A Call for Recipe Testers for Upcoming Cookbook

I’m ready for recipe testers!

If you’d like to be among the first to try a recipe (or a few) from the upcoming 52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners from the Global Jewish Kitchen (website coming soon, cookbook coming next year from The Collective Book Studio), please send an  email to 52shabbatscookbook@gmail.com and let me know if you have any food restrictions or limitations, and or if you prefer one kind of cooking over another (say grilling to baking, for example). I’ll send you back a recipe and full instructions.  

The book is mostly main course recipes for meat, chicken, fish, and vegetarian/vegan dinners that feature global flavors from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere with some desserts, starters, and side dishes. Every dish is packed with flavor and most recipes have make-it-in-advance directions.

While the theme is Jewish food (and the recipes follow Jewish dietary laws), these recipes should appeal to anyone who loves to cook local and eat global. So email me if you’d like to get an early preview of  the cookbook and I’ll get back to you ASAP. 

The fine print: Just a reminder, that you'll be receiving a work in progress that will be part of a copyright-protected book, so no electronic or other sharing of the written recipe you receive to test is allowed and  your feedback is to be kept confidential. Recipe testers must follow the recipe as closely as possible and document any changes as well as answer a questionnaire. There is no payment  for recipe testing or associated materials or supplies. Deadline to request to be a recipe tester for this first round of testing is October 20th. After that I'll keep your name on file if we need additional testers for the second round.

P.S. I’m planning a special eBook exclusive for recipe testers, featuring my favorite global ingredients!

Don't Pass Over These Passover Recipes -- A Round Up of Pesach Dishes from Column and Blog and Soup to Nuts

A variety of harosets celebrates the diversity of the Jewish food ways

It's that time of year again -- the time of year where families and friends gather around and ask the four questions -- what can I eat, why can't I eat that, when do we eat (said during the Seder) and how did I eat so much?

Seder Plate

Joking aside, it's a time of special meals and special ingredients and restrictions.  The recipes featured below follow general Ashkenazi traditions of no rice, beans, corn or other kitniyot, which are traditionally eaten by some Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews (and now by some Conservative Jews). If the recipes include processed foods such as tomato sauce they are available certified for Passover and are available on line if not locally.

Many of these recipes are from my j., The Jewish News of Northern California column, others are from Blog Appetit. Some are suitable for Seder, others for every day cooking, some work for both.  Enjoy.

Chicken Soup, Matzah Balls

Appetizers and Starters
Eggplant Garlic, Eggplant Almond and Roasted Vegetable Dips
Vegan Matzah Balls
Horseradish Stuffed Eggs
Baked Gefilte Fish with Beet-Horseradish Topping
Bitter Herbs Salad
Zucchini Fritters
Levana Kirschenbaum's Moroccan Fish Soup
Gluten Free Chicken Almond Dumplings for Soup
Matzah Balls with Fresh Herbs
Matzah Balls 101
Chicken Soup 101

Main Courses

Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole (with ground beef)
Caramelized Balsamic Chicken
Paula Shoyer's Brisket and Roast Salmon

Paula Shoyer's Roast Salmon

Vegan and Gluten Free Moussaka with Two Sauces
 Saucy Eggplant Bake
Zucchini-Matzah Meal Crust Pizza and Oven Frittata with Peppers and Greens
Salmon Steamed in Foil
Grilled Lamb (note: many Ashkenazi do not eat lamb for Seder while many other Jews regard it as an important component of the Seder table.)
Lamb Stew with Tomatoes, Peppers and Dill
Gluten Free Chicken Vegetable Tagine with Quinoa
Cauliflower Matzah Bake, Apple and Vegetable Cobbler

Strawberry Chocolate Pudding

Desserts
Lemon Ice and Strawberry Chocolate Pudding
Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies
Baked  Matzah Dessert
Tzimmes Cookies and Cake
Jeff Nathan's Poached Apricots with Lemon and Thyme
Almond Brittle
Lemon Pistachio Bars


Other

Custard Matzah Brei

Matzah Granola and Pesach Crepes
Haroset Matzah Fry
Quinoa Berry Muffins
Sweet Potatoes with Pineapple, Moroccan Carrot Salad
Custard Matzah Brei
Passover Potato Gnocchi
Four Haroset Recipes from Around the World
One More Haroset Recipe

Ice Cream for Breakfast -- Make Every Day a Sundae (Or at Least on February7)

Try an ice cream taco for breakfast

Ice Cream for Breakfast is this Saturday, February 7.

