An Essential Baking Book and a Honey Cookie Recipe

One of the nice things about being a food writer is that you get to spend time with other food writers and taste and share the recipes they create.

My friend, Beth Lee (who blogs at omgyummy.com and lives in the Bay area) has a new cookbook out and it is truly The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook. The book, published by Rockridge Press, offers up 50 traditional recipes, many inspired by Lee’s Ashkenazi grandmother. While the book has lots of delectable recipes for babkas, bagels, challah and other Eastern European and East Coast Jewish specialties (including my favorite black and white cookies), it also offers goodies from other Jewish communities ranging from pita to Yemeni bread, Sephardic fritters, borekas, baklava, and more.

The book also has an extensive introduction on baking basics and ingredients and the recipes are well written and easy to follow. I felt like I could hear Lee guiding me through the steps as I baked.

I tried her recipe for Honey Cookies. They were light, satisfying, and not too sweet, a nice accompaniment to another dessert (try them with ice cream or a lemon or honey mousse) or by themselves. They also are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. They would also be good to serve during Rosh Hashanah, when desserts made with honey are traditional for some.

I made them slightly larger than the recipe calls for and used lemon curd to make sandwich cookies. A berry jam would work as a cookie filling, too. The recipe is dairy. For a non-dairy option, Lee says to replace the melted butter with ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil.

The recipe below is adapted for space, style and to reflect my experience making it.  Thanks to Lee for letting me share this recipe from The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook: 50 Traditional Recipes for Every Occasion.

Beth Lee’s Honey Cookies

Adapted from The Essential Jewish Baking Book (Rockridge Press)

Makes 48 cookies

2 ½ cups flour

¼ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

½ cup honey

¼ cup brown sugar

1 Tbs. fresh lime juice

1 tsp. grated lime zest

½ cup sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. In a second medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, honey, brown sugar, lime juice, and lime zest until well mixed. 

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Stir with a wooden or metal spoon until there is no flour visible.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.  While the dough is chilling, line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.  If baking both sheets at the same time, place oven racks in the top and bottom third of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place sugar in small bowl. Take heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in sugar and place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten with hands or tines of a fork until they are about ¼-inch thick.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they have spread and begin to brown on the undersides. (If using 2 sheets at once, rotate halfway through.) Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Notes: If the dough turns sticky while rolling, try oiling your hands or wetting with cold water. If the weather is very warm, you may need to return dough to refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up. I found a thin metal spatula worked best to remove the cookies from the baking sheet. The cookies will be soft at first but crisp up nicely when they cool. Stored airtight at room temperature, they stay crisp and last several days.

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This material is adapted from my September 2021 cooking column in Temple Beth Abraham's Omer newsletter.

Where to Find Me on The Web -- Guest Posts at A Great Good Place for Books, Will Write for Food, More

Coffee lovers were whipped into a frenzy by this and I learned a lesson

Lately, in addition to working on my food and recipe columns for the j, Northern California's Jewish Resource, I have had two guest posts.

The first was on the blog of  food writing teacher, mentor and friend Dianne Jacob, where I wrote about the challenges of creating recipes during the early days of the COVID-19 stay in place orders, when grocery shelves were often bare and home pantries in survival mode.  It includes the lessons I learned by being an internet trend follower (including the dalgona coffee pictured above.)

The second was in support of one of my favorite independent bookstores, Oakland's wonderful  A Great Good Place for Books (they ship, too). Owner Kathleen Caldwell and staff are always helpful, supportive and knowledgeable and I wanted to do what I could to help. This post also had a coronavirus angle, suggesting folks get Andrea Nguyen's excellent Vietnamese Food Any Day for a break from SIP comfort food and carbs. In VFAD, Nguyen follows in her mother's footsteps (food steps?) and shows how to resource classic and new Vietnamese recipes from local supermarkets. The post has a few photos of the dishes I made from the book.

Oh, and if you'd like to know more about the best iced coffee I ever made, see my article/post at the j for instructions and variations on dalgona or whipped coffee.  Key tip, you can NOT sub out the instant coffee. And wear an apron, it gets messy.

For more of my regular recipe columns from the j, you can find them on my j author page. They appear in print every other week and are released online shortly before or after publication.  Make the j your home for globally inspired Jewish recipes. Plus, if you ever have a question about the recipe, email me at the address at the bottom of the post, and I'll try to help you out.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake from Dairy Made Easy

My mini bundt cake version of the cake

I often get feedback on the recipes I share in my j weekly  newspaper column.  Lately people have been raving the most about this Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake recipe.  Irony is that it is not my recipe, but written by the authors of the cookbook I was reviewing.

It was one of the recipes I featured from a new cookbook called Dairy Made Easy: Triple Tested Recipes for Every Day by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek. The book offers contemporary dishes including soups, pizzas, pasta, sandwiches and desserts. It includes lots of helpful tips on cooking with cheese.

The recipe recommends a spring form or bundt pan, but I made my version in mini-bundt pans which was great for eating some now and freezing some for later.  Depending on the size of the mini bundt pans, the recipe will make 6-8 mini bundt cakes (each cake serves 2 or so folks). Baking time for the mini bundts is about 40-50 minutes.

For more on the cookbook, go to http://www.artscroll.com/Products/DMEP.html.  To read my piece in the j with two additional recipes (for Roasted Vegetable Pasta and Pomegranate and Apple Salad with Creamy Parmesan), click here.

Recipe below from Dairy Made Easy by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek. Reprinted with permission from the copyright holders: ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake
Serves 12

1 cup sour cream (do not use vegan, low fat or fat free)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup    butter
1 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
2              eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups flour
10 oz.      chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10” inch tube or bundt pan. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and baking soda. Sour cream should bubble and expand. Set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and 1 cup sugar. Beat until light and creamy. Add eggs and extracts. Add baking powder and half the flour. Add sour cream mixture, then remaining flour. Beat until just combined. Do not overmix.

Combine chips, walnuts, cinnamon, and remaining sugar. Sprinkle some of the chocolate-nut mixture into the pan. Add half the batter over it, then half of the remaining chocolate-nut mixture. Add remaining batter. Top cake with remaining chocolate-nut mixture. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until top is firm and crispy. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
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FYI: Since this was originally written for a mainstream media publication, the j weekly, no disclaimer is needed as per FTC regulations.

If Your New Year's Resolution is to Learn to Cook, Then Susie Fishbein Has a Design for You!

