#chef nir margalith

[puzzleisrael-blog]

Matkon Monday: 2 in 1 Sea Bass Over Labane Cheese

This fish recipe can be made in two ways, either as a cold, raw Ceviche, or as a cooked fish Kabob. Happy Matkon Monday! Yum! 

Serves 6 people as a first course 

Ingredients: 

1 whole Sea Bass cleaned and filleted (200 grams of fish meat off the skin)

1 cup of fresh coriander leaves 

1 garlic clove chopped 

1 lemon to be juiced

1/2 cup of olive oil 

1/2 a red onion finely chopped 

1 teaspoon of sea salt 

1 teaspoon of black pepper 

1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds 

Directions: Ceviche

Chop the fish meat (without the skin) into fine pieces

Mix in a bowl with remaining spices and ingredients except the olive oil and lemon juice 

Let sit in the refrigerator until ready to serve 

Mix in the olive oil and lemon juice when ready to serve and let sit for 3 minutes 

Directions: For the Kabobs

Follow the first 2 directions of the Ceviche recipe but before adding the lemon and oil to the mixed fish meat: 

Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the mix and using clean hands roll the mixture into balls (about 3T each ball) 

Flatten the ball in your hand and place them on a clean plate . 

Heat a non stick pan with 1/2 cup of olive oil and fry the fish Kabab's for 1 minute each side (turn 3-4 times) 

Pistachio and Parsley Pesto   

Ingredients: 

1 large bunch of parsley 

400 grams (2 1/2 cups) of pealed pistachio's 

2 garlic cloves 

1 cup of olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

The juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 green chili diced without the seeds . 

Directions: 

Combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil in a blender 

Keeping the blender on, slowly pour in the olive oil  

Putting it all together with the Labane: 

Buy some good goat's milk Labane (or Greek Yogurt if you can't find any Labane) or make your own by draining 1 liver of goat's milk yogurt through a clean cheese cloth over night at room temperature

Spread the Labane Cheese on a nice plate, and spraed a nice portion of the pesto over the labane . 

Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the mixed fish meat and let it seat for 3 minutes 

Spread the fish over the pesto and sprinkle a little of sea salt before serving 

Serve hot on top of the pesto and Labane  

Bon Appetite ! בתיאבון 

[puzzleisrael-blog]

Poike? What's a Poike? 

Poike, pronounced Poy (like toy) - K (like the letter K) is a slowly cook stew that can be made with vegetables, meat, whatever you have on hand and stews down in a caldron to make a delicious and filling meal.

Here's Chef Nir's recipe for Chicken Curry Poike with Root Veggies (serves 5-6 people) 

Ingredients: 

3kg of chicken thighs cut to big chunks

4 red onions 

2 big sweet potatoes 

3 potatoes

3 carrots 

2 kohlrabi 

1 green chili pepper 

3 sweet red peppers 

1/2 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup dried שזיפים

3 T kosher salt 

1 T ground black pepper 

1 Cinnamon stick 

1 cup of extra virgin olive oil 

2 cups white wine

2-3 cups of water

2 cups of bulgur wheat or your grain of choice (rice, quinoa, lentils work well)

3 tbs of freshly chopped thyme leaves  

2 cans of coconut cream 

Directions:

Heat up a big pot (not all of us have the awesome caldron, a large soup pot will do) with 1/2 of the olive oil 

Chop the red onion's into small cubes and add them to the hot pot and let it cook for 8-10 minutes or until translucent   

Chop the chicken into small pieces and add them to the pot with the onions

Chop all the veggies in to medium sized cube

Once the chicken has browned add all the veggies and the additional spices 

Stir every 2-3 minutes so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot 

Add the remaining olive oil and let everything cook together for another 8-10 minutes 

Add the white wine and simmer for 3 more minutes 

Add water to cover the surface of the contents 

Once it's boiling add the coconut cream and cover 

After 20 minuets of cooking add the bulgur (or grain of choice) and keep covered for 20 more minutes

the meal is ready once the wheat is cooked and soft . 

                                  Bon Apetit ! בתיאבון

[puzzleisrael-blog]

Matkon Monday Chapter 2: Roasted Tomato and Feta Salad 

Serves 4-5 people as a side dish 

Ingredients: 

5 fresh, firm tomatoes 

1/2 green chili pepper finely chopped (be careful not to touch your eyes! it's best that you wear gloves depending on the potency of the pepper) 

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped 

100 grams (2/3 cup) of feta cheese 

1/2 cup of fresh oregano leaves 

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil 

1/2 Tablespoon of kosher salt or sea salt

1/2 T of black pepper 

Directions:

Heat the oven to 250C (450 F)  

Cut the tomato's in half (horizontally) and spread them in one layer on a baking sheet

Season the tomatoes with olive oil (leave a tablespoon on the side to dress the salad later), salt, pepper, chili peppers and garlic 

Bake until they begin to brown

Set them aside to cool

once cooled, sprinkle crumble feta cheese over the tomatoes, drizzle the remaining olive oil on top, and season with salt and oregano leaves 

To those who celebrate Christmas enjoy this RED and GREEN holiday themed dish!

Bon Appetite ! בתיאבון

[puzzleisrael-blog]

Matkon Monday Chapter 1: Turkish Coffee Chocolate Truffles 

Serves 5-10 people

Ingredients:

400 grams (or about 14 ounces) of your favorite dark chocolate (we recommend 60% cacao)

400 ml (or 1 and 2/3 cups) heavy cream

1 Tablespoon of Turkish Coffee

1/2 Cup of high quality cocoa powder 

1 box of fresh strawberries (or berries of your choice) 

Fine mesh strainer 

Directions: 

Heat 350 ml of the heavy cream, (reserve 50 ml for later) in a saucepan on medium heat, when small bubbles appear on the surface of the cream add the dark chocolate and let it melt, while slowly stirring 

Warm the reserved 50 ml of cream in a small pot and add the Turkish coffee

Once the Coffee/Cream mixture is warm and blended using a fine mesh strainer add it to the Chocolate/Cream bowl, making sure the coffee grains stay out  

Mix the two creams together until blended smoothly 

Cover and let the cream mixture cool for 4-5 hours in the refrigerator 

Once the mixture is hard, make small truffle spheres and roll them in the loose cocoa powder 

Cut and clean the strawberries and plate them with the truffles 

Keep in a cool place until ready to serve  

                                                 Bon Appetit ! בתאבון

[puzzleisrael-blog]

"Matkon" Monday

MATKON: the hebrew word for recipe. Which is ironic, because I'm not sure I've ever seen an Israeli chef ACTUALLY use one. It generally goes...a little bit of this, a dash of that, "yihyeh beseder" (all will be well). That being said, for the new year we've strapped down one of of founders Chef Nir Margalith to measure, weigh and test his delicious recipes and bring them to you weekly.

 Visit us here every Monday for the next installment of these delicious treats!