Author: chanie

Unstuffed Mushrooms

Thanksgiving is coming up and all I can think about is stuffing. Particularly cornbread stuffing. It’s my absolute favorite! Make that chorizo cornbread stuffing and Ill take two portions please :)

Believe it or not, I did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving. My mom used to make us turkey sandwiches, just for kicks. And sometimes she’d make some Thanksgiving dishes for Shabbat the week of Thanksgiving. I always wanted to experience the whole turkey-gravy-stuffing-pumpkin pie-cranberry sauce-green bean casserole smorgasbord, but I’m kind of too lazy to make it all! Lucky for me, my friend Melinda from kitchen-tested is doing the whole shebang, and I kind of invited myself over! Melinda is an amazing cook and I cannot wait to see what she has up her chef”s sleeve. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, because I will definitely be posting pics from that sure-to-be-epic meal!

Speaking of lazy, this unstuffed mushroom recipe can also be called lazy stuffed mushrooms, because that is, in fact, what it is. I was digging through my fridge for a side dish the other week, and I found all the ingredients I would need to make stuffed mushrooms. Except I was too lazy to make stuffed mushrooms, so I made unstuffed ones! I added some roasted chestnuts and Chardonnay for a truly festive dish, perfect for your Thanksgiving meal!

Unstuffed Mushrooms

10oz. baby bella mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
4 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
3.5 oz. roasted chestnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup Casa Del Cielo Chardonnay
5 oz. baby spinach

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the mushrooms and thyme. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until the mushrooms are caramelized and the liquid has evaporated, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and chestnuts and saute until fragrant. Add the chardonnay and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove the sprigs of thyme and add the baby spinach, cooking until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

NOTE: this recipe calls for roasted chestnuts that are sold in a bag, not canned water chestnuts. You can also roast your own chestnuts, here’s how.

This post is sponsored by kosherwine.com. All opinions are my own. 

Related Recipes:

teriyaki mushrooms
spinach stuffed mushrooms
spaghetti squash with spinach, mushrooms and white wine
Tuscan white beans with spinach and white wine

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Za’atar Roasted Kabocha Squash with Silan

{Funny Story} So, when I was growing up, my mom always used to make roasted kabocha squash for Shabbat, except she always called it kaboochie squash. She would send me to the store with a list, and whenever I would ask the guy in the produce department for kaboochie squash, he had no idea what I was talking about! And neither did anyone else in the store. Go figure.

Well this right here ^^^ is what “kaboochie” squash looks like. And once I made my mom show it to me the knobby weird shaped pumpkin, I never had to ask it for again. {Phew.}

Fast forward a number of years (I don’t want to date myself or anything), I was newly married and cooking for Shabbat. I wanted to make the delicious squash my mom had always made growing up, so I googled it, and found that it was actually called kabocha squash. Sorry mom.

It turns out that kabocha squash is actually a Japanese pumpkin, and the stuff is goooood. It’s literally my most favorite squash of all the knobby little things out there. Lucky for me, it’s also the hardest to cut.

Its’ so hard to cut, in fact, that Levana Kirschenbaum, Wholefoods chef par excellence, actually has a picture of herself cutting one open with a hammer in her cookbook! I don’t use a hammer in my kitchen, but here is what I do: First I remove the stem at the top and then I cut it in half vertically. I scoop out the seeds and place it flesh-side-down on my cutting board. Then, following the curve of the squash, I cut it into wedges. Voila!

Now my mom used to cook the kabocha up with a drizzle of oil and lots of brown sugar, and it was deeelish. But I wanted to bring out the savoriness of this squash, so I roasted it up with my favorite spice – za’atar. I coated it all with some sweet sticky silan, for a hint of sweetness, and finished it with an extra sprinkling of sesame seeds. You can garnish it as I did with pomegranate seeds and parsley, or just serve it up as-is for a sweet and savory bite!

Once you familiarize yourself with this awesome squash, feel free to use it in roasted pumpkin soup, my kale and kabocha salad with pears and pecans, or in recipes that call for boring old butternut squash. The flavor and texture of kabocha is by far superior, you’ll never turn back!

Za’atar Roasted Kabocha Squash with Silan Glaze

1 medium kabocha squash, washed well and cut into wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp za’atar
kosher salt, to taste
1/4 cup silan or honey
1 tsp sesame seeds
pomegranate seeds for garnish, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the squash out on one or two baking sheets and sprinkle generously with za’atar. Season with kosher salt and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes, or until tender (may take longer for thicker wedges), and brush with silan. Bake an additional 5 minutes.

Garnish with sesame seeds and pomegranate and serve.

