Rosh Hashanah

Everybody is familiar with lamb chops and leg of lamb—but how about the shoulder? When is that used? Well, here I give you the recipe for a roasted lamb shoulder—and you will see why it is my favorite cut for roasting. The meat is sweeter on the blade bone, and, with lots of cartilage to melt during roasting, the meat is finger-sticking good. You might not get a clean, precise cut of meat from the shoulder, but it will be delicious.

Like cinnamon in this country, cardamom plays a starring role in Algerian sweets. Paired with star anise in a gingery syrup, it gives clementine slices an irresistible aroma, but the syrup would be just as wonderful over any kind of sliced fruit.

If you read Edna Lewis's cookbooks, you will come to understand that southerners do not boil their vegetables to death. They cook them until they are perfectly, magnificently tender—and there's a big difference. Try this versatile side and see: It's absurdly easy and full of deep, sweet flavor.

Think of it as apples in the buff: Stripped of the usual apple-pie spices, the fruits' natural floral qualities really come through. And free-form as it is, the rustic tart is very easy to make (there's no need for a pie plate)—not to mention refreshingly light.

Quinces take the place of apples, tarting up the classic dessert.

Called Jewish wontons or raviolis, kreplach are pasta dumplings, usually triangular in shape, filled with minced meat, onion-spiced potatoes, or cheese. Kreplach carries a lot of lofty symbolism; its triangular shape represents Judaism's three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Equally lofty: the Jewish momma who can roll her kreplach dough to optimum thinness (so that, according to Sam Levenson, "a tempting bit of their buried treasure should show through"). If the wrappers are not paper-thin, your kreplach will taste like "craplach." However, though we've included wrappers in this recipe, there's really no reason to knock yourself out making them. Just purchase wonton wrappers in a Chinese food store or supermarket, and making kreplach becomes a cinch. There's even a kosher brand called Nasoya, available in many supermarkets; look for it near the tofu.

Charmoula is a tangy, spicy sauce—in this case, made with cumin, cilantro, garlic, and lemon—that's traditionally served with meat in Morocco.

In the late nineteenth century, the city of Czernowitz, known as the Vienna of Eastern Europe, was famous throughout Austria-Hungary for its tolerance, civic beauty, culture, and learning. Frequently renationalized over the last millennium, Czernowitz has passed through Romanian, Ottoman, and Austrian control and is now a Ukrainian city called Chernivtsi. At its cultural peak at the turn of the twentieth century, it was populated and governed by Jews from Poland, Russia, Austria, and Romania — it even hosted the first-ever Yiddish-language conference in 1908. Of course, World War II destroyed this idyll, and most of the city's Jews were deported to Auschwitz. This recipe for a classic European challah (pronounced "chern-o-vitzer") comes from the late Lotte Langmann. It is not terribly sweet or eggy, but it is generously enriched with oil. The Austrians traditionally use a four-stranded braid, but this dough holds its shape so beautifully during baking that it is a great choice for showing off any fancy shape. This has become one of my favorite challah recipes.

Inspired by the many delicious recipes I found for apple challah, I set out to create the most intensely appley version possible. I started with a sweet challah dough and crammed in as many apples as possible. To minimize surface area and hence excess apple juice, I cut the apples into very large chunks — I also like the distinctive and succulent way these show up in the baked bread. I avoided cinnamon, to let the apple flavor shine unencumbered, but finished off the bread with a sugared crust. After many tests, the final bread was such a favorite that tester Rita Yeazel worked on improving the method for days, determined to come up with an easier way to incorporate the apples. Because I wanted the apples' flavor to permeate the dough, I had wanted to add them during mixing, not shaping, but that meant a lengthy, messy, and difficult hand-knead. Now, thanks to her persistence, I roll out the dough after an hour of fermentation, when the dough is more extensible and is fairly soft, scattering the apples over it and folding the dough around them. Then, as the dough continues to rise, the apples become an integral part of it — and so the tedious hand-kneading phase is unnecessary. I suggest using Braeburn apples, which are easily available in most areas, have a good spicy flavor, and do not fall apart during baking; but you can substitute any favorite baking apple. This bread is wonderful for breakfast or with coffee. It also makes an enticing Rosh Hashanah centerpiece and a much-appreciated gift.

This is the challah I make for my family and have been tweaking for years. It is a sweet, rich, honey-scented challah. However, if you don't care for the flavor of honey, I have included a sugar equivalent. For the finest texture, highest and most defined braid, and longest keeping quality, I have reduced the liquid in the dough to the bare minimum, replaced most of the water with eggs, and kept the dough very firm. This dough is too stiff to mix in a mixer, and needs little development, so I always knead it by hand, but you can also mix it using a food processor.

Kuchen, a German yeast cake, acts as a golden pillow for ripe pears and a cinnamon, sugar, and hazelnut topping.

The pomegranate is a fall and winter fruit, so this gelato is appropriate for the season. Refreshing without being heavy, it has a beautiful blush-pink color, and the tanginess of the fruit cuts the richness of the dairy. The result is an irresistible autumnal dessert you won't soon forget.

This dish is a welcome departure from run-of-the-mill sides. Lemon zest and golden garlic give wilted arugula and tender green beans multidimensional flavor.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from The 2nd Avenue Deli Cookbook, by Sharon Lebewohl and Rena Bulkin. Gefilte fish, today a prized delicacy, dates from the Middle Ages in Germany, where it was conceived as a fish stretcher — an ancient relative of Hamburger Helper. Religious Jews embraced it as a highlight of Friday-night dinners, because it solved a spiritual dilemma: though the Talmud suggests eating fish on Friday nights, it is forbidden (because it's considered work) to separate fish from bones on the Sabbath. We've found that most people who say they don't like gefilte fish have only tasted the supermarket variety, sold in jars, which is like saying you don't like filet mignon when you've only tasted beef jerky. Happily, preparing authentic gefilte fish from scratch is not an arcane skill possessed only by Jewish great-grandmothers. With today's food processors, it's not even especially difficult. Our recipe is sweet, in the Polish tradition; Russian gefilte fish is more peppery.

Shlata Chizo Carrot salads are a relatively new dish, especially raw ones. Until well into the twentieth century, most Europeans ate only cooked carrots, primarily in stews and soups. In the Middle East, people also used them as a component of cooked dishes, but sometimes added grated or minced raw carrots as a minor ingredient to various salads. It was in northwestern Africa that carrots, both cooked and raw, became the featured component of salads — typically an accompaniment to couscous or part of an assortment of salads. Moroccans brought carrot salads to Israel in the 1940s, and they quickly became ubiquitous. These salads are a traditional Rosh Hashanah dish in Israel, a symbol of a sweet and fruitful year to come. At many Israeli restaurants, cooked carrot salad automatically appears on the table with the bread, pickles, and hummus. The carrots are usually flavored with charmoula, a characteristic Moroccan marinade of oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and salt. Most cooks add heat with chilies, sometimes in dangerous proportions. I have tasted some that left me gasping and other that proved a lively appetizer, so adjust the amount of chilies to your own preference and that of your guests. For fancy presentation, Israelis serve raw carrot salad, commonly called gezer chai ("live carrots"), in quartered avocados or on a bed of lettuce leaves, garnished with a sprig of mint.

Keftes de Espinaca Among my favorite spinach dishes are these simple but delicious patties. Even spinach haters can't resist them, especially when they're splashed with a little fresh lemon juice; fresh juice does make a major difference in taste. Onions add a sweet flavor and textural complexity. These patties are traditional on Passover and Rosh Hashanah, corresponding to the emergence of the early and late spinach crops.