Learning Through Taste Buds
We are so busy with our studies, and physically separated from the Israeli students at Ben Gurion University that it can be easy to forget that we are in a new country. MSIH students constantly mention that they would like more interaction with the Israeli student body. Since the Israeli students have now officially begun their studies, all that remains is a topic of common interest to spark the conversation. As far as I am concerned, everyone loved food and I have therefore compiled a list of authentic cuisine along with recipes. These are great to make at home, discuss, and eat out with new friends.
Shakshuka with Feta
Ingredients:
1. 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2. 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
3. 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
4. 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
5. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
6. 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
7. ⅛ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
8. 1 (28-ounce) can whole plumtomatoes with juices, coarsely chopped
9. ¾ teaspoon salt, more as needed
10. ¼ teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
11. 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 1/4 cups)
12. 6 large eggs
13. Chopped cilantro, for serving
14. Hot sauce, for serving
Instrucitons:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook gently until very soft, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook until tender, 1 to 2 minutes; stir in cumin, paprika and cayenne, and cook 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; simmer until tomatoes have thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in crumbled feta.
3. Gently crack eggs into skillet over tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until eggs are just set, 7 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with hot sauce.
Bourekas
Ingredients:
1. 2 sheets puff pastry
2. 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3. 1/3 cup grated kashkaval cheese (or substitute another 1/3 cup feta)
4. 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
5. 1 egg
6. Salt and pepper
7. 1 egg yolk
8. 1 tbsp sesame or poppy seeds for topping (optional)
9. Nonstick cooking oil spray
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine feta, kashkaval, ricotta, egg, a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper (if using all feta cheese, you may not need to add any salt). Use a fork to mix ingredients together till well blended. Make sure to break up any large crumbles of feta with the fork. Reserve mixture.
3. On a smooth, clean, lightly floured surface, unfold one of your puff pastry sheets. Use a rolling pin to roll out the sheet to a 12x12 inch square. If using homemade puff pastry, roll your dough out to the same size - a 12”x12” square. Cut the sheet of puff pastry dough into 9 equal-sized squares, each about 4”x4” large.
4. Place 1 scant tablespoon of the cheese filling in the center of each dough square.
5. Fold the dough squares by grasping one corner and folding it over to the opposite corner to make triangles. Pinch firmly along the outer open edge of the triangles to seal. If you're having trouble sealing the dough and getting it to stick together, wet your finger with a bit of water and run it around the edge of the square before folding-- this will help it stick together.
6. You can also crimp the edges with the tines of a fork, if you wish.
7. Repeat this process for the second sheet of puff pastry—roll out the pastry, cut into squares, add filling, and seal the triangles.
8. Spray your baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Place 9 bourekas on each sheet, evenly spaced, giving them some room to expand during baking.
9. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and 2 tsp of cool water. Use a pastry brush to brush a light layer of the egg wash onto the surface of each bourekas.
10. Sprinkle the bourekas with sesame or poppy seeds, if desired.
11. Bake the bourekas for about 30 minutes, switching the baking sheets between the upper and lower racks halfway through cooking. Bake till golden brown and cooked through.
Tubule Salad
Ingredients:
1. 1 cup fine burghul
2. 2 cups cold water
3. 2 cups chopped parsley
4. ½ cup chopped spring onions
5. ¼ cup chopped mint
6. 2 tomatoes
7. 3-4 tbsp olive oil
8. Juice form 1 ½ lemons
9. Salt
10. Ground black pepper
Instructions:
1. Cover the burghul with cold water in a bowl and leave to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Drain the left over water through a fine sieve and press with the back of a spoon to extract moisture and leave to dry.
3. Prepare parsley by washing it well, shaking off excess water and removing thick stalks. Let it dry.
4. Put burghul into a mixing bowl and add the chopped spring onions, parsley and mint.
5. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
6. Dice tomatoes and stir into the salad.
7. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
Challa Bread
Ingredients:
1. 2 ½ tsp yeast
2. 2 ½ cups luke warm water
3. ¾ cup sugar
4. ¾ cup oil
5. 2 eggs
6. 2 tsp salt
7. 8 cups flour
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180-200 C (depends on oven).
2. Add ingredients to a large mixing bowl in the above order.
3. Mix well (by hand about 30 turns).
4. Sprinkle flour onto the dough and knead with a closed fist for about 5 minutes.
5. Leave the dough to rise until it doubles in size.
6. Take the dough and roll it into 6 long tubes.
7. Separate and braid 3 tubes together to make 2 loaves.
8. Beat egg and baste the top of each loaf.
9. Place in the oven on a flat nonstick pan for approximately 25 minutes – until top is golden.
Falafel
Ingredients:
1. 250g dry chickpeas
2. 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs
3. 5 garlic cloves
4. 1 bunch of parsley chopped
5. 1 bunch of cilantro chopped
6. 1 tsp of cumin
7. ¼ tsp baking powder
8. Salt and pepper
9. Oil for frying (canola or corn)
Instructions:
1. Soak the chickpeas in water overnight, and then dry.
2. Put the chickpeas, breadcrumbs and garlic into a food processor and process until a smooth paste (if the paste is too soft add more breadcrumbs).
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pot and make small balls from the falafel paste (it should not stick to your hands).