Asparagus Fries Ready for the Oven

The New Year is traditionally the time to start thinking about resolutions and if your vows for 2013 include learning kitchen basics or tackling some new recipes, Susie Fishbein’s “Kosher by Design Cooking Coach” (Artscroll) can take you from vow to wow.  

Fishbein’s new book, the latest in her Kosher by Design series, is not just for the novice.  The popular cookbook author has designed a book that works for any level by starting each chapter out with a “game plan” that covers the basic knowledge as well as more advanced techniques the home cook will need for appetizers, soup, salad, poultry, meat, fish, desserts and more.  She also includes information on kitchen equipment such as choosing and sharpening knives, stocking a pantry and planning menus.  Fishbein also has a chapter that lists ideas for repurposing leftovers for most recipes.

The cookbook is also not just for kosher or even Jewish cooks.   Fishbein’s recipes reflect America’s wide-ranging palate with dishes including Slow-Roasted Shiitake Asparagus Salad, Kansas City Ribs, Tandoori Salmon, Kale Chips, Chocolate Peanut Butter Molten Cakes and Thai Sticky Rice and Mangoes.   Jewish-inspired recipes include Vegetable Stuffed Cabbage, Yemenite Beef Soup, Israeli Eggplant Pepper Salad, Lamb Couscous, Shakshouka (a tomato and egg dish), Sweet Spaghetti Squash Kugel, and Chocolate Babka Meltaway.

Thanks to her clear and straight forward directions and the full-color photos of techniques and finished dishes, the recipes I tried were easy to follow and delicious. 

I really enjoyed her Green Bean and Asparagus Fries (although I skipped the dipping sauce in favor of a garlic aioli) as an appetizer or hors d'oevere.  For a main course, try the Pomegranate-Honey Chicken.  Be sure to line the pan with foil for easy clean up.  I would add a little salt and pepper to the recipe, but it was delicious even without it.  Leftovers made a scrumptious casserole with the chicken pulled off the bone and mixed with pomegranate molasses, sauteed onions, garlic and carrots and cooked wild rice mix then baked until heated through.

The recipes for both dishes are below and are from “Kosher by Design Cooking Coach: Recipes, Tips and Techniques to Make Anyone a Better Cook” by Susie Fishbein  (Artscroll Mesorah Publications/October 2012) The recipes have been edited for space.  The recipes are used with permission.  A version of this article appeared in j weekly.

Kosher by Design Cooking Coach’s Pomegranate-Honey Chicken
Serves 8-10

I used the silan (date honey) which added a lot of dimension to the sauce.

12 chicken parts, bone-in, with skin (legs, thighs, breasts) 1/2 cup silan (date syrup) or honey 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1 tsp. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. margarine
Fresh pomegranate seeds, for garnish

Use foil to line a broiler-safe baking dish that holds the chicken snugly.  Arrange the chicken in a single layer.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small pot over medium heat, wisk the silan, brown sugar, juice, terikyaki sauce, cornstarch, tomato paste, thyme and garlic. Bring to simmer for a minute or two until thickened.  Whisk in margarine. Reduce heat slightly.  Cook for 1 minute.  Generously brush the mixture on each piece of chicken.  Drizzle additional sauce over the top of each piece.

Bake uncovered 45 minutes until chicken is no longer pink at the bone (dark meat may take longer, if so remove white meat to a platter and cook dark until done).  Brush the chicken with the sauce in the baking pan every 15 minutes while cooking.  After 45 minutes, turn on broiler and broil chicken until skin is brown and crispy; keep a close eye on it.  Transfer to platter, baste again with pan sauce.  Garnish with seeds and more pan sauce.

Kosher by Design Cooking Coach's Green Bean and Asparagus Fries with Dipping Sauce
Serves 8-10

4 large eggs, whisked well
1 3/4 cups panko bread crumbs
1 lb. green beans, stem ends sliced off
1 bunch (20-28 spears) medium-thick asparagus, bottom 2”cut off
Non-stick oil spray
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs. yellow mustard
1 tbs. finely chopped dill or Israeli pickles
2 tsp. pickle juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place eggs in large bowl, bread crumbs in a second.  Dip a small handful of green beans at a time into eggs and then panko, patting to adhere the panko to the vegetables.  Place in a single layer on large baking sheet(s).  Repeat with remaining green beans and asparagus.  Spray non-stick cooking spray over vegetables.  Bake, uncovered, for 12 minutes, until crisp and light golden brown.  In the meantime, prepare dipping sauce by whisking together mayonnaise, mustard, chopped pickle and pickle juice.  Serve fries with dipping sauce.

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

A Taste of Turkey -- Easy Baklava Recipe

I'm still working out the kinks on my versions of the different foods and dishes I tasted in Istanbul, Cappadocia, Esphesus and elsewhere in Turkey.

In the meantime, here is the baklava recipe I usually use.  It is adapted from Paula Shoyer's excellent The Kosher Baker: Over 160 Diary-Free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy. (Brandeis University Press) Her version is vegan, has more filling and is not as sweet as many others I’ve tried. Turkish versions would omit the orange blossom water, but for other cultures it is traditional and it gives the pastry a floral essence.

I first wrote up this recipe for my friend Anna Mindess' wonderful blog, East Bay Ethnic Eats, for her post on handmade filo (phyllo) dough.

Layered Baklava with Orange Blossom Syrup
Serves 20

The mix of nuts gives the baklava a very complex taste. This recipe is adapted from Shoyer’s book. This recipe is written for defrosted, commercial filo dough. It is even more spectacular made with fresh. If you’d like, brush canola oil on the filo dough layers rather than spraying them with the spray oil as Shoyer does.

1 2/3 cups shelled, unsalted pistachios
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup walnut pieces
2 ¼ cups of sugar, divided
Canola oil spray
1 package frozen filo dough, thawed according to package directions
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup water
2 tsp. orange blossom water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put pistachios, almonds, walnuts and ¼ cup of sugar in food processor with metal blade. Process until ground into tiny pieces but not pulverized.

Grease a 9”x13” pan with spray oil. Cut sheets of filo to size if necessary. Lay 1 sheet in pan, spray with oil. Repeat 4 times until you have a stack of 5 sheets. Scatter ¾ cup of the nuts mixture evenly on top. Repeat until you have 5 filo layers of 5 sheets each and 4 nut layers. Finish with the filo on top. Spray the top sheet heavily with oil.

