A guide to everyday cooking and eating
Abrams, New York
Writing + Photography: Karen Mordechai
Styling: Karen Mordechai
Concept + Graphic Design: Marjolein Delhaas (marjoleindelhaas.com)
Recipe Editor: Julia Johnson
Styling Assistant: Lara Southern
Editor: Laura Dozier
Production Manager: Denise LaCongo
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016961374
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2665-1
eISBN: 978-1-6833-5153-5
Text copyright © 2017 Karen Mordechai
Photographs copyright © 2017 Karen Mordechai
Graphic design copyright © 2017 Marjolein Delhaas
Published in 2017 by Abrams, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
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Seasonality
Introduction
Usage/Market Variations
Essentials
Tomato Confit
Garlic Confit
Everything Oil
Black Garlic Dressing
Smoked Yogurt
Pickled Vegetables beet + turmeric
Chermoula
Dukkah
Roasted Beef Broth
Chicken Stock
Guide to Cooking Legumes + Grains
Salt Guide
Fermented + Grounding
Fermented Lemon + Lime
Kraut
Black Garlic
Harissa
Root Tea burdock, wildflower honey
Breakfast
Rose Grain Porridge farro, coconut, pine syrup, pistachio, pink salt
Yogurt + Citrus pomelo, maple, poppy, black salt
Frittata purple cauliflower, mustard greens, gruyère, smoked yogurt
Çilbir cucumber yogurt, brown butter
Bean Toast pink radicchio, butter
Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes crème fraîche, hazelnut, maple
Morning Loaf espresso, chocolate, crème fraîche, cyprus salt
Toasts
Cinnamon Toast miche, muscovado, crème fraîche, cinnamon, cyprus salt
Tahini Toast cherry buckwheat, brown butter, edible flower, cyprus salt
Burnt Carrot Toast smoked labneh, white sesame, cyprus salt
Smoked Fish Toast sable, dark rye, coriander, lemon, caper berry
Any Day Toast goat cheese, pickled mustard seed, olive oil
Bowls
Daal yellow pigeon pea, basmati, yogurt, wild mint
Roasted Beef Bowl short rib, new potato, turnip
Roasted Vegetable Soup cauliflower, thyme, brown butter, smoked yogurt
Congee burdock, charred radicchio, black garlic–sesame oil
Plates
Black Radish Salad persimmon, black garlic
Roasted Marrow Bones garlic toast
Blood Orange botija olive, yogurt, lime, purple basil
Roasted Clams butter, shallot, white wine
Burnt
Smoked Blue Potatoes pickled mustard seed, parsley
Burnt Lemon Cauliflower yogurt, salt
Charred Purple Cabbage tahini, salt
Burnt Baby Beets crème fraîche, salt
Roasted Squash maple, cumin
Charred Shishitos smoked yogurt, salt
Charred Eggplant cashew, lemon
Blackened Okra cumin, coriander, yogurt
Mains
Pasta, three ways
no. 1 | classic tomato, butter, parmesan
no. 2 | black squid, mushroom confit, pecorino
no. 3 | pink garlic confit, cream, piave
Risotto, two ways
no. 1 | everyday quinoa, trumpet mushroom, crème fraîche, truffle
no. 2 | slow-cooked meyer lemon, egg, manchego
Simple Roast Chicken fermented lemon, black garlic, butter, oil-cured olive, basil
Everyday Fish salmon, parsley, cilantro, mint, lime
Poached Cod tomato confit, oil-cured olive, saffron, white wine
Braised Brisket merlot, beech mushroom, garlic-parmesan mash
Snacks
Smoked Cheese
Wild Mushroom Confit white trumpet, beech, black trumpet, truffle
Blackened Chickpeas
Black or White Tahini
Hummus, three ways
no. 1 | classic charred eggplant, blackened chickpea, lemon, sesame, pine nut
no. 2 | orange (carrot-turmeric) blackened chickpea, lemon, parsley
no. 3 | hot pink (beet-sumac) yogurt, almond, fennel pollen
Desserts
Dark Chocolate Bark blood orange, black sesame, pistachio, cyprus salt
Roasted Pears malbec, cinnamon, mascarpone
Blistered Black Grapes crème fraîche, salt
Churros ceylon cinnamon, crème anglaise
Ice Cream, three ways
no. 1 | cinnamon
no. 2 | salted caramel
no. 3 | halva
Cook’s Notes
Basic Ingredients
Sources
Index of Searchable Terms
Acknowledgments
Seasonality
Cooking seasonally means supporting our local farmers and producers. It also means celebrating produce at its peak and best form.
As fall and winter approach, we find ourselves turning inward—spending more time at home—and cooking in a more relaxed way. The pace slows, the temperatures drop, and we seek nourishing foods to balance the weather and support our immunity. We enhance our meals with healing herbs and use food as medicine as much as possible. We use roots like burdock, turmeric, and ginger often. Our grains shift to protein-rich legumes and pulses. The essentials of our larder are filled with bone broths and stocks, nourishment at the very baseline.
