RECIPES I KOSHER KITCHEN
On Rosh Hashanah, we dress the table in white, we bring out our finest, and we serve dishes rich in meaning and intention. The foods we eat become our prayers. Each siman—carrot, beet, leek, date, apple, pomegranate—is a vessel for a heartfelt request: for sweetness, protection, abundance, clarity. These are not mere customs; they are actions filled with spiritual energy.
The Simanim Salad gathers all those symbolic ingredients in one vibrant, jewel-toned dish. It’s more than a salad—it’s a statement of hope, a taste of blessing to begin the new year.
Photo: Courtesy of Rennee Chernin
Simanim Salad
All of the “signs” in one jewel-toned salad. The perfect way to begin your yom tov meal! Prepare the components ahead and assemble just before serving.
Dressing:
2 tablespoons + ¼ cup vegetable oil
Juice of one small lime
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon raspberry jam or fruit spread
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Salad:
2 leeks (white part only), washed well and sliced thinly
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 beet, peeled and shredded
1 apple, peeled and shredded
3 dried dates, pitted, diced
Pomegranate seeds (optional)
Toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
Instructions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 tablespoons of oil, lime juice, honey, jam, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
2. In a small pan, heat the ¼ cup of oil until it just begins to smoke, about 5 minutes. Fry the leeks in the oil until golden brown, 3–5 minutes. Drain on paper towels until cool.
3. In a medium bowl, toss the shredded carrots, beets, and apple with just enough dressing to coat. Toss them either separately to maintain their colors, or all together so that the apple and carrot will take on the ruby tint of the beets. Refrigerate until cold.
4. When ready to serve, assemble the salad: Either on individual plates or on a serving platter, mound the carrots, beets, and apple, sprinkle with the seeds and dates, and top with the fried leeks. Serve extra dressing on the side.
Makes 8–12 servings
Active time: 20 minutes
PREPARE AHEAD:
You can prepare the dressing up to 5 days ahead of time. Store it tightly covered in the refrigerator. The fried leeks will keep in the freezer (in a plastic bag) for up to 2 weeks. The tossed shredded carrot, apple, and beets will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Queen in the Kitchen Fish Tips
Whether it is a matter of location or one of convenience, purchasing fresh fish is often not
an easy option. I am regularly asked, “Is fresh always best?” Maybe, maybe not. Unless you
caught the fish yourself, you really have no way of knowing exactly how fresh it is.
Nowadays fish is often frozen within hours of a catch, and this method can even result in a
superior product to the fresh fish at your local market.
But choosing really fresh fish is easyif you know what to look for:
• Smell it: fresh fish should smell fresh, like cucumbers.
• See it: the flesh color should be vibrant, the skin shiny and metallic.
• Any liquid from fresh fish should be clear and not milky.
With these tips, you can also make the most of your frozen fish purchase:
• Purchase only vacuum-packed fish or fish labeled “flash” or “quick” frozen.
This means they were frozen within hours of the catch.
• The best varieties to buy frozen are salmon, tilapia, halibut, and flounder.
• Thaw fish slowly in the refrigerator. Thawing under water or in the microwave diminishes the flavor and texture of the fish.
• After thawing, drain, rinse, and pat fish dry before preparing.
Brown Sugar Salmon
The sweet and salty combination in this recipe brings out the natural flavor of the fish and its simple preparation adapts to many presentations.
3 pounds salmon fillet
3⁄4 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1. Combine all the ingredients and marinate in a tightly covered storage container in the
refrigerator for 30 minutes to overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking pan with foil. Transfer the fish from the
container to the baking pan, discarding the marinade. Bake until the center is opaque
and flaky, about 20 minutes. Do not overbake.
QUEEN IN THE KITCHEN TIP:
Smaller fillets require less time in the oven than a whole fillet. Bake just until fish is firm and
opaque, and flakes with a fork.
Makes 10–15 servings
Active time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
PREPARE AHEAD:
Brown Sugar Salmon will keep in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to three days.
Queen in the Kitchen Honey Cake
A Queen in the Kitchen recipe is adaptable and forgiving, just as a wife and mother must be. This honey cake, my version of Marcy Goldman’s famous Definitively Moist and Majestic Honey Cake, is both. It is a sweet and tender cake with just the right spice—also essential characteristics for the Queen of a Jewish home. This cake is best made a day or two ahead.
31⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves or ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup oil
1 cup honey
3⁄4 cup sugar
3⁄4 cup light brown sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coffee, strong black tea, or flat cola
1/3 cup orange or apple juice
1/3 cup bourbon or rum, or substitute with one of the above liquids
1⁄2 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare either two 9x9-inch cake pans, one 9 x-13-inch
cake pan, three loaf pans, or one 9-inch tube pan (see tip on page xxx). It is also
recommended to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon,
cloves or ginger, and allspice. Make a well in the center, and pour in the oil, honey,
sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, juice, and liquor.
3. With an electric mixer on slow speed, blend well, making sure that no ingredients are
stuck to the bottom. Fold in the raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips, if desired.
The batter will be thick.
4. Spoon the batter into prepared pans. Place cakes on baking sheets in the oven (this
helps to brown the bottoms properly).
5.
Bake until the top springs back when pressed gently with your finger: for the sheet
cakes and loaves, 40–55 minutes; for the tube or Bundt cake, 1–11⁄2 hours.
6. Let cool on a wire rack for 10–15 minutes, then gently invert cake onto a plate.
Makes 20–30 servings
Active time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: About 1 hour
Can freeze for up to 1 month
PREPARE AHEAD:
The flavor of this cake improves over two days. It will keep, tightly covered, for up to five
days.
Renee Rousso Chernin, author, recipe developer and creator of the website, TheKosherChannel.com, centers her work on the connection between the practical and inner lives of today’s Jewish woman. Her articles have appeared in dozens of publications and she has published two editions in her series of holiday cookbooks titled Cooking for the King. Renee and her husband David made aliyah in 2007 from Atlanta, Georgia. After 13 years in the Old City of Jerusalem, they now live in Nof Tzion. They are blessed with two married daughters who are amazing moms and cooks, and the cutest grandchildren on earth.
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This article originally appeared in Her Tribe Magazine Elu/Tishrei 5786.
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