Smoky Tomato Freekah Soup with Red Lentils

I love soup, I love using whole grains and legumes, and I especially love foods that have a smoky taste to them.  This recipe combines several elements to build a (vegetarian) smoky taste -- the freekah itself (more about that later), fire-roasted canned tomatoes and smoked paprika.  (I give alternatives if necessary).

Freekah is an ancient way of processing green wheat. It is roasted while still in its chaff (straw) which is what gives it a smoky taste which can vary very mild to somewhat stronger. It is used throughout the Middle East, the Arab world and North Africa. Find it boxed in some supermarkets or in bags or bulk in Middle Eastern and other speciality stores.

This recipe calls for the whole kernel, not cracked. Cracked freekah is broken into pieces ranging from very fine to large. If you can only find the cracked, use the largest variety you can find in place of the whole but note that timing and other variables may change. 

A special shout out to Jill Levine, whose love of freekah inspired this recipe.

Smoky Tomato Freekah Soup

Serves 4

1/2 cup whole, raw freekah 

1/2 cup red lentils

2 Tbs. olive oil plus more as needed

1 cup chopped onion

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. smoked or regular paprika plus additional for garnish if desired

1/4 tsp. salt or to taste

About 5-6 cups vegetarian broth or stock, divided (plus additional if needed)

28 oz. can fire-roasted or regular diced tomatoes with liquid

2 Tbs. tomato paste plus more if needed

Sugar and or lemon juice as needed

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, parsley or mint, divided

1/4 cup plain yogurt (use non-dairy to keep vegan)

1/4 cup chopped red onion

Rinse and soak freekah in cold water. Pick out any floating or other debris. Drain. Pick over lentils, rinse in cold water and drain and towel dry.

Heat 2 Tbs. oil over medium heat in large pot. Sauté onions until soft and beginning to color. Add garlic. Sauté until golden. Add cumin, paprika and salt. Sauté 1 minute then add drained and dried freekah, turning until coated in oil (add more oil if needed). Sauté for 2 minutes then add broth. Bring to boil, then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lentils. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with liquid, 1 cup broth and 2 Tbs. tomato paste. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until lentils and freekah are cooked through but not mushy (about 30 minutes but timing may vary greatly). Add stock as needed if soup is too thick. Add more tomato paste by tsp. as needed if it is too liquid and simmer a few minutes more. Taste and add salt if needed. If the soup is too sweet, add lemon juice by tsp. If it is too tart, add sugar by the 1/4 tsp. Stir in half the cilantro. Top servings with dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of cilantro, onions and paprika.

Pick a Peck of Oven-Fried Peppers This Chanukah

This Chanukah try oven frying/roasting shishito or padrone peppers. Rinse and dry then toss in a bowl with lots of olive oil and coarse sea salt to taste. Pour peppers with oil on ungreased, rimmed baking trays. Place in preheated 450 degree oven. Roast, turning occasionally until soft and the peppers are blistered and browned on all sides

Let cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature. 

These peppers have a slight bite and a nice grassy/herbaceous taste. Sometimes you will bite into one that's a bit milder or hotter. 

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Hanukkah, Hanukah 

In the Pink -- Pucker Up for Rhubarb: Recipes for Borscht And Buckwheat Blintzes with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Rhubarb Beet Borscht

I'm still seeing lots of rhubarb on the shelves of my supermarkets and produce stores here in California, which seems late in the season for these purplish red and green-tinged stalks.

I hope you have access to lots of fresh rhubarb where you live, but if you don't you can use frozen rhubarb available in many some  groceries, natural foods and specialty markets, and on line (no need to defrost for the recipes below, but defrost and drain first if using in baking.) That makes me think of buying some stalks, cutting in pieces and freezing them myself so I can have the tart goodness of rhubarb throughout the year.

My memories of this astringent ingredient are sweet, not sour. My Grandma Clara used to stew me up a batch of rhubarb harvested from a neighbor's field. 

The plant's stalks cook up pink.  Often strawberries or sugar are added to tame its astringency. In the borscht, I combine rhubarb's tartness with beets' sweetness. If serving cold, you may need additional seasoning.  I like to serve the soup cold at parties as "shooters" in shot glasses topped with a swirl of yogurt and sprinkle of minced dill or mint as an appetizer.

Buckwheat is from the same botanical family as rhubarb and blintzes made with the flour are an earthy complement to the tangy Strawberry Rhubarb Compote. The blintz wrappers are very versatile and can be used with a variety of fillings. Try the compote on top of cheesecake or ice cream.

Since your rhubarb may be more or less astringent than mine, taste as you add sugar since you may need more or less than I've indicated in the recipes.

Be sure to discard any rhubarb leaves as they contain toxic compounds.

Rhubarb Beet Borscht

Serves 6-8

1 1/2 lbs. beet roots, trimmed

8 cups vegetable stock or broth

2 Tbs. chopped garlic

1 lb. fresh rhubarb stalks, trimmed

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. sugar or more as needed

1/2 tsp. lemon juice or more as needed

Garnishes (see below)

Thinly peel beet roots. Cut into 1/4" dice (4 cups). Bring stock to simmer. Add beets and garlic. Simmer 15 minutes until beets have begun to soften. Slice rhubarb into 1/4" pieces (3 cups). Add rhubarb, salt, pepper, and cardamom to soup. Simmer until rhubarb is falling part and beets are completely soft, 30-40 minutes. Taste. Add sugar and or lemon juice to balance taste sweet-tart. Cool and puree half in blender or with immersion blender and return to pot. Serve warm with garnish(es) or chill. If serving cold, taste and correct seasoning before garnishing.

Garnishes: Chose from one or more: sour cream or yogurt; sliced hard-boiled eggs; sliced, boiled potatoes, and minced fresh dill or mint.

