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Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 01 August 2022

• Fish
• Gluten Free
• Jewish Recipes

I’m tagging this as a ‘Jewish Recipe’ because it is, so fight me!

“The UK tradition of eating fish battered and fried in oil was introduced to the country by Spanish and Portuguese Jewish immigrants, who spent time in the Netherlands before settling in the UK as early as the 16th century.” - From Wikipedia.

Our better recipe is a bit different as Gluten is a no-go here. So we've pottered with batter recipes until we found one we like.

Ingredients:-

2 Eggs, beaten and set aside
Cornflour, as much as you need. See method.
Salt (Kosher if you like) & Pepper, to season
2 Tsp of Turmeric (Cornflour batter looks dreadful without)
2 Tsp of Baking Powder
1 Tsp of Garlic Powder
Soda Water

Method:-

(1) Heat a fryer to 160c.
(2) Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
(3) Dredge the fish in the dry mix and set aside.
(4) Add Soda Water and enough Cornflour to make a thin batter.
(5) Dunk the coated Fish in the Egg Wash.
(6) Dunk in the Batter mix and fry in batches.

Served with a few peas, Tartar sauce, a slice of Lemon etc. The price of Fish means this isn’t a cheap treat now. But it was gooooood!!!!

Details

Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 26 July 2022

• Takes a bit of time
• Beef Mince
• Gluten Free
• Jewish Recipes

I’ll not bother to type this recipe out in full, you can find it here if you are interested. https://www.chabad.org/recipes/recipe_cdo/aid/3561592/jewish/Chamin-for-Shabbat.htm/fbclid/IwAR1dqCYX3hnYfs1AmV48VzdRTdJZyVAVEx5nUOZRuVtPbo8PSF0__HXZ-7A

Part of the issue is that although the recipe looked interesting, we didn’t read it to the end before embarking on cooking it! The sentence we missed was “ Drop the meat patties in as it boils, cover, and place on a hot plate on low heat until Sabbath lunch. “ In other words, to avoid as much work on the Sabbath as possible, this recipe requires a very long and slow cooking process……

We should have known better really as we both commented that some of the processes seemed a bit odd. But trustingly we cracked on…..

We started this on Sunday and eventually ate it yesterday.

But, and it’s a big but…..

Whoever took the photograph clearly realised they had the same problem as we encountered. When it is finally cooked what you are left with is the least photogenic brown stew with meatballs loitering under the surface. Even the Kidney Beans had given up the ghost and disintegrated. They clearly corrected this in a similar way as us to rescue the photograph. We’re guessing that they added a tin of Kidney Beans and fresh chopped Tomatoes right at the end of the cooking process.

We resorted to adding a tin of Kidney Beans, various chopped herbs and the zest of a Lemon to try to brighten it a bit and add texture. However whatever limited flavours this dish could once have had, had effectively cooked out.

It was OK, but certainly not an outstanding success and certain not worth the extended cooking time. But you can’t win them all I guess…...

Details

Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 26 July 2022

• Takes a bit of time
• Chicken
• Gluten Free
• Jewish Recipes

Oh man, if you want to add some really impressive flavours to the humble Chicken, this is for you!

Ingredients:-

4 to 5 Medium Potatoes, scrubbed
4 Medium Shallots, quartered
4 Tbsp of Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp of Sumac
1 Small Chicken, patted dry
1 Lemon
5 Tbsp of Za’atar Spice Blend
½ a Tsp of Chilli Flakes
2 Cloves of Garlic
6 Thyme sprigs
Salt & Pepper to season

Method:-

(1) Preheat the oven to 180c
(2) Cut each Potatoes into 6 wedges.
(3) In a Dutch Oven, add the Potatoes and Shallots, 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil, Sumac, Salt, and Black pepper.
(4) Season Chicken well with salt and pepper.
(5) Zest the Lemon into a small bowl, halve and set aside.
(6) Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil to the bowl along with 4 tablespoons of the Za’atar and the Chilli flakes and mix well.
(7) Stuff the Lemon halves, Garlic, and Thyme sprigs inside the Chicken,
(8) Rub the Chicken all over with the Za’atar mixture.
(9) Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of Za’atar.
(10) Place the Chicken, breast-side up, on top of the potatoes. Roast until the juices run clear, and the potatoes underneath the chicken are soft and the ones on the edges are crisp and golden,
(11) Remove the Chicken from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
(12) Remove the Lemon, Garlic, and Thyme springs from the cavity.
(13) Carve the Chicken  then squeeze  the reserved lemon on the chicken and potatoes.

We served ours with Red Cabbage, Carrots and Broccoli to add a bit of colour. The Chicken and Potatoes were the star of the show. Really really good!


 

Details

Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 25 July 2022

• Takes a bit of time
• Stewing Beef
• Gluten Free
• Jewish Recipes

Pomegranate as a word can quite easily be decanted to it’s original meaning - Poly (Many) Gran (Grains) it’s one of the fruits which still have some sense of meaning to their name. Many of the Citrus fruits have simply lost their meaning over time and have become names of the colour of their skin - Orange - Lemon  - Lime etc. What does Grape really mean?!

Ingredients for the Rub:-

3 Tbsp of Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp of Sumac
1 Tbsp of Mustard Powder
1 Tbsp of Paprika
1 Tbsp of Garlic Powder
1 Tsp of Cayenne
1 Tbsp of Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp of Salt


Main ingredients:-

A good sized lump of Brisket ( Ours was just under 900g)
2 Onions, Sliced
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
330ml of Dry Cider
120ml of Tomato Sauce
120ml of Pomegranate Molasses
500ml of Beef Stock
Oil to fry
Salt & Pepper to taste.


Method:-

In a bowl, combine all rub ingredients
(1) Rub the spice mixture all over both sides of the Brisket
(2) Place spiced Brisket in the fridge covered overnight.
(3) Remove from the fridge and allow  to come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 180°C.
(4) Heat a large Dutch Oven or ovenproof pan over high heat. Add oil and Brisket. Sear both sides of the meat for 4-5 minutes per side until nicely browned. Remove the meat and set aside.
(5) To the same pot, add Onions, Salt, and Pepper. Cook for 4 minutes until the Onions are soft and translucent.
(6) Add the Garlic and cook for a further minute.
(7) Add the Dry Cider, using a spoon to stir it in and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
(8) Add remaining ingredients and bring it the to a boil
(9) Return brisket and spoon the sauce and Onions over the brisket.
(10) Cover the pot tightly and simmer for about 1 1⁄2 hours.
(11) Remove from oven and turn Brisket over.
(12) Check every 30 minutes until it is soft and tender.
(13) Remove from the oven and allow brisket to cool completely in the sauce.
(14) To slice brisket, allow it to cool completely, then remove from sauce and slice against the grain. Best of luck with that!!!!!


We garnish with pomegranate seeds and served with season vegetables. What started out as a very expensive looking recipe fed us for two days and the remainders were very much appreciated by the Foxes. It looks very brown, but it tasted really good!