Israeli Couscous Arancini

A real #oldiebutgoodie, this arancini was born out of my love of cheesy fried deliciousness and fun Chanukah appetizers. Arancini is as labor-intensive as it is delicious, because it starts with a base of leftover risotta (who ever has leftover risotto?!), so here, I substitute ptitim, or Israeli couscous as it’s called in this country, for rice, and you’re left with a quick-cooking pasta with the most delicious mouthfeeel that comes together super fast! I can never make these little bites of heaven fast enough, and kids just can’t stop popping them. A winner for your Chanukah party!

Israeli Couscous Arancini
reprinted from Millennial Kosher

1 Tbsp butter
¼ cup shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8.8-oz.) bag Israeli couscous
2 cups whole milk
½ tsp salt
2 cups shredded mozzarella
3 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups panko crumbs
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp garlic powder
canola oil, for frying
grated Parmesan cheese, for dusting
marinara sauce, for serving

Method:

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add shallot and garlic; sauté until softened and fragrant. Add couscous, milk, and salt; bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until couscous is tender and milk is absorbed, about 8 minutes. Stir in the mozzarella.

Spread couscous mixture into a 9×9-inch pan lined with parchment paper; refrigerate until pasta is solid. Remove from the pan and cut into cubes.

In a shallow bowl, combine panko crumbs, basil, oregano, and garlic powder. Mix to combine; season with salt and pepper.

In a second shallow bowl, beat eggs lightly; season with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 inches of canola oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, dip the pasta cubes first in eggs and then in panko crumbs, to coat. Fry until golden and drain on paper towels.

Dust the arancini with Parmesan; serve with marinara sauce, for dipping.

Note: To prepare in advance, you may freeze the arancini before or after frying. You may fry unfried frozen arancini until browned and crisp. If arancini have already been fried, bake at 400°F on a greased baking sheet until crispy and heated through.

Related Recipes:

bissli pizza wheels
Pizza En Croute
jalapeno poppers
broccoli parmesan poppers

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Shawarma Soup for Otodah!

I was so honored to host Hadassa Goldberg, known as @therealhadassa, an incredibly talented, soulful and caring olah who has made it her mission to take care of our soldiers on the front lines, as well as their wives, who she calls Sheroes (SHE heroes!). To me, Hadassa is the original shero.

Even before October 7th, Hadassa had a passion for visiting and taking care of the chayalim, but over the past year +, she has been delivering hot meals, supplies, letters and love to the front lines, arranging food and care packages for army wives for Shabbat and holidays. Her number is on every army wives speed dial, and whatever is needed, she makes it happen.

She’s hosted tours of the South, danced with widows at the Nova site, and brought the Dance For Nova night of inspiration and dance all over the world, together with her friend Chana of HouseofLancry. I was honored to attend a recent Dance for Nova event with my daughter and it was the most beautiful, heartfelt and inspiring experience.

Hadassa’s latest project is the OTODAH food truck that will service soldiers year round! Soup in the winter, smoothies in the summer. As she says, it’s like gratitude has a pantry, wheels and a great playlist!

The food truck will drive to army bases that need that special hug, a taste of home, and we can all be a part of it!

To help get the word out about Otodah, I invited Hadassah to make soup together – a shawarma soup inspired by all the hot shawarma’s she has delivered to our soldiers! Kind of a like a chicken tortilla soup – only all things shawarma! It is truly a hug in a bowl and I hope I get the opportunity to cook it for the soldiers one day soon on Otodah!

Shawarma Soup

If you’re using this recipe, I kindly as that you send a donation to support Hadassa and the OTODAH food truck, in who’s honor I developed this dish.

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 jalapenos, veins and seeds removed, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp shawarma spice
8 cups chicken stock
28oz. diced tomatoes and their juices
4 boneless chicken breasts (untrimmed)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
kosher salt, to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon
toppings: pita crisps (recipe follows), sumac onions (recipe follows), grilled jalapeno (recipe follows), prepared tahini, harissa, amba, lemon wedges, cilantro or parsley

For the Soup, heat the olive oil in a stock pot or Dutch oven, add the onions and jalapenos and saute until softened. Add the garlic and continue to saute for 1 minute. Add the shawarma spice (if the mixture is dry add another tbsp of oil) and saute until fragrant and lightly toasted. Add the stock and canned tomatoes and bring the soup to a simmer.

