ROSH HASHANAH: Classic Tzimmes Recipe

September 3, 2013 at 8:16 am · Filed under Recipes, Rosh Hashanah, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs

The Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah is celebrated this year from the evening of Wednesday, September 4th through the evening of Friday, September 6th (in the Hebrew calendar, the year is year 5774.

European (Ashkenazic) Jews have a feast that traditionally includes:

Gefilte fish appetizer

Chicken soup

Brisket or roast chicken

Carrot and sweet potato tzimmes

Potato kugel or other potato dish

A vegetable side

Fruit compote

Honey cake

Tzimmes, a carrot-sweet potato dish. Photo courtesy Dole.com.

Everyone can enjoy the Jewish New Year with this tzimmes (TSIH-mess) recipe. Tzimmes, which means “light meal” in Yiddish, is a sweetened combination of vegetables, usually carrots and potatoes. Meat can be included, and dried prunes are often added.

Tzimmes is is stewed or baked in a casserole. The result is a side dish that will appeal to all people with a sweet tooth.

Here, the classic recipe is dressed up by Dole with dried cranberries, in addition to the conventional chopped dates.

Moist and delicious dates from California.
Photo © Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers.

CARROT & SWEET POTATO TZIMMES

Ingredients

1 package (16 ounces) baby carrots or 1 pound regular carrots, peeled and chopped

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup orange juice

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Spray 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. HEAT a large saucepan of water to boiling; add sweet potatoes and carrots and reduce heat to medium. Cook 15 minutes or until slightly tender, drain in colander and set aside.

3. STIR together dates, cranberries and walnuts in large bowl. Add cooled sweet potato and carrots, orange juice, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon, cumin and salt. Gently stir until evenly coated.

4. TRANSFER mixture to prepared dish; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes, basting with pan juices half way through cooking.

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