The Kosher Chef

Cranberry & Caramelized Apple Chicken

2009-12-25T11:41:00.004-05:00

Here's another fall/winter favorite. I came up with this recipe sometime last year when I was thinking about cranberry crunch and I decided it would be great to turn it into a chicken recipe (well, maybe minus the crunch).

This is a fairly easy recipe which packs HUGE amounts of flavor. There's something special about the combination of brown sugar, apples, cinnamon and cranberries. It's very important to make sure you get the cranberry sauce with whole cranberries - that give the necessary texture, to the final sauce; plus, it's already sweetened so you don't need to add anything extra to it.

Also, there are two ways you could go about caramelizing the apples: you can use white sugar and melt it, creating caramel, and then toss in the apples; or you can use brown sugar, which seems to dissolve a lot more readily (probably because it's got the moisture of molasses built-in) and then toss the apples in that. The first time I made this recipe I used white sugar, but this last time I was in a rush so I used brown.

The difference is the time and care that the caramelization takes with white sugar (it does take quite a few minutes for it to melt...using the oil was my shortcut to make this happen slightly quicker since oil is a good conductor), and the fact that you need to be careful to stop the cooking before it burns (accomplished by adding the apples to drop the temperature of the skillet). With the brown sugar, it seems you just don't need to wait as long and it doesn't seem to be as finicky a process. The end result though, in my opinion, is that the white sugar method tastes a lot richer and sweeter than the brown, but the brown works just as well if you're short on time.

Is it chicken? Is it dessert? I don't know but it's very addicting.

Cranberry & Caramelized Apple Chicken

2 apples, diced (I like Fuji, but any kind works well)
1/2 cup sugar OR 1/2 cup brown sugar (see note about caramel above)
1 whole chicken cut in 1/8th pieces
1 can cranberry sauce w/ WHOLE cranberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1-2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2-1 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Allspice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken pieces into a dish on the side.

2. Combine oil, sugar and lemon juice over medium-high heat in a skillet.

2a. If using white sugar: Heat till sugar melts and takes on a deep brown color. This will probably take something like 6-8 minutes. Be careful not to burn!

2b. If using brown sugar: Heat till the sugar seems to dissolve in itself and is liquidy enough to coat the apples (about 3-5 minutes).

3. Immediately add the diced apples and lower the heat to medium. Also add the spices and cook until the apples are soft.

4. Add the cranberries, and reduce the sauce by about half. Season with salt and pepper, as well as additional spices as needed.

5. Pour sauce over chicken, cover and cook at 350 for 1 hour or until chicken is done (170 degrees for white meat, 180 for dark).

Serves 8-10.

Pumpkin Potato Kugel

2009-11-25T12:27:00.005-05:00

Just in time for Thanksgiving! Still looking for that unique side dish that will make your guests go "Hm! Mm!"? You're in luck! This autumn take on a Shabbat classic will definitely bring a host of interesting flavors to the party.

Now, I'll admit, I did not use fresh pumpkin - and I should have since it's pumpkin season. Shame on me. But, I've had a lonely can of pumpkin puree sitting around for a long time and it's been begging me to use it in a fall-themed dish. If you have the time to cut open a pumpkin and scoop out its flesh (use the rest of it for other goodies - e.g. stuff it with fruits and nuts and bake it!), you should do that. If not, the canned stuff works just fine.

If you don't have a food processor, the classic way of grating by hand is the old standby (that's how I used to do it before I got my food processor). I like using the grating disk to fool people into thinking that I slaved over grating it by hand, therefore they must all enjoy. Also, I like the texture of grated potatoes over shredded.

This is actually a modification of my standard potato kugel recipe - which I will probably post at some later point when I have a picture to show for it. In the meantime though you can probably reverse engineer it. If you're into that sort of thing. I know I am.

A fall variation on a classic courtesy of your favorite gourd - pumpkin!

Pumpkin Potato Kugel

6 potatoes
1 large onion
1 can pureed pumpkin (fresh is good too)
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1/4 tsp allspice
A few sprigs fresh thyme, optional
2 tbsp brown sugar, optional
Heavy pinch of salt
Ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grate the potatoes and onion together, by hand or in a food processor. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

3. Dump potato and onion into a boil along with remaining ingredients (except 1 tbsp. brown sugar, if using). Mix very well until you can no longer see flour and everything is well-incorporated.

4. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth out the top. If using, sprinkle remaining brown sugar all over the top to add a deeper molasses color to the top.

5. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (normally I would say bake until brown but color is hard to tell with the pumpkin orange).

Serves 12-16, depending how big you cut it.

Asian Tuna Steak

2009-11-25T11:48:00.004-05:00

Ever since I was young I've loved tuna steak. Something about it just tastes so unique - it doesn't quite taste like fish, it's not exactly a steak, and it's definitely worlds apart from the canned stuff. So, as I've been settling in to my "fish renaissance" in which I actually bother going out and buying good fish to cook with naturally I have reclaimed the tuna steak as my own.

The problem, I find, is finding the perfect recipe for tuna steak. It's got such a wonderfully complex flavor. Often it's grilled, since it can take the heat of the grill. I once read in Cook's Illustrated (though I can't seem to find the issue right now) an article with a guide to how certain fish can/should be cooked. Tuna was definitely up at the top with the more heat-intense applications.

Anyways, I often find that one of the most common things involving tuna steak you'll see on a menu is some sort of Asian-style tuna. Makes sense - Asian flavors blend a whole lot of savory and umami, which is exactly what tuna needs. So, building on that, I saw an Asian-style preparation as the entry point into my quest for tuna perfection.

This recipe reuses the marinade as a sauce - but you need to make sure to cook it to avoid cross-contamination! I only had one tuna steak on hand but I think the marinade can be enough for two.

Though I don't think this recipe has brought me to tuna nirvana yet, I think it's a good way there - and so you'll see me continue experimenting in the future, trying to find the ideal tuna steak recipe.

One step closer to tuna nirvana...

Asian Tuna Steak

1 or 2 tuna steaks

2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp mustard

1 tsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp honey 1

1/2 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp dried basil

2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp lemon juice

1. Combine all the ingredients (except tuna) in a bowl and mix together very well.

2. Place tuna steaks in a ziploc bag and pour in the marinade. Let sit in the refrigerator for 30 min to 2 hours.

3. Heat your broiler to high. Remove tuna steaks from marinade and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle extra sesame seeds on top of tuna and broil - 2 minutes each side for medium rare.

4. Pour leftover marinade into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat down to a simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened to the consistency you desire.

5. Serve sauce on top of the tuna steak.

Serves 1-2.

Vanilla-Pineapple or Blueberry Pudding Cake

2009-11-13T15:10:00.005-05:00

This is part 2 of the suite of dessert recipes I created recently. As I mentioned in my previous post, I originally sought out to create a sugar-free, diabetic-friendly dessert without artificial sweetener. But I didn't think stopping at pudding was enough - I needed to go all out for this to prove that it's possible for a home cook to make a good dessert under those kinds of constraints.

I racked my brain trying to think of what I could do with pudding. And then I remembered I had seen some recipes for cakes using yogurt. So I figured, why not replace yogurt with pudding!

The problem was I couldn't really find anyone with a decent pudding cake recipe. So, I bravely decided to try my own - which was a big deal for me. I had never created my own cake recipe before, always sticking to the lore that baking must be precise, you must always stick to the recipe.

However, I entered my endeavor adequately prepared - I cross-referenced Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food with Michael Ruhlman's Ratio and decided to use the muffin mixing method - my cake would essentially be an oversized muffin. Borrowing a little from the basic ratios/recipes in those books, as well as the technique I was able to come up with a recipe that turned out to be quite a hit.

The cake does in fact look like an overgrown muffin (it's even a little poofy in the center) and the crumb texture has uneven air pockets, also classic muffin texture. I reserved half the pudding mixture to create a delicious creamy topping for the cake as well. The cake is incredibly moist and addicting. Beware.