The flavor profiles take on a more layered depth in this season. The aromas of stews, red wines, and cinnamon fill these pages and our spaces. You’ll find a deeper, almost sexier tone to the food here.
You will also notice the colors shift in this season, from bright and poppy in the seasons prior—the palette mutes a little naturally. The cabbages and purples are earthlike and feel appropriately hued. We celebrate these colors in our cooking and bring as much excitement and vibrancy to the plate as possible.
These recipes will guide you through the Fall / Winter offerings at your local markets, as they tend to unfold in different locales. As there is always a transition between seasons, you’ll find that reflected in the meals. Slowly, as the weather cools, we begin to deepen our meals a bit. We ease into the season with gentle care.
Concept
This book is meant to be a resource, a guide for cooking seasonally and simply.
I am drawn to food and its inherent beauty. In this book, I have collected a sampling of the way I like to cook, daily—both at our studio and for my family. The recipes are seasonally inspired, good, and wholesome. It is food as it should be: nuanced, bright, and gorgeous. This is about how we cook and eat every day in our home and with our loved ones.
Journey
I grew up surrounded by food, as it was the backbone of immigrant traditions in a new environment. My family brought their cultures and traditions and expressed their love through meals of plenty. Their story (and their food) was a complex and varied one rooted in Jerusalem in the 1950s, a time in which ethnicities from around the globe were melding together in a young country. Influences from the Middle East and Eastern Europe were converging to formulate a new community. When my family then immigrated to the United States, they brought these melded cultures with them. As I developed my own viewpoint, these influences, along with my current journey, created my own path. I was always fascinated with food. I was drawn to its beauty and also moved by its cultural significance. I studied as a photographer, and in 2005 I did my master’s thesis on the food in my home, through the scope of its maternal lineage.
A few years later, I began Sunday Suppers, a communal cooking space, and became more and more immersed in the world of food. I was photographing and also cooking. Exploring, eating, and finding my own sense of things. I met amazing chefs and cooks, and was continually inspired in our collaborative atmosphere.
Sunday Suppers evolved into a hub and a center point for community and inspiration. At the space, we hold community dinners and events that bring people into the kitchen. The premise is to cook together and enjoy the culture and beauty of food through connectivity.
I believe food should capture your spirit. Your food, I believe, is a compilation of your journey in life—it collects bits and pieces as you go.
From youth and culture, from travel, and from day-to-day experiences. It is also, very much, an evolution. My own story and viewpoint sit on the pages ahead.
As you read, I hope you will see a true love and celebration of food. That is what this book is about. My hope is that it liberates you and allows you to learn a few great techniques that will honestly make you a better cook. More than anything, I hope it inspires you to find the same joy in cooking as I do.
Food’s ability to bring people together is unparalleled. It is at the foundation of our cultures; it is the goodness we can bring to ourselves and others. When we celebrate food and retain its inherent quality, we nourish ourselves and our lives. We take the time to source good ingredients and produce. We support our local farmers and artisans, and we help sustain a beautiful cycle of goodness that extends to the people around us.
Food
At Sunday Suppers, I’ve had the opportunity to experience and make food as a cultural connector. At the studio, we create food that is gorgeous and fun and sometimes off-beat. We cook all the time, and we experiment with colors and flavors. Sometimes these are simple studio meals, and other times they are larger community dinners for twenty to fifty people. Food, in our studio, brings people together: It is a day-to-day community affair.
As a mother, I cook almost all our family meals (yes, even after long studio days). I feel this is important, and it is how I can nourish my (little) family and myself. I know where my food is coming from: I try to buy seasonally, from farmers and local purveyors. With all this said, I also know the challenges of a very busy schedule and weekday life. And so I have found my way: making grains and a soup on a Sunday night, and sometimes roasting some vegetables for the week. I’ll often make double the amount of dressing so we can have it in the refrigerator. I keep lots of greens, eggs, avocados, and fresh breads on hand at home.
Format
Ultimately, the purpose of this book is to compile all these meals from the studio and our home and bring them forth as a resource for simple and beautiful food. The journey is unending, but this is a starting point. This book is part of a two-volume series, its companion being Spring/Summer.
Each family and home has their own story, their own way. If there is a contribution to be made here, it is simply to tell our path and food story. If it happens to inspire you to cook, to visit a market, and to experiment beyond the norm, that would be an achievement.
The recipes are meant to be utilitarian and straightforward, but simultaneously unique and inspiring. The word simple is used often and is meant to impart a sense of ease, not intended to be simplistic—these recipes are aimed to be inspiring without being out of reach. Aspirational and liberating.
Cook with your season, and in your way. Have freedom and lightness in your kitchen; it’s a wonderful place to be.
I hear from many cooks that they will follow a recipe to a T; they will create their list and take on a recipe like it is a didactic thing.