My friend Jan introduced me to this wonderful celebration a few years ago and I've since been determined to spread the word. (For more info on this celebration of the sweet and icy, click here.

I'm in Vietnam far from my home kitchen and not able to whip up new creations, so I thought I'd post links to some of my previously posted ice cream creations that might be adapted for breakfast.

Enjoy!

Here's some recipes to try from my j weekly column and Blog Appetit

Ice cream sandwiches and tacos
Chocolate (or other flavor) waffle ice cream sandwiches
Ice cream cake (add some chopped bananas)
Strawberry shake (made with ice cream)

You can also make a fruit, granola and ice cream parfait, or top some pancakes with ice cream and maple syrup, or ....

Let's be honest, you don't really need recipes for this!  If you want more ice cream or sorbet inspired, please search this blog, I have lots of frozen treat recipes for you!

How to Find my j. Weekly Columns and More (Including Playing Jewish Geography in the Produce Aisle)

For the last five years, I have had a regular Jewish cooking column every other week at the j weekly, a print and on line publication based in San Francisco and covering the Bay area and northern California.

It is a joy to work with my editors and the publication and I get a lot of opportunity to speak to Bay area groups about Jewish food, especially some of its international roots and traditions because of my connection to the j.  I also get to talk to and share recipes with some pretty amazing folks from home cooks to restaurant owners to cookbook authors as part of the research for my j. pieces.

I also get recognized a bit, usually in the supermarket and usually in the produce aisle.  Folks will stop me and we will play "I know I know you, I just don't know how" for a bit and then it will finally dawn on me that we really don't know each other and they have just seen the photo the j prints alongside my column (see photo at left.  The j uses a cropped version of it).

I'll ask if they subscribe to the j.  Then I'll ask if they read the recipes.  If they say yes but still don't have a clue, I'll ask if they ever cut out the recipe columns and hang on the fridge. Bingo. My face is staring down at them as they work in the kitchen and I've become so familiar it seems like I'm an old friend.  

An encounter like this makes my day, to say the least.

I do often get questions from non-subscribers (you really should subscribe, it's a great paper.  For a free four week subscription to the j, click here and be sure to let them know Faith sent you!) out-of-area readers and those who have misplaced their clipped out columns how to find my recipes and other writing on the j. website. 

The easiest way to find a relatively current column is to go to my author archive at the j at

http://www.jweekly.com/article/author/959/faith/ for the last five or six months worth.  If it's longer ago than that, check out the paper's cook archives at http://www.jweekly.com/cook/archives/ and select the appropriate year.  The archives also feature the work of my co-columnist Josie A. G. Shapiro, and the columnists that came before us.

One of the great resources the j (formerly the Jewish Bulletin) offers is the recipe index where you can search my and others' recipes by ingredient (use keyword sort), holiday (use category sort), etc. 

Try it out at  http://www.jweekly.com/search/recipes/

I am always reaching out to folks with ideas for columns and recipes (I especially like to feature locals with a foodie connection, long-time family recipes, or cuisine expertise but always with some sort of Jewish connection).  If you have an idea or question for me - leave a comment on this post or email me at clickblogappetit AT gmail DOT com.

A Confession

It's been too long since I've posted.  I have lots to say, lots to share, a back up of posts written in my head but not typed out, recipes tried, photos that need to be cropped and more, but somehow the link between intent and actually doing something has been broken.

This is made worse by the longer it's been since I've posted.  I keep thinking I have to come back with something super, super special.  Which makes by blogger's block even worse.

I promise you I have been creating and thinking and recording and I will soon get back to sharing. (Maybe even later today).  But first off I needed to confess.

Blog Roll Addition -- The Chicken Contests

Well, I haven't updated the links in my blog roll as I've been promising, but I didn't want to wait for that elusive update before I added The Chicken Contests, the blog/website of Jose A. G. Shapiro, who I share my j weekly column with.

Josie writes about her family, recipes and entries (and wins) to cooking contests.  Hope you'll click by and say hi.

For more recommended links - please see my blog roll post here. You can find the link in my right hand column any time.

BTW --  October 14th marked the eighth anniversary of Blog Appetit.  Thanks for your support, readership and feedback.

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.

Honestly, a New Feature on Product Testing

To be honest, Blog Appetit gets a fair number of samples and I may share my thoughts on social media and with friends, or incorporate the products in recipes, but I haven't really taken the time to spell out the good (and bad) of the samples I receive as well as the new-to-me products I buy.