Also, note that if for some reason there are any leftovers of the blueberry cake for some odd reason, if you keep in in the fridge (you should do so) it seems like the color of the cake turns from a grayish-blue to a greenish color (I'm guessing because of the blueberries oxidizing or something). Fear not the color change - it still tastes just as good!

Vanilla Pineapple pudding cake, made with no sugar or splenda

Vanilla Pineapple Pudding Cake (sugar-free, no artificial sweetener)

1 batch sugar-free vanilla pudding
1/2 cup applesauce, divided
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, unsweetened
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp honey
pinch salt

1. Mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt

2. Mix wet ingredients: 1/2 of pudding (=1 cup), 1/4 c applesauce, oil, 1/4 c honey, eggs, 1/2 can of pineapple

3. Add wet to dry & mix. Do not overmix.

4. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 min or until a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

5. Combine remaining pineapple, pudding, applesauce & 1 tbsp honey in a bowl and mix - this will be the topping for the cake.

6. Let cake cool for 20 minutes. Prick cake with holes using a fork and spread topping. Let cake continue cooling. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Serves 12-16.

Blueberry pudding cake variation with blueberry topping

Blueberry Pudding Cake

Make cake as before, except use 1 batch of blueberry pudding. Leave out one egg and pineapple, and add an extra 3/4 cup applesauce to the cake batter.

This is what the cake actually looks like before the topping

Sugar-Free Variation, using Splenda

Make cake as directed except swap 8 packets Splenda for honey.

Pareve Vanilla or Blueberry Pudding (with Sugar-Free and Diabetic variants)

2009-11-13T14:23:00.007-05:00

Okay. Here it comes. So I have this set of 4 recipes that kind of all belong grouped together and I've been meaning to post them for a while but haven't had time. Now I finally have the chance, so get excited!

So, the first recipe was for vanilla pudding. Let me give you some background on the genesis of this recipe first. I was going somewhere for Shabbat and I wanted to bring a dessert. The problem was, one of the people there was diabetic, so I couldn't bring anything with sugar. Another person was allergic to artificial sweeteners - so using splenda or such was out. So, I had to sweeten everything with honey (apparently some diabetics can have honey? who knew?). That's what led to the diabetic-friendly version of this recipe.

I later made this recipe again a few weeks later, but did not have the artificial sweeteners constraint, so I chose to use splenda since I wanted to minimize the sugar content anyway for calorific reasons. That's when the blueberry variation came about - I had a box of frozen blueberries I had been saving for a tasty dessert, and this seemed like the time to use it.

One big difference though was (kinda obviously) the flavor profile - the honey-sweetened one had a much more rich, full, even a little cloying (but not bad) taste than the splenda version. I kind of preferred it to the version with artificial sweetener.

I should note that these are actually just variations on the basic Joy of Cooking recipe for cornstarch pudding. I was surprised how easy it was - it's basically just a really simple custard. I hope that people will start realizing how simple it is to make a good pareve pudding and bring it more often to Shabbat meals! You can, of course, swap out the soymilk for regular milk for a dairy version.

Basic pareve vanilla pudding - can be made sugar-free or diabetic-friendly!

Regular Pareve Vanilla Pudding (not sugar-free)

1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups soymilk (divided into 1/4 cup and 1 3/4 cup)
1 large egg, well beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt in a pot or saucepan.

2. Gradually mix in 1/4 cup soymilk into pot, whisking well so the mixture becomes a slurry (this will avoid lumps of cornstarch).

3. Whisk in remaining soymilk.

4. Turn on heat to medium and heat through until mixture comes to a simmer.

5. Extract about 1/2 cup of the mixture from the pot. Gradually stir this into the egg slowly, so you temper the egg (you want to raise the temperature of the egg without curdling it by sudden application of heat).

6. When egg mixture is sufficiently tempered, pour it back into the pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute beyond the boil.

7. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

8. Pour pudding into a glass bowl, serving cups or ramekins and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly touching the surface (actually, I'm not sure this is 100% necessary since this is meant to avoid forming the 'skin' on top, but that's formed by the casein proteins in regular milk, which aren't present in soymilk). Chill for at least 1-2 hours before serving.

Serves 2-4.

Blueberry pudding variation!

Pareve Blueberry Pudding

Follow recipe as above.

Combine 1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries with 1 tsp. lemon juice in a pot, along with a little bit of sugar/splenda/honey (maybe 1 tbsp - that's like 2 splenda packets I think) and a splash of water.

Cook over medium heat until blueberries are mostly dissolved (some can be intact - it adds texture to the pudding).

Mix blueberries with pudding well and chill as directed.

Cook the blueberries till they are about this texture

Sugar-Free Pudding Variation

Replace 1/4 cup sugar with 10 packets splenda. Follow directions as above.

Diabetic-Friendly Pudding Variation

Replace 1/4 cup sugar with 1/4 cup honey.

Onion Chicken

2009-10-30T15:48:00.004-04:00

Well I've done it again. I've said I'd post soon and slacked off. But worry not! I've been collected recipes and photos this whole time and I have a whole bunch of stuff to post (including an exciting 4-for-1 pudding cake to come soon!). In the meantime, I think I'll start with my most recent creation that I made last week and was extremely pleased with: onion chicken.

Onions are a really fundamental part of my cooking but they're always the aromatic, they're always there to enhance the flavor, they're never the star of the dish - that ends today! This recipe is really easy, delicious and healthy, and I hope will become a favorite of yours too! I've been savoring the leftovers all week.

A lot of times I use chicken breasts because they are easier and quicker to deal with - but I decided to go for on-the-bone chicken this time. Though what I did do was remove all the skin and trim the fat. The way I see it is: so many people I know make such delicious chicken and they have some cool spices and flavorings or sauces but they always put it on top of the skin!

I know there's some sort of American ideal to have crispy skin with poultry but I don't buy it. I almost never eat the skin of chicken (except wings which just aren't worth the effort of taking it off), and so I always end up having to try to wipe some of the flavorings on the skin onto the pale, minimal-flavor chicken beneath it, never with much success.

So instead, I strongly prefer to take all the skin off usually when I make on-the-bone chicken. Not only is it healthier, but the flavor you worked so hard to create pervades the meat of the chicken, and doesn't just rest on top - and that's exactly what I did here.

The basic idea is your standard breaded chicken, with a layer of sauce/binder and a layer of coating (different from your standard frying dredge since there's no bottom layer of flour). The effect that occurs is kind of cool though - some of the sauce drips out, mixes with the little bit of melted fat left on the chicken, and the juice of the onions all mix together in the bottom of the dish to form a really tasty savory sauce which can (and should) be spooned on top at serving time (probably would also be good on top of rice).

Anyway, enough talking, on to the deliciousness!

Tasty chicken where onion is the star of the dish

Onion Chicken

4 thighs + 4 legs chicken (you can use any chicken pieces, I happen to like dark meat)
4 tbsp Smart Beat mayonnaise (or regular mayonnaise if you can't find the healthier one)
3 tbsp honey or dijon mustard
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 c bread crumbs
4 tbsp Osem onion soup mix
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp cardamom (optional, if you can find it)
1 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper
2 onions sliced crosswise into rings
2 tbsp canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 375. Pour oil into an empty pan/tin and let heat in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Make sure you have enough space in your dish to allow all the chicken pieces to lay flat in one layer - if not, use multiple dishes.

2. Remove skin from chicken and trim off excess fat.

3. Mix mayo, soy sauce and mustard in one bowl/plate, and crumbs, spices, soup mix, herbs, salt and pepper to taste in another.

4. Dip chicken pieces in to sauce mixture, then into crumb mixture, coating fully.

5. Remove the preheated pan, and place chicken pieces face-up in the pan (you should hear a little sizzle as you do since you preheated the oil). Make sure the chicken is only in one layer!

