Shaya at Lawrence Family JCC June 28

Do you read cookbooks? I don't mean simply dipping into them for recipes. I mean really reading them. Because if your idea of a perfect evening or weekend is settling in with a cup of tea or glass of wine and a good cookbook--and you're curious about how Israeli and American Southern food interconnect--then you'll enjoy "Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel" by Alon Shaya.

Shaya has won two James Beard awards for his restaurants Shaya, Domenica, and Pizza Domenica in New Orleans. He was born in Tel Aviv to parents originally from Bulgaria (mom) and Romania (dad). But at age four his mother moved his older sister Anit and him to Philadelphia to reunite with his father, who had moved to the U.S. years before. The marriage broke up and Shaya was left to mostly fend for himself.

"Shaya" is a memoir/cookbook that traces his life through food. The sense of family he gained from his maternal grandparents--and the food his safta (grandmother) made for him when they visited from Israel, starting with Lutenitsa (a dish of roasted red peppers and eggplant). The first dish he made (hamantashen). Finding himself in a home ec class with the teacher of every student's dreams and making Linguine and Clams "Carbonara." Landing at the CIA, then going out to Vegas to work in a casino, and eventually New Orleans, where he would settle. The recipes in each chapter are connected to these memories that eventually take us through the trauma of Hurricane Katrina, when he worked for chef John Besh, to Italy and Israel, and then back to New Orleans.

Because, once upon a time, I worked in publishing in New York I have a habit of reading the acknowledgments first in books. And I knew I'd be smitten by this book with the story he tells there in praise of his collaborator Tina Antolini. He initially showed her some stories he'd written and she sent him off to read one of her favorite cookbooks, "Home Cooking" by Laurie Colwin because his writing reminded her of the narrative form Laurie used in her book. Then, he worked with editor Vicky Wilson, a legendary Knopf editor, whose sister I worked with back in the day at The William Morris Agency. And she told Shaya that the only cookbook she'd ever published was "Home Cooking." That was kismet for him but why would that matter to me? Because back then I was friends with Laurie, who was the godmother to my boss's daughter. Laurie passed away quite young, but "Home Cooking" and "Home Cooking II" as well as novels and tons of fabulous short stories are some of my favorite reading dating back to my early 20s.

So, there's that connection. But even if that weren't there, I'd still encourage you to get this book. Shaya is a terrific storyteller and his story is unusual. So are the recipes, and that's part of their charm. Are they Jewish? (His Kugel in Crisis features bacon.) Are they Southern? Or Italian? Or Israeli? You'll have to read the book to learn how he pulls together all these traditions and flavors. All I can say is that I'm looking forward not only to trying his recipes but meeting him.

Yes, meeting him. Shaya will be appearing Friday, June 28 at the Lawrence Family JCC for Shabbat dinner. And I'll be conducting the interview. Dinner will be dishes from "Shaya," including Chilled Yogurt Soup with Crushed Walnuts, Mom's Leek Patties with Lutenitsa, Pan-Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Harissa, and Malai with Strawberries (trust me, these are dishes you're going to want to make).

Tickets are available online. I'm already working on my interview questions. Hope to see you there!


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Dorie Greenspan's Lemon Goop

When it comes to condiments I have to admit, I think I'm a hoarder. Some of it has to do quite simply with my food writing. If I'm at a farmers market or ethnic market and see something I want to try and then write about, it goes home with me into my fridge or pantry. If I discover some marvelous sauce from a chef, I want to make it for my kitchen. One of my favorites is preserved lemon, which, yes, I've written about.

So, when I got Dorie Greenspan's new cookbook, Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook (HMH/Rux Martin Books, $35), which I'm writing a story about for the San Diego Union-Tribune, and I saw that she had a recipe at the back of the book she calls Lemon "Goop" I had to check it out. It's like preserved lemons, but it's a jammy-like condiment. And it's made with both salt and sugar. And in making it you also get lemon syrup. So it's also a two-fer.

Lemon goop and syrup ares easy to make. You're going to peel the zest from 6 large lemons, then cut off the top and bottom of each lemon and cut off the rest of the rind and pith so all that's left is the fruit.