With a sharp knife, make diagonal cut through all the layers across the pan, about 1 ½” apart. Then make diagonal cuts in the other direction. Place on middle rack in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned.  As it bakes, if it looks like the top sheet is drying out, spray again with oil.

While the baklava is baking, make the syrup. Place remaining sugar, lemon juice and water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Turn heat to low and simmer for 7 minutes. Take pan off heat, add orange blossom water and stir.

When the baklava is baked, remove from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over it. Let cool in the pan.

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This recipe and information also appeared in the j. weekly in a review of the Shoyer book.  Additional recipes are included.

Daisy Does Christmas -- Daisy Martinez's New Holiday Cookbook

I don't think I would have looked at Daisy Martinez's new cookbook for fall and winter holiday entertaining except that my sister is a big fan of the TV chef.  Since I didn't really know Martinez's work or food, I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful Latino and Hispanic flavors her recipes offered and enjoyed the snippets of her life she shared. 

"Daisy's Holiday Cooking: Delicious Latin Recipes for Effortless Entertaining" with Chris Styler (Atria Books) is menu based and includes preparation schedules to help reduce some of the stress of cooking these "major" meals. Between the recipes and the color photos I ended up drooling over almost every recipe in the 163-page book.  They all seemed like they would be delicious.

The 10 menus begin with a "cozy festive fall dinner" and end with a New Year's Day "linner" (mid afternoon combo of lunch and dinner).  In between there are holiday buffets, Christmas events and an elegant New Year's Eve dinner. Each meal has its own color-coded section making it easy to find. The recipes are accompanied  by lots of color photos for inspiration.

While there are many recipes that would work well for vegetarians this is a meat centric cookbook.  It is also Christmas centric, with no options for other winter religious or cultural celebrations.  That's not surprising, since it is a food memoir of Daisy's own tastes and experiences, but it dimmed its appeal for me as a seasonally based cookbook.  However, most of the recipes would be appropriate throughout the year, so the book is not limited to holiday cooking.  An index by course would have made it easier to use the cookbook year round and increased its versatility. This is special event cooking, so don't expect budget cooking or super-quick recipes, although Martinez does include easier variations to get the same flavors.

Directions are thorough and complete with step by step photos of many techniques such as how to cut up a chicken and  Martinez gives ideas on how to use up any leftovers.

Some of the recipes that caught my eye include Achiote-Rubbed Roast Turkey with Manchamanteles (Tablecloth Stainer Sauce) with a chile-fruit note; Pumpkin-Spice Mantecadas, delectable little muffins; Empanaditas with Huitlacoche, Spinach and Mushroom Filling, small, savory turnovers using corn fungus; Arroz con Pato, a duck variation on a popular chicken dish; Coconut Tapioca with Mangoes, a luscious dessert, and Tamarind Margaritas, with spicy salt rims.

Keep reading for the recipes for the Coconut Tapioca with Mangoes and the Tamarind Margaritas and for links to other recipes from the book.

Potato Knish Recipe and the Best of Jewish Cookbooks (Just in Time for Chanukah Gifting)

For me every recipe tells a story that reflects back on its culture, time and place. And when that recipe is Jewish, there is also centuries if not millennia of tradition and religious observance to understand as well. The best of the new crop of Jewish-themed cookbooks help tell the stories of Jews and the food they ate from ancient Israel to New York's Lower East Side immigrants to  the present day North African Jews in France. Plus any one of these books would make a swell Chanukah (Hanukkah) present.

“It gives you a sense of this is what our ancestors ate,” said Chaim Mahgal-Friedman, owner of Afikomen, Berkeley, CA, of the new edition of Kitty Morse’s “A Biblical Feast: Ancient Mediterranean Flavors for Today’s Table.” All recipes use ingredients thought to be used during the time of the bible in the Jordan River Valley. Mahgal-Friedman also likes how the book has clear instructions on how to go back to basics and make your own goat cheese, unleavened breads and sourdough starter. Morse’s self-published book is “beautifully illustrated” and easy to use, he said.

Afikomen is known for its large selection of Jewish cookbooks. Mahgal-Friedman also recommended “The Book of New Israeli Food” (Schocken) by famed Israeli food writer Janna Gur. Gur’s book is a few years old but gained local attention this past year with a display of Eilon Paz’s stunning food photographs from the book at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center in Foster City and Gur’s appearances around the Bay area.

Another recent book Mahgal-Friedman is excited about is “The Complete Asian Kosher Cookbook” (Targum Press) by the mother/daughter team of Shifrah Devorah Witt and Zipporah Malka Heller. The duo adapts Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai and other Asian favorites so they can be made kosher with easy-to-find ingredients but still taste authentic.

Two new books have the attention of Celia Sack of Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco, CA. She is looking forward to stocking Paula Shoyer’s “The Kosher Baker” (Brandeis), a collection of 160 dairy-free dessert recipes that include such delights as Babbka Cupcakes with Crumb Topping, Cinnamon, Vanilla, & Raspberry Macaroons, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cakes.

“I think it’s the best thing coming out right now. It's a beautiful book, and I don't think the topic has ever been written about this extensively,” Sack said.

Sack also recommends “97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement.” The author, Jane Ziegelman, is the head of the culinary department at the Tenement Museum in New York City. The museum has restored an 1863 tenement-style apartment house and shares the stories of some of the almost 7,000 people who lived there in the 19th and 20th centuries.

“97 Orchard,” published by Harper Collins this summer, was on several booksellers’ lists. The book details the food ways of five different immigrant families who lived in the tenement on New York’s Lower East Side. It includes 40 recipes from the families’ German, Italian, Irish and Reform and Orthodox Jewish traditions.

Nurit Sabadosh, owner of Alef Bet Judaica in Los Gatos, CA, is also featuring the “New Book of Israeli Food” and is looking forward to stocking the latest book in the “Kosher by Design” series. The books, by Susie Fishbein, are bestsellers for Alef Bet and Sabadosh expects the newest one, “Kosher by Design: Teens and 20-Somethings” (Shaar Press), to be popular as well. The book features alternatives to fast food that can be made with no special equipment and little or no cooking skills.

At Dayneu, a Judaica store in San Francisco, CA, co-owners Eva-Lynne Leibman and Hiroko Nogami-Rosen also carry the Kosher by Design series. They say they are looking forward to “Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France” (Knopf) by Joan Nathan, author of long-time favorite “Jewish Cooking in America” (Knopf). The book traces culinary influences as Jewish food in France evolved and then influenced general cooking in France.