6. Place sliced onion rings on top of chicken, and bake uncovered for 20 minutes (to crisp up the crumbs)

7. Lower the temperature to 300 and bake covered for another 20 or so minutes (to get the onions caramelizing) until the chicken is fully cooked - use a meat thermometer! (180 for dark meat, 170 for white meat). If your chicken is too close to this after the first 20 minutes at 375, you may want to lower the temperature to 250 or 275 to slow down the cooking - remember, you don't want to overshoot your mark or you'll get dry chicken!

Serves 6-8 or however many pieces of chicken you prepare.

Nutritional info per serving: 300 calories, 11g fat [2.4g saturated], 17g carbs, 29g protein

Mango Carrot Chutney

2009-08-28T12:24:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago, a friend and I had a fun experimental cooking day, involving meat pies featuring delicious chile peppers (Serrano and yes, Habanero). Anyway, I was left with some of the leftover ingredients, including carrots and mango. Later in the week, I had a craving for fish - and yes, I admit, I did not make my own but rather just picked up a piece of fried flounder from Supersol (shame on me).

I stared down the store-bought, ready-made fish with some degree of embarrassment, and so I decided I would repent for my sin by creating some sort of sauce or topping for the fish (it looked pretty dry and like it could use some help in the flavor department). Luckily, I had those leftover mango and carrots, so I decided to do a Carribean-themed meal for myself (previous attempts with this theme were wildly successful; unfortunately I did not record my recipe for Jamaican Chicken Skewers which involved mangoes, onions and chicken in a delicious coconut jerk sauce. I will eventually try to recreate it though...).

I aimed for a pretty savory chutney, though I found I did need to add some brown sugar to really bring out the mango flavor. The carrots also provide a textural contrast to the mangos (which are nearly mushy by the time it's done) since they still have a little bite to them after4 minutes. If you want softer carrots, precook them (in the microwave or boiling them) for an extra minute or two.

I ate this on top of fish, but it would also be quite delicious on top of chicken, rice, couscous, or even just on the side by itself!

Quick and easy mango carrot chutney - no stove required!

This chutney was great on top of fish - but goes well on chicken, rice & couscous too!

Mango Carrot Chutney

1 mango, diced
1-2 big carrots, diced
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger (fresh if possible)
2 tsp brown sugar
pinch of salt

1. Combine ingredients in a microwaveable bowl and mix well.

2. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 2 minutes, mix again, then microwave another 2 minutes until carrots are mostly cooked through. Serve on top of fish or chicken.

3-4 servings

Beta Recipe: Coconut Lime Bars

2009-08-10T22:46:00.006-04:00

I was asked to make a dessert recently and I had a very difficult time deciding what to make. I was torn between pies, cakes and other pastries. After much searching, someone suggested to me that I make lemon bars. Now there's a nice, simple dessert that's got a clean, refreshing taste and is always a crowd-pleaser.

Of course, I needed to figure out a way to make this dish mine. I started perusing the Joy of Cooking for its basic recipe for lemon bars (just to get a baseline) and then it hit me: swap the lemon for lime. It's unexpected, but will likely have just as much appeal. To sweeten the deal, I decided to add coconut to the crust for an extra tropical flavor. Also, to cut the pungent flavor of the lime, I chose to sweeten the curd with honey instead of regular sugar, which gave it a fuller, more rounded off taste.

I consider this to be a beta recipe because I'm not quite happy with the proportions just yet. The taste was quite good, but I may need to scale up the volume of the curd, or scale down the size of the pan. It's not quite perfect, but it's a good chunk of the way there!

You'll notice I call for egg substitute - this is my attempt to make up for the whole stick of margarine in the crust. Sorry, but there was just no way around it - oil just doesn't cut it (baking pun not intended). I used margarine simply because I wanted this dish to be pareve (non-dairy) - but you can easily make this in dairy form (which will likely be even tastier) by swapping the margarine for butter (I haven't tried this, but you may want to keep in mind that butter is 20% water, so the swap ratio may not be exactly 1-for-1 - but I would probably try that first anyway just as a test). I also think I might need to up the powdered sugar in the crust.

When you make the curd, you'll notice that it is in fact not lime green but yellow, from the eggs. You can leave it like that and watch as unsuspecting tasters sink their teeth in expecting lemon only to be fooled and surprised by the lime deception; or, you can beat them over the head with it by adding a few drops of green food coloring to turn it a bright neon green (admittedly, this was not the color I was looking for - but it sufficed).

Finally, one last note, you may notice that in a 9x13 pan (as in the picture), the curd does not quite completely cover the crust (my own underestimation). I would either use a smaller pan (such as an 8x8 - this may mean you will have a thicker crust, which you may like) or increase the volume of the curd recipe (though I can't quite tell by how much yet - this is an experiment for next time I make this).

I hope these few reservations won't deter you from making this on your own - and if you figure out a way to improve it, please let me know!

A tropical twist on your everyday lemon bars

Coconut Lime Bars

For crust:
1.5 c flour
1 stick margarine
Pinch salt
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 - 3/4 cup flaked coconut

For curd:
1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
Less than 1/2 c honey
1/3 c lime juice (about 2-3 limes)
1 tbsp lime zest
1 egg
3/4 c egg substitute (equivalent of 3 eggs - you can use real eggs if you like)
3-4 drops green food coloring (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine crust ingredients, cutting margarine into flour, forming a dry dough.

2. Press dough into an ungreased pan. Bake for 15-20 min until the top is golden.

3. Whisk curd ingredients together.

4. Pour curd on top of crust and bake for another 25-30 minutes until semi-firm.

5. Dust with extra powdered sugar before serving.

Serves 12-16.

The Ultimate Sweet & Sour Meatloaf

2009-08-10T21:42:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I must admit, after just having seen Julie & Julia last night (very good movie), I am re-inspired to continue my quest to post my collected recipes on my blog. Most notably, I'd like to finally share the Ultimate Meatloaf recipe that I came up with a couple weeks back.

So basically, I was kinda stuck for dinner one Friday night, and I decided I was going to just eat at home and try to invite whoever I could over (I ended up not finding anyone, so more meatloaf for me!). I was also in the mood for a ground beef dish, but I find meatballs very time-consuming (I am picky about the shape). So, I decided to try my hand at meatloaf (another first for me) - something that growing up I was never a huge fan of because it was often dry and flavorless.

I decided to construct the meatloaf in two layers: the first layer being the meat, which I wanted to be very savory and flavorful, yet moist and juicy. The second layer would be the glaze, which I had scribbled down in my cooking notebook over a year ago as an idea to try out - an applesauce-based glaze. I wanted to take this a step further and turn it into a bit of a sweet-and-sour glaze, so I added some cider vinegar and teriyaki sauce.

It came out ridiculously well, but I want to stress one thing. There was one flavor in the meat that absolutely made all the difference: the Chinese five-spice powder. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN THE RECIPE (maybe besides the beef), DO NOT SKIP IT!!! I cannot stress this enough. In the past few months I have been learning the ways of Chinese five-spice, and I have concluded that it is amazing with ground beef (my meatballs on Purim were also a testament to that - but alas, I didn't write down the recipe!). If you don't have any, it is incredibly worth your while to go out and get some (sometimes hard to find - I only found Fairway carried it, but I am certain you can find it online easily). It gives this complex flavor of cumin and a hint of anise (licorice) that makes you go, "ooh, hmm!" on every bite.

Okay, okay, enough of plugging the spices. On to the recipe!

The best meatloaf I have ever tasted.

The Ultimate Sweet and Sour Meatloaf

For meatloaf:

2 lb. ground beef
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. parlsey
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/4 tsp ginger
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz finely chopped pecans or hazelnuts (you can add up to 8 oz. if you wish)
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt (at least 2-3 heavy pinches)
Pepper

For glaze:

1/2 cup applesauce (preferably unsweetened)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. teriyaki sauce

1. Combine all meatloaf ingredients and mix very well.

2. Transfer to a loaf pan (or other baking vessel) and pack well. Smooth off the top.

3. Combine glaze ingredients well and spoon evenly onto top of meatloaf.

4. Bake at 350 for 1 hr 30 min or till meat reaches 160 F. Please, use a meat thermometer on this if you have one available.

