FOODY FUN LLC
  • Kugel Chronicles Home
    • The Blog
    • The Book - STOCKED
    • Recipes >
      • Firsts | Snacks | Appetizers
      • Cocktails
      • Condiments
      • Soups
      • Mains
      • Sides
      • Desserts
  • About Me
    • My Foody Fun Story
    • My Resume
  • Contact Me
  • Writer
    • Seasonality - What's Good Now?
    • Foody Fun CSA
    • The Three Sisters
    • Soup Tips
    • Thanksgiving
    • Fancy Food Show 2019
    • Beyond Impossible - Plant-Based Meat Substitutes
    • Passover Planning
  • Designer
    • Logos
    • Zahava Foods
    • Team Organization
  • Teacher
    • Kosher Basics for Culinary Professionals
    • Cooking Classes
  • Marketer
    • The Dillinger Room
    • Foody Fun Game Night
    • Tea Tasting Box
  • Cook
    • Menus
    • Photos
  • Foody Fun Home

Fancy Food Show Report 2022 - Kosher Certification

8/16/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
​



​The Fancy Food Show is back! This annual trade show put on by the Specialty Food Association resumed in June after a two-year Covid hiatus. This is the second in a series of stories about the show. This one focuses on kosher certified foods.


​Fancy Foods are Kosher Too
Three certification agencies had booths at this year’s show - Star-K, OK Kosher, and OU Kosher. In the past, I’ve seen European and South American agencies as well, but it seems that complicated travel kept them away this year.

These agencies attend the show for the same reasons the vendors do – to drum up business and meet with existing customers. Representatives walk through the show looking for new vendors and products that have the potential for kosher certification.
Picture
Seal of Approval
I’m always a little surprised to see so many vendors display kosher signs at their booths. 

​We expect Jewish ethnic foods to be kosher. And many, if not most, major US brands of regular pantry items also have kosher certification. Whether you keep a kosher home or not, chances are most of the name brand packaged products in your kitchen right now are kosher certified. Hellman’s, Heinz, Lipton, Vlasic, and even Coke are certified. Many store brands also bear certification labels. Some stores even make kosher certification a priority when they look for manufacturers to produce their private label products. Why?


According to industry market research, kosher certification has remained one of the three top growing market segments for the past 20+ years. This growth isn’t based on an explosion among Jews suddenly starting to keep kosher.
​

For a long time and still today, many non-Jews view kosher certification as a sort of “Good Housekeeping” seal of approval. There is a perception that kosher certification indicates “better” products – maybe cleaner and sometimes perceived as healthier, which we all know is not the case.
Modern Food Concerns
Today, consumers are concerned about ingredients in their food. Kosher certification is a helpful tool for vegetarians and to some extent vegans, people with dairy or shellfish allergies, and others who just want to know that someone in addition to the manufacturer is overseeing production. Muslims who follow Halal dietary guidelines often look for kosher certification when they shop.
​

A pareve designation tells you a lot about a product. Pareve foods contain absolutely no dairy, no meat, no fish or shellfish, and no additives derived from insects.
Picture

Marketing
I met Patrick Ford at my first Kosherfest, almost 25 years ago, when his family’s Bone Suckin Sauce was still new and freshly kosher certified. Hailing from North Carolina, famous for its non-kosher barbeque, Patrick was responsible for getting kosher certification after he joined the family business and took on the marketing. Although he knew nothing about kashrut, his research told him that it would be an important tool to grow the brand. At that first meeting he told me, “I thought my plant was clean. After I saw what the rabbis did to make everything kosher, I went home and told my wife to start buying kosher products!”

I’ve spoken with Patrick, first at Kosherfest and later at the Fancy Food Show, every year since then. He knows that his dry mix, Bone Suckin Seasoning and Rub, is the secret ingredient in my chicken schnitzel. And every year he tells me that kosher certification was a key to his success.
Picture

There are way too many kosher products at the Fancy Food Show for me to provide a complete list. But here are few of my favorites.
Lök is a Columbian company making super high-quality chocolate while helping farmers avoid the lucrative, but dangerous world of growing drug crops.

But here’s the weird part. When I asked why the chocolate bears kosher certification, I was told “the community is really big.” The Jewish community? “Yes.” Columbia is a country of almost 51 million people, 90% of whom are Christian. The country is home to fewer than 8,000 Jews.

​Yet there is a perception that the community is bigger than it is and that the chocolate needs to be kosher. They also understand what certification means to marketing in the US.
Picture
Vegan Rob’s
Robert Ehrlich was inspired to create the popular snack, Pirate’s Booty, when he saw a bag of cheese puffs that contained no cheese.

More recently he created a line of vegan and gluten-free salty snacks under the brand Vegan Rob’s. These gluten-free snacks are based mostly on sorghum, and like Pirate’s Booty, are OU certified.

​I wouldn’t say their Brussels Sprouts Puffs are exactly good for you just because they contain actual brussels sprouts powder. But they are delicious!
Picture
Truffles
As you know from my first story about the Fancy Food Show, I love truffles. They are the epitome of a fancy food – hard to find, imported, and expensive.
​
Truffles are a true luxury item but trust me, La Rustichella Black Truffle Paté is worth a splurge. One of the few truffle products that includes real truffles (12% by weight), it is OU certified.
​

You can find a small jar online for only $20. Schmear a lightly toasted baguette slice with ricotta cheese and top with a small dollop of the paté. It is heaven in your mouth. You will thank me.
Picture
Mareeba Orchards Dried Fruit
When I asked the young man from Mareeba Orchards why the Australian dried fruit was kosher certified, he pointed to his name tag – Justin Levin - a quintessentially Jewish family name.

