Jammed with flavour

COOKING YOMTOV food for just two or perhaps four people is not something I am used to. But this year, Covid-19 is preventing us from spending time with family and friends. However, having recently suffered from the coronavirus myself, I am just so grateful to be able to cook for Rosh Hashanah at all.

No matter how small and isolated our table may feel, it will certainly be overflowing with the memories of family who have passed, in the form of their crockery, cutlery and linen, which has been handed down through the generations.

Although our Yomtov tables often stretch from one end of the room to the other, let’s use this occasion to reduce the size of our dining tables and menu and increase the size of our donations to charities trying to help those who may not even have a table to sit around.

ONION MARMALADE BEEF

One of my favourite sauces for beef is a red wine onion marmalade and it’s something you’ll always find in my fridge, together with garlic oil, chilli sauce and pesto.

If I’m making marmalade, then I’m going to go large. It keeps so well and it can be used with and on so many things, that it’s worth going the extra mile.

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ kg/3-3.5 lb brisket or chuck roast off the bone

¼ cup (60ml) oil

1 tbsp ground black pepper

Sprinkling of garlic salt

For the onion marmalade

2kg onions sliced (slice on a mandolin or with the slicing blade in a food processor) ¼ cup (60ml) oil

3 tbsp (45ml) muscovado sugar

2 tbsp (30ml) balsamic vinegar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp dried thyme (if using fresh, pull the little leaves off the stem and use 2–3 tbsp

1 x 750ml bottle red wine (I like a semi-sweet wine – kiddush wine is a bit too sweet)

METHOD

Fry sliced onions in the oil in a large pot until light brown — not too dark as you don’t want to risk the chance of burning them, because this will give the marmalade a bitter taste.

● Add sugar, vinegar, salt and thyme and give it a good stir.

● Add the wine and bring to the boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes.

● Remove the lid and cook off until the liquid reduces by a third and thickens up.

PREPARING THE MEAT

● Wash and pat dry. With the palm of your hand cover the entire roast with oil.

● Fry the meat over medium to high heat until caramelised on both sides.

● Sprinkle with black pepper and garlic salt.

● Place the meatin an electric cooking pot such as a Crock-pot, or ovenproof dish and cover with about two cups of marmalade.

● In a Crock-pot, cook on low for four to five hours. Or if you are cooking the meat in the oven, ensure the dish is not too big, as you don’t want the sauce to evaporate too quickly.

In this case, preheat oven to 160°C and cook the beef, covered, for two to three hours — low and slow. You can cook it for longer, as brisket or chuck off the bone enjoy a long hot soak in the bath.

Sharon Lurie is the author of Cooking with the Kosher Butcher’s Wife; Celebrating with the Kosher Butcher’s Wife and A Taste of South Africa with The Kosher Butcher’s Wife