Category: Dairy

Portobello Burgers with Sundried Tomato Aioli


When Dena from Chai & Home contacted me about a collaboration between Jewish bloggers to celebrate summer recipes, I was more than happy to join the team. I love the opportunity to work with and promote other bloggers, especially those that share the same traditions and customs as me. “A Very Jewish Summer Week” has been underway since Monday, with fun and exciting posts ranging from tablescapes to summer camp packages.

You can join in on the fun, by visiting the following blog posts:

Monday: Evoking Childhood Shabbat Memories on YentaMamas
Tuesday: Shabbat Style: Alfresco Orange Tablescape on Chai&Home
Wednesday: Summer Camp Care Packages on MadeByMamaleh
Thursday:  Grilled Portobello Burgers with Sundried Tomato Aioli by ME ;)
Friday: Ceviche & Champagne on Bisstyle. English translation here.

When I thought about what kind of recipe to post as part of a weeklong summerfest, I just knew it had to involve grilling. It doesn’t hurt that my newly purchased grill pan was waiting to be broken into! Well what better way to celebrate “A Very Jewish Summer Week” than with the  quintessential American summer food – burgers. Burgers, especially grilled ones on the BBQ, are a summer staple in our culture. When you think of summer BBQ’s – burgers and hot dogs are the very first things that come to mind. They cook up rather quickly on a hot grill, and paired with some fresh lettuce, tomato and onion, make the perfect summertime meal.

The only problem with featuring an authentic burger on “A Very Jewish Summer Week” is that as an observant Jew who keeps kosher, cheeseburgers are a no-no (we don’t eat milk and meat together). I’ve never been to McDonalds or Burger King, and I’ve never tried a slice of melted cheese on a beef patty.

So what’s a kosher blogger to do? I decided to celebrate both my Jewishness, and the joy of Summer BBQing with something even better. A grilled portobello burger with all the fixings. With the Nine Days (a period of mourning in which observant Jews abstain from eating meat). soon approaching, we’ll be thankful for this delicious vegetarian take on a summer classic!

Now, back why you’re all here. The burger. I decided on a portobello mushroom cheeseburger because thick and meaty portobellos are the perfect stand-in for beef in a vegetarian sandwich. They also lend themselves really well to grilling. To take this vegetarian burger over the top, I topped it off with some sundried tomato aioli, the perfect complement to grilled mushrooms. The addition of mozzarella cheese, beefsteak tomatoes, bitter arugula and red onions leaves nothing behind. One bite of this heavenly sandwich and you’ll forget what meat burgers are all about!

UPDATE 10/2/13: This recipe won 2nd place in The Mushroom Channel’s Swap It or Top It Contest. To watch me make the burger for News 12 Brooklyn, click here.

Grilled Portobello Burgers with Sundried Tomato Aioli

portobello mushrooms
olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste
mozzarella cheese
arugula
beefsteak tomato
red onion
burger bun
sundried tomato aioli, recipe follows

Method:

Heat up your grill pan until it’s nice and hot. Lightly clean the mushrooms and brush with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill for approximately 5 minutes per side. While the mushroom is still on the grill, top with slice of mozzarella cheese.

If desired, toast the burger bun on the grill. Top with sundried tomato aioli, arugula, portobello mushroom with cheese, tomato & red onion.

VARIATION: For added flavor, you may marinate the mushrooms for several hours in some Italian dressing, garlic-infused olive oil, or any marinade of your choice.

Sundried Tomato Aioli

1/2 cup mayo
3 sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1 tbsp olive oil from sundried tomato jar
1 clove garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
s&p to taste

Method:

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

1 year ago: kid-friendly dirty rice
2 years ago: easy strawberry shortcake

Post a Comment

Summer Tomato Feta Salad

Believe it or not, I’m not the biggest tomato person. I’ll happily leave them out of my burger, and I never put them in my tuna sandwiches. My husband, on the other hand, is tomato-obsessed. Ask him what he would take to a desert island, and I know without a doubt, that it would be a boat-load of tomatoes. So when it comes to salad-making, you can imagine that we are not always in agreement.

Summer, though, is the exception. There’s just something about summer tomatoes that is so deliciously sweet. Instead of arguing about adding tomatoes to the salad, we end up making tomato-only salads. Using an assortment of tomatoes like red and yellow tomatoes on the vine, or colorful heirloom tomatoes, makes for a beautiful presentation. With summer tomatoes being so juicy and delicious, you really don’t need much to make them sing. A simple drizzle of good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar is enough to dress them up. Feta adds protein, color, and saltiness, to balance out the tomatoes sweet flavor.

Needless to say, my husband is in LOVE with this salad. I hope you will be too.

Summer Tomato Feta Salad

Red & yellow tomatoes on the vine (or heirloom tomatoes)
Feta cheese
Good quality olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Black pepper, optional
Chopped parsley, for garnish

Method: Slice the tomatoes, about 1/4″ thick. Lay the tomatoes on a platter, alternating between red and yellow. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with kosher salt. Garnish with parsley.