​“Well,” he said, chuckling, “It’s a family business and it couldn’t NOT be kosher.”

​Unfortunately, these products aren’t widely available in the US yet, but the red dragon fruit is not only gorgeous, it’s deliciously chewy, sweet, and tart at the same time. I’ll be watching for a way to buy these products over the next year.
Picture
Dr. Bronner’s Chocolate
Old hippies will remember Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Liquid Soap from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The original peppermint scented liquid soap was and still is packaged with a wrap-around label filled with tiny, tiny text. Dr. Bronner, who was not a physician, preaches his Cosmic Philosophy, which begins with: “If I am not for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I?” Sound familiar? This well-known quote comes from Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Fathers.

Born into a Jewish soap-making family, Emanuel Heilbronner left Germany in 1929. As World War II loomed, young Emil pleaded with his family to join him, but secure in his German-ness and assimilated success, his father refused. Tragically, the Nazis took over the family business and deported Emil’s parents to Auschwitz, where they were both murdered.

In spite of his trauma and long-term mental illness, Emil took the name Dr. Bronner, and started making his now famous soap. So much happened between then and now, but the company is currently run by the third generation. Finding renewed success against the backdrop of today’s focus on “clean” products and socially responsible companies, they have developed a wonderful line of chocolate bars. Large and chunky, most bars are filled with nuts or nut cream and sweetened with coconut sugar. In addition to kosher, they are certified Fair Trade, Organic, Non-GMO, and Vegan.​
Picture

Watch for the next story in this series: Fancy Food as Functional Food.
0 Comments

Fancy Food Show Report 2022 - Flavor of the Year: Truffle

7/11/2022

0 Comments

 
The Fancy Food Show is back! This annual trade show put on by the Specialty Food Association resumed last month after a two-year Covid hiatus. When I lived in New Jersey, attending the show was an easy day trip to Manhattan. Now that I live in Cincinnati, I worried that I might not be able to get there this year, so I was ecstatic when I realized the Show coincided with an already planned trip back east. I was lucky to spend two busy days tasting new and favorite old products, taking notes for stories, and meeting interesting people who love to talk about food as much as I do.


The Specialty Food Association doesn’t actually designate a flavor of the year, but there always seems to be one ingredient that shows up in everything.
​I’m not sure how this happens, but I have a theory.
​

My Theory
I think it starts in restaurants. High-end chefs in top restaurants are innovators. They travel, searching for new culinary experiences, ingredients, and techniques. They bring what they learn back to their kitchens and start turning out dishes that include their new-found favorite ingredient.

Diners, including food writers and producers, take note. Word spreads and consumers start looking for that ingredient to use at home. Meanwhile, producers start developing products and within a year or two, it appears as the Flavor of the Year at the Fancy Food Show.

​I don’t have any evidence to support my theory, but it’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
Past Trends
Over the past 20+ years that I’ve attended the Show, I’ve seen flavor trends come and go. Blood Orange. Hibiscus. Matcha (green tea powder). Ginger. The Flavor of the Year shows up in all kinds of products including tea, soft drinks, cocktail mixers, salad dressings, salsas and sauces, crackers, olive oil, even cheeses and snacks. Those that are super popular remain; others fall out of the product line-up within a couple of cycles.

In addition to the usual truffle oils, salts, and pastes, this year I saw truffle potato chips, truffle hot sauce, truffle candy, honey, chocolate, salted caramel, syrup, and granola. 
Yes, truffle granola.
Picture

The unexpected Flavor of the Year is the epitome of fancy food: Truffles!
They are hard to find, imported, and expensive. . . . . . . . So how do they become Flavor of the Year?

What is Truffle?
​It’s a fungus that grows underground under a host tree, often oak or hazelnut. There are many types – black and white are most common; and they are seasonal - autumn and winter are most common. They grow naturally in Italy and France, where they are harvested with the help of pigs or dogs who are specially trained both to find truffles and to not eat them. These days truffles are also cultivated elsewhere, including the US, but they are a finicky crop that takes a long time to grow, so even farmed truffles are expensive. In their natural form they are extremely perishable, which also affects price. ​

Why Truffles Now?
It's no surprise that the Covid pandemic is the key influence. Consumer behavior changed dramatically and many of the changes will become permanent.

The Mintel Group is a global market research firm. According to its 2022 Global Consumer Trends report: Having endured lockdowns, consumers . . . will be seeking joyful products that amplify the flavours, colours, textures, aromas . . . that food and drink can provide.

Most of the other research I found was from 2021, but it shows that consumers expect to continue cooking and eating at home more than they did pre-pandemic. Anecdotally, truffle vendors at the Fancy Food Show think that during lockdowns, people watched cooking shows on TV and online, where they learned about new products and ingredients they now want in their pantry. Producers also think that consumers will spend some of the restaurant money they save on more expensive “fancy foods” to use at home.
​
Jonathan Frazer, Director of Sales at The Truffleist, agrees. “Everyone became a home chef (during Covid),” he said. “Ingredients like truffles are not just for the rich anymore; they’ve become mainstream.” He also talked about how his company pivoted during Covid, from selling at holiday markets and pop-ups in New York, to collaborating with other, local companies to expand their product line and with food service to introduce a larger audience to their products. “Grocery, e-commerce saved us.”
Favorite Bite Alert!
Every year, in the Italian pavilion, there's a booth that makes one of my favorite things to eat.

