Cooking Class: Serving like a celebrity

For a gourmet holiday meal, try these recipes created by one of Israel’s most renowned chefs.

By NERIA BARR
Napolean cake (photo credit: Daniel Layla)
Napolean cake
(photo credit: Daniel Layla)
For veteran chef Shalom Kadosh, Israel’s prominent culinary ambassador, the world’s finest chefs dropped their knives and came here a few years ago to celebrate 35 years of his culinary activity at a gala dinner.
This year, back in his restaurant at the Jerusalem Leonardo Plaza Hotel, he offers us a few of his choice recipes for a gourmet Rosh Hashana dinner.
Although they are not the easiest recipes to prepare, they promise to draw applause from your guests. Even if you choose to make only one of the dishes for the holiday dinner, it will upgrade your meal immeasurably. So prepare your shopping list and start cooking.
STUFFED DUCK ROLL WITH APPLES AND DATES Makes 4-6
It is customary to serve stuffed dishes for Rosh Hashana, as well as dishes that are sweet, with apples and dates. Here chef Kadosh created a dish that incorporates a few of the traditions to make a very festive appetizer or main course.
✔ 1 duck, about 1.800 kg. Ask the butcher to remove the bones (keep the bones for the sauce) ✔ 2 Tbsp. semi-dry white wine ✔ 1 tsp. vinegar ✔ Pinch each cinnamon and ground cloves ✔ Black pepper and salt to taste
Filling: ✔ 200 gr. veal, finely ground ✔ 100 gr. chicken breast, finely ground ✔ 50 gr. dates, pitted and cubed ✔ 50 gr. shelled pistachio nuts ✔ 50 gr. apples, peeled and cubed ✔ 1 onion, chopped ✔ 1⁄2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced ✔ 2 Tbsp. silan (date honey) ✔ String to tie the roll
For the sauce: ✔ The bones of the duck ✔ 1 sprig thyme ✔ 1 apple, quartered ✔ 1 tomato, halved ✔ 2 garlic cloves, peeled ✔ 300 ml. apple cider ✔ 300 ml. vegetable stock ✔ 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
To make the roll: Flatten the deboned duck on a working surface. Season with salt, pepper, cinnamon, white wine and vinegar. Place in a covered container and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to tenderize the meat.
To prepare the filling: Fry the onion until transparent. Chill. In a bowl, mix all the filling ingredients: ground chicken and veal, apples, dates, pistachio, fried onion, ginger and silan. Mix well, season with a little salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Remove duck from the refrigerator. Flatten on the clean work surface. Place the filling along one side of the duck and roll tightly. Tie the roll very tight.
Brush the duck roll with a little oil. Sprinkle fresh thyme leaves and season with a little salt and fresh ground black pepper.
Place the duck roll in a baking dish.
Arrange around it the bones, apple quarters, tomato and garlic.
Bake in a preheated 160º oven for about 11⁄2 hours. Turn the roll from side to side every 20 minutes. Check and add more cooking time if the meat is not tender enough.
When done, remove from oven and set aside to rest. Keep in a warm place.
To prepare sauce: After removing the roll from the baking dish, pour all the contents into a pot. Add the cider, stock and red wine vinegar. Boil and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove as much fat as you can from the top, strain, discard the solids and return to the pot. Cook until reduced to half. Season to taste.
To serve: Remove string from the roll.
Slice into 1-11⁄2 cm thick slices. Place a couple of slices of duck on each serving plate.
Serve with boiled green beans and caramelized apples. Serve sauce on the side.
Click for more JPost High Holy Day features
Click for more JPost High Holy Day features
FISH FILLET WITH SWISS CHARD Makes 4
✔ 4 120 gr. fillets of fish (use white seawater fish) ✔ 1 package of Swiss chard leaves, fresh ✔ 1 cup vegetable stock ✔ Salt and white pepper ✔ 4 Tbsp. olive oil ✔ Juice of 1⁄2 lemon ✔ 1 tomato, peeled and cubed ✔ 2 sprigs thyme ✔ 1 clove garlic, minced
Separate the green parts from the white stems of the Swiss chard. Cut the white parts into even shapes and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and place in ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.
Blanch the green part of the leaves in boiling water for 1⁄2 a minute, remove from hot water and put straight into ice water.
Drain and squeeze all the water out. Place in a blender or food processor, add a small glass of vegetable stock and blend until smooth. Add olive oil and blend a couple of more seconds.
To prepare fish: Heat oven to 200º. Brush the fish with a little oil, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle thyme leaves.
Sear the fish, skin side down, in a skillet with a little oil. Turn over and continue cooking 2 more minutes on the other side.
Transfer the fish onto a baking sheet and cook in the heated oven for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the skillet heat the oil, garlic, salt, pepper, tomato and lemon juice.
To serve, place the vegetables in the center of the serving plate, place a fish fillet on top, skin side up, and drizzle the green sauce around the fish. Garnish with thyme leaves.
PEACH AND HONEY-ZABAGLIONE NAPOLEON Makes 4
For the peaches: ✔ 4 large white peaches ✔ 1 cup white Muscat wine ✔ 100 gr. sugar ✔ 50 gr. honey ✔ 2 stars anise ✔ 4 seeds cardamom ✔ 4 6x10 squares of puff pastry, 1⁄2 cm thick
For the zabaglione sauce: ✔ 4 egg yolks ✔ 50 ml. white Muscat wine✔ 30 ml. orange juice ✔ 50 gr. honey (citrus fruit) ✔ 20 gr. sugar ✔ 1 level tsp. orange zest ✔ 2 heaped Tbsp. parve whipping cream
To cook peaches: Place 2 cups of water in a pot. Add 1 cup Muscat wine, 100 gr. sugar, 50 gr. honey, 2 anise stars, 4 cardamom pods and bring to a boil. Add peeled peaches and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from pot and cut into small pieces.
To prepare the zabaglione: Place the egg yolks, sugar and honey in a bowl and whip together until thick. Add the Muscat wine and orange juice, mix and place over a pot with boiling water (double boiler). Keep whipping the sauce until it thickens and sticks to the whisk.
Add the orange zest, remove from heat and continue whisking until the mixture cools, preferably over ice. When cold, add the whipping cream and mix very gently. Divide the zabaglione into two equal parts and mix the cut peaches into one part.
To bake the pastry: Roll the pastry squares until 1⁄2 cm. thick. Return to the refrigerator for 1 hour. Heat oven to 180º. Brush the pastry with egg yolk, bake in a lined baking sheet for 18-20 minutes until golden. When cooled, carefully cut the pastry into two parts, slicing half a centimeter from the bottom, so you get a pastry base and top.
Keep the top quite thick.
To serve: Pour a ladle of the zabaglione on each plate; place the pastry base on the sauce, in the middle of the plate.
Spread enough of the peach mixture on top of the base. Sprinkle the tops of the pastries with powdered sugar. Place them under a grill until the sugar caramelizes and turns into a glaze.
To top the peach layer: Decorate with pomegranate seeds and pistachios and serve immediately.