Category: Recipes

Grilled Cheese with Figs & Honey

I spend all summer waiting for figs to come in season. When they finally turned up at the market, I could not resist putting some sweet, fresh figs onto my grilled cheese sandwich. The best thing about this “recipe” is that it’s not a recipe at all. You can use any bread you like, any soft or creamy cheese, and you can slice, mince, or grill up the figs before adding them to your sandwich (fig jam also works really well).

I don’t have a panini press, but if you do, feel free to grill up your sandwich to get those beautiful grill marks. Alternatively, you can just press your sandwich down over a grill pan for a toasted and crunchy bite!

For a low carb option, hold the bread and just grill up a whole wheel of brie or Camembert and top with figs and generous drizzle of honey.

This post is part of the Kosher Recipe Linkup for the month of August, featuring GRILLED recipes. Scroll down for more!

 

Grilled Fig & Cheese Sandwich

2 slices wholegrain bread or 1 baguette
2-3 tbsp creamy cheese, such as ricotta, farmer’s or goat OR a few slices of soft cheese such as brie or camembert
3 fresh figs, sliced
drizzle of honey
pinch of cinnamon
1 tbsp butter

Method:

Spread cheese on bread and top with figs. Drizzle honey over figs and sprinkle a dash of cinnamon. Heat up butter in a grill pan and grill the sandwich until browned and toasted.

1 year ago: honey roasted figs

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BIB Fast Food: Chicken Lollipops

 

Do you have a hard time getting your kids to eat chicken? Well let me tell you a little secret guys. It’s all in the name. If I call chicken, well, chicken, my kids won’t eat it either. But when I serve them up chicken legs and call them lollipops? They gobble them down to the bone! I’m not kidding. Go ahead and give it a try!

Now you might be wondering why I would bother baking the chicken in the skin if my kids won’t go near that stuff. It’s because it keeps the chicken *super* moist (and because the adults can always eat it for them! :). Use you favorite bottled barbecue sauce, or for a sugar free alternative, just sprinkle with your favorite spices and drizzle with olive oil. I like World Harbors Australian Style Bar-B Marinade (purchase here) or Hunts honey hickory (purchase here).

 

Chicken Lollipops

1 package chicken legs
your favorite bottled BBQ sauce

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean chicken legs, removing excess fat and feathers. Brush liberally with BBQ sauce. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes-1 hour, until skin is browned and crispy.

1 year ago: baked wonton beef empanadas

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Cherries in Red Wine Syrup

Sometimes I feel like a grandma. And not just because I’m always tired from running after the kids or because I like to sit on the glider in my babies room and crochet. It’s because I have that old lady habit of not wanting to throw food away. And let me tell you people. I did not grow up that way. If a tomato so much as had a dimple, my mom would consider it rotten. Me? I go through my fridge and brainstorm about how I can use each and every fruit and vegetable to the last drop. If my fruits are getting too soft, I’ll make a compote. If my tomatoes are mushy, I’ll make a tomato soup. I just can’t stomach throwing food away. Lucky for my family, I don’t serve up Shabbos leftovers passed Monday, but I’ve been know to turn my leftover chicken soup into chicken pot pie. Lets hope I don’t become like one of those Bubby’s who is still serving up their leftover gefilte fish on Thursday!

Turning leftovers into do-overs recipes:

curry chicken salad
turkey pot pie
salmon pasta salad
chicken pot pie
black grape and plum compote
Bubby’s cabbage soup with flanken

Last week, I had some cherries that were on their way out. I thought about making cherry clafoutis, but I wasn’t really in the mood of baking (am I ever?). So I googled “leftover cherries” and I found my way to David Lebovitz’s cherries in red wine syrup. I’m a sucker for anything in red wine, so I knew I just had to make it. I’ve poached pears, figs, and prunes, but never cherries. My only issue with David’s recipe is that he uses cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I did not see a need for that at all. If you let the wine reduce enough, it will thicken into a lovely syrup. I served it over vanilla bean ice cream and pound cake, but I could eat it plain, straight out of a bowl.

More red wine recipes:

poached pears
mulled wine
Rosh Hashana roast
london broil with red wine reduction

 

Cherries in Red Wine Syrup
adapted from David Lebovitz

1 pound fresh cherries, stemmed and pitted
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups red wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Put the cherries, wine, vinegar, almond extract and sugar in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for approximately 30 minutes, until the cherries are wilted and the sauce has reduced and thickened.

Serve over ice cream.

