Year: 2013

Apple Napkins

This is just one of those crafts that has been on my mind since forever. OK maybe not forever. But ever since I saw this on Pinterest. Pinterest will do that to you. Just when you think you’re over the whole crafting thing, you’ll see a really awesome idea, and it will just pick at your brain until you do something about it. So I did. And my Rosh Hashanah table will thank me for it!


Fruits & veggies aren’t just for eating anymore. They make the prettiest natural stamps when brushed with some paint. The ends of endives and celery stalks are no longer trash as more & more people are turning to fruit and vegetable stamping as a hobby. Follow my instructions below for adorable Rosh Hashanah apple napkins (I also decorated an apron!), or find inspiration in your refrigerator to create naturally beautiful projects.

For other great holiday crafting ideas, check out the August issue of JCreate Magazine. You’ll find my crocheted apple trivet on page 26.

What you’ll need:

1 fresh apple
1 celery stick
melon baller or measuring spoon
linen napkins in white or cream
fabric paint in red and green (I used these from Target)
paintbrush

How to:

Slice your apple in half and using a melon baller or measuring spoon, remove the seeds and scrape the apple to define the shape. Using a small paintbrush, paint the apple with fabric-safe paint and press down firmly on the linen napkin (you may want to practice on some paper towel first). Repeat to create desired pattern, painting the apple in between each “stamp.” If leaves are desired, use a celery stick to create a leaf shape on top of the apples.

Set the napkins aside to dry overnight.

For your place setting, tie the napkins in raffia and fill with honey sticks and/or wooden honey dippers.

Related Posts:

crocheted apple trivets
easy paper napkin roses

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Duchesse Sweet Potato Apples

I was less than a week into culinary school (at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts), when we dedicated an entire day to potatoes. An entire day. Let’s just say that if I was stranded on a dessert island, potatoes is all I would need.

One of the things we learned to make is duchesse potatoes. In culinary arts, duchesse refers to a classic French recipe for puréed potatoes that includes butter, egg yolks, nutmeg, salt and pepper. We piped the filling into scooped-out potato halves, formed some of it into crispy fried potato croquettes and experimented with the extra filling to make fried pear shapes. When I saw my culinary instructor stick a bay leaf and clove into the crispy breaded mound of potatoes, a light switch went off in my head and I knew I’d be making THESE for Rosh Hashanah.

And by these I mean the adorable duchesse sweet potato “apples” that you see here. Duchesse sweet potatoes are not as popular as their russet cousins, but they are just as delicious. One of the tricks I learned is to add instant mashed potato flakes to the filling to help it firm up and hold it’s shape. To stay true to the classic duchess recipe, I added a pinch of nutmeg, and subbed coconut oil for the butter, complementing the sweet potato flavor (and keeping it pareve). The addition of honey and sliced apple makes these the perfect dish to serve at your Rosh Hashanah meal.

Now since The Kosher Connection (a group of kosher food bloggers that I belong to) is so generous, they decided to do a link-up of APPLE recipes in honor of Rosh Hashanah. Below, you’ll find links to countless sweet apple recipes that are perfect to start off the New Year.

You can also check out these other BIB recipes that are perfect for Rosh Hashanah:

Cinnamon Infused Honey
Apple & Honey Tart
Pomegranate Coleslaw
Hassleback Sweet Potatoes with Apples
Honey Challah with Sweet Toppings
Rosh Hashanah Roast
Honey Cake with Caramelized Apples

Sending you all best wishes for a happy and healthy sweet New Year!

Duchesse Sweet Potatoes with Apples

3 small apples, cored and sliced into 1/2″ thick rounds
3 tbsp coconut oil, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
4 medium sweet potatoes
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt, to taste
1/4 c instant mashed potato flakes
1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water, for eggwash

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake sweet potatoes until soft and syrupy, about 1 hour. Set aside to cool.

