Israeli food finds a place on American tables

Recipe from Zahav. Tehina, a ground sesame paste, can also be spelled tahini. Jars of it can be found in most supermarkets.

Break up the head of garlic with your hands and add unpeeled cloves to a blender with lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend on high for a few seconds, then let mixture stand for 10 minutes to mellow. Strain mixture over large mixing bowl, pressing down solids to extract as much garlic-lemon liquid as possible. Discard solids. Add tehina, cumin and remaining salt to the bowl. Whisk together, adding a couple tablespoons of ice water at a time (about 1 1/2 cups in total) to thin out the sauce.

Use immediately, refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for up to a month.

Recipe from Zahav. It turns out the secret to the creamiest hummus around is nearly equal parts tehina sauce to chickpeas. In a pinch, you can substitute about 3 cups canned chickpeas for the dried chickpeas in this recipe.

Add chickpeas and 1 teaspoon baking soda to a large bowl and cover with at least twice as much water. Soak chickpeas at room temperature overnight. The next day, drain and rinse.

Add chickpeas and remaining baking soda to large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Cook for 1 hour, or until very soft.

Drain chickpeas and puree with tehina sauce, salt and cumin in a food processor or blender until smooth and uber-creamy, about 3 minutes. Serve in a shallow bowl, topped with extra tehina sauce, paprika, parsley, olive oil, etc.

Recipe from Zahav. To make labneh, season full-fat Greek yogurt with salt, pour in a cheesecloth set over a bowl in refrigerator and let strain overnight.

Blend the herbs, garlic and labneh in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt to taste.

Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium high-heat. Fry cauliflower until dark golden brown and crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and season with salt. Serve over herbed labneh.

From Modern Israeli Cooking (Page Street, $28).

Slaw

Schnitzel

Make slaw: Whisk mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, sumac, salt and pepper in small bowl. Combine the cabbages, carrots and cilantro in a large bowl and pour the dressing over the vegetables. Toss and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make schnitzel: Slice each chicken breast in two lengthwise and pound between 2 pieces of parchment paper using the heel of your hand until 1/2 inch thick. Season both sides with salt.

To bread the chicken, put flour in a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs with the dijon in a second shallow bowl, and combine the breadcrumbs, panko, sesame seeds, salt and pepper in a third shallow bowl.

Heat a large skillet with 1/3 inch canola oil over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, dredge chicken in flour, then egg wash, then breadcrumbs. Fry for 3 minutes a side or until golden brown. Season with salt and let drain.

Construct the sandwiches by smearing mayonnaise on both pieces of bread and then layer on the schnitzel, slaw and sliced pickles.

Recipe from Zahav (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $35).

Heat 1/4 cup of the oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet large enough to accommodate 16 poached eggs. (If you don’t have a skillet that large, use two pans, dividing the ingredients evenly between them.) Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, dried lime (if using), paprika, cumin, coriander, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato puree and sugar and simmer until reduced by about one-third, 10 to 12 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup oil.

Crack the eggs into the skillet, spacing them evenly in the sauce. Lower the heat, cover, and cook until the egg whites are set but the yolks remain runny, about 5 minutes. Top with serrano chiles and cilantro and serve immediately right from the pan.