The top is removed from a parmesan wheel; then it's dug out to create a bowl. The chef boils pasta or risotto, drains it slightly, and tosses it into the parmesan bowl. Then he (and yes, so far, it’s always been he) adds generous spoonsful of truffle paste and tosses the hot pasta around, melting some cheese into the mixture. This year, the final dish was garnished with slices of fresh truffle.

The creaminess of the pasta, the umami of the parmesan, and the pungent earthiness of the truffle is one of the most amazing bites of food I’ve ever eaten.

​It is always the first and the last thing I eat at the show.
Picture
​What is Truffle Flavored?
In most regular US supermarkets, you’ll typically find truffles infused in salt or extra virgin olive oil, products that can impart rich, earthy truffle flavor to homemade dishes at a more affordable cost.

But beware.

You can find imported salts and oils infused with genuine truffles, but even many of those are enhanced with "truffle aroma" or artificial flavor. There’s nothing wrong with that; the science behind manufactured flavors can result in authentic flavor profiles and they are safe. But you don’t want to pay expensive truffle prices for artificially flavored salt. Read labels to know what you're getting and shop around.

Picture
Where to Buy and What
Unfortunately for me, I don’t earn anything from any of these companies. Fortunately for you, that means I only recommend products I truly like, or even love.

La Rustichella
This Black Truffle Paté is, without a doubt, the most truffly-tasting product I have tried. Made with real black winter truffle (12% by weight), it is rich and pungent. 
​

Urbani
The Urbani family has been in the truffle business for six generations, since 1852. Clearly they’re doing something right. Old fashioned attention to quality combined with modern processing techniques and e-commerce are a winning combination.

Truff
is a relative newcomer on the truffle scene. Their jewel-shaped bottle tops represent the precious liquids inside. They offer a classic oil infused with black truffle oil concentrate and actual black winter truffle – no artificial flavor here. But the bulk of their product line is hot sauce, offered in several degrees of heat and also infused with the real deal.

The Truffleist
In addition to their flagship Truffle Butter, The Truffleist collaborates with other companies to combine their truffles with the best of what their partners offer. So their product line also includes cheese, mousse de foie gras, brats, salami, and mustard. They also have some really nice gift sets.
How to Enjoy Truffles
Because they are so precious and their flavor is unique, truffles are traditionally paired with mild tasting foods that act as a vehicle to carry them. Pasta and eggs are classic.

Whether you're using an oil, butter, paste, or GASP fresh truffles - never apply direct high heat. As described in my Favorite Bite Alert, cook the pasta or egg and gently toss with truffle to warm slightly, not cook.

My favorite is a small dollop on top of a ricotta-shmeared baguette slice. 
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Back to Your Roots

1/11/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture

Root vegetables are at the core of many comfort foods; dishes we crave during the long, cold winter months. Even before modern refrigeration, roots were easy to keep without extensive processing during the harvest season. Unlike late summer harvest produce such as tomatoes, beans, corn and fruits that need canning, drying or pickling, roots only need to be picked, allowed to dry and then stored in a root cellar. 

This gallery shows photos of root vegetables both in their natural state and prepared into simple dishes. Most recipes are forgiving and don't require exact measurements.

This post is a follow-up to my January 2022 column in the American Israelite.


Picture
Roasted Root Vegetables with Roasted Garlic Aioli

Picture
Simple Fennel Salad

Picture
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Whether bright orange or deep purple like these, mashed sweet potatoes are a colorful addition to any plate. Like regular potatoes, all they need is a little something mashed in - butter, mayonnaise or heavy coconut cream + salt & pepper. If you want to enhance the sweetness, add a sprinkle of cinnamon or a splash of maple syrup.

Picture
Indian Carrot Dessert - Gajar Halwa

Picture
Collection of organic roots (+broccoli) from the farm. Baby turnips, radishes, beets, salad onions & garlic scapes


Picture
Baby Turnips fresh from the farm

Picture
Israeli Pickled Vegetables

Picture
Mashed Potatoes with Borscht

The little pan-fried meatloaf in this picture is called Kotletin (coat-let-in). It's an Eastern European dish I grew up eating - in my home this was the ultimate comfort food. 
It was always served with richly caramelized onions and mashed potatoes topped with bright pink borscht from a jar that my mom mixed with a raw egg. I don't know why.
I made my own borscht and it came out much darker. I missed the pink.

Picture
Roasted Potato Wedges with Rosemary
Potatoes love rosemary like peanut butter loves jelly. Use Russet or Idaho potatoes.
  1. Scrub potatoes to remove any loose dirt; slice into wedges.
  2. Toss with extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper and chopped fresh rosemary.
  3. Lay in a single layer, on their flat sides, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  4. Roast at 450 degrees for 12 to 18 minutes or even a little longer, turning once.

Picture
Hasselback Potatoes

Picture
Sweet & Sour Celeriac Carrots

Picture
Twice Baked Potatoes

Picture
Roasted Potato Chips

Picture
Horseradish infused vodka for Passover - or any time you need a spicy shot
Picture
Carrot & Radish Salad

Picture
Beet & Horseradish-tini

Picture
Hearty Sweet Potato Salad

Picture
Stunning Watermelon Radish with Hawaiian Black Sea Salt

Picture
Garlic Scapes
The curly tops from garlic bulbs are available only when garlic is freshly picked. Chop them into salads, mince them into a vinaigrette or add them to Israeli Pickled Vegetables.

