Hamud is a delicious lemony vegetable broth or sour sauce flavored with mint and filled with kibbe (haven’t heard of kibbe yet? Look at all the things you can do with it!). It’s a traditional Shabbat dish that we love eating on Friday night over rice. You see different families make it with different twists. Some people use citric acid, or sour salt to make theirs tart. I use fresh lemon juice.

This is really a simple recipe that comes together quickly on the stove. Just chop your celery, carrots, and potatoes, cover with water, and let simmer until the vegetables are soft and the water is fragrant. Add lemon juice, garlic, and mint, and you’re done! Now all you have to do is add the kibbe and make sure they’re cooked through. For years, my aunt used to deliver her hamud to us on Friday afternoons, since she made the best hamud, but now everyone in the family knows how to make it.

Another great thing about hamud? The broth with the veggies freezes well. Just defrost, simmer on the stove, and add fresh kibbe. Easy dinner!

Hamud

Ingredients:

• 1 quart water
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons dried mint leaves

Directions:

1. Fill a medium pot with water and diced vegetables.

2. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Add the crush garlic and salt to the vegetables.

4. Add lemon and mint leaves.

5. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

6. Add kibbe (I usually put around 12, but depends on how many people you’re serving and how much other food you made. Figure 2-3 per person) and simmer for 10 minutes longer, this time uncovered.

7. Serve hot over rice, as a sauce or even as a soup (yum!)

I’d like to introduce to you my new obsession: braised leeks!

We already know that I love leeks. Like in this lamb and leek hotpot, or this leek-fried rice. But those have other ingredients, in this recipe, the leek really is the star of the show!

And it’s so simple to make, too. I’d say the hardest part is washing the leeks. You don’t want to crunch on any sand!

While the leeks are braising, you toast up a yummy topping to serve with them, which gives a nice crunchy contrast to the soft, sweet leeks.

Buttery Braised Leeks from Food52

Ingredients:

• 2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and halved lengthwise
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped, leaves only
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and olive oil over a medium-high flame in a large sauté pan. Once the oil and butter are hot, place the leeks cut side down into the pan. Let the leeks brown in the pan for 4-5 minutes.
2. Carefully flip the leeks over and turn the heat on low. Cover and let the leeks braise for about 25-30 minutes or until the leeks are soft all the way through.
3. Meanwhile, combine panko with parsley, Parmesan, and salt and pepper in a small dish.
4. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the panko mixture until golden brown.
5. Take the leeks off the heat and squirt the lemon juice over the braised leeks and add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Sprinkle the leeks with the panko topping and serve.

Now, this isn’t really a recipe for mustard jibben! It’s a recipe for a tart, but I didn’t feel like making dough! (Even though it’s super easy to make.) Baked egg dishes without buttery doughs are still delicious! And what are they called? Well, we call them jibben. Plus, Jess just made a tart, so we’re mixing things up a bit here.

Just like Adele, I bookmarked this recipe long ago, but never got around to making it. When I was brainstorming what to make for our company, I found this way up in my recipes folder, and saw that it had leeks. I LOVE leeks!! And I also had some Grey Poupon in my fridge from when I made that mustard chicken. And of course I had eggs.

I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. I mean, I don’t really love mustard. It’s good as an ingredient, but I’m not a fan of it as a spread on sandwiches. I was afraid the flavor would overpower everything else. But really, the mustard and rosemary combo was subtle and delicious!

