I’m crazy about ethnic food festivals. I’ve been to a Greek food festival in Sacramento, and a Jewish food festival in Stockton. Both were a blast.
Both featured traditional foods and music. It’s always so interesting to try new foods and learn about different cultures, their people and homelands.
Sunday, March 9 at 5 p.m. the public is invited to attend the Israeli Dinner and Folk Dancing, hosted by congregants of Temple Beth Israel of Redding at the Millville IOOF & Rebekah Hall, 22551 Silverlode Lane. This is the group’s third year for this successful event.
Nancy Warsinger, the event’s director, said the organizers intentionally chose an Israeli theme instead of a Jewish theme so it would appeal to the general population.
“We hoped that good ethnic food would attract a crowd,” Warsinger said.
By crowd she means about 100 people. Warsinger said that other than feeding people and showing them a good time, the purpose of the event is to raise money for the temple for things like scholarships for local Jewish kids who want to attend Jewish summer camp. Tickets cost $25 per person. (For more information call 246-4104.)
About half a dozen people will join Warsinger in preparing all the food for Sunday’s dinner and folk dance.
Here’s the menu:
Appetizers: Baba ghanouj (eggplant dip), hummus (chickpea dip) and freshly baked pita bread
Entree: Shashlik (grilled beef cubes) on a bed of herbed Israeli cous cous, falafel with tahini dressing, Israeli vegetable salad and Israeli carrot salad
Dessert: Jaffa orange delight, baklava and soom sooom (sesame) cookies
Warsinger was kind enough to share her Israeli salad recipe with us, as well as the pita bread recipe she’ll prepare the night before the event.
I’ve added my recipe for roasted red bell pepper hummus, which a friend recently requested, because she’s not usually a fan of hummus, but liked the one I brought to another friend’s open house last month.
If you can attend the Israeli Dinner and Folk Dance, that’s great.
But if you can’t, maybe you can prepare some of these recipes and pretend you’re there.
Pita Bread
2 packages dry active yeast 1/4 teaspoon sugar 2 cups warm water 1/4 cup olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons salt 6 cups hard wheat flour, approximatelyDissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large mixing bowl and allow to proof. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups water, along with the oil, salt and 5 cups of flour, mixing vigorously, 1 cup at a time.
The dough will be rather sticky. Turn out on a floured board and work in the remaining 1 cup of flour or more if the dough is too sticky. Knead for a good 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turn dough to coat all sides with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Punch down, turn out on floured board and let rest 10 minutes. Divide into 8 or 9 equal balls.
Cover the balls with a cloth or foil and let rest for 30 minutes. Flatten each ball with a floured rolling pin to 1/8 inch thickness, creating an 8 inch circle. Dust two baking sheets with cornmeal. Place two circles on each sheet, cover let rest again for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Put one of the baking sheets on the lowest rack of the oven for 5 minutes. Do not open the oven door until 5 minutes is up. Transfer the sheet to a higher shelf and continue baking for 3 to 5 minutes longer until the loaves are puffed like balloons and just very lightly browned. Repeat procedure with second sheet. The loaves should deflate on cooling.
Recipe courtesy of Nancy Warsinger, which she adapted from “Beard on Bread” by James Beard.
Doni’s Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
2 (15 ounce) cans of garbanzo beans *1/4 cup tahini paste 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup olive oil 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 whole red bell pepper, roasted and seeded (may use water-packed red peppers, but drain well and pat dry) Salt and pepper, to tasteIn a food processor or blender, add everything except salt and pepper. Blend well. Season according to taste and serve with pita chips.
*Note about tahini (sesame seed) paste. Once I open a can of tahini paste, I use what I need for my hummus recipe then I divide the remaining tahini paste into 1/4-cup measurements and freeze it until the next time I make hummus. Otherwise the tahini paste will mold in the refrigerator. Also, hummus is very adaptable. I like to make roasted garlic hummus, and tapanade hummus and even basil hummus. Just add whatever ingredients you want instead of the roasted red peppers. Of course, you can make traditional, plain hummus, too.
Pita Chips
Cut the pita chips into triangles. Brush both sides with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until slightly crispy.
Israeli Salad
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice4 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 red bell peppers,cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup red cabbage, finely shredded
2 bunches scallions, minced
1/2 cup radishes, finely diced
1/3 cup green olives, chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all of the vegetables in a salad bowl. Toss together, use enough olive oil to moisten the vegetables, add lemon juice to taste. Season with salt and pepper and toss again.
Recipe courtesy of Nancy Warsinger
