The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook (23 page)

SERVES
8

Cholent was probably conceived in Europe many centuries ago, though some Jewish historians claim it's even more ancient, dating back to the days of the Second Temple. A complete meal in a pot, it is traditionally made in advance and enjoyed on the Sabbath, when cooking is forbidden. In the Europe of our great-grandparents, every Friday afternoon, in cities as cosmopolitan as Cracow and Pinsk, to lowly shtetls like Debrecen and Pinchif, Jewish housewives would prepare their cholent
tup
(pot) with all its wonderful ingredients, and then off to the baker's oven it would go. There, the kettles would remain warming until the next day, when they were retrieved for a hearty lunch after morning synagogue services (the word
cholent
may be derived from the easily translatable German words
shule ende
). In modern times, observant Jews leave their Sabbath cholent to simmer all night on the stove or in the oven.

Though cholent is a traditional Sabbath meal, there's no reason not to enjoy this savory stew at any time. The Deli version is what Sharon's grandmother used to call
am g'naiden!—
a taste of Heaven.

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, 1 tablespoon of the salt, and 1 teaspoon of the pepper. Toss beef cubes in mixture, coating thoroughly. Cover bowl, and refrigerate for 4 hours or longer.

2. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the corn oil, and brown beef cubes (it's best to do it in batches, so all pieces brown evenly). Set aside.

3. Place Yankee beans and 11 cups of water in a large stockpot; bring to a boil. Add red beans and stew beef, and simmer, uncovered, for 75 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. While beans and beef are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of the corn oil in a large frying pan, and sauté onions until brown. At the last minute, add garlic and brown quickly. Set aside in a bowl.

5. Toss potatoes with the 2 remaining tablespoons corn oil and paprika, coating them thoroughly. Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside.

6. Add onions and garlic to the pot. Continue simmering for another 40 minutes.

7. Add derma, 2 teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and potatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes more, or until everything is fully cooked and almost all the liquid is evaporated. Add a little water only if necessary to keep from burning. Cholent is a very thick stew.

MAKES
7
PIECES

On Succoth, a joyous seven-day autumn harvest festival (a kind of Jewish Thanksgiving), stuffed foods—most notably holishkes, but also also kreplach, stuffed peppers, and strudels—are served to symbolize abundance. Stuffed cabbage has been a staple of Jewish cooking since the fourteenth century, when it was introduced in Russia by Tartars. There are an infinity of recipes for it, both Eastern European and Middle Eastern; ours, in a sweet-and-sour sauce, is of Polish derivation.

1. In a large bowl, combine all the stuffing ingredients. Stir them with a fork, then mix thoroughly with your hands. Cover and refrigerate.

2. In another bowl, thoroughly mix all sauce ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

3. Fill a very large stockpot three-quarters full with water and bring to a rapid boil. While bringing the water to a boil, use a thin, sharp knife to make deep cuts around the core of the large cabbage (cut into the cabbage in a circle about ¼ inch out from the core). Lift out the core, making a hole about 2 inches wide and 2½ inches deep. This is a bit difficult—persevere.

4. Set out a baking tray near the stove. Stick a long cooking fork into the core hole of the large cabbage, and plunge it (carefully, so you don't splash yourself) into the pot of rapidly boiling water. The outer leaves will begin to fall off. Leave them in the boiling water for a few minutes until they're limp and flexible enough for stuffing; then take them out one at a time, and place them on the baking tray. Try not to tear the leaves. When all the leaves are on the tray, transfer it into the sink and pour the boiling water from the pot over them. Wash the leaves carefully in cold water. With a small, sharp knife, trim off the tough outer spines and discard them.

5. Find your largest leaves, and set them out on a plate. Set out all other leaves on another plate. One at a time, line each large leaf with another large leaf or two smaller leaves. (The idea is to strengthen your cabbage wrapping so that the stuffing stays securely inside during cooking. Be sure to align the spines of inner and outer leaves.) Stuff with ¾ cup of the meat-rice mixture, roll very tightly along the spine, and close both sides by tucking them in with your fingers. The spine should be vertical in the center of your roll.

6. Stir the 4 cups of chopped cabbage into the sauce. Pour ¾ inch of the sauce into a large, wide-bottomed stockpot. Arrange the cabbage rolls carefully on top of the sauce, and pour the remainder of the sauce over them to cover. Cover pot and simmer for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Serve with boiled potatoes and a vegetable.

SERVES
6

Eggplant, a favorite vegetable in the culinary repertoire of Middle Eastern Jews, is a common ingredient in ground-meat casseroles such as this Persian relative of moussaka.

1. In a large skillet, quickly sauté raisins in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, stirring frequently until browned but not burned. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place in a large bowl. In the oil left in the pan, quickly brown the pine nuts and set aside separately from the raisins.

2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to skillet, and sauté onions, stirring occasionally, until brown. At the last minute, add garlic and brown very quickly. Remove onion-garlic mixture to bowl with the raisins.

3. Add meat to skillet (add a small amount of oil only if needed), and sauté, stirring frequently, and breaking up lumps with a fork, until meat is fully browned and in loose pieces. Drain off oil in a strainer, and add meat to bowl of raisins, onions, and garlic. Add cooked rice, tomato sauce, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Mix everything thoroughly, and refrigerate until needed.

4. Turn oven setting to broil. Peel the eggplants, and, using a sharp knife, remove stems and cut them into vertical slices about ¼ inch wide. (The easiest way to cut even slices is to cut off the bottom end of your eggplant to create a flat surface, and stand it on end.)

5. Brush both sides of each eggplant slice lightly with olive oil (don't add more if it soaks in), and season them lightly with salt and pepper. Place eggplant slices on a rack (if you have one) atop a cookie sheet; if you don't have a rack, you can place them directly on the cookie sheet. Broil for a few minutes until tops are brown, keeping an eye on them; there's only about a minute's difference between browning and burning. If some slices are browning faster than others, rotate the pan 180 degrees, and continue to broil. Turn slices, and brown the other sides. You'll probably need to do this in batches. Adjust oven temperature to 375 degrees.

6. Using a 10- by 12- by 3-inch (or similiar-sized) casserole dish, place a layer of eggplant slices along the bottom, overlapping them slightly. Continue with a layer of the meat-rice mixture, followed by eggplant slices, another meat-rice layer, and a topping of eggplant slices. Bake for 30 minutes.

7. Sprinkle each portion with toasted pine nuts just prior to serving.