Remove the flesh of the sweet potatoes and add to a bowl. Mix in egg yolks, 2 tbsp of coconut oil, honey, nutmeg, salt and instant mashed potato flakes. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.

Place the apple rounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet (you should have 9 rounds of equal size) and brush both sides lightly with remaining tbsp of coconut oil. Sprinkle the apples lightly with cinnamon.

Pipe the sweet potato filling onto the apples to form a round shape and brush lightly with eggwash. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until sweet potatoes are set and just starting to brown around the edges.

Place a clove and bay leaf in the center of each sweet potato mound to resemble an apple.

YIELDS: 9 duchesse sweet potato & apple mounds.

 

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Cook In Israel Review & Giveaway

Orly Ziv, a nutritionist and cooking instructor from Tel Aviv Israel, is a cook after my own heart. In her debut cookbook, Cook In Israel, Orly showcases recipes that draw on her Greek Jewish Heritage, with flavors of the Middle East and Mediterranean. Her entire first chapter is dedicated solely to eggplant and tomatoes, ingredients which are central to my kitchen. Page after page, Orly’s simple, healthy and flavorful recipes are ones you would find on my dining table any day of the week.

Cook In Israel bears the subtitle “Home Cooking Inspiration” and that is precisely what Orly’s book is all about. In a warm family-oriented way that is customary for Israelis, Ms. Ziv welcomes you into her kitchen with open arms. Her book is clear, simple and straight-forward, with many step by step photos to help guide you along the cooking process. Orly shares family favorites, holiday dishes and an expansive array of vegetarian recipes that are mainstays in Middle Eastern culture.

What is most impressive to me is that Orly self-published this beautiful collection of recipes with masterful results. The typography, layout and picture-perfect photography can only be matched by her clear and concise style of recipe writing – a welcome change from most cookbooks (which include too much commentary).

As someone who relishes Middle Eastern cuisine, this book lacks traditional Israeli fare like “al ha-esh” bbq , shishkebab and other chicken & meat recipes. It is somewhat confusing that Orly only makes slight mention of the fact that her book is almost entirely vegetarian, with only two meat recipes, which in my opinion, are better left out altogether.  As someone who is not ready to give up her carnivorous ways,  this cookbook still offers countless recipes that are filling and flavorful, such as breads, fish, grains and legumes.

Vegetarian or not, Cook In Israel is a keeper after all.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Busy In Brooklyn is thrilled to be able to give away a copy of Cook in Israel to one of my readers!

To enter the giveaway, vote for my grilled portobello burger with sundried tomato aioli in Swap it or Top it Mushroom Contest from The Mushroom Channel. You can vote once per day until August 31, 2013. Each vote will include one entry into the giveaway. Just leave a comment below letting me know when you have voted.

Winner will be chosen at random on Sunday, September 1st, 2013.

SAMPLE RECIPES:

Apple Cake
Reprinted with permission from Cook In Israel by Orly Ziv, Home Cooking Inspiration

Ingredients:
2 green apples, unpeeled and diced
3 eggs
1½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sweet red wine
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Handful of raisins or walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F.
2. Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl by hand or in a mixer.
3. Pour the batter into a large, greased cake pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Fish with Green Tahini Sauce
Reprinted with permission from Cook In Israel by Orly Ziv, Home Cooking Inspiration

olive oil
2 tomatoes, sliced
4 tilapia filets (or any white fish)
½ cup boiled or canned chickpeas (optional)
1/2 cup tahini
½ cup finely chopped parsley
½ cup finely chopped cilantro
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon, plus more to taste
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
2. Pour olive oil in a thin, even layer to coat the bottom of a baking dish.
3. Arrange slices of tomato along the bottom of the baking dish and top with the fish filets. Spread the chickpeas on top, if using.
4. Using a hand blender or food processor, mix the tahini, parsley, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, water and salt until smooth and green diluted sauce.
5. Pour the tahini sauce over the fish and bake for about 20 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
6. Remove from the heat and serve.

