Hi, this is Naomi Ross of Kosher Cooking Concepts. As Rosh Hashanah approaches each year, I always think about my grandmother who taught me so much about Jewish cooking. She was a child of the Great Depression and knew what it meant to go hungry. We may live in much easier times today but families still struggle to put food on the table, especially at holiday time.
I am speaking to you today to ask you to join me in helping Masbia feed the hungry. Masbia is a network of kosher soup kitchens that serves 2 million meals a year to hungry men, women, and children. Masbia needs our help to continue to feed those less fortunate. Donate now and with your tax deductible receipt, Masbia will include a collection of 50 Tzimmes recipes from some of the best known names in Jewish cooking, including my own. I have included Grandma’s recipe for you, in her own words. That’s for any donation and every donation counts.Please join me in this great mitzvah and I wish you a happy and sweet New Year.
Grandma’s Tzimmes
You always remember the tastes you grew up with. Here is a transcription of my Grandma Sylvia’s famous Galician tzimmes…in her words!
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs. Carrots - buy the large loose ones, not the small ones in a bag, sliced about ¼ inch thick on the bias.
- 4 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
- 2 whole large onions, peeled, trimmed and scored with an “X” on top
- 2 pieces flanken (about 3 lbs.) – very important to choose meaty, non-fatty pieces of flanken. Cut each piece into 4 sections in between the bones for a total of 8 pieces.
- Water – “enough” to cover
- Start with ¾ cupbrownsugar – you may need to add more later.
- Start with ¾ cuphoney – you may need to add more of that too.
- Start with 1½ teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper – plus more to taste.
- 1 basic matzo ball recipe - any recipe from the back of a matzo meal box is fine as long as it uses seltzer instead of water (it comes out fluffier). If it is a very “light and fluffy” matzo ball recipe, you may have to go a little heavier with the matzo meal.
Preparation:
Place flanken in a large soup pot and cover with at least 1½ inches of cool water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Skim off whatever fat or foam rises to the top. (This should take about 15-20 minutes). Add in all of the remaining ingredients (except matzo balls), and make sure that there is enough water to cover all the vegetables. (Grandma says it’s okay if you’ve added too much water because you can always boil it off and “cook it out” by uncovering the pot during the cooking).
Bring to a to a simmer, reduce heat, and cook partially uncovered for about an hour and a half.
You can now start to taste and season the broth with more honey, brown sugar, salt and pepper (it should have a full-bodied sweetness with plenty of flavor!).
In the meantime, prepare your matzo ball mixture and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Bring tzimmes to a rolling boil and start dropping in your knaidlach – you can do this by forming the balls in your hands. Make sure your hands are wet so that the balls don’t stick to your hands. Cook partially covered for another hour. Then season to taste once again, adding more salt or pepper or brown sugar as needed. If there is too much water (the consistency is very watery), then you need to cook it down by uncovering the pot. The end result should be firm knaidlach that have soaked in all the wonderful broth laying on the top of the tzimmes. The broth should be slightly thicker than soup, sort of saucy. Before the tzimmes is finished, taste one last time to adjust seasonings. (as a child I was called upon to taste and to taste again – with pleasure!). Once the dish is finished, transfer it to baking dishes or tins. Remove and discard the onions. Reheat covered in the oven – uncovered if the liquid still needs to reduce more.
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