Rosh Hashanah, a time to renew, revitalise, and in my case revamp traditional recipes using the simanim (symbolic foods). Humus and honey in challah?? Who would have thought? And, as for Appletiser cake? We are blessed with rich culinary traditions and with a surge in the kosher product market. We are seeing wonderful new foods each year making it easier to fuse old-world recipes with modern twists to bring something familiar and a little different to the table

2 sachets rapid rising yeast (10g per sachet)

250g Humus + 250g tub for serving as a dip with challah.

½ cup honey + ½ for serving as a dip with challah.

Place 2 of the 3 cups of warm water into a large mixing bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons sugar and two 10g sachets of rapid rising yeast to the water and mix well. This will activate the yeast. When the mixture starts to bubble up or starts foaming, it should be sufficiently activated. Add Honey, oil, and eggs and whisk until all ingredients are well incorporated. Add half the flour and start hand mixing or do as I do and use a Kenwood Chef with a dough hook and start the mixing on low speed. Add the last cup of warm water and the remaining flour to the bowl and continue kneading by hand or in Kenwood with a dough hook on low to medium speed. Knead until smooth. If you find the dough is very sticky, add a little more flour. You don’t want the dough too firm. Cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size. Mix the humus and honey until a smooth paste is formed. Punch down and divide into two equal pieces of dough. Roll each piece of dough into long lengths. They should be about 1 metre in length. Paint half the humus and honey mixture on the top and on the sides of the first length of dough and spiral it up to fit into a round 20cm cake tin. Repeat the same process with the second rope of dough and the other half of the humus and honey. Allow to rise again until double in size. Paint with egg wash (one egg yolk with one Tablespoon water) and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 180C for 35 minutes. Serve with an extra bowl of humus and honey.

BRAISED ONION BRISKET WITH A HONEY AND WHOLEGRAIN MUSTARD GLAZE

Ever heard the phrase: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it; or why change a winning formula? Well that’s all I could think of when going through my brisket recipes for this article. Somehow I kept reverting back to my family’s favourite Yom Tov Brisket recipe. Originally it included honey but as time evolved Silan (Date Syrup) became the sweetener of choice.

8 large onions (They will gradually brown, become completely limp, and will caramelise and taste sweeter the longer they cook, eventually disintegrating and leaving behind a unique rich and delicious flavour)

3 Tbls Bisto gravy powder (this enhances the flavour and thickens the sauce whilst cooking)

1 Tbl cracked black pepper (NOT fine pepper)

2 Tbl tomato paste (1 x 10g sachet large)

1 cups beef stock (2 beef stock cubes dissolved in1 cup boiling water)

Peel the onions, cut them into quarters and peel the leaves back individually. Pre-heat oven to 160C. In a large frying pan or pot, fry the onions in a little oil until lightly brown and limp. Remove and place into a roasting dish. Meanwhile, rub the entire piece of meat with the Bisto gravy powder and ground pepper. In the same frying pan used to fry the onions, add a little more oil and fry the brisket on both sides until brown. While the meat is frying, combine the syrup, mustard, grated ginger, tomato paste, soy sauce, and beef stock in a bowl. Pour it over the meat and cover tightly with tin foil. Cook for 2 hours on 160C, turning meat over after one hour. After cooking for 2 hours, reduce the heat to 140C then continue to cook for another 3 hours, basting every so often in the last hour. Slice when ready to serve.

SOY, ORANGE AND SESAME GLAZED CHICKEN

Balanced with a hint of soy

A real Yom Tov joy!

1 chicken cut up into portions – skin on

Juice of 1 orange to total 1/3 of a cup

4 Tbls date syrup or honey

3 Tbls of sesame seeds for decorating (I used black and white seeds)

2 to 3 Tbls fresh coriander or parsley (decorating)

Combine all of the above sauce ingredients in a glass bowl (keep sesame seeds and coriander aside to use for decorating). Pat chicken dry and place it into a roasting dish, large enough for the pieces to sit tightly side by side. Pour the sauce over the chicken and roast for 1½ hours, turning pieces over half way through roasting whilst basting every now and then during the last half of the cooking process.

BAKED MINTED RICE, PEAS AND TOASTED PINE NUTS

I’m certainly not ashamed to admit that I can’t do rice. I’ve tried everything other than buying a rice maker, which my brother suggested I do. However, my daughter-in-law, Hannah, solved the problem by introducing me to this recipe and thank G-d it’s worked every time. “Follow the instructions I’ve given you and you won’t go wrong” she insisted. She was right.

