A Hearty Recipe for A Successful New Year
The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah (AKA New Year’s) is just around the corner. On Rosh Hashanah many Jews have the custom to eat traditional symbolic foods to promote different types of success in the coming year. Apples, leeks, dates, and gourds are all part of that tradition. Many people just put these foods on a plate and serve them as is but I wanted to come up with an easy side dish using them.
Rosh Hashanah also signifies the beginning of autumn. One of my favorite things about autumn is the availability of winter squash. The firm flesh of a winter squash makes for a great hearty side dish, and the yellow and orange colors match the colors of the changing leaves. one of my favorite parts of the season. This recipe calls for delicata squash (squash is in the extended gourd family) as they are all the rage these days and their skin is edible. (I personally believe they are just a gateway drug to pumpkin spice.) You could use acorn or butternut squash if you cannot find delicata and you don’t mind scooping the flesh from the skin at the table. The recipe also calls for some “warm” spices which are great as the temperature begins to dip this time of year.
Rosh Hashanah Menu
For the first night of Rosh Hashanah we usually invite Rachel and her husband Elliott along with a few other friends. I tend to go all out and break out some higher end proteins. I happen to have a large rib-eye and a couple of ducks in freezer, so instead of spending more money I decided to use those.
My full menu includes:
Cinnamon Sugar Challah (Made by my lovely wife Ronit)
Potato Leek Soup
Teriyaki Salmon (At my wife’s request)
Smashed Potatoes
Pomegranate Glazed Roast Duck
Sous Vide Rib-eye Roast
Roasted Delicata Squash Stuffed with Apples, Dates, and Leeks
Spinach Mango Salad with Beet Chips and A Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Apple Turnovers
As we head in to a new year I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you guys for reading our work. I feel like we have grown significantly in the past year and hope you all will continue on this journey with us in the coming year. We are working on some great things, so stay tuned. I have one favor to ask all of you, we can only be successful with your help. If you could all share this post with your friends across social media it would mean the world to us. From our families to yours, thank you, Shanah Tovah, and have a happy sweet new year.
Don’t forget check out Rachel’s newest Rosh Hashanah recipe: Tomato Pomegranate Salad
Recipe: Delicata Squash Stuffed with Apples, Dates, and Leeks
This is a great dish as the weather begins cool off. It uses some great fall flavors of warm spices, along with apples and winter squash.
- 2 Delicata Squashes Sliced in half the long way and seeds removed
- 4 Apples Peeled, cored, and diced
- 2 Leeks (Just the while part) Sliced in to 1/2" rounds and cleaned
- 12 Dates Pitted and roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp Oil for sauteing
- 3 tbsp Ginger Ground
- 3 tbsp Cinnamon
- 3 tbsp Nutmeg Freshly ground
- Salt and Pepper To taste
-
Sprinkle each of the squashes with a tablespoon each of the ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then season with salt and pepper to taste. Reassemble the 2 halves of two squashes (sans seeds) and wrap each one tightly in aluminum foil. Place on a foil lined sheet pan and roast at 350°F until it a knife pierces it easily, about 90 minutes.
-
While the squash roasts, add the oil to the skillet and place over medium heat. Add the leeks to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until the leeks just begin to brown, then add the apples and dates as well as the remaining cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Continue to cook and stir until the apples are a caramel brown and remove from the heat.
-
Cut each squash in half the short way. You should have 8 shorter pieces when you are done. Fill each squash piece with the apple, leek, and date mixture and serve.
Don’t forget to check out some of our other Rosh Hashanah recipes:
Beef Bacon Wrapped Mergez Stuffed Date
bd34ecdb04599f27cd5f7bfec26b2af2baff1017f4353be89e
You must be logged in to post a comment.