Beef on a Stick in Siem Reap

Let others ooh and ahh over the monuments at Angkor Wat; plenty of folks have brought home amazing photos and insights of these temples.  I want to sing the praises of a local restaurant not featured in Tripadvisor or Lonely Planet in a humble neighborhood just minutes away from the night market and Pub Alley but worlds away in terms of style, intent and customers. 

Near the Wat Damnak was a small stall with a charcoal grill out front, a child's artwork on the walls, small plastic chairs, low tables and the best lemongrass marinated grilled beef you can imagine, served with a side of tart salad papaya salad and cool green tea.

This is one of the recipes I plan on developing when I get home, so watch for more info and directions.  Meanwhile the memory of this meal is one of my favorite souvenirs.

Obligatory July 4 Food Blog Post (With Menu Suggestions, Red White and Blue Food and a Spicy Burger Recipe)

Red, white and blue sorbet for Independence Day

It's July 4 and I believe food bloggers are contractually obligated to come up with a post that celebrates one or more of the following:

• Red, white and blue themed food, often but not limited to either gooey desserts and or strawberries and blueberries
• Food for the grill
• American classics - either retro or revisionist

Better yet, if the blogger can somehow combine all three in one post they have hit the Facebook share trifecta.

My take on the foods of America to celebrate Independence Day is a bit different -- I'd prefer to focus on the foods brought to our shores and adopted (adapted? distorted?) by the teeming masses already here looking for the next big flavor hit.  America's taste buds are not so much analogous to a melting pot as they are a fusion reactor.

Based on what I've written about before on Blog Appetit, here's some ideas for going forth and partying on the Fourth of July celebrating the glorious diversity of foods and ingredients immigrants (and savvy marketers) have made popular here.  Think of it as a United Nations for your mouth.

Appetizers:

Any Night Cerviche (Mexico and Central America)
Tomato-Mango Bruschetta (India, Italy and Berkeley - which many Californians consider a separate state of mind)
Tortilla de Espana (Spain)
Not Quite Spring Rolls (Vietnam)

Main Dishes:

Egyptian Grilled Lamb
Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Pomegranate Molasses BBQ sauce (Middle East) -- also the link has a recipe for a berry sorbet for dessert you can dress up in red, white and blue.
Cincinnati Chili (Greek-American) -- works great as a hot dog topping, too.  For more American regional hot dog ideas, click here.
Grilled Vegetable Kabobs with Miso Glaze (Japan)
Turkish Inspired Hamburgers (see recipe below)

Other:

Assorted North African vegetable salads
Cold Beet Borscht (Russia)  Nice and red, serve with some blue corn chips and sour cream for the obligatory red, white and blue dish.
Cold Asian Noodles with Veggies and Peanut-Tofu Sauce (China)
Pomegranate Coconut Pudding (Near East/Mid East)
Lychee Sorbet (China)

See the link for the bruschetta above for an Indian-inspired rice pudding and the link for the chicken kabobs for a the very berry sorbet recipe (French?).

And of course, cruise the different categories listed in the labels section in the right column for even more recipes that help you cook local and eat global.

Oh, and happy birthday to my beloved father-in-law.  Vic's enthusiasm for my cooking is just one of his many, many wonderful traits.  Happy 89, Dad.

Keep reading for the Turkish burger recipe.

Suggestions for Delicious and Meaningful Rosh Hashanah Meals -- With Rabbi Frydman's Friend Neal's Brisket Recipe

Some of the symbolic foods of the Rosh Hashanah Seder

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year, sometimes spelled Rosh Hashana) is almost upon us and I thought I would do a little round up of High Holiday tips and recipes.

The first is my most recent compilation of  holiday recipes from the j. weekly.  At the j's suggestion, I interviewed rabbis who cook for some of their recipes and for some of the ways food adds meaning to their teachings as well as dining tables. The recipes give directions for a salad full of foods symbolic of the holiday blessings, a vegetarian pumpkin and chickpea entree and frosted brownies plus a vegan cholent for the break fast.

I had so many good responses from rabbis in the Bay area, the j. did not have room for all, so I wanted to be sure I got a chance to share Rabbi Pam Frydman's recipe for an easy, tasty brisket recipe.  Frydman was a congregational rabbi and is now director of the Holocaust Education Project of the Academy of Jewish Religion. She is also an author, with several books in the works, including a Holiday prayer book revision. Frydman’s menu for her holiday dinner includes a brisket recipe she got from her friend, Neal.

“Like all Jewish mothers, I make sure there is something appealing for every guest at my table,” she said. Like the other rabbis, she sees serving foods guests of all ages love as “a wonderful way to sweeten their relationship” with the holidays and a perfect recipe for the New Year.

The recipe is below.

Other Rosh Hashanah resources include:

My guide to the Rosh Hashanah Seder -- with a list of symbolic foods and their meanings

Recipes using some of the foods mentioned as having symbolic meaning at the holiday, including leek fritters, chicken tzimmes, chicken with chard, black-eyed peas, a pumpkin-date filo tart and more.

Everyone needs a chopped liver recipe:  here's my original version.  And here is one that is somewhat enlightened with a bit less cholesterol. 

Instead of gefilte fish, maybe try this gravlax recipe for home-cured salmon. Or perhaps this chopped herring salad from my husband's Aunt Lee.  It was so good it had grown men begging for more.

These Greek-Jewish inspired recipes include a fuss-free oregano baked chicken.

Here's a recipe for a one-pot dish -- Chicken with Barley

While I usually make a brisket for the holidays, the technique I use to cook it is in Pot Roast 101 with a recipe for tamarind pot roast.  (Plus a pot roast, which is very much like a brisket without the Yiddish accent, would be just fine for a holiday table.  I like to use a bone-in chuck roast.)

For another pot roast recipe that can be adapted for brisket, check out my zippy pot roast with cranberry sauce.

This grilled lamb would make a nice holiday entree.  It is based on some of the food traditions of the Karaite Egyptian Jewish community.

For an excellent vegetarian "Not Chicken Soup" and some beautiful vegan matzah balls (I call them matzofu balls), check out my recent j. weekly column here.

I'm a big fan of these red peppers stuffed with lentils with two sauces.  I've used it as a main course and as a side dish. (And the garlic sauce you make for it is killer!)

If you are looking for something to plop in the soup that gluten-free guests can slurp up, I recommend these chicken-almond dumplings.

Sweet and sour butternut squash is another side dish that works well for the holiday, plus it is really quick to make since it is based on a convenience food -- those cut-up cubes of butternut squash that are found in bags and plastic cartons in the refrigerated produce sections of most supermarkets now.

There are plenty more ideas throughout Blog Appetit, including lots of posts in the Jewish category.  Take a look around.  Find something you like, try it.  Let me know how it comes out.

Oh, and Happy New Year.

