Category: Snacks

Nut Omelette

This is going to sound pretty ridiculous considering all the things I learned to make in culinary school, but the humble omelette is what really got me. It wasn’t so much the technique as much as flipping the thing. A well-made omelette is fluffy and moist, so when you’re ready to flip, it’s a jiggly mess. I can’t tell you how many omelettes I went through (actually I can, it was 5) until I was able to flip one properly on omelette day.

You can’t begin to imagine what the kitchen looked like after Hurricane Omelette came through. Even Chef Wiseman’s shoes were covered in scrambled eggs. The stovetop was a complete disaster, with bits and pieces of sticky eggs stuck to every crevice. And guess which lucky individual was assigned to clean it all? That would be ME. Miss-goofed-up-with-5-omelettes-till-she-got-it-right.
Nisht gut.

I was determined to get that flipping action down, so for the next couple of days, my husband woke up to a fluffy 3-egg omelette for breakfast, and my kids got their choice of quesadillas for dinner. I was flippin’ paper clips, candy, and yes, I was flipping myself…out.

By the time our practical test came at the end of the semester, my omelette was spot on. I flipped it on the first try. Couldn’t be better. I wish you could have seen the smile on my face when I put that fluffy omelette on the plate. Priceless.

But I’ll share a little secret with you all. I’m not above another omelette flipping disaster. When I went to flip the dessert omelette in the photo, the yolk splattered all over me. I was covered in Passover nut omelette batter.
Nisht gut.

So now that I’ve shared my omelette hall of shame, I’d be happy to share some secrets to making the perfect fluffy American omelette (French omelettes are creamier and are not browned or flipped).

#1 Add a splash of milk to your eggs and season with salt and pepper.
#2 Whisk the mixture well to incorporate some air into the batter.
#3 Make sure your nonstick pan is greased and hot so you get a nice brown finish on the egg.
#4 As soon as your batter hits the pan, stir with a spatula from the inside out and quickly scrape down the sides. Repeat several times until the omelette is beginning to set.
#5 Sneak some butter or oil under the edge of the omelette and shake the pan to see if the omelette can slide. If not, add a bit more fat and test again. Once you are sure the omelette can slide on the pan, you’re ready to flip.
#6. Slide the omelette towards the sloped end of the pan and FLIP. Try not to get egg batter all over your face.
#7 This is where you would add your fillings of choice.
#8 Fold the omelette by one third, starting from the right side.
#9 Turn the pan towards you [like how someone might stab themselves (thanks to The Wise Man for that awful metaphor!)] and flip the pan over onto a plate, so that it sits seam-side-down.
#10 Garnish with fresh herbs or your garnish of choice.

The process sounds long, but it shouldn’t take more than 1 1/2-2 minutes total, from start to finish.

Now that I’ve given you some tips on making the perfect omelette, lets talk a little bit about nut omelettes. Huh? Yes, I said nut omelettes. Why would anyone want to eat a sweet omelette? Well, they might be on a strict no-carb diet. Or, it might be Passover, and they might not be fond of eating chocolate cake made out of potato starch for breakfast.

When I was growing up, my mom would scramble up this sweet nut omelette batter for us whenever we felt sick of the heavy Pesach food (which was pretty often). Last year, I even managed to convince my toddler that they were pancakes (she hates eggs!) and she gobbled them down.

So before you make a face at having a sweet omelette for breakfast, just imagine that you’re almost having a crepe – only fluffier. And you get to skip all the crepe-making. Which is a lot harder than it looks BTW. I should know, I went through a LOT of them on breakfast day.
Nisht gut.

For more Passover dessert ideas, check out the Kosher Connection Link-Up below!

Nut Omelette

3 eggs
2 tbsp milk (use almond milk for nondairy, or omit if you must)
1/4 cup ground walnuts (or your nut of choice)
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
raspberry jam (or your favorite jam), optional, for filling
fresh fruit, optional, for garnish

Method:

Whisk together the eggs, milk, nuts, sugar and salt until fluffy. Pour dessert omelette batter into a hot nonstick frying pan that’s been greased. Working quickly, continuously stir the eggs, scraping down the sides as you go. When the eggs looks like they’re starting to set, shake the pan to see if the omelette can slide around. If it’s stuck, sneak some butter or oil underneath, going all around the edges until it’s able to slide easily. Slide the omelette towards to sloped edge of the pan and flip it over. If desired, spread some jam in the center of the omelette and fold it in thirds. Roll it on to a plate, seam side down. Garnish with fresh fruit.

1 year ago: tater tot chicken nuggets
2 years ago: orange chicken

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Chocolate Bread Pudding

I’m a total sucker for bread pudding. And not just because it’s an excuse to use up leftover bread (which would normally be a good enough reason!). It’s because it’s got that rich comfort food quality that warms you up inside with each and every bite. Spoon after spoon, flavor after flavor, bread pudding is simply, delicious.

