Balaboostas Jewish Flanken Recipes

CLASSIC KOSHER FLANKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bring flanken to room temperature (about 20-30 minutes). Season meat on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven (medium-high heat) and sear meat on all sides.
• Add onion to the pot with the meat and stir the onion around, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom on the pan. Allow the onion to mix along in the beef juices for a few minutes until the onion starts to separate. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
• Add tomato paste and stir everything together. The onions and beef should color somewhat from the tomato paste. Keep stirring, allowing all the ingredients to incorporate and come together. The onions should start to look a little reddish/golden from the tomato paste. Everything should smell divine at this point, but don't crawl into the pot. Trust me, you'll want to.
• Add the beef stock, juice, sage, rosemary, and bay leaves and stir well. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and place in the oven for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, take out of the oven and turn the meat pieces over, so the meat is well-basted. Add the carrots and cover again. Cook for another hour. The meat should be soft enough to shred. Take out of the oven and let the pot sit on the counter covered for another 15 minutes.
• Remove meat and slice on cutting board. Discard bay leaves. Slice and serve immediately with gravy and carrots.

BRAISED FLANKEN WITH POMEGRANATE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Season meat generously all over with salt and pepper. Heat a large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear meat in batches until dark golden, 3 to 4 minutes a side. Transfer meat to a platter.
• Add oil to pan and sauté carrots, celery, leeks, garlic and shallot until vegetables are softened and slightly caramelized, about 5 minutes; season lightly with salt and pepper. Add pomegranate juice and wine, and cook, scraping browned bits from bottom of pan, until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, cloves, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Return meat to pot. Liquid should reach halfway up sides of meat. If not, add a little more stock or water.
• Cover pot and transfer to oven. Cook, turning meat every 30 minutes until fork tender, about 2 hours.
• If you have time, let meat cool and chill overnight. The next day, remove fat from surface, then reheat over low heat. Stir in the pomegranate molasses if using, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and cilantro just before serving.

AYLENISH RUGELACH WITH ORANGE, WALNUTS AND CINNAMON

Steps:

• Soak raisins in rum and 1/2 cup very hot water. In a medium bowl, combine both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts and a pinch of salt. Drain raisins (discard soaking liquid) and mix them into sugar mixture. In a saucepan, melt marmalade until runny. Remove any large chunks orange peel.
• Cut about a 4-ounce piece of puff pastry and roll out on a floured board into a rectangle, about 17 inches by 7 1/2 inches. The pastry should be thin and supple enough to drape, but not so thin that holes start to appear when rolling.
• Brush a 2 1/2-inch-wide stripe of marmalade down the long center of the rectangle. Sprinkle marmalade with filling and fold top edge down over filling. Brush the top of filled section with marmalade and sprinkle marmalade with filling. Fold bottom edge up over the filling to make a kind of flattened roll; do not press. Cut in half crosswise and refrigerate rolls for 20 to 30 minutes, or freeze for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees; use the convection setting if you have it. Cut rolls across into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Place slices, seam side down, on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Brush tops with egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and puffed. Let cool slightly before removing to a cooling rack. Meanwhile, repeat with remaining pastry and filling. Store at room temperature in layers separated by parchment paper, in airtight containers.