Lasagna Noodles
Pasta Sauce
Mozzarella
Provolone
Ricotta
Emek
Parmesan
Cook noodles leaving them slightly firm so they can absorb extra liquid from the sauce. Then layer sauce, noodles, cheese, and repeat.
Layering should always have sauce on at least one side (top or bottom) of a noodle layer. I do sauce, noodle, sauce, Emek, sauce, noodle, Mozzarella, sauce, noodle, sauce, Ricotta, noodle, sauce, Provolone & Parmesan.
Fresh Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Onions
Garlic (lots)*
Mushrooms (lots)*
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Rosemary
Bay Leaves
Salt
Italian Sausage
Boil a pot of water. Set aside a large bowl half filled with ice water. Add tomatoes to boiling water for about 1-2 minutes or until the skin starts to split. Remove tomatoes and set in ice water to help the skin separate. Remove skin and core then squash tomatoes by hand or with a hand blender.
Add squashed tomatoes and tomato paste to clean pot. Chop onions, garlic, and spices and add to pot leaving the bay leaves whole so they can be easily removed later (no one wants to chomp on bay leaves). Fry and break apart sausage and add to pot. Bring to light boil then simmer for several hours stirring often.
* A note about garlic and mushrooms. I know many folk don’t garlic and mushrooms. I hear you. Until recently I never really liked mushrooms. However, I recognize that even though I may not like certain ingredients on their own, they are required to make certain flavors as a whole. Mushrooms add an earthiness that just makes it. So… even if you don’t like mushrooms, no matter how good your sauce is, it’s just not as good as it COULD be without mushrooms. The same goes for garlic, although I will make concessions for using a smaller amount if you are not a fan. I will not however make allowances** for omission of either the mushrooms or garlic.
** The only reason I can think of that is acceptable is if someone is allergic. As is the unfortunate case of a friend of mine with mushrooms. Truly tragic.
Ground Pork
Ground Beef
Garlic
Onion
Fennel Seed
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Paprika
Thyme
Black Pepper
Chili Flakes
Brown Sugar
Salt
There are no measurements because all this is really to taste and depends on what you want your final result to be. For sweet, use more basil, sugar, onion, and parsley, and less garlic and peppers. For spicy do the reverse. The key for that nice “Italian Sausage” flavor though is the fennel seed. Use some whole and more that has been loosely broken up with a knife.
Blend it all up thoroughly then let sit in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to settle.
Beef (thinly sliced)
Onion (sliced into strips)
Green Onion (Cut into 2″ pieces)
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Sesame Oil
Garlic Minced
Ginger Minced
Black Pepper
Mushrooms (sliced)
Once mixed, cover and put in fridge. I sealed mine in a ziploc bag with as little air as possible then put in the fridge over night. Grill it or cook in a very hot pan until just done.
2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Nutmeg
1/2 Tsp Clove
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Butter (115m)
1 Eggs
2/3 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Persimmon
1 Cup Raisins
Bake at 175 C° for ~15 minutes.
2 Cups Flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup oil
orange zest
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark sugar
3 cups carrot
1 cup raisins
45 min @ 180 C
Cream Cheese Frosting: 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Extra: 8 oz crushed pineapple
This is a nice flaky pie crust good for all sorts of yummy sweet pies. Note: Make sure your butter is COLD!
1 1/4 Cups Flour (I used whole wheat and it was awesome)
130 Ml Butter (8 Tbsp)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
3-4 Tbsp Ice Cold Water
Make sure your butter is cold! Cube your butter and freeze it for a few hours or overnight.
Combine dry ingredients in a food processor. Add half of the frozen butter cubes and pulse until slightly combined with flour mixture. Add remaining butter and pulse until combined into a coarse texture with small butter chunks. Add ice water a table spoon at a time and pulse after each spoon of water. When its done it should hold together when you pinch it.
Remove mixture from food processor and place on clean smooth surface. Firmly press the mixture into the surface and form into a hokey puck shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling into a crust.
When ready, unwrap your puck and place on a lightly floured surface to rest for about 5-10 minutes to slightly warm it up so its more pliable for rolling.
Roll into a 12 inch circle, then gently fold in half and place in a 9 inch pan. Gently unfold and press into the pan. Fill it with something yummy like pumpkin, squash, or sweet potato filling and bake it!
Yummy Pumpkin Squash Pie! Okay, I called it pumpkin squash pie because the one I made is really not pumpkin, its a squash similar to pumpkin. We don’t really have pumpkin here in Israel so I used chunks from this huge squash they sell in the shuk that’s kinda like a pumpkin. Anyway.. I’m sure this works great with just about any kind of squash or even sweet potatoes.
First things first.. the squash. Clean some squash and bake it in the oven until its soft. When its soft, take off the skin and purée in a blender or food processor until smooth. Its really that easy.