VARIATION: To make fish with red tahini sauce, mix together 1 chopped tomato with the tahini, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and salt as directed above (omit the cilantro). Leave out
the tomato slices and chickpeas from the recipe above, pour the red tahini sauce over the fish, and continue as directed.

Busy In Brooklyn Middle-Eastern Inspired Recipes:

roasted eggplant parmesan with feta
roasted eggplants with Israeli salad
summer tomato feta salad
malawach cheese pastries with dipping sauce
banana dates milk & honey smoothie
grilled chickpea burgers

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Gingerbread Cupcakes with
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve probably already drooled over these gorgeous gingerbread cupcakes. I made them during the fast of Tisha B’av, so I wasn’t about to photograph them, but I did talk about them, a LOT. The next day, I had just 3 cupcakes left, so I decided to do what any foodie/blogger would – share! It was hard not to gobble down the last of them before getting a good shot, they’re just THAT good.

Besides being incredibly moist, these gingerbread cupcakes are chock-full of warm autumn spices. I didn’t think my kids would go for the flavors of ginger and nutmeg, but I was SO wrong – they could not get enough. Not only that, my little cream-cheese-haters were licking the frosting off their fingers! I think I’m going to start whipping up sweet cream cheese concoctions and call them “frosting sandwiches.” It will make lunch a whole lot easier for me!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from The Collegiate Baker

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup molasses
1 cup hot water

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a bowl and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, mix the  oil, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs and mix to incorporate. Add the molasses and stir to combine. Add half of the dry ingredients and half of the hot water to the wet mixture and mix until incorporated. Repeat with the second half of the dry ingredients and hot water.

Fill cupcake pans about 2/3 full and bake for approximately 18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. container whipped cream cheese
4 tbsp softened butter
1 cup confectionars sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

Add the cream cheese and butter to a bowl and mix with a spoon to combine. Add the brown sugar cinnamon and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the confectioners sugar 1/3 of a cup at a time, stirring until thickened.

1 year ago: chicken lollipops 
2 years ago: cherry yogurt popsicles 

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Melon Carpaccio

The term carpaccio is usually used to refer to thinly sliced cuts of meat or fish that are served as an appetizer. In recent years, however, chef’s have reinvented the idea of carpaccio, preparing  dishes of thinly sliced veggies or fruit, like zucchini and melon, carpaccio-style. The trick to making a carpaccio is to keep the ingredients thin and uniform by shaving them down with a mandolin or vegetable peeler. Ever since slicing my palm on a mandolin last year, I have a hard time using it without cringing, so peelers are a welcome substitute in this case!

When working with melon, you don’t want your fruit to be too ripe, otherwise the thin shavings won’t hold up after plating. They’ll let out too much juice and turn to mush. Use just-ripened fruit that’s cold (warm melon will be harder to peel) and shave it over a bowl to catch the juices. If using a mandolin or peeler doesn’t work for you, you can also slice it thinly with a knife.

What I love most about this melon appetizer, is the combination of sweet melon with spicy jalapeno and tart lime.  It celebrates the best of summer produce –  melon, tomatoes & basil – at their prime. This unconventional melon salad is not only a party on your palate, it looks beautiful on your plate too.

Melon Carpaccio

1/2 green melon (canary or honeydew)
1/2 orange melon (cantaloupe or orange flesh honeydew)
1 handful yellow grape tomatoes
1 handful red grape tomatoes
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
1/3 cup tomato juice
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp lime zest
5 basil leaves, chiffonade
pinch of salt
additional basil, for garnish

Method:

Over a bowl (to catch the drippings), thinly slice melon using a mandoline, peeler or knife (see above for tips). Add the remaining ingredients and mix gently to combine. Serve in glasses and garnish with fresh basil.

 

1 year ago: cherries in red wine syrup
2 years ago: fried fish sandwich

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