Joan Nathan and I

Joan Nathan is running a recipe/cooking blog for the NYTimes in this pre-Rosh Hashana period.

I checked it out, - after all, my wife not only cooks but blogs a Kosher Carnival (and I have lurking secret hopes of eventually being a better cook than I am now, which is not saying much but I do make a not-that-bad chicken soup). Joan nor anyone else there hadn't yet mentioned tzimmes.

So I asked:-

68. September 11th, 2007 4:31 am
Is Tzimmes missing from this collection? No one has new recipes for it?

— Posted by Yisrael Medad

and her reply:-

70. September 11th, 2007 6:12 pm
#68 Yisrael
You are right! No one asked for Tsimmes. But the carrot souffle with pecan topping that I used in tomorrow’s New York Times is just like a tsimmes. Otherwise, look in my books.
Happy New Year!
Joan Nathan

Well, that's my good culinary deed for the new year.

Oops, at leasst one recipe, yes?

CARROT, PRUNE, & POTATO TZIMMES CASSEROLE
Yield: 8 servings

1 Onion, chopped
4 tablespoons Chicken shmaltz
1 pound Brisket of beef
1 pound Prunes, tenderized
3 cups Water
5 Carrots
4 Sweet potatoes
1/2 cup Honey
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
2 tablespoons Potato flour

Saute onion in 2 tbsp shmaltz. Heat a pot; sear meat on all sides, turning until brown. Cover bottom of pot with sauteed onions. Add meat, prunes, and water. Cook 1 hour on low heat, covered.

Scrape carrots. Wash; slice into thin rounds. Pare sweet potatoes; cut into thick rounds. Add carrots and potatoes to meat and prunes, distributing well around meat. Add honey, salt, and lemon juice; cook til tender. Shake pot gently from time to time, but do not stir. Water can be added to prevent sticking.

Make thickening by browning potato flour in 2 tbsp melted shmaltz, adding 1/4 cup liquid from meat-and-vegetable combination. Stir until smooth, cooking over moderate heat about 5 minutes. Turn thickening into the tzimmes; shake pot gently. Turn whole contents into casserole. Cover; bake in 350 F oven for 2 hrs. Remove cover for last 1/2 hr. to brown top. Do not mash vegetables. Tzimmes is not attractive if "mushy".

From: Nancy Berry (nlberry@prodigy.net)

Actually, I prefer a sweet potato in my tzimmes.

Go fool around here.

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UPDATE

My wife's blog sent me here.