In This Family, Thanksgiving Shabbat Means BBQ Corned Beef

Shared by Michael Hurwitz
Recipe Roots: Pittsburgh > Miami Beach > Bay Harbor, Florida > Jackson Heights, Queens \

Michael’s grandfather Meyer in the 1940s.

Meyer Rosen cooked two meals in his lifetime: Scrambled eggs and corned beef with barbeque sauce served with cabbage and noodles. “That was it,” says his grandson Michael Hurwitz, who is the director of New York City’s network of greenmarkets. The corned beef and noodles were always served on Rosh Hashanah when Michael was growing up in Pittsburgh’s heavily Jewish neighborhood Squirrel Hill. No one in the family is quite certain where grandpa Meyer picked up the Irish-leaning recipe, but it was his signature. 

Outside of the kitchen, he was known as the owner of Rosen Drugs, a small chain of pharmacies and soda fountains in Pittsburgh, one of which was still open when Michael was little. “I would go there and sit at the counter and I’d go to the hairdresser with my grandmother,” Michael says. When he was seven, his grandparents moved out of their home to a new place around the corner and Michael and his family moved into the house where his mother was raised. 

Here, she kept up the corned beef and cabbage tradition, serving the dish at holiday meals and for Shabbat dinner to the greater family. “All my cousins — and I have tons of cousins — would ask my mom whenever they were going to [be] over, ‘could you make this for us?’” Michael says. And, as grandpa Meyer grew older he’d do the same, telling his daughter Cathy, who he called Taffy: “Taf, I want the corned beef. I want the corned beef.” 

Michael (bottom left) pictured with his grandfather Meyer (top left) in Pittsburg in the 1970s.

Over the years, as Michael moved to New York, and his sister and parents relocated to Florida, the recipe traveled with them. Unable to gather together for many of the Jewish holidays, the barbecued corned beef, and the cabbage and noodles became a post-Thanksgiving Shabbat tradition, often served with a broccoli slaw and his sister’s homemade challah. “Our Thanksgiving is lovely and wonderful and delicious, but nothing out of the ordinary,” Michael says. “But every Friday night, this is also our Thanksgiving tradition regardless of where we are.”  

This year, they will be in Florida at a socially distant Thanksgiving meal and Shabbat dinner in his sister’s backyard, with each family at their own table. “We are a family that celebrates with food and grieves with food and talks about food and is constantly planning about food,” Michael says. “When we are together, we like to make sure those traditions are maintained.”

Corned Beef with Barbeque Sauce

Makes: 6-8 servings
Total Time: 20 minutes active + 3 hours and 45 minutes inactive

Ingredients

For the beef:
4 - 5 ½ pounds raw pickled corned beef
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 dry bay leaves
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 yellow onions, peeled 

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
½ cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation
1. Place the brisket, 2 tablespoons of kosher salt, bay leaves, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, garlic, and onions into a large pot. Add enough water to completely cover the beef. Turn the heat on high and bring the mixture to a boil. Skim any scum that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low or a gentle simmer. Cook for 3 hours or until the beef is tender and cooked through.

2. Make the sauce: Add the oil, mustard, remaining brown sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, and remaining salt and black pepper into a bowl. Mix well until combined into a smooth sauce. Set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Gently transfer and drain the beef onto a paper towel lined cutting board and let it cool for about 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle. The liquid that is left behind in the pot is a beef broth that you can save for another dish. Pat the beef dry and slice the beef against the grain into ½ - inch thick slices. Use a large spatula or tongs to transfer the sliced corned beef onto a baking tray, while keeping its shape intact. Slightly fan out the beef slices on the baking tray and pour the sauce over the beef. Use a spatula or brush to evenly cover all the beef with sauce.

5. Cover the baking tray with aluminum foil and transfer the beef into the oven. Roast it for 30 minutes or until the beef is lightly browned and absorbs the sauce.

6. Serve hot.

Noodles and Cabbage

Makes: 4-6 servings
Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
¼ cup any non-dairy butter or vegetable oil
1 green head cabbage, cored and cut into ½ inch slices
1 ½ tablespoon kosher salt, divided
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
12 ounces store-bought wide egg noodles 

Preparation
1. Place the non-dairy butter into a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the cabbage, salt,and pepper into the skillet. It will look like a lot of cabbage but it will wilt down once cooked. Saute the cabbage until softened and tender, about 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often.

2. Meanwhile, add water into a medium pot, enough to fill it up ¾ the way up. Add ½  tablespoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil to the water. Place the pot over high heat and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the egg noodles and cook just until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the egg noodles.

3. Remove the skillet with the cooked cabbage off the heat and add the egg noodles. Mix until the cabbage and noodles are distributed well.

4. Serve hot.

Broccoli Slaw Salad

Photos by Penny De Los Santos

Makes: 4 - 6 servings

Ingredients
1 12 ounce bag of broccoli slaw
½ green pepper, deseeded, destemmed and finely chopped
½ red pepper, deseeded, destemmed and finely chopped
4 scallions, finely sliced
1 pack instant ramen noodle soup 
¾ cup slivered almonds
½ cup sunflower seeds, raw

For the dressing:
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ cup olive oil
⅓ cup white vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
Ramen soup spices (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Break the dried ramen noodles into smaller pieces with your hands and place into a baking sheet. Add the almonds and sunflowers and mix well. Spread the noodles, almonds and sunflower seeds into 1 layer on the baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake for about 5 to 8 minutes until toasted and golden brown. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Add the sugar, oil, vinegar, garlic and soup spices (if using) into a small bowl and mix until combined well into a dressing.

4. Place the broccoli slaw, green and red peppers, scallions, toasted ramen noodles, almonds and sunflower seeds into a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing and mix the slaw well until the vegetables are distributed evenly and the salad is coated in dressing.