Kosher Cooking Carnival!

I'm so glad to be part of this month's Kosher Cooking Carnival! (and I've never been so hungry in my life after looking at all of your sites!)

So, here goes!

Shabbos

I know it's Friday, and maybe you've already done all your Shabbos cooking. But if you still need some ideas about what to serve, read What's for Shabbos by Shorty.

Need some good wine for Kiddush? Make your own! Make Easy and Quick Homemade Wine. How to Make Cheap Wine at Home? posted at Thoughtfully Vikram....

Dish up these yummy Fish Croquettes for Shabbat as a great gefilte fish alternative over at West Bank Mama.

You should definitely try making Eggplant Caponata. It's a great side dish posted by Ilana-Davita.

Did your chicken soup boil over today? Yisrael Medad presents Back to Basics: Chicken Soup so that you'll get it right next time.

Or maybe you're tired of having the same soup every week? At Blog d'Elisson, the Mistress of Sarcasm cooked up a delish Split Pea and Sweet Potato Soup.

And for dessert, your whole family will beg for second slices of Clementine cake by Bowl of Plenty.

If you love chulent, you will definitely love this recipe for Vegetarian kishke brought to you by Our Shiputzim: A Work In Progress.

When Shabbos is over, who actually wants to cook? Read Creative Cooking Using Leftovers: Chicken Casserole A Mother in Israel posted at A Mother in Israel.

Pesach

Pesach is just around the corner! Make your annual countdown to the cleandown a little less stressed - read the amazing Batya's Painless Pesach Preparations And No-Starch Meatloaf .

At Beneath the Wings, Ricki's Mom talks about the new Recipe Book she bought for Pesach. Looks like she wasn't too happy with her purchase... (makes me wonder which book she bought...)

Learn

More interested in the History Channel than the Food Network? Read History of Cooking Cooking History History of Cooking .

Learn about the Acai Berry - Common Questions Answered. Apparently it's got some great health benefits!

Healthy Cooking

Think you can't eat healthy? Yes You Can! Get tips for healthy eating at Healthy Kosher Eating With Chana.

You should also definitely read The Vegetarian Activist & The Vegetarian Chassid: A Conversation In The Vegetable Garden – Part I posted at A Simple Jew. (deep down, we'd all love to be vegetarians, wouldn't we?)

Cheap eats

With the economy looking as bleak as ever (ok, I am hopeful that it will turn soon, but in the meantime, I gotta budget!), you might want to head over to the Culinary School Guide, where you will find links to the Top 100 Blogs for the Frugal Gourmet.

Random thoughts

The king of random thoughts, Yisrael Medad, talks about various topics you might find interesting (I certainly do!).
In Pork, Jews and One Jew , someone asks about making pork roast for Jewish friends.

And in Does This Sound Kosher To You?, Mr. Medad discusses the kosher-ness of kosher salt. Apparently there's a new 'Christian salt' on the market right now... (it's alright, we Jews love competition)

I like Israeli Salad

For the past few weeks I have been experimenting with creating the perfect salad. What is a Friday night without a nice salad full of freshly chopped vegetables? and What is life without a little rabbit food?

The best type of salad is one that you have all the necessary ingredients for. What good is a fancy recipe if you don't have any of the things you will need? That is why I recommend making a salad with things you have and not things you will have to search a million stores just to find. However, there are a few things that are essential when making an Israeli salad: cucumbers and tomatoes. Once you have those two things, the rest is metaphorical icing on the cake.

This is the recipe that I used most recently for a nice tasting Israeli salad.

3 medium tomatoes
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 cucumbers (not those small ones, the nice size ones: you don't want it to be totally tomato)
1 medium onion

Peel the cucumbers. De-seed tomatoes and peppers. Chop the all the vegetables into small pieces. (For instructions on how to cut vegetables into small pieces watch this video.)Mix in a big salad bowl.

Once you have chopped all the vegetables it is now time to create a salad dressing. Personally I am a big fan of the Italian style dressing. But if you are one of those types that don't like much dressing, just add some lemon juice, salt, and black pepper.

Otherwise:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped garlic

Mix all the above ingredients together until your hand goes numb. Then pour in 1/2 cup olive oil and continue to mix with your other hand. Seal in some sort of sealable container and shake until frothy.

Pour as much dressing as you want over the salad.

Enjoy.

Serves: Depends on appetite of individual eating.

The Kosher Cooking Carnival

First of all, here's the new logo for the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Graphics are by Pesky Settler. And here's the link to the latest one. The next one will be hosted by Kosher Cuisine's very own Material Maidel. Please send in any suitable posts you write or see via blog carnival. And if you'd like to host an edition, please let me know shilohmuse at yahoo dot com

Shavua Tov!