Creative Commons license see below

Buckwheat Blintzes with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Makes 10-12

4 Tbs. melted butter, divided

1 recipe Buckwheat Blintz Crepe Batter (see below)

1 recipe Blintz Filling (see below)

1 recipe Strawberry Rhubarb Compote (see below)

1 Tbs. butter

Melt 3 Tbs. butter. Heat 8" omelet, fry or crepe pan over medium heat. Brush lightly with melted butter.  When sizzling, lift pan up and pour in 1/4 cup batter, swirling to coat bottom evenly. Return to heat.  Cook for 1 minute or until the top of the crepe is set and bottom is light brown or has brown spots. Turn out on a clean dishcloth. Repeat until batter is done, reapplying the melted butter before each crepe.

Lay browned side down. Place 2 Tbs. of filling in middle, leaving about a 1" margin at top and bottom of crepe. Fold top over filling, then fold bottom over. Fold one side over, then the other. Repeat with remaining crepes. Melt 1 Tbs. butter in a large fry pan over medium heat.  Fry in batches for 2 minutes on each side. Serve topped with compote.

Buckwheat Blintz Crepe Batter: Combine in a blender 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup buckwheat flour, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup cold water, 2 eggs, 2 Tbs. oil and 1/4 tsp. salt. Blend on high until well mixed, then for 20 seconds.  Let sit for 1 hour and blend again.

Blintz Filling: Combine 2 cups ricotta cheese, 1 beaten egg, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Mix well.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote:  Simmer 1 cup thinly sliced rhubarb with 1/2 cup of orange juice until just soft. Add 2 cups quartered strawberries, 1 Tbs. lemon juice and 2 Tbs. sugar.  Simmer until strawberries are just cooked. Chill. Use at room temperature.

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Photo credits: Soup: Blog Appetit; Rhubarb, By RhubarbFarmer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Another version of this post appeared in the j weekly.  

How Green Was My Cream Cheese -- Lactose Free and Organic (Plus a Green Valley Wasabi Dip Recipe)

Editor's Note: Samples of the below mentioned product were provided by the manufacturer.  No other compensation was provided.

Green Valley Wasabi Dip

Green Valley  Organics is introducing it's lactose free cream cheese this week and I was given six tubs of the stuff to try out in advance.

I personally don't have an issue with lactose intolerance but I do know several folks for who this is a problem, so I thought I would see what the Green Valley Organics Lactose Free Cream Cheese was all about.  For more about the product and company, click here.

It's a soft cream cheese sold in 8-ounce tubs. The taste is somewhat milder than other cream cheeses I've tried but it is very acceptable.  A few of the samples I received had some liquid separation, but it was easily mixed back in to the cheese. The texture was creamy and rich, and I liked that it was made in a solar-powered creamy in nearby Sonoma County and that it is certified kosher and gluten-free.  I also liked that there are no stabilizers, gums, fillers or other additives (hence perhaps some of the separation I experienced).  This is a cream cheese that almost everyone can enjoy.

Where GVO shined was in cooking.  At room temperature, it mixed completely smooth very quickly and then worked well in a variety of recipes baked and frozen.  For recipes using cream cheese (which were tested with the GVO product), see my post featuring Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream and Apple Caramel Cheese Flan.

In honor of the cream cheese's introduction to the U.S. market, I've adapted a recipe I recently learned from our cousin Debby from Brazil.  She says she and her friends in Sao Paulo heat cream cheese and mix in some wasabi paste and serve warm, room temperature or chilled.  I tried it and liked it.  Use a green-tinted wasabi paste, which gives a very light green color (add a drop of food color for a little more color if desired). I used the kind from a tube. The condiment varies in heat (especially if you are mixing it from a powder yourself) so you may want to add in increments until you get the desired level of heat.  Remember if you plan to serve the dip chilled you'll need to add more since cold dampens the heat.

I used the Green Valley product below, but you can use any soft tub (not whipped or brick) cream cheese, lactose free or not.

Green Valley Wasabi Dip
Serves 4-8

1-8 oz. tub soft cream cheese
3/4 to 1 Tbs. wasabi paste, or more or less to taste

Heat cream cheese in small pan over low heat, stirring until smooth and cheese is warmed throughout.  Remove from heat, stir in wasabi paste until smooth.  Serve warm, room temperature or chilled with chips or dipping vegetables.

Wok Me Up -- Meal for One

Another in my continuing series of meals for one, this dinner was based on a House product, a packaged combo for tofu and sauce that you add veggies to called Wok Me Up Spicy Orange. 

Pretty simple and not complicated to do yourself, but still it made my meal for one easier to just get started. (Sometimes just getting started can be hard for me when I'm only feeding myself.) I was pretty ashamed that I needed my tofu cut into little pieces for me, however it still took a crisis of will to get me to chop some veggies to throw into the stir fry.  (The directions specify 6 oz., I tossed in about double that.)

I served it over Trader Joe's frozen brown rice nuked for 3 minutes, I used about half the mix for my serving only to find that the package claims it contains 3.5 servings. I snorted out loud. Even with the extra veggies and rice it would barely feed two.

India - Photo of the Day - Bhel Puri - Or Chaat it Up

Bhel Puri is a mix of Indian snack foods, usually assembled or customized on the spot and served in a paper cone.  It is a class of food known as a chaat, which I'm sure I'll be writing about a lot just based on how often I ate them in India.

This vendor is outside the Ajanta Caves near Aurangabad, India.

He mixed puffed, baked and fried bits of rice, wheat, chickpea flour and other small bits of deliciousness and sprinkled with spice and lime juice.  Elsewhere I had bhel puri mixed in with cooked chickpeas and diced, cooked potato with a tart, thin tamarind sauce.

I haven't yet developed my own recipe, so here's some background from old reliable Wikipedia.

Here is a recipe that seems pretty close to what I experienced in India.  Warning you will need to look up some of the ingredients and shop at an Indian grocery store to make this! Same with this one. This version will probably still require a trip to the Indian grocery store but seems a bit less complicated.

Until I update this with my own recipe -- here's a Jewish fusion take on a similar Indian classic, panipuri, which takes the snack mix and puts it inside a small, puffed bread.  For my recipe for Bamba Bombay Pockets, please click here.

Pumpkin Hummus Redux -- Putting This Hummus in a Pumpkin Shell Does Very Well for Thanksgiving

I love this recipe for pumpkin hummus.  It's perfect for Thanksgiving.* It's easy.  It's tasty.  It is always well received.  I've included it in recipe demos, I shared it in my j weekly column and here in Blog Appetit.

