Tzimmes, Jewish Stew for Passover04 / 15 / 14

And now, a post from my mother, who has taught me basically everything I know about cooking.

I spent the first 30 years of my life in the Soviet Union where we celebrated various holidays like Great October Socialist Revolution, International Women’s Day (a weird combination of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s day) as well Red Army Day, International Labor Day, and Cosmonaut’s Day.

Now, many years later and living on a different continent, I choose to celebrate just three holidays: Thanksgiving, New Years, and Passover. They all have a real personal meaning to me.

Tzimmes, Jewish Stew for Passover | Things I Made Today

A Passover meal in our house usually includes matzo ball soup, charoset, tzimmes, and a lot of horseradish. The traditional Passover reading is not mandatory and is limited to the abridged version from the free book that was given to us 20 years ago at the Buffalo Grove Dominick’s grocery store (RIP).

Matzo ball soup can look pretty boring, but it is made from scratch and forces me to make two auxiliary dishes: cold chicken salad in a walnut sauce and chicken liver pate (both are my husband’s favorites).

Tzimmes, Jewish Stew for Passover | Things I Made Today

I  want to  share my tzimmes recipe with my daughters in case they decide one day to celebrate Passover on their own.

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Tzimmes, Jewish Stew for Passover
Recipe type: Main Dish
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-5
 
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 pounds brisket, cut into 1½ inch cubes
  • 4 large carrots, chopped in large pieces
  • 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped in large pieces
  • 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped in large pieces
  • 1 lemon, sliced into thin wedges
  • 16 dried prunes
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • 4-5 cups boiling water
  • 3 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 - 1½ tablespoons of matzo flour (or all purpose, if you're not feeling traditional)
  • salt, freshly ground pepper, cinnamon to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add onion and brisket, cooking until browned.
  3. Add carrots, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, lemon, prunes, and raisins.
  4. In a small bowl, mix together 2 cups boiling water, orange juice, and honey. Mix in flour to make a watery paste. Stir well and pour over meat and vegetables. Add more boiling water to almost cover the meat and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Remove lid and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
  5. Let cool for a couple minutes, taste and adjust salt, pepper, and cinnamon.

 

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10 Comments

  • 04 / 15 / 14 / 1:18 pm

    Hi Vicky. ..we had this dish the other day. …Ilona added dried plums in it and no potatoes. I’m not sure it is the same one as this. We had it with buckwheat.

    writes Karen AyrapetyanReply
  • 04 / 15 / 14 / 1:21 pm

    Oh I’m sorry. ..I misread. .. this recipe has prunes…we didn’t add raisins honey lemon juice. .. I’m sure the more things we should have added it will be more tasty!

    writes Karen AyrapetyanReply
    • 04 / 15 / 14 / 3:39 pm

      Yeah, this is one of those recipes that every family has their own version of. Throw a bunch of delicious things in a pot and let them meld together!

      writes VickyReply
  • 04 / 16 / 14 / 1:25 pm

    […] the past week, with the weekend giving us the perfect opportunity for a barbecue, and Monday being Passover. Time to take it back to our usual fare: vegetarian, with an Asian influence. As with a lot of my […]

    writes Baked Tofu Rice Bowl | Things I Made TodayReply
  • 10 / 30 / 14 / 2:35 pm

    This is not the TYPICAL dish. It was supposed to start cooking the evening before (before the rise of the first star) and let it cook at a very low heat until next day (before the rise of the first star)

    writes NoraReply
  • 03 / 31 / 19 / 8:49 pm

    looking for a tzimmes recipe with durma, sweet patatoes and maple syrup
    Thank you for ypur help

    writes EvyReply
  • 04 / 08 / 20 / 2:09 pm

    Hi,
    Looked on the internet for tzimmes recepie with beef and stambled upon yours for Pesah. Funny, I live in Buffalo Grove, not sure if you are still in bg though. Just put in in the oven. Wondering if proportions of matzah meal is correct because you’ve mentioned it should be a liquid paste, so it seemed that to 2 cups of water there should be about 1 cup of matzah meal not 1 table spoon. Not sure. Please let me know :) thank you! And hug Pesah sameah 2020! To life!

    writes LubaReply
  • 03 / 04 / 21 / 8:21 am

    Can lamb be used instead of beef? Can it be cooked on stove top?

    writes Chaya EitanReply
  • 04 / 16 / 22 / 5:44 pm

    Made the Tzimmes Stew for Passover meal. We loved it. The cinnamon at the end pops those already succulent flavors. We grade our meals and this one got an A!
    FYI: We used beef. Probably will have the left overs on Easter Sunday too. We love cooking different traditional ethnic foods. This was soooo good.

    writes ChrisReply
  • 04 / 16 / 23 / 4:39 pm

    It smells so good. Can’t wait to try it. Unfortunately I don’t have any sweet potatoes so I am using Yukon.

    writes Marcia EdwardsReply

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