I’m making a big tzimmes. Two actually.
What?!!
I grew up in a house where Yiddish was often interspersed with English. My Mother(z”l), grew up speaking only Yiddish until she went to an English speaking grammar school. My Yiddish speaking maternal grandmother (z”l) lived with us until she passed away when I was twelve. I heard a lot of Yiddish growing up! I can understand some, but speaking is not a core competence.
Now, while tzimmes is a type of dish*, it also means a fuss or “hulabaloo”.
There’s a lot of tzimmes in our house!
So…
In addition to having a lot of Yiddish included in conversations growing up there were “Yidishe” dishes, like tzimmes.
My mother used to make two different kinds of tzimmes, Meat Tzimmes and Flomen Tzimmes. I’m not sure that my mother always used an exact recipe. I know that when I served my tzimmes to my parents on Rosh Hashanah no one made a tzimmes about it!
The Meat Tzimmes basically is “cholent meat”, like flanken, chuck, fertiloff or something similar combined with carrots and sweet potatoes. Of course, there’s honey and orange juice for flavor and sweetness. It would sit on the stove and simmer until most of the ingredients were nearly indistinguishable. It was delicious.
The second tzimmes is “Flomen Tzimmes” a.k.a Prune Tzimmes. Flomen means prunes in Yiddish. This tzimmes was meatless (although honestly, I think that sometimes the two recipes were combined) and consisted of carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, orange juice and honey. My mother added additional sugar to both recipes, but I left it out. The ingredients themselves are already pretty sweet. My mother was really big on eating super sweet things on Rosh Hashanah to ensure a sweet decree for the upcoming year.
Before she passed away, my mother and I had spent a lot of time talking about using non-traditional cooking methods to make traditional dishes. In my book “Shabbos Under Pressure” I talk a lot about using an electric pressure cooker to make Shabbos and Yom Tov dishes. We spent so much time talking about adapting familiar recipes to the modern age.
This year, I decided to try to make both types of tzimmes in my electric pressure cookers.
Yes…Ruby sits on top of my pressure cooker. Yes…that is my kitchen. Yes…I took this photo.
Two big tzimmeses!
Is that even a word?
Anyway…I love how they came out. There is something special about the traditional mushy tzimmes, but by using the EPC (electric pressure cooker), each ingredient is cooked to perfection. You can actually see the carrots, sweet potatoes and prunes. You can see the meat, carrots, and sweet potatoes. It’s a wonderful thing.
Flomen Tzimmes and Meat Tzimmes
I tried to emulate the original recipe, taking into account that there needed to be modifications to accommodate the new cooking method.
Keep in mind that you can make these recipes on the stove top, or in an old fashioned stove top pressure cooker. I seem to recall my mother using one at some point to make the tzimmes – but I could be making that up. Either way, it will be delicious.
Check out the beautiful carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes and meat.
Here are the recipes.
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Flomen (Prune) Tzimmes using an Electric Pressure Cooker
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 7
- Total Time: 20
Description
This super simple to make vegetarian Flomen Tzimmes takes a traditional recipes and gives it a modern twist by using your EPC (Electric Pressure Cooker).
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 cup pitted sweet prunes, around 1/2 pound
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions
- 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Place a rack or trivet on the bottom of the EPC (Electric Pressure Cooker) Pot.
- Place all the ingredient into the EPC.
- Lock the lid and close the pressure valve.
- Cook using manual high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Manually release the pressure as soon as the tzimmes is done cooking.
Notes
- You can make this tzimmes using a traditional pressure cooker or in a pot on the stove. Adjust the cooking time according to your cooking preference.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
Meat Tzimmes using an Electric Pressure Cooker
Description
Cooking the meat before the rest of the ingredients ensures that the tzimmes meat is butter soft and the carrot and sweet potatoes are just right. Totally delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds “cholent meat” (chuck, flanken, fertiloff) left whole
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch slices
- 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (around 3 large), peeled and cubed
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Place a rack on the bottom of the EPC (Electric Pressure Cooker) pot.
- Add the 3/4 cup water, then place the meat on top of the rack.
- Lock the lid and close the pressure valve.
- Cook using manual high pressure for 50 minutes. Immediately manually release the pressure when the meat is done cooking.
- Transfer the meat to a cutting board, and the extra liquid to a measuring cup or bowl. Cut the meat into large pieces. Set aside. Remove the rack from the EPC pot.
- Set the EPC to saute’/brown mode.
- Add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the pot, then add the onion and garlic. Saute’ until the onion is clear. Turn off the pressure cooker.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pot along with the cut meat. Stir gently to combine.
- Cook using manual high pressure for 7 minutes, then manually release the pressure.
- Transfer the Meat Tzimmes to a large casserole/serving dish.
- If there is a lot of liquid on the bottom of the EPC pot, set the EPC to saute’/brown and cook the liquid until it is reduced, stirring constantly.
- Pour the reduced sauce over the Meat Tzimmes. Serve hot/warm.
Notes
- This recipe can be made using a traditional pressure cooker or on a stove top. Adjust cooking times accordingly.
This is the artistic tzimmes picture!
There are a lot of great Rosh Hashanah and Yom Tov recipes in Shabbos Under Pressure. You can get it on Amazon in time to still cook for the holiday. You can also get it for Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Here is a link:
These are some recipes you can find in Shabbos Under Pressure that would be perfect for Rosh Hashanah!
- Gefilte Fish Loaves
- Tangy Gefilte Fish Loaves
- Honey Lemon Teriyaki Salmon with Bok choy
- Chicken Leek Soup
- Traditional Chicken Soup
- Brown Sugar Chicken
- Mom’s Chicken Cacciatore
- Pomegranate Syrup Chicken
- Succulent Turkey Breast Roast
- Coca Cola Roast
- Fresh Tomato Roast
- Beauty Roast
- Sweet and Sour Corned Beef
- Apple Pecan Squash with Goji Berries
- Fruity Noodle Kugel
- Spaghetti Squash Yerushalmi Kugel
- Honey and Rosemary Rainbow Carrots
- Honeyed Carrots
- Balsamic Beat Salad
- Hot Apple cobbler with Cinnamon Oat Topping
- Poached Pears
- Hot Tamale Apples
- Mulled Cranberry Apple Cider
Pomegranate Chicken From Shabbos Under Pressure
And much more…
It turns out that making a tzimmes is a big thing now. Who would have guessed?!!
Here are some links to other awesome tzimmes recipes:
- Tsimmes (Beef, Carrot and Sweet Potato Stew) NY Times by Joan Nathan
- Taste of Home Tzimmes
- Simanim Chicken by Naomi Nachman
- Stovetop Tzimmes by Tory Avey
- Kosher.com Carrot Tzimmes by Emily Paster
K’siva V’chatima Tova!
*From Wikipedia:
The name may come from the Yiddish words tzim (for) and esn (eating)[1] or from German mischen (to mix). “To make a big tzimmes over something” is a Yinglish expression that means to make a big fuss, perhaps because of the slicing, mixing, and stirring that go into the preparation of the dish.
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