Despite how much I love this recipe, I couldn't resist tinkering.  First I thought it would do very well in a pumpkin.  Which it did -- just look at the beauty above.  Then I amped the taste by adding about 1 tsp. of smoked paprika to the hummus when I added the pumpkin puree.

Other changes:  I made sure the za'atar mix had plenty of time to soften in the olive oil before blending half into the pumpkin hummus.  I drizzled about a third of what was left over the top of the dip and drizzled the rest in batches as the top layers of the dip were consumed.

I also garnished the spread with roasted pumpkin seeds saved from when I cleaned the squash out to make the dip container.  I cleaned, rinsed and dried the seeds and then roasted with lots of sea salt and smoked paprika on a well oiled tray in 325 degree oven, turning occasionally to make sure seeds were coated on both sides, for about 20-25 minutes.

Here's the original recipe including the smoked paprika addition above. The version shown in the pumpkin is a double recipe which I served with jicama sticks and thin, toasted slices of a pretzel baguette.

Pumpkin Hummus with Za’atar Drizzle Makes 8 appetizer servings

7-8 oz. container of unflavored hummus
1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree (do not use canned pumpkin pie filling)
1 tsp. smoke paprika
 2 Tbs. za’atar seasoning mix (or use 5 tsp. ground oregano, 1⁄4 tsp. of cumin and 1 tsp. sesame seeds)
1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 flatbreads or pita breads

Mix hummus with pumpkin puree and paprika. In a separate bowl, combine za’atar with olive oil and stir well. Heat flatbreads or pitas in dry fry pan or griddle until warm and toasted. Either serve as a topped flatbread or dip. To serve as a flatbread, spread the pumpkin hummus on the bread, drizzle with za’atar mix and cut into triangles. To serve as a dip, stir half of the za’atar into the hummus until just combined and you can still see “streaks” of the herb oil mixture. Drizzle the remainder on top of the pumpkin hummus. Cut the warmed breads into triangles and serve with dip.
*It's also lovely for Halloween or Day of the Dead parties, or really any time!

A Life Well Lived Inspires Falafel "Pizza



A tray of Falafel "Pizza" straight from the oven

For many years my husband and I worked with a man who was larger than life with a gusto for food, travel, people, design and a passion for creativity.  He also had a talent for looking at a person and seeing unexplored talents, particularly his employees, and giving them the trust, resources and space to grow.

Unfortunately, he passed away at a way too young age recently.  His memorial service was held at  his favorite local Mid-Eastern restaurant.  There were shared stories and lots of delicious appetizers that were said to be ones he was particularly fond of.

By the time we left, we were stuffed with good memories and the restaurant's tasty food.  One dish in particular stood out, a kind of "pizza" made with a crust of ground chickpeas and herbs. The menu called it a safeeha (sometimes spelled sfiha) which is a popular Arab and Lebanese  open-faced pie, usually topped with meat and having a more traditional bread crust.  These were vegetarian and used a falafel-like crust.  I knew I needed to recreate and adapt this.  In some ways I felt my friend was inspiring me still.

The result of this experience is the recipe below.  You can vary the toppings to your taste.  Try replacing the feta cheese with hummus and or tahini for a vegan version. 

Using falafel mix makes the Falafel “Pizza” an easy weeknight treat.  Falafel mix is available in boxes or by bulk in specialty and Middle Eastern stores and in some larger supermarkets.  Mixes vary so adjustments to yield and topping amounts may be needed.  Spicing also varies.  The mix I used was very spicy and needed no additional seasoning.  To test your mix, fry a tablespoon of batter before forming crust and taste.  If needed, add in cayenne pepper, salt, or other seasonings to taste.

Falafel “Pizza”
Serves 4 as a main course, 8 as an appetizer

Oil spray
12 oz. falafel mix
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. chopped parsley
3/4 cup cold water (see note below)
2 cups diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 tsp. dried mint
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions (white and light green parts)
2 cups crumbled feta cheese (about 8 oz.)
2 Tbs. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 11”x15” baking tray. Combine falafel mix with 1/4 cup chopped parsley. Stir in water. Let sit 30 minutes until water is absorbed and mix holds shape. Spread falafel mixture about 1/4" thick into a rectangle that’s about 10”x12”. Use a knife to score into 8 sections (for a main course serving) or 16 sections (for appetizers). Lightly spray oil on top. Bake 10 minutes until falafel crust is firm and slightly browned. Remove from oven and slide spatula under crust to loosen.

Raise oven temperature to 450 degrees. Toss drained tomatoes with mint, oregano and black pepper. Scatter tomatoes, green onion and feta on top of crust. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake 10 minutes until heated through and cheese is lightly browned. Garnish with remaining parsley. Cut along scored lines and serve.

Note:  Mixes differ. Refer to directions on package for making patties and adjust water as directed.

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This recipe appeared in a different context in the j weekly.

An Unplanned Paella at the Food Bloggers Picnic

Paella  al fresco at the Bay Area Food Bloggers Picnic

What to take to the food bloggers picnic?
You want to show off, but not be obnoxious about it.
You want something portable and suitable for al fresco eating that shows you have game.
And most important when you are trying to decide on the morning of the picnic when you have done NO advance planning or shopping, you want to cook something you have all the ingredients for in the house.

My recent solution was a vegan paella.

You could make yours not vegan by browning ground animal-based chorizo (either take it out of the casing or try Diestel's excellent ground turkey chorizo).  Every brand of chorizo (even among the soy versions) has a different seasoning, so you may need to adjust the heat and salt in your paella. I used the Trader Joe vegan chorizo in this recipe. (Note: This recipe calls for the uncooked style of Mexican chorizo -- which is much more widely available in the U.S. than the traditional Spanish cooked chorizo sausage.)