1 year ago: fried fish sandwich

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BIB Fast Food: Roasted Brussel Sprouts

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you probably realized that somewhere along the way I went from posting 2-3 times a week, to just once a week. I love blogging, I really do, but there is a lot of time and effort that goes into each and every post and quite simply – I just don’t have the time. Recently though, I’ve become a lot more active on the BIB facebook page. Thanks to my new iphone, I now have a decent camera on my phone so I’ve been snapping away and posting pics of the food I’m making (or just eating!). The fans showed such an interest in the recipes that I decided to start posting some quick and easy recipes with a simple iphone picture and call it BIB Fast Food. While you won’t have the benefit of step by step photography, I will try to post easy recipes that don’t require it (hence the fast food concept!). I hope you all enjoy this new feature. So without further ado, lets get started!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

brussel sprouts
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the brussel sprouts with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Using your hands (I wear gloves), mix the sprouts so that everything is coated evenly with oil. Pour onto a baking sheet and bake for approximately 25-35 minutes, mixing a few times in between. Sprouts are done when they are crispy and browned around the edges.

1 year ago: vegetable calzones

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Strawberry Limonana

Limonana is a frozen minty lemonade that is popular in Israel. With tart lemons, sweet sugar syrup and fresh mint, it’s the perfect icy drink for a hot and humid day. I had to put my own twist on it, so I included frozen strawberries, for added color and delicious berry flavor.

When I had first planned on writing this post, it was supposed to be about all things summer. About the sticky, humid weather here in Brooklyn, and how to beat the heat on these unbearable days. I had plans to woo you with coffee ice cubes and frozen grapes. But all that changed.

Yesterday, I went to see Jamie Geller off to Israel at a goodbye party sponsored by Nefesh B’Nefesh. Jamie, if you don’t already know, is the author of the Quick & Kosher cookbooks, as well as the face behind Joy of Kosher. She is making aliya with her family, and chronicling her journey in a series of webisodes, titled “Joy of Aliyah”. The first two episodes have covered Jamie’s announcement, and “The Lift”. Joy of Aliya is real and raw, taking you along for the ride through the milestones of the aliya process.

I was speaking to Jamie about her move, and how lucky she is to be able to live in the holy land of Israel. I told her about the year I spent in seminary, over 10 years ago, and how it changed my life forever. She encouraged me to take a Nefesh B’Nefesh pamphlet, but I declined. “I don’t need one”, I said, “It’s already in here,” pointing to my heart.

After leaving the BBQ, I was feeling really nostalgic (or should I say, homesick?). so I went to my basement, and dug up my old seminary albums (yes, I admit, I grew up in the pre-digital age). I thought it might be a good idea to capture my experience by posting some pictures on my blog. As I turned each page, the photos pulled at my heartstrings and I felt that deep yearning to return. There is no other place on earth where I have felt such inner peace and a sense of being complete. In Israel, I don’t need to hike Masada, or drive an ATV through the galilee, I need only to walk along the holy city streets to feel as though I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I am sure it is because Israel is the place for which it states, “Eretz Asher Tomid Enei Hashem Elokecha Ba Meireishit Hashana Ad Acharit Hashana“, “Israel is the land for which the eyes of G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year, until the end of the year.” The holiness of the land is so palpable, you can feel it with every step (there’s a reason they call it “The Holy Land!”).

As I looked through my pictures, I realized, there isn’t a single one that I could share that would convey to you my heartfelt love for Eretz Yisroel or what it means to me. It’s the feeling of being home, of being where I belong. It’s more than any pictures can show or any words can convey. It’s a soul-thing. And Jamie, it’s still right in here, stronger than ever. Maybe, just maybe, we will meet again soon, in Jerusalem!

Come to think of it, if I did move to Israel, what would my blog be called? Would it be Busy in Beitar, or Busy in Bayit Vegan, or Busy in Beit Shemesh? Oh gosh, so many choices, where would I move? I think I might need that pamphlet after all.

Watch Jamie’s Joy of Aliyah eposides, here.

Read about my return to Israel after 10 long years, here (bonus, beautiful pics!).

 

Strawberry Limonana

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
15 mint leaves, or according to taste
2 cups frozen strawberries
3 cups ice
mint leaves, for garnish

Method:

Bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, add the mixture to a blender with lemon juice, mint leaves, strawberries and ice. Blend until ice is crushed into a slushy consistency. Garnish with mint leaves.

 

1 year ago: watermelon ice cubes

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