Around the Shabbat Table (21 page)

COOK'S NOTE:
To prepare a cloak of fried mushrooms, sauté 1 cup chopped onion and 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic in 2 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until deep gold, 5 to 7 minutes; add 3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms (fresh shiitakes would be delicious, but cremini or regular button mushrooms will do very well), and cook over high heat until the mushrooms smell fragrant and release their juices; add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, and cook for another 2 minutes; season to taste with salt and pepper; garnish, if desired, with chopped parsley, scallions, chives, or dill.

CHICKPEAS WITH GARLIC AND BARBEQUE SPICES

yield:
ABOUT 3 CUPS

A herring tidbit in cream sauce, a stuffed grape leaf, a piece of sweet egg
kichel
—Jewish cuisine is rich in tantalizing noshes. Perhaps this is because a little snack calls for just a little
brocha
(blessing), not the full ritual benediction required before and after eating a complete meal.

Jews have enjoyed chickpeas since biblical times. Known as
arbas
or
nahit
to Ashkenazi Jews and
garvansos
to Sephardim, they are a popular snack food, eaten like popcorn, especially on Purim when they are served to mimic Queen Esther, who ate legumes and grains instead of the king's nonkosher food.

In our house, we usually ate them boiled plain, with heaps of coarsely ground black pepper. In this recipe, I sprinkle them with a seasoning similar to a more recently beloved nosh—barbequed potato chips.

And the spiciness of this little cocktail nibble encourages one to fulfill that pleasant Purim injunction: “Drink until you can no longer differentiate between the names Mordecai and Haman.”

1 cup dried chickpeas (about
¹
⁄
₂
pound; see Cook's Note)

1
¹
⁄
₂
teaspoons olive or canola oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika, preferably smoked

1 teaspoon ground cumin, preferably freshly toasted and ground

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon dry mustard

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon brown sugar

¹
⁄
₈
teaspoon ground cinnamon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

PICK
over the chickpeas and rinse them well in several changes of cold water. Soak them overnight in enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Or use the quick soak method: put them in a large saucepan and add about 5 cups cold water; bring the water to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes; remove the pan from heat and let the chickpeas stand, covered, for 1 hour. Drain the chickpeas.

IN
a large saucepan, bring the chickpeas to a boil with enough fresh cold water to cover by 2 inches. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until very tender, 1 to 2 hours, depending on the age of the peas. They should be rather soft, not at all al dente, but don't overcook to mushiness. (You'll be cooking them further with the spices, and you should be able to pick them up and munch them like popcorn, dissolving in your mouth, not in your hands.) Drain well, place in a large, heavy nonstick skillet, and shake over low heat until very dry. Add the oil and toss until the chickpeas are evenly coated.

IN
a small bowl, stir together the garlic, paprika, cumin, mustard, cayenne, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the chickpeas and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, to marry the flavors. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. These are best served warm.

COOK'S NOTE:
If you must, substitute about 2
¹
⁄
₂
cups canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained) for the dried ones. Dry and season them in the skillet, as instructed above. But canned chickpeas—excellent in hummus and so many other dishes—tend to be rather mushy and bland (too much flavor leaches into the canning liquid) for this recipe.

BEEF STOCK

yield:
2
¹
⁄
₂
TO 3 QUARTS

By setting aside a cup or two of
clear chicken soup
for the freezer every time I make it, I usually have enough available for most cooking needs. And when I don't, I doctor purchased broth for an excellent
Almost Homemade
. Using good homemade chicken broth does beef recipes no injustice, in most cases. But there are times when only a full-bodied beef stock will do—for simmering
Flanken
, for instance.

This dish call for deep, rich flavors, so first I caramelize the meat, bones, and aromatics. Because I have a very wide, heavy pot (an 8-quart Dutch oven), I can do everything—browning and simmering—in one pot, on top of the stove. A regular stockpot is neither wide nor heavy enough to brown the ingredients well. If you don't have a large enough saucepan or Dutch oven, use a 5- to 6-quart pot for browning, then transfer everything to a stockpot. Either way is simpler and less messy than caramelizing the ingredients by oven-roasting them.

