where's the year gone?

Yeah, you gentiles think I'm worried cos it's almost November and the giant bloody Christmas tree is up again already. But no, I'm worried cos I had this Rosh Hashana post all thought out and the time, the time, where is the time... it goes and now it's bloody weeks since jewish new year so what do you wanna hear me kvetch about it or what?

Also I'm thinking maybe I should get me a computer so I can do this blogging thing more often. New jobs don't have as much interweb slacking time. But then me thinks, well do I want to spend my home time on the computer or in the lovely big new garden or playing with Lish's Le Creuset pot and the world's biggest mortar and pestle in my new kitchen? But you know, maybe if I had a computer I wouldn't write all frantic frantic unedited on my sister's while the baby sleeps...

Ok, here's the new year's recipe.
for what it's worth at this late time, Shana Tova folks.

New Year's Chickpeas
from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.

Claudia Roden says in her Book of Jewish Food that round foods like chickpeas bring good luck for the new year. Wholeness and all that. I think Sephardic Jews eat chickpeas at Rosh Hashana. A few years back I decided that we should too because this truly is delicious. I like also to remind people that there are Middle Eastern Jews too... you know in these days where the idea of Arab and Jew are sold to us as diametrically opposed. As if the Middle East wasn't the safest place for Jews to live for centuries and centuries of Muslim rule. As if Iraqi Jews never existed. Um.. anyway. On a food note, if you serve it with giant couscous, which is my new favourite thing, then you get double roundness. And because Rosh Hashana comes in Spring here it's so exciting to use the first of the broad beans. If not, Madhur suggests using zucchini.

You need:
(double or triple this for a festive meal)

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 onion, sliced into thin half rings
• 1 tsp cumin, ground
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ginger, ground
• 1/2 tsp cayenne, or less
• 3 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cups of cooked chickpeas
• 2 cups of pumpkin in a 2cm dice
• 2 tbsp big fat raisins
• vegie stock
• 1 cup or more broad beans
• salt
• chopped parsley and coriander - a few tbsps

Mix the dry spices together in a cup. Heat the oil in a big saucepan. Fry the cinnamon stick for a few seconds, then add the onion and fry until golden brown. Add the spices and stir for a second before adding the tomatoes. Cook until they soften down. Now add the chickpeas, raisins and pumpkin and cover with stock - it should be quite quite liquidey. Cook slowly until the pumpkin is almost tender. Season as needed and add the broad beans. Simmer until done. Mix the herbs through and serve over giant couscous with labne and harissa.

eggplant goodness

Me and Nell are working on our cookbook again. Which means more cooking and damnit, more eating.

We couldn't decide if Eggplant Parmigiana was worth including or not - it was something we made a hell of a lot when we were teenagers, but not something I make much anymore. Also I figure it's something most people know how to make. So last night I made a trial batch and the verdict was definitive - delicious and well worth including.

Sarah was a bit surprised that I made it in a kind of layered lasagne style, but this is how I was served it at (the authentically Italian) Sonia's place and I think it's infinitely superior to the dry style which is like a pseudo chicken parmigiana [how did this poor dish become some gross skip pub food?].

This is perfect for when you are craving something baked and tomatoey - the flavours all meld together and the polenta crust gives it a great texture. Mine probably tasted extra good because I made the sauce from homegrown tomatoes - but if you don't have any you could use cheap market roma's or just tinned. Make sure that your sauce has been properly cooked up though, with lots of onion, garlic and simmering time.

I haven't included quantities because this is an easy recipe to expand.. just allow about 1 eggplant for every 2 people. It takes a little bit of time, but it's not hard at all.

You will need:

• A batch of homemade tomato pasta sauce - about 2 cups per eggplant
• Eggplants (I used 3 medium sized ones)
• Mozzarella (a good white one from an italian supermarket)
• Polenta or fine cornmeal (a few cups)
• An egg or two
• Olive oil for frying
• A little knob of parmesan

Now...

1. Slice the eggplant lengthwise, about 1.5 cm thick
2. Sprinkle the slices generously with salt and leave them to sweat for about 15 minutes- this will make the eggplant more tender.
3. Cut the mozzarella lengthwise into thin slices.
   
4. Find a casserole/lasagna dish - choose a dish that will give you 2 - 3 layers of eggplant.
5. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F)
6. Rinse the eggplant slices and pat them dry with a clean teatowel.
7. Beat the eggs in a wide bowl.
8. Put a cup of polenta on a plate.
9. Put a heavy frypan on the stove and heat a thin layer of oil. (If you can, it's probably good to have two pans going at once)
10. Now dunk the eggplant in egg, and then in the polenta - getting a good crust all round.
11. Fry the slices in batches until golden brown - this bit is annoying but you don't need to do a perfect job - it's okay if they're a bit patchy or not fully cooked as they still get baked.
    
12. If the oil gets too smokey you may need to get rid of the burnt bits of polenta and start again.
13. Put a thin smear of tomato sauce at the bottom of the casserole dish and then a layer of fried eggplant. Top the slices with mozzarella and more sauce. Then add another layer of eggplant and repeat. Finish with a decent layer of sauce and top with grated parmesan.
14. Bake for 30 or more minutes or until the sauce is bubbling around the edges and the top has gone brown and a bit crisp. If you need to turn the heat up to brown it that's fine.
15. Serve with a green salad and some bread for mopping up all that yummy sauce.

Alternatively, tv fans might want to make The Sopranos' recipe... which doesn't look that good at all.