When I left home, my aunt gave me her recipe for tzimmes. It never tasted as good as she made it, but I am sure that had to do with memory as much as anything else. I have made this numerous times over the years, adjusting it as I went along, so that what I had was similar but not the same as hers. But, it has never been perfect! Until now that is. Now that it is as good as my memories, I am sharing the recipe with you. This is a a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish stew. I have used brisket for my dish together with the carrots and prunes one would expect. Tzimmes is served at Rosh Hashanah, when it is traditional to eat sweet dishes.
Skip ahead to the recipe for Tzimmes
Where to lay blame
I often see people on Twitter blaming the airline for their damaged suitcase. But I don’t think they are aware of how little contact the airline has with their luggage. Airlines employ ground staff to handle check-in and boarding, and the check-in staff put the label and barcodes onto the case before guiding it onto a conveyer belt. From there, the airport staff make sure it ends up where it is meant to be. And then baggage handling staff load it onto the plane. At the other end of the journey, baggage handling staff take it off the plane, and get it onto the conveyer belt where travellers collect their luggage.
Hard shell vs. soft shell
At Heathrow, the very first hard shell suitcase I bought arrived via a chute which spat it out onto the conveyer belt. It was the first trip the case had been on, and I could not blame the airline for the damage. The dents were a result of the way the suitcase was treated by the baggage handling staff, and the systems in place. Instead of blaming SAA for the state of my case, I contacted Cellini. I told the sales rep that I did not expect the suitcase to look the way it did after one flight! She reluctantly replaced it with a soft shell case. And since 2009 this bag has done numerous trips and looks like it is brand new! I will never buy a hard shell case again. And when asked, I always recommend the Cellini soft shell.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Tzimmes ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
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Tzimmas
Ingredients
- 30 mls olive oil
- 1.8 kg bone in brisket, thickly sliced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- 1 large onion, peeled, cut in half and thickly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 300 mls orange juice
- 125 mls beef stock
- 30 mls cornflour
- 15 mls lemon juice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 quill cinnamon
- 350 g baby potatoes, quarted
- 350 g baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise
- 250 g sweet potatoes, thickly sliced
- 125 g pitted prunes, cut in half
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160° Celsius
- Place the oil into a large frying pan and heat over a medium to high temperature
- Increase the heat slightly, brown the brisket in batches, seasoning generously as you go along
- Once the meat has been browned layer it in a large roasting pan
- Add the onions to the frying pan, and sauté until soft
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant
- Add the orange juice and stock and bring to the boil
- Place the cornflour into a small mixing bowl, add 30mls of the boiling liquid and the lemon juice and whisk to combine before adding to the frying pan
- Give it a good stir, add the bay leaves and cinnamon and turn off the heat
- Scatter the potatoes on top of the brisket the pour the liquid over the top
- Cover the roasting tin with foil and place into the oven for 2 hours
- Carefully remove from the oven, remove the foil and the brisket, and set the brisket aside
- Add the carrots and sweet potatoes and season well
- Trim the brisket of the fat and bones, cut the meat into chunks and add back to the tin
- Cover the tin again with the foil and place back into the oven for 2 hours
- Remove the tin from the oven, remove the foil and scatter the prunes over the meat
- Increase the oven temperature to 180° Celsius and place the tin back into the oven, uncovered and cook for an hour
- Remove from the oven, check the seasoning, discard the bay leaves and cinnamon and serve
See the links below for blog posts I published on July 21:
- 2024: Eruption
- 2021: La Sosta
- 2019: One More Lie
- 2017: Health Bread
- 2016: Chicken Soup
- 2014: Sourdough Baguette
The stew sounds wonderful! Good to know about Cellini. I’ve not heard about this brand!
They are an Italian brand but I thought they would be all over the US 🙂
Love a good sweet and savory tzimmes. I’ve always made mine separate from the protein as a stand-alone side, but cooking the two together does seem much more efficient.
I have only ever made it as an all in one dish, but I think a nice carrot tzimmes would be lovely as a side dish 🙂
Totally adore beef brisket! Does it taste sweet with all the orange juice, sweet potatoes and plums?
It is sweet 🙂
I am trying to remember if I ever tried Tzimmes before. When I used to live in New Orleans, the wife at the Chabad house was making all kind of dishes. I remember the gelite fish which has grown over me over time. I am so glad you have been able to recreate the dish as you remembered, it’s a gift! ~Nessa
My husband loves gefilte fish, which is not my favourite, but I will make it for him 🙂
We have been using soft shell suitcases made from tightly woven synthetic fabric from years and they have held up really well. And my husband travels every year with it.
I’m not familiar with this traditional Jewish dish, but you can’t go wrong with a hearty stew like this!
It is always good to invest in a suitcase that will last 🙂
that’s interesting about the soft shell suitcase! we must have been very lucky over the years, and have not had suitcase damage. An interesting recipe here Tandy with the orange juice and the prunes.
sherry https://sherryspickings.blogspot.com/
That is really lucky!
Tandy I know I would love this dish. I also make a Jewish baked brisket with prunes from the (Jewish) Monday Morning Cooking Club recipe book which I just love, and is on my HRK blog, so I know I would enjoy yours. They both need long slow cooking but so worth it, that combination of brisket and prunes is a winner. I can’t wait to try your recipe as well. Such an un usual name, love it. Thanks, Pauline (Happy Retirees Kitchen)
https://happyretireeskitchen.blogspot.com
Oh, I must look again at the Monday Morning Cooking Club recipe book for this!
Prunes = my automatic approval, Tandy! 😄 This looks wonderfully comforting, and I love the sweet and savoury combination
Prunes = my automatic approval, Tandy! 😄 This looks wonderfully comforting, and I love the sweet and savoury combination.
Would you have grown up with a dish similar to this?
Hi Tandy, this meal sounds very good. I do like a bit of fruit in meat stews. I’ve never owned a hard shell case but such a case getting damaged is not hard to imagine.
I always wonder why people buy them?