5. After it's done, allow it to rest at least 10 minutes before serving. If desired, pour off excess fat (carefully please!)

Serves 10-12. Depends how you cut it really.

Chili con Carne

2009-07-17T19:20:00.004-04:00

So, I have a confession: I've made plenty of cholents but I have never made chili before. Well, at least, I hadn't until a couple of weeks ago. But when I did finally set out on the brave endeavor of making my first chili, I borrowed a few techniques from my cholent-making skills, namely: the crock pot.

I like using those crock pot liners (sometimes hard to find in some supermarkets) to make crock pot cooking a lot easier to clean up. Some people put water underneath the liner which I find does nothing and it makes it take longer for the heat to transfer into the food. Besides, these things are purposely made to withstand the kinds of temperatures crock pots can put out. Especially when you cook a cholent overnight and things have a tendency to stick to the sides or the bottom, these things really help. OK, end of product plug (no I am not paid for this. If you are a crock pot liner manufacturer and would like to pay me I will graciously accept. Let's do lunch).

Of course, you don't have to use a crock pot for this recipe - a Dutch oven will do just as well (or so I hear, since I don't happen to own one; again, if you would like to purchase one for me, I will graciously accept. Let's do lunch. Dinner if the crock pot liner guys call me first). If you don't have either, I suppose a large-ish pot will suffice on the stovetop for roughly the same time, but keep an eye on it (since the meat is already cooked by the time it goes into the pot, you're really looking to cook for the right consistency, i.e. when the liquid level is at your liking).

You'll notice this chili contains both beef and chicken. That was the result of buying beef and having additional guests added later on and needing to add some additional protein to make it a larger batch. This turned out to be an extremely good choice and I now am a big fan of polyproteinous chili (I think I just made that word up).

Anyhow, apparently the chili came out really well - I've still been getting compliments weeks afterwards. Hopefully you'll find this chili just as memorable. And if you don't, I hope you'll at least find it tasty. Cause that's all that matters in the kitchen in the end.

This is the chili only 2 hours into cooking (which is why it's liquidy still)

Chili con Carne

1 lb. chicken breasts, cubed
1 lb. ground beef
1 bunch scallions, chopped
3-4 carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, mined
2 tsp chili powder
1 can corn
1 can pinto beans
1 can cannellini beans
1 green pepper, diced
2 jalapenos, diced (or canned diced jalapenos)
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp flour + 2 tbsp water
Salt & pepper

1. Saute scallions, garlic, carrots till soft in a cast iron skillet.

2. Add chili powder, salt, pepper, chicken and beef and cook through.

3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer skillet contents to a crock pot (discard the leftover fat, or use for something else).

4. Add corn, beans, pepper, jalapenos, spices, bay leaves to crock pot.

5. Mix flour and water together thoroughly to form a clumpless slurry. Add the slurry and stock to the crock pot.

6. Add salt & pepper to taste and mix well. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or until it reaches the desired consistency.

Serves 10-12.

Spanish Rice

2009-05-22T17:19:00.004-04:00

So, I have to admit - when I'm in a pinch and need to make a side dish, I will often fall back on good old Near East rice or couscous. The truth is, their mixes are really good, so why would anyone want to make anything but that? (some people don't...) Of them all though, their Spanish rice mix is the king. I've always wondered what's in the spice packet they include with them, but never bothered to really try and figure it out.

Well, until recently, that is. I was determined to either replicate Near East's mix or top it. When done right, Spanish rice is extremely flavorful and I often cannot stop myself from several more helpings. So, I set out to do it - but the challenge to myself was, I would not look at the ingredients or any other recipes for Spanish rice for this. This time, I was on my own.

You'll notice there aren't any particularly authentic Spanish ingredients (such as adobo, sofrito, etc.). That's mainly because I don't have them in my kitchen. But also, I was curious to see how close I could come with only basic kitchen supplies.

In the end, this rice does taste different from the Near East version - but I still think it's a great homemade version of Spanish rice, and it was definitely a delicious challenger to the classic standard. As expected, I could not keep myself from having several servings.

A homemade variation on the classically boxed dish

Spanish Rice

2 cups white basmati rice
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 can corn kernels, drained
3 tsp smoky Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp onion powder
1-2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp cumin
2 heavy pinches salt
Pepper to taste
2 cups water
1-2 tbsp. oil for sauteing.

1. Pour oil into a pot and coat the rice with it. Saute the rice for a couple of minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and corn to pot and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add spices, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly till well coated. Add water, and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 20 min.

Serves 6-8. Unless you are serving me. Then it probably serves 2 or 3.

Skirt Steak with Asian-Whiskey Glaze

2009-05-22T16:58:00.006-04:00

I'm baaack! I know, I've taken quite a long hiatus from my blog - I assure you, it has nothing to do with you! I've still been cooking, I just haven't had time to sit down and focus on writing entries for everything I've made. But fear not! I still have pictures and notes of what I've been up to. Hopefully, I'll be able to dump a slew of these recipes up here within the next few days.

Anyway, let's talk steak. I love steak. I haven't had it very much since being on Weight Watchers. In college, I discovered that my favorite steak cut is skirt steak. I had it grilled one time with NOTHING - no salt, no sauce, nothing - and it was quite possibly the most flavorful steak I had tasted up till that point. Well, why mess with perfection then you ask? Because I can.

I wanted to make a really nice main entree for a special Friday night dinner - just for two. I decided that steak was the best choice. A few months back, I went to Wolf & Lamb steakhouse for my birthday and ordered a Jack Daniels steak - a nice ribeye with a whiskey sauce. I combined this with an idea from Quick & Kosher for Asian-style steak and with Cook's Illustrated's May 2009 issue's recipe for Beef Teriyaki, along with their "Guide to Marinating" and voila! my skirt steak recipe was born.

Marinating is very good for skirt steak, because it is a thin cut. According to Cook's Illustrated, marinating only penetrates up to 1/2 inch through meat's surface - which is great, because skirt steak is usually not much more than an inch thick - so lots of flavor abound! Make sure you don't use up all the marinade! You will be sorely missing out if you don't have extra reserved for the glaze.

This is also great for summer barbecues - you can make the glaze on the side!

Skirt Steak with Asian-Whiskey Glaze

1 lb. skirt steak
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp whiskey
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp white wine
1 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. water
Chopped scallions, for garnish

1. Combine all soy sauce, oil, wine, whiskey, shallot, garlic, brown sugar and dry mustard in a bowl or measuring cup and whisk well together - this should make about 3/4 cup.

2. Place skirt steak in a ziploc bag, and pour 1/3 to 1/2 of marinade into bag (depends how much you need to coat meat). Press the air out of the bag and seal it well. Refrigerate for at least half hour, but more is fine.

4. When ready, preheat a cast-iron skillet (strongly recommended - if not, use a pan without non-stick coating - or a grill!) to screaming hot. Sear meat for 3-4 min on both sides. Remove and let rest on a plate for 10 min.

5. In the meantime, lower the heat on the pan. Mix flour and 1 tbsp water together in a bowl to form a slurry (to prevent flour clumping). Pour slurry, and remaining water into the remaining marinade, and pour into skillet (careful - this will boil very fast in a hot skillet!). This will let you deglaze the pan and scrape up any of the fond (yummy brown bits) at the bottom of the pan. Mix very well (and fast) until sauce comes to a glaze consistency.

6. Spoon glaze over steak and serve. Garnish with scallions.

Serves 4 (or more, depending how you cut your steak).

Low-Fat Blueberry Cobbler

2009-02-03T19:31:00.004-05:00

Okay, okay, so I know I haven't posted any recipes in a month. January was a bit hectic and I could never find time to just sit and write down my recipes. But that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking! Though some things I forgot the recipes for, or didn't take pictures. But I do have a few things up my sleeve to share with you!

