My wife’s 3 Bean Salad

I know that this recipe is a classic and many of you may think it’s outdated, but when you put it out at a barbecue, it’s a perfect salad that gets gobbled up in the end.

Ingredients

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of cut green beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of cut yellow beans or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 4 cherry tomatoes, halved

For the vinaigrette:

• 3\4 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1\2 cup of sugar
• 1\4 cup of oil
• Salt and Pepper

Recipe

Mix and Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Healthy Quinoa and Beet salad with a Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette

Everyone is into quinoa these days, so here is my special quinoa recipe I learnt at chef school

Ingredients

• 1 cup of cooked quinoa
• 3 cooked beets
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 tbls of balsamic vinegar
• Fillet of 1 orange and the juice squeezed out of it
• 1 bunch of fresh mint chopped
• Salt and pepper

Recipe

1. Cook the quinoa according to the instructions on the package.
2. Saute the red onion until browned.
3. Once everything is cooked, mix the rest of the ingredients together and serve cold.

 

Kadaif Beef Nests

Recipe for Kadaif Beef Nests

A very easy recipe and looks very impressive as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of ready to go Kadaif dough
• 1\2 kilo ground beef
• 3 tsp pine nuts
• 1 onion diced
• 3 dates diced
• 3 cloves of garlic crushed
• 3 tsp Ras al Hanut
• Chopped coriander for garnish
• Salt & Pepper

Recipe:

1. Take the ready-made kadaif dough and place in cupcake tin and create a pocket for the beef filling, spray the tin with oil. Turn your oven on 180c and bake the dough until firm and golden brown.
2. For the beef filling: Saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Add ground beef, season with salt and pepper, and cook until it’s broken down and nice and brown.
3. Drain the excess liquid from the ground beef and add the ras al hanut and dates.
4. In a different pan toast the pine nuts until they have a smokey essence.
5. Combine all the ingredients together and garnish with fresh coriander.

Serve with a nice yellow tahini sauce or a tomato chutney.

Enjoy!

 

A Hamburger that traveled down South

In searching for the best kosher hamburger in the city I have stumbled on a surprise located on Hillel street. Zesty burger is a hamburger chain located mainly in the north of Israel, have opened up their first Jerusalem location a couple of months back. After seeing a groupon for the place knowing that it’s a new venue, I went to try the hamburger that has come down from the north.

The menu that is offered is pretty straight forward,.burgers wraps or sandwiches, that’s it.

What intrigued me was the variety of burgers they offer: Classic, short ribs, Mergez, Entricote, Goose(??) and many more. The burger toppings are also really cool like they offer: chorizo, goose breast, pineapple and more. They have 3 levels of burgers that define the type of meal you are looking for. They also offer a couples or triplet meals for those who don’t want to spend too much money on going out. While we were debating between each other about what to order, the guy behind the counter was really friendly and patient and we ended up chatting for a while before we even ordered.We took the triple meal (3 burgers, 2 sides, a large bottle of soft drink 109 shekel)and that’s when the dilemma started.

The menu is packed with so many different burgers that all looked really good so I went on the one I figured would be full of surprises, so I picked the short ribs burger, to be done medium.

My friends took the same as well. Zesty cooks all their burgers on a flat-top which in my opinion is the only way to cook a  hamburger because you get that crust you want on a burger while the inside is cooked to your liking. We also ordered a side of fries and onion rings as well to go with the burger. So when they called us up to put toppings on our burgers, another thing that makes this place really cool are the sauces. The sauces are a bit different from what you would get and much tastier than any other burger chain. For example there is a sauce called Shipkah, which is a crossover of a pesto and chimichuri. Full of flavor and very different.

So we get our burgers and sides and sit down, and the guy behind the counter gave us an extra side of fries(really cool) with all the sauces Zesty offers. the first thing I notices about the burger was how fresh everything was; the bun, the vegetables and especially the burger. The hamburger  was cooked to a perfect medium and was so tender and full of flavor. What also surprised me were the onion rings, They were full of flavor and really crunchy. The best part were the condiments, because dipping sauces were of the hook!

All in all, For a chain of hamburgers Zesty delivers on all cylinders and is a really, and I mean really good!

Zesty, Hillel 28, Kosher rabbanute yerushalayim.

