Shanah Tova - Happy New Year! (including great Honey Cake recipe)

Dear Family and Friends,

Please accept my very best wishes for a Shanah Tova - a very Happy New Year! May it be filled with good health, happiness and joy, and peace for us all!

We were at home for Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat - the only sensible decision, we thought, for a family with three small children! I attended my usual shul, while Rebecca and the girls went to the hear the shofar at a nearby shul.

There was happily lots of good food to be enjoyed over the three days, including Chopped Herrring and Danish Herring, Lamb Chops, Tsimmes with Brisket with Dumplings, and for dessert, Honey Cake (recipe follows), stewed quinces, and the Jewel in the Crown, Teigelach - doughnut shaped biscuits (cookies) that are boiled in syrup till they are sticky and shiny. It seems that they only Lithuanian Jews who still make Teigelach are those who live or grew-up in South Africa - and I am delighted to be continuing that tradition. It is certainly a great way to ensure you have a sweet and good year!

I am including a great Honey Cake recipe that I made for the Yomtov. It is light and melt-in-your-mouth, as opposed to so many others that are heavy. I hope that you will make it for your family and friends, and that you will enjoy it!

Honey Cake

Ingredients
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark tea
1 cup oil
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 heaped tablespoons honey
for syrup:
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
4 tbs honey

Method
Beat egg whites with sugar, until forms stiff cream. In separate bowl, mix yolks with the tea, oil, cinnamon, cloves, flour, baking soda and honey.
Fold yolk mixture gently into egg whites and pour into a 28 cm baking tin or a Bundt cake pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven (180oC) for approximately 35 minutes. Switch off oven and leave in for additional 5 minutes. Open the oven door and leave cake in oven for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil the sugar and water to form a simple syrup. Add honey.
When the cake has cooled down a bit, spoon over the syrup one spoon at a time.

Wishing you and yours a G'mar Chatimah Tova!

My Father Celebrates his 80th Birthday!

On 31 July 2007, my father turned 80! My parents celebrated with an afternoon tea party for family and friends, which they hosted on Sunday 5 August at their home in Sea Point, Cape Town. Unfortunately, neither my brother Avi (who lives in Melbourne, Australia) or I were able to attend the party, which is a great pity. However, my parents had happily visited both of us earlier this year - in January/February they came to visit us in Israel to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary, and in June they visited my brother and sister-in-law to celebrate their youngest son's barmitzvah.

In the photo above, my parents, Hetty and Jack Berman, are pictured at the party with the lovely flowers (thanks to http://www.netflorist.co.za/!) we sent them in the background.

Following is the greeting that I wrote for my Mom to read out at the Party:

To our Dearest Dad and Saba Jack,
We’re writing to wish you a Happy Birthday and to give you a big pat on the back!
We’re so sorry we can’t join you on this most auspicious occasion,
But we’re rather busy here in Jerusalem, raising the next generation!
Just yesterday you were teaching me to ride a bicycle on the Beachfront,
And helping me master the gear-shift on the Peugot 404 without getting a bump!
I fondly remember climbing Table Mountain with Avi and you,
Even though walking along the Pipe Track was more my kind of view!
The years have passed so quickly but happily you’ve always been busy,
Working hard, gardening, H.O.D., running and gym, and of course working Mom into a tizzy!
You have achieved so much in your quiet and honest way,
That your children and grandchildren can only hope and pray
That the years to come will bring continued Good Health, Joy and Happiness,
To you, and Mom, our dear parents and grandparents as one!
Ayelet Chen, Atara Sara and Yehudit
Are joined by their parents Rebecca and David,
In wishing you a Very Happy Birthday and Many Many More —
We’re looking forward to celebrate your 81st on our very own shores!
All our Love, Hugs & Kisses, David & Rebecca, Ayelet Chen, Atara Sara & Yehudit - Jerusalem

For the uninitiated,

• The Beachfront is the lovely promenade that runs along a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean in Sea Point, Cape Town.
• Table Mountain is the majestic mountain located in the middle of Cape Town. It is over 1,000 metres high, and the level plateau is approximately 3 kilometres from one end to the other. Besides serving as a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city of Cape Town, it offers the intrepid hiker many options for mountain climbing and also has the world's longest single-cable cablecar in the world!
• the Pipe Track runs along the foot of Table Mountain and contains very large pipes that were laid to carry water. It is the easiest, and possibly most popular, walk on Table Mountain.
• H.O.D. stands for the Hebrew Order of David, the Jewish lodge to which my father belonged.

We wish my Dad many more years of Health and Happiness, and look forward to seeing him and my Mom some time really soon!

Honey Mustard Brisket with Root Vegetables

I greatly enjoy preparing meat dishes, especially as my good wife Rebecca enjoys them, and our two older girls seems to relish meat too! I usually prepare brisket with tomato and onion, and thought that it would be good to try a new recipe. The combination of Honey and Mustard is one that works well with meat so I thought to search for a good recipe using this combination. When I didn't find a recipe that appealed to me, I thought that perhaps it was time I developed such a recipe - something that I usually don't do.

Please treat the following recipe as a "work in progress" and I hope that with your assistance, I will be able to adjust it and do some fine tuning until it is just perfect.

I must add that even as it is now, it produces delicious succulent dish that we all enjoyed, along with our guests, this past Shabbat!

Honey Mustard Brisket with Root Vegetables
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 3 hours
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
2 kg brisket
2 onions, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 - 5 tbs smooth Dijon Mustard
3 - 5 tbs honey, warmed
3 - 5 tbs gravy powder
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper
Cunks of potato, sweet potato and/or carrots

Method
Heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Trim brisket of excess fat and grissle.
In a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed casserole, place half the sliced onion and one sliced garlic clove. Spoon 1-2 tbs of mustard, honey and gravy powder over the onions, and place the brisket on top. Spoon remaining mustard, honey and gravy powder on top of brisket, spreading it all to cover the meat. Top with remaining onion and garlic.
Pour wine and water around the meat, sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and cover.
Place in pre-heated oven for an hour. After an hour, baste the meat with the gravy and return to the oven for another hour. Remove from oven and place potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots on top of the meat, basting with the gravy. Add additional water if there seems to be only a small quantity of gravy, cover and return to the oven for a third hour.
Remove from the oven, remove the meat to a carving board, and allow to rest for a few minutes. Baste the vegetables in the pot with the gravy. Slice the meat against the grain, and serve with the vegetables and gravy.
Note if using the meat only later, allow to cool in the pot and then refrigerate. An hour before serving, remove the pot from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
Reheat in a medium oven for 30 - 45 minutes before serving.

Yehudit Berman - first photo to be posted!

Yehudit Berman

Born on 11 Sivan 5767 / 28 May 2007

at Shaarei Zedek Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

at 5:07 a.m., weighing 3,450 kg.

This picture was taken at Machon Pardes on Thursday 31 May after Yehudit was named during Shacharit.

Chocolate Cake

Today I have been busy preparing for a party (Simchat Bat) that we are having tomorrow for our baby daughter Yehudit, who was born on 28 May. I have prepared various savoury and sweet items, and would like to share with you a wonderful chocolate cake recipe that I have used.

I hope to post it in the next day or two...

First Blog Ever

This is the first time I am writing in my Blog (not sure even if that's the correct terminology!) and it is quite exciting - especially for some-one who grew up without computers (we only TV in South Africa when I was 12 years-old!) and who doesn't know how to use an iPod!

I hope to make use of this forum to post news about our growing family and to also share with you recipes and other food related matters stemming from my professional activities as the Chef/Owner of Bermandie Catering here in Jerusalem, Israel.