20g mint (leaves left of stem)

100g toasted pine nuts (optional but delicious!)

Preheat oven to 230 to 240C (very high heat). Place raw Basmati rice into 2 litre tin foil container. Sprinkle peas over rice. Pour olive oil and boiling water over rice and place the mint sprigs over the rice. Cover the tin foil container firmly with tin foil and bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove mint sprigs from rice and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and toasted pine nuts.

Why is it that vegetables delicately cooked in a pie crust taste and look so much more appetising than the same vegetable variation ‘plopped’ onto your plate? That crispy, light pastry that houses those very same vegetables just does something to the dish. I’ve included the traditional Rosh Hashanah vegetables and sweetness of the festival in this dish. However, just a touch of spice to tone it down the sweetness for those with sensitive teeth!!

1 roll puff pastry (I like Orit’s)

300g peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (2 cm in size)

1 tsp Harissa spice (this just balances out that extra sweetness)

2 large leeks, sliced into rings

350g carrots peeled and grated on the large hole of grater

Salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbls cornflour dissolved in 1 cup cold water

2 large white onions cut in half and sliced into semi-circular rings (for the topping on the pie)

Pre-heat oven to 180C. In a large bowl combine the cubed squash, sweet potatoes, salt, Harissa, paprika, honey, and oil. Spread vegetables on a baking tray and roast for 40 to 50 minutes, turning and stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and squash can easily be punctured with a fork. Don’t allow to burn. They should be light brown in colour.

Meanwhile, fry the leeks in a little oil over medium heat until limp and lightly browned. Add the grated carrots and continue to cook for about 8 to 10 minutes then add the onion stock powder, mix well, reduce heat to low, and allow to cook for a further 5 minutes. While the vegetables roast, and the leeks continue to cook with the carrots, roll out your pastry shell to 1cm thick and line a pie dish. (I used a 20cm cake tin.) Push the pastry into the corners of the pie dish allowing the pastry to overlap the edges of the pie dish. Refrigerate for at least 25 minutes, allowing the pastry to settle into the dish before trimming the overlapping edges. Remove vegetables from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 220C. Line the chilled pastry with parchment paper and fill with baking weights or beans. Bake in pre-heated oven for 15 minutes and then remove the parchment and beans. Continue to bake until the shell begins to brown and the bottom no longer looks raw, another 10 to 15 minutes. Lower the oven back down to 180C and remove pie dish while you make up the filling. Fry the onions (this is to top the pie) in a little oil until golden brown. Dissolve the cornflour in the water. Add the eggs to this and beat lightly with a fork. Place the potato and pumpkin into a bowl, add the liquid with eggs, bread/cornflake crumbs and mash them lightly with a fork until well combined. Finally fold in the leeks and carrot. Pour vegetable mixture into pastry shell and smooth the surface. Carefully drop the onions onto the surface of the tart, leaving little spaces here and there so that you can see the filling in places. Bake for 1 hour at 160C. Remove from oven and serve warm.

SWEET PEPPER AND ONION SALAD

There’s something so appealing about those bright red, yellow, green, and sometimes orange sweet peppers. Their crunchiness and freshness with the added benefit of vitamins and minerals helps to “doll up” something as simple as a green salad. Try these peppers chopped with shredded cabbage, sweetcorn and Bobba Shar’s Heimishe dressing.

1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 green bell pepper (sliced matchstick style)

1 large red/white onion (sliced matchstick style) {red onions give the pickle juice a pink tone}

1 Tbl Ina Paarman vegetable stock

Place the peppers, onion, and garlic into a glass dish. Dissolve the vegetable stock in boiling water. Add sugar and vinegar to water and stock and stir well until sugar dissolves. If the liquid looks a little too thick (vegetable stock has thickener) add a little more vinegar or water. Set aside and allow to cool. When cool, pour over vegetables and refrigerate.

BUCKWHEAT, EDAMAME, BEETROOT AND HERB SALAD

I had never tried buckwheat until my granddaughter Layla made it for me with spicy mince. This delicious, gluten-free grain which tastes similar to rice has become my new go to grain. Almost a combination of quinoa and rice. It gave rise to this salad and has become a firm Shabbos favourite, even in my Shabbos Cholent instead of barley.

