Cookin' Up a Storm

I've been focused on cooking, writing and my Facebook page, Nice Jewish Girl Meets Viking Stove (have you noticed a trend here?) and totally neglected you, my poor blog. Please forgive. I'll make it up to you.....

Lots of interesting dishes cooked and spices discovered. I've had a beautiful tagine sitting in my kitchen cabinet for years, and always been afraid to use it. Now with an electric glass stovetop (yes, unfortunately my Viking Stove is electric...love the oven, hate the cooktop?) I suspected I couldn't use it "aboveboard" so I decided to use it in the oven.

I AM SO HAPPY!!!!I LOVE MY TAGINE!!!!! I've been experimenting around, and have made chicken tagine with dried fruits (raisins, dates) and a bit of date syrup, with onions and sweet potatoes. FAB. I also made a salmon fillet tagine with sliced potatoes, onions, garlic and spices. Big shout out to Cousin Adam ( merci!) for the encouragement and for bringing me back beautiful, fragrant and potent hand-ground spices from Morocco which have been incorporated into these tagines and so many other dishes.

I've discovered advieh, a Persian spice mixture I've used on chicken. I like to coat my chicken lightly with olive oil, and then sprinkle and rub the spice mixture. You can use it on meat as well. Here's how to make it at home:

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Mix together and keep in an airtight container.

More on other spice adventure soon - I promise!

Wow, How Did that Happen?

Somehow, despite an incredible amount of cooking and puttering around in my kitchen (and other people's kitchens, too), I've neglected my blog. How has it been since Pesah???? I'm sorry. But I do have lots of new ideas and recipes to share over the next few weeks.

Tonight, a quick and easy fish recipe. It just seems we've been eating so much chicken (and in P's case, some brisket along the way) that we were going to start clucking. Tonight, finally, some fish.

Butterflied Brook Trout Fillets with Fresh Ginger and Lime

Let me say this at the outset.

I don't like for the fish to eyeball me back. I don't like to know the fish once had a head or eyeballs or cheeks or whatever. It's my little way of disassociating from the fact the fish was once alive and swimming somewhere. So even if I buy a fish that has a head in the store, I coax the fishmonger (oh, the simple pleasure of using that word) into separating my fishy friend from his or her noggin. 

I purchased the Ichabod Crane-like fish (get it? Headless? Ok, that's my last mention of it.). Let's start that again. I bought a beautiful piece of butterflied Brook Trout to roast at a high temperature in- wait for it - Nice Jewish Girl's Viking Oven. I generally roast fish at about 405 Fahrenheit using the convection phase of my oven for two reasons: one, if I cook it in the oven, it doesn't make the apartment smell like fish for days, and two, a blast of really hot heat allows me to cook it for less time, guaranteeing a more moist fish fillet.

3/4 lb butterflied brook trout (fed 2 adults)
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 small lime
several small dabs of unsalted butter
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 405 F.  Spray a pan with cooking spray. Place the fillet skin-side down in the pan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut half the lime into wedges and squeeze over the fish. Using a ginger grater, grate the 1 inch piece of ginger, scraping the small fibers and seasoning the fish evenly. You may also drizzle the ginger juice created when you grated it over the fish. Place very small dabs of unsalted butter over the fillet. Slice the remaining lime into thin fans or circles and place over the fish. Cook 7-10 minutes.

We loved it.

It was fresh and light and not chicken. I'd try this with any thin white fillet or even something thicker like halibut or haddock. Just adjust the cooking time - the general rule of thumb is 10 minutes per 1 inch of fish thickness.

It's Pesah! Let's eat! (Again)

On Pesah, like so many Jewish cooks, I become a kosher Automat. Breakfast: sure. Matza Brie. All sorts of spreads and cheeses. Lunch: Yeah, I got that. Dinner: Oh, it must be 15 minutes at least since I've cooked. let me just whip up another 3 or 4 course meal filled with wonder.

Food, food, food. I shop for it, try to find places to store it, trim it, pack it, season it, cook it, arrange it.