Right now, I'm still working out the mental kinks on a savory tea and contemplating what to say about a new chia seed pasta.  Watch for those posts relatively soon.  There will be more posts periodically reviewing food and cooking products, sometimes in length and sometimes very briefly, but always very honestly.

So look for these posts or search them out via the labels/categories on the right hand column called "Honestly - Product Reviews."

To kick off this feature, I want to give a shout out to Satori Cheese, who sent me a great gift pack of the company's BellaVitano cheeses awhile ago. I nibbled a few and found them very tasty (especially the ones rubbed with merlot and espresso powder -- that's two different cheeses by the way).  I had turned pretty much vegan by then, however, and didn't use them recipes.  Everyone I served them to seemed to like the basic cheese and some enjoying the flavored rubs.  My husband liked the plain (non rubbed) one best.  The red wine won honors as top flavored cheese.  Those who tried the espresso rub either loved or hated it.

Satori has some flavors that I've been unwilling to sample (the limited edition pink peppermint cheese, for example), but the wine and espresso were hits for me. 

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Photo credit:  Agence de presse Meurisse‏ [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Disclosure:  Satori Cheese samples were provided free of charge

Adding to My Suggested Links Section

I have been remiss in updating my long-neglected links section.  My lack of attention to my blogroll is especially shameful since I so enjoy clicking through other blogs' links to discover new favorites.

One of these days, I'm going to give it a complete overhaul, but for now I just wanted to introduce you to Anna Mindess's blog East Bay Ethnic Eats.  Even if you don't live in the area roughly bounded by being east of San Francisco and west of the Sacramento River delta, you'll find lots of interesting stories about food and the people behind it on Anna's blog.  You can read more about her and where else you might find her writing here.

Enjoy. 
(Oh, and I promise to revitalize the links section soon.  And if you are looking for my recommendations in the future, look for the link to the links in the right hand column of Blog Appetit.)

Happy 100th to Julia Child and My Julia Sighting

It must have been close to 30 years ago when I first dined at Chez Panisse, Alice Water's famed Berkeley, CA, restaurant. Back then I was overly intimated by name restaurants and Alice's restaurant was famed not only for its food and founder but for the impact it was already having on the cuisine of California and elsewhere.

I was prepared to be amazed and delighted and to have the meal I'd remember for a lifetime and I suppose I did, except I remember nothing, absolutely nothing of the meal.  All I remember is the charming, laughing, curly-headed, tall older woman sitting a few tables away who I instantly realized was Julia Child.

Alice herself came over to Child's table and there was much hugging and more laughing and pleasure in being together.  The two certainly seemed to be bon amies. 

Just seeing two of my American idols was enough, I've never been one who needs to ask for autographs or impose on the famous since I've found their golden touch really doesn't rub off, but it is a delicious memory I'll always treasure.

A few years later I was at a women's club meeting in San Francisco.  There a few tables away, was a familiar looking woman - tall, curly-haired, booming voice, good natured.  I kept thinking she looked just like someone I knew.  A tablemate leaned over and whispered, "Oh, that's Dorothy, Julia Child's sister" and the mystery was solved.  Turned out Julia's sister lived in the Bay area.

I did not have any other brushes with Julia (or her sister), but I was always grateful to have had a chance to glimpse her in person.  Back then I didn't need to tell her how she influenced me, but 30 years ago her impact was more based on her cooking and her entertaining personality that the lessons I learned and the person I came to know between the lines of her recipes. (You can read some of that in my post about making Julia Child's lemon curd.)  Her dogged determination, her reinvention not just of herself but of cookery and the American food landscape combine to make a character worthy of being played by Meryl Streep.

One last word, it has been bandied about much that the elderly Child did not care for the Julie & Julia project (where Julie Powell cooked through Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year).  I always felt the nonagenarian was broadsided by the interview. But later reading a post by a L.A. Times reporter and her discussion with long-time editor Judith Jones, I began to have more understanding for her position on it. Jones felt that Child had a generational difference as well as an impatience with such a derivative project. Sarah Moulton, also reported her friend Julia's disdain for those she felt would try to make money off her reputation and name.  I much prefer the report of a family friend who said Julia appreciated her work inspiring others. 

I myself have mixed feelings about the blog and resulting movie, but I'm glad Julia's legacy has been made relevant for another generation of Americans.

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia.
Thanks for the recipes.

Bon Appetit.
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Photo credit: Public domain Julia Child signature -- Wikipedia

Oakland Veg Week Diary

Please check out my all vegan all the time blog, Dish It Up Vegan, for a report on my Oakland Veg Week experiences, including recipes ideas and restaurant resources.  Check it out here.

Recipe Update - Shredded Pastry with Nuts for Passover

Please click here to see an important recipe update for my Passover shredded pastry recipe.  A change in ingredient manufacture necessitates a change in preparation .  Scroll to the bottom on recipe for update note.

Yikes - Sorry

I am more behind in keeping up the blog than normal, but I promise to catch up soon.
In the meantime, I have written a few recipe concepts over at my all vegan all the time blog, Dish it Up Vegan.  Please click over there to see some of what I've been eating.

Say It With Cookies - Happy Holidays

These gorgeous cut-out linzer cookies were made by the wonderful Anita Chu of Dessert First and part of the recent holiday cookie swap at the home of La Vie En Route blogger Annelies Hyatt Zijderveld.

There was lots of good cookies, good cheer and good company, but probably the most fun was had by rearranging the letters left of Anita's cookies once you ate one.  It became kind of a game, if you ate one you had to play cookie anagrams and make sense of the remaining letters.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.
All the best for 2012

Faith

P.S. What cookies did I bring?  I brought a version of my peppermint candy cookies.

Inviting Judaism to the Thanksgiving Table -- A Talk on November 13 in Oakland

If you are in the Bay area, I hope you will come hear me (as well as a panel of other speakers) talk about how to add layers of understanding to your Thanksgiving meal.  I'll be exploring some of the roots of this very American tradition and explore how we can bring use some of our experiences with Passover, Sukkot and other holidays to add ritual and meaning without necessarily remaking the holiday as "Jewish" since many of us share the holiday table with friends and relatives of different backgrounds.

We'll also discuss (and sample) some Thanksgiving foods with a Jewish twist.

The event is from 3 to 5 p.m. at Temple Beth Abraham, 327 Euclid Avenue, Oakland, CA.  The event is free to members of Women of Temple Beth Abraham, $18 for others.

Please email me at clickblogappetitATgmailDOTcom if you would like more information or to RVSP. 

Update:  See my post here for the recipes and links to the trivia contest and resource guide I created.
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Photo credit: MS Clip Art

A Celebration of Six Years - Thai Vegetable Curry Cooked Inside a Pumpkin

This is Blog Appetit's sixth blog-o-versary. I like to mark my blog's anniversary with either mawkish sentiment or a celebration recipe.  This year I did both. You can read the sentimental part here. Now on to the recipe.

There's a lot of background on this pumpkin curry dish. First I love Thai pumpkin curry in all of its guises and wanted to create my own version.  Next I love baking things in pumpkins -- to date I've made custards, South American corn stew, turkey chilis and soups in pumpkins, so I've got a theme going on. (Unfortunately, none of these dishes are on the blog. Yet.)  I also like cooking with pumpkins and winter squash so you'll find lots of recipes and how tos on the blog for that.  And when it comes to cooking savory dishes in a pumpkin my preference is for the tasty, nutty flesh of the kabocha, also called Japanese pumpkin and a type of winter squash that is reportedly used in Thailand.

Also, aside from whacking off the pumpkin "lid" and cleaning out those pesky strings and seeds (really it should just take you a few minutes), it is a very easy recipe but has a wonderful wow factor making it a perfect celebration dinner dish.  Like for a blog-o-versary.

Thai Vegetarian Curry Baked in a Pumpkin
Serves 4-6

You may be able to “harvest” the cup of squash chunks for the stir fry during your pumpkin prep. If not, use the sweet potato pieces instead. (If you need tips on cutting and cleaning a pumpkin, please check out my pumpkin "boot camp" post.) If you are avoiding animal products, be sure to read the ingredient label of your red curry paste. Some are made with shrimp and many have fish sauce. The level of spiciness varies between brands of curry paste, so you may need to increase or decrease the amount accordingly. This recipe will serve about 4 people if it’s the only main dish but more if there are other entrees or a lot side dishes. I served this over red jasmine rice, but regular white or brown jasmine or other rice would work well.