The first is a recipe I made this past Shabbat, when I was asked to bring a dessert. I ended up pushing this off till Friday, at which point I decided I was in no mood to leave the house to buy ingredients. So, the name of the game was to find a recipe for something I could make with only what I already had in stock.

Now, it just so happens that I was at Fairway the week before and they had this amazing special - $5 for a 24 oz. package of blueberries!!! I bought two, thinking I would freeze one, but they didn't even last long enough to get into the freezer. I had one of them left in the fridge, and being a blueberry fanatic, I decided I had to make use of them.

After some research, I found a recipe for blueberry cobbler that was simple. I decided to spice it up a bit myself. The result was a very moist dessert which was very low-fat and highly tasty.

Mmmm, blueberries...

Low-Fat Blueberry Cobbler

1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 cup soy milk
4 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen & defrosted, drained)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. maple syrup

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar together in one bowl. Combine milk, lemon juice, syrup together in another bowl.

2. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly till the batter is smooth with no lumps (a spatula is fine, no hand mixer required).

3. Pour batter into a greased baking dish (I used a 9x13). Note, batter will be shallow, but it will rise to about double or triple the volume. Scatter blueberries evenly over the batter.

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown & delicious, and the batter is set (toothpick/fork/knife/spaghetti comes out clean).

Serves around 12, depending how you cut it.

Homemade Applesauce

2008-12-31T15:31:00.004-05:00

This recipe is based on my neighbor Rachel's recipe for applesauce. I also got to make use of my shiny new Hannukkah present, the classic tome, Joy of Cooking - which I surprisingly had not owned till now! I used it to get an idea of how much water to put and what other various flavorings I could put.

In the end, I decided to stick with simple cinnamon-flavored applesauce. This made an excellent topping for my latkes last week. And the leftovers made an excellent midnight snack :) The best part of it all is that it's completely unsweetened - because it doesn't need any extra sugar! The particular apple types are sweet enough to not require the addition of any sugar or sweetener.

Homemade Applesauce

4 Fuji apples, peeled and coarsely diced (1-inch chunks are fine, but size doesn't matter here)
4 Gala apples, peeled & diced
4 Golden Delicious apples, peeled & diced
1/2 cup water
1-2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cinnamon sticks

1. Put apples, water, cinnamon and cinnamon sticks in a pot. Mix well. Cook over medium heat, covered, for about 30-40 minutes or until the apples are soft and mushy.

2. Remove the cinnamon sticks and mash the apples.

Serves 12.

Perfecting Potato Latkes (with Sweet Potato variation)

2008-12-29T18:27:00.014-05:00

I know I haven't posted any recipes in a while, but I've been busy with Hannukkah and perfecting my recipe for latkes (as well as going to a whole bunch of Hannukkah parties). In return for the lack of posting, I will offer you a much more detailed exploration of my "Latke Experiments" in search of the perfect latke...

I tried three major variations on the classic latke recipe, never having made latkes before in my life. The first one was my mother's recipe, which yielded latkes that were decent, but not full of enough flavor:

Attempt #1 at latkes

My neighbor, Yehudit, happened to have a bunch of unused fresh dill which she donated to my cause in return for a share in the good eats. My mother's original recipe contained parsley, but I figured I'd swap it for dill since I could lay my hands on fresh herbs. This turned out to be a very welcome flavor - but it wasn't enough.

The texture of these first attempt latkes wasn't that great. Notice how they are shredded in the picture. Most "authentic" recipes for potato latkes call for grating or shredding the potatoes and onion, in an attempt to mimic the hand grating that was always done in centuries past. Being a sucker for authenticity, I tried this and was underwhelmed - the onion flavor didn't permeate the pancake. So I decided to throw authenticity out the window and switched to the blade of my food processor to make quick work of pureeing the potatoes and onions.

The pureed mixture gave a much more even flavor distribution. I was also able to produce a fluffier texture by adding a teaspon of baking powder. Finally, I added some chopped scallions to accent the onion flavor. I ended up playing around with the flour amount and decided that increasing it from the original 2 tbsp that I started with to 3 tbsp was a better idea. This helped the pureed mixture absorb more moisture (good for frying - see below), which the shredded mixture did not do as well.

The other major part of creating a delicious latke is the frying itself. Seems straightforward, doesn't it? Well, it's not. There are several major concerns when frying latkes: 1) oil splatter and 2) uneven cooking, 3) greasy latkes. By my fourth (and last) batch of latkes, I was able to solve all three of these problems.

There's a right way and a wrong way to fry a latke...

My first batch had the problem of uneven cooking - the outside browned very quickly and the inside was still not perfectly cooked. This was because I had the heat on high, in an attempt to hasten the process. Bad idea. Lower the heat to medium-high or medium. Trust me - when recipes say its 2-5 minutes per side of latke, they actually mean it! I tried to speed it up and the results were not good.

My second batch had the problem of greasiness - the latkes came out way too oily and floppy. They also took way longer to cook than I expected. These were solved by careful monitoring of the oil temperature.

The ideal oil temperature for frying a latke, in my opinion, is 375 - the same temperature I use in the second frying stage of a french fry (come to think of it, another experiment I might have liked to try would be the 2-stage frying like one would do with french fries, just to see if it works with latkes too. Then again, that's deep frying and this is pan frying, so maybe not...). It is really important that you not put the latke batter in the pan until the oil comes up to temperature (it really is worthwhile to invest in an oil/candy thermometer).

The reason (as per Alton Brown's explanation on frying) is because when the oil is hot enough, the batter will exude steam from its insides. This escaping steam pressure repels the oil and prevents it from entering the crevasses. As long as there is steam escaping, there is not oil entering - and the inside of the latke actually cooks by steaming! Putting the batter in at too low a temperature will cause the steam to evaporate long before optimum browning temperature is reached, which means the final browned latke will be greasy. It will also extend your cooking time by making it take longer to reach the optimum browning temperature. Adding more oil after every 2 batches ensures that the temperature doesn't get too high.

And finally, the problem of oil splatter. Frying with oil can be very dangerous if you have very wet food. Drops of water in oil will cause the oil to pop and splatter everywhere, including your skin. The solution to this is to get rid of as much water as possible before frying! This leads to the extra step of draining the onions and potatoes. I also picked up a tip from the Kosher Blog's Potato Latke Master Recipe to wash the potatoes to get rid of excess starch, a tip I have also used in the past for making mashed potatoes.

All in all, I cooked 4 batches of latkes, learning something new from each one. By the end, I could say I knew how to make great latkes my way. So while there are plenty of recipes claiming to have the perfect latke recipe, I can tell you that my recipe is one of the few I definitely plan on making the same way twice.

Golden brown, crisp and delicious

Potato Latkes

6 Russet potatoes (these work better than Idaho)
1 large onion
2 eggs
3 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1-2 tsp. lemon juice
Salt & pepper
~5 scallions, chopped
~1-2 tsp. dried parsley (optional)
~5 sprigs fresh dill, chopped (optional)
Canola oil, for frying

1. Fit a food processor with the rotating blade. Peel onion and puree it. Transfer onion puree to a colander or mesh strainer in a sink or over a bowl, but do not wash out the food processor bowl.

2. Puree potatoes by pulsing the processor a few times. You may need to work in smaller batches of potatoes to get an even puree. Transfer these to the strainer as well and mix with your hands a bit.

3. Rinse the puree mixture a little with water and allow to stand for a few seconds to drain. Using a tea towel, or your hands, squeeze out as much water as you can from the puree mixture. If using your hands, be sure to cup your hands around it tightly to avoid the mixture seeping through. Place the squeezed mixture into a work bowl.

4. Add lemon juice to the mixture. Beat the eggs, and add them, along with the flour, baking soda, scallions, and herbs. Add salt (I can't tell you how much exactly beyond "a heavy pinch" - do this with care though, since this can make the difference between a good and a bad latke) and ground black pepper to taste. Mix very well until thoroughly combined.

5. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or skillet. Oil should come up about 1/3 to 1/2 the desired height of the latke - probably about 1/2 cup, but eyeball it - you don't just want to coat the bottom of the pan, you want about twice that amount. Wait until the oil temperature reaches 375 degrees.

6. Using a wooden spoon, scoop heaping spoonfuls of batter mixture into the hot oil. Press with a spatula to flatten and form into the shape you like. Put in no more than 4 or 5 latkes into the pan at a time.

7. Fry until one side is golden brown, then flip and repeat. Each side should take between 2-5 minutes.

8. Transfer to a paper-towel lined cooling rack, baking sheet or plate when both sides are done. Finish cooking the entire batch before putting in more batter. Every 2 batches, add more oil to get back to the amount you originally had. Before putting in a new batch, always wait for the oil temperature to come back up - that's very important!

Serve with applesauce (store-bought or homemade) and/or sour cream.

Makes 15-20 latkes.

Sweet potato variation

Sweet Potato Latkes

Follow above recipe, except substitute 2 or 3 sweet potatoes for regular potatoes. You may want to add a little cinnamon or nutmeg too to bring out the sweet potato flavor.

Chicken Cacciatore

2008-12-14T16:33:00.006-05:00

So, this week I had my first experience with FreshDirect. I figured out early what I was making, so I ordered the appropriate produce, and I must say, I am very impressed with the quality of vegetables they gave me. It definitely seems cheaper to shop there for some things if you know what you need in advance. The downside that I learned the hard way is that they don't always pack things securely - for example, yogurt that can explode all over the box and all the products in the box (ew). They were pretty understanding though and gave me a refund for the ruined items. But it beats going to the supermarket where the produce quality is sometimes okay, and sometimes awful (and the farmer's market can get expensive sometimes...).

I came up with this recipe for chicken cacciatore last year. It was one of my first "original" recipes - I basically spent a bit of time researching dozens of different chicken cacciatore recipes and tried to assemble in my mind what I thought was common between all of them. In the end, I was able to put together a nice array of flavors that were what I think this classic Italian dish should taste like (mind you, without ever having tasted it myself before!).

I think generally people like to put olives in chicken cacciatore, but I personally am not a big fan of the taste of olives, so I left them out. You can add them if you see fit - green is probably better than black.

The addition of the couscous came out of not having an extra side dish to serve with this, so I took a page out of my mother's cookbook and built-in the side dish to the chicken (my mom makes potatoes underneath chicken). It came out well - just be careful if you reheat this dish on a hot plate or something not to burn the couscous on bottom.

I used a red onion this time instead of regular for more color.

Chicken Cacciatore

1 red pepper, sliced
2 green peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 whole chicken, in 1/8ths, or whatever parts you prefer
Olive oil
Crushed tomatoes
1 tomato diced
1 tomato sliced
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1-2 bay leaves
Salt & pepper
Israeli couscous, optional

1. Season chicken. Brown chicken skin-side down in olive oil over medium-high heat. Transfer to a plate.

2. In same pan/oil, cook onions, garlic, mushrooms over medium heat until the onions are soft and the mushrooms have a nice brown color.

3. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomato, peppers and the bay leaf. Season the sauce too. Simmer together, covered, until sauce comes together and peppers are more or less cooked, but not too soft (about 5-10 minutes).

4. If using Israeli couscous, toast it in a skillet until they start to brown, making sure to mix constantly to ensure even heat distribution.

5. In a baking dish (sprayed with Pam), optionally dump couscous on the bottom. You can either layer some sauce above that, then place chicken, then more sauce, or just do the chicken then all the sauce - it will seep down and cook and flavor the couscous. Bake, covered, in a preheated oven at 350, for 30-40 minutes or until done (for this it's best to use a meat thermometer if possible; cooking time could vary depending on how cooked the chicken was when you browned it).

Beta Recipe: Butternut Squash Risotto with Sundried Tomatoes

2008-12-08T21:19:00.006-05:00

So, I haven't made risotto in a long time, and I wanted to try my hand at a non-dairy risotto. I saw a nice looking butternut squash at the farmer's market on Friday and decided that would make a nice complement to the risotto. I also found some pear cider from the same stand that I got the really good apple cider from the other week. I'd never had pear cider, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I looked at a whole bunch of basic risotto recipes on Recipezaar and a couple of my cookbooks and settled on an amalgam of them all. Some interesting things I picked up from my research was the idea to use sun-dried tomatoes, as well as an unexpected ingredient - vanilla.

A lot of recipes with butternut squash seemed to combine it with sage - I wanted to use a fresh herb, but I just used sage last week in my soup, so I decided to try something different - fresh thyme. It turns out that this might not have been a good idea - maybe everyone said to use sage for a good reason. The thyme was okay, but it gave the dish a floral taste which I was not looking for.

As you can see from the picture, the dish came out beautiful with a great risotto texture. But the flavor was a little off. It was a little too sweet and fruity - I guess I hadn't realized that the squash itself would lend considerable sweetness that didn't need to be supplemented. I picked up on this as I was finishing the dish and decided to add a few dashes of lime juice to make it a little more tart. That helped, but not enough. I think the pear cider ended up being a bad idea and was unnecessary.

One interesting thing was the cooking method I used for the squash. I started boiling it in the stock, but it kept the broth from heating up a bit and I was in a big rush. So I removed the squash and roasted it in the oven till it started caramelizing which definitely helped the texture and flavor there.

I think the flavor ante in this dish can definitely be boosted. Here's how I would improve the recipe next time: I'd add more tomatoes and shallots, swap the thyme for sage, swap the pear cider for an extra cup of broth, and maybe try adding some different savory spices (turmeric, my "Moroccan wonder spice," comes to mind). I'd also consider leaving out the vanilla, but I'm not sure yet if that helped or hurt.

One note about the squash disassembly method: I took that from the Sister Cooks' blog - it was useful, having had to chop a squash the harder was before.

Here's the recipe as I originally made it, though in my notebook I wrote it down with some of these modifications already in there. Please feel free to improve on it and let me know what you come up with!

A lovely looking risotto, but it could've used more flavor

Butternut Squash Risotto with Sundried Tomatoes

2 cups arborio rice
6 sundried tomatoes, rinsed well and chopped
3 shallots, diced
1 butternut squash, cut to 3/4 inch cubes
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup pear cider
1 cup white wine
several sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp vanilla
salt & pepper

1. Microwave squash for 2 minutes. Separate the bulb from the rest of the squash; peel the rest and cube it. Extract the seeds from the bulb and save for later.

2. Place squash into a pot with chicken broth and pear cider over medium heat. Add salt to taste.

3. Saute shallots in oil in a skillet over medium heat. When they begin to brown, add rice and saute until most of the grains are coated with oil.

4. Remove the squash from the broth and place on a greased baking sheet. Roast squash in an oven preheated to 475 unti the squash begins to brown (this should end up coinciding roughly with finishing the risotto).

5. Pour in half a cup of the squash-flavored broth into the skillet with the rice. Lower heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until rice absorbs the liquid (you should not see and liquid when you scrape the bottom of the pan with a spoon). Repeat this process until you have finished off the broth (this will take about 20-25 minutes of constant attention - be careful not to let it burn!)

6. Pour in wine half a cup at a time, similar to above process.

7. Add in vanilla and stir. Add fresh thyme leaves, lime juice, salt & pepper to taste.

8. Transfer to serving dish or aluminum tin, and add tomatoes and roasted squash and mix well.

Serves 10-12.

4 WW points.

Beta Recipe: Cornflake Chicken with Corn Sauce

2008-12-08T20:51:00.006-05:00

I came up with this chicken recipe a couple of months ago when (as usual) my pantry was not well-stocked enough and all I really had on had were some onions and a can of corn. I made it and I liked it but I put way too much consomme mix in, and it just dominated the sauce. So, this was primarily another shot at the recipe with the seasonings mellowed out a little bit.

