Twice-Baked Potatoes with Labaneh and Za’atar
11/12/19

 

 

I can’t believe this is real but there was a time in my life when I did not like labaneh and za’atar — together or apart. I did not like it. I’m so ashamed to admit this about myself because they are such an integral part of Israeli cuisine and I am 100% on board with all things Israeli cuisine. I distinctly remember once, in 2008, when I was living abroad for the year studying at the Pardes Institute of Judaic Studies, a trip I went on for Shabbat. I cannot remember exactly where I was but I know it was a small Arab village that was known for it’s labaneh and I was determined to give labaneh another try. Folks had raved about this tiny village and their labaneh and by golly, I was going to like it! In case you don’t, labaneh is technically a yogurt only it’s been has been strained to filter or remove the whey. It’s a classic Middle Eastern dairy spread that tastes like if Greek yogurt and sour cream had a delicious, creamy baby. And while I did try that tiny village’s labaneh, I still didn’t like it at the time.

I am happy to report, however, that times and tastes have changed in the last 11 years since I tried that labaneh. I don’t know what happened. Maybe I’ve actually matured in taste palette as well as in life!? Maybe it was all that labaneh I’ve seen on some of my most favorite Israeli cuisine chefs (shalom, Adeena Sussman!). Whatever it is, my new Shabbat morning breakfast is labaneh, roasted cherry tomatoes, Israeli salad, and pita chips. I now have this little breakfast every Shabbat morning; I love labaneh that much.

Therefore, when the folks at Tnuva asked me if I would be interested in partnering on a few recipe posts I was more than happy to be ALL in!

Fun Fact: Since 1926 (almost 100 years!) Tnuva has been the world’s leading premium kosher cheese provider. They’ve expanded to include many other products like puff pastry and harissa, all made in Israel! GIMME ALL THE HARISSA AND PUFF PASTRY!

My first recipe in this dream partnership is a Twice-Baked Potato with my old friends, labaneh and za’atar—a flavor match made in heaven! I don’t want to trigger anyone into an anxiety spiral but the Jewish holidays this year just destroyed me. There was so much cooking and grocery shopping and meat consumption that I decided that for Thanksgiving this year, we would host a vegetarian potluck Friendsgiving and I will FOR SURE be making these delicious twice-baked potato friends for that dinner. Twice-baked potatoes are so creamy, filled with flavor and are the perfect canvas for Tnuva’s rich and delicious 5% labaneh. The creaminess of the labaneh is an easy and scrumptious way to create the smoothness needed for pipping back into the potato skin boat. If you don’t have a star piping tip or piping bags, feel free to just scoop the labaneh + potato mixture back into the potato skins. The piping is just to up the fancy factor.

 

 

 

Twice Baked Potatoes with Labaneh and Za’atar

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp olive oil

4 6-ounce Russet potatoes, scrubbed

¾ cup Tvuna Labaneh

½ cup half and half

3 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp finely chopped chives

3 tbsp finely chopped dill

1 ½ tbsp za’atar

1.5 tbsp kosher salt

1 tbsp garlic powder

 

Directions:

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375°F. 

Rub oil over potatoes. Pierce in several spots with a fork. Place directly on oven rack; bake until very tender, about 45 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool 10 minutes. 

Using oven mitts, grasp 1 potato in hand. Using a serrated knife, cut off top 1/4 of potato. Using a spoon, scoop out potato, leaving 1/2-inch-thick shell; transfer potato flesh to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining potatoes. Mash potatoes until smooth. Mix in labaneh, then half and half, butter, za’atar, dill, and chives. Season with salt and garlic powder.

Spoon about 3/4 of potato mixture into shells, dividing evenly. Transfer remaining potato filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe filling atop potatoes. Place potatoes on a baking sheet. 

*All of the above can be done ahead by a day. Just cover loosely with pastic wrap and refrigerate.  

Position rack in center of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake potatoes until filling is heated through and tops brown, about 20 minutes.

 

*This post was absolutely sponsored by Tnuva, a company whose products I genuinely love to eat. 