As promised Rabbi Frydman's brisket recipe:

Rabbi Frydman’s Friend Neal’s Brisket
Serves 8-10

3 1/2 to 4 lbs. beef brisket
About 5 peeled garlic cloves
1 oz. packet of onion soup mix
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
Ketchup
Soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut off any large chunks of fat from the brisket, rinse meat under running water and place in baking pan with a well-fitting lid. Slice garlic cloves in half lengthwise. Using a paring knife, cut a series of small slits in the meat, spacing them every four inches. Slit should be deep enough to enclose the entire garlic clove half.  Insert garlic clove halves into slits, turn meat over and repeat on the other side. Rub onion soup mix all over top side of the meat. If brisket is large, fold it and slather some of the mix on the top of the folded portion as well. Sprinkle with pepper. Squirt a few thick lines of ketchup on top of the meat from one end of the brisket to the other. Drizzle soy sauce from one end of brisket to the other parallel to the ketchup lines.

Pour water along the sides of the pan until there is a half inch of water along the bottom, being careful not to wash off the seasoning on the meat. Cover pan and place on a rack in the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove, gently baste meat and add additional water if needed. Repeat every 30 minutes until the brisket is tender and a fork goes in easily. Depending on your pan and brisket, that can vary greatly and take about 2-3 1/2 hours or more.

Remove from oven, let cook, slice against the grain of the meat. Serve or store meat in the cooking liquid. Refrigerate if not using immediately. Warm brisket in reserved cooking liquid in 350 degree oven.

Happy 25th of Elul! Celebrate the First Day of Creation with My Ground Beef, Kale, Olives, Raisins & Almonds Recipe

One of the unexpected bonuses of doing so much writing about Jewish food and the association between food and observance in the religion is that I learn so much about Judaism.

I had a fairly secular upbringing (although my grandmother kept kosher, fed a pushke and pooh-poohed the evil spirits) and I did not receive much of a formal Jewish education.  I did go to some youth services and belonged to the synagogue youth group, went to high holiday services with my father and was raised in a Jewish state of mind (well, a Brooklyn-Jewish-Flatbush-Long Island-Ashkenazi state of mind.  Oh, and did I ever mention my rabbi was comedian Jackie Mason's brother?)

But I digress, my main point here is that researching the recipes and foods associated with Jewish traditions has not just broadened my waist line (I wish that was a joke) but my knowledge about Judaism. 

The celebration of the 25th of Elul (a date in the Jewish lunar calendar) is a good example of this process.

I was looking for something to base one of my recipe columns in the j. weekly on and was searching for a topic other than the impending Jewish New Year celebration.  I looked on the the Jewish calendar and saw it was the month of Elul.  After a little sleuthing about Elul (okay I checked Wikipedia and the Chabad site), I found out that the 25th of Elul (this year that's the 12th of September) is considered the first day of Creation.

Wow. 
No idea.

I always figured  the first day of the New Year (Rosh Hashanah - which starts the evening of September 16th this year) had that honor.   Wrong.  Definitely didn't attend youth services during Elul.  I might have learned the first day of Rosh Hashanah is the day man was created, the sixth day of creation.  But the start, the start was the 25th of Elul.

I got a (big) bang out of that.

If you are wondering about how food fits into this all, I'm getting to that.

Turns out the religious authorities advise us to celebrate the day by having a nice meal, in fact two nice meals – one in the afternoon and one in the evening.   It is considered propitious to consume two meals that day that feature bread and meat. We are also directed to eat something sweet to celebrate the creation and as a wish for a sweet year.

Since there are so many wonderful resources for bread near my home, I rarely bake it, so I didn't have a special bread recipe for the 25th, so be sure to pick up some tender challah or crusty artisan bread to serve with the Ground Beef with Kale, Olives, Raisins and Almonds. The recipe comes together very fast and makes a good dinner for any weeknight, not just the 25th of Elul. It has flavors that remind me of many Sephardic and Cuban dishes.

For something sweet, use your favorite cereal to make my Not-Your-Kid’s Marshmallow Treat Bars. You can see the recipe here.  (Be sure to use kosher marshmallows and parve cereal if you need to make those subsitutions.)

Ground Beef with Kale, Olives, Raisins and Almonds
Serves 8

2 Tbs. canola oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 lbs. ground beef (lean or very lean)
6 cups chopped kale, packed
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1-14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes, with liquid
1/2 cup thinly sliced green olives stuffed with pimentos
1/2 cup blanched, silvered almonds
1/2 cup raisins

Heat oil in a very large fry or sauté pan. Sauté onions over medium high heat until beginning to soften and turn brown, add garlic and sauté until just golden. Add salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, red pepper and cinnamon. Stir for a minute and then add beef.

Brown beef, breaking up any clumps (work in batches if your pan is not large enough and combine when all the beef is browned). Add kale. Sauté until kale begins to wilt, add tomato paste and diced tomatoes with liquid, stirring often until beef and vegetables are cooked through. Lower heat to medium. Stir in olives with pimentos, almonds and raisins. Sauté for a few minutes. Taste and correct seasonings if needed. Serve with bread and over cooked rice, couscous, pasta, grains or mashed potatoes if desired.
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The original version of this post appeared in the j weekly.  You can see it here.
About the lack of photo. I apparently didn't take one of the ground beef dish. That happens sometimes. Oh Well.  Photo graphic from Microsoft Office clip art collection, my favorite source of royalty free art.   

A Tisket, A Tasket - I Like Vegetables Grilled in a Basket

 



I like to grill cut  up vegetables in my grill basket. Shaped like a saute pan or flat-bottomed wok, it is quicker than threading all the veggies on skewers and gives me all the char and taste.

This batch combines goodies my husband, Gary, scored from the farm stand -- baby eggplants and small, colorful hot peppers -- with onions and whole garlic cloves. You do need to stir and toss the veggies as they grill to prevent them from burning and to get them to cook evenly.

 Once the eggplant was tender and charred, I mixed the vegetables above with a batch of cherry tomatoes (also from the farm stand) I had previously cooked on the barbecue until they were soft and smoky in the grill basket.  I drizzled olive oil to taste, added salt, pepper, minced lemon zest and chopped basil and served as a side dish to my red-wine marinated grilled tofu and the guys' red-wine marinated flank steak.

 I used the marinade from this post.

To cook the tofu, I cut the block of tofu in half lengthwise and then in half crosswise, scored it deeply and marinated, turning often for about an hour before grilling on a greased rack.  I recommend cooking down the marinade and serving as a sauce otherwise it would be a bit dry.

To cook the flank steak, I did as directed in the post.  Be sure to let the steak rest 10 minutes or so before slicing it very thinly against the grain.

For an alternate version of the eggplant dish (made up more like a salsa with a slightly different flavor profile, plus ideas for other variations), please see my post here.

A Simple Dinner to Eat Outdoors - Grilled Steak, Grilled Lettuce and Brownies (And Maybe Toasted Marshmallows)

I‘ve always enjoyed grilling and eating outside. It somehow seems so special, especially if there is another couple or two, to have a meal outdoors watching for the first signs of sunset (and maybe if there are children involved toasting a few marshmallow over the coals as we waited).

To me the secret of cooking and serving outside is to organize the menu so there is no running back and forth from the kitchen to the grill.  I recommend cooking the steak and salad on the grill, baking some potatoes ahead of time to wrap in foil and reheat on the grill, and making Karen’s Very Chocolate Brownies for dessert (maybe topping them with some of those toasted marshmallows).

Be sure to let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing as thinly as possible against the grain (cutting perpendicular to the long meat fibers) for the juiciest and most tender results. The steak can also be cooked indoors under a broiler or in a grill pan or on an electric grill. Last time I tested this recipe I used London broil, but my favorite is with flank steak.  Skirt steak also works well. The marinade also works well on Portobello mushrooms if you are looking for a vegetarian option, but maybe you'd want to switch out the potatoes with a filling and protein-packed side dish such as quinoa

Red Wine Marinated Grilled Steak
Serves 6-8

1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup red wine
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled fine
2 lbs. flank steak,London broil or skirt steak
Vegetable oil

Mix the olive oil, wine, garlic, pepper, salt and oregano. Reserve 1/4 cup. Place the steak in a glass dish or plastic zipper storage bag. Add remaining marinade. Marinate for 2 hours, turning occasionally. Before preheating grill, brush rack with vegetable oil. Preheat grill to medium high heat, place steak on grill and discard the liquid it marinated in. Grill steak, turning and basting occasionally with the previously reserved marinade. Timing will depend on your grill and the cut of meat you are using. Cook to just slightly less done than you prefer (since it will continue to cook while it rests), remove meat to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into very thin slices against the grain.

Grilled Lettuce Salad
Serves 4-6

Head of romaine lettuce
Vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (or to taste)
2 Tbs. lemon juice (or to taste).

Separate and wash lettuce leaves. Shake off excess water and dry. Grease grill rack with vegetable oil. Heat grill to medium. Mix olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with lettuce until coated. Lay lettuce flat on grill rack. Check and turn regularly until slightly wilted and charred. Take off grill, cut into bite-sized pieces and toss with lemon juice.

Karen’s Very Chocolate Brownies
Serves 12-16

1 cup vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing pan
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
1 -12 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 11x14” baking pan. Melt unsweetened chocolate and set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Without stirring, add the oil and the eggs to the center of the flour mixture. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate. Now stir, starting slowly, then beating well until smooth and dark brown. Add chocolate chips and mix well. Pour batter into pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until edges look crisp and have shrunk slightly away from the sides of the pan. Place pan on rack and let cool. Cut into bars or squares.
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A version of this post first appeared in j. weekly.

My Review of Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking with Slow Cooker Shredded Beef and Honey Mustard Chicken Recipes

Leah Schapira’s new cookbook, Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking: Ordinary Ingredients, Extraordinary Meals (Artscroll/Shaar Press) features kosher versions of contemporary American favorites. The book is now in its second printing after selling out its first printing of 13,000 in about a month.  Of course, you need not follow the Jewish dietary laws to enjoy her recipes.

Schapira, a food journalist specializing in kosher food, is co-founder of the popular website and recipe forum Cook Kosher . Her specialty is creating recipes that reflect current culinary trends and translating them into kosher to easy-to-make, easy-to-source dishes perfect for holiday, Friday night or even weeknight dinners. Recipe inspirations range from Mexican, Asian, Italian, Middle Eastern as well as traditional Eastern European Jewish influences and American favorites. Almost all ingredients are available from regular supermarkets.

There are lots of color photos illustrating the recipes. Small photos are used in the table of contents and to show recommended side dishes for some recipes, design features I found helpful and appealing. The recipes are clearly written, often give alternatives in preparation or ingredients, and are for the most part fuss free. When a recipe requires more technique (such as making and baking pizza), Schapira gives very detailed instructions (with photos). I especially liked her “traditional” chapter where she gives some fresh takes on symbolic foods for Shabbat and holiday dinners ranging from Beet Leaf Patties for Rosh Hashanah to Square Donuts for Chanukah.

The recipes below are from Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking: Ordinary Ingredients, Extraordinary Meals by Leah Schapira/November 2011 (www.artscroll.com/freshandeasy). I have adapted them very slightly for space and to reflect my experience.  This article and the recipes first appeared in my column in the j weekly and the recipes are used with permission.

I made the shredded beef and served it as a main course over potatoes. Serving it that way instead of as a sandwich reduced the serving size to four from eight. I have also made this dish very succesfully in a pressure cooker. Schapira’s version of the honey mustard chicken is accompanied by a photo of the dish cooked with the peppers but the recipe itself leaves the type and amount of vegetables up to the user. I liked the idea of the peppers and included them in my version.

Shredded Beef
From Fresh &  Easy Kosher Cooking
Serves 8

2 lb. boneless chuck roast
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 onion, sliced
2 Tbs. onion soup mix
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup light beer
8 buns or club rolls
Toppings as desired (such as sliced red onion, sliced tomatoes, lettuce leaves, etc.)

Place meat into the slow cooker. Top with brown sugar onion slices, soup mix and garlic. Pour ketchup and beer over meat. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5 hours. Remove the meat. Strain the liquid from the slow cooker; discard solids. Reserve liquid. Use two forks to shred the meat, discarding any large pieces of fat. Place shredded meat back into cooker and pour half the strained liquid over it. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 20-30 minutes. Serve in buns or rolls with desired toppings.

Honey-Mustard Chicken
From Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking
Serves 3-4

1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
3-4 Tbs. oil
2 large onions, diced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2” strips, optional
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2” strips, optional
3 Tbs. honey
3 Tbs. soy sauce
3 Tbs. mustard

Cut chicken into 2” strips of even thickness. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Add vegetables if using. Add honey, mustard and soy sauce. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until sauce reduces. (If chicken is cooked through before the sauce is reduced as much as you would like, remove the chicken from the pan, keep warm, and add back in after the sauce has thickened.) Serve over orzo or rice.
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photo credit:  Artscroll.com

Revisionist Meat Loaf. It's What's for Dinner -- Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf and Spanish Kale and Olive Meat Loaf

Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf

Meat loaf. Just saying those words seems to conjure a remembrance of a specific meat loaf recipe for most people. For many folks it’s family food, not something special for company, but meat loaf is too good to not get a chance to shine, so here are two untraditional meat loaf recipes to try.

The Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf started with my memories of my Eastern European Jewish grandmother’s meat loaf and her stuffed cabbage. In her honor, the meat loaf has a hard-boiled egg core, a cabbage wrapping and a sweet and sour tomato sauce to top it off. This is a good recipe to use with low-fat ground beef, since the cabbage keeps the meat loaf moist.

The Spanish Kale and Olive Meat Loaf features Iberian seasonings and pimento-stuffed olives.

Stuffed Cabbage Meat Loaf
Serves 6-8

6 large, green cabbage leaves
Oil spray
1 1/4 lbs. ground beef
1 cup matzo meal
1 egg, beaten
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes with liquid
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground dried oregano
1/8 tsp. paprika
2 hardboiled eggs, shelled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Immerse leaves in pot of boiling water, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 4-5 minutes until the leaves are pliable. Drain. Spray large baking dish with the oil spray. Lay 2 largest cabbage leaves stem end to stem end in the center of the baking dish. Set aside.

Combine meat, matzo meal, beaten egg, tomatoes with liquid, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and paprika. Mound half into an 8”x4” loaf in the middle of the 2 cabbage leaves. Press hard-boiled eggs into loaf end to end. Mound remaining meat on top. Drape 2-3 cabbage leaves over top of meat loaf, filling in gaps with remaining leaves. Fold up cabbage leaves from underneath to enclose. Spray top with oil spray. Bake, spraying cabbage with oil if it begins to dry out or get too brown, for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, until firm to the touch and cooked through. Let sit 20 minutes before serving. Serve with sauce (below).

Sweet and Sour Sauce: Plump 1/2 cup raisins in hot water for 20 minutes, drain. In a small pan combine raisins with 15 oz. can tomato sauce, 1 Tbs. brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. dried ground ginger, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Taste, adding sugar or vinegar as needed.

Spanish Kale and Olive Meat Loaf
Serves 6

2 Tbs. oil plus additional for greasing pan
1/2 cup chopped red onion
4 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups chopped kale or chard
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. ground beef
2 Tbs. tomato paste
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
10 queen-size, pimento-stuffed green olives, cut into fourths

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 Tbs. oil in pan. Sauté onions and garlic until lightly browned. Add kale, red pepper, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked. Oil an 8.5” x 4.5” loaf pan. Combine kale mixture with beef, tomato paste, eggs, bread crumbs, and olives. Put into loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until firm to the touch and cooked through. Let sit 20 minutes before serving.

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Originally featured in j weekly.  Also featured on About.com's Eastern European food guide.

Pot Roast 101 and a Recipe for Pot Roast with Tamarind

Gary likes to shred our pot roast. We served it in its sauce over latkes.

My mother was the queen of the pot roast, so making pot roast is part of my culinary heritage.  It’s a natural for holiday dinners (such as Chanukah or Rosh Hashanah) since your can cook it in advance and just reheat before serving.  In fact, it is almost required to cook in advance. There are two reasons for that. The first is that the flavors just get even better by letting it sit overnight and eating the next day.  The second is that there is absolutely no predicting when the pot roast will be done.  It could take two hours, it could take four.  I had one particularly reluctant specimen take eight hours until it reached the perfect you could cut-it-with-a-fork tenderness.

Making pot roast is really very easy, but here are some tips to help ensure success:

• Cut away any extra surface fat, but don’t pick a piece of meat that is too lean. (That eight-hour pot roast was very, very lean).  I like to use boneless chuck roast, which I find flavorful and relatively economical.
• Be sure to use a flavorful liquid and enough of it.  Think of the liquid as your flavor vehicle. In the recipe below I use tamarind and tomatoes for flavoring.  You could use wine and or broth for a more traditional pot roast flavor combination.
• Be sure to add enough seasoning.  However, if you are using a kashered piece of meat you might want to go sparingly on the salt and season the gravy/sauce to compensate after you taste the cooked meat and sauce.  I find that meat that has been kashered (salted and drained according to the Jewish dietary laws) retains some residual salting and I can’t predict how little or much that will be.
• Use a heavy enough pan or put a flame tamer or heat diffuser underneath a thinner pot to be sure you have even heat and to avoid burning.
• Leave yourself enough time.  With a pot roast, meat passes through stages from raw to appearing to be cooked but hard as rock to full submission with the desired degree to tenderness.  The long, moist-heat cooking is breaking down the proteins and connective tissue, so you can’t just give a time for cooking a pot roast.  Keep checking, add more liquid if need be and keep cooking until a cooking fork pretty much glides through the meat.  If your pot roast is recalcitrant and just won’t get to that final stage of melt-in-the-mouth softness, you have two choices. Store it in the cooking liquid overnight and cook it further the next day and see if even more cooking will help or shredding it instead of slicing it against the grain.  Serving the pot roast shredded over mashed or boiled potatoes, noodles, soft polenta or similar is actually our favorite to serve it.

Pot Roast with Tamarind and Syrian Jewish Flavors

Serves about 6

The tamarind adds a slight tart note to the sauce that really complements the rich beef flavor. 

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 lb. boneless chuck roast

1-28 oz. can whole tomatoes, undrained

½ tsp plus ¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground allspice

1 tsp. brown sugar

4 tsp. plus 2 tsp. tamarind paste or concentrate

1-2 cups of water

2 Tbs. tomato paste

Add oil to a large, heavy pot. Heat over medium high heat and add onion slices.  Sauté until just softened then add garlic and sauté until onions are golden.  Remove onion and garlic from pot and reserve.  Add meat and brown on all sides. Lower heat to medium.  Add back the onions and garlic.  Add tomatoes with their liquid.  Using a spatula break up tomatoes into fourths. Stir. Add ½ tsp. of the salt and the pepper, cinnamon, allspice and stir. Add brown sugar and 4 tsp. of tamarind paste. Add enough water to bring liquid mixture to the top of the chuck roast.  Stir well.  Add tomato paste, stir again.  Bring the meat and liquid to a simmer.  Cover and lower heat to keep at a simmer, mixing sauce and turning meat occasionally until meat is as tender as you like, approximately 2 to 4 hours.  Remove meat to a cutting board until cool enough to handle.  While the meat is cooling, raise the heat on the liquid, add the 2 remaining tsp. of tamarind paste and cook uncovered at a low boil, stirring occasionally until it has reduced down to a gravy or sauce-like thickness. Taste and add in the ¼ tsp. of salt if desired.  Slice the meat thinly against the grain or shred.  Mix the meat back into the reduced sauce and reheat and serve or (preferably) store the meat in the sauce overnight in the refrigerator and gently reheat the next day.

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For a round up of Chanukah (Hanukkah) recipes and information on Blog Appetit, including recipes for potato pancakes (latkes), check out this post.
For other pot roasts on Blog Appetit - check out the zippy cranberry version or my spicy pot roast with a kick
For pot roast recipes from around the web, check out Kayln's Kitchen's crock pot version, Simply Recipe's several recipes and Pioneer Woman's pictorial tutorial and recipe.

Summer Fun with Recipes for Hot Dog Toppings, Grill Treats, Cold Soups and More

The skies have gone from overcast to blue, the air is soft and warm and my kid is home from college, it must be summer here in Blog Appetit-ville (Oakland CA).  So here is a wrap up of some of the recipes and posts from Blog Appetit that help celebrate the summer here or anywhere. 

Get Your Red Hots! -- What's summer without hot dogs (or sausages) with all the trimmings.  So grab your weiner (except you Rep. Andrew) and try some one or all of these toppings:  Vegetarian Chili, Tomato Onions and Homemade Relish.   Use a tofu dog and the vegetarian chili and you have a vegan treat.

From The Grill  -- Everyone needs a good barbecue chicken recipe, here's mine. No extra charge for the recipe using the leftovers in a hearty bbq chicken and greens salad. Or try these chicken kabobs with pomengranate molasses barbecue sauce (the best thing I've ever smeared on chicken.). Here's my son's red wine marinade for flank steak (a family favorite).  Try these grilled vegetable kabobs with miso marinade as a main course or side dish. Grilled limincello tuna is served atop a couscous salad.

It's Still Strawberry Season -- Try my roasted strawberry strudel, cold strawberry soup or (vegan) strawberry coconut ice cream.  All are berry, berry good. Or try  my berry sorbet with or without the "berried treasure" and sauce.  Pack leftover sorbet into ice pop molds for the best popsicles or fruit paletas you've ever had.

The Soup that Went into the Cold -- Soup is good for you but not so hot when it's hot. So try a cold soup.  Here's recipes for my beet borscht which is delicious served cold, and my raw, cold mint soup which requires no cooking at all but a bit of the wait for the garlic infused stock to come together.

Make Mine a Cold One -- Try making your own ginger ale or sip an egg cream (did you know there is no egg and no cream in an egg cream) to help combat your own personal heat wave. Or try this simple strawberry licuado-style shake. Or maybe a frozen sweet tea.

Other Summer Food Ideas -- My Cold Peanut Noodle Salad works well as an appetizer or main course. My husband and I serve Vietnamese Spring Rolls (aka Salad Rolls or Summer Rolls) with a variety of filling options at parties, where he custom rolls each diner's selection of goodies in rice paper or lettuce.  Looking for something more formal?  This sliced zucchini appetizer from Chocolate and Zucchini makes a nice summer starter. A friend's mother introduced me to this grilled salad, which is easy and delicious.

Do you have a summer recipe on your blog/website you'd like to share?  Please leave a link in the comments section.

This Purim Make Noise for Kreplach

Most of us associate Purim foods with sweets such as hamantaschen cookies or other pastries, but kreplach, an Ashkenazi filled pasta, have long been enjoyed at Purim, probably because of the dumpling’s shape, which is associated with the tri-cornered hat ascribed to evil Haman. (Purim is March 20-21 this year.)

This Jewish boiled dumpling has roots back to medieval France and migrated with the Jews as they headed east. Making the dough and filling the pasta were labor-intensive, so kreplach were saved for Purim and a few other holidays.

I grew up eating kreplach stuffed with meat or chicken swimming in my chicken soup, but cheese and fruit jam variations are also popular.

Here are a few of my favorite kreplach recipes. These recipes use square wonton or goyza wrappers. If you want to make your own dough, use egg noodle dough rolled out very thin and cut into three-inch squares.

Don't feel like making kreplach?  Buy some premade tortellinis or wontons and enjoy the spirit of the day.

Meat or Poultry Kreplach
Makes about 30 dumplings

This recipe calls for raw ground meat or poultry. However, left-over pot roast, brisket or roast chicken make fabulous fillings. To substitute the cooked meat, do not use the ground meat, instead use ¾ of lb. of leftovers, minced fine, and add it to the browned onions and garlic. If the meat is highly seasoned you may want to reduce the amount of salt and pepper you use and not add the optional spice.

2 Tbs. oil
1 small onion, minced fine
1-2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 lb. ground beef, turkey or chicken, crumbled into small bits
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon OR ground ginger, optional
1 egg, beaten
About 8 oz. of square wonton or goyza wrappers

Heat oil in large fry pan. Sauté onion until light brown. Add garlic and sauté until golden. Add raw meat, sautéing until cooked through, breaking up any lumps of clumps. Add salt, pepper and cinnamon OR ginger if using. Drain excess fat and let cool. Mix in egg. (For a smoother filling, process in a food processor until smooth.)

Keep unused wonton squares covered to prevent them from drying out. Place about 1 tsp. of filling in the middle of each wrapper. Lightly wet a finger or pastry brush with water and moisten the borders of the square with water. Fold the lower left hand corner over the filling so it meets with the upper right hand corner, forming a triangle. Press firmly with your fingers or the tines of a fork to make sure the edges have sealed.

Cook in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water. Cook about half of the kreplach at a time. Reduce heat to simmer and cook dumplings for 15-20 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through but still has some resistance to the bite and is not mushy. Finished dumplings can be served in hot soup or drained and fried in schmaltz or oil with onions.

Jam Kreplach
Makes about 30 Dumplings

About 2 1/2 cups of fruit preserves or jam such as cherry, apricot or raspberry
About 8 oz. of square wonton or goyza wrappers
Cinnamon and or sugar

Choose a very thick preserve or jam, or drain for a few minutes to remove excess liquid. Place about 1 tsp. of fruit preserves or jam in the middle of a wrapper. Fold, seal and cook as described above. Drain and serve warm or at room temperature sprinkled with cinnamon and or sugar.

Cheese Kreplach
Makes about 30 Dumplings

Most cheese kreplach recipes rely on pot or farmer’s cheese, which can be hard to find. This one is based on a cottage cheese-ricotta filling I developed for blintzes.

½ lb. cottage cheese
½ lb. ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. flour
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon OR ground coriander, optional
About 8 oz. square wonton or goyza wrappers
Sour cream and or fruit sauce

Drain cottage cheese and discard liquid. Push the cottage cheese through a strainer or a sieve or whirl in a food processor to break up the curds. Mix with ricotta cheese, sugar, flour, salt, pepper and optional cinnamon or coriander. Place about 1 tsp. of filling in the center of the wrapper. Fold, seal and cook as described above. Drain. Serve warm or at room temperature with sour cream and or fruit sauce.

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A version of this post originally appeared in the Temple Beth Abraham Omer.

Cooking with Tea -- Beef Short Ribs in Smoky Tea Sauce and Frozen Sweet Tea Recipes

I have an affinity for tea. Since I was young, it's been an important part of my life.

In my earliest memories it was Lipton tea in a bag.  Then an English cousin introduced us to Red Rose. Then, with the aid of a trusty immersion coil (to boil water in my dorm room in those years before the residential microwave), I discovered the world of loose, herbal and flavored teas at McNulty's Teas in New York City.

I continue to drink tea of all sorts from complex chai to floral jasmine to delicate linden and more.  I have also used tea in cooking.

For several years I have wanted to develop more recipes with tea.  Recently, I took some time and did just that.  The recipes below were developed for a column in the j. weekly I did about a Bay area-based national tea firm, Republic of Tea.  The company started in 1992 and is located in Novato, CA. It distributes more than 200 products nationally. To see the version in the j., please click here.

Two of the company’s teas inspired me to create these recipes. I used its lapsang souchong tea (for more on lapsang souchong tea in general click here) combined with fragrant spices to give the beef short ribs a slightly smoky, wonderfully complex flavor. I used British Breakfast tea (a variant of English Breakfast tea) for the Frozen Sweet Tea, but any unflavored black tea (or decaffeinated black tea) will work. The third recipe, for an ice tea using Republic of Tea's Jasmine Jazz green tea, is adapted from the Republic of Tea website. (For some background on  jasmine teas in general, click here.)

Similar teas from other sources can be substituted. 

I have plans for more recipes using tea.  If you have some you'd like to share, please leave a link in the comments section below.

Boneless Beef Short Ribs in Smoky Tea Sauce
Serves 4

This blog would need smell-o-vision to help you really appreciate the deep, wonderful, exotic scent that wafts through the house as these short ribs braise.  And, once they are done, fork tender, moist and meaty, the taste does not disappoint.  A fine company dish, especially when made in advance and gently reheated.

Note: A coffee grinder does a great job of processing the tea and spices. Grind bread into crumbs and discard to clean before and after.

2 Tbs. plus 1 Tbs. lapsang souchong tea
1/2 tsp. Sichuan OR black peppercorns
4 whole OR 2 tsp. ground star anise
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
2 lbs. boneless beef short ribs
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
2 Tbs. oil plus more if needed
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
½ cup chopped celery
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro OR parsley

Grind 2 Tbs. of tea, peppercorns, anise, ginger and salt until very fine using a spice mill, cleaned coffee grinder, blender or mortar and pestle. Rub spice mix all over short ribs. Let coated meat sit for 30 minutes.

Heat the stock to boiling. Take off heat. Steep remaining tea in hot liquid for 5 minutes using a tea ball or strainer. Remove tea leaves, reserve liquid.

Heat oil on high heat in a large, deep pan and brown short ribs on all sides. Set aside. Add more oil to pan if needed, reduce heat to medium high, sauté onion until lightly browned, add garlic, sauté until golden. Add carrot, bell pepper and celery, sauté for a minute and put meat back in pan, adding 1 cup of the reserved tea liquid. Bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to keep at simmer, turning meat and stirring occasionally and adding additional tea liquid if needed. Cook about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until very tender. Remove meat and keep warm. Cook sauce uncovered on high until reduced about in half. Pour sauce over short ribs. Sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Frozen Sweet Tea
Makes 6-8 Servings

This is a sorbet version of the popular Southern drink. The tea is brewed double strength as if for ice tea. Stop the freezing when the tea is slushy and still a bit liquidy and serve it in a glass with a straw for a "Slurpee" or "Icee" version.  If you are serving it as a sorbet, I think a little chopped mint on top is an appropriate garnish.

2 cups boiling water
8 bags or 8 tsp. loose unflavored black or decaffeinated black tea
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. lemon juice

Pour boiling water over tea bags or loose tea (in tea ball or strainer). Let steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags or leaves. Combine the other 2 cups of water with sugar in a small pot. Heat until sugar has dissolved and water is simmering, stirring occasionally. Mix tea and sugar water together. Stir. Refrigerate until cold. Add lemon juice. Stir. Pour into ice cream machine and process according to directions. It will be soft and slushy. Serve immediately or store in freezer. If frozen, let stand at room temperature 20 minutes before serving.

Adaption for Making without an Ice Cream Maker

This version makes a grainer, more granita-like frozen treat.

Once the tea and sugar mixture is cold, pour it into a metal pan or other freezer safe container that is wide and flat. Place in the freezer and stir and scrape the mixture every half hour with a sturdy fork until frozen. Remove from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving and scrape to break up and serve.

8 Ways to Serve Latkes -- Plus a Zippy Cranberry Pot Roast Recipe

Mixed latkes with spiced and regular
applesauce and salad with goat cheese.

We are at the halfway point of Chanukah and I thought some of you out there might need some fresh ideas on how to serve the traditional potato pancakes.  So, check out my ideas to light up latkes for the remaining nights of the holiday and as a special present at the end, my favorite pot roast recipe to go with them.  Don't save this Zippy Cranberry Pot Roast just for Chanukah (or Hanukkah) it's great for any meal and the leftovers are wonderful.

So here are eight ways to enjoy your potato pancakes. (Need a recipe for latkes, check out shortcut latkes here and my traditional recipe here.

1. With spiced applesauce. Warm homemade unsweetened, chunky applesauce and for each 2 cups of sauce, add 1 tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. allspice and a pinch of ground cloves. Add brown sugar to taste if desired. Simmer until spices have blended. Taste and add more of the spices if you want a stronger flavor. Serve warm atop latkes with sour cream or yogurt.

2. With a side of red cabbage and apples. Peel, core and thinly slice a large tart, firm apple. Sauté in butter or oil until softened. Drain a jar of purchased pickled red cabbage and toss with the apples. Heat through. Taste. Add a tsp. of sugar and or a Tbs. of apple cider vinegar if needed to make sweet and sour to your liking. Taste again and adjust as needed.

3. Sprinkled with sugar. While I had not heard about this tradition until recently, I researched it and for many people it wouldn’t be Chanukah without sugar on their potato pancakes.

4. With an egg on top. A recent acquaintance told me how delicious a freshly poached or fried egg is served on top of a crispy latke. Nice for breakfast or a light entrée. Top with a sprinkle of chopped green onions or chives, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Serve on a bed of frisee lettuce for a really gourmet brunch.

5. Crumbled as a soup topping. I like to scatter bits of leftover latkes on top of a sweet potato, butternut squash or red lentil and tomato soup. Combine ½ tsp. curry powder (or more to taste) with a cup of Greek-style yogurt, stir well and garnish the soup with dollops of this as well. (Or skip the soup and try serving the latkes with mango chutney and the curried yogurt topping.)

6. Bite size as a base for appetizer toppings ranging from bits of smoked salmon or a pinch salmon roe atop a dab of sour cream to hummus topped with chopped green olives or bits of preserved lemon (available in jars at some markets).

7. As a foil for a spicy sauce. Try squirting a little Sriracha chili paste sauce or other hot sauce on your latke, serving with some fresh salsa or eating with a sweet and spicy fruit sauce such as this one from “Cooking Jewish” by Judy Bart Kancigor (Workman). Combine in a medium sauce pan 1-16 oz. can pitted black cherries (slice first) plus the liquid from the can, ¾ cup of raisins, 1 cup white wine, 2-24 oz. bottles of Heinz or other chili sauce and 1/3 cup of dark brown sugar. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until reduced down and thick, about 20 minutes.

8. As a side dish to my favorite pot roast recipe with cranberries. 
Zippy Cranberry Pot Roast
Serves 8

Adapted from “The Jewish Holiday Cookbook” by Gloria Kaufer Greene (Times Books).

I wish I could take credit for this recipe. It’s easy and delicious and is a perfect partner to crispy fried potato latkes. I’ve made it with all sorts of cuts of meat, prepared it in the pressure cooker, and even cooked it ahead, frozen the sliced meat in the sauce and reheated it and this recipe has never failed to be anything but wonderful. The rich meat, spicy horseradish and tangy cranberries all really complement the latkes. This pot roast is also good over egg noodles. Be sure you keep cooking the meat until it gets really tender. My family likes when it is falling-apart soft.

1-15 oz. can of plain tomato sauce
1-14 to 16 oz. can of whole cranberry sauce
1 Tbs. prepared horseradish
1 tsp. powdered mustard
3 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
¼ cup red wine
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 lbs. boneless chuck roast

Combine tomato sauce, cranberry sauce, horseradish, mustard, vinegar, wine or juice and oil in a large Dutch oven or other pot. Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat. Lower heat until just simmering and cook for 5 minutes. Trim all excess fat from the roast and add to pot. Turn in sauce to cover. Cover pot and simmer over low heat, basting meat and turning occasionally. Cook for 2 to 4 hours or until the meat is very tender and no longer chewy. Remove meat from sauce. Leave pot uncovered and raise heat to medium high and cook down the sauce, stirring occasionally until it is as thick as you’d like. Cut meat into thick slices across the grain. Spoon some of the sauce over the meat on the serving platter and put the rest in a bowl to serve alongside.

How do you like to serve your latkes?  Please leave your ideas and any links in the comments section. Thanks!
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About the photo: Latkes, latkes everywhere at a recent latke tasting party.
A version of this article appeared previously in the Temple Beth Abraham Omer.

A New Take on an Old Testament Menu: Quick Steak Kabobs, Barley Cakes and Yogurt and Honey

An Old Testament (Torah) bible passage inspires a hospitable menu of quick steak kabobs, barley cakes and yogurt and honey. The barley cakes are wheat free; the yogurt is dairy free. 

A man sits under some trees and spies three strangers and begs of them to partake of his hospitality. He asks his wife to quickly make some cakes out of the choicest flour, he tells his servant to kill a calf and prepare its meat and he brings his guests refreshing curds to eat.

It is this passage in this week’s Torah portion from Genesis (Bereshit 18:1-22:24), known as Parshat Vayera, that is the basis of the mitzvot of hachnasat orchim, or welcoming guests. Abraham’s actions are even more remarkable in that G-d has appeared before him and he must turn away to offer the strangers succor.

This portion fascinated me for several reasons. The first was the importance of the act of hospitality. The second was practical. Killing and butchering a calf doesn’t seem like my idea of a quick meal these days. The third was historical. What kind of cakes would Sarah have made with her choice flour? How would the meat be prepared to cook quickly?

Based on this parshat, I’ve put together a menu that reflects some of the above. The recipes are all relatively quick to make. The cakes Sarah made were probably a form of flat breads or quick breads made of barley flour. Cutting the beef into small cubes reduces cooking time. As for serving curds with meat, the laws of kasruth now prohibit that, but a dessert of non-dairy vanilla yogurt drizzled with honey and sprinkled with chopped dates and nuts would be just as satisfying.

A version of this post first appeared in the j. weekly.  Here's the link to the column there.

Quick Steak Kabobs
Serves 4-6

If desired make additional marinade and use it to marinate sliced zucchini or other vegetables for the grill. Serve the kabobs with quick-cooking couscous and the barley cakes.

Note: If using bamboo or wood skewers, soak in water for a half hour before using.

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. ground red (cayenne) pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1½ - 2 pounds beef steak, cut into 1” cubes
¼ cup chopped parsley

In a large glass or stainless steel bowl combine the oil, juice, black pepper, salt, oregano, red pepper and garlic. Stir well. Reserve ¼ cup of marinade. Combine the steak cubes with the remainder and toss well. Use immediately, or if desired, cover and marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.)

Preheat broiler or grill. Thread the steak on 4-6 skewers. Place under broiler or on medium high grill, basting with the reserved marinade and turning occasionally until cooked to desired doneness. Serve on or off the skewers. Sprinkle with parsley.

Barley Flour Cakes

Barley cakes in the pan

Makes 8 small flat breads

These round quick breads have an earthy, satisfying taste. Barley flour is available in many natural food stores and on line.

2 cups barley flour
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbs. olive oil
¾ cup of warm water (90-100 degrees)
2 Tbs. vegetable oil plus additional as needed

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Drizzle in olive oil and water, mixing continually. Continue to mix (or use hands) until a dough forms. Working with your hands, knead the dough in the bowl for 2 minutes until smooth. Cover with damp cloth and let rest 30 minutes.

Separate dough into 8 balls then flatten and pat each into a rough disk about 2-2 ½ inches in diameter and about ¼ to ½ inch thick.

Heat vegetable oil in a heavy fry pan over medium high heat. Fry cakes 1-2 minutes on each side, adding additional oil as needed, until lightly browned on both sides and cooked through.

Yogurt and Honey
Serves 4

Because of Jewish dietary laws, this recipe uses non-dairy yogurt, but  if you'd like substitute regular yogurt.  To keep it vegan, use the non-dairy and drizzle with maple or date syrup instead of the honey.

3 cups non-dairy vanilla yogurt (soy milk or coconut milk for example)
¼ cup honey
¼ cup chopped dates
¼ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup chopped mint

Place about ¾ of a cup of yogurt in each serving dish. Drizzle each serving with the honey, sprinkle with ¼ of the dates and chopped nuts and scatter ¼ of the mint over top.

Kosher on $4 a Day -- Hunger Challenge 2010 and a Stuffed Cabbage Roll Recipe

It’s tough to eat on the $4 a day a person the food stamp program allows and even tougher if you have religious or health constraints. So I thought as part of my 2010 Hunger Challenge experience I would try a sample day where all I would consume would be kosher (according to Jewish dietary laws) and another where everything was organic. Here’s a bit about my experience of trying to keep kosher on $4 a day.

(A brief recap – the Hunger Challenge is sponsored by the San Francisco Food Bank to increase awareness of hunger and related issues in our community by having bloggers and others live on a “food stamp budget” of $4 per day per person for food.).

These constraints can be costly and time consuming. For example, the kosher ground beef I bought for the recipe below was $5.99 a pound. The same grade of ground beef without being butchered and handled in the prescribed religious manner was about $2.29 a pound. Also, any processed food has to be certified and labeled kosher, meaning it does not contain any prohibited food items (such as pork or shellfish) and does not mix meat and milk products. Such certification limits choices and can add to the cost as well. I kept costs down by shopping discount food stores spending about double the amount of time I normally would comparing prices and reading packaging to make sure my choices were properly certified.

I bought quick oats certified kosher in bulk and having that for breakfast with a small piece of fruit and a dollop of yogurt also helped keep my overall food costs down. For lunch I had a large bowl of vegetable soup with a slice of bread, but a serving of my Hunger Challenge Chili (cut the recipe in half and use only ½ pound of ground beef) over some rice or a baked potato would have worked well. I snacked on some carrots and celery stalks dipped in yogurt.

Since we are in the middle of celebrating the Jewish holidays this fall, I thought I would break some of the rules I make for myself when it comes to the Hunger Challenge. I generally develop easy, relatively quick-to-make entrees, but I wanted to make something special for a holiday dinner. This Hunger Challenge Stuffed Cabbage will take a little more time but can be made ahead and reheated. Serve it to a group of guests or enjoy it for several meals.

I had to change the recipe to reduce meat and seasonings to trim costs. My cost for the food used was $1.05 a serving, which means I could serve the stuffed cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes or rice and steamed carrots on the side and still come in at about $1.25 a person for this meal.

Hunger Challenge Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Serves 8

1 cup long grain rice
½ cup raisins
1 large green cabbage
2 Tbs. oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
½ cup chopped mushrooms
½ lb. ground beef, 15 percent fat or less
¼ tsp. and 1/8 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
Dash hot pepper sauce
1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes, divided
1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
¼ tsp sugar
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

Make rice according to package directions. Leave covered and set aside.

Soak the raisins in ½ cup of hot water. Core the cabbage and pull off 16 leaves plus extras if they are small. Submerge the leaves in a large pot of boiling water and cook covered until tender about 4 minutes. Drain and cool. Chop remaining cabbage. Keep 3 cups and reserve the rest for another use. (Perhaps this 12-Serving Vegetable Soup from Hunger Challenge 2008)

In a large sauté pan, heat oil. Fry onions until golden, add garlic. Sauté and add 3 cups of chopped cabbage, carrots and celery. Sauté until softened. Add mushrooms, sauté for 3 minutes, add beef, browning and breaking up any clumps. Add ¼ tsp salt, pepper and hot sauce. Add ½ can of crushed tomatoes. Combine well. Fluff rice. Mix well with meat mixture. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread ½ cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9” x 13” baking pan. Place a heaping ¼ cup of filling in the middle of a cabbage leaf. (Overlap two leaves if small.) Fold over the two shorter sides of the leaf. Fold over one of the longer sides, then the other. Place folded side down in the baking pan. Repeat.

Combine remaining tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes in a sauce pan, add drained raisins, 1/8th tsp of salt and the sugar. Heat through. Add 1 Tbs. of vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning to as needed. Spread sauce over top of rolls. Bake until heated through, approximately 40-45 minutes. Can be made ahead and reheated.

If you would like information on how to help in your area, please go to Feeding America to find a food bank near you. For more information on the San Francisco Food Bank, click here. To get the latest on the Hunger Challenge, go here.

This recipe and part of this article first appeared in the j. weekly. You can see the original column here.

Dog Days of Summer: Top Your Hot Dog with Homemade Relish, Chili or Tomato Onions

Red hots, hot dogs, frankfurters, wieners, tube steaks, or weenies, whatever you call America’s favorite sausage, they are a staple of summer. July was National Hot Dog Month and I thought I would celebrate (a bit belatedly) with a post about man (or woman) biting dog. And topping said dog with homemade pickle relish, New York-style warm tomato onions and or a delicious (vegetarian) chili certainly improves the dog days of summer.

The origins of the first actual hot dog in a bun as we know it are murky, but America’s claim goes back to 1870 in Coney Island, a beach resort in Brooklyn, N.Y, which by 1916 leads to the creation of Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand by Polish Jewish immigrants and its popularity with the throngs of visitors crowding the area’s beach and boardwalk.

New York City is still the top dog in frankfurter eating, according to National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. As made by an army of street vendors through out the city, the New York all-beef dog is boiled or steamed and served in a plain bun with a tomato-onion sauce and mustard. However, a Coney Island hot dog is one served in a bun topped with chili. Chicago-style tube steak connoisseurs avoid ketchup, use a poppy seed bun and serve their all-beef dog with a pickle slice, relish, a pickled pepper, onions, tomatoes, mustard and celery salt. Here in the West, we are more likely to enjoy an alternative style hot dog, perhaps made from tofu, turkey or chicken than the rest of the country.

I’ve adapted some of these favorite hot dog toppings. My Phoney Island Hot Dog Chili is vegetarian. New York Onions with Ketchup Sauce recreates the steamed onions with tomato sauce I loved as a child but with a more adult taste. Fresh Pickle Relish will perk up any hot dog but works well within the tradition of the Chicago dog. These recipes were featured in my jweekly column here, since they make the perfect topping for Kosher all beef or vegetarian dogs.

New York Onions with Ketchup Sauce
Makes 2 Cups

2 tsp. oil
2 medium onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup tomato ketchup
5 Tbs. tomato paste
1 cup water

Heat oil in large fry pan over medium high heat. Add onions, sauté until beginning to soften and light gold. Add pepper, paprika, cloves, sugar, salt, ketchup, tomato paste and water. Mix well. Bring to simmer, stirring frequently. Cover and lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until onions are very soft and sauce has thickened, about one hour. Serve warm over hot dogs.

Fresh Pickle Relish
Makes 2 Cups

Using a green bell pepper helps keep the relish it’s traditional green color. Red adds a bit of color.

6 medium full sour dill or garlic dill pickles
½ medium onion
1 jalapeño, seeded, optional
1 green or red bell pepper, seeded
1 tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

Finely chop or mince (do not puree) the pickles, onion, jalapeño (if using) and bell pepper and mix well. Add sugar, salt and vinegar. Mix. Cover and let stand for an hour. Taste and add more vinegar, salt and or sugar as needed.

Phoney Island Hot Dog Chili
Makes 12 cups

This recipe makes a flavorful and spicy “Greek” style lentil chili that works great on top of a vegetarian or regular hot dog (or as an entrée by itself). Try it with a sprinkling of raw onions and soy or regular cheese. This recipe makes a lot of chili. Try it for dinner on its own or as a spaghetti topping (substitute it for the beef chili in the Cincinnati Five-Way Chili recipe here, the seasonings are very similar) in addition to a hot dog topping. The chili improves if made ahead a day or two and can be frozen.

1 pound regular brown lentils, uncooked
2 Tbs. oil
2 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate
4 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground allspice
½ tsp. ground caradmon
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. paprika
1 bay leay
6 oz. tomato paste
1-14.z oz. can of diced tomatoes with liquid
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
½ tsp. salt or more

Cook lentils according to package directions. Drain. Heat oil over medium high heat in a deep pot. Saute onions until golden, add garlic and sauté for a minute. Add broth, chocolate, chili powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cardamom, cumin, and paprika. Bring to a boil. Add cooked lentils, bay leaf, tomato paste, diced tomatoes with liquid and vinegar. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally for an hour. Taste and add salt as desired. Simmer uncovered for 30-45 minutes until all the flavors have melded and the chili has thickened. Remove bay leaf before serving.

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About the photo: All three toppings on one dog. Not necessarily recommended for the faint of stomach, but useful for purposes of illustration.