The sauce was not bad, but it could have used a little more flavor from something else, and definitely some more color besides just the yellow of the corn.

The biggest problem I had with the chicken this time though was the texture. Just like the last time I made it, the coating was mushy, and I'm not sure it was flavorful enough. The cornflake crumb mush just slopped off the chicken with the corn sauce, which was extremely unsatisfying. I found myself eating this mass of cornflake globs with the corn sauce...the taste wasn't too bad, but it wasn't the kind of thing I'd be prepared to served to a large crowd.

Here's what I would change: I would add another vegetable to the sauce, possible diced tomatoes, as well as maybe a green bell pepper (or even jalapeno possibly). I kind of want it to be more of a salsa than a sauce, and maybe give the dish a little more of a Mexican flair.

I would also definitely change the primary cooking method of the chicken. Baking it covered just plain didn't work. Baking it uncovered without the sauce first might be a step in the right direction. Another step might be to bake it uncovered on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet, to allow both sides of the chicken to crisp up. But really, my gut feeling tells me this chicken is meant to be sautéed. A preliminary experiment with frying the leftovers definitely yielded better taste, but it was too late to see the effect it would have on the texture since it was already cooked. I'm pretty confident though that frying the chicken first will crisp it up nice and golden brown, and then cooking it with the sauce might be the right way to do this.

So, try this beta recipe at your own risk, or even better, improve it and let me know how you fixed it up!

This could've used a crisper texture and more color...

Cornflake Chicken with Corn Sauce

For chicken:
4 chicken breasts
1 Tbsp fat-free mayo (such as Smart Beat)
2 Tbsp mustard or prepared mustard sauce (I used SanJ tamari mustard sauce or a chipotle mustard)
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp. Billybee honey garlic spice (or just use garlic powder and a little bit of honey)
1 cup corn flake crumbs

For sauce:
2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (11 oz.) can of corn
2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp coriander
1 cup white wine
1 Tbsp. chicken consomme mix (such as Osem brand)
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Mix mayo, mustard, paprika and honey garlic spice together in a small bowl, and lay corn flake crumbs out on a plate. Dip chicken breasts in mayo-mustard sauce till well-coated, then coat in corn flake crumbs. Set the chicken breasts aside in a dish.

2. Saute sliced onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent.

3. Deglaze the pan with white wine, then add corn, marjoram, coriander, chicken soup mix, salt & pepper. You might need to add a little bit of water too if there is not enough liquid in the pan - but no more than half a cup. Cover and let simmer over medium heat until most of the liquid has reduced.

4. Spoon corn sauce over chicken, cover and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until done.

Serves 4.
7 WW points.

New Feature on The Kosher Chef: Beta Recipes

2008-12-08T20:27:00.006-05:00

So, this week I have a double header for you. I've got two recipes to share. The problem is, I'm not happy with either of them! But as an inventive chef, I would be remiss in my duty if I did not share them with you. So, I've come up with a new idea for my blog: "beta" recipes. That means I am going to share with you not only my successful recipes - but also my failures. I find it really useful to learn from my (and other people's) culinary experiments that simply just fall flat.

It's interesting how certain technologies these days have pretty much redefined the word "beta" to mean "we're just experimenting and if you don't like it it's not our fault" - it used to be that a beta release of software was just a scaled back version of the full thing with a bunch of bugs, and not really production-level quality. These days though, I see almost everything marked as "beta" when it really is production-level.

So, I am going to take a page from the tech sector and warn you that when I choose to mark a recipe "beta" it means I'm not quite happy with the flavor, consistency, texture or appearance. For example, it might taste good, but the texture might be a little weird. Or, it could be exactly what I had in mind, except in reality the flavors just didn't come together the way I'd hoped. I'll always try to describe in the comments preceding the recipe what I liked and what I didn't like, and how I think I am going to play with the recipe in the future.

Of course, being a perfectionist with my food, I won't just let a beta recipe languish forever. I plan to try it again and again until I get it just right. And when I do, you can definitely expect me to post a "recipe redux" with my improvements!

With those reservations pointed out, you can try making the recipe as posted, and you might really like the taste of it, which is great! I'm quite aware that what doesn't appeal to me might be amazing to some people. Or, what I'd really hope for is that you can see my comments on where I think the recipe failed, and take it and make it your own way, with your own flair and flavor to see if you can improve the recipe. I'd love to encourage this kind of culinary creativity. All I ask though is that if you do improve on my recipe - let me know! Post a comment on the blog and tell me how you made my recipe so much better - I'd love to learn from you, my readers!

Keep on cooking!

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Soup

2008-11-26T22:43:00.009-05:00

I came up with this recipe last year in the middle of winter - it's a great meal-in-one, hearty and comforting soup. It's got chicken and rice in it so it's very filling too. I also make it in large batches and freeze it so it lasts quite a while (it's really convenient - I can just head some up for dinner when I get back from work).

So, I decided that it was time to make a batch this year, since it's been getting pretty chilly lately (and I'm also feeling lazy :) ). But, as I said in my welcome post, I tend to never make the same dish the same way twice.

Below is the original recipe I settled on last year. I'll mention here though the modifications I made this time around. Instead of 20 cups of water I put in something like 24. I also added some torn fresh sage leaves, and I used brown rice instead of white rice. I only happened to have 1 lb. of chicken on hand, which didn't turn out so well - it feels like there just isn't enough chicken for as many servings. I didn't have boullion cubes on hand, so I left those out and added a bit more chicken soup mix. Finally, I had the last of the sweet potatoes to use up, so I substituted a couple of them for the regular potatoes.

The only change of these I would keep is the sage - too much water and the wrong kind of rice made the soup too watery - it's supposed to be a nice thick, hearty soup (but not quite porridge). The lack of chicken and boullion cubes I think probably cut back on the chicken flavor of the soup, which was unfortunate. The sweet potatoes were not bad, but I still prefer the taste of regular potatoes in this soup. Also, note the addition of sugar to the soup - that was something I decided to do after deciding my soup was overpoweringly spicy (even though I like it that way).

This batch came out a little more watery than it's supposed to...oh well.

"Meal-in-one" Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Soup

2 red peppers, halved
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups of rice (brown or white; different cooking times for each)
4-5 potatoes, cubed
1 (28 oz.) can of crushed or diced tomatoes
2 lb. chicken cutlets, cubed
1 (16 oz.) can corn, drained
4-5 large carrots, sliced
2 cups chicken broth
18-20 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. canola oil
olive oil to drizzle

Note: These amounts are estimates. You are better off judging how much to put in by eye based on how much soup you are making.
1-2 tsp. dried thyme
1-2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1-2 tbsp. fresh sage leaves, torn (optional)
1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper
3-4 bay leaves
salt / pepper to taste
2-3 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. coriander
3 boullion cubes
~3 tbsp. chicken soup mix (such as Osem or Telma brand)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice peppers in half, clean out the seeds, and place on a baking sheet, along with garlic. Drizzle some olive oil on top of the peppers and garlic. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

2. Roast peppers and garlic in the oven for 15-20 minutes until peppers start to brown a little bit. Finish with 3-5 minutes under the broiler till the pepper skin begins to char and bubble. Set aside to cool.

3. Sauté onions in a skillet until they start to soften. Add chicken to skillet and lightly brown along with turmeric, coriander, salt and pepper.

4. Peel the skin off from the cooled roasted red peppers and cut them up – about a 1 inch dice. Dump the peppers & garlic in a large (I use a 10 quart) stockpot, along with chicken & onions. Add carrots and crushed tomatoes.

5. Add sugar, boullion cubes, soup mix, chicken broth, water, followed by herbs – thyme, basil, parsley, sage, crushed red pepper, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Remember, judge how much of herbs to add according to how much soup you are making. Mix well and bring to a boil. Once the soup boils, reduce to a simmer.