1 cup buckwheat (Available from most health shops or Woolworths)

2 cups finely shredded raw beetroot (either shredded in a food processor with the shredding blade or grated on the large whole of a box grater)

30 to 35g baby salad herbs

A handful of chopped spring onions (optional)

20g Flat leaf parsley finely chopped

½ cup sugar or equivalent sweetener

Shake all of the above in a glass jar with a tightly fitting lid or blend with a hand/immersion blender. Make up 1 cup of buckwheat as per instructions on the pack. When cooked, set aside to cool. Meanwhile grate/shred beetroot (I suggest using gloves). Place buckwheat onto a platter, cover with salad greens followed by beetroot. Finally, place ‘baby salad herbs’ on top of the beetroot and just before serving pour over salad dressing.

Blend all the above ingredients in a food processor or liquidiser until smooth. Freeze for three hours then remove from freezer and using a hand blender, blend the sorbet until smooth and refreeze. This can be done again after two hours for a smooth velvety texture. Freeze and remove from freezer 20 to 25 minutes before serving.

BAKED PEACH BLINTZES AND GINGER CREAM

1 large can sliced peaches (960g)

1 small can sliced peaches (440g)

1 small jar of glace ginger syrup (available at Woolworths)

8 crepes (sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon) available at Sandringham Spar or your favourite bakery.

1 cup non-dairy creamer (beaten until firm)

PEACH FILLING FOR CREPES/BLINTZES

Drain the syrup off both tins of peaches and set syrup aside. In a large saucepan, combine the peach syrup from both tins of peaches, ginger syrup, and four large pieces of glace ginger, water, cornflour, and cinnamon before putting it over the heat. Place this over medium to high heat and boil together, whisking all the time until it thickens up. Reduce heat to low, add the peaches from the large tin and stir for a further 2 minutes. Remove from heat and blend together with a hand blender or mash with potato masher. The mixture should not be too smooth, it should have some texture. Cover and refrigerate for it to thicken up until ready to use. Preheat oven to 180C. Fill each crepe with two tablespoons of cooled mixture, roll up into desired shape and place into a baking dish. Paint blintzes with apricot jam, decorate the blintzes by placing remaining drained peaches from the small tin around the blintzes and bake until golden brown and blintzes puff up. Don’t overcook as you don’t want the mixture inside the crepe to start leaking out. Meanwhile, finely chop the rest of the glace ginger pieces and fold it into the non-dairy creamer. Serve crepes/blintzes warm with ginger cream. Decorate with strawberries and blueberries when ready to serve.

APPLETISER, APPLES AND HONEY CAKE.

This is a wonderfully moist cake that can be served as a dessert or for tea. It’s quite versatile, in fact if pears are more your thing, you can make the same cake with Peartiser and pears!

I whole lemon squeezed into a bowl of cold water to house the apples as you cut them. This prevents them from going brown.

3 large Golden Delicious apples peeled, cored, cut in half, and sliced into ½cm slices

2 cups Appletiser plus ¼ cup for the icing

Core and peel the apples and then cut each into rings about ½cm wide. Have a bowl of water that has a whole lemon squeezed into it. Pour 2 cups of Appletiser into a small saucepan, bring to the boil, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes to allow it to evaporate and reduce, making it a slightly thicker liquid. Add the sliced apples. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and allow the apples to simmer for 3 minutes with the lid on. You don’t want them to go mushy. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 350C. Beat coconut oil and honey in a Mixmaster until well combined. With the mixer running, add one egg at a time beating until smooth. Scrap sides and beat until light and fluffy, about three minutes. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, alternate adding the flour mixture and the cream until well combined. Scrape sides and mix until smooth. Fold in the cooled apples in Appletiser ensuring that you incorporate all the batter from the bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix until smooth and well blended. Meanwhile, make up a mixture of 1 cup brown sugar and one tablespoon of cinnamon. Line the base of a 20cm x 20cm square pan with baking paper and liberally spray paper and sides of pan with ‘spray and cook’. Generously sprinkle the lined pan on the base and up the sides with cinnamon sugar. Pour the cake mixture into the pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze. Place a ¼ cup of Appletiser on the stove over medium to high heat and allow it to evaporate and thicken up so that it reduces down to 2 tablespoons of Appletiser. Boiling the Appletiser to thicken up gives the glaze that extra special shine. Place the icing sugar in a small bowl and add the reduced Appletiser together with one tablespoon of coconut cream and stir well. It should be thick but runny enough to drizzle off the end of a spoon. When the cake comes out of the oven, cool to room temperature and loosen the sides of the cake with a knife. Cut into squares. Drizzle the glaze over each portion letting it run down the sides and serve. This is delicious with the tropical sorbet (above) or non-dairy cream.

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