Below are two recipes for a Friday night dinner such as the women in Disobedience might prepare, courtesy of Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food.

Main – Stuffed Roast Pigeons, Squabs or Poussins with Chicken Liver Stuffing
Dessert – Shalet (Apple Pudding)

 

Stuffed Roast Pigeons, Squabs or Poussins
with Chicken Liver Stuffing

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Serves 4-8

Stuffing gives a dish an air of celebrations. The traditional Jewish stuffing for
all kinds of birds, which is used throughout Eastern Europe, is mashed potato or matzo meal with onions fried in goose fat, sometimes flavoured with a touch of ginger or paprika, garlic or parsley, and embellished with the livers or with sliced mushrooms. The sumptuous chicken liver stuffing used in this recipe is from Alsace. It is so delicious that it makes the effort of stuffing worthwhile, which other stuffings frankly do not. In Alsace, foie gras, which originated in the Jewish community, is often used instead of chicken livers and truffles are sometimes added.

Use only the Mediterranean-type baby pigeonneaux: otherwise use squabs or poussins. My guests cannot usually manage a whole poussin if it is part of a 3-course meal, so I cut the poussins in half when serving.

4 pigeonneaux, squabs or poussins
4 tablespoons oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

For the stuffing
250g (9oz) chicken livers, fresh or frozen, defrosted slowly
2 small slices of hallah bread, crusts removed
3 egg yolks
4 tablespoons cognac
2 tablespoons oil or chicken fat
salt and pepper

First prepare the stuffing: to kosher chicken livers, sear them briefly under the grill on both sides until the colour changes. Soak the bread in water to cover, then squeeze dry. Put it in the food processor with the livers, egg yolks, cognac, oil or fat and salt and pepper and blend to a cream (don't worry, it will firm up when it is baked).

Now rub the birds with oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Using a pointed dessertspoon, fill the cavities through the tail opening with the stuffing. Then close the opening with a toothpick or sew it up with a needle and thread.

Roast in a preheated 425°F/220°C/gas 7 oven for 30-45 minutes, or until they are browned and the juices no longer run pink when you cut into the thigh with a pointed knife. If serving halves, cut down through the breastbone on one side of its keel with a large, very sharp carving knife, using a strong, steady pressure.

Variation
I love the stuffing as it is, with a pronounced taste of cognac, but an alternative flavouring is a pinch of nutmeg and 2 tablespoons of very finely chopped parsley.

 

Shalet (Apple Pudding)

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Serves 6

Apple pudding is the time-honoured Sabbath pudding. The name is used interchangeably with the word cholent for the Sabbath stew. In the old days, it was covered with a dough crust and left to bake overnight with the stew. In France they have kept up the tradition of apple pudding. There are several versions. I love this one for its light soufflé texture and pure, sharp flavour.

1kg (2lb) tart apples
100g (4oz) currants or raisins, black or golden
125ml (4fl oz) white wine
175g (6oz) sugar
6 eggs, separated

Peel and core the apples and cut them in half. Put them in a pan with a tight-fitting lid with the raisins and sultanas and the wine. Put the lid on and steam on very low heat for about 15 minutes, or until the apples fall apart. Mash them with a fork and stir in the sugar. Cook, with the lid off, for 1 or 2 minutes.

Add the egg yolks when the apples have cooled a little and stir well. Beat the egg whites stiff and fold them into the apple sauce. Pour into a well-oiled wide, flat baking dish and bake in a preheated 350°F/180°C/gas 4 oven for about 50 minutes, by which time the top will be browned. It is great both hot and cold.

Variations
You may add 100g (4oz) chopped walnuts.

You may falour with the zest of 1 lemon or with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

For a shalet with bread, pour the apple and egg mixture over 6 slices of hallah (150g/5oz), crusts removed, cut into cubes, previously soaked in water and squeezed dry in your hand.

For a Passover shalet with matzos, break 3 matzos into small pieces, moisten with water, and squeeze dry.

Sometimes the apples are chopped or cut into slices and mixed raw with the egg yolks and beaten egg whites.

For a French-style shalet, soak 150g (5oz) of crustless hallah bread in water, squeeze dry, and blend in a food processor with 4 egg yolks, 100ml (4fl oz) of rum, 125g (4½oz) of sugar, the grated rind of 1 lemon and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Beat the 4 egg whites stiff, fold them into the mixture, and pour into an oven dish. Mix in 1kg (2lb) of apples cut into small pieces, and bake at 350°F/180°C/gas 4 for 1½hours.

 

Recipes reproduced from The Book of Jewish Food by kind permission of Claudia Roden. Published in Penguin Books 1999. Copyright © Claudia Roden, 1996.