I have this mad butcher in my supermarket; when he is not there, I get what I need, but when he is there, whatever I ask for, we have a "discussion"; he knows better than I what I want to make, and when I try to correct him, he gets very touchy and upset; tells me how long he has been a butcher...when I feebly ask if he cooks as well, he gets very insulted! This week, the L&M informed me that he has had enough chickens and chicken parts.... he even warned me that he may start to cluck ...I took that very seriously, and decided we better have beef. So, I looked at all the 'beefy' stuff on display at the market, and nothing really looked right...the butcher himself came out and we had one of our mad discussions, which I will not go into! I finally pointed to a slab of meat and said: can I stuff that?..."Stuff that"?...he was hurt. "Why would you want to do that?" he finally demanded...I insisted, and he took out the piece of meat; "Its a beautiful 'falshe-fillet" said he; (its a large muscle, which I think goes for pennies everywhere else, but here it costs as much as the best steak!..) "I don't know why you would want to stuff this perfect piece of meat", said my expert, "but, OK; do you want me to make a pocket in it for your ehem, stuffing?" I said nicely, "yes, please"...he did and even stuffed a plastic bag into it..."it should not grow back together"...said he, trying to please me...grow together?...not being able to face another discussion, I just asked for some chicken breast, ground, please, and made my escape...

I mixed the ground chicken with an egg, some garlic and mustard; the beef refused to get stuffed. Absolutely refused; well, I do not take to things like that lightly; so I made the pocket larger and got quite a bit of the stuffing in; it was beautiful! Large, puffy, round...I seared it on all sides in olive oil, made a sauce of onions, garlic, smashed mushroom stems, red wine, thyme, salt, pepper...yes?...right! popped the meat into it, covered it, and left it on a small flame to simmer; decided that I deserved a celebratory drink! About an hour later, I went to flip the beef over, and discovered that it had spat out most of the stuffing. I kid you NOT!...the beef was here, on one side, and the stuffing was out of the pocket as if it was just spat out...the only way I can describe it!...I had a good laugh, flipped the beef over for some more simmering, made another drink and when the beef was ready, took it out, and smashed the chicken stuffing into the sauce with my magic spoon; into the fridge both went in separate containers...sliced the next day, rather thickly, amazingly, there was still some stuffing left in the beef and it really looked lovely...a small white center...beef all around...reheated in the sauce, which, because of the chicken I smashed into it, turned out thick and smooth and delicious...served with wheat, mixed with lentils, it was wonderful. This meat is great for a cold buffet; slice it thinly, and arrange it in a circle on a serving platter..

And, now, because Pesach is finally here, I have a great gift for you; a dessert, which will take you five minutes, and you can make it way ahead...IF you can! Whoever has had it, insists that it's my best! Melt, 250 grams of chocolate; I did it over hot water in a glass bowl; you probably have a micro, so go for it! Whatever you do, when its melted flood it with rum, cognac, or any other favorite...mine at the moment is Cointreau...( I looked it up and it seems that it IS "kosher l'pesach", but, up to you?...) DO add the liquor...a MUST!...mix well; beat 250 gr. of Rich Parve Cream, mix the two together, pour into a cake pan or long pan or any other pan you can think of...I have not made it into a cake, but, you can. I preferred to serve it as balls of ice-cream...anyway: cover it and into the freezer it goes! Can you think of anything easier?...yes I can: another gift!...Try this: beat 300gr. of Rich parve cream, add the same amount of orange marmalade mixed with Cointreau, and put it into the freezer as well...ever made an easier dessert?...to serve, crush some strawberries, onto the plate with they go, place a chocolate ball, and a marmalade ball on the "crush," decorate with mint...fantabulous?...Absolutely! You do not like orange marmalade? The chocolate stuff is so good and so rich, that you do not need the other one...but, think what a lovely plate it makes...red for love, white for purity, green for hope and brown...because the earth here is special...OK: give me an argument....

To You-ALL, a very happy Pesach!

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Debbie Morgenstern is the author of "My Life in Israel" and other short stories.
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