This week is when the weather finally turns warm in Israel, inviting families on Passover vacation to fire up their grills outdoors. You can hardly walk through a public park without skirting families unpacking picnics, fanning charcoals, and chasing runaway toddlers. And chicken wings are a favorite on these picnics, being easy to cook and so easy to eat. (If you prefer to enjoy your warm-weather meal at home, cook up Kabsa, our prize chicken and rice recipe).

Here’s a recipe for grilled chicken wings that’s mildly spicy and pops with flavor. You do need time to marinate the wings before setting them on the grill, so plan ahead.

Grilled Chicken Wings With Middle-Eastern Flavors

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon ground black peper

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dry oregano or za’atar

1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika

6 cloves garlic

Squeezed juice of 2 lemons

1/2 cup olive oil

1 kg. – 2 lb. chicken wings

Optional for people who like it hot: 2 hot red chillies, blended with the rest of the seasonings.

Chop the garlic. Place it, with all the rest of the ingredients, in a blender and whizz to make a runny paste.

Put the wings in a large bowl or bag with a seal.

Add the blended seasonings. Either massage the seasonings into the wings, if storing them in a bowl, or close the bag and shake it well to season all the wings.

Refrigerate the wings from 12 hours to 2 days.

Allow the wings to stand at room temperature for 1/2 hour before grilling.

Grill 15-20 minutes, brushing with the seasonings often.

For safety, don’t brush the wings with the seasonings for the last five minutes of grilling. This allows the last brushing to cook through. Discard the leftover seasoning; do not use a second time.

Eat the wings hot, and lick your fingers.

It’s full garlic season in the Middle East. Markets display piles of the pungent bulbs, with the green stalks for you to hang up and dry, or with the greens chopped off for your convenience. I confess, I’m crazy about about garlic. Every spring, I buy 30 kg. to see me through the year. Local garlic, with its purple peel and dirty roots. Never imported garlic, and here’s why. 

How about some garlic soup? If the bare thought makes you shudder, here’s the good news: roasting tames the raw flavor of garlic until it’s almost sweet. Try this creamy, roasted garlic soup. It’s perfect for the present changeable weather – or any time, really. Note: this recipe is totally Passover-friendly and makes a nice change from the usual Passover fare.

Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

4 servings

Ingredients:

6 whole garlic heads

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon thyme leaves

3 cups vegetable stock

2 cups cream

4 tablespoons grated hard cheese like Parmesan or Kashkeval

1 lemon, quartered

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375° F – 180° C.

Remove the outer  layer of peel from the garlic heads, if dirty, but don’t peel them entirely. Slice away a thin layer from each one’s bottom (root end) so that the flesh shows.

Spread the olive oil all over the garlic heads, taking special care to oil the bottoms.

Bake the garlic for 45 minutes. The heads should be soft.

Separate the cloves and squeeze the soft flesh out from each. Press at the pointed end; the flesh will come out of the exposed root end.

In a soup pot, fry the onions and thyme in the butter until the onions wilt.

Add the garlic flesh and vegetable stock.

Cook 20 minutes over medium-low heat, covered.

Blend the soup until smooth.

Whip the cream. Add it to the soup.

Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Top each serving with grated cheese. Serve the soup with a quarter of a lemon to squeeze in.

Enjoy!

Being vegewarian, I keep meat for holidays and special occasions. Because that’s what vegewarian means – eating mostly sustainable and local vegetarian foods, with meat dishes only once in a while. Here’s one of our typical vegewarian non-meat recipes. With Passover on the way, I’m thinking what sumptuous meat dish to cook.

The problem with “sumptuous” is that it implies other fancy cooking going on at the same time. When I’m moving between stove, sink, and chopping block, and guests are expected and I almost can’t keep track of what’s going on the house – I need a main dish I trust to taste great and not give me much trouble to cook.

That’s when I pull out my slow cooker. In it, beef short ribs sit on the counter top quietly cooking themselves, out of my way and ignored until I lift the top and inhale the delicious, savory odors. This recipe calls for Mediterranean herbs and a touch of sweetness for balance. I like silan, the Middle-Eastern date syrup, but if you don’t have it, a good dark honey works too.

Slow-Cooker Short Ribs
Serves 4
May be increased by half or doubled

Ingredients

1 kg. beef short ribs, most of the fat trimmed away: about 8 pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion
1 teaspoon ground sumac
4 large cloves garlic
4 small-medium tomatoes, or 2 large
1 large carrot, peeled and thickly sliced
1 large bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or a sprig fresh thyme
1/2 tablespoon dry rosemary, or a fresh twig about 1” long
1 tablespoon silan date syrup or honey
1- 1/2 cup vegetable, chicken or beef stock. Or dry red wine.
Salt and pepper to taste

Pat the pieces of beef with a paper towel until dry.

Fry the beef ribs in a large skillet, with the olive oil. Don’t crowd the pieces; you may need to do this in two batches. Turn the pieces over as they caramelize.

About halfway through, add the sliced carrot. Let it caramelize along with the beef.

While the meat is caramelizing, prepare the seasonings. Slice the onion and sprinkle the sumac over it. Peel the garlic, but leave the cloves whole. Slice the tomatoes.

Remove the meat to a plate. Let the fat in the skillet cool down somewhat, then pour most of it away, leaving a tablespoon or so in the skillet.

Heat the leftover fat for a few seconds over medium heat and stir the sumac-seasoned onions in. Cook, stirring, until the onions wilt; about 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the onions. Stir the garlic in. Add the bay leaf. Fry 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes soften. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.

Pour the vegetables into the slow cooker.

Place the meat over the vegetables in the cooker.

Stir the stock or wine in.

Scatter the thyme over all. Tuck the rosemary in the center.

Season again with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on high for 5 hours. For meat that almost disintegrates in the mouth, cook the short ribs another 2 hours on low. Enjoy!