Here are the culinary highlights so far:

• Greek Chicken with lemon, olive and garlic
• Roasted cauliflower steak over quinoa with sauteed onions and mushrooms
• Beef kufte meatballs with sweet tomato sauce, over zucchini ribbon "pasta"
• Artichokes, carrots and olives in lemon sauce

And, I had my first cooking gig through kitchensurfing.org! I prepared 3 entrees for a seder for 11.

Let's see what the rest of the holiday brings. I'll try to post photos later.

Hag sameach! Moadim L'Simha! A Zissen Pesah!

Let's eat!

Jewish restaurateurs are revisiting Chinese dishes — and schmaltzing them up - NYPOST.com

An interesting take....but kosher Chinese is easy to make at home. Look for an upcoming posting on this after Pesah. In the meantime, happy cleaning!

Jewish restaurateurs are revisiting Chinese dishes — and schmaltzing them up - NYPOST.com:

'via Blog this'

Grieving, with Food

Our beloved Aunt Debbie, the one with the laughing eyes and infectious giggle, the hug that smooshed into you, the keeper of Sefardi tradition and family recipes, died this past Shabbat. We are all feeling somewhat lost and very sad. We spent many Pesah sedarim and Rosh Hashana dinners at her table, always filled with Greek and Turkish goodies appropriate to the season and holiday.

The minute you walked into her kitchen for Pesah, you were treated to what my husband always called "booms": bumuelos, delicious little nuggets of matza and apple, deep fried and sweetened with honey. The seder, conducted these last few years by Uncle Joe and  Perry, featured a whiny Sefardi mnemonic that helps to keep the place in the long ritual, began with the seder plate carried by Debbie, and later, by her daughter-in-law Karla, to insure everyone's wish for the next year would come true. 

The haroset was spectacular and unmatchable. We always left with a little jar for the rest of the week, to be spread on matza, served as a side dish or used as a dip for raw vegetables. 

In the last few years, Debbie asked me to take over making the prassa, or leek-potato latkes. I tried and tried, but I never thought mine were anywhere near as good as hers. Last year she told me they were pretty close, and all I had to do was make them a little smaller and thicker. That's high praise from someone who made them her whole life, first at Grandma Jennie's side, and then as the accomplished cook she became.

I didn't know what to do with myself Saturday night. We were so sad and had spent much of the day crying and reminiscing. So I went to my kitchen and made a big pot of soup. That was a little of my grieving, with food.I'll cry more preparing in just a few weeks for this Pesah. 

But I'll remember to make the prassa a little smaller, and a little thicker. Thanks for everything, Aunt Debbie.We'll love you forever.

Cross-Cultural Chicken Soup

Who doesn't love a bowl of steaming soup on a cold day? Today I realized I hadn't made the chicken soup I had promised College Girl all winter break...not good. I knew I had to squeeze it in before she leaves for school, and today was the perfect day for it.

But nicejewish girl has a few tricks up her sleeve...

For starters, I'm not a traditionalist when it comes to chicken soup. I usually -as I did tonight - opt for making it in a pressure cooker (GASP!) rather than the standard large pot cooking on the stove for hours version.  I  know lots of folks are terrified of pressure cookers, but I find them really handy.And that's saying something once I tell you that a previous pressure cooker did explode and I had chicken soup all over my cabinets and counters. Not ideal. But newer pressure cookers have much better locking mechanisms and safety features and I am now fearless. Why do I prefer the pressure cooker method? Because I sometimes procrastinate and box myself into a corner time-wise and using the pressure cooker lets me go from start to finish in about an hour...including prep time.

And there's another good reason for using the pressure cooker. You know that scuzzy stuff that forms at the top when you're cooking the soup in that big open pot? That grayish, yucky stuff you need to skim off repeatedly in the first 45 minutes of cooking? Yep, you don't have to deal with that when you use a pressure cooker. Even though I have invested in a really good stainless steel strainer.

And brace yourself. I'm gonna tell you that I use some unusual spices and condiments in my Cross-Cultural Chicken Soup.

I use HAWAIJ Arabic: خاواييج‎, Hebrew: חו׳יג׳ . Here's what it looks like:

You should smell it. Really. It's heavenly. Hawaij is a Yemenite spice blend. The one I use is for soup, and contains cumin, tumeric, black pepper, cloves and cardamon. 

