Brisket, Horseradish Polenta

Brisket and Horseradish Polenta

Oven-Roasted, Super-Tender, Umami-Rich
Beef Brisket
With Horseradish Polenta

L’Shana Tova Tikatevu

May Your Name be Inscribed in The Book of Life
For a Good Year

My tried and true, tender and tasty, umami-rich, oven-roasted beef brisket has a new look for Rosh Hashanah and the celebration of the New Year 5783. The brisket recipe hasn’t changed much, but the presentation has…

This year our beloved brisket is paired with horseradish polenta. I know that spicy pungent horseradish is not for everyone but horseradish lovers will certainly swoon. Everyone else can enjoy it with traditional polenta and be just as happy.

After the brisket is cooked, I add carrots to the sauce for flavor, texture, and color and as another symbol of the holiday. To observe Rosh Hashanah, traditional foods sweetened with honey, apples and carrots are served. They symbolize sweetness, blessings, abundance and the hope for a sweet year ahead.

Brisket and Horseradish Polenta

Brisket and Horseradish Polenta Recipes

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What makes this the best Chicken Noodle Soup?

best matzoh ball soup

Homemade Chicken Soup with Herbed Matzoh Balls
Garlic-Scented Lima Beans, Micro-Thin Carrot Slices
Fine Egg Noodles, Hand-Shredded Roasted Chicken Breast
Fresh Parsley and Dill Garnish

matzah ball, matzoh ball

This soup is dedicated to my Nana. I thank her for inspiring me with a life-long passion to explore the cuisine of our heritage. Year after year, I tweak her original chicken soup recipe. This one, prepared in celebration of the High Holy Days (5772 on the Hebrew calendar) resulted in one of the best versions ever. The matzoh balls were light and fluffy, the garlic-scented lima beans added heft, the flavorful broth was beautifully clear and just barely rich. Delicate fine egg noodles and colorful carrots balanced out the dish.

Fanny Hirsch

My paternal Grandparents – Irving and Fanny Hirsch (front center)

Careful attention to each component is what makes it special. This soup uses two birds, one for making the broth, the other is roasted – the breast meat shredded and added just before serving. From the double-strained flavorful broth with the tiniest amount of schmaltz droplets providing a hint of richness, to the elegantly sliced carrots (I was never of fan of a floating carrot log), to the garlicky-creamy beans – I am certain my Nana would have approved.

Chicken Soup Recipe

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Rosh Hashanah 5770

Dinner for A Sweet New Year
 
Crispy Rosemary Chicken Paillard and
Grilled Apples with Truffle Honey
Israeli Couscous with Butternut Squash, Spinach, Walnuts

Israeli Couscous Side Dish
Roast cubes of butternut squash with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook Israeli couscous. Add squash, baby spinach leaves, toasted chopped walnuts to the cooked couscous. The spinach will wilt in the hot couscous. Season with salt and pepper, finish with a drizzle of roasted walnut oil.

We are celebrating the Jewish New Year 5770
which began last night at sundown.

Squeeze lemon juice on sliced apples, then brush with olive oil. Grill over high heat.

Make breadcrumbs out of day old baguette, add fresh rosemary, pulse to combine.

Have you tried air-chilled chicken? During processing, the USDA requires that the carcass temperature be lowered to 40 degrees within 4 hours to retard the growth of bacteria. Usually chickens are placed in an ice bath with chlorine for about an hour. In contrast, air-chilled chickens are sprayed with a chlorinated water and laid out on a track under refrigeration. Some say this method is safer, less contamination with other chickens. The meat definitely has a different texture from not soaking in water for over an hour. And they say the skin comes out more crispy with the air-chilled birds too.

These boneless skinless chicken thighs are from Whole Foods Market. I usually prepare this dish with chicken breasts but tried thighs this time. These air-chilled chicken thighs were the best ever. So flavorful and moist.
I put the thighs, one-by-one, in a ziplock bag and pounded them with a mallet to a uniform thinness. Seasoned each with salt and pepper, dusted with flour, dipped in egg, and coated with the breadcrumb/rosemary mixture.

Sautéed until golden brown over medium-high heat in canola oil.

Truffle Honey
La BOUTIQUE de la truffe
 

The Italian Truffle Honey is made of acacia honey and white truffles 3% (tuber albidum pico). In addition to the fabulous truffle carpaccio I served with heirloom tomatoes, La BOUTIQUE de la truffe also produces this dreamy truffle honey. Drizzle the truffle honey over the chicken and apples.

“the truffle is the very diamond of gastronomy”
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
This truffle honey gives the chicken and apples complex intriguing flavors. Simultaneously sweet and earthy and exotic. It rocks! The open jar of honey was sitting on my counter top, truffle aromas filled the kitchen.

Crispy Rosemary Chicken Thighs Paillard
Grilled Apples with Truffle Honey

Wishing You a Sweet New Year
L’Shana Tova!
To observe Rosh Hashanah, traditional foods sweetened with honey and apples are served. They symbolize sweetness, blessings, abundance and the hope for a sweet year ahead.
L’Shana Tova Tikatevu
 
May Your Name be Inscribed in The Book of Life
For a Good Year

Symbolic Dinner

Rosh Hashanah Dinner

Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year 5769

Crusted Fresh Petrale Sole
Topped with Caramelized Honeycrisp Apples
Israeli Couscous Medley
Honeyed Baby Carrots

Carrots represent our hope that we increase our good deeds, topped here with butter and honey, to symbolize the wish for sweetness in the coming year.

Wishing You a Sweet New Year
L’Shana Tova!

To observe Rosh Hashanah, traditional foods sweetened with honey, apples and carrots are served. They symbolize sweetness, blessings, abundance and the hope for a sweet year ahead. Fish is a part of the Rosh Hashanah meal, for it is an ancient symbol of fertility and prosperity and also represents knowledge since its eyes are always open. This is the time to reflect on our lives, values and relationships. The festive symbolic meal is an integral component of the Rosh Hashanah celebration.
L’Shana Tova Tikatevu

May Your Name be Inscribed in The Book of Life
For a Good Year