SC - REC: My seder menu

[Seton1355 at aol.com]

Hello Everyone,
	Last night I had my 15th C Spainish seder meal.  It went off really 
well.  Even the people who said "Yuk! medieval food",  had seconds! All the 
recipes except the gifillte fish come from ***A Drizzle of Honey*** Here are 
the recipes and comments below.
**********Juana Nunez's Lettice and Radish Salad***********
SALAD:
1 - 2 oz watercress				1 T chopped fresh mint
½ head iceburg lettice			3 - 4 radishes, sliced
2 C torn up other greens			1 - 2 oz hard cheese such as 
romono
	radiccio, red lettice,		1 -2 tsp coarsly gropund salt
	endive, fennel, romaine

DRESSING
1-2 tsp balsamic, red wine or cider vinegar
3 T olive oil
Remove the stems from the watercress.
Chop the leaves into bite-size pieces.
Tear the lettice into bite size pieces
Toss all the greens together in a large bowl.
Top with the radishes and the cheese.
Sprinkle with the salt.
Make the dressing:
Pour the vinegar into a jar.
Add the oive oil.
Cover and shake vigorously
Pour over the salad and toss before serving

I left out the cheese because we were having a meal meal.
It was a nice, colorful salad.  
The dressing was pleasant.

***********Pedro de la Caballeria's Vermilioned Eggs************
Loose yellow or red onion skins			12 whire eggs
(about 6 cups)					½ C whire vinegar

In a large non-reactive pot, place hjalf the onion skins, then add the eggs 
and the rest 	of the onion skins.
Pour in the vinegar and add water to completely cover.
Cover the pot.
Slowly bring the water to a boilover medium heat and then turn down the heat 
to very 	low.
Cook over low heat for 1 hour.
Take the eggs out of the pot.
With a spatula, gently crack the eggs once or twice.  This allows the dye 
process to 	penetrate the egg whites.
Return the eggs to the water. Continue to cook the eggs over very low heat 
for another 	2 hours.
Remove the eggs from the water, drain
When cool, refrigerate
Peel the eggs and wash off before serving

Before I made these eggs, I asked on the list about cooking them for 2 hours. 
Someone replied that the texture of the whites would go creamy.  YES!  The 
texture was wonderful!  I dyed the eggs in red onion skins. When I cracked 
the eggs as the recipe instructed, the end product was quite beautiful.  the 
eggs came out looking veined like marble.  After I finished with the eggs, I 
still had a pot of red dye water left.  I couldn't just throw it out so I 
dumped in a yard of undyed muslin I had.  It came out a rich tan color!!!

********Gifillte Fish*********
1lb talapia	*		1 lb orange roughy*
2 eggs			1 lg onion grated
5 Tbsp motzoh meal  (more may be needed)
salt & pepper to taste	

*Usually a mixture of carp, whiting and pike is used to make gifillte fish, 
but I couldn't get those fishes, so I used these instead.  The result was a 
mild dish.

Grind everything together. 
 If the mixture is not solid enough, put in a little more motzoh meal.
Bring a large kettle of water to the boil.
Make small patties or balls out of the fish and gently slide them into the 
water.
In about 7 - 10 minutes the fish balls will float to the top.  Continue to 
cook them for about 15 minutes.
Take the fish balls out of the water, drain completely and refrigerate
Serve this with horseradish as a condiment.

*******Savory Green Soup**********
2 - 3 bunches of scallions			2 - 3 C chicken broth
2 lbs spinach				½ tsp sugar
fresh herbs					pinch each of ground cardomon 
and coriander
3 eggs well beaten				1 T arrowroot dissolved in 
1/4 C water*

Wash and trim green onions, spinach, herbs.
Put into a kettle of boiling chicken broth and boil for 3 - 4 minutes.
Drain the vegetables, reserving the broth 
Puree the vegetables  in the food processor.
Return to the kettle with the reserved broth and simmer.
Make a paste from the arrowroot and the water*, add to the beten eggs.
Stir this mixture into the soup over low heat until the soup is thickened.

*I used arrowroot as a thickener instead of rice flour because rice flour is 
not kosher for Passover for Ashkenazi Jews (& I had the arrowroot)
When I put the egg &  arrowroot into the soup it sort of turnd into  "egg 
drop soup".
This soup was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! It was sooo good!

*****Mayor Gonzalez's Roast Chicken Stuffed with Fruit and Basted with Almori

COATING:
8 Tbsp Nigella Almori		1tsp dried powered thyme
1 Tbsp cumin seeds, ground	8 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp water

1 5- 7 lbs roasting chicken

FOR STUFFING THE CAVITY
1 ½ C chopped pears		1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ C chopped apple		½ tsp cloves
2 cupps chopped mushrooms	1 ½ tsp gr. ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced	1 ½ tsp dried lavender flowers, crushed

About 2 - 6 hours before cooking:
In a non reactive bowl, combine the dry almori , cumin and thyme.
In a small saucepan, over medium low heat, heat the honey and water together 
until 	they are hot but not boiling.
Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly.
Put the mixture on the refridgerator for about 10 minutes.
Remove and discard the inards from the chicken cavity.
Pull off and discard the fatty parts around the cavity opening.
Wash the chicken inside and out and pat it dry.
Place it breast side up in a large ovenprogg glass baking dish,
Combine all the stuffing ingredints in a large bowl, mix well.
Stuff the cavity with the mixture.  If there is some left over refrigerate it 
until it is time to 	bake the bird.
Remove the almori mixture from the refrigerator.
With a spatula, coat the chicken, except the back which is resting in the pan.

