Author: chanie

Angel Hair Pasta Salad


I’ve really got to start cooking from cookbooks again. It’s literally been years since I’ve made something from a cookbook. And it’s not because I don’t have any – trust me. I’ve got more cookbooks than I have room for in my small Brooklyn home. They’re all just sitting there on the shelf, like figurines on display, looking pretty!

I usually only take my cookbooks out on Shabbos, when I browse through them like an old photo album. I drool over the good recipes, sigh over the bad ones, and then return them to the bookshelf. Once in a while I promise myself to try a recipe, but I usually forget or don’t get around to it.

Recently, my Shabbos guest was looking though my cookbook collection and she asked me what my favorite recipes were from some of my cookbooks. It made me realize that cookbooks are not just for browsing – some of them have really good recipes that I should actually be cooking. She told me some of her favorites dishes from the cookbooks we had in common (like Smitten Kitchen, Jerusalem, Plenty, The Kosher Palette, Kosher by Design and others) and I promised myself I would give them a try.

It really hit home this week because for the first time in a while, I was stumped. I had planned on an apple and honey dessert for the blog, but sadly, it flopped (yes, that happens to me!) and I couldn’t think of anything else that I wanted to post. Until, I was speaking to my friend and she mentioned a recipe for angel hair pasta that she was making for dinner. She said it had mushrooms and leeks – and when I heard leeks, I was all over it. My mind started racing, thinking about all the ways I could turn it into a Simanim salad – filled with lots symbolic foods that we eat on Rosh Hashanah.

I went straight for some of my favorite Rosh Hashanah foods – beets and pomegranates – keeping things mess-free with golden beets. The pomegranates add great crunch, and the honey rounds it all out with a hint of sweetness.

So thanks to Dina (and whoever came up with the original recipe), for getting my creative juices flowing again.I can’t wait to dust off my cookbooks and open my eyes (and palate) to a new range of recipes! Shall we call it a New Year’s Resolution?

What are some of your favorite cookbook recipes? Share them in the comments below!

Angel Hair Pasta Salad

1 medium golden beet
1 box angel hair pasta
1 pkg baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, cleaned and sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds, for garnish
fresh parsley, for garnish

Dressing:

scant 1/2 cup extra light olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 heaping tbsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice

Method:

Scrub the beet clean and wrap in foil. Bake at 400 degrees until fork-tender, about 45 minutes. While the beet is cooking, prepare the dressing by adding all the ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the angel hair pasta. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and drain. Place the pasta in a large mixing bowl and toss with the dressing. Peel and dice the beet into small cubes and stir into the pasta.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add leeks and mushrooms. Saute until soft and caramelized and add to the pasta.

Place the pasta in a serving bowl and garnish with pomegranate seeds and parsley sprigs.

NOTE: this salad may be served warm, cold or at room temperature.

VARIATION: For a healthier option, use spaghetti squash in place of the angel hair pasta and reduce the amount of oil in the dressing.

Related Recipes:

Israeli couscous salad with roasted beets, carrots and parsnips
holiday salad with apple and honey vinagrette

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Farm Fresh Apple & Honey Gift

I may be one of the only nerds out there who still uses a Cuttlebug. Call me old-fashioned but there’s something really nice about the art of a homemade gift. Sure you can buy a beautiful glass honey dish at the gift shop, or a delicious honey cake at the bakery, but it doesn’t compare to a basket of hand-picked apples or a thoughtful package that you wrapped yourself.

With summer coming to an end, there’s no better time to hand-pick some apples. The dropping temperatures and falling leaves just beg for some warm apple pie, and there’s shortage of apple recipes you can make, especially around the holidays. With Rosh Hashanah just around the bend, you’ll need plenty to dip into sweet sticky honey, and more to caramelize for my delicious honey cake.

If you’ve never been to a U-Pick farm (Kelder’s is one of my favorites) , it’s a must for the family! There’s nothing quite like teaching your children where their food comes from, and having them pick it with their own two hands. The beauty of nature and it’s bounty is a precious gift!