PictureSimple Beet Salad



This beautiful salad can be laid out like this or cut into wedges and tossed. It can also be monochromatic - Golden Beets + oranges + white onions OR Red Beets + Blood Oranges + Red Onions OR multi-colored by mixing and matching .
Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice + a splash of really good extra virgin olive oil + coarse salt & pepper.

0 Comments

Labor Day Rosh Hashana Picnic Style Menu

8/18/2021

0 Comments

 
​This year Erev Rosh Hashana falls on Labor Day! Not only does the early date catch us by surprise, but it's going to be HOT! I don't know about you, but I don't want to work for two days in a hot kitchen preparing a heavy traditional Rosh Hashana meal of chicken soup, gefilte fish and brisket with all the trimmings. But a traditional Labor Day cook out of burgers and dogs doesn't feel right either.

I love tradition, but sometimes traditions don't fit the current situation. This is one of those times.

So I created a menu that combines the best of both traditions. It incorporates all the traditional and symbolic foods for Rosh Hashana in a make-ahead picnic style meal. 



Picture

Picture
All Jewish food traditions developed around the foods that were available in whatever location a Jewish community found itself. So the Ashkenazi (Eastern European) tradition includes dipping apples (a fall fruit) in honey (bee honey available in Europe). Kosher meat was sometimes scarce and always expensive, so it was reserved for special occasions like holidays. And in that part of the world summer was most definitely over by Rosh Hashana, so mostly fall produce was available, like sweet potatoes and dried fruits, which became tzimmes.

Northern Africa and the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Yemen) have more moderate climates and more diverse agriculture. So Jews in those places, Sephardi and Mizrachi, developed different food traditions. Based on the nature of a fruit or word play with its Hebrew name, these communities created a "seder" for Rosh Hashana that offers an array of foods imbued with symbolic meaning. These foods include dates, pomegranate, green beans, pumpkin or squash, beets, leeks, scallions or chives, and a fish head or head of lettuce.

This menu incorporates all these foods from Jewish traditions around the world in a mostly cold make-ahead picnic style meal.

I've included three recipes here. The recipe for the Squash Salad ran in my American Israelite article, along with an explanation of the Jewish calendar. Click here to read that.
 


Picture
Picture
Picture
Cold Borscht Shooters​
Click here to print.
Makes 2 quarts; serves 8 to 12 in bowls & makes about 30 2-ounce shooters
​
Ingredients
1 LB cooked beets
2 lg garlic cloves, crushed
4 C vegetable stock
1 tsp honey
Juice from one lemon
1 C plant-based yogurt or real sour cream
3 scallions, chopped
Salt & pepper
 
Directions
1. Grate the beets into a medium saucepan, using the largest holes on a 4-sided grater.
2. Add garlic, stock, honey & lemon juice to the pan. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer for 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime, use the bottom of a small glass to smash the chopped scallions with some kosher salt until they’re pulpy.
4. When the borscht is cool, use an immersion blender to puree. Make as smooth or chunky as you like.
5. Add scallions to the borscht; stir in the yogurt. Season liberally with freshly ground pepper and taste for salt.
6. Serve in bowls or shooter glasses with a small dollop of yogurt and scallions for garnish.

Crab Salad (Imitation)​
Click here to print.
Serves 4 to 6, depending on the rest of the menu
​
Ingredients
For the Salad
½ LB imitation crab flakes or sticks, chopped fine
1 stalk celery, diced
1 very small onion, diced
1 TBSP capers, chopped
 
For the Dressing
1/3 C mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp whole seed mustard
1 tsp celery seeds
¼ tsp smoked paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper (or more)

Directions
1. In a medium bowl toss crab, celery, onion & capers together.
2. In a small bowl combine all dressing ingredients; taste for seasoning, add salt & pepper.
3. Add dressing to crab, toss to combine.
4. Serve on lettuce with cucumber & tomato as garnish.
 

Three Bean Salad​
Click here to print.
Serves 6 to 12 depending on the rest of the menu

Ingredients
For the Salad
1 bag frozen cut green beans (12 oz)
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
 
For the Dressing
¼ C apple cider vinegar
2/3 C safflower or canola oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 TBSP honey or agave nectar
 
Directions
1. In a medium bowl toss beans, celery & onion together.
2. In a small bowl combine all dressing ingredients; taste for seasoning, add salt & pepper.
3. Toss dressing with salad.
 
Remove from refrigerator about ½ hour before serving.


0 Comments

I'm writing a book. STOCKED!

7/16/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture

​I was invited as a guest on a podcast -
Today's Takeaway with Florine Mark - Click here to Listen.

​As I prepared for the interview, I realized the topic is much bigger than a half hour podcast.
I started writing and 100 pages later, I have a book!

Stocked!
How to Stock Your Kitchen & Cook Quick, Easy Meals ​with Ingredients You Keep on Hand: 
 A Book of Tips & Recipes

Details about how & when it will be published are TBD. But soon.
​
Here's a taste.
Picture

Picture
From Chapter 1: Pantry | Flavor Bombs |
Spices & Seasonings


​I struggled to narrow down the number of spices and seasonings to recommend for the well-stocked kitchen. With this selection plus the rest of the Flavor Bombs in your well-stocked pantry, you’ll be able to prepare dozens, if not hundreds, of tasty meals. 

​Salt & Pepper
When TV chefs say “season” something, they mean add salt & pepper, which are almost always used together. Please, if you don’t already, use Kosher Salt. It gets its name from its use in the meat koshering process where it’s used to pull blood out of freshly slaughtered meat. Kosher salt is not finely ground; the crystals remain bigger, but because it doesn’t have any additives to prevent caking, it has a cleaner saltier flavor than table salt.

You will still need a finely ground salt for baking; the larger pieces in kosher salt won’t distribute evenly in a dough. I use finely ground sea salt, but table salt will do. 

​
You’ve probably seen all kinds of sea salt on shelves. It’s wonderful to finish a dish by sprinkling over the top. It not only adds flavor, but the flakes add crunch. But I’m not going to include it as a required ingredient in your well-stocked panty.

Black pepper should be ground as needed. If you don’t have a pepper grinder, please get one. It doesn’t have to be super expensive, although a grinder with a metal mechanism will work better and last longer than a plastic one. It’s also nice to have a grinder that allows you to adjust the grind size from finer to coarser.

Like all the ingredients I’ve described so far, fresh is always better. Freshly ground pepper tastes better — pepperier — than pre-ground. Grinding releases the oils in the pepper seed; by the time you get a container of ground pepper home, it’s dried out and lost those oils.

 


Other Spices
These are the essentials I recommend for your pantry.
  • Onion & Garlic powder — make sure you buy powder; not garlic or onion salt. Control the salt yourself.
  • Sweet & Smoked Paprika — paprika is made from ground dried peppers. The sweet variety is made from sweet red peppers; to achieve the smoked variety, the peppers are smoked first.
  • Cinnamon — although you might think about cinnamon as a “sweet” spice, by itself it actually has a sharp spiciness. Cinnamon isn’t just for dessert; many, many types of ethnic food use cinnamon in savory applications.

​Spice Blends

You could fill an entire spice cabinet with amazing spice blends from major manufacturers and smaller artisan operations. As you can see in the pictures, I did.
But you don’t need them. Four basic spice blends will take you pretty far.
  • Chili Powder — yes, it’s a blend.
  • Pumpkin Pie Spice — the classic combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and ginger can also be used in savory applications.
  • Italian Seasoning — most versions contain basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary. It’s a great combination that can be used in many dishes, not just Italian.
  • Curry Powder — There are literally hundreds of different types of curry; many Indian families make their own and sometimes more than one for different dishes. But a basic curry powder works well for most home cooks, including in a Curry Chicken Salad. (recipe will be included)

​Fresh Herbs
I realize it’s not possible for everyone to maintain a fresh herb garden. Fresh herbs are pricey in stores, often costing $2 for a small bunch. They are SO worth it, but very hard to keep fresh for more than a few days once you get them home.

If you have a green thumb and a sunny space somewhere in your home, select from this list of my essentials and take the plunge to grow your own. Especially in the winter, when they are less available and more expensive in stores, you will be glad you did.
 
•  Basil • Chives • Dill • Oregano • Parsley • Rosemary • Thyme • 
 
0 Comments

It's Almost Fruit Crisp Time: Super Crunchy Topping

5/19/2021

0 Comments

 
When it comes to dessert, a lot of people are all about the chocolate. And don't get me wrong; I like chocolate as much as the next guy, but given a choice I always pick something based on fruit. I love a tart or pie or strudel, but the abundance of stone fruit and berries in the summer screams out for Fruit Crisp!

This recipe adds another one of my foody passions: CRUNCH. I can write a whole post about it; I'll call it An Ode to Crunch. But when it comes to a hot Fruit Crisp, I always found that the fruit underneath cooked through long before the topping was crunchy enough for my taste.

Until I found this recipe, which I adapted. Baking the topping by itself creates Super Crunchy bits and pieces that provide a satisfying contrast to the ooey-gooey hot fruit. The topping is great on yogurt too.
​
Click here for printable recipe.
Picture

Fruit Crisp with Super Crunchy Topping
​Bake the topping separately from the fruit for a super crunchy topping that provides a striking contrast to the soft, sweet fruit inside.
 
This type of Fruit Crisp is typically served warm, sometimes with ice cream or whipped cream, which adds another contrast of cold vs. hot. But if you use coconut oil instead of butter, it makes a naturally parve dessert that certainly doesn’t miss the ice cream.
 
The amount of sugar you need depends on the sweetness of your fruit and personal preference. It needs some amount of sugar to achieve the bubbly saucy texture, but a quarter cup is enough if your fruit is really ripe and sweet and you prefer a slightly less sweet dessert.
Picture
Ingredients​
For the Topping
½ C brown sugar
½ C flour
½ C quick cooking oats
½ C chopped nuts, any
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ C butter, melted
OR
½ C liquid coconut oil
 
For the Fruit
4-5 C fresh fruit
About 3-4 TBSP flour
¼ - ½ C sugar
¼ tsp salt
Optional:
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Freshly grated nutmeg
1-2 TBSP fresh tarragon & 1 tsp crushed pink peppercorns
Directions​ 
Make the Topping
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a bowl, combine all topping ingredients.
  3. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer.
  4. Bake about 10 – 12 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven, break up, redistribute & bake 10 – 12 minutes more,
  6. Check again, redistribute & bake another 4-8 minutes until golden brown.
  7. Remove from oven; topping will get crunchier as it cools. Break it up into bits and pieces.
Note: DO NOT touch the topping with your bare hands while it is hot. The hot sugar and oil will burn on contact.
 
Meanwhile, prepare the Fruit
  1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients.
  2. Pour into baking dish deep enough to hold it all without it bubbling over as it bakes.
  3. Bake 20 minutes, stir & bake 10-15 minutes more until fruit is cooked through and bubbly.
  4. To serve, spoon hot fruit into individual bowls and top with crunchy topping.
OR
Scatter topping over entire top of fruit in baking dish. Spoon out to serve.
0 Comments

Kitchen Tips #1: All About Knives

4/19/2021

0 Comments

 

​This is the first in a series of Kitchen Tips posts about equipment.
​I’ll tell you about pieces I love & use all the time and about the items that I found less useful & let go when I downsized last year.

​Good knives are the most important tool in the kitchen. A great knife makes your work easier, more accurate and faster.
Terrible knives can make it almost impossible to get anything done.
​If I have to cook at someone else’s home or in a synagogue kitchen, I always bring my own knives.

Picture
My Favorite Knives 
I like a big knife for almost every task.
Years ago, when I was suffering with Carpal Tunnel problems, I just couldn’t wield the heavy knives with wood handles that I had for years.

At a wine festival, I met a vendor selling RADA knives. These knives are super light, the blades are super thin, and they are crazy inexpensive.

​And for me, one of the best features of their line is that all knives come with either black integrated resin handles or permanently cast aluminum handles, which means I can have two sets of the same knives that I can tell apart easily - important in a kosher kitchen. 
Even more specifically perfect for me – my dairy cookware is black and my meat cookware is stainless, so I already use the black and silver color scheme for most of my utensils.

The biggest RADA knife is an 8½ blade French Chef knife; the silver handled knife weighs about 6½ ounces, the black handled one weighs even less. At the low low price of $23.40, the French Chef is their most expensive knife! They do sell sets, but the other thing I love about RADA is that they sell every knife individually, so I have just what I need and no extra knives that I don’t want.

Rada knives are available through independent resellers or on their website.  I don't have a relationship with RADA, other than customer, so there is no financial incentive for me here. I just love these knives!


Storing Your Knives
​In my giant New Jersey kitchen, I kept my knives in wooden blocks on the counter. Now, in my downtown Cincinnati apartment, counter space is more limited; I keep them in separate drawers by themselves, so I don’t need any kind of rack or holder.



​My brother and son like this storage solution that uses flexible plastic rods to hold the knives without forcing them into specific slots, which works no matter what sizes you have. ​
Picture
My sister loves her clear knife holder, which separates the knives at the top with a slotted rubber gasket. It also holds any sizes you have and lets you see which is which.
Picture
Picture
Click here to subscribe
Picture
 Which Knives do You Need?
​These are the knives I chose in addition to the large French Chef knife:
  • Cook’s Knife - my husband likes this shape
  • Cook’s Utility - a smaller version of the Cook's, which honestly, I don't use very often
  • Carver/Boner - great for removing skin from fish
  • 10-inch Bread knife - big enough for the largest loaves
  • Regular Parer - for small jobs, like removing strawberry tops

I also have 2 hand-made paring knives I bought in Toledo, Spain which is famous for its knife makers. They were a little pricey, but I love them because they remind me of that trip.
​
Although it’s not a knife, another important piece is a pair of kitchen shears which, unlike regular scissors, are designed to come apart for thorough cleaning. I sometimes use these to cut a chicken apart; but mostly I used them to snip herbs or other small items.


Picture
Keeping Your Knives Sharp
There are two aspects to keeping your knives sharp – honing and sharpening.

Although not visible to your naked eye, the V-shaped edge of a straight knife is lined with tiny teeth. Regular use pushes them out of alignment. Using a steel to hone your knife realigns the teeth, maintaining a sharp cutting edge. You should hone your favorite knife at least once a week unless, like me, you use it for everything and frequently. I hone my knife almost every time I use it. During a busy day of lots of chopping, I may even hone it halfway through.

Eventually the tiny teeth wear away, leaving the knife dull. At this point, you need to grind an entirely new edge which actually removes some metal and re-establishes the V-shape.

​Many professional chefs with expensive knives use a sharpening stone to do this themselves. I use an electric sharpener that was a gift for my first wedding anniversary, 32 years ago. Some hardware stores also sharpen knives. In any case, how often you need to sharpen depends on how much use your knives get. I do it every 3 months or so; you may need to sharpen less frequently, but try to do it at least twice a year.


Cleaning Your Knives
I use a wet kitchen cloth to wipe off my cutting board and knife while I’m working. When it’s time to wash, don’t use an abrasive cleaner on your knife blade. Always dry it immediately and put it away. Don’t leave a knife in your dish drainer when it can get damaged, break something else, or be a cut hazard. 

0 Comments

Make Your Own Condiments

4/6/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Several years ago, I started making my own Mayonnaise and Ketchup for Passover. I needed both during the week, but the special, kosher for Passover products at the store were crazy expensive and didn’t taste very good. It irked me to spend so much on a bottle of Ketchup only to throw most of it away after the holiday.

​I thought, how hard can it be?

Turns out, not hard at all. 

Click here for recipes.
​

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Once I tasted the richness of Mayonnaise made with a fresh farm egg and the surprising umami of freshly made Ketchup, I wondered what else I could make at home.

Tartar Sauce was a good candidate. I love it on fried fish, but I don’t make that very often, so I would open a jar and by the next time I needed it, the jar had spoiled. Much tastier and more economical just to make as much as I needed for the one meal.

