Tag: traditional recipes

Meat & Rice Stuffed Baby Eggplants

As we approach the last days of the holiday of Sukkot, I wanted to share a nontraditional “stuffed” recipe, for those looking for a change from traditional holipches/holishkes (stuffed cabbage). If you’ve always wondered why Hungarian style stuffed cabbage is served up on Sukkot, it’s because we want to celebrate the abundance of the harvest season. Fall is when farmers harvest their wheat in Israel, and stuffing vegetables with filling symbolizes their desire for a year of overflowing harvest. Although it is customary for many to eat stuffed cabbage, any stuffed recipe is well suited to honor this custom. You can stuff grape leaves, zucchini, peppers, or even fruit for dessert!

As I mentioned in this post, I was first introduced to the idea of mechshie when I married into a sephardic family. My mother in law taught me to prepare various dishes of meat & rice filled vegetables – each with it’s own unique flavor. Having grown up with these traditional Syrian dishes, my husband loves when I surprise him by making them. Although my twist on tomato & zucchini mechshie (which I’ve dubbed “mechshie ratatouille”) is my all time favorite, this lighter stuffed eggplant version is a close second.

If you want to go the traditional route, but you’re overwhelmed by the idea of making stuffed cabbage, try my Bubby’s cabbage soup with flanken. It tastes just like stuffed cabbage, without all the work! You can even leave out the flanken and make mini meat & rice balls instead.

Related Recipes:

zucchini and tomato mechshie “ratatouille”
globe zucchini mechshie with tamarind and prunes

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Mock Chopped Liver

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With only one week to go until Pesach, it’s about that time to stop pushing off the inevitable…cooking (or at least planning the menu)! Thankfully, I have not yet made Pesach, and I don’t plan on it, as long as my mother, or in-laws will have me! A lot of people I talk to seem to feel the same, but there are definitely those who are of the opinion that Pesach food is delicious and exciting. Pesach is a yom tov that is so grounded in tradition. The whole idea of the hagaddah is “Vehegadita LeVincha,” passing on the torch to our children. To me, food is so much a part of that. Think about your childhood and so many of your memories will revolve around the smells and tastes of your mothers cooking. If you think back to a certain chag, it’s the traditional family recipes that transport you back to that special time. So for me, Pesach food isn’t about how gourmet it is, or looking for that new recipe. It’s simply about making the foods that my mother made, and those that my children, after me, will continue to make. And for generations, those same delicious smells will continue to waft through our homes, carrying on our traditions for eternity.

One of the recipes that my mother has always made is vegetarian chopped liver. To me, it’s like Pesach on a spoon! Eating it just transports me. She would whip up a few containers on erev yom tov, and we’d eat it alongside the fish at each meal. We could never shmear it on the matza, so we’d eat a spoonful of the liver and promptly follow it with a bite of matza.

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