Janet Amateau, who grew up in New York, traces her roots to Rhodes and Adalia, Turkey. Currently living in Spain, she is an accomplished culinary writer with a background in international hospitality. I love her writing and follow her blog online. I invite you to visit as well!
To you, Janet……Bendichas Manos!!!!
Try this fun and yummy coconut and chocolate confection for Passover ( or anytime during the year!!!)
My cousin Sally Senzell Isaacs shared this with us a few years back, and it has become a family favorite! Easy to prepare, they freeze well and can be made in advance.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 C shredded coconut
(optional: add 3 drops of almond extract)
2 C ( usually 1 pkg) chocolate chips (*we use pareve K for Passover chips)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread with the shredded coconut.
toast cocnut in the oven for 10 minutes….stir often.
Place chips in a microwave safe cup or bowl. Melt in microwave, using 45 second intervals. Stir in between cycles. Should be throughly melted in 2 – 3 cycles. Add coconut to melted chocolate.
Drop on parchment or wax papered lined cookie sheet.
Delicious!
Each holiday has it’s special flavors and textures. One of the special treats we prepare for Pesah is “masa di vino”, a wine cookie with a delightful and unique taste and texture. They are easy to make and freeze well. Give them a try!
Ingredients:
1 C oil
3/4 C sweet wine
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
2 C Passover cake meal
1 C chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 C Passover potato starch
Mix sugar, oil and wine well. Add egg and dry ingredients.
Take walnut sized pieces of dough. Roll into a ball. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Flatten by hand. With tines of a fork, press each cookie to produce a design.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!
Bendichas Manos!!!!
In our home, we have always used a variety of nuts in baking……almonds and walnuts, in particular. Moustachudos make a good Pesah dessert. The cloves give them a special “kick”. These treats can be made in advance and freeze well.
Ingredients for Moustachudos:
1 1/2 C pecans or walnuts, coarsely ground
1 1/2 C almonds, coarsely ground
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
water – 1/2 eggshell full
Coarsely grind all nuts.
Add other ingredients including 1/2 eggshell filled with water. (folks, that’s how it’s done!!)
Shape into triangle or ball shapes about 1″ in diameter.
Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 5 or 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven until lightly brown.
Allow to cool and harden before removing from pan. Sprinkle with confectioners’ (powered) sugar.
Marochinos are a favorite for Passover. My mom has taught a class at our synagogue, and several people have adopted these as a special pareve (non-dairy) dessert that they now make throughout the year. Make a batch and enjoy them!!
Ingredients:
2 C blanched almonds
1 C sugar
2 eggs…whites only
Grind blanched almonds to near a fine consistancy. Mix in a bowl with sugar.
Beat egg whites until frothy and add almonds and sugar. Mix until biscuit-dough consistency. Using a tablespoon or metal scoop, drop 1″ apart on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven.
Allow to cool completely before handling. Will harden as they cool.
We JUST celebrated Purim…..and walking into the market today, I was bombarded with Passover!!!!! Time to start planning our Seder meals, menus for the week…….while preparing delicacies for a Banyo di Novia, in between! Our cooking calendar is busy for the month ahead….all in preparation for happy and wonderful things!!!!
There are several foods that my mom prepares especially and only for Pesah. Keftes di Prassa (leek patties) is one of those specialities.
In our family, these are vegetarian – others make them with ground meat. (these are one of my husband’s very favorite Sephardic treats!!) Continue reading
“Home baked bread always had a special place in my mother’s house. With every baking, my dad would repeat in his Old World Ladino, Los panizikos di kaza ki no manki (Home made bread should never be lacking). Not surprising, each time I whiff the aroma of my wife’s bread baking in our oven, Continue reading
Purim is here, Pesah is right around the corner!!! So some Purim “allegre” for now…and Pesah recipes coming!