Red Cabbage Salad

I love salads with red cabbage in them.  An added benefit is the fact that if you make them for Friday night, the leftovers can still be served Shabbos morning.

The dressing for this particular salad is a bit different from the standard.

Sorry, I don't have a picture but I like to dress it right before serving and I usually serve it on Shabbos ;)

Enjoy!

Salad:

2 Bags Red Cabbage

1/2 cup Pine Nuts

1/4 cup Sesame Seeds

2 cups Chinese Noodles

Dressing:

1 cup Oil

1/4 cup Vinegar

2 Cloves Garlic (I personally love garlic, but sometimes go easy on this amount...)

2 Tbsp. Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Sugar

Dash of Salt and Pepper

Candied Dates

I made this recipe back in January for a Middle Eastern-inspired potluck and then again for TuB'Shvat. They are very simple to make and I'm told that even non-date eaters like these dates.

The first batch consisted of organic Deglet Noor Dates and the second batch consisted of organic Golden Zahidi Dates and Deglet Noor Dates. I got both types on sale at the local grocery store after Christmas when they were discounting all the dried and candied fruits normally used for fruit cake. Each pound only cost me $1. Of course, you're welcome to use any dates that you prefer or are easily obtainable.

The candied almonds come about in the recipe as a way to use up leftover honey and they are quite delicious too.

Candied Dates
& Candied Almonds

1 pound whole dates
Whole almonds [the amount will vary]
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup almond meal
gluten-free cooking spray

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper then lightly spray the wax paper with the cooking spray. Set aside. Using a paring knife make an incision on one of the long sides of the date. Gently open the date and remove the pit. If some of the inner skin comes out as well, that's fine. If all the inner skin is loose, remove it. If the inner skin has orange discoloration on it, discard the date because it won't taste right*. If the interior has a gritty substance suspended in a string-like formation, discard the date because something was living in it. Once the pit removed, insert a single whole almond and close up the date. Repeat until all the dates are done.

Place the honey in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. The honey will boil up and create a foam. if there are particles on the foam, scrape them off the top and discard. Stir the honey frequently. Once to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract then remove the honey from the heat. Place 3 to 4 of the dates into the honey mixture using a slotted spoon. Swirl the dates gently in the honey to coat all sides. Remove the dates one at a time with the slotted spoon, drain off excess honey into the saucepan then place the dates on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until all the dates have been coated in honey. There may be leftover honey and to use it up, I like to dip whole almonds into the honey - one at a time - then place them on the prepared cookie sheet to make candied almonds.

Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours so the honey can set. The dates will still be extremely sticky to the touch. Once the refrigeration is complete, sprinkle half of the almond meal onto a serving tray or plate. Remove the dates from the cookie sheet gently as to not break them apart and place them on the serving tray. [For the candied almonds, I like to dip the almonds in finely shredded unsweetened coconut before placing them on the serving tray.] Once all the dates are on the serving tray, sprinkle the remaining almond meal over them. [The almond meal helps keep the dates from sticking to the tray, etc. along with adding additional texture and flavor.]

Serve or wrap the tray in plastic wrap to store. They are fine at room temperature for up to two days. After that, they will need to be refrigerated.

*When I was living overseas in the Middle East, I encountered several dates that had orange discoloration on the inner skin. I was told that the dates caught a cold during the growing process. When a date catches a cold, the way it grows and the flavor it should develop changes. How the flavor changes varies depending on the type of date but typically dates that catch colds are not eaten. I rarely see dates grown in the USA with this "condition" but it is quite common in dates that are grown in the Middle East.

All of the dates I used with this recipe [so far] were cold-free but several had things living in them at one point. Out of a whole pound [about 30 to 35 dates], I discarded 5 or 6 dates because of grit and strings.

Baked Compote

Sorry, but I didn't take a picture while cooking it.

We were invited for Shabbat lunch to neighbors and asked to bring dessert. We brought two things, one some pastry bought in our local store and the other was "Baked Compote." What's "Baked Compote?" Honestly, I just invented it. Since I've been on my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet, I've been making Baked Apples for dessert, but I didn't know how many people would be at the meal.

The great thing about the Baked Apples is that there is no sugar, but it's very sweet, because it's baked. No water is added. So I put on my "thinking cap" and invented:

Baked Compote

• use an oven-proof covered pan
• peel and slice two apples per portion, (just to be safe,) and place them in the pan
• add the juice of a couple of juicy oranges, or some natural orange juice. It shouldn't be enough to cover the apples, unless you want a liquidy compote.
• sprinkle cinnamon and any other spice you'd like
• bake, covered, in a medium oven until boiling for at least fifteen minutes
• let it cool in the oven or in a warm place, where it can continue cooking

Now, that I've gotten you hungry, it's time to remind you that we need your posts in the Kosher Cooking Carnival! Please send them here. And if you'd like to host an edition, please let me know at shilohmuse at yahoo dot com Thanks

easy marble cake

I wasn't kidding in my last post. This is version #3 of Mrs. Sebbag's Gateau à l'Orange! And how Jewish is marble cake?