5. Fry in the hot oil until golden brown.
6. Place on a paper towel to soak the oil.
Mujadarra
Ingredients:
1. 1 lb brown lentils
2. 1 medium onion finely chopped
3. 3 tbsp olive oil
4. Salt and pepper
5. 8 oz rice
6. 1 cup water
7. 1 large onion sliced
Instructions:
1. Cover lentils with water and simmer until tender – about 30 minutes. Add more water if necessary.
2. Fry the chopped onion in half the oil until soft and golden.
3. Add to cooked lentils.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add rice and another cup of water.
6. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
7. Fry the sliced onion in the rest of the oil until dark brown.
8. Heap rice and lentils onto a place and garnish with carmelized onions.
Jachnun
Ingredients:
1. 500 grams (3.25 cups) whole wheat flour (alternative: white flour)
2. 1/4 cup date honey a.k.a. silan (alternative: sugar)
3. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5. 1 1/4 cup water, or enough to give you a springy dough
6. 1/4 cup oil, or more if needed (alternative: about 100 grams margarine or butter)
7. dried powdered yeast (optional)
8. stale bread or pita to line the pot
Condiments (which we’ll use later):
9. eggs
10. tomatoes
Instructions:
1. Mix the flour, date honey, baking powder, salt and water to form a dough. It will be sticky, and that’s OK. Knead and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Some people say it needs to sit overnight, but that’s not a consensus; I strive for an hour. Knead again and let sit again. The waiting makes the dough easier to work with and lets the gluten develop.
2. Divide into six balls. They’ll be about the size of tennis balls.
3. Oil your work surface. Using your hands and/or a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a 40-by-40 centimeter (16 inch) square. Oil it as needed. The dough should be very thin. If it tears, try to push it back together, but it doesn’t really matter — once it’s folded, the imperfections won’t be noticeable.
4. Rub liberally with olive oil (or softened margarine or butter — about 1-2 teaspoons oil, 2 teaspoons butter or 1 tablespoon margarine); sprinkle lightly with yeast (if using).
5. Fold over into thirds. You now should have a long, narrow strip. Brush oil on the top layer.
6. Roll out again in both directions. Your strip should now be wider and longer. The width of the strip will be the length of your finished jachnun.
7. Start rolling up the strip. Pull the dough as you go, to stretch it out even more.
8. Arrange a thin layer of stale bread on the bottom of your baking dish or slow cooker. The bread pads the jachnun and absorbs excess oil. The traditional jachnun pan is a cylindrical metal tub with a tight-sealing top, but you can use any oven-safe dish with a tight lid.
9. Cut strips of baking paper slightly larger than each jachnun. Rest each roll on its strip of paper — this isn’t necessary, but it will keep them from sticking to each other and falling apart when you remove them from the pan.
10. Arrange the paper-coated jachnuns in the dish. They should be packed relatively tightly.
11. If you want, arrange a few clean eggs in with the jachnun. They’ll come out hard-boiled.
12. Cover with tinfoil to help preserve moisture, seal the pot and bake overnight, for 10-12 hours — on the low setting of your slow cooker, or at 100 to 110 degrees Celsius (210 to 230 Fahrenheit) in your oven. Once baked, whole wheat jachnun will come out nearly chocolate colored; white flour jachnun will be light golden.
Prepare the condiments:
13. Serve with grated tomato, skhug or hot pepper sauce, and hard-boiled eggs. 14. To grate the tomatoes, simply slice them in half and grate the cut side. You’ll get tomato pulp, and the peel will be left in your hand.
Malawach
Malawach is another Yemenite bread. It’s made from the same dough as jachnun, but instead of being rolled up, it’s folded into sheets and fried in a pan. One of the balls in the above recipe would make about a 20-by-20 centimeter (8 inch) malawach.
Fry the dough on both sides, and serve with the same condiments — tomato and egg. Or use other condiments of your choice.
Kibbeh
Ingredients:
1. 2 lbs finely ground beef or lamb, lean, divided
2. 1/2 lb. bulghur cracked wheat, medium or #2
3. 1 teaspoon salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
4. 1 teaspoon pepper, plus 1/2 teaspoon
5. 1 teaspoon allspice
6. 1/4 teaspoon cumin
7. 2 medium onions, 1 finely chopped, and 1 coarsely chopped, divided
8. 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)
9. 2 tablespoons olive oil
10. vegetable oil for frying
Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, soak wheat for 30 minutes in cold water. Remove and drain. Remove excess water by squeezing through thick paper towel or cheesecloth. Place into medium bowl and combine with 1 lb. meat, coarsely chopped onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.
2. Combine well and place small amount in food processor until doughlike consistency. You can slowly add an ice cube at a time during processing if needed. Place mixture aside, covered. Instead of using a food processor, you can use a mortar and pestle, however it will take you over an hour to achieve desired consistency.
Prepare Kibbeh Stuffing
3. In a medium frying pan, saute the finely chopped onion in olive oil. Add pine nuts if desired. Add ground lamb or beef and chop well with wooden spoon or spatula to ensure the meat is chopped. Add allspice, salt, pepper, and cumin. Once beef is light brown, remove from heat. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Assemble Kibbeh and Fry
4. Take an egg sized amount of shell mixture and form into a ball. With your finger, poke a hole in the ball, making a space for filling. Add filling and pinch the top to seal the ball. You can then shape it into a point, or football shape, or leave as a ball.
5. Fry in 350 degree oil on stove top or in deep fryer for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Makes 25 medium sized kibbeh.
-blogger of the month, Sahar Romem
We interviewed a young patient’s mom to know more about her son’s disease, and how the family is coping with it. She was speaking Hebrew the whole time and I was listening intently, leaning almost to her nose, trying to extrapolate as much information as I could with my pathetic Hebrew. It worked! Somehow? I felt I was able to understand 30-40% of what she said, catching familiar words here and there, and interpreting her facial expression and body language. Normally I would say my Hebrew is only 15% good. In 2 years, hopefully I’ll be able to interview patients using simple sentences and not feel like a clown.
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