Mustard Jibben adapted from the New York Times

Ingredients

• 3 carrots (not too fat), trimmed and peeled
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut lengthwise in half and washed
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Grease a tart pan or pie dish and set aside.
2. Cut the carrots and leeks into slender bâtons or sticks: First cut the carrots lengthwise in half, then place the halves cut side down on the cutting board and cut crosswise in half or cut into chunks about 3 inches long. Cut the pieces into 1/ 8- to 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks. If your carrots were fat and you think your matchsticks don’t look svelte enough, cut them lengthwise in half. Cut the leeks in the same way.
3. Fit a steamer basket into a saucepan. Pour in enough water to come almost up to the steamer, cover, and bring to a boil. Drop the carrots, leeks, and 1 rosemary sprig into the basket, cover, and steam until the vegetables are tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the vegetables and pat them dry; discard the rosemary sprig.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs together with ricotta. Add the mustards, season with salt and pepper — mustard has a tendency to be salty, so proceed accordingly — and whisk to blend. Taste and see if you want to add a little more of one or the other mustards.
5. Put the tart pan on the lined baking sheet and pour the filling into it. Arrange the vegetables over the filling — they can go in any which way, but they’re attractive arranged in spokes coming out from the center of the tart. Top with the remaining rosemary sprig and give the vegetables a sprinkling of salt and a couple of turns of the pepper mill.
6. Bake the tart for about 30 minutes, or until it is uniformly puffed and lightly browned here and there and a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean. Transfer the tart to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes before removing the sides of the pan.
7. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature (or lightly chilled).

I really like couscous, but it can get very boring. So I decided to layer it with some healthy stuff and make it sorta like a lasagna. I thought it was a hit! And so did Richie, who ate two bowls of it for dinner.

I was inspired to make this dish when my friend Danielle told me about a great couscous dish her mother made. Her ingredients were pretty much the same, but she used canned tomatoes and mixed everything together, more like a traditional couscous. When Danielle called it a couscous lasagna, I knew I had to try it. Plus, I’m on a healthy greens kick, so I was excited to use kale and spinach in the same dish.

This dish did not disappoint. Some of the best things about it were that it could be assembled on the weekend and then baked for dinner one night. Serve it with a flaky white fish for a full meal. And a salad if you’re having company. Easiest dinner ever!

Couscous can be boring, which is why cooking it in veggie broth is a must. It would just taste too bland otherwise. Good thing I always have homemade vegetable broth in my freezer. I use my vegetable scraps and peels to do it, one day I’ll show you how I do it.

Couscous with Sauteed Greens and Tomatoes, inspired by my friend Danielle:

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons+ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1-2 large tomatoes, sliced thickly
• 1 bunch kale, stemmed and washed
• 1 bunch spinach, rinsed
• Black pepper
• 1 cup shredded muenster cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the couscous: in a medium pot, boil the vegetable broth with 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add the couscous, turn off the fire, cover, and let steam for 5 minutes.

2. Fluff the couscous and set aside.

3. Saute the greens: in a large pan, add the olive oil and place over medium heat.

4. When the pan is hot, add the kale and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover, checking and mixing every 2 minutes.

5. When wilted, add the spinach and the other 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add pepper, if using. Check periodically and mix until both greens are wilted.

6. Assemble: in a rectangular casserole or dish, layer 1/2 the couscous and top with 1/2 the greens. Top with slices of tomato until the top is covered. Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese over the top. Repeat.

7. Bake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When hot, add the dish and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is browned and the tomatoes are soft.

Lamb chops are not something you can make very often. They’re very expensive for a very little bit of meat (maybe you’re paying for the bone, so save it! Make stock!). That being said, they are a perfect “special occasion” food. Is it someone you love’s birthday? Add a couple of lamb chops to make it extra special. Or, maybe you’re celebrating your graduation after five years of graduate school? Whatever your reason for celebrating, these lamb chops are easy and amazing. Make sure to buy good lamb, too. Don’t want to spend all that money just to have an okay treat.

Believe it or not, these lamb chops were somewhat of an impulse buy for me. I have never cooked lamb chops before this! They were very easy and very impressive tasting. It makes me want to eat these more often. I actually got the recipe from the Fairway recipe and advertisement magazine they give out at the front of the store, though it seemed to be a pretty classic flavor combination for lamb.

 A little warning about grilling these indoors: your entire kitchen/apartment/house will be smoky. Lamb is very fatty and you will be in a big cloud of lamby smoke, so open all the windows!