I remember when my boys were young, my mother would make “Folares”, or “Haman in Jail” as the boys called them, for Purim. The Folare was made of Bureka dough wrapped around a hard boiled egg. The strips of dough for a “cage” or “jail” around the egg. The egg represented the evil Haman from the Purim story, who is ultimately punished for his plot to harm the Jews. Continue reading
A fun cooking and baking week for me! Monday I had the pleasure of being at Sephardic Temple working with a delightful group of ladies as they prepared for the Sephardic Food Festival this Sunday ( at STTI, doors open at 3 p.m.!) I look forward to sharing some of their recipes next week.
On Thursday, while at the market, I found some beautiful eggplants…..just looking to be made into a “conduchu” (filling) for “Burekas de Berengina” ( eggplant filled turnovers). SO…I brought them home. I called my mom on Friday morning to see if she would come spend the day baking with me. When she said yes, I asked if we could tackle “Boyos de spinaka” ( pronounced “Boyus” by Rhodeslis!) (individual spinach/cheese pies). She said yes and reviewed with me the ingredients we would need. I ran to the market, stopped to pick up my mom, and our day of baking began!!!
While I began slicing, dicing and preparing the filling for the burekas, my mom began the dough for the boyos.
Just so you know…..we ultimately made a full recipe of boyos ( 45), a recipe of burekas (84), then decided that we would have dinner together….maybe some fried fish and “agrestada” ( a divine lemon sauce for fried fish)….which definitely requires homemade “panizicos” (bread) for “untaring” ( dipping and scooping) the “agrestada”….so we made a recipe of “pan de casa” (homemade bread), too!!! With all this good food, we invited some guests and enjoyed the evening!! For today, we’ll share the recipe and method for making Boyos de Spinaka.
Let us know what you think!!! Your comments, aside from offering us feedback, will let us know what other recipes to tackle and provide an interactive forum for your ideas, recollections, and thoughts! We look forward to hearing from you!
Boyos de Spinaka
An absolute all-time favorite in any Rhodesli household, these individual spinach pies ( a description that never quite does them justice!!), are distinguished by their flaky dough and savory filling. The following rhyme, penned by my dad, Jack Israel, some 50 years ago, seems to say it well:
“O, Boyo, hear my anxious plea, that I might taste your savory cheese,
with spinach and dough in it’s flaky form, and a delightful aroma when you are warm,
O Boyo, please reveal yourself, so I might find you on our grocer’s shelf!”
Kaye Israel’s Method for Boyos de Spinaka
Ingredients for filling:
Fresh spinach
(large bag, 2.5 lbs, works well)
wash spinach, cut and DRY WELL
sprinkle with salt (1 tblsp)
add 3 – 4 C grated cheese
mix cheese and spinach well during process of filling boyos ( cheese will often settle to bottom of bowl).
Ingredients for dough:
4 C water
1 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
8+/- flour
1 tsp salt
Begin by proofing your yeast: combine 1/2 C water (tepid, lukewarm), 1 tsp dry yeast, 1 tsp sugar. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, making sure it foams.
Using an electric mixer outfitted with a dough hook:
in mixing bowl ad 3 1/2 C water (tepid, lukewarm), add yeast mixture, and salt. Turn mixer on low as you begin adding flour, 1 cup at a time. After all flour is incorporated into dough, mix on medium, until dough begins pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Looking for a smooth, soft dough – one that does not stick to your hands. Key is using as little flour as possible to achieve this consistency. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface.
Work into a smooth dough. Cover the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap. Spray plastic wrap with a cooking spray so it will not stick to the dough. Tuck plastic wrap around dough….nice and snug.
Cover with a towel and place dough in a place with no draft ( a cold oven works well). Allow dough to rise for 20 minutes.
After the dough has risen, return to your work area. Prepare a “marina” ( baking pan) or a baking sheet with sides by adding approx. 1/4″ of oil to bottom of pan. Make dough balls ( approx 1 1/2″ in diameter- see video). Roll them on your work surface so they are smooth. Place in oil on baking pan. Turn them so all surface of ball are cover in oil. Continue making all dough balls. (will likely require more than one baking pan).
If working solo, it will likely take 20-30 minutes to prepare the dough. This will allow the first balls made to have a chance to sit and “rest” and become ready to open. Begin opening the dough that was rolled and placed in the oil first.
