Homemade Beef Stock

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus extra as needed 1 large onion 2.5 kilo beef shanks or shin meat cut from bone in large chunks 120 ml (1/2cup) dry red wine 2 litres boiling water 2 bay leaves ½ teaspoon salt Heat oil in large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion […]

Nira’s Fried Cauliflower Salad

Long before cauliflower was on every menu, my mother would make cauliflower on Fridays as a pre-Shabbat treat. Fried cauliflower is incredible straight from the frying pan, but if possible my mother would hold some of the cauliflower back and make a bit of a salad with it, which we would eat at Shabbat lunch. […]

SABICH

I grew up with the idea of Shabbat cereal. It was the one day a week we could eat artificially coloured and flavoured, sugar packed snack disguised as a breakfast food. But what did Shabbat observant Jews who do not cook on Shabbat do before mass-produced cereal? Sabich was the Iraqi Jewish Shabbat morning dish. […]

Watermelon and Mint Salad

I love eating this salad – As I eat it, I feel transported to a beachside café in Israel, overlooking the sea with this satisfying and delicious salad. 3.5 kilo whole seedless watermelon, chilled (about 12 cups of cubed fruit) 60 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil 3 whole lemons, use the zest of […]

SAVTA’S DATE COOKIES

For cookie dough: 125g caster (2/3 cup super fine) sugar 225g (1 cup) unsalted butter or margarine at room temperature, diced Pinch of salt 1 egg Juice of half a lemon 380g (3 cups) plain flour For filling: 400g (14 ounces) pitted dates 400ml (14 fl ounces) boiling water 100g (3 ½ ounces) walnuts, chopped […]

Savoury Syrian (Ka’ak) cookies

I’m six and I’m sitting with my back to the window of my grandparent’s tiny kitchen in Forest Hills, the yellow gingham café curtains flutter against my back and my grandparents are standing side by side, Savta is busy rolling out the dough for Savta’s famous date cookies. But I had seen Savta make these […]

WALNUT MACAROONS

425g (5 cups) finely ground walnuts 250g (2 cups) icing (confectioners/powdered) sugar zest of 2 oranges 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 egg 3 egg whites Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F) and line two baking trays. Combine almond meal, icing sugar, zest, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre of your dry […]

BLOOD ORANGE GRANITA

Ingredients 60 ml (1/4 cup) water 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar 500 g (2 cups) freshly squeezed blood orange juice In a small saucepan, combine the water, and sugar. Heat to a boil and cook until the sugar is fully dissolved. Let cool completely, then chill in the fridge. Whisk to combine the blood […]

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Adapted from The New York Times Passover Cookbook, and inspired by my childhood! Here is the funny thing, this is one of those recipes that I grew up knowing about; like Crepes Suzette and Chicken Marbella, it had its heyday in the 70’s. A recipe first imagined by James Beard in 1974 that is so easy […]