Another stalwart of Jewish cuisine also has a new book on Jewish food out. The “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food” (Wiley) by Gil Marks, rabbi, chef and historian and author of “Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World” (Wiley) and other books, is part comprehensive food history book, part cookbook, part cultural anthropology text and more. It explains not only what foods such as ajin taimani (Yemenite bread), kichel (Ashkenazi egg cookie) and yakhna (a Persian meat stew) are but why they came about, where they migrated from and how they changed over time, often with recipes. The book also contains listings for Jewish holidays, food customs and a Jewish food history timeline. Marks’ background as a chef, rabbi and historian shines through in this well-written book.

For anyone who wants to learn more about Jewish tradition and life it is a valuable resource. For those of us who enjoy exploring our own and others Jewish food heritages it is an invaluable one.

Take for example the potato knish. Marks’ listing for knish opens with a quote from writer Sholem Aleichem, describes its origins as a medieval Polish fried patty and traces its evolution into “a small, round, fried, filled pastry” and then to a baked form similar to what we know today. The knish’s importance increased as the availability of home ovens did and the importation and cultivation of the New World potato into the Old World created the potato filling I so fondly remember. The entry goes on to detail the changes to the knish and prominent events in its history after it crossed back to the New World and concludes with the role the pastry now plays in Israel.

Here is my adaptation of Marks’ recipe for “Ashkenazic Filled Pastries,” or knishes, from the "Encylopedia of Jewish Food." 

Potato Knishes
Makes about 8 large or 36 small knishes

Note: Marks does not specify what kind of potato to use. I used large creamers, similar to new potatoes. While I loved the rich onion taste of this traditional recipe, I also liked my spicier Southwestern variation below with roasted green chilies and cheese.

Pastry:
¾ pound potatoes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening or margarine
1 teaspoon salt
About 3 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 pound of potatoes
2 Tbs. oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Egg wash (1 large egg beaten with 1 Tbs. water)

Make the pastry: Boil potatoes in lightly salted water until tender. Cool. Put through a food mill or slip off skins and mash. Use 2 cups of the mashed potato for the dough. Reserve extra for another use.

In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, eggs, shortening and salt. Slowly add in flour and stir until soft dough forms and the no more flour is absorbed. Mix the dough with your hands if needed. Knead the dough for a minute or two on a lightly floured surface. Cut into fourths, shape each into a round and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Make the filling. Prepare the potatoes as described above. Use 2 ½ cups for the filling.

Heat the oil in a large fry pan and sauté the chopped onions over medium heat until golden brown. Stir into the potatoes. Add salt and pepper. Cool. Taste and correct seasonings. Stir in the egg.

To assemble: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large baking tray or line with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8” thick. For large knishes, cut 5” by 4” rectangles. For small ones, cut into 3” squares. Put ¼ cup of filling in each larger knish and about 1 Tbs. filling into the smaller ones. Draw edges together and pinch to seal. Put seam side down on baking tray. Brush with egg wash. Bake until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Southwestern Variation: Use 2 cups of mashed potato for the filling. Add 2 cups of shredded cheese and ¼ to ½ cup of roasted, peeled and chopped green chilies to the filling mixture.
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This post was adapted from a new cookbook round up and a piece on potato knishes I wrote that appeared in the j. weekly.

Overdue Cookbook Reviews: Steamy Kitchen & Pioneer Woman Cooks

The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook

Pioneer Woman Cooks

I always have the best of intentions when I plan to review cookbooks. But somehow my wanting to really read the book, try some recipes and just do a thorough job of it ends up with the actual review getting further and further away from being completed.

So to make up for this I’ve decided to do capsule reviews of two books I’ve been meaning to get around posting about on Blog Appetit. Watch for other capsule reviews as I try to get caught up a bit with the flood of cookbooks around here.

The Steamy Kitchen by Jaden Hair --- Like many cookbooks written by bloggers, this one brims with details, asides, stories behind the recipes, personal information and more. By the time you’ve cooked a few of the dishes and read a few of the notes you feel like an old family friend (a feeling that Jaden gives you when you meet her in person, too). The photographs of Jaden, her family and the food (mostly taken by Jaden herself) are beautiful. The recipes are all Asian or inspired by Asian ingredients or techniques. I’ve tried three of the recipes. The Baked Garlic Chilli Wings were outstanding. I made it twice (once with drumsticks) to bring to parties and they were devoured both times. Another, a Brussels sprouts dish stir fried with fish sauce, was also impressive. A third recipe produced a dish that was fine, but not seasoned enough for my taste. If I had not been testing it for a review I would have added more seasoning.

What most impressed me throughout the book were the clear instructions and the thoughtful use of Asian ingredients. Techniques were not necessarily simplified as much as made easy to follow. Dishes that may have called for unfamiliar ingredients were not shied away from and, where appropriate, logical alternatives were offered (such as balsamic vinegar for the fish sauce in the Brussels sprouts recipe). To Jaden, these are everyday ways to cook and she makes sure you feel the same way about it. (Here’s a link to the recipe for the Baked Garlic Chilli Wings from a Miami FL newspaper.)

I’d recommend this to cooks who are just beginning to explore the wonderful world of Asian flavors or for fans of Jaden’s popular blog, Steamy Kitchen.

Disclaimer: I was supposed to have gotten a free copy, but didn’t (long story, but it was my fault, I didn’t follow up). A friend loaned me her copy which I hung on to way too long because I enjoyed reading and using the book.

Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond.  Ree, another extremely popular blogger/photographer, has also written a book that gives you not only a good feel for her life and cooking, but also her roles as a ranch wife, parent, teacher (she homeschools her four children). It features a darn good love story, too. It has the same welcoming feel as her Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. No wonder it is rumored that her story has been bought by Hollywood and might star Reese Witherspoon.  I’ve met the real Ree Drummond though, and I think she should play herself; she’s beautiful and engaging. Ree’s recipes are straight forward and lean toward comfort foods. She specializes in step-by-step photography to complement the recipes’ directions.

I haven’t had a chance to cook out of the book yet, but those bloggers who have have given the recipes raves. I particularly have heard great things about her biscuits, meatballs and chili. I look forward to trying those as well as some of the others in the book (especially her French Breakfast Puffs which might go well with the New Orleans coffee with chicory I just bought).  Here is Ree’s recipe for biscuits (and gravy).