Usually, I whip up a batch of chocolate cinnamon bread pudding with chocolate chips. It’s really good, I have to admit. But when I made a variation of this recipe in culinary school last week, I was just wowed by the melted chocolately goodness. Instead of just throwing in chocolate chips, the custard is heated and poured over the chocolate, creating a rich chocolate sauce. The sauce is then poured over the bread so that every morsel is soaked in chocolate batter. Every bite is pure chocolate bliss.

Oh, and there’s rum too. Do I even need to elaborate?

With Pesach a mere 2 weeks away, it’s time to pull all that leftover challah out from the back of your freezer and bake up this awesome treat. You’ll love it so much, you’ll be stashing challah just so that you can make again!

Happy Cleaning!

Chocolate Bread Pudding
adapted from Professional Baking by Wayne Gislin

1 lb. leftover challa
5 cups coconut milk
1/2 vanilla bean*
6 oz. sugar
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz. dark rum
8 eggs

Method:

Tear the challa into pieces and place into a greased casserole dish (or individual ramekins, if you wish). Set aside.

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to a pot along with the milk and sugar. Add the scraped bean as well. Heat until the sugar is dissolved and remove the vanilla bean. Pour the hot milk over the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and combined. Stir in the rum.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and temper them by slowly adding the hot chocolate mixture while you whisk. Pour the chocolate mixture over the challa in the casserole dish. Push down on the bread to make sure that it’s fully saturated with the liquid.

To create a waterbath (this keeps the bread pudding moist), place the casserole dish into a larger pan (like a roasting pan) and place on the rack in the oven, with the rack pulled out. Add water to the roasting pan so that the casserole dish is surrounded by water, about 3/4 of the way up.

Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

*If you do not have a vanilla bean, you may use 2 tsp of vanilla extract.

NOTE: If you’d like to make this dairy,use 2 1/2 cups heavy cream + 2 1/2 cups of milk instead of the coconut milk.

1 year ago: Bubby’s challah kugel
2 years ago: perfect pareve french toast

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Baklava Hamantaschen


“Good, better, best; never let it rest till your good is better and your better is best.” 

Have you ever heard that quote before? Well I don’t know who came up with it, but it should be my motto. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been trying to outdo myself. It’s like I’m in competition with me. And the funny thing is, I’m not even a competitive person. I couldn’t care less what the next person is doing. I just want to outdo ME.

Nothing brings this out more than Purim. I spend an entire year thinking about what kind of crazy, amazing. blow-your-mind kind of idea I can come up that will outdo what I’ve done the year before. Since last year’s sushi hamantaschen were such a huge hit, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It had to be a twist on a classic, a creative reversal of the expected, and it had to resemble hamantaschen. Not an easy feat, I tell you!

I surfed pinterest for inspiration, flipped through cookbooks for ideas and wracked my brain until I hit the finger-‘lickin jackpot. BAKLAVA HAMANTASCHEN – oh. em. gee.

To really capture the spirit of the story of Purim (set in Persia in the year 3392), I turned to a classic Persian recipe: baklava. Traditional Persian baklava uses a combination of chopped almonds and pistachios spiced with cardamom and a rose water syrup. Since I really wanted to turn things upside down (VeNahafoch Hu, right?), I switched up the rose water for apricot jam syrup (a’ la classic hamantaschen) and cut my baklava into true hamantasch shapes. The result is a decadent sweet and adorable treat that will be the talk of your Purim seudah!

Now if you’re the type who doesn’t mess with tradition, you may go ahead and prepare your baklava a’ la classique, rose-water syrup and all. Just make sure to cut them into hamantasch shapes, to really capture the Purim spirit.

Now tell me, how on earth will I outdo myself next year?!

Baklava Hamantaschen

1 pkg filo dough, thawed
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup loosely packed light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/2 cup water

Method:

Grease an 8″x 8″ baking dish with melted butter and set aside. Add the chopped nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a food processor or blender. Pulse the mixture until the nuts are chopped more finely (but not ground) and the mixture is combined.

Remove filo from packaging and cut sheets so that you have 18 squares the size of the baking dish (a little smaller than 8″ x 8″ so it fits well). Separate the filo into 3 parts with 6 square layers in each. Cover the layers with a damp cloth as they tend to dry out quickly. Starting with the first set of 6 layers, brush melted butter in between each layer, placing them in the baking dish on top of each other.

Spread half of the nut filling over the first stack of filo dough in the baking dish. Repeat with the second stack of filo dough, brushing butter in between each layer, stacking it in the baking dish, and topping it with the 2nd half of the nut filling.

Take the third stack of filo dough and brush butter in between each layer, but DO NOT layer it in the baking dish. Instead, set the buttered stack on your work surface. Using a triangular-shaped cookie cutter, gently press your knife down on the filo dough to form triangular-shaped guides that will show you where to cut the filo later. MAKE SURE NOT TO CUT THROUGH THE LAYERS OF FILO DOUGH. This is only meant as a guide to show you where to cut the baklava later, when all the layers are stacked. Once you have drawn your guide, take a smaller triangular cookie cutter and cut through the layers of filo to remove their centers, resembling hamantaschen.

Take your final stack of filo dough, with the triangular guides and hollowed out centers, and place it in the baking dish over the previously set layers. Now you can take your knife and following the guide, cut the triangular shapes all the way through the layers. Brush the top layer of filo with butter and bake the baklava at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until golden.

While the baklava is baking, add apricot jam and water to a pot and heat the jam until it begins to melt into a syrup. Use a whisk or spoon to break up the jam, and continue to cook until a thin syrup forms. Remove from the heat and pour into a small jug or pitcher.

Remove the baklava from the oven and pour apricot syrup over it, brushing with a pastry brush, if needed.

NOTE: For a healthier version, you may spray each layer of filo dough with butter flavored PAM instead of using real butter.

VARIATION: You may use other kinds of nuts such as pistachios or almonds, or use a combination.

TIP: If you do not have triangular shaped cookie cutters, you can prepare your own template using heavy cardstock to serve as your guide.


1 year ago: sushi hamantaschen (onigiri)
2 years ago: savory puff pastry hamantaschen

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Pickled Deviled Eggs


With Valentines Day here, it seems like all my foodie feeds are covered in hearts and pink desserts of all kinds. But what about us non-bakers? Isn’t there anything pretty and pink for us to make? Well it just so happens, there is. Beets are a great way to turn savory foods into pink or purple edible eye-candy that’s perfect for parties of any kind. Think pink pasta, purple pancakes or these gorgeous ombre deviled eggs!

So if you really want to up the ante at your next party or cozy Valentines dinner, do away with traditional (ie: boring) deviled eggs, and give these gorgeous little pickled ones a try. The pink ombre ring comes from brining the eggs in beet juice – a simple task with a huge wow factor. Ombre isn’t just for 7 layer dye-filled cakes anymore!


With Purim just around the corner, I love to plan my menu around interesting unexpected dishes to maximize on the Purim spirit. Last year, I made these salami chips. This year, these pickled deviled eggs will be making an entrance. Of course I also do a twist on traditional hamantaschen like these puff pastry ones, last year’s sushi onigiri, and this years…well, you’ll just have to wait on that one…the surprise is coming up next week!

1 24 oz. jar borscht or beet juice
1/2-1 cup apple cider vinegar*
7 hard-boiled eggs, cooled and peeled (how to hard boil eggs)
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon onion powder
1 heaping tablespoon yellow mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
scallions or chives, for garnish

Directions

In a container big enough to hold the eggs, add the borscht and vinegar. Add eggs, making sure that they are completely covered in the pickling juice. Add more borscht or water, if needed. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours, or up to 2 days. Remove the eggs from the liquid and cut in half lengthwise. Gently remove the yolks and place them in a bowl. Set the whites aside on a serving platter. Mash the yolks well with a fork and add mayonnaise, mustard, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Spoon the yolk filling into a ziploc bag, cut off the tip and pipe the filing into the egg whites. (You may also use a pastry bag with a star tip). Garnish with chives.

*You can control the strength of the pickled flavor by using more or less vinegar. 1/2 cup will give you a subtle pickled taste. Continue to increase up to 1 cup for a stronger pickled flavor.

1 year ago: stuffed roasted butternut squash
2 years ago: quick & easy chocolate rugelach

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Raspberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip

If you’re still scrambling for shalach manos ideas, you’ve come to the right place! And not just because I’m gonna wow you with this unbelievably amazing pretzel dip that makes the perfect home-made gift. I’ve also got lots of other ideas for you, starting with this old post.

And then there’s this new giveaway post with tons of amazing shalach manos ideas in the comments! (If you haven’t already entered this giveaway, what are you waiting for? Have you seen the bowls I’m giving away?!)

And since I love you all so much, I’ve created a new category where you can find all of my Purim Posts in one place!

And that’s not all.

If after all that you’re STILL stuck in a rut, check out all the amazing home-made gift ideas for Purim in the Kosher Connection Link-Up below!

If my raspberry honey mustard pretzel dip had you at hello and you want to know how to package it up, well here’s what I did:

Print out adorable tags onto cute cardstock and tape them to the top of small canning jars filled with pretzel dip. Wrap some raffia around the lid and secure with a bow. Then, fill a small cellophane bag with an assortment of pretzels and fold over the top. Print a label that says “Purim Pretzels” on one side and “from: family name” on the other. Fold it over the cellophane bag and staple on each side.

Voila. Purim Pretzel Perfection.

If you’re not up to making this pretzel dip for your Purim package, you should still give it a try. The combination of the sweet raspberry jam and spicy brown mustard, topped off with some hot mustard seeds in each bite, make this the perfect condiment for turkey subs, chicken salad or wraps of any kind!

Raspberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip

1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup raspberry jam
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp onion powder

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until the dip sets and thickens.

Serve alongside pretzels and crackers, spread over a turkey wrap or mix into chicken salad.


1 year ago: butter rum l’chaim cake
2 years ago: crunchy chocolate dipped pretzel rods

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