Lahamagine (or Lachamagine) is the perfect appetizer for your Purim seuda or for Mazza (a full spread of Syrian delicacies which is served before a Shabbat meal)  appetizers on Shabbat. Its’ main ingredients are chopped meat and ourt. Many Syrian Jewish deliacies call for ourt, which is a dark thick gooey yummy syrup with a main ingredient of the tamarind plant. The ourt adds a sweet and tangy combination which is unparalleled to any other seasoning. You will be tempted to take little licks straight off of your spoon. A staple in all Syrian kitchens, it’s cleaning and cooking process takes hours and is made from the pods of the tamarind tree.

As for where to buy the ourt I’ve searched online and there isn’t any shortcut to getting it besides coming to Kings Highway in Brooklyn. You can also call Yehuda in Kosher Corner- maybe he will ship it to you. Tell him Marlene sent you! His # is (718) 998-2400.

Here’s a great substitute for ourt sauce which tastes really similar.  You can use my mother in law’s recipe. Here it is:

Get a huge pareve pot and pour all of these ingredients into it:

1 bottle of lemon juice,  1 large can of tomato puree, 1 bottle of Prune juice, 1 cup of sugar- cook and mix with a wooden spoon on a low flame for several hours till it reduces halfway. As it cools it becomes thicker. Store in a sterilized jar forever.

Many Syrian Jewish women have lost the patience to make this gobbled-up-in-a minute appetizer.   If you want a shortcut, you can also buy Mazor’s frozen premade dough HERE- the trick is to leave it spread out on a sprayed baking pan for an hour or two to let it soften and rise- and then add the meat mixture).

If you really dont have time to make lahamagine, you can purchase lahamagine in Kosher Corner or any Syrian store along Kings Highway between Ocean Parkway and McDonald Avenue.

This lahamagine recipe is by Kosher Foodies – two gourmet identical twin sisters who put tons of creativity and passion into their kosher cooking blog. Enjoy! Marlene

Recipe for Lachamagine:

Lachmagine is a classic mazza, a “small bite” Syrian Jews often eat before dinner. It’s kind of like a mini pizza, but instead of sauce and cheese we put tamarind and meat on it. It’s a staple in many homes on Shabbat and holidays.

Making these is a little bit time consuming. I mean, it makes around 60 (I made exactly 62) lachmagine, and you have to cut them each out, top with the meat, and flatten. So it’s a good thing these freeze well. Pop them in the freezer and then whip them up as part of a weekday meal. Or make them, freeze them, and cook them for your Shabbat company.

Lahamagine

For the Dough:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons (1/2 packet) active dry yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oil (optional)

For the Meat Filling

• 2 pounds raw ground beef
• 2 grated onions, drained
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/2 cup temerhindi (or a little more, depending on how strong the flavor is)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add dissolved yeast and mix well. Add oil and mix again.

2. Gradually add remaining water, kneading until a soft dough is formed.

3. Cover with a clean towel and let rest in a warm place for one hour.

4. Make filling: Mix all filling ingredients together.

5. Split the dough into four equal pieces. Roll out one part of the dough as thin as possible and cut out small circles, about 3-4 inches in diameter.

6. Place all the circles on baking trays that you brushed with oil.

7. Spread a heaping tablespoon of meat filling onto each dough, making sure you spread it all the way to the edge. It will look like a lot, but it shrinks as it cooks! Press down the meat firmly so it sticks to the dough.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

9. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

10. Freeze the ones you’re not gonna eat immediately!

By The Kosher Foodies

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Easy Shabbat Whole Chicken with Mushroom and Tam Tam Stuffing

by Jeanette Beyda Cohen

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Attention all Jewish Hostesses! I am giving away TWO brand new bestselling gorgeous SWEET DESIGNS books by Amy Atlas!