Feel free to sub out the vegetables and garnish.  Paella is a very individual dish and is suitable for many occasions and virtually unlimited adaptations.  For the best paella, I do believe using a thin, seasoned metal paella pan (paellera) works best.  (Although I've made decent paellas in a stainless steel fry pan.) You also need the right rice.  Use either a Spanish paella rice (such as bomba or Calasparra) or Italian aborio rice.  I usually make mine on the stove and then finish it in the oven for even cooking, but if you have access to an outdoor fire (especially wood) it is wonderful cooked on that.

Here's my basic rules for paella making. I encourage you read through them since I give a lot of tips on how to make paella in the post. The post also features a recipe for paella with meatballs and avocado sauce. I've taken to serving my paellas with a sauce of some kind.  I like the avocado one in that recipe, but I've also made a smoked eggplant one and even used hummus as one.  They really elevate the taste experience by adding a creamy, cool component.  For this paella, I served a simple store-bought hummus for folks to drizzle over their rice.

I don't claim this is a "traditional" paella, I'm not sure I believe in such a dish any more, anyway.  A paella is just a canvas to express flavor and texture to me as long as it still relies on what I consider proper technique.  The one step I usually include that's not in this version -- I normally add chopped tomatoes to my sautéed vegetables.  I didn't here because I didn't have any regular tomatoes in the house due to my aforementioned lack of planning.

Since I started writing this my patron saint of paellas, Penelope Casas, has passed away.  Her books taught me the basics of technique and encouraged me to experiment.  I fell in love with Spanish food during my first trip to Spain in 1995.  Casas helped me recreate a little taste back home with authenticity and vision. 

A word of encouragement -- the directions are more complicated to write out then do (especially if you review by basic rules and read through the recipe posted there.)  Allow yourself enough time (paella holds beautifully) and enjoy.

Accidental Vegan Paella
Serves 3-4, more as tapas (appetizer)

2 cups vegetable stock
Pinch saffron threads (optional)
2 Tbs. oil
6 oz. crumbled soy chorizo (out of casing)
1 cup chopped onion
2 Tbs. minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped  carrots
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/8 tsp. or to taste salt
1/8 tsp. or to taste black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup paella or Arborio rice
1 cup white wine
About 16 green beans or asparagus spears, partially cooked
About 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
Fresh, chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put stock in pan on stove and heat to simmer and add saffron threads if using.  Keep warm.

Add oil a 10-12" paella pan or oven safe sauté or fry pan. (See note below.)  Heat oil in pan on stove over medium high heat.  Brown chorizo.  Remove from pan with slotted spoon.  Add onion and sauté until softened.  Add garlic, sauté until golden.  Add celery, carrots and red bell pepper.  Sauté until beginning to soften.  Add salt, pepper and cumin adjusting to taste since chorizo is highly seasoned.  Sauté a minute, stir and mix in browned chorizo.  Mix well.  Add rice.  Stir until well coated with oil.  Sauté for a minute, add 1 and 1/2 cups stock and wine.  Mix well, and stir occasionally until stock is simmering and rice has begun to swell. Adjust heat to keep at a simmer.

From this point on, do not mix or stir the rice.  (Stirring makes the dish mushy as well as preventing the formation of a bottom crust of rice.) If you are concerned that it is not cooking evenly, adjust or rotate the pan on the stove over the heating coil or flame.  Place string beans and cherry tomatoes in a decorative pattern on top of paella.  Continue to cook, without stirring, until rice is beginning to soften and if you bite into a grain it is crunchy but not raw tasting.  (Timing will vary widely).  There should be some liquid left in the pan as well.  If the rice seems dry, add stock as needed.  (You will probably need to use the entire 2 cups.) If you use up stock, add warm water as needed. Cover with aluminum foil or pan lid.  Place in oven and bake for  10 minutes. Check to see if rice is almost but not quite cooked through when you bite into a grain.  If the rice is not ready, add liquid if needed, cover and check again in a few minutes. When the rice at that al dente stage, remove from oven and keep covered for 10 minutes or so before serving.  Uncover and garnish with chopped parsley.  If not serving right away, slightly undercook and keep covered until serving or uncover and serve at room temperature, garnishing right before serving.

Note:  You could use a larger paella pan, but timing will vary greatly.  If you are using a 14" pan, you could adjust the recipe to increase ingredients by 50 percent.  If you are not using a paella pan, make sure that any handles on the pan you do use are oven safe.  Heavy cast iron pans, earthenware casseroles and similar pans do not work very well in terms of getting a traditional paella texture.

Not Chicken Soup and Matzofu Balls for Vegan Holiday Tables Are Something to Cluck About (Plus the soup makes a great all around veggie broth)

The Jewish High Holidays are a few weeks away, but I’m already thinking of my menu. Since I mostly eat vegan and always have vegetarian or vegan guests, I plan to have some dishes free from animal products for them to enjoy. Usually that means I look to the vegetable-friendly cuisines of the Sephardic and Middle Eastern traditions, but this year I have a hankering to serve some dishes from my own Eastern European heritage.

The Not Chicken Soup works well as a chicken soup alternative or as a vegetable stock to use in other recipes. Serve it on its own or with my Matzofu Balls, an eggless version of the classic Ashkenazi knaidlach (matzah ball). Made from matzah meal and silken tofu, these dumplings have the look and texture of the classic matzah ball. They taste best when served warm. I like to vary the recipe by adding 1/4 cup of fresh minced flat leaf parsley when I add the matzah meal for beautiful green-flecked dumplings.

Not Chicken Soup (aka Vegetable Broth)
Makes about 9 cups of broth

1 medium large onion, unpeeled
3-4 whole cloves garlic, peeled
2 medium carrots, unpeeled
1 large parsnip, unpeeled
1 large russet baking potato, unpeeled
1 large turnip, unpeeled
8 small white or brown mushrooms
2 medium to large stalks of celery, with leaves
2 medium tomatoes, halved
1 bunch fresh parsley
About 10-12 cups water
1/2 plus 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 plus 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. turmeric
2-4 cups diced warm steamed vegetables, optional
Finely chopped dill, optional

Remove outer layer of onion peel if dirty, trim roots and rinse unpeeled onion, cut in quarters and put in a large soup or stock pot. Add garlic cloves. Trim, scrub and rinse carrots, parsnip, potato and turnip. Cut into 1” pieces and add to pot. Wipe down mushrooms, trim off end of stem, cut in half and add to pot. Cut celery into 1” pieces and add to pot with tomatoes and parsley. Add water just to cover (use a little less rather than a little more). Add 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, stir and bring to a low boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are very soft and the broth is full tasting (30-45 minutes). If the broth is too strong add water. If broth is too weak, remove cover, return to low boil and let cook until the broth is reduced to desired strength. Strain soup, pressing down on vegetables to extract liquid. Discard solids. Return broth to pot and return to a simmer. Add remaining salt and pepper or to taste.  If desired, serve by adding steamed vegetables to soup bowl, ladling in soup and sprinkling with dill.