From there you'll section the lemons. Then you'll combine sugar, salt, and water in a pot and bring the mixture to the boil. Add the zest and the lemon sections, bring back to the boil, then lower the heat so that it just simmers. Leave it for about an hour. Once it's cooked down and nice and syrupy, remove it from the heat, and strain the syrup from the lemon solids. Puree the solids in a food processor or blender, using some of the syrup to create the texture you want. That's it.

Lemon goop is just the acidic/sweet note you want to hit to balance the richness of a fatty fish. Or a pork chop. Or roasted chicken. The syrup can play all sorts of roles. Dorie adds it to vinaigrettes, as she mentions below. How about mixing it with garlic and ginger and a little neutral oil to brush onto shrimp for roasting? Or add to a seafood salad?

The great thing is that you have plenty of time to consider how to use the lemon goop and syrup because it lasts in your refrigerator for ages--like forever--until you use it up. Just keep it tightly covered.

Oh, and one more thing. Dorie Greenspan will be visiting San Diego on November 11. She’ll be appearing first at The Chino Farm in Rancho Santa Fe from 10:30 to 12:30 as part of the Good Earth/Great Chefs series to sign books purchased at the event. The event occurs rain or shine and is free to the public. In the evening, I’ll be interviewing her at the Lawrence Family JCC, starting at 5 p.m. General admission tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at www.lfjcc.org.

Lemon "Goop" and Syrup
from Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan
(printable recipe)

Makes about ⅔ cup goop and ¾ cup syrup

I had something like this years and years ago at a restaurant near Le Dôme in Paris. It was served with tuna; perhaps tuna cooked in olive oil, I don’t remember. What I do remember is that I loved it, went home, tried to re-create it and came up short. The second time I had it was at a Paris bistro called Les Enfants Rouges, where the chef, Daï Shinozuka, served a dab of it with fish. Daï gave me a recipe — and this is based on it — but his started with preserved lemons. The recipe I finally came up with uses ordinary lemons and finishes up as a glossy jam that tastes a little like preserved lemons but is sweeter and more complex.

You’ll have more syrup than you need to make the jam — aka “goop” — but the syrup is as good as the jam. I’ve added it to vinaigrettes (page 307), roasted beets, sautéed green beans, tuna salad, chicken salad and more. It’s a terrific “tool” to have in the fridge.

I serve the goop with fish and shellfish, pork and chicken. To start you on the road to playing around with this, try it on Twice-Flavored Scallops (page 193).

6 large lemons
2 cups (480 ml) water
1½ cups (300 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons fine sea salt

WORKING AHEAD Refrigerate the goop and syrup separately until needed. In a tightly covered container, the syrup will keep forever, and the goop’s lifespan is only slightly shorter.

1. Using a vegetable peeler or small paring knife, remove the zest from 3 of the lemons, taking care not to include any of the white pith; set aside.
2. One by one, cut a slice from the top and bottom of each lemon, cutting deeply enough to reveal the fruit. Stand the lemon upright on a cutting board and, cutting from top to bottom, slice away the rind and pith, again cutting until the fruit is revealed. Slice between the membranes of each lemon to release the segments.
3. Bring the water, sugar and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Drop in the segments and reserved zest and bring back to a boil, then lower the heat so that the syrup simmers gently. Cook for about 1 hour, at which point the syrup will have thickened and the lemons will have pretty much fallen apart. It might look as though the lemons have dissolved, but there’ll still be fruit in the pan. Remove from the heat.
4. The fruit needs to be pureed, a job you can do with a blender (regular or immersion) or a food processor; if you have a mini-blender or mini-processor, use it.
5. Strain the syrup into a bowl and put the fruit in the blender or processor. (Save the syrup in the bowl!) Add a spoonful of the syrup to the lemons and whir until you have a smooth, glistening puree. Add more syrup as needed to keep the fruit moving and to get the consistency you want. I like the goop when it’s thick enough to form a ribbon when dropped from a spoon. Thicker is better than thinner, because you can always adjust the consistency with more of the reserved syrup.

LEMON “GOOP” AND SYRUP is excerpted from Everyday Dorie © 2018 by Dorie Greenspan. Photography © 2018 by Ellen Silverman. Reproduced by permission of Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.




