June 25, 2012 | 1:33 pm

Stewing Over the Spanish Inquisition

Posted by Michael Israel

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The single most incriminating dish of the Spanish Inquisition, Adafina, is the first entry in Gil Marks’ inspiring tome, Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. Reviewing the more than 300 recipes in this incredible book, a few critical facts about Jews become clear. We have been kicked out of almost every continent on the planet at one time or another. We embrace the culture of our current home country. We cook and eat a lot and often. In my opinion, the best way to show the Jew haters of past and present that we are still alive and stronger than ever, is to bring new life to the delicious recipes created by our ancestors. My goal is to cook every recipe in Gil Marks’ brilliant book, with a new approach and an undying respect for everyone who has contributed to Jewish cuisine.     

Adafina is a complicated and layered Sephardic Sabbath stew, which was designed to sustain a large family throughout Shabbat. It brings new meaning to the idea “everything but the Sephardic kitchen sink.” In order to highlight the many components of the stew, I decided it would be better to remove some and cook them on their own. Here is the menu description for my version of Adafina:

Roulade of Lamb Riblets
merguez sausage, lemon-mint fava beans,
lamb-scented frigo and green garlic harissa

Step out of your comfort zone, buy some butcher’s twine and tap into your innate animalistic love of manipulating raw meat. While the full recipe is written below, I would like to expand on a few important steps. Creating a tight bundle of meat is critical to this recipe because the sausage stuffing and rack will cook as one protein. The result is buttery soft lamb rib meat and paté like sausage filling. The rest of the procedure for the stew is classic braising technique. Browning the rib bundles over high heat is another essential detail. “Brown” means let the meat crackle and pop in the pan, without tampering, until the neighbors can smell lamb. Deep dark coloring of the meat is critical to giving the final stew complex layers of flavor. The secret to the frigo is using lamb fat as the cooking lipid, and fortifying the lamb flavor in the grains with roasted trim. Adafina is defined by its layers of ingredients and flavors. Building a background lamb flavor in the frigo makes the final result explode with rich lamb taste.

Adafina was designed to be eaten throughout Shabbat. I have maintained this function of the dish by creating a chilled Adafina wrap or “Adafinurrito” that can be eaten on Saturday afternoon. Simply pureé the vegetables from the stew to create a refried bean like spread. In a large piece of fresh lavash, layer the vegetable pureé and the rest of the leftover ingredients and wrap like a burrito. This is a fantastic indulgence to prepare you for a great Shabbos snooze.

Ferdinand and Isabella failed in their attempt to convert Jews to Catholicism. Miraculously, Jewish life and Judaism are still alive and possibly more vibrant than ever before in its history. Celebrate the Jews of Spain by making a delicious Adafina stew and taste how delicious modern Jewish life can be.

Adafina

Serves 6

6 racks lamb riblets
3 ea lamb sausage, cut in half
1 ea sweet potato, diced
2 ea onion, diced
1 ea quince, diced
5 ea cloves of garlic, minced
24oz chicken broth
1t cumin, ground
1 ea cinnamon stick, whole
12ea medjool dates, pitted and diced
as needed olive oil
tt kosher salt
tt black pepper

Procedure:
1. Cut lamb sausages in half, place one half of the sausage in the wide part of the lamb rack, roll tightly and tie with butcher’s twine. Repeat for all lamb racks.
2. Place a large pan suitable for braising that will accommodate all of the meat and vegetables, over high heat and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the brasier.
3. Brown lamb bundles over high heat on all sides, until the meat is dark brown.
4. Remove the meat, and remove excess fat that has rendered from the meat. Leave enough fat in the bottom of the pan to cover, and reserve the rest of the fat for the frigo.
5. Add the onions and sweat for 5 minutes.
6. Add the garlic and sweat until aromatic.
7. Add the sweet potato, dates and quince, and sweat for 5 minutes.
8. Add the cumin and cinnamon along with a generous amount of kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Sweat for another 5 minutes stirring continuously.
9. Put the meat back in the brasier along with any juice that may have wept while the meat was resting.
10. Add enough chicken stock to come at least half way up on the meat.
11. Bring to a simmer, and either simmer on the stovetop or in a 350 degree over for approximately 90minutes, or until the meat is fork tender.

Frigo

Serves 6

1 cup frigo
2 cups chicken stock
1 ea onion diced
1 ea lamb shank bone, roasted
1t lamb fat, rendered
tt kosher salt
tt black pepper

Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a cooking sheet, place the lamb shank bone and roast until evenly dark brown.
2. In a medium sized sauce pot over medium heat, add enough rendered lamb fat to cover the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the diced onions and sweat for 5 minutes.
4. Add the frigo and cook with the onions for another 5 minutes stirring continuously.
5. Add the chicken stock along with the shank bone and a generous amount of kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
6. Simmer until the frigo is the consistency of porridge, about 25 minutes.

Fava Beans

Serves 6

4oz fava beans, peeled
1t chopped mint
1/4t lemon zest
1t lemon juice
1t olive oil
tt kosher salt
tt black pepper

Procedure:
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.
2. Shuck the fava beans and blanch in boiling water for about 5 minutes.
3. Shock the favas in ice cold water.
4. Peel the outer shell from the beans.
5. Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, mint, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk to make a light vinaigrette.
6. Add the fava beans to the dressing and toss.