The end of summer is the perfect time for apple picking, with a variety of apples ripe for choosing. I love to showcase a variety of apples at my Rosh Hashanah meal, passing them around the table with an assortment of honey. It takes apple-dipped-in-honey to a whole ‘nother level, especially when you’ve picked the apples yourselves.

Of course you can also showcase your apples in an apple & honey salad, in an apple and honey tart, in sweet apple turnovers , or even on apple napkins!

Best of all, you can give some of those hand-picked apples away in a thoughtful gift to teachers, neighbors or friends. If you don’t have a cuttlebug machine (why would you?), you can just make the little card by hand – no muss, no fuss!

If you’re not much of a crafter, and you want to go the easy-way-out, just tie a big red ribbon on a bag of apples, stick in a honey bear and you’re all set for a sweet New Year.

P.S. I’m called dibs on my kid’s classes this year – so if you’re kid is in the same class, go buy some honey cake! :)

Farm Fresh Apple & Honey Gift

farm fresh apples
creamed honey or any fancy gourmet honey
cellophane bags
raffia
red cardstock
cuttlebug with apple die cut, optional

How To:

Place the creamed honey on the bottom of a cellophane bag and top with a hand-picked apple. Wrap the bag with raffia. Using red cardstock, cut an apple shape by hand or with a cuttlebug machine. Write a personal note and attach to the raffia with double sided table or glue dots.

Related Posts:

apple napkins
easy crochet apple trivet
picture perfect teacher’s gift
DIY teacher’s gift

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Tzimmes Roast

Somebody pinch me, I can’t believe Rosh Hashanah is around the corner! I mean, where did the summer go? It’s hard to believe my kids have already started school and we’re about to embark on a new journey for the year 5775.

If it weren’t for the smell in the air, I would be keeping my kid’s bathing suits around. Instead, I’m packing them up with their bright summery wardrobes, and filling their closets with warm winter sweaters. What is it about that smell – that special something in the air that tells me that the Hebrew month of Tishrei is just around the bend. Can you smell it too?

It’s that slight fall breeze and the freshness of falling leaves that runs through my veins, bringing up memories of bygone Tishrei’s. Weeks filled with the hustle and bustle of Yom Tov prep that culminate in the awe-inspiring day of Yom Kippur and end with the joyous celebrations of Succot. So many feelings of regret, sadness, gratitude, hope, inspiration all wrapped up in the September breeze…it’s intoxicating.

The power of scent is truly extraordinary. It can evoke the deepest memories and trigger rememberences from childhood and beyond. The smell of tzimmes simmering on the stove brings me back to the Jewish New Year’s of my youth; honey dripping from my chin, counting the pomegranate seeds at the table.

There’s nothing like tzimmes to evoke memories of Rosh Hashanah, so I decided to do a little twist on the classic recipe.  Cooking the sweet carrot hash alongside a roast is a great way to make the best of your Yom Tov meat without having to cook your tzimmes separately. You can serve it all up on a platter and wow your guests with traditional Rosh Hashanah food, redefined.

Here’s to the start of many sweet things – from our food, to our lives. May we all be blessed to create the sweetest of memories this year!

Tzimmes Roast

2 lb. mock tender (see note)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large carrots, approx 1 lb., peeled and sliced
1 lg or 2 small sweet potatoes, approx 1 lb., peeled and diced
1 cup canned pineapple tidbits (reserve juice)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
heaping 1/4 c honey
1/4 cup pitted dried prunes, optional

Method:

Heat a dutch oven or oven-safe pot and add olive oil. Season the roast with salt and pepper and sear on all sides. Place carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes (if using), pineapple tidbits and all the juice from the can (it should equal about a cup, if it’s less, add water to equal a cup) around the roast. Sprinkle the vegetables with cinnamon and nutmeg and drizzle with honey. Season, to taste, with salt. Cover the pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from the fire and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Flip the roast, stir the carrots, and bake for an additional hour.

