooked rice, chickpeas, almonds, apricots, lemon juice, orange juice, and zest of orange. After the 20 minutes cooking time, remove the pan from the oven and, using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate. Tip the rice mix into the pan, season with salt, and mix it well with the roasting juices. Return the chicken to sit on top of the rice and tuck the cinnamon sticks into the rice. Roast for a further 30 minutes. When ready to serve, sprinkle with the coriander leaves and pomegranate seeds.
ALL THE SEEDS SALAD
What’s Purim without a dish dedicated to the heroine of the story, Queen Esther.
Being Jewish and observing the rules of kashrut, Queen Esther lived on a plant based diet, full of fresh produce, grains. Legumes , nuts and seeds.
1 Granny Smith apple, skin on, cored, and sliced (sprinkle with a combination of lemon juice and water to prevent them going brown – more lemon juice than water)
1 Avocado (prepared as you would the Granny Smith apple but of course skin removed!)
1 head of butter lettuce
½ cup mixed seeds (eg. sesame, pumpkin, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin)
½ cup sesame brittle (this brings a sweet crunch)
½ cup roasted corn kernels (this packs a salty punch)
½ cup of your favourite toasted nuts
SALAD DRESSING
½ cup white wine vinegar
1 cup oil
2 TBLs sugar
1 tsp fresh garlic crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp mustard powder
2 TBLs chia seeds
Shake the above ingredients in a jar with a tightly fitting lid.
BAROQUE PAVLOVA
In true royal style, this popular dessert seemed the obvious royal way to go!
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
1 heaped tsp corn starch
300g dates (pips removed and finely chopped)
1 bottle hazelnut spread (parev spread available at most kosher supermarkets)
2 cups cream or non-dairy creamer
TOPPING
Cherries or strawberries fresh or frozen. If you’re using frozen, please ensure that you defrost them over a strainer to remove any excess liquid.
Gold dust (available at the Chocolate Den)
Preheat oven to 110°C. Beat the egg whites until firm. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat until smooth and shiny. Add corn starch and beat for another minute. Fold in finely chopped dates. Line two baking trays with baking paper and spoon the meringue mixture into two rounds on the baking paper. You can also make one large one but ensure that you make the sides higher than the centre to house the cream and filling. Bake for 1½ hours then switch oven off and allow to dry out for another ½ hour in the oven. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Heat hazelnut spread in boiling water or in the microwave until little softer. This makes it easier to spread over base of meringue layers. Spread half the chocolate hazelnut spread over the cooled meringue base, allow to cool then add half the beaten cream. Place the other meringue base on top of the cream and repeat. Place fruit on top of final layer and dust with gold dust.
