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By Tori Avey, The Shiksa in the Kitchen
Continue reading below to see Tori's recipes for:
Date Honey Nut Cake
Saffron Rice
Honey Herb Roasted Chicken
Pomegranate Molasses
Here are the recipes Tori prepared at our cooking demo at Zabar's on Sunday, September 25th. Enjoy and let us know how yours turn out!
By Tori Avey, The Shiksa in the Kitchen
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, begins this week. What better way to celebrate the holiday than with a sweetly symbolic beverage - Rosh Hashanah Sangria! This delightful drink is tasty, refreshing, and visually lovely. It will make a beautiful presentation on your Rosh Hashanah table. It's also a fun way to discuss the symbolism of the holiday with your guests, because it includes many traditional Rosh Hashanah ingredients.
When creating this recipe, I wanted to include as much holiday symbolism as possible. It's a sweet beverage (in honor of a sweet new year) decorated by fresh fruit-- apples, honey, pomegranates and grapes. During Rosh Hashanah, we eat apples dipped in honey to symbolize our hope for a sweet year to come. We eat pomegranates to symbolize "new fruit" (the first of the season), as a representation of the 613 mitzvot (the fruit has 613 seeds), and to remind ourselves that our good deeds in the coming year should be plentiful. Round foods (like grapes) are also part of the holiday; they represent the cyclical nature of the year and the continuity of Creation.
This sangria is bold and delicious. My favorite part of the drink is the little pomegranate seeds; they burst on the tongue, releasing a delicious juice. Prepare the sangria a few hours ahead of time so it has a chance to chill and marinate in the refrigerator. The fruit will soak up the drink and the flavors will develop over time. It goes down very easily... you've been warned!
To keep the sangria cold during your meal, you might want to buy some Prepara Ice Molds. They’ll allow you to keep your drink chilled without diluting it. Serve the sangria in heavy wine glasses that are solid enough to match its bold, robust flavor. Libbey Sociable glasses would work well. Allow a few pieces of fruit to flow into each glass for a pretty presentation.
If you like your sangria less sweet and more on the tart side, you can leave out the triple sec and cut the honey in half. For a sparkly sangria, add 2 cups of ginger ale to the mix and stir just prior to serving.
Cheers to a sweet new year!
By Tori Avey, The Shiksa in the Kitchen
When I was on a culinary trip in Italy back in 2009, we visited a small village called Taormina. Perched on a mountainside about 45 minutes from the Mt. Etna volcano, Taormina is a place of jaw-dropping beauty. From the ancient Greco-Roman theater to the Saracen castle, time seems to stand still in this little village, so removed from the world. Walking down the street, you’re greeted by stores that sell colorful local pottery and crafts. Bakeries tempt you with lovely window displays of cookies and candies. Sweet shops offer gelato in a rainbow of colors. Taormina is a feast for the eyes.
Of course, it’s also a feast for the stomach. I found that out when we started exploring off the beaten path. Down a long narrow alleyway, the smell of home-cooked Italian wafted to our noses. Following the heavenly aroma, we found ourselves in front of a tiny restaurant. An old woman was serving a bowl of pasta to the only customer sitting inside. We walked in, hungry for whatever we were smelling. The old woman greeted us in Italian, and soon it became clear that she didn’t speak any English. Unfortunately I only knew a couple words in Italian (spaghetti? gnocchi?… la bella luna?). But when I pointed to the bowl of pasta she’d just served, she smiled—she knew exactly what I wanted. Food is the international language!
To this day, I dream about that bowl of pasta. I was so impressed that I wrote down the name in a little notebook I carry with me when I travel. “Pasta Trenette.”
When I got back home, I made it my mission to find out how to make authentic Pasta Trenette. The dish has roots in Liguria, Italy. It’s made with pesto and parmesan cheese… and it’s every bit as delicious as I remember it.
Here’s the recipe. It’s really easy to make and so, so tasty. The Italians make it with a pasta called trenette, which is very similar to linguini or tagliatelle. I’ve had trouble tracking down trenette pasta, so I usually use linguini. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can make the pasta yourself using the Leilo Electric Pastamaker sold by Zabar’s.
The cheese really makes this pasta sing. Cheese in the basil pesto melts into the pasta. More salty parmesan or pecorino is added to the dish just prior to serving, which gives texture and delicious flavor. If you’re keeping kosher, you might have found that kosher parmesan cheese is tough to find. Zabar’s sells a wonderful Kosher Parmigiano-Reggiano that can actually be ordered online and shipped within the U.S. Or, if you’re lactose intolerant or vegetarian, you can make a vegan version using my Dairy Free Basil Pesto.
But I really recommend the cheese. Really, really.
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