Add the chicken and chickpeas and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred apart. Return to the soup. Season with salt and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

To serve, ladle into bowls and top with the toppings of your choice.

Pita Crisps

2 pitas, split in half, cut into strips
canola oil, for frying
kosher salt, to taste

Heat canola oil in a frying pan and fry the pita crisps in batches until golden brown. Season with salt.

Sumac onions
1 small onion, thinly sliced (I like to use a mandolin)
1 1/2 tsp ground sumac
juice of half a lemon
kosher salt, to taste

Rub the mixture well with your hands and set aside to marinate until serving.

Grilled Jalapeno
1 jalapenos

Place the jalapeno over an open flame and char on all sides until the jalapeno has softened and the skin is blackened.

Hadassa’s bottom of the jar tahini

bottom of the jar of tahini
2:1 ratio of water to lemon juice
kosher salt, to taste

Add to the jar and give it a shake!

Related Recipes:

smashed shawarma pita
sheet pan shawarma
shawarma salad

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Smashed Tater Tots with Greek Yogurt Ranch

I love me some tater tots, who doesnt?! I’ve smashed them in a waffle iron, tossed them in buffallo sauce and used them to top shepherd’s pie! They make a great stand-in for latkes, and you can control just how smashed you want ’em! Smash between 2 sheet trays for medium smash and flatten with the bottom of a measuring cup for extra crispy tater tot chips! No matter how you serve them, they’re bound to be a fun appetizer for your Chanukah party!

Smashed Tater Tops with Greek Yogurt Ranch

1/2 bag frozen Tater Tots
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 frozen cube dill (or 1 tbsp fresh)
1 frozen cube basil (or 1 tbsp fresh)
1 tsp dried chives (or 1 tbsp fresh)
1 tsp dried parsley (or 1 tbsp fresh)
1 tsp onion powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice or vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
1/2 tsp salt
pinch red pepper flakes or freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp honey, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. spread the tater tots out on the tray and bake for 10 minutes. Cover the tater tots with another sheet of parchment paper and press a second sheet tray over the tots to flatten them (make sure they are spread apart before smashing). You can bake a second time at this point, or, if you prefer to have them thin, use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to flatten further.

Bake a second time until extra crispy, about 10 minutes.

While the tater tots are baking, mix the ranch ingredients. Dip and enjoy!

 

Other Chip & Dip ideas:

parmesan lasagnas chips with pizza hummus
zaatar eggplant chips with harissa whipped feta
parmesan zucchini chips

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Umami Mommy Chicken

What is Umami Mommy chicken you ask? Well lets just say I love alliteration, for starters. But I call it mommy chicken because it’s that quick and easy sheet pan potato-and-chicken bake that every mom loves to throw together to get dinner on the table fast. The umami part? That’s thanks to the grated tomato, garlic and onion soup mix that gets slathered all over the chicken – it turns into this savory jammy and sticky topping that’s just finger-lickin-good! I threw this dinner together quickly when I had some mushy tomatoes on hand that were too soft for salad (nothing worse than mealy winter tomatoes!) and I’m hooked! I hope you will be too!

Umami Mommy Chicken

1 chicken quartered
1.5-2 lbs. baby red potatoes, halved
3 soft tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup onion soup mix
3 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread the chicken and potatoes out on the tray. In a medium bowl grate the tomatoes, add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture over the chicken and potatoes and sprinkle with onion soup mix. Drizzle with olive oil and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, basting occasionally.

herbs de Provence roast chicken
Dave’s Jamaican jerk chicken
apricot harissa chicken

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Bone Marrow Butter Roast Turkey & Gravy

If you’ve been following me on Instagram for a while, you probably know that I’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving with my friend Melinda and her family for the past 7 years, it’s tradition! Sadly, Melinda didn’t host this year, so I decided to host a Friendsgiving potluck with my friends and make my first turkey!