Going to Ree’s blog is like going to a multiplex, there are so many choices you might not be able to decide which one to choose – personal essays, recipes, a reader forum, photography tutorial and more. But whichever one you do you'll enjoy.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Ree and the publisher.

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About the photo: My version with drumsticks of Jaden's Baked Garlic Chilli Wings

Heavenly Cakes -- Part 1

Consider this an introductory post. I'm making some of the cakes out of the Heavenly Cakes cookbook by Rose Levy Beranbaum and plan on hearing her at Omnivore Books in San Francisco at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 17.

So after I complete the baking and hear her, I'll create a new post with more info, photos and more.

While you are waiting, check out this video of Rose talking about the book, her first one on cake making in 21 years, and her baking tips.

Look for me at the reading. I'll be helping to staff the Share our Strength bake sale table from 12 - 3 p.m. on Saturday. We are raising money to combat childhood hunger. What will I be baking? Well, some of Rose's baby cakes from this book.

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Disclaimers:

No actual babies are harmed in the making of baby cakes.

The cookbook was given to me by SpruceTV.com, which is also the source of the Rose video mentioned above.

Photo of Heavenly Cakes book from Ominvore Books website.

Making Whoopie (Pies)

If I have the trendiness factor thing right, French macarons are the new cupcakes (which were the new muffins) and whoopie pies are the new macarons.

I find it all very amusing since nothing takes me back to childhood in the 60s faster than a bite of one of these whoopie pies. It reminds me of the hot dog-shaped Drake's Devil Dogs I would unwrap and practically inhale when I came home from school. I think they are an East Coast brand. My mom used to cram boxes of 12 into her carry on when she'd come to visit me in California until I begged her to please stop. I made out it was my middle-aged waistline that couldn't handle them anymore, but the truth is they just didn't taste the same. I thought it must be my taste buds had gotten too sophisticated for the milk chocolate cake and creme filling, but I also suspected they weren't made quite the same as when I was a kid.

One bite of my homemade whoopie pies and I was transported back to old school milk chocolate cake goodness, so I'm guessing that it was the later.

For the cookie part of the whoopie pie I used a recipe by Maida Heatter for what she calls "Whoops" in her book Book of Great Chocolate Desserts. You can view this recipe on Google books. Click here. (It should take you to page 142. If the recipe doesn't open all the way, click on the underlined page 142 link and the page should open for you so you can scroll through the recipe).

Since the recipe is kind of old-fashioned Americana, I choose to use a Hershey's Dutch process cocoa rather than one of my richer and fancier brands. I think if I was making them again I would use the richer cocoa and also melt in a little bittersweet chocolate for depth. However, there was no whoopsie about these whoopie pies -- they were perfect as is.

Maida's filling is more butter cream than marshmallow cream (sometimes referred to as marshmallow creme or fluff), so I adapted a recipe by Hungry Mouse for that, except I used the whole 7-ounce jar of marshmallow cream, partly because I wanted a stronger marshmallow presence and partly because Maida's recipe made more of the cookies than Hungry Mouse's recipe.

Since I only bake goodies like this when I can get them out of the house, I made these bad babies (also known as Moon Pies, Cowboy Pies, Devils Delights and other regional variations) for my book group. Women who have major diet control were skipping the daintily cut halves and going for whole whoopie pies.

Like the Black and White Cookies I recently posted about, these blasts from my cookie past are really more in the cake family than cookie, but because of their size, shape and eaten-in-hand functionality have become labeled as cookies. Also like the B&W cookies, they have that chocolate and white monochrome look going for them. Don't know if that's significant at all, but my favorite movies are pre-1934 black and white ones.

A Great Cookie -- In Black & White

Maybe you had to grow up a New Yorker, but there is something special about the magic of black and white cookies, giant cakey cookies frosted with half chocolate and half vanilla icing.

Growing up, they were an occasional treat that my grandmother would buy me from Ebinger's (I think) bakery in Brooklyn. (This is the bakery that was famed for it's chocolate blackout cake, but that's another post.) These never disappointed, with the alternating pleasures of rich chocolate and sweet vanilla over a cake with great taste and lots of crumbs.

In later years, black and whites stopped being just bakery treats and began to be an ubiquitous prewrapped staple of deli take-out counters, an impulse purchase that tugged on the heartstrings and taste memories of New Yorkers (and others inducted into the canon of black and white cookies by such cultural icons as The Seinfield Show, click here for YouTube clip with Jerry's musing on the pastry).

I had pretty much given up on black and whites, finding them stale and tasteless, the chocolate icing more chemical than cacao and the vanilla frosting only tasting of sugar when I found Molly O'Neill's recipe in her New York Cookbook. It was a revelation. The cake was good, not bland, with a lilt of lemon to it, the vanilla frosting fragrant, the chocolate frosting actually chocolaty. It became my standard and if you crave black and white cookies, it should become your standard, too.

O'Neill's recipe is available here, in a New York Times article from 2001. It is based on a recipe from the famed Zabar's emporium. As O'Neill wrote in her cookbook: "Zabar's versions are to deli black and white cookies what pate is to chopped liver." (Although to be honest, a good chopped liver is nothing to sneer at.)

Want the original from Zabar's? You can order them here.

Some notes: Be prepared to ice the cooled cakes quickly, or the frosting will become harder to spread. Reheat gently to soften. I keep the frostings in gently simmering jury-rigged double boilers while I work with them. The recipe makes 2 dozen cookies, but I often make them smaller than the traditional oversized size for parties. The "mini" black and whites are always a buffet pleaser. Be sure to use butter to grease your baking sheets, oil or oil spray will allow the batter to run too much.

Here's another version from the wonderful Smitten Kitchen, also based on Zabar's cookies. I'd love to know if anyone has a different black and white cookie recipe out there they could recommend. Leave a comment and a link and I'll check it out.

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About the photo: Black and white cookies in (what else) black and white.

Good Weather for Slow Cooking

I recently reviewed Laura Frankel’s Jewish Slow Cooker Recipes: 120 Holiday and Everyday Dishes Made Easy (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009) for my column at the j. newsweekly. You can read the article here.

Frankel, a restaurant chef, a working mother, an observant Jew and a devoted slow cooker user, has Ashkenazi, Middle Eastern and Sephardic recipes in the book, but most of the recipes are for contemporary dishes from around the world that are not particularly “Jewish,” such as cassoulet, tortilla soup, wild mushroom stroganoff, Szechwan chicken, tamales, key lime cheesecake and flan. She also has lots of subsidiary recipes, including spice mixes, sauces and accompaniments, which she uses to develop the dishes’ tantalizing and fresh-tasting flavors. But that means many of the recipes have extra preparation steps. Doing these steps in advance (such as the night before) would help keep the slow cooker prep time down in the morning when you are in a hurry to just plop the ingredients in the cooker or in the evening when you need to finish off the dish before serving, important criteria for me.