June 19, 2012 | 6:03 pm

The Cure [RECIPE]

Posted by Michael Israel

Republican or Democrat, Atheist or Believer, Jew or Foodie. Most agree that the first two comparisons are well known as groups with opposing ideas, but few think of the third comparison as opposing groups. How can a Jew be a foodie or even think of being a chef in America? Chefdom in America is associated with a few ubiquitous characteristics; clever cooking related tattoos, closet full of pork inspired graphic t’s that proclaim “will work for lardo,” and a publicly displayed sense of pride in pursuing a promiscuous and risky lifestyle. Ultimately, the modern image of a chef is not someone bubby would want at her Shabbat table. Herein resided my struggle, where do I, a nice Jewish boy from Orange County, fit into the world of young American chefs. I don’t have tattoos, I don’t have shirts with pigs on them, and my life as a newly married man is far from risqué. The fact is I don’t fit in, and I am proud of it.

My name is Michael Israel and I was born to be a cook. Ever since I could say blintz, I have been in the kitchen, cooking. Growing up, I tried to do the right thing. I got good grades, did my best to go to a good college, considered the usual paths a good Jew should follow (doctor, lawyer, accountant).  After graduating from college, I realized that my love of food and cooking went well beyond being a hobbyist. My path was clearly marked, and I knew I wanted to be a chef. I enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America to study cuisine and realize my dream of being a professional cook.

I have been lucky to live in many great American cities, and also spent a year living in Europe. In my brief time on this planet I have had the chance to work for some of the best chefs and restaurateurs alive today. My path to owning my own kosher food truck has been exciting, challenging and arduous. I love food, I love great ingredients, and I love impeccable technique.  I am a cook, but more importantly I am a Jew. So how then, can these two things exist and flourish together?  The cure to this disease is Kosher Bacon.

Being Jewish is not easy. Our major holidays revolve around fasting or remembering how awful our existence once was. Many of the rules and regulations of Judaism can seem limiting and stifling, especially the laws of kashrut. As a chef, I have always wrestled with kashrut and the business of kosher food. There are many things about the kosher world I question, but ultimately, I am in awe of the fact that life is so good for modern Jews that we can carry out such debates.  I am not interested in complaining about the fact that I can’t utilize traif in my cooking. My pursuit is to use my culinary knowledge and skills to make delicious food that celebrates Jewish life.

Typically, when other chefs find out that I am kosher they ask, “You don’t eat pork but do you eat bacon?” From New England Clam Chowder to Denny’s Grand Slam Breakfast, it is hard to be an American and not eat bacon. The key components to its deliciousenss are the cure, smooth fat, and proper smoking.  Pork fat and young animal fat, like veal and lamb, are smooth. When an animal ages the fat becomes course, as though there is sand in the fat. The next time you are throwing a mixed grill, squish the fat of a piece of lamb, beef and veal and take note of the differences in texture and spreadability.

Ultimately the goal of this blog is to teach and inspire the reader to celebrate Judaism and Jewish life through cooking. The recipes are geared to teach the reader to become a more confident and able cook. If there is something in the recipe that you cannot replicate, use common logic and try to adjust the recipe so that it works in your kitchen. Never fear failure in the kitchen, just know that any challenges or shortcomings will only make you better prepared for the next recipe.

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Veal Bacon
Yields: 1.5 pounds

Ingredients
2 pounds Veal Shoulder
.25oz Tinted Curing Mix, aka Pink Salt
1oz Brown Sugar
1oz Salt

Procedure

• Remove excess fat and silver skin from the veal shoulder. Pat dry.
• Combine the salt, brown sugar and pink salt to create the curing mix.
• Rub entire curing mix over the meat, be sure to coat the entire piece of meat.
• Put veal shoulder in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 4-6 days. Be sure to flip the meat every other day.
• After curing for the allotted time, soak shoulder in water for 1 hour.
• Remove from the water, pat dry, and let air dry in the refrigerator uncovered for another 18 hours.
• Hot smoke at 225 degrees for 1.5 hours until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees.
• Let the meat rest for 30 minutes. Wrap and store in the refrigerator.
• Prepare the finished product in the same way as traditional bacon for breakfast, or as a component in another recipe.

Tips

• A charcoal or gas grill works great for smoking. The key is low and slow by using indirect heat and wood chips. On a charcoal grill, arrange the coals in a ring around the edge of the kettle so that the center of the grill does not provide direct heat. Place a pouch of wood chips (I used mesquite), in the center of the kettle below the spot on the grill where the meat will rest. On a gas grill, simply ignite one half of the grill. Place the pouch of wood chips below the grate on the other half of the grill, beneath where the meat will be placed. In both situations, monitor both the temperature of the BBQ and the internal temperature of the veal to ensure delicious results.
• I used veal shoulder for this recipe; however fattier cuts could work even better. Try this same recipe with beef brisket, lamb belly or veal breast.
• Begin this process Sunday afternoon to have fresh bacon for Shabbat.

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