Matzofu Balls
Makes 16

1-12 oz. box of soft silken tofu (shelf-stable aseptic package)
2 Tbs. vegetable oil 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne (ground red pepper)
1 cup matzah meal
1/2 cup unflavored seltzer
 
Whip or beat tofu until smooth in large bowl. Mix in oil, salt, turmeric, pepper , cayenne and matzah meal. Stir well. Add seltzer. Stir gently until just combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Put a large pot of water on the stove. Cover and heat to boil. Form batter into 1” balls. Add to pot once water boils. When water returns to a low boil, cover  and simmer until the dumplings are cooked  and fluffy, about 20-25 minutes (cut one open, there should be no raw or hard spots). Turn off heat. Hold in covered pot for up to an hour. Drain. Serve warm in hot soup. If needed, reheat in simmering water or broth.
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Chicken graphic courtesy Microsoft Office Clip Art. Adapted by me.  A version of this article first appeared in j. Weekly.

Spicy, Saucy and Vegan Over at Dish It Up Vegan

 

I made this shashuka this morning for brunch -- You can read all about it with the ingredients and procedure (not really a formal recipe write up over at Dish It Up Vegan, my all vegan, all the time blog.

I made a version of this (with the traditional eggs instead of tofu) a few years ago -- you can see that recipe for shashuka (aka shashooka, shakshouka and about 20 other spellings) here.

Making Almond Milk -- Utterly Easy

 

Fresh-made almond milk is amazing and incredibly easy to make. It is very customizable and avoids all the thickeners and additives commercial almond milk has. (Although it doesn't have the fortified vitamins or calcium, either.)  I like to pour it in my cereal or drink it plain or flavored with chocolate syrup.  It is a good base for recipes calling for non-dairy milks.  It works okay in coffee if you drink it right away. (It separates out when left sitting, so you'll need to give your hot drink a stir if you linger.)

 

It lasts for 3-4 days in the refrigerator, just shake before using if it separates out.

 

This recipe makes a slightly creamy, nutty flavored milk.  Add agave syrup or other sweetener to taste if you'd like afterwards. (I skip that.)  A bit of vanilla or cinnamon would also be nice additions. 

 



Almond Milk

Makes slightly more than 2 cups

 

Once your nuts have soaked, this recipe takes longer to describe than do.  (If your tap water doesn't have a nice, clean taste use filtered or bottled water.)

 

Equipment notes -- You'll need a nut milk bag -- a reusable, closely woven mesh bag available from Whole Foods and other natural foods retailers -- to strain and squeeze the milk through.  If this is not available, line a colander or strainer with several thickness of cheesecloth, leaving enough cloth overlapping the sides that you can gather the ends together, twist it tight and squeeze the milk out.

 

You'll also need a blender -- I used a regular home blender with a pretty strong motor.  You can use one less or more powerful, just watch for when the nuts are totally pulverized.

 

1 cup shelled raw almonds (with skins - no need to blanch or rub off the skins)

Water to cover

2 1/2 cups water

 

Cover almonds with water and let sit overnight (8-10 hours).  Drain and discard water.  Rinse almonds several times.  Put in blender jar with 2 1/2 cups water.  Blend until almonds are totally pulverized and only infinitesimal bits.  Pour into nut milk bag that is propped up in a large bowl or a 4-cup measuring cup. (Make sure it is big enough to catch the almond milk that will soon be flowing through the bag.) Scrape out all the liquid and solids that remain behind into the bag.

 

Lift nut bag up out and over the bowl and squeeze (as if you were milking a cow if you like that analogy) until all possible liquid is squeezed out of the pulverized nuts.  Transfer to storage container, stir in any sweeteners or flavoring, cap/cover and store in refrigerator.  Shake well if milk separates.

 

If you like yours creamier or thinner, use more or less water. 

 

You can discard the leftover bits of almond or reuse.  Reusing seems like a great idea, but I never seem to do that.  Maybe next time I'll use in a cake or stew.

 

 Update:  Added the nut meal to a soup.  It gave it a creamy texture with a pleasant grit, plus it amped up the protein.

 



First Post From My Cell Phone

Very much enjoyed my plant-based cooking class at Oakland Whole Foods as part of Oak Veg Week. Thanks Chef Alex Bury.

Taste of Judaism - International Jewish Food Beyond Chicken Soup and Gefilte Fish -- Recipes from My Talks

Messot Wot on Injera

Sunday I give my last in a series of lectures/tastings on international Jewish food sponsored by Jewish Learning Works.

Thanks to the JLW and to Peninsula Temple Sholom and Temple Sinai for hosting me for these programs.

I hope to post some of the info I talked about in the presentations soon, but for now I'll leave you with the recipes.  To see more on what I have written about what is Jewish food, the history of Jewish food and my Jewish recipes, please click on the Jewish label on the list of categories on the right side column of the blog.

I prepared three recipes for the tasting, a Syrian kibbeh (bulghur pie) dish (which is not my recipe and not posted here, check out the wonderful cookbook  A Fistful of Lentils for more info), an Ethiopian lentil stew and a Persian herb omelet.  Below are the stew and omelet recipes which are my interpretations of regional specialities. 

Messor Wot – Ethiopian Lentil Stew

Serves 6

This is my adaptation of a traditional lentil stew.  Berbere is available from some specialty markets and on line.  See my post at http://www.clickblogappetit.com/2012/11/almost-ethiopian-food-recipes-for-kinda.html for a substitution and other Ethiopian inspired recipes.  Cooking time is approximate.  Sometimes lentils will take longer to cook.  Works well made in advance and reheated.

