Jewish Fusion

If ever a dish were a celebration of spring, this one is. This stew offers a fabulous assortment of vegetables enhanced with the richness of meat juices and bits of cooked meat. It’s like a giant minestrone. Crumbled matzah is added at the end to absorb the fragrant juices.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh fava beans, shelled
  1 or 2 Cardoons, trimmed of strings and cut into 1-inch pieces and parboiled in lemon water for 5 minutes
  8 carrots, diced
  I small Savoy cabbage, cored and cut into 1¼ inch pieces
  4 turnips, diced
  ½ head young celery with leaves, diced
  1 celery root, peeled and diced
  1 bulb fennel, with leaves, diced
  2 Tablespoons ground dried unsprayed role petals (optional)
  2 teaspoons ground coriander
  1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  8 cloves garlic, minced
  3 white onions, diced
  1 teaspoon salt
  8 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
  1½ cups chopped fresh dill
  1½ cups chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  ¼ cup olive oil
  1 Tablespoon harissa
  1 teaspoon ground tumeric
  1 ½ pounds of beef brisket
  2 pounds lamb shoulder, boned and cubed
  4 fresh artichoke hearts, diced
  2 pounds spinach, stemmed and cut into 1¼ inch pieces
  1/3 cup chopped mint
  4 matzah squares

Directions:

• Cook the fava beans in boiling water for 2 minutes; drain.
  Pinch the beans from their skin. Set aside.
  In a large bowl, combine the cardoons, carrots, cabbage, turnips, celery, celery root, and fennel.
  Add the ground rose petals, if using, the ground coriander, pepper, half the minced garlic, the onions, salt, and 3 tablespoons of the chopped fresh cilantro. Add half of the dill and parsley. Mix well.
  In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and stir in the harissa, the remaining garlic, and the turmeric.

• Add the meats and sauté for 5 minutes to coat with oil and spices.
• Add the mixed vegetables.
• Add water to cover and simmer I hour.
• Add the artichoke hearts, spinach or chard, and fava beans.
• Cover and cook for I hour.
• Add the mint and the rest of the dill, fresh coriander, and parsley.
• Cook 15 minutes longer.
• Break the matzah into quarters and place on top of the vegetables. Serve hot or warm.

Note. Dried rose petals can be found in some spice and herb shops. They are also packaged as a tea. If you can’t find them, you may leave them out.

Adapted from Saffron Shores, Jewish Cooking of the Southern Mediterranean by Joyce Goldstein.

While serving a congregation in South Africa, I became acquainted with a fish called snoek, which actually has no equivalent in North America. However, I have found that smoked Lake Superior whitefish is an excellent substitute .This is an excellent brunch dish.

Ingredients:

• Crust:
  About 1 ¼ pound of ready-made pie dough.
  You can make your own dough if you are motivated but the ready-made variety works just fine.

• Filling:
  2 pounds smoked whitefish, with the skin and bones removed
  ¼ cupcake flour
  3 ½ cups whole milk
  ¼ cup butter/margarine
  1 medium onion, very finely chopped
  2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  4 eggs, separated
  1 cup grated mature Cheddar cheese
  2 Tablespoons chutney
  1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Directions:

• Line two pie plaes with the pastry and neaten the edges.
  Refrigerate until needed.
  Flake the smoked fish finely.
  Mix the flour thoroughly with 1 cup of the milk.
  Bring the rest of the milk and the butter/margarine to the boil.
  Remove from the stove and quickly beat in the flour mixture.
  Put back on the stove and bring to the boil over moderate heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning,
  As soon as the sauce boils, remove it from the stove and let it cook to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, fry the onion in the oil until golden brown.
Beat the egg yolks well and stir them into the lukewarm sauce.
Add the fish and egg and mix well. Stir in the cheese, chutney and parsley.

• Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the fish mixture.
  Spoon the filling into the uncooked pastry shells.
  Bake the tarts about 60 to 70 minutes in a preheated oven at 325 °F.

Serve either warm or at room temperature.
Makes 2 medium tarts.