Remove the roast from the pot and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice and place on a platter. Place the tzimmes around the roast and drizzle remaining sauce over the meat.

NOTE: The mock tender is a large kolichol cut from the shoulder. If your butcher does not carry it, use a shoulder roast instead.

VARIATON: use 1 cup orange juice instead of pineapple juice.

Related Recipes:

Rosh Hashanah Roast
honey roasted za’atar chicken with dried fruit
couscous with honey roasted carrots, parsnips and beets

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Halva & Ricotta Stuffed Figs

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend a fabulous kosher foodie potluck, arranged by the talented Kim Kushner, author of The Modern Menu. It was such an honor to meet Kim and taste her delicious food! She blogged about our amazing evening under the stars here.

Kim set up the most beautiful tablescape on a rooftop in Midtown Manhattan (which also happens to be her husband’s office). With the help of Marzan Flowers, and other generous sponsors, the table was set with a rustic vibe and the most amazing swag! We were surrounded by the New York City skyline, the most incredible kosher food, and the who’s who of the kosher blogging world.

Since it was a potluck, each guest was required to bring a kosher dish (or two), all of which were laid out on a round buffet table. I made my malawach cheese pastries with tomato & schug dipping sauce, plus some incredible goat cheese popovers! Some of the other dishes included nachos by The Patchke Princess, creamy hummus, salmon, roasted veggie salad and pavlova by Kim Kushner Cuisine, fava beans by BeautyandsomeBeef, panzanella salad with cashew bread and s’mores caramels by KitchenTested.

We also had some famous kosher Instagrammers like @cookinginheels, @chefchaya and @theghettogourmet who brought drunken fish tacos with pickled onions, cronuts with nutella pastry cream and Asian quinoa lettuce wraps, respectively.

What has all that got to do with these AMAZING, droolworthy stuffed figs?! Well, BeautyandsomeBeef made the simple ricotta stuffed figs that inspired these halva-drenched ones! Check out these pics for a peek!

I’d heard of ricotta stuffed figs with honey before but I’d never tasted them until the potluck. I couldn’t believe how such a simple dish could taste so fantastic! Of course I couldn’t stop thinking about how I could make them even better…and then THESE happened.

And by these I mean the insanely decadent jewels of perfection you see here. Fresh seasonal figs stuffed with ricotta, dipped in silan and sesame, dripping with sweetened tahini sauce and finished with halva crumbs. Shall I get you a napkin?!

If you’ve never heard of silan before – hop on the silan train because it’ll take you to syrup heaven! Silan is a honey syrup made from dates. It’s got an intoxicatingly rich flavor that is so much better than whatever else you’ve been using! When mixed into tahini paste, it creates the most decadent halva sauce that you’ll want to eat by the spoonful! It’s interesting to note that when the Torah speaks of honey it is actually referring to date honey. Israel, the land of halva and “Milk & (Date) Honey” is what inspired this Middle-Eastern twist on a classic recipe!

Do yourself a favor and grab some fresh figs, before the season is over! 

Halva & Ricotta Stuffed Figs

1 pkg (16 oz.) fresh figs
1 15oz. container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup tahini paste
2 tbsp silan (date syrup), plus more for dipping
sesame seeds, for dipping
chopped halva, for garnish

Method:

In a small bowl, add 2 tbsp of silan and 1/2 cup tahini paste and stir until combined. If the mixture is thick, add water until it’s thin enough to drizzle over the figs.

Trim the tips of the figs to remove the stems. Cut an X shape into each fig, as if you are cutting it into quarters, but do not cut all the way through. Using a small spoon, fill each fig with a generous dollop of ricotta cheese.

Pour some silan into a small bowl, and place sesame seeds onto a small plate. Gently dip the bottom of the figs in the silan, letting the excess drip off. Dip the silan-coated figs into the sesame seeds to coat.

Place the figs on a serving plate and drizzle with tahini sauce. Garnish with chopped halva.

NOTE: if you tahini has separated, stir well with a spoon before using or turn the jar upside down for 30 minutes.

VARIATION: If you cannot find silan (available at Middle Eastern stores), you must use honey instead.

 

Related Recipes:

breakfast quinoa with silan roasted figs
grilled cheese with figs and honey
holiday fig salad

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Spiralized Spud Dogs

Every since I got my spiralizer, my mind is racing with spiralized recipes. I can’t get enough! From fun curly fries, to healthy zoodle (zucchini noodle) dishes, and creative rice recipes, this compact machine is a powerhouse of possibilities!

What don’t I love about the spiralizer? It’s easy to use, requires little muscle and fits easily into my small kitchen. The blades tuck right into the machine for easy storage.

Sure, I have a julienne peeler, and even the vegemagic gadget, but they don’t come close to creating authentic-looking noodles with as much ease as the Paderno spiralizer. I’ve spiralized russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, beets, carrots, apples, cucumbers, and zucchini’s (my favorite!).

The great thing about spiralized veggies are the endless possiblities. Sure you can make noodles – but you can also pulse them in a food processor to make veggie “rice”. Or you can mix some noodles with spices and eggs and stuff them into ramekins to make “buns” or “latkes”. I weigh down the mixture with a can to form patties and pan-fry or bake until crispy and tender. I do the same to make a “pizza pie” or “rosti” in a frying pan. Such fun ways with veggies, right? It makes dieting SO much easier!

So enough about spiralizing in general…lets get into specifics! Would you look at these ADORABLE spud dogs??? How cute are they?!

Wrapped in spiralized potatoes, these crispy spud dogs are like french-fry-wrapped franks – two favorite BBQ dishes in one! I was SO excited when I came up with the idea – but I was equally lost by what to call them. So, I did what any blogger would do – I made a #NAMETHISRECIPE contest! My Instagram readers really pulled out all the stops on this one, with creative names like “The Tatered Dog”, Dog-Eat-Chips, “Doggie Fries”, SlinkyDog, “Twisty Frank”, FrankNFries, “Piggy In a Slinky”, “The French Dog”, DogNChips and more! But my all time favorite was “Spud Dog”, a name that both Esther Chase and Perry Wolff came up with. They both won a copy of my ebook and the title of an innovative new way to serve up an American favorite.

I think the best part of this recipe is that it’s not a recipe at all. You can make the potatoes thick or thin, or wrap them up in ribbon slices. Spice them up with your favorite french-fry seasoning, or keep them simple! Roast or pan-fry, fill or top them – any way you go, they’re sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

Spiralized Spud Dogs

russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
hot dogs or sausages
olive oil
kosher salt
optional spices: smoked paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne
optional fillings/toppings: sauerkraut, pickle relish, BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:  spiralizer (I recommend this one)

Method:

For simple spiralized spud dogs, spiralize a potato using the smaller blade (1/8″ cuts). Take 3 long strips of potato and wrap them around the hot dog, starting an inch or two from either end. Continue wrapping the potatoes so that you wrap around the place where you started (see photo). Place the hot dog(s) on a parchment-lined baking sheet, with the ends of the potatoes tucked under (if you have any extra potato strips, just cut them off, or double wrap, if you wish). Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 400 degrees, turning every 15-20 minutes, until crispy, about 40 minutes.

For spicy spiralized spud dogs, prepare the hot dogs as above. After brushing with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, chili powder and a pinch of cayenne. Continue to bake, as above.

For loaded spiralized spud dogs, top the hot dogs with sauerkraut, and wrap with potatoes. Continue as above.

Garnish with toppings of choice.

TIP: if you are not using the spiralized potatoes right away, place them in a bowl of water, to keep them from browning. Pat dry before wrapping.

VARIATION: For super-crispy spud dogs, pan fry them until browned and crispy on all sides.

NOTE: Feel free to play around with the different blades to create a thicker french-fried crust.

 

Other Labor Day BBQ recipes:

grilled marinated chicken
grilled corn with za’atar garlic butter
grilled chickpea burgers
portobello burgers with sundried tomato aioli
best BBQ potato salad

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