On your work surface, open your dough. The goal is to open the dough as flat, thin and large as possible, WITHOUT making any holes in the dough. This is best accomplishes using a small rolling pin. My cousin Sarita recently found a great one for this purpose online from Pampered Chef. You might want to check it out:
Once your dough is opened, place a hand full of your prepared spinach and cheese in the middle of the dough. Roll it like a jelly roll. Coil the roll, as in the video. Place on your baking sheet. Repeat, making all your boyos. Paint with an egg wash ( 1 beaten egg with 2 tsp of water added). Sprinkle with grated cheese. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven. Watch oven until boyos are a golden brown ( about 15 minutes). Remove from oven. (Take a bite of one…and know divine flavor!!!!)
**Once cool, boyos freeze well. ***To enjoy from freezer, remove from freezer and allow to sit for about 30 minutes, then reheat in a 300 degree oven. Can defrost for 30 seconds in microwave before placing in 300 degree oven or toaster oven. DO NOT REHEAT IN MICROWAVE !!! (This will result in a soggy boyo….the beauty of a boyo is the crisp, flaky dough!!!!)
Bendichas Manos!!!!!
One of the great Sephardic comfort meals is “keftes con arroz”…Sephardic meatballs and rice. We grew up on this meal made with ground beef. Today, my family prefers chicken keftes. These light, juicy meatballs in the most flavorful and savory of sauces is wonderful served on Sephardic rice!
I use a recipe passed on to me by my cooking collaborator and “kosher cooking cousin” Sarita Hasson Fields. It come from an original collection of recipes by Joseph N. Benon of Beverly Hills. Joe is the producer of a series of videos that takes you step by step through a series of Sepahrdic cooking demonstrations. His DVD’s and videos are available by contacting the Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel in Los Angeles at 310-475-7311.
Try this recipe and tell me what you think!!
Chicken Keftes
Ingredients for the Sauce:
2 – 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
6-8 cans of water
6 – 10 cloves of crushed/ground garlic
juice from 2 lemons
salt and white pepper
1+ heaping tsp chicken seasoning
1+ heaping tsp sugar
Combine all ingredients in large pot and cook on low flame on stove for one hour
Ingredients for Keftes:
2 lbs ground chicken ( recommend 1 lb dark meat and 1 lb white meat)
4-5 garlic cloves crushed/ground
juice from 2 lemons
1 cup + bread crumbs
1 cup parsley ( I often substitute cilantro)
2 -3 eggs ( + an additional 2 -3 eggs for egg bath before browning)
(I add a pinch of red pepper flakes )
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Prepare a pyrex baking dish ( “marina”) with 1/4 C of flour, salt and white pepper (to taste) mixed together on bottom of dish. Use a small scoop to make chicken meatballs and place them in flour lined baking dish. Turn them over so they are “floured” on both sides.
Prepare a saute or frypan with approx 4 tblsps of olive oil. Take each floured meatball, dip in egg to coat on each side. Lightly brown on each side in olive oil. Take from pan, drain oil and put into pot of mild boiling sauce. Repeat until all chicken patties are in sauce. Continue cooking on low an additional 45 minutes.
Prepare your rice. I have always had difficulty with rice. I either open the lid too often to check it while cooking it on the stovetop, or leave it too long and burn it! My mom’s ( Kaye Hasson Israel) method for oven cooked rice works perfectly for me each time!!
Sephardic Rice
preheat oven to 350 degrees
Ingredients:
1 1/3 C water
3 tblsps tomato sauce
salt
pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1 C rice
Combine water, tomato sauce, S & P and olive oil in a oven proof pan with a lid. Bring to a boil. Rinse rice. When water comes to a boil, add rice. Bring again to a light boil, stirring occasionally. Put lid on pan and transfer to a preheated 350 degree oven. Cook for approximately 30 – 40 minutes ( or until all liquid is absorbed). Perfect every time!!!!
Serve rice, topped with several keftes and generous amounts of “kaldu” (sauce). Wonderful with a salad dressed with light oil and fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. Comfort food at it’s best!!! Enjoy!!!!!
BendichasManos.com 
