Sephardic Marbled Eggs

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My friend (and colleague) Rabbi Cory Weiss loves to cook as much as I do. Several years ago, we decided to co-host a pre-Passover program at his synagogue, Temple Har Zion (Thornhill, Ontario): Iron Chef Rabbi. We decided rather than make this an actual competition, we would each present our favorite Passover dishes. One of the dishes Cory cooked was this beautiful Sephardic Marbled Eggs. It is visually stunning! His version takes hours and hours to cook, and is imbued with the subtle flavor of onions. I adapted his recipe to suit my own taste. I decided that I am only interested in the "visual appeal" of the egg, and wasn't concerned with the slight onion taste. Because his eggs cooked for so long, the yolks became a deep gray color. I wanted to see if I could achieve the marble-affect while maintaining the yolk's yellow integrity. (My usual method of cooking hard-boiled eggs provides smooth and creamy yellow yolks always: cover a pot of eggs with cold water and cover the pot with a lid. Bring the pot to a boil and boil for exactly 2 minutes. Remove the covered pot from the heat source, keep covered and let the eggs sit for exactly 12 minutes. Then immediately shock them in cold water and ice cubes. Voila! Perfectly yellow creamy yolks every time!) With this recipe, however, the whites of the egg need to become dyed and colored. The color needs to permeate the membrane that lies underneath the shell. The eggs need to cook for a longer time than I would normally cook a hard-boiled egg. So it is impossible to get perfectly yellow yolks, but I was able to keep the layer of gray to only the outer edges. I usually make 1 egg per person, plus extras to have on hand during the week. You can either choose to serve with lemon wedges and salt (as is the traditional method) or I like it serve it as an appetizer with homemade guacamole (I make my guac by just mashing ripe avocados with lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper to taste) and crudites. Enjoy!

Sharon’s Fabulous Beef Short-Ribs

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Beef ribs.  Juicy, succulent, melt-in-your mouth beef ribs. I had never made beef ribs before. I devised this recipe based on two fabulous recipes: my grandmother's delicious brisket recipe and another recipe that also calls for meat to be braised slowly. The first time I made them, I had just moved into a new home and I made them late at night. I was searing the ribs on top of the stove, and the smoke detectors went off. I used all of my usual "tricks" to de-activate the smoke detectors: waving a magazine in front of them, trying to pull it off the ceiling, opening the door. The alarm just grew louder and louder. Then my phone rang. It was my alarm company telling me that my fire alarm was going off and the fire department was on their way - at midnight. I had no idea that the smoke alarm was connected to the fire department. I opened the door and saw five huge fire trucks outside and before I knew it, I had the most drop-dead gorgeous firemen traipsing through my house: all because I was searing beef short-ribs. Lesson learned: From now on, I sear my beef ribs outside on the grill. These ribs are a huge hit! People talk about them for WEEKS after they eat them. Even the firemen wanted to come for dinner! I like to serve these with rosemary/garlic mashed Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Basil-Garlic Grape Tomatoes, Lemon-Scented Green Beans and a Fresh Salad (perhaps a Kale Salad) to start.