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Israeli Salad with Grilled Peaches + Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
05/08/17

Israeli Salad with Grilled Peaches

If you know me at all then you know that Israel lives in my heart. I met my husband there. I fell in love with cooking there. I named my children Siona (Zion) and Eden. Our home is filled with artifacts, knickknacks and Judaica all reminding us and calling us back to Israel. For my husband, he spent 2 years in Israel receiving his Master’s Degree in Marine Ecology. My journey in Israel began in 2001 when I studied abroad during the second Intifada. I was one of 8 participants on a study abroad program that typically has 70 participants but when CNN is broadcasting bus explosions and protests 24/7, you get a few students dropping out. I had to sign a waiver stating that I would not sue my small liberal arts college should I blow up in a bus while studying in Israel via their program. But, thank Gd, nothing horrible happened and I ended up having the time of my life. Since that study abroad opportunity all those years ago, I’ve been blessed to go to Israel on 3 Birthright Israel tours (as a chaperone), studied at Pardes for a summer and then for another year. All told, I’ve probably lived in Israel for a combined total of at least 2 years. But it’s been ages since we’ve gone and we long to return.

Taking a page from the Zahav cookbook — classic Israeli salad on the left followed by my Southern flare on the right.

 

I’m waxing poetic about Israel because I’m here to talk a little about the first ever Maccabi International Culinary Competition taking place on July 4, 2017 in Israel. Working with Maccabi World Union, as part of the 20th World Maccabiah Games, this groundbreaking new program is designed to showcase food as a universal language, bringing more people to Israel to immerse them in the culture, heritage and beauty of the land.

Each team will prepare a five-course meal, showcasing the flavors of their country and utilizing the freshest locally grown Israeli produce, meat, and fish. Chefs will be judged on the creativity, originality, and of course, flavor and presentation. The winning teams will be announced at a Chef’s Party that evening. The event will be open to the public following the medal ceremony, providing spectators the opportunity to meet members of the international and local professional chef teams. There will be Jewish professional chefs from all over the world taking part in this competition—-Australia, France, Gibraltar, Israel, Italy, Spain and the USA.

And if that weren’t enough of a reason to register to attend and watch, this incredible event is co-chaired by James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Solomonov of Zahav Restaurant (and Dizengoff and Abe Fisher and Federal Donuts and Rooster Soup Co. and Goldie Falafel). It is Chef Solomonov and his beautiful cookbook, Zahav, that inspired the recipe featured in this post. I am constantly reconciling my natural inclination to make Southern food with my near-constant desire for fresh Israeli food and this dish is the representation of the two. I’m SO excited to see what the chefs participating in the competition cook-up. I wonder how much of what the present will be representative of not only their home country but also their Jewish heritage.

I am so excited to see what these chefs bring together and am dually impressed with the fact that the organizers have brought in an as-yet-to-be-announced tzedakah project that the culinary teams will participate in. There are plans tape and ‘live stream’ the competition so check back in to the blog or at the Maccabi Culinary Competition for more info. Oh, and if you don’t have to spend this summer teaching summer school health to 9th graders, like I do, then you’ll also want to check out the extreme culinary tour that the Maccabi Culinary Competition organizers have developed. It’s an Israeli foodie dream come true! The Culinary Mission runs through the Maccabi games so now only will you be exploring the dynamic culinary movement coming out of Israel at full speed, you’ll be doing it along side the chefs participating in the Maccabi Culinary Competition. More information can be found here, at the Mission’s website.

When you live in LA and have 2 small children and no extra income to throw at plane tickets to Philly, this is as close to actually dining at Zahav as one can get.

 

The view of Jordan from the husband’s patio (mirpeset) in Eilat

 

Somewhere up North — my husband, Yonah, in the whale and me pretending to be eaten by said whale. No one told me we were going to do a serious pic!!

 

If you haven’t been to Jerusalem during Purim, can I just recommend it now? Thanks.

 

This post is sponsored by The International Maccabi Culinary Competition

Israeli Salad with Grilled Peaches and Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

Salad Ingredients:

2 cups chopped Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 cups chopped Persian cucumbers, peeled and diced
1 cup cooked pearl barley, cooled
2 peaches, grilled (instructions below)
3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup sheep’s milk feta
Lemon honey vinaigrette (ingredients and recipe below)

Directions for Salad:

Combine all salad ingredients into a large bowl except for the mint and feta. Toss with cooked and cooled pearl barley. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil and stir. Next, add half of the chopped mint leaves and feta. Toss to combine. Top with salad dressing and rest of the mint leaves. Serve room temperature or cold.

Method for Grilling Peaches:

Cut peaches along the seam all the way around and twist halves off the pit. Discard of entire pit (be thorough — accidental pit-eating would be a bummer). Brush cut sides with olive oil. Cook, cut side down, on a hot grill until fruit has grill marks, 3 to 4 minutes.

