Meat loaf can be a bit tricky….it gets too dry or too wet or it does not stick together. I concocted this recipe myself and although I never absolutely stick to it it has never ever failed to yield an impeccable meat loaf. I might add that even my father, a feared meat loaf critic, just loved it……

Here it comes (serves about 6 persons):

(You will have to cut up the ingredients marked with an asterisk with a pareve knife as they will go into the food processor afterwards)

750 gr. minced meat, 2 eggs, about 50 gr. mazzomeal, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 onion*, 2 cloves of garlic*, 1 red sweet pepper*(peeled if possible), 3 small mushrooms* (whatever your taste, fresh or dried and soaked overnight), a tiny bit of grated lemon peel, 1 tomato*, 1 sachet of kosher Osem Roast Gravy (or any other, this one contains 22 gr. of powder per sachet), some fresh red chili* or your favorite Israeli chili dip (about one teaspoon), spices: paprika, pepper, salt, herbs: parsley, rosemary.

If you possess a fancy potato peeler (for the Swiss folks: the famous “Sparschäler”) peel the red sweet pepper before putting it into the food processor or else try to remove some skin with a knife, the fewer left the better.

Put all ingredients marked with an asterisk into the food processor. Blend until smooth. Put into one bowl with minced meat, knead until well mixed. Add all other ingredients. Add quite a bit of spices as minced meat does absorb a lot of their taste and will otherwise taste boring. You should be able to smell the spices well when putting your nose over the mixture. Go rather easy on the salt; consider that kosher meat already contains some salt and so does the roast gravy. Wait some 15 minutes.

The “dough” shold now be moist but not wet. If it is too wet, add some more mazzomeal, if it is too dry, add another blended tomato (or if really extremely dry, another egg). Usually the mixture will turn out just fine.

Put mixture into a longish rectangular pastry pan lined with baking paper. Press on well, the mixture has to stick together.

Put in preheated oven ( 160° celsius) for 50-65 minutes.

If too much moisture starts to swim on top of it, take the pastry pan out and drain liquid. Put back into oven.

Let cool in pan, serve with homemade goulash and noodles. (You can refrigerate half of it for a later date, it will not lose taste)

This a really simple “add all ingredients and let simmer….simmer…simmer”-recipe that will win you loads of compliments. It tastes great with rice, couscous or farvel.

Ingredients: Lamb meat in cubes or big chicken chunks with bone, 2 onions diced, a pinch of saffron powder dissolved in some warm water, ras el hanout (moroccan spice mix), olive oil, about 5 tomatoes diced, two fistfuls of chickpeas soaked overnight and cooked until about half done, about 8 prunes in halves, salt, pepper, 1 cinnamon stick, kosher broth cubes if needed.

Preparation: Heat oil in skillet, add meat, stir-fry until well roasted on each side, add onions and stir for some more minutes. Add all other ingredients and water and simmer until the meat is well done.

If you like your sauce very rich, add some more olive oil at the very end.

SWEETNESS: The sauce will be slightly sweet. You can vary the taste from rather “on the tomato side” to “rather on the sweet pruny side” by adjusting the amount of tomato/fruit to your taste and adding/leaving away the cinnamon stick. I myself like it really sweet and with lots of cinnamon. Cinnamon and lamb are definitely a match made in heaven

SPICES: If you are insecure about how much spices to add just add only a bit and season according to your taste afterwards. You can buy ras el hanout online or in stores wiht a large spice assortment. It can also be prepared at home if you posses a large variety of spices already. I found the recipe below on www.recipezaar.com but I have not tested it. It looks like a very basic ras el hanout mixture and I am sure it will work for the stew above. (Trivia: the real has el hanout is very complex and some very elaborate mixtures can contain up to 100 ingredients, like rose buds and ground lavender.)

This is a really simple recipe but still a favourite of mine.

Ingredients: 1 onion finely chopped, 1 carrot diced, 1/2 celery root diced, beef in medium cubes, 4 large pickled gherkins, some of the liquid from the gherkins, a fistful of white rice, kosher beef broth cube, oil, spices.

Preparation: Stir-fry the meat with some oil, add onion, stir til the onion gets slightly translucent, add celery root and carrots, stir for about half a minute more, add water and broth cube. When the meat is done add rice. After about 10 minutes add the chopped or ground gherkins and some of their liquid. Let simmer some more until the rice is done and serve hot. This soup is supposed to have a slightly sour taste from the gherkins.

Milchig version: If you leave away the meat, the soup can be made richer by adding some thick cream together with the gherkins. Do not use milk, as the liquid from the gherkins will split up the milk into curd and whey…which will not happen if you use cream because it has a higher percentage of fat.

This is basically a stew with potato and meat dumplings where the individual parts are later on joined, making it an “all in one pot” recipe.

It is fleishig, but if you take pareve broth cubes and leave away the meatballs it is completely pareve.

Please note that the lima beans need to be soaked overnigth! The recipe serves two to three persons depending on what you serve before and after

Start with the potato dumplings:

1 kg potatoes, 2 eggs, 125 gr. flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, salt, pepper, nutmeg, some fresh or dried thyme and rosemary.

Peel potatoes, cook till well done in salt water, mash in a bowl, let cool. Add eggs, flour and all seasonings. Boil saltwater in a big pot. Shape dumplings of equal size. Simmer dumplings in hot (no rolling boil) saltwater for about 10 minutes. (Best try with one dumpling first, cook it and then slice it in two to check whether it is well done on the inside. You might need to prolongate cooking time if your dumplings are rather large or adjust heat if it falls apart.)

Next the stew:

250 gr. dried lima beans (soaked in water overnight. You can take any other bean variety you like or even mixed beans), 2 tomatoes diced, 1 sweet corncob sliced, 1 onion minced, 2 carrots sliced, 1/2 celery root diced, 1 celery peeled and diced, oil, 1 kosher beef broth cube, 1/2 cup white wine, fresh parsley, pepper, paprika, chilli.

Cook lima beans in saltwater until half done (about 10-15 minutes). Rinse and set aside. Heat oil in a pan, add onions, stir well until golden. Add the rest of the veggies except tomatoes and sweet corn, sauté for some minutes, cool with white wine. Dissolve broth cube in water, add to veggies (abot 1.5 litres, or until you have a clear broth), then add tomatoes, sweet corn, lima beans, pepper, paprika and chilli. Cook for about 30 minutes. You wil have to check whether all ingredients are well done and adjust the seasonings to your taste. (Keep parsley for decoration)

Then the meatballs:

250 gr. minced meat, 1 egg, bread crumbs (about 2 tablespoons), salt, pepper, paprika, oil for skillet.

Combine minced meat, egg and bread crumbs, let sit for 15 minutes. The mixture should now be dry enough to form dumplings without sticking too much to your fingers, but still moist in touch. Form all dumplings, heat oil in a skillet, fry until done on all sides.

In a big pan or heat-resistant dish mix together stew, potato dumplings and meatballs. Sprinkle with parsley and enjoy!