“Bake it, Craft it, Style it! Amy Atlas, home baker, crafter, and party planner extraordinaire, shows her readers and fans how to create fabulous sweets tables for adults and kids, combining easy recipes, dressed-up store-bought treats, and craft ideas, to make dessert a fitting grand finale to any gathering. Amy Atlas gained an international following when she introduced the concept of meshing baking and crafting to make beautiful sweets spreads. She has designed tables for Brooke Shields, Electrolux with Kelly Ripa, Gayle King, Martha Stewart Weddings, Mindy Weiss, and O Magazine. Since 2008, hundreds of thousands of readers have flocked to her award-winning blog, Sweet Designs. Now they’ll learn how she does it for the first time in her first book filled with brand-new tables, original recipes, do-it-yourself instructions, and dozens of tips and secrets.
Sweet Designs includes 15 chapters filled with more than 100 recipes for every kind of irresistible treat, plus over 75 easy, affordable DIY craft projects to make them even more special. Each chapter features an amazing dessert table that reflects themes Amy’s clients most often request: a favorite color, design, flavor, destination, passion, or holiday. Amy tells readers how they can make just one item, mix and match items from different tables, or make the dessert tables as shown.”
Sweet Designs, Bake It, Craft It, Style It

 Here’s TWO ways to to WIN!

#1- Send in your great dessert bar and table  pics (by the way I- PHONES take great pics) and a description of the party. Please send in Bridal Showers, Birthdays, or any event with a gorgeous dessert bar.  Close ups of the desserts and table would be great! The most creative and unique table wins Amy Atlas’s Sweet Designs! Email them with a description of the event to: marlene (at) thejewishhostess.com.

CLICK HERE to get some of AMY’S secrets to designing your own fabulous dessert bar.

This is just ONE of Amy's gorgeous dessert bars!

#2- Subscribe NOW and you can be April’s book of the month winner- This month you can WIN SWEET DESIGNS!!

Just click HERE and get The Jewish Hostess weekly newsletter, filled to the brim with great Jewish holiday recipes, and gorgeous table settings.

WINNER picked at random with random.org.

GOOD LUCK to all of my Jewish Hostesses!

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“Stuffed vegetables are prevalent in many Middle Eastern and European countries, each with their own twist and their own flavor profiles. The Greek “gemista” stuffed veggies will use pine nuts, cinnamon and mint; Italian “verdure ripieni” include Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs; “filfil rumi mahsi”, Egyptian stuffed peppers, use allspice, currants and tumeric; Balakan stuffed peppers (names vary by country, but are called “punjena paprika” in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro) are characterized by their use of paprika; and Ashkenazi stuffed cabbage, naturally, has a sweet sauce.

My favorite are Israeli stuffed vegetables. I think that the version we make in my house (my husband is the stuffed vegetables master) is a combination of the best of all the recipes, with all the exciting and palate tickling flavors that define Israeli cuisine. The addition of hot paprika, cumin, chili and coriander give this recipe its distinctive Israeli character.

Israeli Stuffed Peppers

Admittedly, making stuffed vegetables is a bit of a project, but the results are mouthwatering. The combination of meat, vegetables and rice all in one dish also means that once you’ve made this, you don’t need a whole lot more to round out a full meal, so it may take some time, but it really is a meal in a pot.

The Israeli version doesn’t discriminate when it comes to the vegetables. Any vegetable that can be scooped out or can wrap around the filling can be used in this dish. Wegenerally use peppers, zucchini and onions, but you can also use tomatoes, cabbage, eggplant, or any other vegetable that can be stuffed. This recipe can also be made as vegetarian by simple omitting the meat. It’s just as delicious without it and is a great vegetarian main course.” Margo Sugarman

ISRAELI STUFFED VEGETABLES

Ingredients

Vegetables to stuff: About 6 red peppers; 4 thick zucchinis halved; 1 large onion. (Quantities will vary depending on the size of the veggies)

Vegetables to stuff

½ kg (1lb) minced beef

1 cup raw long grained rice (Basmati is best)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions finely chopped