Related Recipes:

wilted kale & kabocha squash salad
savory butternut squash fries
za’atar roasted chickpeas
silan roasted figs

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Cowboy Cookie Dough Bites

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been blogging here at BUSYINBROOKLYN for the last five years. Yes, for almost five years (my blogoversary is in January) I have been consistently posting recipes and sharing my love and passion for food. It truly blows my mind.

If you’ve been following me since the early days (and I know some of you loyal readers have), you might remember a popular cookie that was one of my very first posts, these cowboy cookies. Why these kitchen-sink-style cookies are called cowboy cookies is anyones guess, but they are popularly made with oats, pecans, coconut and chocolate chips. The chunky cookies are so fantastic, I decided to create a healthy, vegan version using medjool dates, one of my favorite things. The result? They look like cookie dough, the taste like cookie dough, and they’re all natural. You gotta love that!

Now when you’re making a raw truffle, you have to go for good quality ingredients because nothing is getting cooked. That’s why I use my favorite brand of chocolate chips, California Gourmet. There’s a reason their popular blue and red bags are now available in over 300 stores, most recently available in Illinois. The rich and chocolaty pieces really take these truffles up a notch!

Ever since my family has been introduced to a slew of food allergies, I’ve been trying to find ways for all my kids to be able to enjoy treats like cookies, without using any eggs. My eldest daughter loves cookie dough (she always picks out that flavor in the Ice Cream store) and my youngest is positively obsessed with chocolate chips. A cookie dough truffle was definitely the way to go, but I never imagined that something so wholesome would taste SO GOOD, and so much like cookie dough. My next challenge? Making an egg-free birthday cake. Anyone have any suggestions?

With the big FIVE YEAR blogoversary coming up, I’m also taking suggestions on what improvements you’d like to see on the BIB blog, and new recipes and ideas that you’d like me to post in the coming months. Share your ideas, comments and suggestions with me below!

Cowboy Cookie Dough Bites

12 medjool dates
1 cup oats (I used quick oats but rolled oats may be used as well)
1/2 cup pecans
1/3 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of kosher salt
scant 1/4 c California Gourmet chocolate chips

Method:

Add all the ingredients, besides for the chocolate chips, to a food processor and process until the mixture comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl (this may take a minute or two). Add in the chocolate chips and knead it into the “dough” by hand. With damp hands, roll about 2 tablespoons of dough into balls. Makes approximately 15 cookie dough bites.

NOTE: I used large, fresh and moist medjool dates for this recipe, If you’re dates are not very moist, you can soak them in hot water for a few minutes. If the mixture seems too dry, you can add more dates. If it seems very sticky (a little sticky is normal), you can add a bit more oats or nuts.

I want to offer a huge congratulations to California Gourmet for winning the NEW PRODUCT award (in the baking category) from Kosherfest this year! You truly deserve the honor!

This post is sponsored by California Gourmet Chocolate Chips. Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   View the list of over 300 stores that carry the brand here).

Related Recipes:

cowboy cookies
grape nut coconut crunch cookies
oatmeal breakfast cookies (oil-based!)
gingerbread date truffles

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Zoodle Shakshuka

If a food could be my bestie, it would be shakshuka. I can’t get enough of the stuff. Why do I love it so much? Lets count the ways…

    1. it’s sweet.
    2. it’s spicy.
    3. it’s saucy.
    4. it’s got runny eggs.
    5. it’s got runny eggs. (I love runny eggs OKKKK?)
    6. it’s easy to make.
    7. you can dip fresh pita in it.
    8. you can make so many varieties.
    9. you can eat it for breakfast, brunch (my favorite), lunch or dinner.
    10. it’s Israeli and Israel is my <3

Speaking of #10, I’m sharing this recipe with you all in honor of the #LOVEISRAELFOOD which is the brainchild of my fellow Brooklyn foodie and Instagrammer Aliza Salem (follower her @theghettogourmet!). Aliza put together a fun foodie campaign in support of Israel, where we all share our favorite Israeli dishes on Instagram! Go out and buy some Israeli products and post a photo of your dish with some of these hashtags:
#buyisraelicookisraelibakeisraeli, #loveisraelfood, #changeforisrael and #onenationoneheart! I can’t wait to break the internet with all our droolworthy dishes!

I’m getting in the spirit of things with this zoodle shakshuka, because I had to bring together two of my favorite things: zoodles and shakshuka! I spiralized both zucchini and yellow squash, to give this a 2-tone effect, and it came together in no time. Who doesn’t love that!

Zoodles are all the rage these days, so if you haven’t hopped on the zucchini noodle train, it’s time. I wrote all about the different tools that you can use to prepare zoodles a little while ago, so give it a read!

If you’re not much of a reader, I’ll sum it up for you in one sentence. For quick and easy zoodles, use this and for a fun tool that you can use with lots of different produce, use this. It’s that easy my zoodle novice friends.