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 cup orange juice
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. grated orange rind
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder + 2 Tbsp. sugar (or 3 Tbsp. chocolate milk powder)
chocolate syrup

Instructions

Combine eggs, orange juice, oil, vanilla and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add flour, baking powder, baking soda and orange rind. Mix until well combined. Pour most of cake batter into a greased bundt or spring pan, leaving about a cup of batter in your bowl.

In your bowl, add cocoa powder and sugar (or chocolate milk powder) to batter and stir well. Pour your chocolate batter over the other batter. Gently cut a knife through the cake to get a nice marble effect.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. (use the toothpick test!).

Drizzle with chocolate syrup and Enjoy!

the ultimate blueberry cake

I've been making variations of Mrs. Sebbag's Gateau à l'Orange every Shabbos since she gave me the recipe! This past Shabbos I made this version, and it was AMAZING.

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 cup orange juice
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. grated orange rind

Blueberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. cinammon
1 tsp. brown sugar

Icing
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp. orange juice
1 tsp. hot water


Instructions

Combine eggs, orange juice, oil, vanilla and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add flour, baking powder, baking soda and orange rind. Mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine blueberries, flour, corn starch, cinammon and brown sugar until berries are well coated. Add blueberries to cake batter and stir gently until evenly distributed.

Bake at 350 degrees in a greased bundt or spring pan for approximately 30 minutes. (use the toothpick test!). Let cake cool completely.

In a small bowl, mix ingredients to make icing. Icing should be a syrupy consistency. Pour over cake or use a baking brush to give your cake a gorgeous sheen.

Let sit for a few minutes and serve!

Granola

I saw this recipe on a facebook group and decided to try it out. It was quite yummy.

2 c old fashioned oats 

1/2 c sliced almonds 

1/4 c light brown sugar 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

2 tbsp oil 

2 tbsp honey 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

3/4 c raisins 

Set your oven to 350F. Mix everything together in a bowl except the almonds and raisins.

Try to mix thoroughly and get most of the brown sugar clumps out. Line a cookie sheet with

parchment paper. Spread the mix on the cookie sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes until just 

past golden brown, stirring every 5 or 10 minutes to prevent burning. Toast the almonds 

separately and let them cool down. Mix the almonds, raisins, and granola together. Cool 

the granola in dry open air on the same cookie sheet to crisp up. Store in an airtight 

container. 

Sprinkle on vanilla yogurt mixed with fresh strawberries.

BEEF TONGUE (WITH RAISIN SAUCE)

The best time to cook is on an empty stomach. The best time to shop is on an empty stomach. The best time to read a blog about Kosher Cuisine is on an empty stomach. The reason for this wonderful advice is because the only way food can only really be appreciated is when the body is in the natural state to really enjoy it, and that is when the body is hungry.

That being said, this next recipe really makes my mouth water and wish that I still had room in my stomach for one more morsel. This next recipe is the hallmark of kosher food. A few hundred years after Noach ate the first steak, Avraham served the angels freshly cooked Tongue. I have no idea what recipe Avraham used to serve the Tongue to the angels; suffice it to say that this recipe was probably it. It seems like a recipe fit for heavenly beings and out of this world.

As a side note, Raisins may have a bug infestation problem. (The sun-drying process in the open fields attracts all types of insects which end up being attached to the raisins. This is an issue in all sun-dried raisins. KASHRUS magazine recommends not using any sun-dried raisins without thoroughly washing and visually examining them.)So if you want to be strictly kosher, you can leave out the raisin sauce, and replace it with good old mustard like Avraham did when he served the Angels.

Ingredients

1 fresh Kosher Beef Tongue
3 sm. onions
2 sm. carrots
4 stalks celery & leaves
6 sprigs parsley
8 peppercorns
Salt & pepper
1/2 c. almonds, blanched & split
2/3 c. seedless raisins
6 tbsp. cooking fat
3 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. crushed gingersnaps
1 lemon, cut into sm. Cubes

Directions

Place tongue in a large kettle with onions, carrots, celery and parsley.

Add water to cover.

Add peppercorns and salt.

Simmer gently until tender, 3 to 5 hours.

Drain.

Reserve liquid.

Melt fat and add flour and stir until blended.

Gradually stir in reserved raisin and almond liquid and enough tongue liquid to make 3 cups in all.

Add gingersnaps, almonds, raisins and lemon cubes.

Season with salt and paprika.

Pour over sliced tongue.

Serve hot.