1 year ago: picture perfect teacher’s gift
2 years ago: Asian bigger bowl soup

Post a Comment

Speculoos Pancakes

If you’ve read this post, you know all about my (not so) little obsession with speculoos cookies right now. My Lotus cookie cinnamon buns with speculoos cream cheese frosting were a huge hit, and I received several emails from readers who made them to rave reviews. After making 2 batches of speculoos chex party mix (recipe coming up soon!) I was running low on my spiced shortcrust biscuit stash, with only about 10 of them left (cookies, not packages…I’m not THAT crazy).

I pulsed the cookies into crumbs, leaving me with just about a half cup of golden delicious speculoos “flour”. It was Sunday morning, and what better way to use it, than in pancakes. The hint of speculoos spice paired so perfectly with butter and maple syrup that my kids kept asking for more. The pancakes were gone before you could say speculoos.

Forgive the load of pictures here, but do you see what I see? Butter. Pure Maple Syrup. Speculoos-scented pillows of fluff. I can drool over these all day.

What am I gonna do now that I’m out of speculoos cookies?!

P.S. If you live under a rock and you STILL don’t know what speculoos is, you can read all about it in this post.

Speculoos Pancakes

1/2 cup speculoos cookie crumbs (from approximately 8 cookies)
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted
butter, for frying

Method:

Pulse speculoos cookies (I used Lotus caramelized biscuits) in a food processor or blender until crumby.

In a bowl, whisk the speculoos cookie crumbs, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, light beat the eggs and add milk and butter, mixing lightly to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a fork until the batter is slightly lumpy.

Heat a nonstick skillet and grease lightly with melted butter or oil. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles appear. Flip the pancake and cook on the other side, until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Yields approximately 12 pancakes.

1 year ago: kid-friendly dirty rice
2 years ago: quick, easy & tasty chicken

Post a Comment

3-Cheese Broccoli Pull-Apart Buns

I’m on a serious broccoli-cheddar kick right now, and every time I go to the pizza store, I find myself ordering a broccoli calzone. Or, at the very least, a broccoli pizza. There’s just something about broccoli and cheese that go together like cookies and cream, peanut butter and jelly or spaghetti and meatballs.

Now, I’m no baker, so the thought of making individual calzones is just too much for me. But after I made these amazing cinnamon buns (from scratch!) recently, I felt inspired to try a savory version. Using store-bought pizza dough made it all-the-more simple (thanks, Trader Joes!).

Making broccoli calzones into pull-apart buns, not only saves you on calories (if you can stick to eating just one!), it’s also cheesier, gooier and especially, prettier. Serve this up at a lunch with friends for some serious wow-factor!

If you’re not a broccoli person (what’s wrong with you?) then serve these up with the vegetables of your choice. Think olives, roasted veggies, caramelized onions, or whatever pizza toppings you wish! You can go also go crazy with the cheese varieties, using feta (feta and olives sounds great!), brie (how about some brie and figs!), or goat cheese (with pesto and sundried tomatoes, mmm…) Oh, the possibilities!

3-Cheese Broccoli Calzone Buns

1 lb. store-bought pizza dough (I use Trader Joe’s)
1 10oz. package frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
1 cup ricotta cheese
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
parmesan or garlic powder, for topping (optional)
marinara sauce, for dipping

Method:

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough into a large rectangle. Spread ricotta cheese over dough. Top with chopped broccolli, shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Starting from the shorter side, roll the dough up tightly. Cut the roll into 7 slices and place in a lightly greased 9″ round pan. Sprinkle the buns with parmesan cheese or garlic powder (optional) and bake at 350 degrees until dough is puffed and cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

1 year ago: DIY teacher’s gift
2 years ago: fast food, lightened up

Post a Comment

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Bites

When it comes to summer, especially here in Brooklyn, I think most people are about eating light and healthy foods that keep them from feeling heavy. Fruits are especially welcome on a hot summer’s day, as long as they’re cold, or my favorite way – frozen.

If you’ve ever bit into a frozen grape, you know just how a little time in the freezer can turn a simple grape into a sweet and creamy frozen snack. Chocolate-dipped frozen banana’s are another popular guilt-free delicacy. And then there’s the fruit-filled ice cubes, and the all-fruit Popsicle blends. But have you ever tried a Greek-yogurt-covered-frozen-blueberry?

Frozen blueberries are good enough on their own, but dipped in vanilla Greek yogurt, they’re simply outstanding. The yogurt freezes to form a creamy coating over the blueberries, making it the perfect snack on a hot summer day. Once you give these delicious frozen treats a try, you’ll be dipping everything from apricots to raspberries in your favorite Greek yogurt flavor. So have fun, get creative and enjoy the best that summer has to offer!


Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Bites

1 container vanilla Greek yogurt
1 pint blueberries (or your favorite fruit for freezing)
toothpicks or spiral dipping tool

Method:

Wash blueberries and drain. Working one at a time, dip the blueberries into the yogurt (with a toothpick or dipping tool) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If you are using toothpicks, you can use a second toothpick to help slide it off. Freeze the blueberries for 1-2 hours, remove them from the baking sheet and place them in a Ziploc bag. Return to the freezer and keep frozen until ready to eat.

1 year ago: loaded baked potato omelette
2 years ago: strawberry rhubarb soup

Post a Comment