I do have one quibble. Frankel writes a lot about using the slow cooker for Shabbat luncheon meals, but most of the recipes cook in four to eight hours. I would have liked tips on how to start some of her other recipes on Friday afternoon to eat at Saturday lunch. Based on the back-of-the-jacket blurb “Your Slow Cooker: Not for Shabbat Only,” I assume she is writing for an audience that she feels already knows how to do this. Her emphasis definitely seems on using the slow cooker as just another kitchen preparation technique as opposed to only using it as a time-shifting convenience appliance.

The book has a chart showing which recipes are pareve, meat or dairy and the recipes give options on how to alter from one category to another when appropriate. There is also a section on Jewish holiday menus. I like the idea of using the slow cooker to have some of a holiday dinner cook unattended while I fuss with the rest.

Chick Pea and Lentil SoupServes Six

Here is a recipe adapted from Jewish Slow Cooker Recipes. I love soups made in the slow cooker and liked the Middle Eastern feel of the Chickpea and Lentil Soup.

2 Tbs. olive oil
3 medium carrots, diced small
3 celery stalks, diced small
1 large Spanish onion, diced small
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and diced small
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cup red or green lentils
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with juice
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
Chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish
Harissa or fresh salsa for garnish

Preheat a slow cooker to low. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the carrots, celery, onion, fennel and garlic until lightly browned. Put the vegetables in the slow cooker insert. Add the lentils, check peas, crushed tomatoes with juice, coriander, cumin, lemon juice and stock. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Before serving adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve the soup with the garnishes.


The j. article also has a recipe for persimmon pudding made in a slow cooker.

For slow cooker recipes I've featured here on Blog Appetit, click here.

For slow cooker recipes elsewhere on the web, check out the blog A Year of Slow Cooking or this recipe for Hungarian pot roast from Kalyn's Kitchen.

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note: Photo from Barnesandnoble.com
disclaimer: Cookbook was provided by the j. weekly, who received a promotional copy from the publisher.

Bittersweet Chocolate Citrus Tart with Jasmine Tea Scented Whipped Cream

I rang the New Year in with friends and this bittersweet citrus chocolate tart from Alice Medrich's book Pure Desserts. The book should be called "Perfect Desserts" because that's what this tart was -- the dark bittersweet chocolate offset by the grapefruit and orange zest and the wonderful jasmine-scented whipped cream just adding to the wild party in my mouth. As wonderful as this tart was, it was the whipped cream that caused a sensation and started me thinking about other jasmine-infused desserts I might make.

I also found the same recipe on line at epicurious.com but uncredited to Medrich. I suspect it's her recipe leftover from an article she wrote and just uncredited in the archives.

The recipe really has three parts -- the tart crust (easy to make and just patted into place, no rolling out), the bittersweet chocolate filling (very straight forward, although she used a new-to-me technique to make sure the egg wasn't raw to avoid food-borne illness) and the wonderful jasmine tea-flavored whipped cream. Just leave enough time for the cream to steep and the tart to chill.

The ethereal cream was an amazement. I've never had anything quite so wonderful atop my chocolate dessert before. Use the best quality jasmine tea you can find (you only need a tablespoon, after all) Look for ones scented with real jasmine flowers, not oils. Medrich recommends steeping in the fridge for 8-12 hours. I didn't start enough ahead so I steeped it about four hours outside the fridge (it was a cold day). You can taste a bit of the cream to see if it has a slight, perfume, floral note to it before straining out the tea leaves. Did I mention the taste is ethereal?

Here's the recipe for Bittersweet Chocolate Citrus Tart with Jasmine Whipped Cream. (fyi -- I skipped the candied orange peel, the tart was perfect without it).

Cooking Jewish: Review and Green Chili Quiche Recipe

In a recent issue of the Temple Beth Abraham Omer newsletter, I gave a quick review of a Jewish cookbook I received. (Disclaimer -- a friend knows the author and I received the book for free.) I enjoyed the cookbook and most of the recipes so I thought I would adapt the article and include it on Blog Appetit. One note: I tested the recipe below during Passover and a period of intense weight watching so I had to make a lot of modifications. In hindsight, I probably should have picked a different recipe, but I do so love green chiles! And I needed a dairy recipe to mark the holiday of Shavout.


Here's what I wrote:

Called Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family by Judy Bart Kancigor (Workman Publishing), it is the record of an extended family through its recipes.

The food varies from traditional Eastern European through contemporary American with selections also coming from other Jewish and international traditions.

The book began as a small compilation of family recipes and grew as it was passed along and discovered by non-family members and the mainstream media. It still has a family feel to it, including photos of the contributing relatives and friends, family trees and more.

As I read through the book, I kept feeling I knew the people whose recipes and stories are featured, perhaps because the timeline on the Rabinowitz family immigration and “Americanization” mirrored my own family’s experience. While the recipes are appealing, I suspect it is this sense of “this could be MY family cookbook” also attracts many readers.

The food in this cookbook is not necessarily all traditionally Jewish, but it all is presented with a sense of connection and history and is offered with just a little schmaltz.

In honor of Shavuot, I wanted to feature a dairy recipe. Below is my adaptation of one of Cooking Jewish’s recipes.

Chiles Rellenos Quiche adapted from Cooking Jewish by Judy Bart Kancigor


This version is really more of an oven frittata. Kancigor’s version (see note below) is cheesier and a bit richer.

8 large eggs
16 oz cottage cheese (low or fat free okay)
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
8 drops of Tabasco or other hot sauce (or to taste)
8 ounces of cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (low fat okay)
1 can, 7 ounces, of diced green chiles, drained
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch glass dish with oil spray such as Pam.

In the jar of a blender, combine the eggs, cottage cheese, salt, and Tabasco. Blend until smooth. In a large bowl, mix the shredded cheese, the chiles and the melted butter. Add the mixture from the blender and stir gently until combined. Pour into the prepared glass baking dish.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake until golden brown and the eggs have set through about an additional 15-25 minutes.

Serves about 8-10 as a main course (perfect for brunch or light lunch or supper), about double that as an appetizer.

