From My Table to Yours!
From my Table to Yours is a part of my thesis project which focuses on the Jewish home. I hope you will enjoy these recipies I’ve compiled from my incredible mother, and my wonderful in-laws as much as we do!
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Makes 2 Loaves
4 cups Flour
2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs oil
lukewarm water
optional: Sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning
Combine 4 cups of flour in your stand-mixer bowl, 2 tsp dry active yeast, 1 tsp salt, ¼ cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tbs oil all at the same time. add lukewarm water and start the machine mixing with the hook. If the mixture is too watery, slowly add 1 tsp of flour as needed until you reach a good dough that scrapes all the flour off the sides- not too hard, and not too sticky.
Then smear the bowl with a bit of oil so that the dough is easily removed from the bowl after it rises. Let it rest an hour while covered.
After the dough has doubled, gently potch the dough to release the pressure and shape the dough as desired (braiding or into littles balls etc) on a pan on parchment paper and let it proof in a warm dry place draft free for an hour- after an hour, touch the dough to see if it has formed a thin hard shell- this means it's ready to be baked.
Preheat your oven to 350. Use the only the yolk of the third and last egg to brush a glaze on top of the bread- optional top your loaves with sesame seeds, everything bagel seasoning, poppy seeds or any other topping you prefer, and place in the oven middle shelf for 20 minutes- after the 20 minutes brush more egg yolk wash on the bread, rotate the pan, and place back in oven until golden oven for another 15 minutes.
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A delicious Moroccan Salad | Serves 6-8
6-8 soft, ripe tomatoes
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs good quality paprika
1/2 tbs avocado oil
1/8 tsp salt
4 minced garlic
2 diced jalapenos
Peel 6-8 Soft, very ripe large and chop into 1 inch chunks. Place chunks into a large pot with tall walls with 1 tbs brown sugar and 2 tbs good quality paprika.
Cover and simmer on very low heat until tomatoes are soft- about 1 hour. Then uncover, and mash with a steel potato masher, increase the fire to medium high heat. Continue to mash and stir until all liquid evaporates.
In a small sauce pan, combine 1/2 tbs avocado oil, 1/8 tsp salt, 4 minced garlic and 2 diced jalapenos on medium low heat and fry until fragrant. Once all liquid is gone from tomatoes, incorporate the fried jalapenos and garlic and stir on a medium low heat. Keep stirring so the pot doesn't burn. After 1-2 minutes, remove the choukchouka from the heat to cool and serve. Keeps at least 2 weeks in the fridge in a tight container.
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Makes a small bowl | Serves 6-15
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of cilantro
A pinch of salt
1 tsp of red chili flakes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp of cumin
¼ cup avocado oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Wash the parsley and cilantro very well. Then combine with red chili flakes, ground coriander, cumin and avocado oil in the food processor.
Once it becomes a thick, loose, green paste, scoop into a bowl with a rubber spatula and combine with balsamic vinegar. Serve cold for a refreshing but spicy dip for bread! An airtight container in fridge will keep for a couple weeks.
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A Refreshing Tomato Salad | Serves 6-8
4 tomatoes
3 cucumbers
½ a red onion
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
½ tsp salt (or to taste)
Chop tomatoes and cucumbers and red onion into small, half or quarter inch cubes. Combine with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper. Serve cold to enjoy!
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A Spicy Carrot Salad | Serves 6-8
6 medium or 2 large carrots
1 tbs avocado or extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin
a small pinch of salt
a pinch of ground black pepper
1 tbs paprika
1 tsp red chili flakes or ¼ tsp cayenne pepper ground (or both for those who love spicy food)
2 garlic petals pressed or minced
the juice and zest of 1 lemon
Optional garnish with fresh dill and/or parsley.
Chop carrots into 1 inch chunks on bias (diagonally) with a steel wiggly cutter- if you don't have one a knife works just fine.
On a double boiler, steam the carrots for 15 minutes from the time it starts boiling. Do not boil straight in water!!
While carrots are steaming, in a glass bowl prepare the sauce. Whisk avocado or extra virgin olive oil, cumin, salt, ground black pepper, paprika, red chili flakes and/or cayenne pepper, garlic, lemon juice and zest.