6. After 45 minutes, add potatoes and corn.

7. After another 45 minutes, add rice and let it continue simmering until the rice is fully cooked (about 10-15 minutes). Once the rice is cooked, turn off the flame and you are done!

Yields about 9 quarts of soup which will last for a nice while :)
3 WW points per serving.

Sweet Potato Succotash

2008-11-23T14:29:00.005-05:00

So I had some leftover sweet potato from last week's farmer's market. I picked up some fresh apple cider this week too. I was debating what to make as a side dish this week and I was toying with doing my classic herb-apple mashed potatoes, sweet potato style. But then, Thursday night, I went to Supersol and picked up a container of their roasted corn salad and had that with dinner - it was roasted corn and peas, and it was delicious! This inspired me and made me think of trying out a dish I've only heard of - succotash.

Now, like many people, I am of course most familiar with succotash from Looney Tunes' Sylvester Cat saying "S-s-s-sufferin' succotash!" I never really knew what that meant till one day I saw a box of succotash in the freezer section of the supermarket - corn and lima beans.

Of course, lima beans were my arch enemy as a kid - I would always pick them out of vegetables or soup that my mom made. So why would I want to subject my friends (or myself) to the bland and mealy texture of lima beans? Certainly not. I decided take this old-fashioned classic and modernize it a bit - I chose to use edamame (soy beans) instead (they actually came in this amusing Dora the Explorer package). I combined that with my leftover sweet potatoes, since the meal I was going to was a Thanksgiving-themed meal, and I added some other veggies to give it a really bright color. I snuck in my fresh apple cider too which gave it a tinge of sweetness and fleshed out the flavors beautifully!

Bright fall colors, bold Thanksgiving flavor

Sweet Potato Succotash

3-4 ears of corn
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
1 large/2 medium sweet potato, diced
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp. canola oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup apple cider
~1.5 tsp thyme
~1 tsp parsley
Honey
salt & pepper

1. Shuck ears of corn, cleaning off husk and silk. Soak corn in water while oven preheats to 450 degrees.

2. When oven is ready, wrap each ear of corn in aluminum foil and put on the middle rack. Let corn roast for 20-30 minutes.

3. After corn is sufficiently cooked and golden yellow, unwrap the corn, keeping it in the foil and put them under the broiler for 5 minutes or so until kernels become golden brown. You may need to turn the cobs around a few times.

4. Halfway through corn cooking, saute onion and bell pepper together in oil in a skillet over medium heat until onions are soft. Add frozen edamame and sweet potato. Cook for 5-10 minutes until edamame thaws and sweet potatoes start to soften a little.

5. When corn is done, shock them in ice water to stop the cooking and make them easier to handle. Slice off kernels and add to skillet, along with tomatoes, thyme, parsely, salt and pepper, and mix.

6. Add chicken stock and apple cider, and drizzle a little honey over everything. Raise heat to medium-high, mix well, and continue mixing periodically. Cook until liquid is nearly entirely evaporated, and serve!

Serves 10.
2 WW points per serving.

Glazed Autumn Casserole

2008-11-23T13:52:00.006-05:00

Last week, I happened to go to the farmer's market around the corner, just looking to see what looked good. I found a stand with these enormous just-dug sweet potatoes, and decided I should buy a bunch - I was very in the mood for a fall-themed side dish. I was also in the apple stand and decided to try a fruit I'd heard a lot about but never tried - quince. It's kind of like a really tart apple.

I looked a bit on Recipezaar to see what I could do with sweet potatoes and apples, and I came up with a lot of different casseroles - so I decided to give my own shot at a fall-style casserole, with Thanksgiving coming up soon. I gathered a bunch of other fall-themed ingredients like pecans, pumpkin and craisins to give it a more authentic autumn theme. (The sweet potato roasting method is from the November/December 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated). This casserole is what I came up with - it was bursting with autumn flavor!

These are just leftovers...forgot to take a picture of the original

Glazed Autumn Casserole

4 medium (or 2 extremely large) sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into rounds
2 peeled and diced quince or apples (Granny Smith would probably be good)
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp. fat-free margarine
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1/3 cup craisins

1 shot rum
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 large spanish onion, sliced
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup apple cider/juice
2 cinnamon sticks

2 tbsp. canola oil

2 (15 oz.) cans pumpkin
cinnamon
allspice
nutmeg
salt & pepper

1. Line baking sheet (or two) with aluminum foil and cooking spray. Coat sweet potato rounds with a bit of canola oil, salt and pepper. Lay sweet potato rounds out in one layer on sheet. Cover tightly with foil and place in a cold oven, then turn it to 425. DO NOT PREHEAT. Let potatoes cook for 30 minutes.

2. After potatoes are cooked, remove foil and leave them for another 5-10 minutes; flip them and cook them for an additional 5-10 minutes, till their color is nice and browned (be very careful not to burn! Burning the potatoes will make the final casserole texture stiff)

3. Meanwhile, caramelize sliced onions in the oil over med-high heat.

4. Melt margarine in another pan, and combine apples, pecans, nutmeg and brown sugar. Caramelize together till apples are well coated.

5. Finally, in one more pot combine apple juice, lemon juice, maple syrup, rum, craisins, cinnamon sticks and allspice. Cook over medium heat until reduced by about half, or until the glaze reaches a moderately thick consistency.

6. Once everything is finished, spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Build the casserole in layers: first a layer of sweet potatoes, then a layer of onions, then a layer of apples & nuts, then spread one can of pumpkin evenly over everything. Salt the pumpkin layer to your taste. Repeat with one more set of layers, except instead of salting the top pumpkin layer, sprinkle cinnamon over it. Pour the glaze over the top of the casserole (you can keep the cinnamon sticks for garnishes), and serve!

7. Leftovers taste really, really good.

Serves 12.
2 Weight Watchers points per serving.

Welcome to The Kosher Chef!

2008-11-21T11:53:00.001-05:00

Well, it's about time. I've gone and done it. I've finally created a blog. Yes, yes, I know, I'm a little late onto the scene. But after coming up with all these creative new recipes, I decided I should start sharing them and giving back to the wonderful world of cooks on the internet.

What to expect? Mostly new recipes as I try them out or invent them; maybe some commentary on kosher food in NYC. I'll also post links to interesting recipes I find or try out. My favorite source for recipes online is www.recipezaar.com. As I learn better presentation and photography skills, hopefully you'll see yummy-looking photos of my food too.

What's my cooking style? I love cooking exotic dishes, especially Moroccan food (though I try out lots of different nationalities). I also am a fan of taking everyday foods and making them taste great. I also have a sweet tooth, so I often put honey, sugar, syrup, etc. in my dishes. I also like a bit of kick to my food, so just be aware that the spicy ingredients can be removed or substituted.

That brings me to another point about my cooking style - I'm a big fan of removals/additions/substitutions to recipes. I see it as a way to take someone else's recipe and personalize it. If I see a good-looking non-kosher recipe, I'll just drop the bacon, or leave the cheese out of the chicken. A lot of people focus on following recipes exactly - to them I say, that's great if you're working in a restaurant (which I have sort of done...but more on that later :) ) because it promotes consistency - but when you're making food for your friends or for Shabbat - being exactly consistent isn't too critical (the exception is baking - I will actually measure stuff out if I'm baking!). In fact, I take pride in the fact that even if I write a recipe, I'll never make it exactly the same way twice.

That's also why you'll see me listing spices and maybe other ingredients in recipes with no amount - to me, I just eyeball it - whatever looks good is how much you put in! That's one good step to personalizing recipes and making them your own. This can be a hard concept to grasp for beginner chefs - I admit, I too insisted on amounts when I first started cooking. But eventually you get comfortable with your ingredients, with your kitchen, and you can loosen up a bit, play around and have fun!

So, once again, welcome to The Kosher Chef - home of personalized, delicious kosher cooking - I hope you enjoy!