Note: To make the recipe as written by Kancigor, change to these amounts: 10 large eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 10 drops of Tabasco sauce, 16 ounces of shredded cheese and 8 tablespoons of melted butter. Do not drain the chiles. Also, use 1 teaspoon baking powder and ½ cup flour. To prepare, follow the directions as above, but add flour and baking powder to the mixture in the blender and add the liquid along with the chiles to the shredded cheese mixture. Bake as directed, but allow more time (an additional 15-20 minutes) for the quiche to finish in the oven. It should be golden brown and puffy. Kancigor says this version makes 18 “brunch-size” and 36 appetizer portions.

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Want to read more about sharing family recipes and memories? Check out this post.
Photo credit: Workman Publishing

Click and Win -- Cookbook Sweepstakes from DK Publishing

One of my favorite cookbook publishers is having a summer sweepstakes. Entries are due July 7, so if you want to participate, get clicking! Here's the info directly from DK:

Summer cuisine is all about grilling and cooking light. This summer, DK has two fabulous new cookbooks to help you do both - GRILL IT! and SPAIN AND THE WORLD TABLE. Don’t miss this opportunity to enter our Summer Cookbook Sweepstakes and have the chance to win a copy of these great books and a set of kitchen utensils from the Culinary Institute of America (Total Approximate Retail Value: $159.00).

No purchase necessary. Entries must be received no later than July 7, 2008 11:59 Eastern Time. Winner will be selected on or about July 14, 2008. Void where prohibited by law. Open to residents of the Continental United States and the District of Columbia ages 18 and older.
Click here for complete details and Official Rules.

Grilled Vegetable Kebabs with Miso Glaze

Once in a great while there is a dish that reaches out and grabs you by the taste buds and reels you in so you never forget it. The miso-grilled black cod at Yoshi’s Japanese restaurant in Oakland was just such a dish. The lusciousness of the fish, the sweet-salty taste of the miso marinade and the smoky char of the grill combined to make a memorable experience.

It was the memory of that dish that made me decide to buy The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger. I’m reviewing the book for Paper Palate (here's the link) and I wrote about her Double Chocolate Pudding Pie with my S’More Topping Option here.

The first chance I could I wanted to make Krieger’s Miso-Glazed Cod. But since I was cooking for a vegetarian potluck so I decided to adapt the miso marinade for tofu and vegetable kebabs. The result was:

Miso-Glazed Tofu, Mushroom and Zucchini KebabsAdapted and Inspired by Ellie Krieger's Miso-Glazed Cod, The Foods You Crave, Taunton Press
Serves 3-4 as a main course, 8 as an appetizer

Note: Feel free to add more veggies to each skewer or substitute vegetables. The below just recaptures what I did. Veggies and tofu should be cut about the same size so they will grill evenly. Hard or long-cooking veggies should be partially precooked in the microwave or steamed.

8 kebab skewers
One recipe of miso marinade (see below)
1 large onion cut into 16 large chunks or several small onions cut into 16 thickish rings
12-16 ounces of firm tofu (one package), drained, rinsed, dried and cut into approx. 1” chunks
2-3 large zucchinis, cut into 16 thick slices or chunks
8 fresh shitake mushrooms, cleaned and stems cut off

If the skewers are wood or bamboo, cover them with water to soak for about a half hour or more.
Make the miso marinade (see recipe below) and set aside.
Slice or cut the onion into appropriate sized pieces. Put in a microwave safe dish with a tablespoon of water. Cover and microwave for about a minute or so until the onion pieces have just begun to soften. Set aside.
Thread the kebabs. I used a slice of zucchini, a piece of onion, a tofu chunk, another slice of zucchini, another tofu chunk followed by a second chunk or ring of onion, capped off by a fresh shitake mushroom cap.
Lightly brush the marinade over the vegetables and tofu. Cover and let the flavors absorb for at least a half hour or up to several.

Oil grill. Heat grill. Place kebabs on grill. Brush miso marinade on the kebabs. Grill, turning and brushing more marinade on as needed. When the vegetables are cooked through and the tofu is nicely charred, remove from grill. Serve with a splash of soy sauce or Chinese black rice vinegar if desired. Pass chili paste on the side (optional).

Miso Marinade
1/3 cup white miso
¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon of Asian toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons of mirin (Japanese rice wine for cooking)

Combine all ingredients.

Update:  Paper Palate and its links are long gone, so thank goodness for the Wayback Machine and it's internet archives.  You can see the original post here, along with a few other recipes from the book. (6/15)

Craving S'More Pie

I’m reviewing the book The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger of Food Network fame over at Paper Palate. Here's the link.

I won’t spoil the surprise of what I think of the book, but I will say I enjoyed the three recipes I made from it, although it was hard for me to make them exactly as written.

Over at Paper Palate, I’ve posted Krieger’s Snowpea and Radish Salad recipe, but here at Blog Appétit we are going to explore the deeper, darker, more chocolately side of The Food You Crave – The Double Chocolate Pudding Pie. And because I can’t keep my hands off a good thing, I made it into a s’more pie. (A shout out goes to the blog Smitten Kitchen for that inspiration. SK's version is includes homemade marshmallow topping. See it here.)

Krieger’s recipe, as written, is a great calorie “value” with lots of luscious dark chocolate taste. It is not too sweet and is not a lot of calories for what after all is a chocolate pie (255 for an eighth of the pie serving according to the book). Adding the marshmallow topping will add about 75 calories per serving, so you may decide not to gild the lily and just go with Krieger’s suggestion, a decorative fringe of freshly whipped cream. The pie would also be delightful topped or served with seasonal berries.

Double Chocolate Pudding Pie with S’More OptionAdapted from Ellie Krieger’s The Food You Crave, Taunton Press

Cooking Spray
7 full sheets of graham crackers (I hate to say it but use the regular commercial ones, I had to throw out a crust made with the organic whole wheat, molasses and honey ones – it was like cardboard, or maybe make your own graham crackers).
2 tablespoons butter, softened (the recipe didn't say, but I use unsalted for baking)
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin (which is one packet of Knox)
1/3 cup boiling water
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Krieger doesn’t specify, but I think a natural process will give you more chocolate flavor than the Dutch type in this recipe. It doesn’t dissolve in milk as well, so make sure you really mix it until it’s smooth.)
¼ cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups lowfat milk (I used 1 percent)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Making the crust: Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie pan with the cooking spray. Grind the graham crackers in a food processer until very fine. Add the butter and water and whirl around until the mixture begins to come together. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up about 1 inch on the sides of the pie tin. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preparing the filling: Put the gelatin in a small bowl, add the boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Set aside, stirring occasionally allowing the mixture to thicken but not get too solid. Mix the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Add half the milk, mix well until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the rest of the milk. Put the pan on medium heat and stir constantly (Krieger recommends whisking) until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil (about 10 minutes, mine too a little longer). Remove from the heat. Stir in the chocolate until melted. Add in the vanilla and the gelatin mix. Stir. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie shell. Refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.