The only thing I would say about it is that I covered mine with foil while baking thinking it would dry out too much. Well don’t worry about that. I had to put the cooked squash into a cloth and squeeze out “some” of the water. Holy cow there was a lot of water to squeeze out. Do yourself a favor and just bake it. That’ll do you for the squash purée.
2 Cups Squash Purée
350 Ml (1 1/2 Cups) Heavy Cream (I used 38%)
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
3 Eggs
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Tsp Ground Cloves
1/4 Tsp Ground Cardamon
1/2 Tsp Lemon Zest
Beat the eggs in large bowl then mix in sugars, salt, spices, and lemon zest. Mix in the squash then mix in cream. Blend it all up until mixed really well.
Pour into an uncooked COLD pie crust.
Bake at 220°C for 15 minutes. This shocks the butter and starts to harden the crust making it more flaky later. After 15 minutes lower to 180°C and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour longer or until a poking utensil comes out clean from the center.
Let it cool, then… well you know what to do with it next!
So yeah, falafel (פלאפל) is awesome. I don’t know if its official, but its pretty much the Israeli national food. I recently made my own hummus, then shortly after my own pita, so I figured that I might as well finish it out and give falafel a try. Mine definitely has the distinct falafel flavor, but definitely a tinge different than the shuk falafel I usually buy. Keep in mind that a lot is to taste so by adding or removing things can change the flavor quite dramatically. Here is how I made mine.
1 Cup Dry Chickpeas
1 Small/Medium Onion – Chopped
4 Large Pieces of Garlic – Chopped
2 Tbsp Cilantro – Chopped
2 Tbsp Parsley – Chopped
5 Tbsp Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Hot Chili Flakes
1 Tsp Sweet Paprika
The night before you want to make falafel, soak chickpeas in cold water and let them sit until the next day. They will absorb quite a bit so make sure there is enough water to completely cover them and then some.
The next day
Drain the chickpeas. Chop onion, garlic, cilantro, and parsley. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cumin, chili, and paprika. Add everything into food processor and blend up. Not too much mind you, or you’ll end up with something like hummus. Everything should be mixed thoroughly and have a coarse consistency. Set the mixture in fridge for at least an hour.
After the flavors have had a chance to blend together and the flour absorbs the moisture, its time to cook! Heat several inches of canola oil in a pot. You’ll be dropping cold falafel mix into it, so the temperature needs to be hot enough to stay cooking heat, but not so hot that the outside will get dark and the inside will not finish cooking. So try one by itself to get it right.
To get the balls, I used a nice half round measuring table spoon and another spoon to round off the top and scoop it into the pot. One could even more easily use a falafel scoop. But alas, I was not able to find one on short notice… next time I go to the shuk for sure.
Spoon in 6 or so falafel at a time. If the oil doesn’t cover them completely you’ll need to make sure to turn them over.
Cook for a few minutes until golden. I used a metal spatula this time, but I’ll probably look to get a strainer scoop of some sort to pull them out of the oil.
Crunchy, golden, and delicious!!
Eat it with pita, hummus, Israeli salad, and some סחוג to turn it into a nice falafel meal :)
I grew up eating pita bread sandwiches in the States. It was thin, hard, and not really flavorful. I guess it was the experience of the pita pocket sandwich that made it appealing.
I came to find out that what I had known as pita was לא בסדר, and not really pita. After coming to Israel I discovered פיתות. Real pita… it’s thick, soft, fluffy, and a bit chewy. It’s amazing!
I found a really good bakery shop in the shuk where we buy whole wheat pita. Other places have it including the local שופרסל, although this place is a LOT better. We bought it in bulk and froze it to have it on hand its so good. Well no more! I now can make my own that is as good as or better than shuk pita.
3 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tsp Yeast
1 1/2 Cups Water (slightly warm)
Mix thoroughly flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Slowly mix in warm water 1/4 cup at a time until slightly gooey but well formed. Kneed on well floured surface for about 10 minutes until springy but still able to stay in a nice ball. Set ball in a bowl and cover. Let dough to rise in a warm area for about 2 hours until its about double in size. I put mine on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinets.
Punch the dough down to release air pockets then break dough up into 8-10 formed balls. Cover with a damp cloth for about 20 minutes to allow dough to relax.
Preheat your oven HOT with a baking stone. I set mine to max with top and bottom burner at 250°C and convection with a pizza stone on the bottom rack.
After dough is relaxed and oven is fully heated, roll balls into 1/8″ – 1/4″ pitas on a floured surface.
Place rolled dough in the oven on the baking stone for about 3 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when its nice and poofy.
These are totally amazing straight out of the oven with fresh hummus.
Next I’ll need to try my hand at Falafel and סחוג to complete the experience!
Update: I did try falafel! It’s really good and not so hard to make.