4-6 cloves of garlic crushed

100 g (4 oz) tomato paste

1 grated carrot

½ small chili chopped

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon sweet paprika

¼ hot paprika

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

½ cup chicken stock

For tomato broth

1 800g (28 oz) can chopped tomatoes

200 g (8 oz) tomato paste

About 4 cups of chicken stock (or as much as required to cover the vegetables once they’re in the pot)

¼ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon sweet paprika

2 cloves of garlic crushed

Remove the tops of the peppers, seeds and white bits

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

How to do it

1. Prepare the vegetables: For the peppers, slice around the top of the pepper, near the stem and remove the “lid”, setting aside. Remove the seeds and pulp. For the zucchini, from the cut side, using a very small teaspoon or an apple corer, remove the seeds making sure you don’t pierce the bottom. For the onion, place the peeled onion in a pot of boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes. Then make a cut from the top to the bottom of the onion and carefully remove as many of the large outer layers of the onion as you can and set aside.

Remove seeds from the zucchini

2. In a large wok or skillet, heat up the olive oil. Saute the chopped onion until soft. Add the garlic and saute for less than a minute, making sure it doesn’t burn. Add the mince and cook until there is no longer any pink meat. (For vegetarian, omit the meat) Add the 100g tomato paste and mix. Add the rest of the herbs and spices and saute for another few minutes until it’s all releasing lots of wonderful aromas. Add the stock and mix.

3. Remove from the heat and add the rice, mixing well till combined. Add some of this mixture to each vegetable – fill to no higher than 1 cm from the top of the vegetable and fill it loosely as the rice will expand when cooking. For the onion, place one or two sheets of onion on a clean surface and put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle and loosely wrap the onion around the filling so that there is a double layer of onion around the filling. You can do the same for cabbage leaves that you have also boiled in water for a few minutes.

Loosely add filling no higher than 1 cm from the top

4. Place the peppers bottom side down in a large, wide pot, and place the “lids” of the peppers back on top (this is just for show). Add the rest of the vegetables in the spaces, making sure the openings are facing upward.

5. Mix together the ingredients for the tomato broth and pour over the vegetables, making sure the liquid covers all the vegetables. This is essential to ensure that all the rice cooks.

6. Cover the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the rice begins to overflow from the peppers and the vegetables are all cooked.

Serves about 6-8.

Esther Sassoon, a fabulous florist and party planner living in Israel, was so gracious to send in her Tu Bishvat centerpiece to all of us Jewish Hostesses living mostly in the USA and Canada. Thank you Esther for bringing us all a little bit closer and warming up our computers during our cold winter months. I’m so glad to see that Jewish women all over the world are not forgetting the unassuming and quiet holiday of Tu Bishvat.

If you happen to live in the beautiful land of Israel, or even if you are just visiting, please contact Esther for all of your floral needs. Click HERE to email.

Happy Tu Bishvat to all! Marlene

“Hi Marlene,

When I think of Tu’ bishvat, I think of fruit!

That’s why I thought to incorporate fruit into this arrangement.

In each square of the pyramid I put in different types of fruits such as kumquats, mini lemons, and green apples  in the arrangement.

If you have any more questions I’d be glad to answer.

Esther”

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Thank you Ruthy Bodner for sending in your beautiful sheva berachot pics to share with our Jewish Hostess readers!

I especially love your blue and orange floral themed tables- so springy and  bright! Your place cards and challah plate with the molded rose butter (or margarine) add such a festive touch.  I’m sure your sheva berachot dinner party was a huge success! Marlene

Pictures above- I enjoy doctoring placecards and having fun with that. My husband and I collect salt and pepper shakers and like to to put out the wedding themed ones at our Sheva Berachot tables.

-At the time, my son used his Lego skills for the centerpiece. Cute, no? The whole family gets involved with poster making, signage, collages etc.

-Took the arrangements from a wedding and made up a focal point for the kitchen/bar area.

-Saw similar personalized banners on different websites and attempted to personalize this SB for our friend. Had a blast doing it but it’s not as easy as it looks. Time consuming.

-Plants were inexpensively purchased at Costco and I put them in this display as a centerpiece for an almost spring Sheva Berachot.

by Ruthie Bodner

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