Lamb Chops, adapted from Fairway

Makes 6 lamb chops

Ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Sea salt
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 lamb chops, about 3/4 inch thick

Directions:

1. Chop the rosemary, thyme, and garlic very finely.

2. Using a mortar and pestle or small food processor, make into a paste with the salt, cayenne, and olive oil.

3. Spread mixture on to the lamb and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

4. Bring the lamb to room temperature outside of the fridge for 20 minutes.

5. Put your grill (indoor or outdoor) on high heat and grill for 2 minutes on one side.

6. Flip over and grill for 3 minutes on the second side.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Aha – I got you! you’re wondering why a kosher blog is featuring a sandwich with the main ingredient as bacon! Well, Jack’s Gourmet has an awesome new-ish product on the market called facon, which is dry cured beef! I’m not sure how it compares to the real stuff, but I do know it’s awesome. We baked it up to make it crispy and put it on a fresh, toasted sourdough bread with some lettuce and thick slices of tomato – voila! an easy, delicious, and filling dinner! 

If you can’t find facon, but live in Brooklyn, Pomegranate has some good bacon options – I think lamb, veal, and beef. I’ve bought it before, but never baked it up like I did with Jack’s Gourmet facon.

Okay, so now I’m mad. I bought my facon at Fairway, and I paid $6.99! Usually they have great prices, but the MSRP for facon is 5.99 and they’re selling it online for 4.99. I feel ripped off. Good thing I love Fairway for other reasons.

Another note: A while back, I read about how healthy watercress is! So while traditionally you use a little bit more of a crispy and big leafed lettuce for a BLT (I think), I wanted to be super healthy! So, I used watercress as the lettuce in this. It was great! Really.

Oh, and I didn’t add any mayo. I was thinking of making a garlic aioli and spreading it on the bread, but I changed my mind and just dressed the lettuce with a tiny bit of oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. It was great.

BLTs

Makes 3 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 6 slices sourdough bread, sliced and toasted 
• 1 package of Jack’s Gourmet facon
• 1 cup watercress, washed and dried well
• 3 thick slices of tomato
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Place the slices of bread on a sheet pan and toast in the oven for 5 minutes.

3. Remove the bacon from the package and put into a basketweave pattern, kinda like this, but using two slices across and two down. If some slices are longer than others, feel free to trim them, etc.

4. Bake the bacon until crispy, mine took about 15 minutes.

5. Dress the watercress with a splash of vinegar, a splash of oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

6. Lay three of the toast slices on a plate.

7. Divide the lettuce between the slices and top with the tomato.

8. Top with bacon and the second slice of bread.

9. Eat right away!

Spring is here! And spring means asparagus is in season. No more boring roasted or grilled asparagus, we’re going gourmet here. Now, gourmet doesn’t mean hard. Actually, while there are a few steps in this recipe (you should read it over once before actually attempting it – you’ll need to do a bit of juggling), it’s quite easy! and impressive looking. Feel free to use store-bought pie crust or even puff pastry, as in the original recipe. 

There’s just something about vegetables served as pie, or in a pie crust, that are amazing. Anyone would eat this green custard pie! And I promise you it wasn’t hard to make. Leftovers were amazing as a cold lunch the next day with a simple arugula salad.

Here’s what I did to make my life a little easier: the day before I made the tart, I prepped the asparagus and made my pie crust. That’s right, I did all that boiling and cut the asparagus and left it in the fridge. The pie crust was in a disc in my fridge. So, while worrying about baking the pie crust and making the custard, all I had to do was open up my containers of asparagus, instead of boiling and shocking. Made this MUCH easier!

A little note: my asparagus tips floated to the bottom, which made me sad. I organized them so nicely on top of the custard, but alas, I guess they were too heavy to stay on top. You might want to bake it for 15 minutes before adding the decorative tips.

What’s your favorite way to serve (or eat) asparagus?

Asparagus Custard Tart, adapted from Martha Stewart:

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces, stalks and stems separated
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup shredded muenster cheese

Directions:

1. Roll out pie crust and transfer to your 9-inch pie plate.

2. Prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until cold.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Line pie shell with pie weights or dried beans and bake about 30 minutes, until the edges begin to brown and it begins to puff up.

