It’s hard to believe that spring is upon us after all the snow. We are finally ready for the great weather ahead of us.
With Passover only two weeks away, I’d like to share some recipes with you and try to build a Seder meal. This time, I’d like to introduce an appetizer, and also my favorite dish: chicken liver.



Chicken liver with mushrooms in red wine

Ingredients
¼ cup oil
4 additional tablespoon of oil (or other kind of oil)
3 sliced onions
18-20 pieces of chicken liver
1 lb sliced mushrooms (Champignon)
Salt, ground pepper
1 cup dry red wine
Chopped parsley – for decoration

Directions
• Pour the oil into a large skillet.
• Add the onions and fry until golden.
• Add the mushrooms and fry until tender.
• Add the chicken liver, salt, ground pepper, and wine.
• Bring to boil, while stirring well, and cook for 3-4 more minutes until the sauce has thickened.
• Decorate with chopped parsley and serve warm.

Until the next time,
Hava & Dorit

I think we had enough snow….don’t you? Purim is in couple of weeks and some of my favorite treats. Hamantashen is tricky to make, and some involve a lot of work. Here is an easy recipe for quick bake.

Ingredients (dough)
2 ½ cups self rising flour
7 tablespoons (100 grams) butter or margarine
2 eggs
¼ cup sugar

Ingredients (filling)
½ cup of jam, (any flavor you like)
3.5 oz (100 grams) crashed pecans
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
• Put all ingredients and mix until you get smooth dough. If you find it to be dry add some water or orange juice.
• Mix the filling ingredients.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Roll the dough out and cut rounds (I use glass).
• Put 1 teaspoon of the filling in the middle of each round and fold it in a shape of triangle.
• Bake it for 15 minutes.
• When it’s ready you can sprinkle sugar powder.


Happy Purim,

Hava& Dorit

In my previous entry, I talked about chickpeas and how they are a great source of zinc and protein; they are also high in dietary fiber.
This time I’d like to recommend a fresh salad that goes with every meal.

Ingredients:
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
A few ribs celery and leafy tops, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Combine chick peas with onions, peppers, celery, garlic, red pepper flakes and rosemary in a medium bowl. Dress the salad with vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper.

Have a great winter….
Hava & Dorit

Hello again,

It’s been a while since the last time I wrote. I’ve been thinking about sharing with you something light and healthy after dealing with so much oil and fried food during Hanukkah. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and survived the oily dishes, the snow storm and the winter break.
This time I’d like to talk about chickpeas;
Chick pea and garbanzo bean are 2 names for the same thing (Cicer arietinum) a member of the Pea family. They are grown in the Mediterranean, western Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Australia.
Mature chickpeas can be cooked and eaten cold in salads, ground and shaped in balls and fried as falafel, cooked and ground into a paste called hummus roasted, spiced and eaten as a snack. You can also add chickpeas to different dishes such as pasta, soup etc.
Dried chickpeas need a long cooking time (1–2 hours) but will not easily fall apart when cooked longer. If soaked for 12–24 hours before use, cooking time can be considerably shortened by 30 minutes.
The chickpeas are great source of zinc and protein; they are also high in dietary fiber. Chickpeas are low in fat.
In recent studies by government agencies it seems that chickpeas have also shown that they can assist in lowering of cholesterol in the bloodstream.


Pasta with chickpeas

Ingredients:
½ cup olive oil
2 chopped carrots
1 chopped celery root
1 chopped onion
1 bay leaf
2-3 sage leaves
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 lb chick peas (drain them in water the night before)
Salt and pepper
2 chopped tomatoes
½ lb pasta (shells)
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 minced cloves of garlic
2 slices of anchovy
3-4 rosemary (needles)

Directions;
• Pour the ½ cup oil into pot. Add the carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf, sage, garlic and the chick peas and stir; Season with salt and the pepper.
• Continue to stir and stem for 6 minutes on medium heat.
• Add the tomatoes and after 2 minutes add 10 ½ cups of water and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat, cover the pot and cook for an hour and a half until the chick peas are tender.
• Take 1/3 of the dish and put it in a mixer, purée and put it back in the pot.
• Add the pasta and cook it until tender and absorbs most liquid in the pot.
• In a skillet put (the last four ingredients) 2 tablespoons olive oil garlic anchovy & the rosemary. Stir for a moment on medium heat.
• Add the sauce to the pot and stir.
• Pour to a serving bowl and…..
….Bon Appétit

Hava & Dorit