2 red onions, finely chopped
2 Tbs. minced garlic
2 Tbs. plus 2 Tbs. tomato paste
1/3 to ½ cup berbere
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
½ cup olive oil
4 cups water
1 lb. lentils (green or brown supermarket style)
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. salt

In a large, heavy pot over medium high heat, add onions (with no oil or other fats), cook until translucent and soft (about 5-10 minutes).  Stir if needed or add a bit of hot water if browning. Do not let brown or burn.  Add garlic and 2 Tbs. tomato paste.  Stir well and cook for a few minutes. Add berbere, ginger and cardamom. Stir and sauté for 5 minutes, adding hot water if needed to keep from sticking or burning.  Add oil, stir well, cook for 5 minutes.  Add lentils, mix well. Add 4 cups water.  Bring to simmer. Cover and simmer until lentils are soft and falling apart, about 35-40 minutes. Sauce should be thick and not at all soupy, but add hot water if needed.  Add remaining tomato paste, pepper and salt. Mix well. Let cook a few more minutes. Taste and correct seasoning.  Serve with green salad with injera (Ethiopian flat bread), millet or rice.

Baked Kookoo

Baked Kookoo – Persian Egg and Greens Omelet

Serves 4-6

Normally this omelet is fried, but I like this version with less oil and less fuss.  It doubles well, just use a larger baking pan.

1 cup cooked spinach
2 Tbs. vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing pan
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped leek (light green and white part only)
¾ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
6 large eggs, beaten
1/8 tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
Paprika (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Squeeze and drain spinach. Chop. Set aside.  Grease 8x8” glass baking pan with oil.  Heat 2 Tbs. oil in skillet.  Sauté onion and leek over medium high heat until softened.  Add parsley and mint, sauté for a moment and then mix in spinach.  Stir until well mixed.  Sauté until any excess liquid from the vegetables has evaporated.    Take off the heat to let cool slightly.  Mix turmeric, salt and pepper in to eggs.  Stir in vegetables until well combined and pour into prepared pan.   Bake until set and cooked through, about 30 minutes.  Eggs will have pulled away from the edges of the pan, be firm but still springy and slightly puffed and lightly browned. If desired, after about 20 minutes of baking, lightly sprinkle top of omelet with paprika.

Knishing Cousins Share Potato Knish Recipe and History (Oh, and it's Blog Appetit's Seventh Anniversary!)

I can't believe today is Blog Appetit's seventh anniversary - thanks everyone for the help, support, advice and readership over the years.  Watch for a celebration post.  Meanwhile, please enjoy this special post (and potato knish recipe), my 695th. -- Faith

A real San Francisco treat - Mrs. Stahl's New York potato knishes

In a sunny San Francisco kitchen one recent afternoon, two cousins passed on a New York knish tradition.

Toby Engelberg and her cousin Sara Spatz were showing food writer and documentary filmmaker Laura Silver how to make their grandmother’s knishes. Engelberg’s grandmother was no amateur knish maker; she was Fannie Stahl, founder of Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York, one of the city’s legendary purveyors of the stuffed, baked Eastern European savory pastries.

Silver, a New York-based knish historian and expert, had been looking for years for Stahl family members and the recipe for the knishes she had grown up eating. To Silver the plump dough circle is more than just food. It is a “catalyst for talking about memories” and “a vehicle for nostalgia.” 

“It was amazing to find Toby. It went beyond my wildest dreams that I’d be making knishes with a descendant of Mrs. Stahl and in San Francisco,” said Silver, who had come West just to meet Engelberg and learn to make her knishes.

Silver had spent years tracing records and false leads for Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes only to find a clue on an on-line food forum posting by a Stahl relative. Through him, she found Engelberg. They had an “instant connection” and not only did Engelberg have the recipe, she was the family genealogist and was able to fill in the blanks on Silver’s research.

Laura Silver (left), Sara Spatz and Toby Engelberg with knishes

“The fillings are what I remember,” Engelberg said. She prefers the traditional fillings such as potato onion, cabbage or kasha (buckwheat) and is still tweaking her re-creation of her grandmother’s recipe. Working with Silver was “a great chance to get our story correct,” she said.

Engelberg, an architect who moved to San Francisco in 1988, once contemplated making knishes commercially, but she said the market for her hand-made savory pastries was not there. Now she makes the knishes for her annual holiday parties and for friends “who are really into it.” 

A camerawoman recorded Engelberg at work for Silver’s documentary on the Eastern European filled pastry. The dough was stretched out whisper-thin on the slate counter of her kitchen. Engelberg, often consulting with Spatz (who came from New York to participate), would spread a line of filling across the top, brush the dough with oil and turn the dough over until the pastry encased the stuffing. After a few more turns, the filled rope of dough was ready to be cut, shaped and baked into Mrs. Stahl’s famed knishes. With Silver helping out, the cousins made dozens of knishes for a party that night filled with appreciative friends who shared their own knish memories.

Mrs. Stahl began selling her knishes on the beaches and boardwalks of Brooklyn in the 1920s. By 1935 she had opened her shop in the Brighton Beach neighborhood. The cousins, daughters of the youngest and oldest of Stahl’s five children, reminisced about their grandmother’s shop including the machines that stretched and rolled the dough and the workers hand shaping the knishes at giant tables. The shop was sold in the mid-1960s a few years after their grandmother died. Subsequent owners kept the business going until 2005 when it closed for good, although a New Jersey pasta company still markets its frozen knishes under the Mrs. Stahl’s name to food service and other accounts.

In addition to researching knishes connections in New York and San Francisco, Silver has traveled to Minnesota, Poland and elsewhere on the trail of historic and modern knish makers.

“There’s a quote from Isaac Bashevis Singer about Yiddish that says the language is dying but it is never dead,” Silver said. “You can say the same thing about knishes.”

