oven to 200°F.
FINISH the eggplant boats: rinse the eggplant flesh under cool, running water and then squeeze it dry with your hands, extracting as much of the bitter juices as possible. Pat dry with paper towels. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet, add shallots (or alternative onions), and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the eggplant flesh and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Stir in the ground beef and sauté until the meat loses its red color. Stir in the remaining 1 â 2 cup tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stuff the eggplant shells with the meat mixture and cover with the reserved eggplant lids. Arrange these eggplant boats on top of everything in the casserole.
POUR in the broth. Bring to a gentle boil on top of the stove and simmer 10 minutes. Cover the casserole tightly with foil and the lid, place in the oven, and cook for 8 hours, or overnight.
TO serve, cut the eggplants in half or thirds. The lamb will be meltingly tender and falling off the bone, so you need not serve each guest an entire shank. Instead, dish out some lamb pieces, accompanied by limas, rice, and a piece of the velvet-soft stuffed eggplant.
ISRAELI SALAD
yield: 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
A breakfast staple on Israeli kibbutz tables for many years, this salad has become wildly popular in Jewish communities worldwide. The refreshing mix of juicy vegetables and herbs is especially good served alongside unsauced roasted or grilled foods.
The salad is endlessly variable. For extra crunch and color, you can include slices or cubes of carrot and radish. Other delicious additions: tiny pieces of peeled lemon flesh (especially mild Meyer lemon), bite-size pieces of toasted pita bread or Zaâatar Matzohs , olives, or for dairy meals, crumbled feta or goat cheese. Or sprinkle with a little oregano in place of the zaâatar.
The moist vegetables that make the salad so refreshing can also render it watery and dilute the dressing. Salting then draining the cucumber and tomatoes helps eliminate some of their juices. Cutting the vegetables into tiny cubes, though very attractive, produces a lot more vegetable water, so I prefer pieces cut all the same size, but not too fine. If the salad does become watery despite all precautions (it naturally exudes juices as it sits), serve it with a large slotted spoon and pass some extra dressing at the table.
3 cucumbers, peeled if waxed or if peel is bitter-tasting or thick, seeded, and cubed
Coarse kosher salt
5 or 6 tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into small pieces
3 large sweet red peppers (I also like to add a couple of fresh, mildly hot red peppers, like smoky aji dulce or Hungarian wax peppers), seeds and membranes removed, flesh cut into cubes
1 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 5), white and light green parts only
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 â 2 cup mixed fresh herbs (preferably at least 2 of the following: dill, mint, cilantro)
FOR THE DRESSING
About 1 â 4 cup best-quality extra virgin olive oil
About 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, minced
About 3 â 4 teaspoon ground cumin, preferably freshly toasted and ground
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
About 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)
Optional garnish: zaâatar
LINE a colander or wire-mesh sieve with a double thickness of paper towels. Add the cucumbers and toss them with 2 teaspoons salt. Cover with more paper towels and weight the cucumbers down with a heavy object like a can of tomatoes. Set the colander over a bowl, and let drain in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
IN a large serving bowl, toss the tomatoes with 1 â 2 teaspoon salt, and set aside until the tomatoes throw off a small pool of juice.
PREPARE the dressing: combine the ingredients in a jar and shake to blend well. Taste and adjust seasonings; it should be
FINISH the eggplant boats: rinse the eggplant flesh under cool, running water and then squeeze it dry with your hands, extracting as much of the bitter juices as possible. Pat dry with paper towels. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet, add shallots (or alternative onions), and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the eggplant flesh and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Stir in the ground beef and sauté until the meat loses its red color. Stir in the remaining 1 â 2 cup tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stuff the eggplant shells with the meat mixture and cover with the reserved eggplant lids. Arrange these eggplant boats on top of everything in the casserole.
POUR in the broth. Bring to a gentle boil on top of the stove and simmer 10 minutes. Cover the casserole tightly with foil and the lid, place in the oven, and cook for 8 hours, or overnight.
TO serve, cut the eggplants in half or thirds. The lamb will be meltingly tender and falling off the bone, so you need not serve each guest an entire shank. Instead, dish out some lamb pieces, accompanied by limas, rice, and a piece of the velvet-soft stuffed eggplant.
ISRAELI SALAD
yield: 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
A breakfast staple on Israeli kibbutz tables for many years, this salad has become wildly popular in Jewish communities worldwide. The refreshing mix of juicy vegetables and herbs is especially good served alongside unsauced roasted or grilled foods.
The salad is endlessly variable. For extra crunch and color, you can include slices or cubes of carrot and radish. Other delicious additions: tiny pieces of peeled lemon flesh (especially mild Meyer lemon), bite-size pieces of toasted pita bread or Zaâatar Matzohs , olives, or for dairy meals, crumbled feta or goat cheese. Or sprinkle with a little oregano in place of the zaâatar.
The moist vegetables that make the salad so refreshing can also render it watery and dilute the dressing. Salting then draining the cucumber and tomatoes helps eliminate some of their juices. Cutting the vegetables into tiny cubes, though very attractive, produces a lot more vegetable water, so I prefer pieces cut all the same size, but not too fine. If the salad does become watery despite all precautions (it naturally exudes juices as it sits), serve it with a large slotted spoon and pass some extra dressing at the table.
3 cucumbers, peeled if waxed or if peel is bitter-tasting or thick, seeded, and cubed
Coarse kosher salt
5 or 6 tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into small pieces
3 large sweet red peppers (I also like to add a couple of fresh, mildly hot red peppers, like smoky aji dulce or Hungarian wax peppers), seeds and membranes removed, flesh cut into cubes
1 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 5), white and light green parts only
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 â 2 cup mixed fresh herbs (preferably at least 2 of the following: dill, mint, cilantro)
FOR THE DRESSING
About 1 â 4 cup best-quality extra virgin olive oil
About 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, minced
About 3 â 4 teaspoon ground cumin, preferably freshly toasted and ground
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
About 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)
Optional garnish: zaâatar
LINE a colander or wire-mesh sieve with a double thickness of paper towels. Add the cucumbers and toss them with 2 teaspoons salt. Cover with more paper towels and weight the cucumbers down with a heavy object like a can of tomatoes. Set the colander over a bowl, and let drain in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
IN a large serving bowl, toss the tomatoes with 1 â 2 teaspoon salt, and set aside until the tomatoes throw off a small pool of juice.
PREPARE the dressing: combine the ingredients in a jar and shake to blend well. Taste and adjust seasonings; it should be
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