In a kosher home, I don’t mix dairy and meat products at the same meal, so I usually enjoy a baked potato with a splash of olive oil instead of Sour Cream when I make it as a side to steak. I have a recipe for rich creamy parve Chocolate Mousse that uses tofu, which I was making for a particular grilled meal, so I created Parve Sour Cream with just ¼ cup of the tofu.
​
Kosher for Passover Mustard is a weird chemical mixture, comprised mostly of turmeric and acetic acid because white vinegar, which is made from grain, is prohibited during the holiday. But mustard seed itself is not. This year I found locally made pure wine vinegar – without any grain – and made the most delicious Yellow Mustard I have every eaten. The whole seed Mustards I made were a mixed success; two of them were so spicy and bitter they were inedible. The third, made with red wine vinegar and a little sugar, turned out reasonably tasty, but I will have to make it a couple of more times to get it just right.
​
Tehina is a new darling in the foody-verse, but my love of Israeli food made it a staple in my pantry years ago. The pure sesame seed pureé, known as tahini (ta-hee-nee) is bitter. It needs to be mixed with water and a few other things to become the Tehina sauce that is so popular. Prepared Tehina can be used alone or as an ingredient in Hummus, salad dressings, and all kinds of sauces.

Vinegar is another condiment or ingredient I use often. Sometimes when I feel like a dish is missing something – something I can’t put my finger on – it turns out that a splash of good vinegar does the trick. This year, a few weeks before Passover I participated in the amazing Kosher Food & Wine Virtual Experience, sponsored by Royal Wine Corp. The tasting kit included 25 small bottles of wine! The 2½ hour tasting program left me with a lot of opened bottles, so I currently have two jars of vinegar hanging out in a cabinet – one red and one white. Vinegar takes longer than these other condiments to develop; I will check it in three weeks. Right now I can tell you that when that cabinet opens I get a nose-full of vinegar, so I have high hopes for it.
​
In the meantime, I hope you will give some of these recipes a try and let me know how you like your homemade condiments.
​
Click Here to Subscribe
0 Comments

Kitniyot: To Eat or Not to Eat?

3/15/2021

0 Comments

 

​For many people Passover is a burdensome week of excessive cleaning and extra dietary restrictions. In fact, for most Ashkenazi Jews, Passover has EXTRA extra dietary restrictions. In addition to true hametz, they typically avoid kitniyot – a category of food that includes rice, legumes, and sometimes even corn. But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way.

Picture
Jews Around the World Developed Different Traditions
Americans are most familiar with Ashkenazi Jewish traditions that developed and were brought to this country by Jews from Germany and Eastern Europe. Foodwise those traditions include what most people think of as “Jewish” food – matzo balls, gefilte fish, and kugel are some examples.
 
But Jews lived in and emigrated from many parts of the world, where they developed different traditions including many more than food choices. Sephardic Jews descended from Jews who were thrown out of Spain by the Inquisition in the late 1400s. Some fled north to the Netherlands, then to England and later to the English colonies; some fled south and across the Mediterranean and ended up in Morocco and Northern Africa. Other Jews, known as Mizrahi, were never in any part of Europe. Their diaspora formed mostly east of Israel, in the Syrian peninsula, Persia, Greece and Turkey. There were other pockets of Jews, most notably in Italy, India, and Ethiopia who don't fall into any of these categories. These non-European Jews developed their own prayers, tunes, literature, language, customs, and food traditions.


PictureFrom OnceUponaChef.com
What does that have to with Passover?
The prohibition of hametz – leavened bread – is a Biblical commandment. The story tells that the Jewish slaves fled Egypt in such a hurry that their dough did not have time to rise. Later, when they finally baked it, the result was a flat bread or cracker. God commands us to avoid risen bread and eat matzo to remember our time in Egypt as slaves and our hasty departure.
 
According to Jewish LAW only five grains, can ferment and become hametz - wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye. These are also the only grains that can be made into matzo and matzo is the only form in which they can be eaten. However, in the 13th century, European rabbis added additional restrictions to prohibit kitniyot – rice, dried beans, millet, and lentils. Those restrictions, developed only 800 years ago, have grown over time to include even more prohibitions including chickpeas, peanuts, soy, and other legumes.
 
Fundamentally, there is a difference between law and custom, halacha and minchag. Jewish law is derived directly from the Torah, with the details hammered out by the Rabbis of the early Common Era. For example, the prohibition of mixing meat and dairy derives from a single phrase in the Torah: “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” (Exodus 23:13) It was THE RABBIS who determined the details of following this prohibition, that include using separate dishes.
 
However, it wasn’t until 1,200 years later that some rabbis in Europe decided that kitniyot might be confused with other, forbidden, items. These rabbis were concerned that grains of rice and grains of wheat could be mistaken for one another. So, in an abundance of caution, kitniyot were added to the list of forbidden items during Pesach. But, because the ban originated in Europe, Jews of Sephardic and Mizrahi background were not exposed to it and have always included kitniyot in their Pesach diet.


A Modern Decision
In a 2013 teshuvah (religious ruling), Rabbi David Golinkin, a Conservative authority in Israel, noted the reasoning behind the prohibition. At that time, the rabbis reasoned:
Picture
“…if we allow kitniyot porridge, we will eat grain porridge because both are cooked in a pot.”
And
if rice or bean flour can be baked into bread, someone might mistakenly think that it is all right to eat bread on Passover made from wheat or rye flour.