Once carrots are done, combine with sauce and garnish- serve hot or cold!
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A delicious creamy coleslaw | Serves 6-8
1 head of red cabbage
3 tbs mayonnaise
2 tbs white sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
Cut red cabbage into thin slices or shreds. Combine in a bowl with mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Add more lemon juice if desired.
Serve cold and store in an airtight container.
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A refreshing Moroccan salad | Serves 6-8
3 tomatoes
2 green poblano peppers (or any small spicy green pepper you like)
½ a red onion
pickled lemon (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)
juice of 2 lemons
⅓ cup of extra virgin olive oil
red chili flakes (to taste)
½ or whole bunch of cilantro, stems removed
Finely chop cilantro leaves, tomatoes, peppers and red onion. Remove seeds from peppers before chopping if it's too spicy for you.
Combine with pickled lemon (chopped if preferred), salt, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, red chili flakes and lemon juice in a bowl.
Serve cold! Goes well with couscous or enjoy as is.
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Serves 6-8
3-5 red beets
juice of 1-2 lemons
1 tsp ground cumin
Preheat oven to 400 F0 . Wrap each beat in foil, making sure not to leave gaps so that the beets don't leak and burn in the oven. Roast the beets for 40-50 minutes. While the beets are roasting, squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl.
It's tempting to eat the beets as is once they're out of the oven, but first you must remove the skin. It should come off easily because of the roasting process.
Quickly chop beets into 1 inch chunks and add to the bowl with lemon juice and combine with cumin. Your don't want to let the beets cool down before adding the lemon juice because they will not absorb as much of the lemon juice.
Serve hot or cold and enjoy alone or with a green salad!
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Serves 6-8
4 or 5 tomatoes
optional: 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
optional: 1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 450. Halve the tomatoes and place them with the round side facing up on a pan lined with parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes if using. Roast tomatoes in oven for 30 min or until cooked to your liking!
Serve hot and fresh- they are ready to enjoy with rice and kabob! Optional sprinkle salt on top.
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A Tasty Moroccan classic | Serves 6-8
1 lb boneless King Salmon (whole or sliced into 1-1.5 in pieces)
4 bell peppers (I recommend only using red, orange and yellow as the green ones are not as sweet)
3 tbs good quality paprika
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 lemons (juice of 4 lemons, optional 1 for lemon slices)
1-3 bunches of cilantro
red chili flakes (to taste)
1 head of garlic, minced or sliced
4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
optional: garnish with kosher salt
preheat your oven's broiler on the low setting for 10 minutes while preparing the fish and sauce.
Place the juice of one lemon in a small bowl- this is where you will put your minced or sliced garlic. The lemon juice prevents the garlic from oxidizing and turning blue. Set aside.
Carefully cut one of your lemons into thin slices- use a mandolin if desired. Set lemon slices aside.
Line your pan with slices of bell peppers, seeds removed. Place cilantro on top of bell peppers, lining the inside edge of the pan as well.
Now make the sauce! Combine extra virgin olive oil with the juice of the 3 remaining lemons (Add more lemon juice of desired- fresh squeezed only!), paprika, black pepper, red chili flakes, and turmeric in a small bowl. Place the fish in the pan on top of the cilantro and bell peppers, and brush the fish with the sauce using a silicone brush. Pour the excess sauce around the fish to completely cover the bell peppers and cilantro so that they don't burn in the oven.
If using sliced lemons, place, them on the fish in any design you like. If you sliced the garlic, you may want to add those to your design with the lemon slices. You can also place the garlic slices/ chop into the pan so it cooks in the sauce. It will be delicious either way.
Place your pan in the oven the rack farthest away from the broiler ideally 10 inches away. Broil the fish on low for 4 minutes or until golden brown on top. Turn off the broiler and leave the fish inside without opening the oven for 20-25 minutes to finish cooking the fish.
Enjoy!
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A savory Moroccan salad that can be added to your Moroccan fish or enjoyed on it’s own! This versatile dish can be eaten hot or cold.
1 can of organic chickpeas drained mix with 1 tbs avocado oil in sauce pan with 2 chopped garlic, 1 tsp ground turmeric simmer on super low heat stirring occasionally.
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My Father-in-law’s Recipe! | Serves 6-8
1 l2 lb boneless chicken breast
juice of 2 lemons
4 cups of bread crumbs or flour
black pepper (to taste)
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Optional: garnish with kosher salt and freshly chopped cilantro
Prepare a plate of bread crumbs or flour and set aside. Slice the chicken breast lengthwise so that they are about a half inch thick. This will ensure crispy schnitzel that cooks evenly. Coat the chicken breast in extra virgin olive oil in a mixing bowl. Then generously coat each piece of chicken with flour/bread crumbs, patting the coating gently but firmly, and set aside.
Prepare a large pan lined with paper towels or newspaper, set aside.
Pour 3 tbsp of oil in a frying pan on a medium high flame. Once the oil shimmers, you are ready to fry your schnitzel. Place as many slices of chicken in the pan as you can without crowding, and sprinkle a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Fry for 4 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy. Remember to add black pepper to the other side of the schnitzel.
Place the finished schnitzels in the large paper lined pan. over each layer of schnitzel, squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice.
Optional: garnish with kosher salt and freshly chopped cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges for those who want an extra lemony flavor.
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My Mother-in-law’s Recipe! | Serves 6-8
2 cups of Basmati rice
water (see instructions)
salt
saffron
Take a small pinch of saffron and grind it in a mortar and pestle. Pour cold water to brew the saffron while you prepare the rice.
Wash your rice in a tight strainer until the water that runs through the rice is clear (it will never be crystal clear, but clear enough!). My mother-in-law prefers to soak the rice in the pot she cooks it in and expertly drains the water after an hour. (you may feel bad about using so much water to wash your rice but you can use the rice water to water your plants- they will love it!)
Place your rice in a pot that has a tight fitting lid. One with a glass top is helpful to see if the rice has absorbed all of the water or not. Fill the pot with enough water that about a finger nail's length of water is above the rice. Add the salt. Bring to a boil on the stove with a high heat. Once the water boils, place the lid on the pot with a towel on top to prevent moisture from leaving, and turn the heat down to low. Let cook for 15-20 minutes until the rice has completely absorbed the liquid. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID!
Turn the stove off and let sit for 5 minutes with the lid still on. After the 5 minutes, remove the lid and pour the brewed saffron into pot to get some delicious yellow rice. Fluff the rice gently with a fork and serve.
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My Mother-in-law’s Recipe! | Serves 6-8
2 ¼ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 2 inch chunks
salt (to taste)
ground black pepper (to taste)
juice of 1-2 lemons
saffron (10 threads)
extra virgin olive oil
1 large white/ yellow onion, sliced
1 garlic clove (pressed or minced)
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs water
½ tsp turmeric
Optional: garnish with freshly chopped cilantro or parsley
In a mortar and pestle, finely grind the safron. Add 3 tbs water and brew for at least 10 minutes while you prepare the chicken marinade
In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken chunks, lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, onion slices and lastly the saffron brew until evenly mixed. Wrap with plastic leave in fridge to marinate overnight.
Soak the skewers in water for 15 minutes. Place the chunks of chicken on skewers, shaking off excess marinade and discarding the onions.
You can either grill the Jujeh kabob on a medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes (until chicken is cooked through) or you can cook the chicken in your oven's broiler on a grill pan on high for 4-5 minutes (or until chicken is golden and crispy). Do not let the chicken over cook or it will be dry.
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My Mother’s Recipe! | Serves 6-8
couscous:
1 ½ cups of couscous
a pinch of salt
⅛ tsp pinch of saffron or 1 tsp turmeric
¼ cup avocado oil
2.5 cups of hot boiling water
Carmelized onions:
Carmelized Onions
4 dates, chopped
5 prunes, chopped
1 big white onion, sliced thin
2 tbs avocado oil
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cinnamon
Combine couscous with with salt, saffron/turmeric, avocado oil in a pyrex pan. Pour the hot boiling water over the couscous and cover with foil. Let sit for at least 30 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff the couscous with a fork when it is ready. While the couscous is cooking, prepare the carmelized onions!
Combine the chopped dates, prunes, and onion slices in a pan with cinnamon, salt, and avocado oil. On the stove, stir the mixture on a medium high heat until brown and fragrant.
Top the couscous with the carmelized onions, and enjoy!