Meoyo kon pirişil i tomat (Brains with  parsley and tomatoes)

Ingredients:

1 beef braın
2 c water
1/2 t salt

Sauce:

3 tomatoes
1 bell pepper
½ bunch parsley
½ bunch dill
1/3 c oil
Juice of 1 lemon
½ t salt

Soak the brain in 2 cups of salted water for 15 minutes to make it easier to remove the outer membrane. After it is removed, place in a deep saucepan and add ½ t salt and enough water just to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, then allow to cool in the pot, and drain. It is now half-cooked.

Cut the brain into small cubes.

Make the sauce:

Grate tomatoes and discard the peel that remains in your hand. Chop the peppers finely and sautee with the tomatoes in the 1/3 c of oil. Add the finely chopped parsley and dill. Add lemon juice and salt.

Add the brain to the simmering sauce, and add enough water just to cover, and cook for 15 minutes more. Serve cold.

Matzoh Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c vegetable oil
1 c sugar
1 ½ c flour
1 ½ c matzoh meal
1 c chopped walnuts
1 T cinnamon or grated orange zest

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients and knead well until it has become a stiff dough. Press out into an oiled baking pan, and bake in a medium oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and cut into various shapes with a knife, then return to the oven for 15 more minutes. These cookies are prepared for the last day of Passover.

Bulemas de Berencana (“Rose Börek” with Eggplant)

(Serves 8)

Ingredients:

2 yufka (Turkish style phyllo)
2 large eggplants
100 gr white (feta) cheese
1 c grated kashar cheese
1 pinch salt

For topping:

1 egg  yolk
Grated kashar cheese
Butter or margarine

Pierce eggplants and cook/char whole over coals or over a gas flame until soft throughout. Remove skin, place in strainer to drain. Mash eggplant well with a fork and add the cheeses and salt, mix well. Divide the two yufka into four, for a total of eight triangular pieces. Spread the filling along the long (outer) side of the yufka and roll. Then from one end, roll the resulting tube into a tight spiral shape. Brush with egg yolk, sprinkle a bit of kashar cheese on top and place a piece of butter in the center. Arrange on a greased baking pan and bake in a medium oven till browned.

“Rose” börek, so-called for its rolled shape, familiar throughout Turkey. There are hundreds of varieties of börek made with various vegetables, meats and cheeses, made throughout Anatolia. But a “festival” eggplant börek, and one so delicious, is only made by the Jews. This börek is made especially for the holiday of Shavuot. Also known as the festival between the spring barley harvest and spring planting, Shavuot is celebrated in May.

Note: Some of the recipes here have been taken from the G7 website.