seven species stuffing

seven species stuffing

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Recipes for Seven Species Salad are easy to find. There are probably almost as many versions of this salad as there are people who make it, and I expect you can’t go wrong with any of them. Some include leafy greens and are in line with what we typically think of as “salad.” Others are more of a grain-based salad, like couscous salads or quinoa salads. What all of them have in common is that they all include the seven agricultural products that are sacred to the land of Israel. But there’s plenty of room for flexibility—Olives in the salad, or olive oil? Raisins or Grapes? Wheat berries or croutons? Honey from bee hives or from dates?

Here, I’ve turned Seven Species Salad into Seven Species Stuffing. You can use it to stuff chicken or other poultry, or bake it in a pan and serve it alongside your favorite protein. It works beautifully with my Orange and Za’atar Roasted Chicken and with my Sticky Pomegranate Tempeh.

Seven Species Salad is often served on Tu B’Shvat, but you may also find it on the table at Rosh Hashanah or for Sukkot. It’s perfect for the Shabbat when we read Parashat Eikev, in which Eretz Yisrael is described like this: For Adonai your God is bringing you into a good land, … a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey.

This week I’m serving it as part of my menu for Parasha Shelach.

I thought it curious that these seven are singled out and lauded. Clearly, many more than seven grains, fruits, and vegetables grow our ancient home. Why seven? Why these?

Any time the number seven pops up, we need to pause. It pops up a lot. Seven days of creation, hence seven days in a week. Seven weeks from the Exodus to the giving of the Torah. The seven branches of the temple menorah, the seven blessings at a wedding, the seven days of shiva after a death. I could go on.

Numbers are very significant in Judaism. The numerical system is tied into the aleph-bet, as each letter also represents a particular number.

The way I see it, the universe was spoken into being with sounds—with letters—but what holds it together are the numbers.

Ask any physicist; everything can be expressed in numerical equations.

Ask any mystic; they’ll tell you the same.

Seven is considered the perfect, most sacred number because it is the number of completion.

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran quotes his uncle, Rabbi Alexandre Safran Z’L. He states that the latter “concludes his prolific discussion of Jewish time /Sabbath time in his Israel in Time & Space, by noting that the number seven thus joins for all eternity the Creator and His Creation, God and His people; and the hyphen uniting them, is the holy Shabbat.”

But wait, there’s more. In my meanderings, I discovered that the great Kabbalist, the Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, 16th century) taught that each of these agricultural products has its own medical and spiritual energy. Each one relates to one of the lower sefirot and one of the days of the week. If you’re as fascinated by this idea as I am, you can read all about it here.

Meanwhile, let’s prepare this fabulous stuffing!

Seven Species Stuffing

Ingredients:

• 9 cups day old bread of your choosing, cut into 1/2 “cubes. I use a combination of white and multigrain Italian baguettes.

• 1 cup of uncooked pearled barley

• Bullion paste or granules, as needed—chicken, no-chicken, or vegetable

• 2 stalks of celery, diced small

• 1 large yellow onion, diced small

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 2 teaspoons baharat spice mix

• 4 tablespoons butter or Earth Balance vegan butter, in stick form, melted

• 2 ½ to 3 cups stock—chicken, no-chicken, or vegetable

• 3 eggs

• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

• ½ cup orange cognac or liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Gran Gala (may substitute orange juice)

• ½ cup coarsely chopped dried figs

• ½ cup sliced dates

• ½ cup pomegranate arils

• ½ cup golden raisins

• ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped

• 1/4 -1/2 cup pistachios

Method:

• Preheat oven to 400°.

• Combine the raisins, dates and figs in a small bowl and add the orange liqueur. Allow the fruit to soak for 30 minutes.

• Prepare barley according to the package directions, adding bullion to the water—1/2 teaspoon per cup of water. Set aside when finished.

• While barley is cooking, spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet in a single layer and slide it into the preheated oven. Check after 10 minutes. You want the bread to be dry and somewhat toasted, but not burned. The time this will take will vary with the bread you use.

• Warm the oil in a large sauté pan and sauté the onions and celery until the onion is softened and beginning to take on color.

• Add the garlic and baharat and sauté a minute or two more.

• Transfer the sautéed vegetables to a large bowl.

• Add the toasted bread cubes, the barley, the fruits and their soaking liquid, the pomegranate arils, the pistachios, and the parsley and mix to combine.

• Add the melted butter or Earth Balance

• Beat the eggs in a small bowl with 1 cup of the stock and add the egg mixture to the stuffing bowl and mix well.

• Add additional stock as needed. The stuffing should be very moist, but not soupy.

   

  To use as stuffing:

  This is excellent as a stuffing for my Orange and Za’atar Glazed Chicken.

  Stuff your whole bird, with or without bones, and roast as appropriate for the poultry you’re using.

  Or

  Make football shaped mounds of the stuffing. Set them on a baking pan that has been lined with parchment and then greased and shape your seasoned boneless, skin-on, chicken thighs or breasts over the mounds and bake at 350° until a meat thermometer registers 160°.

  To bake in a pan:

  Preheat the oven to 350°.

  Grease a 9”X13” Pyrex, ceramic, or metal baking dish and fill it with the stuffing mixture. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until golden brown.