However, Rabbi Golinkin revealed that “…not only is the custom contrary to the opinions in the Talmud, but more than 50 different early sages reject it outright.”
So, we learn that even when the prohibition was new, there was disagreement about it.
 
In December 2015, the Rabbinic Assembly (RA), the rabbinic authority for the Conservative movement, took a long hard look at these additional restrictions. Rigorous research to find the original reasons for the prohibition revealed that it likely began with one rabbi, who it seems did not trust his own wife to know the difference between rice and wheat. As word spread from town to town, more and more rabbis began to follow this ruling in efforts not to appear lax in their kashrut. It is the classic example of a ubiquitous game of one-upmanship.

In addition to the seemingly bogus origin of the rule, the RA considered three modern concerns: 1) nutrition, 2) finances, and 3) Jewish unity. Personally, I will add a fourth, the consideration of highly processed food.

  1. Nutritionally speaking, without rice and beans, vegetarians and vegans find it difficult to eat a satisfying and healthy amount of protein. Adoption of meatless and plant-based diets has grown dramatically in recent years, so more and more people find it difficult to eat well during Passover without kitniyot.
  2. Kosher food is expensive. Kosher for Passover food is even more so. For many, especially during this crisis when so many are out of work, the cost of certified Passover products is truly a financial burden.
  3. The RA considered that, especially in Israel, where there is already tension between the Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Ashkenazi communities, the difference between Pesach practices is an additional, burdensome and unnecessary dividing issue.
The RA weighed all three factors in the teshuvah, or ruling, allowing all Jews to eat kitniyot during Pesach. The ruling passed with 19 rabbis in favor, one opposed and two abstaining.
 
I will add this. Most of the ersatz chametz products, like Pesach noodles, cereal, and even mustard, are highly processed products whose ingredients include a lot of stabilizers and thickeners that aren’t necessary and can be avoided if we just eat real food.

Of course, the RA, while allowing kitniyot, left the decision whether to include them up to individuals. I choose to include them, especially at the Seder.
0 Comments

Celebrating the Environment: Tu b'Shvat

1/21/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Tu b'Shvat begins the evening of Wednesday, January 27 this year. It's too bad more people don't know much about this lovely biblical celebration of nature.

​Technically, this date - the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat - marks the beginning of the agricultural year. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Jewish farmers were required to tithe a portion of their crops to support the priesthood. The middle of Shvat marks the end of the rainy season in Israel; almond trees begin to blossom, so ancient farmers used this date to designate the beginning of the new crop year. 


After the Second Temple was destroyed and Jews were exiled from the Land, Tu b’Shvat took on special meaning as an expression of our connection to the Land and longing to return. But it was the Kabbalists living in northern Israel centuries later who established Tu b’Shvat as the holiday we know today. They expanded their understanding of the day, not just as a celebration of the renewal of agricultural life, but as a time to rejoice in all of God’s creation.
​
These spiritual men created the first Tu b’Shvat Seder, basing its structure on the Passover Seder. In the nearly 2,000 years since, the Tu b’Shvat Seder has evolved into an expression of our joy over nature, our strong ties to the Land of Israel, and our commitment to protecting the environment.

Picture

Sadly, today, at least in the US, Tu b'Shvat has been relegated to nursery and Hebrew school celebrations. But the seder is rich with symbolism and self-reflection that offers deep meaning for grown ups of all ages.

​Especially now, while the Corona virus pandemic keeps us home and the days run into one another, Tu b'Shvat offers an opportunity to prepare a special meal and look forward to spring. 

To embrace the spirit of the holiday, it's traditional to enjoy a vegetarian meal - a menu incorporating Israeli cuisine is especially appropriate.

Picture
My family will join together in a seder via Zoom. Because everyone is quarantining and busy with children, school and work, I prepared seder kits. I shipped them to my out-of-town children and delivered one to my sister, here in Cincinnati. Our son is local too, so he will join us in person.

Click here for the recipes.
Curried Coconut Cocktail Nuts
Spiced Olives
Dried Fruit Biscotti
​Besamim (Spice Sachet)

If you would like a copy of my Tu b'Shvat seder, click here, fill out the contact form and leave a note. I am happy to send you a PDF for you to use with your friends and family.
​
Picture
Tu b'Shvat seder kit
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Kugel Chronicles
    Gayle Levine Schindler

    Sharing foody things that matter.

    I cook. I eat. I write. It's what I do.


    B'tayavon! Bon Apetit!

    _________________________
    Click to Subscribe

    Picture

    Archives

    July 2022
    January 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Kugel Chronicles Home
    • The Blog
    • The Book - STOCKED
    • Recipes >
      • Firsts | Snacks | Appetizers
      • Cocktails
      • Condiments
      • Soups
      • Mains
      • Sides
      • Desserts
  • About Me
    • My Foody Fun Story
    • My Resume
  • Contact Me
  • Writer
    • Seasonality - What's Good Now?
    • Foody Fun CSA
    • The Three Sisters
    • Soup Tips
    • Thanksgiving
    • Fancy Food Show 2019
    • Beyond Impossible - Plant-Based Meat Substitutes
    • Passover Planning
  • Designer
    • Logos
    • Zahava Foods
    • Team Organization
  • Teacher
    • Kosher Basics for Culinary Professionals
    • Cooking Classes
  • Marketer
    • The Dillinger Room
    • Foody Fun Game Night
    • Tea Tasting Box
  • Cook
    • Menus
    • Photos
  • Foody Fun Home