 

Ras-el-Hanut Phyllo Dough Meat Pockets

One of my favorite spice blends is definitely Ras-el-Hanut. A Moroccan spice blend composed from 30 different spices that are full of body and flavor that will give any protein you use a very cool and different flavor your palate is used to. You can pick it up at any fresh spices store or packaged in certain shops. So here is a recipe that I came up with, how to use this spice blend to the max, and keep it simple as well:

Ingredients

• 1\2 Kilo ground beef or lamb or chicken
• 1 Onion Diced small
• 2 Cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tbls minced corriander
• 1-3 tsp of Ras-el-Hanut spice blend depends on how strong you like it
• Salt&Pepper for flavor
• 1 Package of Phyllo Dough
• oil for frying
• 1 egg for coating
• topping of choice: Dried parsley, sesame seeds,

Recipe

1. Place a frying pan on a high heat and saute the onions and garlic until translucent and add the ground meat and brown.
2. Add the spices and herbs to the meat mixture and drain the excess liquid from the pan and fix the seasoning if necessary.
3. While the meat mixture cools down, turn your oven on 175c.
4. Take the phyllo out of the package and follow the instructions on the package on how to fold the dough into the shape you’d like your pastry.
5. Brush and seal the dough with the egg wash, then coat the dough with the egg and add topping of choice.
6. Bake until golden brown.

Serve hot with a tahini dipping sauce. Enjoy!

 

Restaurant style Tomato Sauce

This is a tomato sauce that can be put on anything!

Ingredients

• 1 Onion, cubed
• 3 Celery stalks, chopped
• 1 Carrot, cubed
• 4 cloves of crushed
• 1 Can of crushed tomatoes
• 100 grams Tomato paste
• 1 tbls paprika
• 1 tsp fresh basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbls fresh parsley
• 2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1\2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbls brown sugar
• If you’d like, a pinch of cumin
• Olive oil for frying

Recipe

1. Sweat the vegetables and garlic in a pot.
2. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes.
3. Add all the spices and bring to a boil.
4. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer and cook until vegetables are soft.
5. Blend the sauce, and let simmer for another hour.
6. Fix seasoning, and serve on anything!

Enjoy!

Potatoes and chive Latkes with Mango Salsa

A modern topping on a classic dish!

Ingredients:

For the Latkes:

• 5 potatoes, peeled and grated
• 1 small onion, grated
• 3 tbls chives, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp salt
• 1\4 tsp black pepper
• 1\3 cup of flour
• Vegetable oil for frying

For the Mango Salsa

• 1 mango, peeled and cubed
• 1\2 red onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced with no seeds
• juice from 1 lemon
• a bunch of cilantro(2-3 tbls)
• Salt and pepper, for flavor

Recipe:

1. Combine the ingredients for the latkes in a mixing bowl. Mix until the spices blend.
2. Put a non-stick frying pan on a medium-high flame and add the oil until it shimmers.
3. Measure out a tbls of the mixture and place in hot pan, and flatten.
4. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Place on a paper towel when finished frying to absorb the extra oil.
5. For the Salsa: Combine ingredients for the salsa and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with sour cream too and Happy Chanukah!

Homemade Adobo Sauce

Adobo sauce is called for in many Mexican or Philippine style dishes. But sadly in Israel we don’t have adobo peppers so here a different way to make home made Adobo Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 3 grilled red jalapeno peppers
• 1 grilled red bell pepper
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp of creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp of black pepper
• pinch of cinnamon
• 2 tbls apple cider vinegar

Recipe:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender.
2. Pulse everything into thick paste and store it in the refrigerator in a container with a tight lid.
3. Thin the adobo paste with 1/4 cup tomato sauce before use.
4. Lasts up to 3 months.

Greek style Butterflied Whole Chicken

This recipe is a Greek inspired dish. very easy to make and tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole chicken butterflied but still connected
• Juice from 1 lemon + zest
• 1\2 cup of olives
• 2 tbls butter flavored margarine
• 2 tbls olive oil
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tbls oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• pinch of black pepper

Recipe:

1. Pre-heat oven on 175c.
2. Combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon, lemon zest, salt, pepper and oregano and mix together until the flavors merry.
3. Butterfly your chicken(that it still stays connected)
4. Put the chicken on a baking dish and place the butter under the skin covering the chicken breast.
5. Brush the marinade on the chicken and place the olives  on the chicken.
6. Place the chicken in the oven and bake uncovered for an hour and fifteen minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Home made Mall Pretzels

After departing from the states, I really missed soft mall pretzels. These are great  with a bit of pretzel salt or coated with garlic salt or onion salt. Once finished, dip the hot pretzel in a hot beer cheese sauce(recipe to come), peanut butter, mustard, melted butter or whatever you fancy. So I looked around and finally after a collaboration of different recipes I came up with this:

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (45 degrees C) 
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 8 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt or Atlantic sea salt for topping

Recipe:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand until the yeast has dissolved and bubbles appear, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center, or place in your mixer; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes.
3. Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C. Grease 2 baking sheets.
4. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in 4 cups hot water; set aside. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape.
5. Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda-hot water solution and place pretzels on baking sheets. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
6. Bake in preheated oven until browned, about 8 minutes.

These pretzels freeze nicely so I recommend to make a double batch and enjoy!