recipes

Tomato Recipes

An elegant way to serve a tomato that I learned from my mother, z”l:

Slice the tomato. Put sweet or red onion in between each slice. Dribble with olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh basil or dried oregano (or any other favorite herb). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Other ideas:

• Hihorosie’s tomato dish
• How to skin a tomato
• Lots about tomatoes and another peeling method

My easy kettle method for a simple sauce: Cut slits in the skins of the tomatoes. Place in a bowl. Pour boiling water, enough to cover. Wait 15 seconds. Peel tomatoes and place in a 2nd bowl. Drink up the remaining water; I’m sure it has some nutrients in it. Chop tomatoes; add fresh basil and/or sweet onions, maybe garlic or olive oil or scallions or parsley. You can serve this on pasta, rice or fish. I ate mine with some feta cheese.

Kosher Cooking Carnival #33: Women Wearing White

As the last Kosher Cooking Carnival came out at the beginning of the Three Weeks, I think it appropriate that I dedicate this one to Tu B’Av and women dressed in white who would go into the fields to dance. In days of old, women were said to dress up in white clothes and dance in the fields:

The Mishnah Taanit (4:8) relates that Tu be-Av was a day for making shiduchim (matches), albeit without the intermediary services of the shadchen (matchmaker):

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel used to say that there there were no days more joyous than Tu be-Av and Yom Kippur.

[On these days] the maidens of Jerusalem would go out bedecked in borrowed white clothing (in order not to embarrass those who did not own any) . . . And the maidens of Jerusalem went out and danced in the vineyards. And what did they say? “Young man, check us out and decide whom you like.” [*]

Let’s pretend your sister or third cousin once removed has just finished dancing in the field; now it’s time to eat.

If you want some nice conversation, you could talk about “umami” and Torah as the “spice of life”. But I would suggest you wait until after the meal if you want to discuss Rafi’s post on Shechita.

If you would like to discuss hechsherim and the kashrut of restaurants, Rafi posts on kashrut in Jerusalem restaurants and then updates. Larry Lennhoff says this is how kashrut certification should be done.

Lion of Zion asks: is it “assur” (forbidden) to eat at home in Brooklyn during the Nine Days?

What would make a nice summer meal?
A lovely bean salad by Tamar Fox.
A cancer-preventing fruit salad with thyme.
I made a soup from my Farmers Market produce. And I grew an edible flower.

Gazpacho time:
Juggling Frogs suggested Leah Koenig’s gazpacho posted on the Jew and the Carrot.

Gail teaches us how to make her gazpacho.

If you don’t want to spend a lot, but you like delicious food:

Mottel has made this wonderful dish he calls Basement Spaghetti.

One way to really keep it simple is to go out for some bagels.

On the other hand if you really want to live it up and make this meal extra-special, check out the wine selections at http://www.kosherwinereview.com/. Personally, I like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. Anything by the Galil Mountain Winery is going to be delicious; we tasted their wine our recent trip to Israel.

Raizy presents us with recipes from the Land of the Magyars.

We could have an elegant meal with Ilana-Davita’s chicken teriyaki or Baroness Tapuzina’s chicken paprika. Ilana-Davita’s roasted peppers would make a lovely side dish.

Like pasta? Try frumskeptic’s Fettucine Alfredo.

Batya teaches us how to roast vegetables in the oven.

Check out Mother in Israel’s new griddle and chickpea patties recipe.

Kosher Whine has a delicious recipe for Swiss Chard. Bet that might work with kale, too.

Here’s a really easy fish recipe.

Batya suggests that because it's Shmitta year, you can go into the field to pick some grapes. She also notes a sign allowing others to enter and pick.

Our options for dessert:

For a dairy meal, you could make the Kosher Blog’s Strawberry shortcake with cream on top.

Or try this easy Shabbat cake.

Not enough recipes? Here’s a blog called Cooking with Yiddishe Mama.

B’Taavon. (= Bon Appetit in Hebrew)

Finally, if you want to organize your recipes, Frumhouse has some nice suggestions. Here’s the cover of her Pesach recipes binder:

Thank you to Batya for founding and managing the Kosher Cooking Carnivals. Thank you to Ilana-Davita for reading the top of this post and giving feedback (or should that be foodback?). Thanks to Lion of Zion for his great Tu Be'Ab Primer. Thanks to Whistler for being a great painter. Thanks to Juggling Frogs for submitting suggestions.

If you missed participating in this edition, September is coming soon!
Submit an article on anything related to kosher food.
Batya is looking for more hosts; please contact her to volunteer: shilohmuse at yahoo dot com

Farmers Market Soup

Just came back from my weekly trip to the Farmer’s Market (is it Farmers’ Market? or perhaps Farmers Market?). Above is a beautiful soup I made from some of my purchases last week.

Ingredients:

• 2 onions
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 bunch of kale
• 3 yellow-orange squash
• 4 leaves of fresh basil
• 2 peeled cloves of garlic, chopped or pressed
• 3 small tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. tomato sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add squash and water. Cook for ten minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until squash is tender. Enjoy. If you like, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Update: you might want to add some lemon. I can’t remember if I did or didn’t. I definitely didn’t buy lemon at the Farmer’s Market. New Jersey isn’t that warm (yet).

Fish, Anyone?

