arts&life
dining in
Passover:
Traditional And New
B
Annabel Cohen
Food Columnist
46
ring on Passover. It’s next
weekend and we are busy not
just thinking about the menu,
but also bubbling up “shissels” of
soup and forming ground whitefish
and onions into the gefilte fish that
starts our meal.
However, some people are already
bored by the prospect of serving fla-
vorless brisket, steamed vegetables
or another nut cake or flourless con-
coction they hope will taste, heaven
forbid, non-Pesadik.
I, on the other, like the challenge of
creating delicious, savory and sweet
dishes to accompany my favorite
Passover brisket and chicken. But
there’s something to be said about
traditional foods our families crave
for the Passover festive meal.
Along with the tried-and-true, we
yearn for complex textures and mod-
ern flavors we’ve come to love, when
possible. There’s no reason most any
foods cannot be adapted, if needed,
to comply with Passover customs.
We’re pretty lucky that we have so
many choices. If you’re Sephardic, as
I am, your choices are even greater
— we eat rice and beans with our
Passover meal. In the old days, while
some matzah-based dishes were cre-
ated especially for the holiday, most
people prepared the same foods they
ate every Shabbat, with just a few
Pesadik modifications.
Here we offer some old and some
new ideas for Passover, and some
inspiration to get you thinking about
how you can adapt your favorite
cuisine for the holiday. After all, there
are eight days of eating, and gefilte
fish and potato kugel on a daily basis
can get boring very fast.
March 22 • 2018
jn
First, some brisket variations.
Brisket is the breast section of beef.
If you buy a “whole” brisket, it can
be 10 pounds or more in weight and
4 inches thick (or more). It’s actually
two parts of beef — one part “flat”
and the other thicker at one end and
thinner at the other, sort of a subtle
wedge. This “wedge” is called the
dekel and is fattier than the leaner
flat. While you can cook the whole
brisket, which is delicious, “Jewish”
brisket is usually made from the flat
part of the brisket, which weighs
between 4-6 pounds. Since this cut
is a tough muscle, it’s usually cooked
slowly, for several hours, for utmost
fall-apart tenderness.
5-INGREDIENT BRISKET IN FOIL
Start this recipe the day before or up
to two weeks ahead!
2 cups chopped onions
1 4-5 pound trimmed flat-cut bris-
ket, most of the fat trimmed away
1 cup ketchup
1 package dried onion soup mix
Fresh ground pepper and salt to
taste
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Tear off two
large sheets of aluminum foil (more
sheets if using regular foil) that are at
least 18-inches wide. Sprinkle the foil
with the onions and place the brisket
on the onions. Spread the ketchup
over brisket and sprinkle the onion
soup mix over the ketchup. Use two
more pieces of foil to top the brisket.
Fold the bottom sheets of foil up
around the beef. Squeeze the top and
bottom layers of foil together very
tightly to create a package (the bot-
tom foil should be deeper so that the
liquids don’t leak from the package
during cooking).
Cook the brisket for 3 hours and
chill for several hours or overnight.
Carefully remove the top foil and
transfer the meat to a cutting board,
being careful not to spill the liquids
in the foil.
Using an electric knife or other
sharp knife, slice the brisket against
the grain into thin slices, about
¼-inch thick. Transfer the meat to a
baking dish and stack it horizontally,
overlapping the slices slightly (you
want to shape this to look like the
roast again). Pour the juices over the
brisket. (You may freeze the brisket
at this point and thaw a day ahead).
Reheat the beef by placing the foil-
wrapped pan in a 250ºF oven for 1 or
more hours, until the meat is tender.
If warming for several hours, reduce
heat to 225ºF and cover with foil
after the first hour. Makes 8-12 serv-
ings.
ONION, GARLIC AND BALSAMIC
ROAST BRISKET
1 4-5 pound trimmed flat-cut bris-
ket, most of the fat trimmed away (not
all)
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
4 cups chopped onions
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups beef stock or broth (more if
needed)
1 cup tomato puree
2 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 bay leaf
Preheat the oven to 325°. In a wide
pot, skillet or roasting pan over 2
burners at medium-high heat, heat
the oil until very hot. Add the brisket
and allow to sear (without turning)
for 4 minutes. Turn the roast and
sear on the other side for 5 minutes
more. Remove to a dish and set aside.
Add the onions, garlic and salt to
the pot/skillet/roasting pan. Saute
until the vegetables are softened. Add
the remaining ingredients and bring
to a boil (if the pot/skillet is not deep
enough for all the liquid, add only 1
cup of stock; add the remaining to
the roasting pan before cooking the
brisket in the oven). Reduce heat to
simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
Transfer the brisket to a roasting
pan, pour the onion mixture around
the brisket, not over it. Cover the
roasting pan tightly with foil (I use
heavy duty or 2 sheets of regular foil).
Cook for 3½ hours. Allow the bris-
ket to cool (covered) and refrigerate
overnight.
Remove the brisket from the refrig-
erator and remove the congealed fat
that has floated on top of the pan
juices.
Using an electric knife or other
sharp knife, slice the brisket against
the grain into thin slices, about
¼-inch thick. Transfer the meat to