1 large kobacha pumpkin
15 oz. can regular or light coconut milk
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 ½ cups chopped onion
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 large carrot, cut into ¼” rounds
1 cup of ½” red pepper chunks
2 cups of ½” chunks of Asian, Thai or Italian eggplant (unpeeled)
1 cup ½” winter squash or sweet potato chunks
2 cups quartered button or crimini mushroom caps
1 Tbs. (or to taste) prepared red curry paste
2 cups ½” cubes of wheat gluten and or pressed, firm tofu
½ cup fresh Thai or Italian basil, divided.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut top off pumpkin, reserve. Clean out seeds and strings. Pour can of coconut milk into pumpkin. Cover with reserved lid. Put on a rimmed baking dish or pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes until just tender.

While the pumpkin is baking, make the curry. Heat oil in wok or large fry pan. Sauté onions, garlic and ginger until the onions are beginning to brown and soften. Add the carrots and peppers and stir fry or sauté for a few minutes until slightly charred and browned. Add eggplant and squash chunks. Stir fry or sauté until eggplant and squash have begun to soften and brown. Add mushrooms. Stir fry or sauté for a minute then add the red curry paste. Mix well. Add the wheat gluten or tofu and continue to stir fry or sauté for a few minutes. Take off heat and reserve until the pumpkin is ready.

Once the pumpkin’s flesh is just tender (test with a fork), remove the baking pan from the oven, but keep the oven on. Wearing oven mitts, remove top and carefully pour coconut milk into stir fry vegetable mixture. Be careful not to rip or tear the pumpkin shell. Bring vegetables and coconut milk to a simmer, stirring frequently until the vegetables are almost cooked through and the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce. Taste and add more red curry paste if desired. Stir in ¼ cup of the basil, cooking for an additional minute. Spoon curry inside pumpkin until packed, replace pumpkin lid and return to the baking dish and place in the oven for about 30 minutes or until pumpkin flesh is soft all the way through and curry is heated through. To serve, remove the lid, sprinkle with remaining basil and scoop out some of the pumpkin flesh with the curry.

A note about pumpkin size and integrity. If your squash proves to be too small (which has happened to me), just reheat your extra veggie curry and serve alongside the pumpkin encased version, or refill your pumpkin as the contents diminish. I did have an unfortunate tear when I poured out the coconut milk from the pumpkin in the photo above but was able to “mend” the rip with skewers and the squash held together admirably during cooking.

My Blog-O-Versary

Today is my 6th anniversary of Blog Appetit.
I don't know the exact number because I changed over stat aps, but I'm closing in on or have just passed something like 300,000 page views.  It is humbling to have been able to share my ideas, recipes, appetites and passions with so many readers.

I hope to post a special anniversary post with a special recipe or two, but my time for blogging is a bit more limited now than it has been in the past.  Regardless if I get to write that post, I wanted to be sure to take time to thank those of you who read, comment, use my recipes, and support my causes for your time and consideration.  A special thank you to my regular readers and all those who follow me, subscribe to my RSS feed or have me bookmarked and the food bloggers with sites small and large for the support and inspiration they have given me throughout the years.

Thank you all so much.

Update: I did indeed post a celebration recipe -- Thai vegetable curry baked in a pumpkin. Hope you'll try it.

Teaser -- The Temporary Vegan in Las Vegas and More

From omnivore to herbivore with a stop for eating healthy in Sin City I take a gamble and give up all animal products in my diet to gain health, wellness and food justice and lose weight while still eating well. A memoir with menus.  A how-I-did it with recipes.  Watch for part 1 coming to Blog Appetit soon.

Learn how social pressure resulted in one of the best decisions I ever made for my health and about my early mistakes, my search for a meat substitute,snappy comebacks suitable for questioning friends, families and servers and my recipes for vegan mole, posole, Turkish greens, Thai specialties, and much much more.

Blog Appetit To Go

Just a heads up. I've enabled Blogger's mobile template for all you smart phone users.  Please let me know how you like it and if you have any problems using it.

Thanks

Okay, Enough with the Excuses ...

Oh, almost enough excuses anyway:

Some things I've been working on:

Turkish recipes, including a killer adana kebob
Turkish spiced meatloaf
Black-eyed peas and greens tamales
Revised carrot cake
A trip through some of the Oakland-Berkeley ethnic markets

and so much more.

Hope this helps you wait for me to work my way through work and writing deadlines and personal issues unitl I can return to blogging on a more regular basis.  My mom used to call things like this a lick and a promise, a phrase I always liked but am afraid to use today because of the changing nature of slang, but that's what this is -- a little taste and a promise of more to come.

Thanks for hanging in with me.