And if you’re looking for some inspiration for the #loveisraelfood campaign, you know you’ve come to the right place. You can try stuffing some roasted eggplant like this, or grilling up some halloumi like this. You can go a little crazy with halva flavors like this and this or work in some za’atar like this and this. Of course you can go more classic like falafel and shawarma or go a little crazy with rosewater or harissa. Whatever you do, it’s sure to be delicious. B’taavon!

For the zoodle shakshuka recipe, head on over to the Arutz Sheva blog!

Other Shakshuka Recipes:

baked portobello shakshuka
garbanzo bean shakshuka
spaghetti squash shakshuka 

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3-Layer Rainbow Cookie Cake

I came to the realization today that I’ve been posting quite a number of cakes for someone who calls themselves a non-baker. Am I right? As much as I don’t like to bake, it seems YOU all like when I do. Remember when my funfetti bundt cake went viral? And judging by the amount of  parsnip honey cake pictures that flooded my inbox, I’d say it was a huge hit!

With Parshas Noach this week, I thought it was just the right time to finally post THIS cake. I made it last November for my husband’s birthday, and I never quite found the right time to post it. I was thinking about what kind of rainbow recipe I could do in honor of the Torah portion in which a rainbow appeared as a symbol of G-d’s promise never to destroy the world again with a flood. I started looking through some old photos and I remembered this amazing 3-layer marzipan birthday cake, and it was just the thing!

3-layer rainbow cookies are my husband’s all time favorite, so I set out to make a birthday cake version for his surprise party. I’m not one for layered cakes, and each time I make them, I’m reminded just why I hate making them so much. But the end result is always worth it! Especially in this case.

If you’ve ever tried 3-layer rainbow cookies, you know what they taste like – marzipan. They’re cakey and chocolatey with a bit of jam in between the layers. But one thing they are not is FRESH. Once you make this stuff from scratch you can really taste the difference. Preservative-free cake is the way to go, and making it in a stacked layer cake is just SO. MUCH. FUN.

‘
My husband is the founder and CEO the boutique marketing firm AjaxUnion.  I call him Yossi, but in the workforce, he’s just “Joe”. In fact, is his GrowTime YouTube series, he teaches entrepreneurs “How to go from average Joe, to CEO”! Can you tell I’m just a wee bit proud of my hubby?

So back to the cake, I thought it would be fun to put a little Joe banner up in the same rainbow colors as the cake, and I just love how cutesy and Etsy-esque it is! What do y’all think?

My husband was gaga over the cake, but so were my kids. They’re big fans of 3-layer rainbow cookies, so it was a no-brainer. They keep asking me to make it again, so I’m thinking of going the old fashioned route and doing it sheet-style. It should be easier. Or maybe harder. Uh oh. I hate caking. I mean baking.

There’s only one reason for my venturing into cake territory and it’s all Molly Yeh’s fault. She just inspires me so much with her whimsical creations and I want to be her. Her rainbow mini cakes were the inspiration for this rainbow cookie birthday cake, and her funfetti cake was what got me to make this viral recipe. She also loves tahini everything, I even sent her halva from the shuk for her wedding present! So Yeh (pun intended), thanks Molly for making me fat.

Next up on my baking list? I’m thinking a pecan pie for Thanksgiving featuring one of my favorite spice blends. Stay tuned. It’s gonna be epic!

Happy Rainbowing!

3-Layer Rainbow Cookie Cake
adapted from Always Order Dessert

3 sticks no-trans-fat margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 extra large eggs
12 oz. almond paste, grated with a box grater
1 tbsp pure almond extract
1 cup coconut milk (I use Original Coconut Dream)
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp red food coloring
1 tsp green food coloring
1/2 cup apricot preserves or seedless raspberry jam (or 1/4 cup each)

For the ganache:
1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
12 oz. chocolate chips

Method:

Grease and flour three 9″ pans and set aside.

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to beat until incorporated. Add the grated almond paste, almond extract, and coconut milk, and beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder and slowly add it to the batter, mixing until combined.

Separate the mixture evenly into three bowls. Add the red food coloring to one, the green food coloring to another and leave the third bowl without coloring.

Pour each batter into the round pans and bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 25 minutes). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a small pot, bring the coconut milk just to a simmer and pour it over the chocolate in a large bowl. Let it sit for a minute or two and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

To assemble the cake, level the cake layers with a knife so they are completely flat. Place the green layer at the bottom and spread with jam. Top with the yellow cake and spread with more jam. Finish with the red layer and top with chocolate ganache, spreading it all over the cake evenly.

Let the chocolate harden at room temperature or refrigerate until set. Use a fork to create lines along the top.

Other Rainbow Recipes:

rainbow slaw with poppyseed dressing
rainbow cobb salad
rainbow pommes anna
rainbow cupcakes

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