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PASSIONATE PALATE | MARGI LENGA KAHN

For Rosh Hashanah: a culinary 'gantze tzimmes'

We can all find something over which to make a gahntze tzimmes (big production). My son graduated first in his kindergarten class. I got such a deal on a blouse at Marshall's. My granddaughter is dating a doctor. My husband sat next to former Governor Michael Dukakis on the Green Line. And so on and so on.

But when it comes to food, Rosh Hashanah is a great reason to make a gahntze tzimmes. Literally. If you've ever eaten a tzimmes, you know why it has earned that name. If not, or if you've never heard of it, a tzimmes can be a combination of vegetables or fruits or both that are simmered together in the oven or on the stovetop.

You can serve it as the main course, a side dish, or even dessert. A tzimmes can also include meat, generally beef brisket or stew meat.

Slow cooking is the key to a good tzimmes. When some vegetables are simmered with little liquid, their water content is reduced and their natural sugars released. Continued heat causes these sugars to caramelize, creating the unique character of a tzimmes. This is particularly true of root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, beets, rutabagas and turnips, which are all high in sugar.

The same, of course, applies to fruits, particularly dried fruits whose moisture has already been removed.

Cooking concentrates and caramelizes these sugars. Now imagine cooking all these vegetables and fruits together, with their flavors and sugars melding in the pot for hours. The resulting flavor is rich and seductive. Hence, a tzimmes is born. And healthy, too.

To my surprise, I had a hard time finding cooks in St. Louis who make tzimmes. Even including those who make homemade holiday feasts.

For example, Marla Goldstein, mother of two and someone who looks forward to preparing the Rosh Hashanah feast each year, has already begun preparing parts of her holiday meal: two round challahs, chicken soup with matzo balls and her husband Gary's homemade kreplach. But she leaves the tzimmes to her mother-in-law, Lee Goldstein of Chicago.

"I've tried and always seem to burn it," Marla told me. "My mother-in-law makes pounds and pounds of tzimmes at a time. She makes hers with carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, apricots, and short ribs. The house smells wonderful, and those smells set the mood for the holiday. She puts all her love into her tzimmes."

A dear friend of mine from Chicago, retired schoolteacher Jan Molinaro, recalled the fabulous fruit tzimmes of her childhood.

"It was prepared by either my mom, Eleanor Mednick Binenfeld, my bubbie grandma, Fannie Mednick, or my aunt (my mom's sister-in-law) Beverly Mednick. It was served either warm or chilled. My favorite was to eat it warm as dessert. I didn't start to make it on my own until I was an adult. Tzimmes is an ultimate comfort food for me and a food memory of holiday meals past."

Jan doesn't have her mother's original recipe but found one that tastes similar. She uses the recipe for "Fruit Compote In Red Wine" which can be found on page 255 of the New York Times Passover Cookbook.

Making a great, or gahntze, tzimmes isn't all that difficult. As Marla's mother-in-law told her, "You don't have to watch it. You just put it in a pot and the oven does the rest."

My tzimmes, a vegetarian version, is baked in the oven. It is easy to make and comes out just right every time — I promise. The aroma is heavenly and the flavor rich and satisfying. And a little bit goes a long way.

Along with my recipe, I'm including a recipe I adapted from Faye Levy's new book, Healthy Cooking For The Jewish Home. This tzimmes is prepared on the stove.

I've substituted lean beef stew meat for the veal and added some beef broth, dried apricots, and seasonings to intensify the flavor. The recipe calls for butternut squash but you could easily substitute acorn squash or Japanese kabocha squash, the latter being sweeter. The original recipe is served with matzo balls, which I prefer to have in my chicken soup.

And by the way, if you make an unusual tzimmes, I invite you to share your recipe with me (note my e-mail address below). Passover is not that far away and it would be another perfect opportunity to make a gahntze tzimmes.

NCJW is looking for your recipes

If you have other unique recipes to share, the National Council of Jewish Women wants you to know that they are getting ready to publish a new cookbook. They are looking for unusual recipes — a new take on a classic, a fast and healthy entree, a kid friendly favorite or a special Jewish Holiday recipe — any great recipe that fits into today's lifestyle.

To submit a recipe, complete the form that can be accessed online at www.ncjwstl.org or request a form by calling the NCJW office at 314-993-5181. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 30.

If you would like to work on the NCJW Cookbook committee, call the office or email co-chairs Farilyn Hale at hockeymom7@aol.com or Holly Bernstein at megsmom_99@yahoo.com.

Finally, best wishes to you and your family for a happy, healthy, and delicious New Year.

Carrot and Sweet Potato Tzimmes

2- 12 oz. packages pitted prunes

3 cups boiling water

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 pound carrots, peeled cut into 1-inch slices

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, from approximately 2 large oranges

1 cup mild honey

2 whole cloves

1 1/2 tsp. table salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Place prunes in a heatproof bowl. Pour water over prunes and allow them to soak for 15 minutes. Drain prunes in a colander set over a medium bowl to catch the uid. Reserve prunes and liquid separately.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and sauté over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large, oven proof stew pot layer onions, reserved prunes, sweet potatoes, and carrots in this order.

To the bowl of reserved liquid, add orange juice, honey, cloves, salt, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and nutmeg. Mix and pour over fruit and vegetables in stew pot.

Cover pot and cook for two hours, stirring once or twice. After two hours, remove lid and continue to bake for 35 minutes. Carefully remove tzimmes from oven and serve.

Tzimmes can also be refrigerated for up to five days or frozen for up to one month. Reheat in 350-degree oven or a microwave, adding a few tablespoons of water if mixture is too dry.

Makes 8-10 side dish servings.

Beef tzimmes with butternut squash

1 1/2 pounds lean beef stew meat, rinsed and patted dry

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cinnamon stick

1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 cups beef broth

Water to cover

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks

2 tbsp. mild honey

1cup pitted dried prunes

1 cup dried apricots

Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large stew pot over high heat. Add stew meat and brown on all sides, 5-10 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter.

If excessive liquid has accumulated in pan, reduce liquid by continuing to heat pan. Add remaining 1 tbsp. of oil along with onions. Sauté onions over medium heat until softened. Add carrots, seasonings, beef broth, and enough water to just cover contents of pot.

Bring mixture to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 3o minutes. Add squash, honey, prunes, and apricots to pot and stir. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and continue to simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove lid and continue to cook tzimmes over medium heat until liquid has thickened.

Remove pot from heat, allow mixture to cool, and refrigerate overnight in pot for best results.

To reheat, simply place pot on stove and warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Serve.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Margi Lenga Kahn is the mother of five and grandmother of one.

A cooking instructor at the Kitchen Conservatory, she is currently working on a project to preserve the stories and recipes of heritage cooks. She welcomes your comments and suggestions at margikahn@gmail.com.

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