5. Remove weights and bake another 5-10 minutes, until the bottom dries out.

6. Remove from oven and let cool.

7. Prep an ice bath: place ice and water in a large bowl and set aside.

8. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Add the asparagus stalks and cook for 2 minutes. Shock in ice bath. Drain when cool and transfer to food processor.

9. Add the asparagus tips and boil for 30 seconds. Transfer to ice bath. Remove and drain when cool. Toss with the olive oil.

10. Add the eggs, cream, flour, and 1 teaspoon salt to the food processor with the asparagus stalks and puree until very smooth.

11. Pour custard into crust.

12. Sprinkle with the cheese and top with the asparagus tips.

13. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the custard sets and the pie crust is browned.

14. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

I copied this recipe so long ago out of I-cant-remember-which cookbook, and have been meaning to make it ever since (ed note: we always do that! Do you?). So simple, so delicious.

Unshelled pistachios can be found at your local specialty market, usually sold by the pound. I couldn’t find them, so I bought unsalted roasted pistachios and didn’t toast them before adding them into the rice. After baby went to bed the night before, I caught up on the latest Game of Thrones and shelled them. It was kind of relaxing, actually.

Polow: Persian Basmati Rice with Dill and Pistachios

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups basmati rice
• 2 tbsp safflower oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 cups simmering chicken broth (I used half broth, half water) (you can use vegetable broth or all water to pareve-ify)
• 3/4 cup finely chopped dill
• 1 cup whole, unsalted, raw pistachios, toasted
• 2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Rince the rice in cold water. Drain.
2. In a saute pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Saute until translucent.
3. Add rice, chicken broth, dill and salt. Simmer and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Meanwhile, toast the pistachios on a baking tray at 350 for 5 minutes (optional, because I skipped this step and it turned out fine).
5. Stir pistachios into the rice.

Thank you, Adele for filling in for us this week! We’ll be back next week with some more recipes from the original Kosher Foodies.

I thought I was making mechshi cusa (stuffed zucchini), but when I went to get it from my freezer, I realized that I had only had dairy meschi, not meat.  I decided to braise baby carrots in the mechshi sauce I already made. They turned out so good!

Ourt (Tamarind)-Braised Carrots

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and trimmed, or baby carrots
• 2 tablespoons ourt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 teaspoons of apricot butter
• water
• salt

(or use your favorite mechshi sauce recipe)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut carrots into 1-inch pieces
3. Mix together the ourt, lemon juice and apricot butter.
4. Put the carrots in a pan, pour the sauce over the carrots and add water to almost cover the carrots.
5. Let cook for 30 minutes, until the carrots are tender, mixing a few times to get the carrots nice and coated.

Hosting Friday night dinner is not as easy as my mother makes it look; especially when you have a baby who loves to climb all over the place. To make it easier, I decided that my recipes needed to have five ingredients or less—and no fussy stuff!

Nothing that will burn to a crisp if—WHOA, THAT WAS A LOUD ONE!—mommy needs to drop everything and go change a diaper or three…and maybe play a few rounds of peek-a-boo. I can’t even tell you how many times my mom and aunt complimented my food; coming from great cooks like them—serious compliments!

First, the main course:

Ina Garten’s Indonesian Ginger Chicken

Make it the night before, let it marinade and pop in in the oven. There is so much liquid in this recipe that it was still delicious even though I forgot about it and left it in the oven for an extra HOUR. Whoops.

Ingredients

• 1 cup honey
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup minced garlic (8 to 12 cloves) (I used the whole head)
• 1/2 cup peeled and grated fresh ginger root
• 2 (3 1/2 pound) chickens, quartered, with backs removed   (I used legs)

Directions

1. Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted. Arrange the chicken in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh and the sauce is a rich, dark brown.

Stay tuned for the rest of Adele’s Friday night dinner, later this week!