Rotate 90 degrees to continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes or until total grill marks appear and the fruit starts to caramelize. Remove from the grill with a pair of tongs and sprinkle with a dash of flaky sea salt.

Set aside to cool.

Lemon Honey Vinaigrette Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 small lemons or 1 large)
  • 1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 cup olive oil

Method:

In a medium bowl or jar, combine lemon juice, vinegar, honey, coarse salt, and ground pepper. Whisk until salt has thoroughly dissolved. Gradually add the oil and whisk until thoroughly combined.

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Chicken “Reuben” Roll-Ups
10/31/16

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Have I mentioned that before I met my husband I wasn’t really a meat eater. Before I met my husband I hadn’t had red meat in a decade. I had my last bite of red meat at a bus stop McDonald’s in Beer Sheva, Israel in 2001 after a particularly harrowing camping experience in Maktesh Ramon in which my 2 beloved friends and I decided to go hiking and camping, only we didn’t have enough water or other supplies. We went to sleep that night at the bottom of the crater dreaming of ice cold Gatorade and big, juicy steaks. When we finally reached civilization the next afternoon, we gorged on the first food we could find, which just happened to be a bus station McDonald’s. It was later that afternoon, back at the dorms at Ben Gurion University, where I was studying abroad, that I really started to regret that kosher quarter pounder. I swore off meat all together for about 2 months until I got home and really started craving chicken Philly sandwiches (obvs., this was before I was a kosher-eater), which ended my vegetarianism but began my red meat ban. It wasn’t until 7 years later, back in Israel, this time in Jerusalem, when I slowly, slowly re-introduced red meat back into my diet.

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At first it was meatballs. Then it was maybe a slice of brisket. It took a while for hamburger to be welcomed back into my belly but it too, eventually, made its way back into the fold. And so now its 2016 and I’ve got two little girls who LOVE MEAT SO MUCH. I mean sooooooo much. They take after their father in that respect. I mean if they had their druthers, they’d have meat with a side of meat, rolled up in meat and then dipped in meat. We tend to roll vegetarian during the week because it’s cheaper and better for the environment but come Shabbat, it’s a meat party. Yes we welcome that Sabbath queen with a good ol’ roast chicken or some lamb meatballs and if it’s been an exceptionally good week? Well, that’s when it’s first cut brisket, baby (this has happened once in our 6 year marriage. That stuff is expensive). Therefore, the recipe you have before you is not gourmet or particularly earth-shattering in it’s uniqueness, but it is representative of my family’s favorite little Shabbat indulgence (1st cut brisket aside). It’s literally meat wrapped in meat and then breaded and baked. Sometimes I like to dream big and play around with fancy recipes on Shabbat but sometimes I just really want some good ol’ fashioned Ashkenazi goodness.

Recently, on the Jewhungry Facebook page.

Recently, on the Jewhungry Instagram page.

 

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Chicken “Reuben” Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

(makes 5 roll-ups)
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced thin or “shnitzel-style” from butcher
1 cup Thousand Island dressing
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 cup Matzah Meal (or regular bread crumbs)
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp caraway seeds
8 slices pastrami (cut in half length-wise)
1/8 cup margarine (I used Earth Balance)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet and put aside.

Make sure your chicken breasts are thin. If need be, place chicken breasts one-at-a-time between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound out with a mallet or the flat bottom of a frying pan in order to get chicken to about 1/4 inch thick.

In 1 shallow bowl,  stir together the breadcrumbs, matzah meal, salt, garlic powder and caraway seeds until well blended. Place another wide, shallow bowl next to your bread crumb bowl and add your Thousand Island.

Using one cutlet at a time, coat each side in dressing. Next, lay one side of the cutlet in the breadcrumbs, gently pressing it into the crumbs so they adhere to the cutlet on one side. Lay 2 cuts of the sliced pastrami lengthwise onto the side of the cutlet that is not coated in bread crumbs. Gently roll up the cutlet and pastrami like a jellyroll, tucking in as tightly as possible as you go. If you have food grade toothpicks on hand, feel free to stick one on each end of the rolled chicken and pastrami in order to keep it sealed while baking. Place onto greased baking sheet with seam-side down. Continued on until you’ve completed all chicken.

Once all cutlets are completed, top with a slap of margarine (eeps!) before placing in oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest before cutting once they are done cooking. Enjoy!

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