Picture Perfect - Parshat Pikudei

In this week's portion, Parshat Pikudai, the job finally gets done. The nation completes all the work involved in constructing the Tabernacle and they do every last thing perfectly. They bring it to Moses and he is so pleased that he blesses them. This goes a lot better than the whole Mt Sinai incident. So it is time to celebrate ... I mean inaugurate.

God commands Moses to set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the first month as their tent of meeting. Moses is tasked with getting all the components in the right place and into action - he sets up the Menorah and lights it, he sets up the altars and anoints them with oil, and he fills the basins with water. He anoints Aron and his sons and dresses them in the priestly garments. He burns incense on one altar and offers up a burnt animal offering with bread on another. Thus completes the inauguration, and God's presence comes to rest in the Tabernacle.

You can imagine what a great party this was - it had the right lighting, great clothes, room fragrance and great food.

Speaking of great food, Sam and I recently enjoyed free meat from Joburg Kosher, a South African Kosher meat company based in Pennsylvania. Their jerky and sausage could easily have been served at this party in the Tabernacle. We could barely pronounce "biltong and boerewors” (the proper names of these products) but we could eat it. Together with our friends Seth and Jamie (who needed new-parent-nourishing) we gobbled up the sausages with chips, guacamole and beer, enjoying the sweet notes in the savory spiced meat. It would also go well with caramelized onions, in a tajine, or in one of my favorite pasta and mushroom dishes. Later that week we snuck the jerky into a movie theater and found it a very easy snack since it’s less chewy than normal jerky- the consistency, color and taste was more like peppered beef Carpaccio (thinly sliced raw steak). The packaging suggests eating the whole bag as a meal and I would have - it’s like a deconstructed steak to go.

So you here's to serving any kind of flavorful meat this weekend. One of my favorite meat recipes to serve at a festive occasion is kuftah kabobs. These are not kabobs on a stick with chunks of vegetable and meat - they're like a Middle Eastern meatball made of ground beef, onions and spices. I've recently also been making a ground turkey version with a few twists and while they are more meatball than kuftah I much prefer the term turkey kabobs than turkey balls. As you're cooking this you may just invoke some of the inaugural smells from yesteryear.

Kuftah Kabobs

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 egg
1/2 cup of panko crumbs
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

In a bowl mix all of the ingredients, except for the oil. Form small football shaped kabobs with your hands, scooping up a small palm full and rolling into an oblong shape. Set each rolled kabob onto a plate.

Heat a medium sized cast iron skillet over a medium flame. Pour olive oil into the skillet and nestle some of the kabobs into the pan, leaving enough room to easily rotate the kabobs.

Cook for two minutes and then roll a bit cook for another minute, until you have browned the kabobs all over.

Serve warm.

Turkey Kabobs

1 lb ground turkey
1 onion
1 zucchini
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp white wine
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1 egg
salt
pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Peel the onion and shred it and the zucchini in a food processor.

Mix the shredded vegetables with the rest of the ingredients, except for the oil, in a large bowl until well incorporated.

Form small football shaped kabobs with your hands, scooping up a small palm full and rolling into an oblong shape. Set each rolled kabob onto a plate.

Heat a medium sized cast iron skillet over a medium flame. Pour olive oil into the skillet and nestle some of the kabobs into the pan, leaving enough room to easily rotate the kabobs.

Cook for two minutes and then roll a bit cook for another minute, until you have browned the kabobs all over.

Serve warm with salad, hummus and rice.