Her work in chronicling and celebrating the knish’s history while trying to introduce new eaters to the pastry has been supported by several organizations, including the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. Her book, tentatively entitled the “Book of Knish,” is on track to be published late next year by Brandeis University Press. She hopes to have a pilot of her documentary ready to debut next year as well.

Silver is also working on an exhibit about knish history and other projects and invites folks to share their knish stories and local resources. Silver can be contacted at knish@me.com or through her website, www.knish.me .

Below is Engelberg's recreation of her grandmother's potato knish.  For a different style of potato knish, see this post and recipe on Blog Appetit.

Mac and Cheese Cold and Hot to the Rescue for Meatless Monday AND National Vegetarian Day (with Vegan Options)

Can you guess the secret ingredient in this Crazy Mac and Cheese?

Whenever my mother got out the pot to make her version of the “Dirty” Macaroni and Cheese Salad below my sisters and I would go sit outside on our front steps and wait for my uncle to show up. He seemed to have a second sense as to when my mom would be making his favorite salad.

Tasty and easy adaptable, dishes based on pasta and cheese are adult and kid friendly for a meatless Monday or any day, even National Vegetarian Day (Monday, October 1 this year).

Crazy Mac and Cheese is my take on the boxed macaroni and cheeses my sons seemed to prefer to my carefully crafted home-made versions full of stuff they declared “yucky.”  It has lots of cheese, a smooth texture, the requisite orange color and includes a few surprises.

I used a creamy Israeli sheep’s milk feta in the Pasta with Olive Oil, Feta Cheese, Olives and Herbs but any feta would work well in the recipe.

 

See the recipes for options for making these recipes vegan.

“Dirty” Macaroni and Cheese Salad

Serves 8

Dirty in the title of this recipe refers to using some of the olive brine in the salad. Substitute vegan cheese and mayonnaise to make a vegan version of this salad. I recommend Daiya brand cheddar shreds or wedges (cut in cubes) and like both Earth Balance and Vegenaise brand vegan mayonnaise.

 
8 oz. dried elbow macaroni
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped green olives stuffed with pimentos, cut in 1/4” pieces
3 Tbs. brine (liquid) from olive jar
1/2 cup chopped green onion, white and light green parts only
1 cup chopped red bell pepper, cut in 1/4” cubes
3 oz. orange-colored sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4” cubes (about a heaping 1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain. Toss in oil. Let cool. Stir in all other ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Crazy Mac and Cheese

Serves 4-6

Baking the mac and cheese melds the flavors and makes the squash and cheese combination work. Make your own winter squash puree or find it frozen or as jarred baby food in the supermarket.  I haven't tried it, but there is no reason a vegan version with vegan margarine, soy milk and vegan cheeses wouldn't work. (FYI - I like Earth Balance original spread, Trader Joe's unflavored and unsweetened soy milk and Daiya vegan cheddar shreds.  I don't have a preferred brand of vegan American cheese since I use it so rarely.  If you have one you like, leave a comment below and share.)

Oil Spray

8 oz. dried elbow or shell macaroni
3 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour
1 and1/2 cup skim, reduced fat or whole milk plus additional if needed
4 oz. orange-colored sharp cheddar cheese, grated  
3 slices of American cheese, chopped
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dry ground mustard
½ to 1 tsp. salt, or to taste
1 cup cooked winter squash puree (such as butternut or acorn)
Vegetable Sprinkles (optional, see below)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 8” x8” baking dish or casserole and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.
Melt butter in sauce pan over low heat, whisk in flour until well combined. Pour in milk whisking as you pour until well combined. Raise heat to medium. Stirring or whisking often, cook until liquid thickens to about half. Add in cheeses, stirring until melted. Stir in paprika, pepper, mustard and ½ tsp. salt. Mix in puree and stir until combined. Add more milk if needed to keep mixture creamy. Taste and add more salt if needed and correct other seasonings. Mix sauce with cooked pasta. Place in greased baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes until sauce is bubbling and top is just starting to brown. Serve with Vegetable Sprinkles if desired.

Vegetable Sprinkles – Finely chop raw red and yellow bell peppers, carrots, celery, or other vegetables your family likes. Let kids and others sprinkle atop their servings.

Pasta with Olive Oil, Feta Cheese, Olives and Herbs

Serves 6-8

I don't have a good feta substitute for a vegan version, but I'm thinking some Daiya wedge jack cheese cut into cubes might work.  Or try pressing the mositure out of some firm tofu and cutting into cubes and use those.  Skip the Parmesan cheese and substitute a sprinkle of nutritional yeast on top when serving if desired.

1 lb. dried pasta such as penne or rigatoni

3 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 cups drained and crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 oz. drained, pitted Kalmata olives, cut into quarters
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
 

Boil pasta until just tender. Drain. While still warm, mix with olive oil in large bowl. Add in cheeses, olives, parsley, mint, and pepper. Toss well. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

 

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A version of this article first appeared in the j weekly.

For another mac and cheese recipe and more fond memories on Blog Appetit click here.

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

 



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

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

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

 I used the marinade from this post.

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

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

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

Lentils Sweet and Sour, Hot and Cold with Recipes

Some like it hot. Some like it cold (or perhaps room temperature). These lentil recipes are very obliging and can be served warm or room temperature. I am enamoured with lentils lately and decided to try two new recipes - one by a friend, another by a talented cookbook author and blogger.

Sweet and Sour Lentils is a favorite recipe of the Rosenthal family of Oakland. They even served it at their daughter’s bat mitzvah. Middle Eastern Rice and Lentil Pilaf is an unconventional approach to mujadara from Michael Natkin’s “Herbivoracious” (Harvard Common Press), a new vegetarian cookbook full of vibrant photos and recipes.

Recipes are used with permission (from Lori Rosenthal and Natkin's publisher's pr rep) and have been adapted for style and space as well as to reflect my experience making them.

