Ghormeh Sabzi Soup, Persian Green Herb Soup

Living in Beverly Hills affords me the opportunity to be up close and personal with many Iranians.  There is a very large Persian population

Hazelnut Biscotti with Chocolate Chips and Currents

I love biscotti, as I sit at my desk working I crave one. For many years, I struggled to make them taste good and be able to slice them into thin enough pieces. The dilemma was how to make biscotti with the maximum amount of nuts without being too difficult to slice cleanly. These are latest flavor I recreated. Just sweet enough,

Rice, Beans and Kuftes, Thursday Night Dinner

If you speak with anyone from the Sephardic community in Seattle, Washington, you will find that virtually everyone, me included, ate avicas con arroz or beans and rice on Thursday nights for dinner.  Usually this dinner also included some kuftes (beef meatballs with parsley, on a bed of sautéed onions, all simmering in a tomato sauce).  Thursday night dinner was accompanied by a chopped salad with lemon and olive oil dressing and crusty French bread.

Homemade Apple Sauce

Applesauce is the essence of apple with a little cinnamon and lemon to enhance the natural sweet-tart flavor.  I make mine super healthy with no added sugar.  I prefer to use a mix of Pink Lady and Fuji apples. This is the simplest recipe but it does take a little time to peel all those apples.

My Best Brisket

Brisket was a dish I became familiar with after I was married.  My Sephardic mother never served this ultimate pot roast when I was growing up.  I loved brisket the first time I tasted it.  The juicy, melt in your mouth, savory-sweet meat is an easy dish to make for everything from Shabbat and holiday dinners to tailgate parties for the team.   I reworked all the old recipes I had,  and with the addition of dried porcini mushrooms, slowly caramelized onions, and red wine it is delicious.  The leftovers make great beef au jus sandwiches.

Chanukah Bumuelos or Turkish Beignets

If you want to make a killer fried treat for Chanukah or any holiday see my new article at the San Diego Jewish World on line.

Garlic Roasted Turkey

Roast Turkey, what could be easier?  We all have eaten many a overdone, dried out, and reheated bird.  This recipe is  extremely simple and it leads to moist flavorful results.
To start with, I buy a kosher, no hormone and no antibiotic, free range bird.  Kosher turkeys have the advantage of being salted (kind of brined) as part of the koshering process.  A fresh turkey is great if you can find one, but a frozen bird is very tasty if you defrost it correctly in the refrigerator.  Don’t rush the defrosting.  I take my turkey out of the freezer two days before I need it.  If I am roasting it on Thursday, then I take it out of the freezer and place it in the refrigerator Tuesday morning.
Before removing the turkey from the oven, check the temperature of the turkey for doneness.  An instant read meat thermometer is a good tool to check the temperature.  Insert the thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh.  165º indicates it is ready.  After roasting, the turkey will continue to cook while it is resting in the roasting pan on the counter.  Garlic and olive oil do a magical thing to the turkey flavor.  They infuse and compliment that slightly gamey bird taste with richness more like beef.  The most important thing is to let the turkey rest for at least 60 minutes before carving and never reheat turkey.