If you were brought up in the south of England , no trip to London was complete without a visit to Blooms.they were located near Petticoat lane in the East End of London, and on Golders green road in north west London.
Once inside the doors one would feast your eyes and all your senses on a whole selection of traditional Jewish dishes, With portions certainly not for the faint hearted or for the cholesterol shy.
This week I am going to take some of those dishes, remove the smaltz, sugars and gluten and give the Kitchen Guru followers the flavors without the health risks to your favorite kosher deli menu .
Starting today with the item that made Blooms famous Salt Beef,
Salt beef is in my blood, my great grandparents owned and ran Silversteins salt beef bar in the East end of London long before I was thought of!
My grandmother, my mother & I always use to pickle our own salt beef, however one of the ingredients one needs is saltpeter, no longer sold over the counter as it can be a basis for an
explosive. So now one would ask your kosher butcher to pickle it for you.
Home pickling
But if you are picking your own beef or tongue you will need
3 kilos brisket of beef or tongue
3 Liters water
1/2 cup Kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 heaped teaspoon salt peter
3 bay leaves
4 cloves
10 peppercorns
4 cloves of garlic peeled.
Put the water sugar salt saltpeter bay leaves cloves and peppercorns into a pot bring to the boil then cook gently for 10 minutes then put into a large non metallic bowl or container( we had one just for this process.) leave till cold.
When cold wash the meat under cold water solution , make certain it is well under the pickling mixture. then place a lid over it and and leave to pickle for 10 days in the bottom of the fridge.
You should turn the meat over every couple of days.
To Cook Salt Beef
4 carrots peeled
4 stalks celery washed & cut in half
2 medium turnip peeled and halved
1 whole garlic washed left in its peel
4 onions
2 bay leaves.
4 pepper corns
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
I large piece of meat 3 kilos ready pickled
Put the meat in a large heavy bottomed pot that has tight fitting lid.
add all the rest of the Ingredients
Cover with cold water & bring to the boil.
Skim, then place the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat , simmer for 2.-3 hours.depending on the size of your joint of meat
Test the meat .
If serving hot carve and serve , if you want to have the salt beef cold let it cool in the cooking stock. then place in the fridge in a bit of the cooking stock
Either way carve, on to fresh rye bread that has been spread with mustard, serve with a side of new green cucumbers, and for the non weight watchers a latke and you have just stepped back into Blooms.
New Green Cucumbers
I remember my father making New Green , in a large bucket with a lid they have always been my favorite pickles this is my fathers recipe,
24 young green small to medium cucumbers or if you are in the UK 6-8 normal cucumbers sliced in an angle into 3 .
For every quart of water you need
1 tablespoon Kosher salt.
1/4 pint vinegar
4 cloves of garlic
10 pepper corns
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 bay leaves
a few flakes of dried hot peppers ( optional)
Wash your cucumbers and soak them in cold water for 24 hours.
Dry them well
In the bottom of the container you are pickling in place a bay leaf some peppercorns garlic pack in the cucumbers with the spices around them.
In a pot heat up the water and salt,& sugar cook for five minutes let cool then add the vinegar.
when really cool pour over the cucumbers and spices
and seal the jars well. they take 3 weeks to pickle once a week you will need to remove any scum. If the brine evaporates replace with a weak salt water solution.
Enjoy your sat beef sandwiches ! Watch out for other revamped and traditional heimshe recipes this week.
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