I'm a bad Jew.
There, I said it.
I don't keep kosher. I don't date Jewish men. I don't fast on Yom Kippur.
BUT I love Jewish food and traditions and culture, and have a pretty star of David pendant I bought in Israel years ago...so maybe I'm not that bad after all ;)
Speaking of Jewish food, I was excited to receive a preview copy of Amelia Saltsman's cookbook The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen a few weeks ago from Sterling Epicure. The first thing that impressed me about the book were the gorgeous photos by Staci Valentine: I'm somewhat tempted to cut a few of them out and frame them for my kitchen's gallery wall.
The format of the cookbook is different from your typical appetizers, main course and dessert. Instead, Amelia organizes the chapters by the month of the year starting with September because that's the start of the Jewish New Year.
Each chapter has recipes using seasonal ingredients, descriptions of holidays, sample menu ideas and personal stories. The end of the book contains an index of dishes by course (starters, salads, soups, sides, etc). I love that the recipes come from many parts of the world: this gives the book a global feel and a wider appeal. You don't have to be Jewish to cook from this book: you simply have to love good food.
The first recipe I tried was Roasted Carrot And Sweet Potato Tzimmes. I simplified the directions and scaled the recipe down. See my thoughts below.
"Tzimmes is an eastern European stew of carrots and/or sweet potatoes and prunes traditionally cooked with beef flanken, often sweetened with brown or white sugar, and sometimes thickened with flour. In Yiddish, the word tzimmes means "a big fuss."
Roasted Carrot And Sweet Potato Tzimmes From The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen By Amelia Saltsman
Slightly altered from the original recipe
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, then each piece cut into 3-4 cubes
4 carrots, peeled, cut into 2" pieces
2 large shallots, peeled, quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
10 prunes, halved
zest and juice of 2 oranges {I used a peeler to make long ribbons and then cut them into strips}
zest of 1 lemon {I used a peeler to make long ribbons and then cut them into strips}
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a baking dish combine all the ingredients: I used 9x13" Le Creuset. {One pot meal!}
3. Make sure the vegetables and prunes are in one layer as they go into the oven.
4. Roast the vegetables for about an hour making sure to turn them a few times.
5. Serve over rice.
{before}
{after}
My condo smelled amazing! This dish can be served hot or at room temperature and will be a great vegetarian side to grace any holiday table. Definitely bookmark this recipe for Thanksgiving!
I have at least 10 other recipes that I want to make from Amelia's cookbook! Stay tuned for matza brei recipe I made yesterday for breakfast: I'll write about it next week.
Disclosure: I received a copy of the cookbook but am not being compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.
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