And once the soup is served, I like to add a teeny-tiny amount of SCHUG 
Yemeni Arabic: سحوق saḥawaq, Hebrew: סחוג s'khug.   Think of it as Middle Eastern hot sauce. Really hot sauce. Really clean-out-your-sinuses-and-knock-you-into-New-Jersey hot.
Here's what it looks like:

Ok kids, let's get on to the recipe:

Cross-Cultural Chicken Soup

3 chicken drumsticks and 4 chicken thighs, or 3 chicken quarters of legs and thighs

1  medium onion, chopped

1-2 large carrots, peeled and sliced in 12" rounds

2 stalks of celery, leaves removed

2 parsnips, peeled and sliced in 1" chunks

Fresh dill

2 tsp hawaij

Salt to taste

Clean and prep the chicken, cutting off excess fat. Place chicken pieces at the bottom of pressure cooker. Add cut vegetables, hawaiij and salt. Add 8 cups of cool water.

Close pressure cooker lid tightly and place pressure regulator on top of lid. Cook on high heat until the pressure indicator rises. Lower heat but be sure that the pressure indicator remains raised. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove pot from heat and open the pressure regulator on top to let the steam escape and the internal pressure to reduce. Once this has happened, carefully unlock the lid and smell your gorgeous soup!

I usually make fine noodles, rice, or frozen Pelminyi (Russian chicken kreplach) to serve with the soup. Ladle your pasta of choice, then add the soup. You can put the schug on the table with a teeny tiny demitasse spoon so that no one is tempted to use too much.

Enjoy!

Latke Heresy!

If there's one traditional Jewish food people get crazed about more than matza balls, it must be latkes. Oy, the way my (fill in the blank) used to make latkes! 

Don't get me wrong. I like latkes. I just don't love making them. My idea of Chanuka Heaven would be 8 nights of invitations to the homes of the best cooks I know. But that never happens, because of the home-based nature of the holiday itself and the fact that so many of the 8 nights are school/work nights.

So I know that sooner or later, my number comes up: time to make the latkes. I make it my business to state firmly and frequently that I'll make latkes twice during Chanuka. 

Tonight was Night #1. And I'll admit the Latke Heresies upfront. I use a food processor to shred and then chop the potatoes. And this year I added a new heresy, by way of a suggestion on another kosher cooking blog (h/t to The Shiksa in the Kitchen). Sit down. I'll bring you a glass of cold water. I added about 1/3 cup of fine panko bread crumbs. I did. I just threw them into the potato-onion-egg goodness and mixed them in. And you know what? The latkes were crispy delicious on the outside and fully cooked yummy firm to the bite on the inside, perfectly seasoned.

And there's not a single one left. So there!


Heretical Latkes

This recipes serves 3-4

4-5 medium Yukon Gold or yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces for the food processor chute
1 medium onion
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup fine panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
canola oil

Using the shredder blade of the food processor, shred the potatoes and put in a large bowl to sit for 10 minutes. This will allow much of the potato starch liquid to drain to the bottom of the bowl. After 10 minutes, take half of the shredded potatoes and using the chopping blade of the food processor, pulse and chop twice. Add the chopped potatoes back to the bowl with shredded potatoes.

Cut the onion into small pieces and run through the food processor using the shredder blade. If there are onion pieces which do not shred, chop them finely with a knife and add the onion to the potatoes.

Put the bowl in your sink, and begin to drain the liquid from the potatoes by taking small portions of the potato-onion mix and wrapping them in a sheet of paper towels. Wring and let the liquid go down the sink drain. Remove the drier mixture to a new large bowl.

Add two beaten eggs to the potato-onion mixture, then the 1/3 cup of panko bread crumbs. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

Heat two frying pans with 1 inch or more of canola oil to cover the bottom of each pan. Once a drop of water bounces around the surface, begin frying the latkes. Shape them in a large spoon and drop gently into the hot oil. 

As the latkes cook, preheat the oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and as the latkes are done, place on sheet and keep warm in oven. 

Serve with sour cream, yogurt, or applesauce, or anything else your heart desires.