I make salmon a fair amount throughout the year. My basic recipe is quite simple: I use an oval ceramic dish, and I poach the salmon in the oven with some water and lemon juice.

Ingredients:

• Salmon, uncooked, fresh
• Lemon juice (about one half lemon)
• Dill or celery or parsley or sage or basil

Optional: onion, sliced tomato, sliced potato

Preheat oven to 350°. Place fish in ceramic baking dish with water and lemon juice, enough to cover the fish. Place something green and flavorful along side the fish, such as dill or celery. Optionally, you can put sliced tomato and onion under the fish, or sliced potato and onion. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Use a fork to test the middle to see if the fish is thoroughly cooked.

Pink sauce for fish:
Take some red beet horseradish and mix it with either plain yogurt or sour cream. Serve on top or beside the fish.

During the nine days before Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, observant Jews do not eat meat (except on Shabbat). Fish is a possible option that one can serve during the Nine Days.

Kid-Friendly Noodle Kugel

I used to make noodle kugel with a stick of margarine. A WHOLE STICK. After I learned about the evils of margarine, for a long time I did not make noodle kugel. At some point recently, after craving a good noodle kugel, I put together this easy recipe. At the end I include options that might make the kugel more interesting, tasty or healthy. However, the “plain” version is the one my kids eat. And it tastes good to me, too.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. thin egg noodles
• 4 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Enough canola oil to grease the bottom of the pan

Boil water and prepare the noodles. Preheat oven to 350°. Strain the noodles, and mix with the eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste. Grease the bottom of the pan with oil (I use pyrex; sometimes I make two pans of kugels, one for Friday night and one for Shabbat lunch). Preheat the pan(s) so the kugel will be a little crispier. Add the kugel mixture, and bake for about 30 minutes or until the kugel starts to get crispy.

Options: chopped spinach (frozen is easiest), chopped onion, bits of hamburger meat (I’ve never made it this way, just tasted others, but it’s delicious)

Cabbage Mustard Garlic Salad

Do you like garlic? mustard? Here’s an easy, no cooking necessary salad for those of us that like strong flavors.

Ingredients:

• 1 savoy cabbage or napa cabbage
• olive oil to coat
• brown mustard to coat
• 2 or 3 crushed garlic cloves
• salt, pepper to taste
• juice of 1/2 fresh orange or lemon
• for color: bits of shredded purple cabbage and/or carrot (optional)

Chop the cabbage into bite size pieces (that’s the most complicated part of this recipe). Add the shredded carrots and/or purple cabbage. Put in a large bowl. Coat the cabbage with olive oil. Then coat it with mustard. Crush in your garlic cloves, and mix. Sprinkle with salt and/or pepper to taste. Squeeze on lemon or orange juice, and mix well.

Tip on shredded carrots: you can use your food processor, or you can peel off little piece of carrot with your carrot peeler.

Orange Cake

My mother used to say that little expression. I think she would have enjoyed this cake. I took Batya’s basic cake recipe and converted it into an orange cake.

Before I share the recipe, we had an amusing afternoon with this cake. I made the cake at about 5 pm. My daughter (who is five years old) did the stirring, so she felt like she made the cake. It came out of the oven at about 5:45 pm. I put it on that pretty cake platter in the photo, dropped three home-grown strawberries in the center and took a few photos. Then daughter and I headed out for about half an hour to the library. The cake was left as displayed in the kitchen to cool.

Upon our return, it looked like a mouse had visited our cake! Or perhaps a little hand. There was one medium-sized gouge toward the top of the cake, and two little gouges in other spots. Sure enough, I had left my two boys at home at our usual supper time, so one hungry eleven-year-old had helped himself to a bit of cake. I requested that next time he use a knife and cut a piece. My daughter and I helped ourselves each to a slice of cake. I then went upstairs to take care of a few things. Upon my return downstairs, when I was planning to make supper, I was a bit shocked to discover the cake was now half its original size. Sure enough, Eldest son had helped himself to a few slices.

The moral of the story: don’t be surprised if half your cake disappears if you leave it alone with two hungry, growing boys in the house.

Finally, the recipe:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 orange
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup water
• A pinch of salt

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add eggs and oil. Add grated orange peel. Add water. Squeeze in the juice of the orange. Add vanilla. Mix well. Pour into a greased baking pan (I used a shaped bundt pan). Bake for about 45 minutes at 350°. Use a toothpick to see if it’s ready. Let cool before serving.

Update: I just added this to The Recipe Box.

Carrot Salad Re-Make

I am notorious for taking a recipe and changing a few of the ingredients. My mother used to do this, too; she taught me to read cookbooks for ideas, not necessarily following every detail of the recipe.

On Friday, I took Ilana-Davita’s carrot salad recipe and adjusted it slightly for my needs.

Peel, slice, steam about 4-5 carrots
Due to being in a rush, I did less than the original, which said:
500 gr/1.1 lb peeled, sliced and steamed carrots

2 or 3 cloves garlic
I didn’t change this. I used 2 small cloves. Since I was using fewer carrots, my salad came out garlicky. Not a problem for the adults I was serving. The kids didn’t touch this salad.

1 tsp ground cumin
This stayed in the recipe.

1 tsp coriander
The original recipe called for paprika. I don’t care much for paprika.

1 tbsp olive oil
A little less olive oil due to fewer carrots

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper