Category: Chanukah

Falafel Cauliflower Poppers (Baked!)

You guysssss!!! This post makes me so excited, I have no words! OK, I always have words, many of them. But where shall I begin?

If you’re a dedicated follower of my blog, you know how much I love

  1. trendy recipes
  2. hybrid recipes
  3. ISRAELI recipes
  4. healthy makeover recipes

Am I right? Does that just about sum up my food blogger style or what?!

Well this here genius idea just about incorporates all of those passions! Cauliflower trend – check! Falafel/breaded cauliflower hybrid – check! Israeli recipes – Oh my god yes, check!! And healthy makeover recipes – definitely check, check!!

Ever since my crazy cauliflower nacho hack went ridiculously viral, I’ve been wanting to come up with an equally amazing cauliflower idea, and when Knorr sent me over some of their falafel mix, I knew I had it in the bag. And then I tasted them, and I was all “why hasn’t the whole world made these like every single day of their lives?!?!” Yup. You’re welcome.

Breaded cauliflower has always been a favorite snack of mine, but since they’re usually fried, I don’t have them too often. I also avoid using fresh cauliflower, since it’s such a pain to check for bugs (kosher law forbids the consumption of insects), so I came up with a recipe that solves all those problems! You’re welcome.

So, not only are these cauliflower poppers supremely delicious, they’re made with thawed frozen cauliflower (no checking necessary) and they’re baked, not fried! You wouldn’t believe it from the insanely crunching coating, but oh yes, they are practically guilt free. Did I say you’re welcome yet?

Speaking of which, I want to thank Knorr for making these semi-homemade poppers so easy to put together using their prepared falafel mix. I’ve not usually a fan of prepared mixes but falafel is an extremely time consuming effort – between soaking the beans, processing the mixture and frying the balls… I’m all for convenience in this case!

Convenience is the name of the game these days. With school out for most of the kids, I’ve got summer prep on my mind and lots to do. Plus the NYC heat is totally draining me and getting dinner on the table every night is not as easy as it used to be. I’m thankful for kid-friendly foods that might use some store bought ingredients to help me out – like bottled BBQ sauces for quick and easy pulled chicken/beef, frozen ravioli that I can just heat up with some marinara, and even pancake batter that makes breakfast a cinch. I may be a do-it-yourself, made-from-scratch gal at heart, but I’m a very practical mom IRL (in real life!). Summer conveniences, here we come!

Speaking of summer, make sure you put these on your NINE DAYS menu, will you? You can thank me later.

You’re welcome!

Falafel Cauliflower Poppers

24oz. frozen cauliflower florets, thawed
1 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
3 eggs, beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 box (2 packets) Knorr falafel mix
olive oil cooking spray
prepared tahini, for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Using paper towels, pat the cauliflower dry. Place the florets in a bowl. Set up a dredging station with the flour, eggs and falafel mix in separate containers.

Dip the florets in flour, shake off excess and dip in egg. Shake off excess and dip in falafel mix. Spread the breaded florets on a parchment lined baking sheet (don’t overcrowd the pan) and spray both sides generously with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned and crispy.

Serve immediately with tahini for dipping.

This post was sponsored by Knorr Falafel. All opinions are my own. 

Related Recipes:

falafel latkes with harissa tahini
spinach falafel burger
smoked paprika popcorn cauliflower
cauliflower nachos

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Torah Cannoli

Holy Cannoli! Someones gonna have to bring me a slice of humble pie because I’m on a bit of a high from how cute these Torah Cannoli are! (by the way that’s not a typo – the plural form of cannoli is cannoli…a little Wikipedia for you!)

I always say, food is my passion but my kids are my priority. I love being a mom and I don’t ever want being a foodie, blogger, chef, or whatever it is I am, get in the way of that. SO while I try to come up with fun and sophisticated holiday dishes, I also do my best to tap into my inner child and do something fun for the kiddos too.

In the past, I’ve made Torah franks in blanks like these (photo by Tzivi Brick Jakubovic), but this year, I wanted to do something fun with my daughter’s class in honor of her 8th birthday, which is just a few short weeks before Shavuot. One night when I couldn’t sleep (I have terrible insomnia these days), these cannoli torah’s hit me and I was only too excited to make them! I used a cream cheese mousse filling instead of the more sophisticated classic ricotta filling to make it more kid friendly, and the kids went gaga!

They all took turns prepping the recipe – whipping up the cream cheese and heavy cream, folding the mixture together, and giving out the ingredients for everyone to make their own. They “glued” the cannoli wafers with marshmallow fluff and we made a few Ziploc piping bags of filling so they could all pipe their own. Needless to say, the most fun was dipping the Torah’s in the assorted toppings.

Some of the kids wrapped up their Torah Cannoli to take home, but most of them couldn’t wait it out and gobbled it down on the spot. One kid said it was the best thing she ever tasted! I knew I had a winner, I just didn’t know if it was blog-worthy so I figured I’d skip on posting. Until, I was making my rosewater cheesecake mousse parfaits at a cooking demo recently, and I decided to show the audience the Torah cannoli idea with some of the leftover cheesecake mousse. After an audible “wow” from the audience (the best sound EVER when you’re giving a demo), I decided it was too good not to share with you all too.

I love to check things off my bucket list and making things like homemade goat cheese ice cream or a sophisticated dish like brie marsala pizza gives me a huge sense of satisfaction, but seriously, nothing, and I mean nothing, makes me more proud or excited, than coming up with something fun and original that my kids absolutely love!

So kiddies, this ones for you! And that classic citrus-zest-spiked filling is my little touch for the adults too :)

If you want to skip on the filling, fill it with your favorite mousse or plain-old whipped cream. The important thing is to have some fun, for the kids, and for you too! Happy Shavuot y’all!

Torah Cannoli

1 pkg cannoli wafer rolls (18 rolls), such as Presidor
2 cups ricotta cheese (drain if watery)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1/2 tsp lemon or orange zest (optional)
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup melted chocolate or marshmallow fluff
assorted sprinkles, mini chocolate chips and nonpareils for topping
powdered sugar, for finishing

Method:

Place melted chocolate or warmed marshmallow fluff in a piping bag and pipe a thin line onto half of the cannoli wrappers. “Glue” pairs of cannoli wrappers together to resemble Torah scrolls.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, citrus zest and chocolate chips. Place in a piping bag. Pipe the filling into both sides of the cannoli wrappers, working one at a time. Over a plate, sprinkle your favorite toppings over the exposed ricotta filling (dipping the ends causes them to flatten, so I prefer pouring the toppings over). Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

NOTE: The filling causes the cannoli wafer to soften, so if preparing in advance, it’s best to freeze rather than refrigerate.

VARIATION: You may use this cream cheese mousse, your favorite mousse, softened ice cream or whipped cream instead of the classic ricotta filling.

DIY OPTION: If you cannot get cannoli wafer rolls, you can make your own or use wonton wrappers. You will need cannoli molds to form the wrappers.

Related Posts:

Shavuot paper napkin roses
passion fruit cream horns
rosewater cheesecake mousse parfaits
halva and ricotta stuffed figs

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Please NOTE: This post contains affiliate links which means that a small percentage of every purchase made through the links above goes to help support the BIB blog!

Ice Cream Sundae Cookies

It’s been a while since I made real cookies. Well on the blog at least (chocolate chip cookies are a regular around here, who can live without them?!). So many of you loved my healthy cowboy cookie dough bites, as do I. But there is no substitute for real crispy, chocolatey, chewy cookies, am I right?!

With Purim just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to come up with a cookie that could work both in a shalach manot basket, as well as a fun dessert for the festive Purim meal. Filling the cookie dough with fun ice cream sundae toppings makes this “kitchen sink” cookie a must have for the whole family!

The only thing better than the cookies themselves might be the raw cookie dough, or better yet, creating an ice cream sandwich with my favorite Neapolitan ice cream in between. Lets not count the calories, ok??

These cookies make the most out of California Gourmet’s new mini chocolate chips, which I might just love more than the original (if that is even possible!).  I’m a big supporter of their brand because it was started by a fellow momtrepreneur who has a passion for bringing amazing quality, kosher, vegan, allergy-friendly chocolate to the masses. She is basically my hero.

So how can we support this brand? Well it doesn’t take much – eat lots of chocolate! And once you try their rich, clean flavor, you’ll never go back. Trust me.

Now California Gourmet is available in over 300 stores in the U.S. and Australia, but if you live under a rock, you can STILL get it because it’s now available on Amazon (soon to be available on Amazon Prime)! And if your local store runs out, don’t forget to ask them to reorder so there’s enough to go around for all of us.

Now back to the cookies. Crunchy. Chewy. Chock full of sprinkles, chocolate chips and sugar cones – yes please! I think they’d make the cutest mishloach manos in a little box with a tub of ice cream and a jar of sprinkles or maraschino cherries. Don’t you?

What have you got planned for shalach manos this year? I’d love to hear your ideas! Share them with me in the comments below!

And in the meantime, go buy some ice cream, because you’re gonna need it!!

Ice Cream Sundae Cookies

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
3 sugar cones, crushed (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup California Gourmet mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup colorful sprinkles
ice cream, optional

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix to form a dough. Add sugar cone pieces, mini chocolate chips and sprinkles. Using an ice cream scoop, place scoops of cookie dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet (6 per sheet). Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before serving.

VARIATION: For a fun variation and crispy exterior, instead of putting the sugar cone into the cookie dough, roll the scoops of batter into the crushed cone and bake as above.

Yield: approximately 16 cookies.


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).

Other Mishloach Manos Ideas:

Purim deviled eggs
Terra Stix white chocolate bark
Pretzels with raspberry honey mustard dip
Sushan sushi salad

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Blogoversary Funfetti Pecan Turtles

Happy 5th Blogoversary!!!! Will somebody pinch me?! I honestly cannot believe that I have been blogging since my first post back on January 19th, 2011. That is FIVE WHOLE YEARS of posting consistently 1-2 times a week. 260 weeks, 1,825 days of committing myself to this foodie journey. A journey that has taken me to places I never dreamed.

I never imagined this blogging thing would become a life’s passion and so much more than just a hobby. I’m so proud of the progress I have made as a chef (I had some embarrassing moments like these and these) and the strides I have taken as a food photographer (with hands-over-eyes emoji moments like this and this). I’ve thought about updating old recipes with better photos, or removing some posts that didn’t go over well, but the truth is, my blog is not just about the recipes and the photos, it’s about my journey.

I love when I meet up and coming foodies who are thinking about starting a blog. I always tell them to go back to the old days of BIB, and they’re always wowed by my progress. I think it’s such an important lesson for all of us, in whatever stage we find ourselves – as mothers, daughters, teachers, musicians, you name it – we can all get better at what we do, we just have to practice!

This is so true of photography, my photos are constantly evolving as I’m learning to find my photography voice. But as a foodie too – I’ve learned never to say no to anything, and my willingness to try new things has really opened up my palate. I’ve learned to love foods and spices I used to hate (like fresh ginger and brie) and not to be afraid of making my own bread or learning new cooking techniques. I have become quite fearless in the kitchen and for that I am thankful.

I’m so grateful to you, my loyal readers, who encourage me to challenge myself and wow you with fun and original twists on traditional foods, healthy spins on comfort food, and delicious baked creations which I used to detest. It’s all you. {Insert emoji kisses here}

To show my appreciation, I decided to ride the funfetti wave, because you all seemed to love last year’s funfetti cake which was so popular, it went viral! I love the idea of using the same theme for my Blogoversary each year (I wish I had thought of it sooner), so I’m going to stick with the funfetti thing for many more Blogoversaries to come!

These cute little funfetti pecan clusters are made with 5 pecans, to celebrate my 5th year of blogging! They’ve got the most incredible artisan caramel and I hope you give them a try!

In the meantime, as we head into my SIXTH YEAR (ahhhhh!), I’d love to hear from you. What would you like to see on the blog this year? What are some of your favorites from years past? Have there been any BIB kitchen fails? Please share in the comments below!

Happy Blogoversary! Cheers to many more, and hopefully a cookbook too, very soon!

Blogoversary Funfetti Pecan Turtles

2 cups pecan halves
1 recipe caramel 
12 oz. good quality white chocolate
colored sprinkles

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until warm and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Cool and set aside.

Prepare the caramel as per instructions and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes until caramel has thickened and is no longer runny.

Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon small dollops of white chocolate onto the baking sheet, using the back of the spoon to smooth it into a small circle. Arrange 5 pecan halves onto each chocolate circle, as pictured. Continue making circles of chocolate, then adding pecans until you have used up your pecans. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for a few minutes, until the chocolate has set up.

Remove the pecans from the fridge and top each cluster with caramel. Refrigerate again until caramel sets.

Place a spoonful of white chocolate over the caramel and top with colored sprinkles. Return to the fridge or set aside until chocolate is firm.

VARIATION: If you don’t want to make caramel from scratch, you may use store-bought caramels. Melt the caramels over a double boiler with a splash of heavy cream or milk and stir until smooth.

NOTE: If you make the caramel from scratch, you will have some left over. Pour the leftover caramel into a parchment lined pan and make caramel chews as per instructions.

Related Posts:

1st Blogoversary Mulled Wine
2nd Blogoversary BBQ Brisket
4th Blogoversary Funfetti Cake

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Parmesan Lasagna Chips with Pizza Hummus

I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I’m gonna say it. I CAN’T LOOK AT ANOTHER DONUT.

Everywhere I turn there seems to be another donut flavor, each outdoing the next, and while they all look appealing, they all start to taste the same at some point.

It’s only Light #3 but I’m D.O.N.E. I’ve tasted crazy flavors like creme brulee, pistacho, banana nut, Irish cream and Oreo, thanks to my local coffee shop, Chocolatte. Then, my foodie buddy Sarah Chana sent me her homemade cronuts in flavors like lemon curd, cheesecake & fig, dulce de leche and chocolate bourbon. Of course there were the classic jelly and custard donuts from my local supermarket, and who can forget my JELLY RING donuts, which I tested in three batches! Are you getting my DONUT HANGOVER NOW?!

Ok, to be honest, I did not exactly EAT all of those donuts, but I definitely tasted each and every flavor and that itself is enough to make the scale point it’s finger at me in rebuke. Has your scale ever pointed it’s finger at you? I’m hallucinating from all the donuts!

Now while I may be over the donut trend, we’ve still got plenty days left to Chanukah, and I’ve got to get frying! Savory is the only way to go from here, so I came up with a fun and exciting pizza-inspired dish that’s the perfect appetizer for your Chanukah party!

Now I know the thought of frying pasta in oil with parmesan cheese has my scale freaking out, but it’s my birthday, and calories don’t count on my birthday, right? RIGHT?


I mean, common, we’ve got only a few days left to the holidays, and we can diet after that. Purim is not for a few months, so I’ll be hopping on the Paleo train as soon as I finish this batch of chips *GULP*

If you’re feeling the donut overload too, I’ve got plenty of savory fried goodness on the blog for your to enjoy! Parmesan zucchini chips are a must-have, and the zucchini help deguiltify the whole breaded and fried thing. If you want to go full-on Israeli, try my baked eggplant chips with harissa whipped feta. And if you really want to go healthy, my cauliflower chip nachos with harissa cheddar sauce are to die for! Told you I got you covered.

Speaking of healthy, lets talk about this pizza hummus for a sec, k? You can’t have drool worthy lasagna chips without having something to dip it into, can you? I decided to put a pizza spin on classic hummus, by adding some tomato paste, herbs, garlic and of course, parmesan. The fusion is simply delicious – creamy garbanzo beans that are reminiscent of classic hummus, with the flavor of pizza. Win win.

So get your frying pans ready and whip up a batch of this deliciousness. You can thank me later. And hate me next week. Just don’t tell your scale that I put you up to it!

Parmesan Lasagna Chips

5 sheets lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Natural & Kosher Cheese grated parmesan
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Method:

Slice the lasagna noodles into strips. In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan, oregano and garlic powder. Prepare a dredging station with the flour, eggs and flavored breadcrumbs each in a separate bowl. Dredge the lasagna strips in flour and shake off to remove excess. Repeat with egg and then breadcrumbs. Heat 2-3 inches of oil in a saucepan to 350 degrees*. Place a few lasagna strips into the hot oil. When the lasagna begins to brown on one side, flip it over to brown the other side. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider and drain on paper towels.

Serve with marinara or pizza hummus.

*If you don’t have a deep fry thermometer, you can test the temperature by adding a pinch of flour to the oil. If it sizzles immediately, the oil is ready.

VARIATION: for a lighter chip, fry the lasagna without breading and sprinkle with parmesan and spices as soon as it comes out of the oil.

NOTE: If you prefer to bake these, place the breaded lasagna on a greased cookie sheet, spray with cooking spray and bake at 450 degrees, flipping over once, until browned and crisped.


Pizza Hummus

1 15oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup tahini paste
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp dried basil
kosher salt, to taste
2 tbsp Natural & Kosher grated parmesan

Method:

Add all the ingredients, besides for the cheese, to a blender and puree until smooth. If the hummus is thick, add a bit of water at a time until smooth and creamy. Add the cheese and pulse until incorporated.

To serve, place the hummus into a bowl, sprinkle with parmesan and drizzle with olive oil.


This post was sponsored by Natural & Kosher Cheese. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, or via their Blog

Related Recipes:

parmesan zucchini chips
harissa whipped feta with zaatar eggplant chips
chestnut hummus with Thanksgiving pita chips
roasted garlic hummus with everything pita chips
cauliflower nachos with harissa cheddar sauce

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