HUB COOKS: FOR PASSOVER AT THE TABOULI GRILL
With the Passover Holiday just weeks away, an evite from Ct Bites (ctbites.com) announcing a Passover cooking class with Chef Judith Roll, the executive chef of The Tabouli Grill, arrived at a most propitious time.
I grew up in a family where no written recipes existed. The most sophisticated measuring device was a drinking glass - a glass of this and a handful of that. A class with Chef Roll would finally give me the specific ingredients and processes for some of my favorite Passover recipes.
The class was to be held at the Tabouli Grill's Southport location, 3381 Post Road, Chef Roll's newest branch of her very successful Tabouli Grill in Stamford at Bull's Head Plaza, 59 High Ridge Road.
Arriving on the day of the class, 15 excited, eager students crowded around Chef Roll as she described the menu for the class. As an added bonus, we would be eating our prepared meal for lunch – with some of Chef Roll's own spectacular food as an added treat!
Food was always a big part of Roll's family life as a child. Weekly visits to New York's Chinatown, Little Italy or the German restaurants of the Upper East Side exposed the young Roll to a wide variety of foods. "My memory in general is just terrible but when it comes to food memories I remember everything in detail."
Growing up in this food-centric family, deciding to make the food business her career was an easy transition for Roll. Graduating first in her class at the Culinary Institute of America, becoming a pastry chef at Wolfgang Puck's famous Spago in California, moving back to the East Coast and opening Sweet on You Bakery and Café in Stamford , Roll quickly rose to the height of success for a young chef. But it wasn't until she traveled in the Middle East that Chef Roll focused her cooking skills on the food of the Mediterranean. She explained, "I became smitten with the food and with my Israeli husband David."
According to Roll, "Cooking is a talent one is born with. You can see when somebody has that "it" factor. It is hard to describe "it" but you can see that someone has an innate sense of rhythm in the kitchen, that their timing is impeccable and they have the ability to know just what to do to make something taste just perfect." Her advice for anyone thinking about a career as a chef, "Attending cooking school is certainly helpful, but experience is essential. First, work in a restaurant. It is very demanding physically. You are standing and running around often for 10-12 hours at a time. If you love it, your day flies by, if you don't it can be a brutal. "
According to the web site (www.tabouligrill.com) The Tabouli Grill is the culmination of Judith Roll's eating, experimenting and dreaming of what would be her ideal restaurant. "Everything we cook at Tabouli is made with LOVE! I put my heart and soul into my cooking and I want my customers to love what they are eating as much as I do. "
We do.
Check out Tabouli's tempting Mediterranean fare at tabouligrill.com - from the flavorful falafel with fried eggplant to the satisfying hummus with garlic, lemon and chickpeas. And,don't pass up Roll's incredible vegetarian chopped liver. To die for!
Chef Judith Roll's Recipe for Bubbe's Brisket:
1 5lb brisket
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 large onions, sliced
6 carrots, peeled and cut on the bias
1 cup of prunes
1 bay leaf
Salt, pepper
3 cups red wine
1 cup ketchup
Season the meat with salt and pepper. In a large roasting pan spread half the carrots, onions and prunes. Lay meat on top of vegetables. Sprinkle remaining veggies around the brisket. Spread ketchup on top of the brisket. Cover pan with foil and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 3 hours. Brisket should be fork tender at this point. If not, keep in oven, covered for an additional ½ hour. Remove foil and let brisket brown for approx. 20 minutes longer. When cool enough to handle remove brisket to a plate. Chill gravy and remove fat. To serve slice and serve with heated gravy.