Here, we are breaking the mold a bit. If you go to market with the intention to make an oyster mushroom risotto, but the mushrooms are not looking great, or there are no oyster mushrooms in season, you can make an alternate decision.
Instead of mushrooms, sage, and Pecorino for your risotto, choose fennel, Parmesan, and thyme. The idea here is to offer alternates, which we call “market variations,” based on the season and also to give readers guidance on some flavor profiles that work. In this way, readers can feel liberated.
Each recipe is built with a few seasonal items, herbs, and flavorings. These original ingredients are underlined. Beneath the recipe title, you will find two or three alternate versions of the original ingredients. These variations can be substituted for the underlined ingredients and are listed in the same order as the items they are replacing in the recipe title. Unless otherwise noted, the alternate ingredients can be prepared and incorporated into the finished dish in the same manner as the original.
To help you utilize the market variations in the book, there is a “Cook’s Notes” section (this page) that offers measurements and additional information on how to prepare the variations. Be sure to reference that section for further assistance when making a recipe with a variant ingredient.
This season is about slowing down and imparting strong and complex flavors into our cooking. Ahead, you will find the building blocks for the season, including oils, sauces, and such to keep in your larder. These will become useful tools to have on hand. Use them as called for, but also take liberty to be playful and use them in an unexpected manner.
Preserving end-of-summer tomatoes in a slow-roasted confit extends the tomato’s life-span just a bit longer, adding an element of umami and sweetness to toasts, pastas, risottos, etc. Make a large batch at summer’s end and use it on absolutely anything.
2 pounds (910 g) vine-ripened tomatoes
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, halved
½ teaspoon sugar
Preheat the oven to 350°F (190°C).
Remove the tomatoes from the vine and halve them crosswise. Pour the olive oil into a baking dish just large enough to fit all the tomato halves snugly, making sure it coats the entire bottom of the dish and adding more if needed. Sprinkle the salt and black pepper evenly over the olive oil and add the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
Arrange the tomato halves over the olive oil and herbs, cut sides down. They should fit without much space in between. Tuck the garlic between the tomatoes and sprinkle the sugar over the top.
Bake until the tomatoes are soft and have released their juices, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and remove and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Let the confit cool before using or storing.
Storage – Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Many of our dishes have an aromatic foundation, consisting of herbs and garlic as the building blocks of flavor. This garlic confit takes a bit of preparation, but it will keep in your refrigerator for weeks and will become an invaluable daily tool. It can be used in place of garlic in any recipe and adds smoky, roasted notes for a bit more complexity. We also love cooking with the garlic oil itself, and using it on salads, toasts, and pastas.
1 lemon
7 heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled
2 sprigs fresh thyme
3 cups (720 ml) olive oil, plus more if needed
Preheat the oven to 250ºF (120ºC).
Using a vegetable peeler, remove all the yellow peel from the lemon, avoiding the bitter white pith. Drop the peels into a medium ovenproof saucepan and add the garlic and thyme. Pour the olive oil over to cover, adding more as needed to fully submerge the garlic. Cover and bake until the garlic cloves are golden and tender, about 2 hours.
Remove from the oven, uncover, and let cool. Transfer the garlic and oil to a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Storage – Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 2 to 3 weeks.
As named, this oil is everything. It adds a roasted depth of flavor, garlic, and herbs to any dish—and is a great tool to have on hand.
3 lemons
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 small chile pepper (optional)
4 bay leaves
8 sprigs fresh thyme
3 cups (720 ml) olive oil, plus more if needed
Preheat the oven to 250°F (120°C).
Using a vegetable peeler, remove all the yellow peel from the lemons, avoiding the bitter white pith. Drop the peels into a small ovenproof saucepan or baking dish and add the garlic, chile (if using), bay leaves, and thyme. Pour the olive oil over, making sure all the garlic, chile, and herbs are fully submerged. Cover and bake until the garlic is softened and the oil is infused and fragrant, 1 to 1½ hours.
Remove from the oven, uncover, and allow the oil to cool completely. Transfer the oil and solids to a sealed container to store.
Storage – Refrigerate for up to 1 month.
This dressing adds a smoky, earthy element to many of our wintery salads and plates. It is equally delicious served with bread for dipping.
2 Black Garlic cloves (this page)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of Cyprus flake salt
Place the garlic and vinegar in a small bowl. Use a fork to mash the cloves into a paste and stir to incorporate with the vinegar. Add the olive oil in a slow and steady stream, while whisking, until well combined. Season with flaky salt to taste.
This relatively new addition to our repertoire is a huge source of excitement for us. The discovery that a small home smoker can add a distinct and beautiful smokiness to our cooking has been revelatory. This recipe explains how to smoke yogurt, which is a base we use often in our cooking. The same process can be applied to crème fraîche, Mascarpone, and labneh. Try it—you just might do a little dance.
Hickory wood chips
1 cup (240 ml) plain Greek yogurt