I was so excited but also nervous to make the perfect juicy bird, so I did research on techniques and I literally could not sleep coming up with ideas on how to keep my bird moist. Most recipes recommended slathering the turkey breast with butter – but that’s a no-no in the kosher kitchen, so I needed an alternative. Of course I could go the margarine route, but anyone who knows me knows that I don’t do margarine. Like ever! (Trauma from kosher culinary school and my mom’s kitchen growing up!).

Alas, as I twisted and turned at night, I came up with the most amazing non-vegan-butter alternative – MARROW BONE BUTTER! I roasted marrow bones with garlic to make a buttery confit, and I blitzed it in the food processor to make the most umami, lip-smacking butter that I literally took my bird OVER THE TOP! My guests could not get enough (even the turkey haters!) and it was an absolute success.

I may have to bring it to Melinda’s Thanksgiving next year!

If you’re wondering, here’s what all my friends brought to the potluck!

I made turkey and gravy, red wine cranberry sauce, chestnut hummus and stuffing and my daughter made her amazing sourdough bread.

My friends brought:

Orzo with mushrooms
Meat stuffed peppers
Roasted potatoes
Strawberry apple crisp
Sweet potato Pie
Roasted brussels sprouts
Nish Nosh salad
Arugula salad with oranges, dates, mint

For dessert we had:

Pecan Pie
Lotus Babka
Streusel cookies
Cinnamon cake with maple frosting

I’m thinking this Friendsgiving thing has to happen every year! So grateful for good friends and reasons to celebrate!

Bone Marrow Butter Roast Turkey & Gravy

6 marrow bones
6 oz. peeled garlic
3 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, or enough to almost cover
13 lb. turkey
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 celery, roughly chopped
7 lady apples (mini baby apples)
1 apple, sliced in half
1/2 orange
1 small head garlic
bundle of mixed herbs (I used tarragon, rosemary and thyme)

Gravy:
1/4 cup oil from the drippings
6 tbsp flour
2 cups turkey stock (may sub chicken)
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

First make the bone marrow butter. In a non-reactive dish, combine the marrow bones, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil to almost cover. Bake at 375 until the garlic is soft and starting to brown and caramelize, about 30 minutes.

Scoop the marrow from the bones into a food processor with the S-blade attached. Add the garlic and a bit of the oil (1/4 cup) and blend until creamy. Transfer to a container and put in the freezer to solidify while you work on the turkey.

Place the chopped onions, carrots, celery and lady apples in the bottom of a roasting dish. Season with salt, pepper and toss with a bit of olive oil. Place the turkey rack on top.

Thoroughly dry the turkey on all sides, taking special care to dry out the cavity. Stuff the cavity with apple halves, orange, garlic, and herb bundle. Tie the legs with oven-safe string. Remove the marrow butter from the freezer (if it’s too frozen, allow it to soften for a few minutes) and generously slather it under the chicken skin, spreading it out over the breast (be careful not to rip the skin).

Pour some of the remaining confit oil over the turkey and rub it all over the skin. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast the turkey, breast-side-up at 350 degrees for 13 minutes per lb. or until it reaches 160 degrees (I recommend the thermometer method), basting every hour with the pan juices. If the skin starts to get too brown, you can tent it with foil.

Remove the turkey rack from the roasting dish and set aside. Using a slotted spoon, remove the roasted vegetables and apples and set them aside. Pour all the pan juices into a measuring cup, allow them to settle and use a spoon to separate most of the fat from the pan drippings.

Place the roasting dish on the fire and and add 1/4 cup oil from the roasting pan. Add flour and whisk until a paste forms, stirring the mixture over the entire pan to incorporate all the bits of flavor from the pan. Stir the paste until it takes on a deep tan color, about 6 minutes.  Add the turkey stock and whisk until creamy. Pour in the pan drippings and whisk to incorporate. Pour the gravy through a fine-mesh sieve to strain.

Serve the turkey with gravy and roasted apples from the pan. Gobble Gobble!

More Thanksgiving Recipes:

Thanksgiving grazing board
chestnut hummus
cranberry oat bars
stuffed dates with chestnut cream
baklava pumpkin pie
acorn squash with wild rice stuffing
cookie butter pumpkin pie
Mexican hot chocolate pecan pie
cranberry sriracha green beans
shaved brussels sprouts salad

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