Sweet and Sour Lentils
Serves 6-8
¼ cup soy sauce
1 bay leaf
3 Tbs. onion powder (granulated onion)
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup honey or to taste
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground allspice
½ tsp. powdered ginger
4 cups water
3 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
¼ cup chopped parsley

Put soy sauce, bay leaf, onion powder, oil, honey, vinegar, allspice, ginger and water in 4-qt. pot. Mix. Add lentils. Bring to a boil. Stir. Cover and lower heat. Simmer for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours, adding water if necessary until lentils are tender but not mushy. Turn heat off and leave pot covered for 15 minutes. Uncover, remove bay leaf and stir. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature garnished with parsley. (Note: Use the brown or green "supermarket" style lentils. Vegans who don't eat honey can substitute agave nectar for the honey.)

Middle Eastern Rice and Lentil Pilaf
From “Herbivoracious” by Michael Natkin
Serves 6

¼ cup vegetable oil
3 lbs. white onions, sliced moderately thin
2 tsp. plus 1 tsp. kosher salt
½ cup white wine, dry vermouth or water
6 cups cooked long-grain white or brown rice, warm (see note)
3 cups cooked lentils, warm (see note)
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small handful of parsley, coarsely chopped
Flaky sea salt

Heat oil in very large skillet over medium low heat. Add onions and 2 tsp. kosher salt and cook, stirring occasionally until very soft, about 45 minutes. Turn up heat to medium high and continue cooking about 20 minutes more, stirring often, until deeply browned and sweet. Pour in wine and stir to scrape up bits at bottom of pan. Mix half the onions with the rice, lentils, cinnamon, cumin, 1 tsp. kosher salt and several grinds of black pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings (see note below). Form a mound of rice and lentils on platter, top with remaining onions, parsley, a grind of pepper and a few grains of the sea salt to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Note: Cook the rice and lentils while the onions are cooking. Use regular brown or green lentils, not red lentils or the small, dark green French lentils. For three cups of cooked lentils, combine 2 cups of water with 1 cup of dried lentils. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender but not falling apart. Drain excess liquid. Natkin notes his recipe makes a milder, earthier mujadara, but he encourages experimentation. For a more assertive taste, try doubling the cumin and cinnamon and or adding ¼ tsp. of red pepper flakes.)

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This post originally appeared in a slightly different form in the j. weekly.com

Teen Cooking Competiton Comes Up with Some Winning and Tasty Indian-Jewish Inspired Treats

Tomato-Mango Bruschetta

Here’s a recipe for some tasty learning about Jewish culture. To a roomful of teenagers add a lesson on Jewish food ways, a kitchen full of ingredients and a dash of competition. The result is Top (Jewish) Chef, where teens explore Jewish food. The class is part of Berkeley Midrasha’s curriculum for postbar and bat mitzvah youth.  The Midrasha program is one of several in northern California.

Teacher Anna Martin has the teens participating in competitions that have included an Ashkenazi/Sephardic Cholent/Dafina cook off as well as a challenge where they created a dish using at least three of the Biblical seven species.

Recently, I had a chance to be a guest judge at the Bene Israel Cook Off. The students had already learned about the Bene Israel Jews of India, so they came to the kitchen of Congregation Beth El, which hosts the Berkeley Midrasha program, prepared to cook. Students were divided into four teams and each had to make a chutney from a recipe provided by Martin and create their own version of malida, a Bene Israel spiced rice dish often served with fruits and nuts.

The teens (age 13-17) had the tough job -- creating and cooking the recipes in about an hour, but I was also impressed on how tough it was to judge a competition such as this.  I had developed a score sheet for originality, compliance to rules, appearance and taste but in the end things were moving so fast I only relied on two things -- fulfilling the assignment properly (making the assigned chutney and creating a dish using at least three of the traditional Bene Israel elements) and how the finished dishes tasted.

Honestly, everything tasted great, but there was a lot of deviation from the assignment. In the end, the winner was a hot, spiced pineapple-mango salad devised by Stefan Moskowitz, Michelle Schiff, Sydney Palmer and Becky Friedman. It inspired me to create the rice pudding below. The team of Jaime Falcone-Juengert, Adin Krebs-Oppenheimer and Leo Pollack combined their sweet and savory tomato chutney with mango and coconut into a bruschetta topping, which also inspired a recipe below.

Pineapple-Mango Rice Pudding

Serves 6

1 can (13.5-15 oz.) light coconut milk
1/2 cup white basmati rice
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 cup 1/2" cubes fresh mango
1 cup 1/2” cubes fresh pineapple
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1/4 cup chopped pistachios or slivered almonds
1/4 cup finely chopped mint
1 Tbs. minced, seeded jalapeño pepper or to taste (optional)

Pour coconut milk in a large measuring cup. Add water until there is 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Mix with rice in medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in sugar, cardamom and ginger. Return to simmer, cover and lower heat to keep simmering, stirring occasionally until mixture is very thick and creamy, about 25-30 minutes. Stir in mango and pineapple chunks. Serve warm or at room temperature in one large or six individual serving bowls garnished with strawberries, nuts, mint and jalapeño (if using).

Tomato-Mango Bruschetta
Makes 16 toasts

1/2 cup finely shredded or grated coconut (unsweetened)
2 lb. fresh plum tomatoes
2 Tbs. olive oil plus extra for brushing on bread
2 Tbs. minced fresh garlic
2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
2 cups 1/4" cubes fresh mango
2 Tbs. tamarind concentrate or paste
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 baguette of French or similar bread, about 24” long

Toast the coconut until golden brown over low heat in a dry, heavy, large fry pan or skillet, stirring constantly. Set coconut aside and wipe out pan. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise, squeezing out seeds. Chop tomatoes into 1/4" pieces. Set aside. Place 2 Tbs. of oil in the pan, raise heat to medium. Add garlic and sauté until golden. Add ginger, sauté for a minute. Add tomato and mango pieces, tamarind, juice, salt, red pepper, sugar, cardamom and raisins, mix well and sauté for about 5-6 minutes, until the tomatoes are just cooked and the flavors have melded. Taste and correct seasonings. Mix in cilantro and remove from heat. Use warm or at room temperature. Just before serving, slice baguette into half lengthwise and then cut each half into 8 pieces, each about 3” long. Brush with oil and grill, broil or toast cut side until just golden. Spoon tomato-mango mixture on top of each slice. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut.
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A version of this post first appeared as an article in the j. weekly.