Sunday, September 25, 2011
Rosh HaShanah; New Year, New Blog
So this is the first post for this blog, which is fitting given the time of year.
It's the New Year in the Hebrew Calendar and my family is determining the menu with which we will greet the year. When discussing symbolic foods, I mentioned black-eyed peas, which are eaten by Jews on Rosh HaShanah but are also eaten by southerners on New Year's Day (for luck). My husband then suggested we make this vegetarian version of Hoppin' John from a favorite Chapel Hill restaurant (Crook's Corner). We figured we would make a traditional, southern bbq plate with slaw (but we'd substitute beef brisket for the pork). And this year I swear off honey cake for good. It's not my thing, it's never great, and I need to own that. Besides, if you were to have a honey-based dessert wouldn't you want Greek loukoumades or Italian struffoli? I would.
So the menu this year is tentatively as follows:
The ubiquitous apples and honey,
Cheaters Pulled Pork (but with beef),
Crook's Corner's Hoppin' John,
Rick Bayless' Hickory House Sour Slaw
and some sort of greens, possibly collards
sweet honey fried something like the aforementioned deliciousness.
A specialty cocktail is in the works. What are you cooking?
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My wife is from the South, so we do the whole black-eyed peas/collard greens thing on New Year's Day. Never once considered it for the "other" New Years Day. Shame my mom is in charge of the menu.
ReplyDeleteHi Nora,
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the hope that you will be posting many menus here, as I trust you as our local foodie authority.
Here is my menu so far:
1st night:
Roasted apricot-honey-mustard chicken
Sephardic potato pockets stuffed with spiced beef
Fall salad with mixed greens, apples and cranberries
roasted beets
2nd night
brisket
carrrot kugel
more salad
gifelte fish
pommegranate sorbet
Shana tova
Totally agree with you on the honey cake (and I feel the same way about apple cake...it's only ever just "good" but never amazing, so what's the point?). That slaw sounds great and really easy. As a Southerner, I can't say I've ever had black-eyed peas without some form of pork in or near them. How do you prepare your greens? I think kale is my current favorite; it's so crunchy that it's almost impossible to make mushy and flavorless (which is the only way they make greens where I come from).
ReplyDeleteStacy: Pomegranate sorbet--what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteJosh: Scroll down on the Hoppin' John link for the veggie version from Crooks. SO good. And for collards, I usually just slice them really thin and saute them (sometimes w/garlic or onion, sometimes w/o) in some sort of oil then braise in some kind of liquid (broth, beer, wine), but not for very long.
I'm excited about reading this blog!
ReplyDeleteMy (Protestant) husband once inadvertently invented Jerk Brisket when he added a bunch of hot sauce to my classic Ashkenazi brisket (tomato sauce, brown sugar, onion, vinegar). It was very popular at our interfaith families potluck...
We're making:
ReplyDeleteTofrisket (tofu marinated and slow cooked in a spiced tomato glaze, a.k.a. vegetarian brisket)
Challah
Noodle kugle
Apple pie
Sort of traditional, sort of not. As for apple cake -- yeah, it is good. But apple pie is better, and my spouse is an expert at making pies. (She even won a pie making contest in grad school and was named the "pie queen.")
Mouthwatering menus, all. But let me say that my mother made a truly delicious honeycake this year, renewing my faith in the stuff. Even the kids liked it, no small feat for the normally somewhat forbidding flavor.
ReplyDeleteLove this blog Nora! Mazel, Deb