Kosher Cuisine with Marcy Goldman

The Seduction of Sesame

February calls for a palate perker -something to pep up the post-holiday (pre Purim) taste buds. I chose sesame seeds for this month’s flavor focus. Versatile sesame seeds turn up in Jewish cuisine in all manner of breads, pastries, and sometimes, as in the new spin on Israeli Salad, in savory dishes as well.

Sesame seeds can be had plain or toasted, hulled (as on bagels) or not, as in some of the recipes here. Sesame seeds are often pressed into charismatic sesame seed oil (a must for homemade stir fry) but are also the basis of two Israeli kitchen staples: halvah and tahini. The former being a sweet, sesame seed based confection and the latter being sesame seeds ground into a loose, peanut butter style paste. Tahini goes in hummus of course (chick pea puree) and soups, and salad dressings or drizzled in pita pockets with fried chick pea balls (falafel). Halvah is usually eaten plain as a sweet but it does some nice things for the Sesame Seed Halvah Orange Pound Cake here or in the dressing- as a flavor and as a thickening agent.

Certainly, you can use your sesame seeds more typically on Friday night challah (or perhaps on the cheddar challah here) or on homemade bagels but I encourage you to take the sesame seeds out for a new spin. It’s a good example of something little doing a whole lot!

Recipes:

Cheddar and Sesame Challah Pull Apart Bread
Buttery, cheesy, crusty. This bread is cut into rough slabs before rising. Once it rises, it merges into a unique loaf. Perfect with a mid winter Caesar Salad lunch or an omelet supper. This bread is bigger than the sum of its parts.
Giant Sesame Cookies
This makes a huge batch of cookies – but they freeze well (and/or you can divide recipe in half). These cookies are wonderfully satisfying and rolled in sesame seeds before baking makes them crunchy and irresistible afterwards. Nothing beats the crisp texture and toasty goodness of lightly baked sesame seeds. Perfect with a homemade espresso or café au lait.
Israeli Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing
This is a cool, make-ahead salad that takes a summery concept and matches it with sesame Oriental panache. It gets a double whammy of sesame power in the sesame seed oil and the use of tahini (sesame seed paste) which also helps thicken the dressing.
Sesame Seed Halvah Orange Pound Cake
A little vanilla halvah offers flavor and tenderizes this delicate pound cake just so.