Whipped Cream Topping Option: Whip ¼ cup cold heavy cream in an electric mixer until it is “halfway” to soft peaks. Add in ½ teaspoon sugar and then whip until it “barely holds” a soft peak. Krieger recommends putting the whipped cream in a pastry bag or a ziplock with a corner cut off and piping a decorative pattern around the edge of the pie. You could also just put a dollop of the good stuff on top of each slice as you serve it.

S’More Pie Option: Once the pie is cold and right before serving, spread a jar of marshmallow fluff or cream (7 to 7.5 ounces depending on brand) on top. Smooth the cream out. (My son, now known as the former future pastry chef, who helped with this recipe, found it easiest to use an offset spatula for the job.) Then, watching the pie like a hawk, you can brown the marshmallow topping under the broiler for that traditional “s’more” look. We used our handy-dandy crème brulee butane torch for the job. I suspect using the torch was Noah’s whole reason for helping me make the pie, but I digress.

Note: The s’more topping doesn’t hold well, although the unadorned pie lasts for a few days in the refrigerator. Top the pie right before serving and keep it cold for the easiest serving and best taste.

Believe it or not, the pie came out very adult tasting. Of course, the marshmallow topping added some sweetness, but the whole experience was much less sweet than I anticipated and had a nicely balanced flavor. I suspect it had something to do with the dark chocolate filling not being as sweet as a Hershey’s milk chocolate bar. If your crowd isn’t in to retro desserts, a little whipped cream and a few berries will definitely elicit oohs and ahhs and balance the chocolate well.

Update: Paper Palate and its links are no more, but thanks to the Wayback Machine, you can see that post here. (6/15)

Purim Tonight!

Purim, the feast of Esther, begins at sundown tonight. Want some info on the holiday and how to celebrate it? Check this out. Want to know what to eat? Read some adapted excerpts from an article I wrote for the Temple Beth Abraham Omer below.

The Foods of Purim: The Whole Megillah (FYI -- the Megillah is used to mean the whole story in Jewish "slang" and refers to the Book of Esther which is where the story is told.)

The most popular foods of Purim are probably hamanstachen (the link above has a recipe), the Ashkenazi cookie symbolizing Haman’s tri-cornered hat and the other pastries associated with the evil vizier. But that’s not the whole “megillah;” there are many foods that add to a Purim celebration.

Some say the meal should be vegetarian or dairy or at least include beans since Esther is said to have eschewed meat for legumes during her time in Ashaheurus’ court. Others include fish or dishes with chicken, lamb, and other meats. Based on these diverse customs, here are some ideas for your own Purim feast:

Serve kreplach. This meat-stuffed noodle is traditional for Purim because of its shape reminiscent of Haman’s ear and/or hat. Or try a modern twist – tortellini, it has the right shape and is readily available.

Try serving a dish that is not what it seems to be. Dressing up and disguise are part of Purim, so try vegetarian chopped liver or spaghetti squash instead of pasta and/or vegetarian “meatballs.”

Go sweet and sour. Sweet and sour foods suit the nature of the holiday, reminding us of the bitterness of Haman’s actions and the redemption that followed. Try sweet and sour meatballs or sweet and sour lentils.

Bake challah in triangular loaves to represent Haman’s ears. Use some of it to make French toast, known as Queen Esther’s Toast or Purim Fritters, once a popular way to celebrate Purim.

Drink up. Rabbis have said that one should drink on Purim until one can’t distinguish the difference between “blessed is Mordecai” and “cursed is Haman.” Go with the flow. Splash some vodka or tequila into your chicken marinade. Add wine to your beef or fish recipes. Want to give it a try? My Limoncello Tuna recipe here.

See my previous write up of Purim here.

Want to get recipes for the dishes mentioned above? Check out Temple Beth Abraham's cookbook From Everyday to Holiday. It is available for $25 including U.S. postage from the TBA office. Call 510.832.0936 to order.
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About the photo: A quick snap of Temple Beth Abraham's Purim Celebration featuring the Purim Rock 'n Roll Band.

Something's Fishy and I'm Home ...

... and full of stories, photos, experiences and, of course, Chinese food.

I hope to download the 1,500 plus photos I took in the two weeks I was away this weekend. (It could take all weekend, that's a 4GB card and half a 2gb one, too! The pix with this post actually comes from my trip to Vietnam in 2005.)

Watch this blog for assorted write ups, recipe adaptations and more (I'll probably start with my Shanghai cooking school experience and recipes for what we cooked there.) More to come.

Xi Xi for your patience while I recover from jet lag, catch up in the office and brew myself some more green tea.

To keep you cooking until I post my new recipes here's one I have used and honed throughout the years, inspired by one written by the late Barbara Tropp in her classic The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking.

Fish Steamed with Ginger, Garlic and Black Beans
Serves 4

1 Tbs Chinese rice wine OR dry sherry
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese or Japanese sesame oil
1 Tbs minced fresh garlic
¼ tsp dried hot red pepper flakes OR a half of one small hot chili, seeded and minced
4 fish steaks, about 1 - 1.5 pounds total, cut about ¾” thick – try salmon or halibut, any stray bones or scales removed
1 Tbs salted Chinese black beans (sometimes called fermented black beans)
2 Tbs fine shreds of ginger peeled
½ of a large red bell pepper, cut into thin matchstick pieces or shreds
¼ cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl combine wine, oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Rip off 8 long strips of aluminum foil and double them up with shiny side facing up. In the middle of each put a fish steak. Stir the wine and soy sauce mixture and dribble one fourth of the wine and soy mixture over each fish portion. Scatter each steak with one fourth of the black beans, ginger shreds, red bell peppers and green onions.

Fold the foil around each piece of fish to make a sealed packet, crimping the ends so no liquid can escape. Place the packets on a baking tray and cook in the oven until the fish is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve hot, room temperature or cold. Remember if not serving right away that the fish will keep cooking in the foil packets.