Rach's Salute to Florence

Egg and Onion

Boil 1 doz eggs

Peel and chop and place in a mixing bowl

Wash 4 spring onions, finely chop green part of the stem and put in bowl

Add a knob of butter and salt and white pepper to taste while eggs are still a bit warm

Mash and serve

Chopped Liver

Boil 4 eggs, dice and put aside.

Trim stringy bits off 700 grams of chicken livers, knowing you are participating in the worst food prep step ever.

Place 2 tbsp schmaltz or (duck fat) into a large cast iron or non stick skillet and melt over medium heat. Put half of the chicken livers into the skillet and fry them for 3 minutes on each side
(about 6 minutes total). Season the livers generously with salt and pepper as they are cooking. 

After cooking, livers should be firm and browned on the outside while slightly pink on the inside. They will continue to cook internally after you remove them from the skillet; don’t overcook them, or they will turn dry. 

When the livers are brown and firm, pour them into a medium-size mixing bowl along with the leftover schmaltz/oil from the pan. Add another 2 tbsp of schmaltz/oil to the skillet, melt it, and fry the remaining livers repeating the same process as above. Add the livers and leftover schmaltz/oil from the pan to the mixing bowl.

Add the onion slices to the skillet and reduce heat to medium low.

Cover the skillet and let the onion cook undisturbed over medium low heat for 10 minutes. Check once or twice during cooking just to make sure they are not over-browning or starting to burn. The onions should be softening, but not darkening at this point. This "steaming" process kick-starts the caramelization needed for sweetness in the chopped livers.

Uncover the skillet, stir the onions, and continue to sauté them for another 30-40 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to keep the onions from burning. Ideally the onions should be deeply caramelised, tender and sweet - this is what gives Jewish chopped liver its trademark savory-sweetness.

Don't try to speed up the caramelisation process, it takes time-- and that's ok. Good things are worth waiting for. When the onions have reduced to about 1/3 of their original size and are soft, sweet, and golden, they're ready. 

Add the cooked onions to the mixing bowl along with 4 of the diced hard boiled eggs.
Season all ingredients generously with salt and pepper. 

Now it's time to chop all of the ingredients together into a blended mix. Can also put in food processor.

The liver is best served chilled with Matzo bread.

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Bagels

Go to Aviv, 412 Glen Huntly Rd Elsternwick ask for 1 dozen assorted bagels.

Smoked salmon – squeeze lemon juice and scatter fresh dill

Full fat Philly

Slice pickled cucumbers (get the once in garlic – not the sweet ones)

Brisket

Preheat oven to 150°C 

Season one side of the brisket a whole brisket (about 2 kilos) liberally with salt and pepper 

Lay two pieces of foil on the bench crossways with a sheet of baking paper on top

Place brisket, seasoned side down, onto the baking paper

Season the other side of the brisket

Bring the foil up and over, covering the brisket - keep the top open to crisp up the brisket. After three hours cover it up

Transfer to an oven dish and cook slowly 

Potato Latkes

Before you begin making the latkes, place your wire cooling rack close to the area where you will be frying the latkes. Place a layer of paper towels below the cooling rack to catch excess oil. 

Shred 700g of potatoes (I like King Edwards) using a hand grater or food processor shredding attachment with large holes (large shreds).

Place grated potato into a bowl and immediately cover with cold water.

Meanwhile, grate the onion using the grater or food processor attachment with fine holes (small shreds).

Drain the potato shreds in a colander. Rinse and dry the bowl used to soak the shreds and set aside.

Place drained potato shreds and grated onion in the centre of a clean tea towel or multiple layers of cheesecloth.

Wrap the shreds up in the cloth, twisting the cloth to secure the bundle, and squeeze firmly to remove excess liquid from the shreds. Squeeze the Christ out of them as if your potato is wet it won’t stick together

Pour potato and onion into the clean dry bowl. Stir the shreds with a fork to make sure the grated onion is evenly mixed throughout the potato shreds.

In a frying pan, add duck fat (or schmaltz) to reach a depth a few cm and heat the oil. 

While oil is heating, use the fork to stir 1 cup of matzo meal, 2 beaten eggs, salt and pepper into the potato and onion shreds.

Add salt and pepper to taste; I add about 1 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. You can sprinkle on more salt to taste after cooking, if desired. Make sure the egg and seasonings are fully mixed throughout the potato shreds.

Scoop up 3 tbsp of the potato mixture and shape into a tightly compacted disk.

Place the disk carefully into the hot oil. Latkes can break apart at this point, they’re very delicate. If you can get them into the hot oil in one piece, chances are they will stick together – frying them is like the “glue” that holds them together.

The oil should sizzle, but not pop when the latke hits it; if the oil jumps wildly or smokes, it is too hot. If it only bubbles weakly, the oil is not hot enough. Use the first latke to test the oil temperature, and don’t fry a whole batch until the temperature is right.

Continue shaping the latkes in this way, using 3 tablespoons of potato mixture for each latke. Fry in batches of 4-5 latkes at a time (no more than that – don’t crowd the pan) for 2-3 minutes per side until brown and crispy. 

Remove the latkes from the pan using a metal spatula and place them on the wire cooling rack to drain.

Serve latkes fresh within 10 minutes of frying them. 

Chocolate Babka & Baked Cheese Cake

Courtesy of Aviv in Elsternwick.