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Tapestry and Cooking Like an Israeli

Phew, we're past the holidays and feeling newly refreshed. Okay, I know, Jauary 2 is the ultimate hangover day, even if you haven't been drinking. But it is time to get back to real life and work and events. One coming up this weekend is Tapestry: A Community Celebration of Jewish Learning, which will be held on January 6 at 7 p.m. at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center. The evening will feature a havdalah ceremony closing out Shabbat, followed by two hour-long sessions featuring everything from Jewish values for parenting teens, Jewish mysticism, The Inner Lives of Hebrew Letters, and Yoga to Building an Epic Spiritual Fitness Plan, and Cooking Like An Israeli.

What got my attention, of course, was Cooking Like an Israeli, a food demo being presented by The Spice Way's Debbie Kornberg. So I spent some time talking with Kornberg about what she plans to do in the demo--and got a terrific recipe from her Roasted Eggplant with Tahini that I'm sharing below.

Kornberg, who has been in business in her Encinitas shop for two-and-a-half years, has products also at Harvest Ranch Market, and is collaborating with Premier Fitness Camp, will be exploring ways to cook healthy foods and digs back to biblical times to show its impact on contemporary cuisines, using, of course, spices.

So, she'll be demonstrating how to make Moroccan Dukkah, a dry dip with blanched toasted almonds as a base, but includes sesame seeds, cumin, salt, and nigella seeds. Nigella seeds, in fact, date back to the time of King Tut, so these are ancient seasonings. The Dukkah recipe she'll be sharing is from our mutual friend, cookbook author Kitty Morse.

Kornberg will also be preparing Fattoush, a salad with arugula, cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, Feta, and purple onion that also features pita bread seasoned with za'atar and sumac and baked like croutons that are then tossed into the salad.

Finally comes the Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Dressing. Kornberg wants people to understand tahini's versatility--that it's not just a sidekick to hummus. In this dish, the tahini is blended with garlic, lemon juice, Hungarian sweet paprika, and water. The eggplant is sliced into long halves and baked to soften. It's then placed on a serving dish and the tahini sauce is poured over it, along with pomegranate seeds. It can be an appetizer course served with pita or other flat breads.

Roasted Eggplant with Tahini and Pomegranate
by Debbie Kornberg
(printable recipe)
Serves 4 to 6 people

Ingredients
1 eggplant
1/2 cup The Spice Way Fresh Tahini
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon The Spice Way Hungarian Sweet Paprika
¼ cup to ½ cup water, depending on desired consistency
2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped finely
1 tablespoon The Spice Way Hummus Tahini Seasoning Mix
1/8 cup pomegranate seeds

1. Slice eggplant in half down the middle so you have two long “boat” halves. Place on a non-stick cooking sheet at cook in the oven at 450 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until fully cooked and toasty brown on top. During the cooking process, poke holes on top to help cook the eggplant all the way through. 

2. While eggplant is in the oven, start tahini sauce. In a food processor, mince garlic. Add tahini, lemon juice, paprika and water. Continue to blend. (Use less water first test out the consistency. (With more water, it makes a great salad dressing too!)

3. Take cooked eggplant out of the oven and with a knife cut a crisscross pattern along the meaty surface of the eggplant and cut along the sides to help release the eggplant from the skin but still keep it inside. 

4. Place eggplant on serving dish. Take tahini and pour over roasted eggplant and garnish with remaining parsley, tahini seasoning mix and pomegranate seeds. Serve as an appetizer course with pita, pita chips or any kind of flat bread. 

Tapestry registration info: Pre-registration $45; JCC Member Price: $40; Teachers $18.  At the door tickets will be $55 if any remain. Registration begins at 6:15 p.m., Havdalah begins at 7:00 p.m. To see the entire lineup of speakers, sessions and to register go to sdcjc.org.  Or call the JCC Box Office: 858-362-1348.

The Spice Way is located in Camino Village Plaza at 260 N El Camino Real, Encinitas. Kornberg offers free cooking demos at the store. On January 14 she'll be doing a session on Meal Prepping and on January 20 she'll have a demonstration on cooking with spaghetti squash, using pesto, black truffle, and pasta sauces. To see upcoming events, visit the website.

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