Yom Ha’atzmaut Menu

Monday evening and Tuesday will be Israel’s Independence Day. Observed on the 5th of Iyar it commemorates the day that David Ben Gurion read Israel’s proclamation of Independence in Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948. Israelis love this day as an opportunity to be with family, hang out and grill meat.

The best way to grill this meat is on a small, crappy charcoal fired grill out of doors. Live in an apartment? No worries- city parks, JNF forests and even grass covered median strips can become impromptu picnic spaces. When I lived on kibbutz we found city folk invading our backyard each year in search of a perfect spot to enjoy their festive meal. Be sure to stake out your spot early or you might have to drive down into the Negev to find an open picnic table.

In an effort to help our non-Israeli friends I am referring you to of our previously posted treats to round out your Zionist menu on this 62nd year of the Third Commonwealth.

Start with some bread, pita is mandatory. Next a nice Israeli salad, fresh hummus or ful, schoug and perhaps some grilled sausages, but steak is also nice (Israelis call pork chops steak levan or white steak- a fact I always find amusing). Also, throw some onions halves on the fire with some olive oil, bring along a couple of cold beers and enjoy.

Yom Ha’atzmaut Sameach – Happy Independence Day!

Chicken Soup Sausage

Links of raw sausage

“It tastes like chicken”- how any times have you heard that? The implication of course is that chicken is so tasteless that any bland tasting meat (rabbit, squab, etc) could be easily substituted for it. Just take a look at the chicken sausages that populate the supermarket with their array of strong seasonings (basil garlic, Gouda apple, teriyaki). This runs counter to the principle of a good chicken soup. A good soup tastes definitively like chicken. My question was could I create a sausage that tasted that much like chicken that there would be no mistake about what it was made from.

Bouchons, an end of Passover treat

Bouchon, just what you want after Passover is over

A few weeks ago I was visiting my folks (and getting some snow time in- Ski Alta!) and as I was packing up to go home my mother handed me a bag of what looked like chocolate muffins and said that I should take them to my kids. Upon arrival back in California I opened them up and discovered that they were bouchons, which are like chocolate brioche. When we had eaten them all a few days later I sent my mom a note thanking her and she sent me back the recipe. In the interest of letting my Jewish mother share her baking skills with the world, I present you with her version of this very tasty treat. You should have a batch on hand when Passover ends later this week.

Bubbe Julie’s Pesadik Kamish

My Bubbe (Yiddish word for grandmother) Julie is unstoppable. At 90 years old, she is still maintaining a three-story house, driving her car around Vancouver, and cooking up a storm. When my family and I are in town, we eat everything Bubbe makes for us–even if we are not hungry. I can still distinctly remember about 10 years ago when my father was interrogated by a US customs officer for carrying a poppyseed cake in a brown unmarked box, fresh from the oven. “What is in the box?” they asked. “It’s a poppyseed cake baked by my mother-in-law, I promise.” One of my favorites in her baking repertoire is kosher for Passover kamish. It almost doesn’t take like Passover. You may have heard kamish referred to as “Mandelbrot” or “Jewish biscotti”. It’s all the same: sweet, crunchy and delicious.