Hello All. I know you think I have abandoned you to your own devices. Never fear I am still here. We are in the middle of Passover which is never my favorite time to cook. We are vegetarians, so cooking at Passover is like working with one hand tied behind my back. Though I married an Ashkenazi, we follow the Sephardic tradition which allows us to have rice and legumes. Otherwise, there is nothing sadder than a vegetarian at Pesach. My usual tradition is to bake furiously in the weeks leading up to the holiday and give the goodies to my neighbors. That was not possible this year, so my house is not really devoid of chametz. But we do what we can. One of the things I make at least once during the week of Passover is Shashuska. It’s eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce. There are lots of different recipes for it, but here’s what I generally do.
Get out a large skillet, preferably a deep one. Chop up a medium onion and a few cloves of garlic (at least 3). A green bell pepper if you have it is really nice too. I had red one this time so I used that instead. Get a 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes. If you don’t have crushed tomatoes, you can run diced or whole tomatoes through the blender. Actually, this time I just used a can of diced tomatoes and added a small can of tomato sauce.
Now heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the pan and saute the onion and bell peppers until the onion is translucent.
Add some salt, a little cumin if you like, some paprika and maybe some turmeric for added color. Also sprinkle in some red pepper flakes for kick. If you are afraid of heat, then you can leave that out, but really it won’t be the same. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds or so. The garlic should be fragrant, but not burned. Add the crushed tomatoes (or whatever you’re using). Let it simmer for a few minutes, so all the flavors get acquainted. I usually let it go 5 or 10 minutes. Now make four wells in the sauce and carefully crack one egg into each well. Do not stir. Cover and cook until the eggs are the desired consistency. I will confess that I do not like runny eggs, so I let my yolks get firm. I know that is blasphemy to some people, but hey, my kitchen my rules. If you come to my house for shakshuka, you have the option to take your eggs out after 3 minutes or less. Just don’t make me watch you eat it.
Once the eggs are done, plate them up with rice or pita. I served mine with basmati rice and roasted root vegetables. Since we were quarantined, this was actually what we had the first night of Passover. We followed it up with ice cream and fresh strawberries.
Before Passover, I made one of my favorite things: real honest to goodness shortbread. If you have never had real shortbread, you should make this at least once. It will be good for quarantine because it requires no leavening. So when you are down to only flour, butter and sugar and you do not have baking powder, you can still have a sweet.
Here’s the recipe.
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for the pan
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for pressin the dough
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon kosher salt (do not substitute table salt)
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Turn your oven on to 350 F. Butter an 8-inch round pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt and set aside
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. This is where you can justify getting a stand mixer. Mine is candy apple red and sits on my counter with its own little spotlight, but I digress.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture , mixing until just combined. Don’t overmix it. It’s OK if it’s crumbly, in fact it will be.
Sprinkle some flour on your fingers and press the dough into the prepared pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork.
Bake it for 30 to 40 minutes until it’s golden and firm. Watch it carefully because depending on your oven you may need even less time than that. When the shortbread is cool enough to handle, turn it out of the pan and slice it into 12 wedges (8 if you are honest about how much you will eat at one sitting).
Now when you take the first bite, you will understand why you needed that kosher salt. This is real grown folks shortbread, buttery and not too sweet. You taste the butter, then the sugar and vanilla and then every now and then a salt crystal bursts on your tongue. It is wonderful and addictive and frighteningly easy to make. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Oh, when I haven’t been cooking, I have been sewing for my grandbaby Miss H. Her mother asked for cloth masks for Miss H, her little cousin CJ and both mommies. I put them in the mail and got these wonderful pictures back.
When not sewing or cooking I have been gardening. Here are the fruits of my latest efforts. The garden is gorgeous and my body is screaming my age.