Cooking the Chicken
Preheat the oven to 325 F
Place the leftover stuffing mixture around the sides of the chicken
Put the chicken in it's pan in the center of the oven.
Cook until done, about 2 ½ - 3 hours   (about 25 minutes per pound)
If it is cooking too fast (turning black) cover loosely with aluminum foil.
When the chicken is done, remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes
Cut into serving pieces and place on a warm platter.
Serve the pan juices drizzled  over the meat.

Nigella Almori
(makes about 3/4 C)
3 T matzoh meal			1 T caraway seeds
3 T bread crumbs			1 t fenugreek
2 T salt				1 t anise
1 T Nigella*				1 ½ t cinnamon
1 t thyme				1 t corriander seeds

Finely grind ingredients together until they are well combined.
Store in an airtight container.  The mixture will keep for a month.

*Nigella (Negilla sativa) is sometimes called black cumin. or kalonji.  It is 
a staple in Indian cooking, often seen as black seeds in Nan bread.  If you 
cannot find Negilla, an acceptable substitute is a mixture of finely ground 
of:

1 tsp oregano	1 tsp pepper		1 tsp poppy seeds

I used granny smith apples and d'anjou pears for the stuffing.  It was 
DELICIOUS!!
Also, I used cut up chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken.  I layed the 
stuffing on the bottom of the roasting pan and layed the chicken on top.  
Everything came out very tender & juicy.  OH YES.....I covered the chicken 
part way through the cooking time because I didin't want it to dry out 
because I was going to reheat it later.

******Juan de Teva's Roast Lamb*****
1 boneless leg of lamb  (about 4 ponds)

Coating
3 C fresh cilantro			2 tsp pepper
1 C chopped fresh mint		2 tbsp fresh marjoram
1 T water				1 ½ tsp salt
1 egg beaten

Sauce
½ C frozen orange juice concentrate		1/4 tsp gr, cloves
½ C water						½ tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar.

The day before serving:
Place the lamb, free of any packing, in a non-reactive roasting pan.
Wash & pat dry the cilantro and the mint.
Put all the coating ingredients in a food processor and chop the mixture 
finely.
With a spatula, press the mixture into the slit where the bone has been 
removed, and 	then onto the meat.
Cover the coated meat with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The day of serving
Preheat oven to 450 o
Remove the lmab from the refrigerator and take off plastic wrap.
Bake the lamb for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients.
Heat over med-high heat until hot but not boiling.
After 30 minutes, remove the lamb from the oven and reduce heat to 350o
Slowly pour the sauce mixture over the lamb. Roast it another 15 min. per 
pound.
Remove lamb from the oven. Let it sit for 10 minutes.    Slice and serve.

This came out juicy and tender,  It was DELICIOUS!

*******Isabel Gonzalez's Eggplant and Onion Stew****
Serves 4
1 medium eggplant, about 2 lbs			½ tsp ground coriander
2 T salt						1 tsp dried cilantro
2 C chicken broth					1/4 tsp gr cloves
2 med onions, quartered				3 whole white cardomon pods
1 ½ inches of cinnamon stick

Peel the eggplant and cut into ½ " thick slices.
Soak for 30 minutes in salted water.
Rinse the eggplant 3-4 times in cold water and press the slices between paper 
towels 	to remove excess liquid.
Cut the eggplant slices into 3/4" cubes.
Place the eggplant in a saucepan with the chicken broth.
Add the onion quarters.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 25 
minutes, 	stirring occasionally.
Remove the lid and stir in the 5 seasonings and continue to simmer for 
another 30 - 40 	minutes.

The hint of cinnamon& cardomon really set off this dish quite nicely.  It was 
very tasty!!

*********Isabel Garcia's Chickpeas and Honey with Cilantro********

1 frozen 16 oz package of frozen pearl onions or 2 medium onions diced
1 bay leaf				2 - 19 oz cans of chicpeas
2 T olive oil				1 T dried thyme
2/4 tsp gr. cardomon		1/4 C honey
2/4 C chopped fresh cilantro

In a large pan, saute the onions and bay leaf in the olive oil over medium 
heat, g-8  	minutes until onion is golden.
Add the drained chicpeas, thyme and cardomon.  
Cook over medium low heat until heated through, about 6 minutes
Remove the bay leaf
Stir in the honey and simmer for 5 minutes
Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve at once

This was the only dish that I didn't especially care for.  I think when I 
make it next time, I will cut the onion into a much smaller dice.
The chicpeas had a nice taste though,

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