About the bones: while marrow bones are often suggested, I find they can give the stock a slightly greasy quality that can be quite unpleasant in many dishes. Many butchers will not charge for soup bones—knuckle, shank, shoulder, and neck are good choices—if you request them when placing a large meat order. If you buy meat infrequently, request bones whenever you do and store them in the freezer until you are ready to prepare the stock.

1 to 2 tablespoons mild olive or vegetable oil

3 pounds lean stewing beef, such as chuck or neck meat, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces

2 pounds knuckle, shank, shoulder, or neck bones (if bones are very meaty, you can reduce the amount of beef to 2 pounds), trimmed of as much fat as possible

¹
⁄
₂
pound onions, cut into coarse chunks (2 cups)

¹
⁄
₂
pound carrots, scraped and cut into coarse chunks (1
¹
⁄
₂
cups)

1 parsnip, peeled and cut into coarse chunks

3 large garlic cloves, peeled

¹
⁄
₂
cup dry red or white wine

4 quarts cold water (quality is important here, so if you use bottled water for coffee or tea, use it here)

20 peppercorns, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1 small rutabaga or white turnip, peeled and cut into chunks

3 celery stalks, including leaves if available, coarsely chopped

1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs

IN
an 8- to 10-quart Dutch oven or heavy saucepan with a lid, heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderately high heat. Working in batches so you don't crowd the pan, lightly brown the meat (don't let it get too crusty), and transfer it to a platter. In the same pan, brown the bones on all sides, then transfer them to the platter. Add another tablespoon of oil, if necessary, and the onions, carrots, parsnip, and garlic. Brown them in the dark meat residue, stirring and scraping them with a wooden spoon as they begin to bronze around the edges, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and stir constantly to scrape up the browned bits. Add 1 quart of the water and boil for 3 minutes, stirring, to pick up any remaining meat and vegetable bits. (If using a smaller pan, transfer everything now to a stockpot.)

ADD
the meat, bones, remaining 3 quarts water, peppercorns, and salt. Turn the heat to medium and bring to a slow bubble, skimming any froth and scum that rise to the surface. When the soup begins to “smile” (tiny bubbles break along the edge of the pot), turn the heat down to very low. Let the soup simmer for about 30 minutes, skimming frequently. Add the rutabaga or turnip, celery, and parsley, and raise the heat slightly to bring it back to a simmer. Let it bubble for a few minutes, then turn the heat down as low as possible, put the lid on, leaving it slightly askew, and continue skimming occasionally. Simmer the soup for at least 2 or 2
¹
⁄
₂
hours longer—3 to 5 is even better. Do not let the soup boil. If necessary, use a flame tamer or
blech,
or put it on top of two burner grates stacked together. (Make sure the soup is bubbling, though ever so gently. If there is no movement at all on the surface, the soup will spoil.) Add more salt if you want, but remember this is a stock: the other dishes in which you will use it may be salty enough, and besides, the stock's flavors will become more concentrated when you boil it down.

LET
the soup cool to room temperature in the pot, uncovered. (Hot soup in a covered pot may turn sour.)

STRAIN
the cooled soup through a wire-mesh sieve pressing down on all the meat, bones, and vegetables to extract as much of their flavorful juices as you can, then discard the solids. (If desired, you can save the meat and the carrots and dice them finely to serve in the stock. However, most of the flavor will have been extracted from them already.)

REFRIGERATE
the soup, covered, overnight, or until all the fat has congealed on top. Carefully scrape off the fat and discard it. If the soup still seems fatty, line a wire-mesh sieve with a layer of paper towels and pour the soup through into a clean bowl or pot. (If the soup has jelled from chilling, bring it to room temperature first.) If the paper towels become thickly coated with fat, change them once or twice during the process.

STORE
the stock in the refrigerator up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.