Ode to Nosh!

It was one of those nights, those grilled cheese and tomato soup kind of nights. Taylor and I vowed to not eat out for a full two weeks, and this is day seven of the adventure. I've cooked something almost every night this past week and the rest of the time has been leftovers consumption. Over the week there's been a lot of soup, and a lot of recipes from Veganomicon. This week I'm hoping to make Lentil Bolognese, Eggplant-Squash Lasagna, Falafel Burgers and who knows what else. Stay tuned! But for now? I give you, my nosh.

First, Classic Tomato Soup with a grilled cheese. What kind of grilled cheese?

Well, if you must know it was a sandwich made with King Arthur Flour Bread Mix for the bread, and I added Trader Joe's Apricot Spread, Fresh Baby Spinach, and Natural & Kosher Muenster Cheese! (Yay for a CostCo visit with @melschol today!)

Overall? Delicious. I have been trying out a lot of different bread mixes in place of challah, inspired by Rebbetzin Ketriellah of Boulder Aish haKodesh (buy a gluten-free bread mix, remove 1/4 or 1/3 cup of the mix and replace it with gluten-free oat flour, and you have ha'motzi), and this is yet another of those that I tried. The one thing I've discovered is that it's hard to find a good bread that doesn't absorb the liquid substance, in this case the Vegan Buttery Spread I used. So it was a little soggy, and I should have put cheese on both sides so that the whole thing stuck together, but, you know when I last made a grilled cheese? Months, folks. Maybe even a good year or so.

I Cooked: Enchiladas!

I cooked! I have to say that I'm pretty proud that over the past month, I've made as many meals as I did when I was living on my own back in Chicago and fell in love with cooking. Veggies and spices and kitchen messes oh my! Taylor is quite the health-nut veggie like me, so it makes meal-planning and eating a lot more exciting knowing that I can finally share my food with someone!

Tonight was Creamy Spinach Enchiladas with a Red Cabbage Salad. I revamped the original recipe, which was dairy, to make it vegan (parve) and, luckily, it's gluten-free if you buy the right kind of corn tortillas!

Ingredients
10 corn tortillas, warmed (the recipe called for eight, but I had filling for 10)
10 oz. frozen, chopped spinach thawed and drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1.5 cups Daiya vegan cheddar cheese (original recipe was regular cheddar)
1 cup So Delicious Original Coconut Creamer (original recipe was regular heavy cream)
2 cans green chiles
salt
pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. In a large bowl, mix together the thawed spinach, corn, one can green chiles, and 1 cup of the Daiya cheese. 
3. In a small bowl, mix together the creamer, one can green chiles, and 1/4 tsp of each salt and pepper. 
4. Heat up the tortillas. 
5. Place about 1/3 cup mixture in each tortilla and roll. Place seam-side down into a shallow baking pan. 
6. Pour the creamer mixture over the top of the enchiladas and top the entire dish with remaining 1/2 cup of Daiya cheese. 
7. Cover with foil and bake for 10-15 minutes until sauce is bubbly. Remove foil and cook another 5-10 minutes. (Daiya cheese won't brown, but regular cheese will.)
8. Enjoy!

For the salad, take a large red cabbage and quarter it. You'll need about 4 cups of thinly sliced red cabbage, which is about 1/4 of a large cabbage, and two thinly sliced scallions. Throw the cabbage and scallions into a bowl with 2 Tbls olive oil, 2 Tbls fresh lime juice, and 1/4 cup papitas (I just used regular sunflower seeds). Mix up with a bit of salt and pepper, and eat!

I'm whipping up a simple dessert right now: Blueberry Crisp Ramekins. Some blueberries, sucanet, gluten-free flour, topped with Udi's Gluten-Free Original Granola. Thatsit. Bam.

Edit: It's done!

Recipe: Indian-Spiced Roasted Squash Soup

I'm planning some heavy posts this week, so I thought I'd start things out simple and light with a recipe for some delicious soup I just whipped up with pleasure and fresh veggies. If things go right, I'll be eating lots of veggies and yummy things like quinoa all week. Wish me luck to stick to it!

Indian-Spiced Roasted Squash Soup
Adapted from November 2011 Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients
1 medium chopped yellow onion
8 ounces carrots (that's about three normal-sized carrots)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium acorn squash, quartered
olive oil
black pepper
2 cups water
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (I winged it with cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg)
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
14 ounces veggie stock
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 container plain yogurt (Greek is best, but I used Green Valley Lactose Free Yogurt)
6 Tbls honey

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 500 F.
2. Arrange the veggies (onion, carrot, squash) on a jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with pepper. Toss. Roast at 500 F for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender, turning once. Cool for 10 minutes. Peel acorn squash; discard skin.
3. Combine vegetables, water, veggie stock, curry powder, garam masala, and red pepper into a pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and stir in salt. Remove the pot from the stove and puree with an immersion blender.
4. Combine yogurt and honey, stirring well. Swirl atop the soup!
5. Voila! Enjoy!

Fall Food: Sweet and Savory

Because it's Fall, and because I love to cook (who would have thought there'd be a day), I'm going to sporadically share some of my favorite recipes with y'all. Here's the first, a Pear-Butternut Squash Soup, which came out a little sweet, a little savory. The yogurt and nutmeg give it that perfect creamy sweet sensation of fall. (Which, might I add, is super because despite it being fall, it snowed here in Denver today, so it's nice to have a little bit of autumn in my bowl!)

Ingredients
2 firm pears (I used a Bosc and Green Anjou), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small butternut squash, peeled, gutted, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Yogurt and nutmeg for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Put pears and butternut squash into a roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes until the squash becomes slightly soft and starts to brown.
2. Meanwhile, in a good-sized saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat and cook the onions until slightly translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Throw on some salt and pepper, and then add the broth and pear-squash mix. 
3. Simmer the goodness for about 15 minutes, then blend with an immersion blender.
4. Top with some plain yogurt (I used Green Valley's Plain Lactose-Free Yogurt) and swirl for looks, then sprinkle on some nutmeg and devour!

Pairings
Since I'm gluten-free, the only thing I can really imagine pairing with this is a good Hard Cider, like Woodchuck, which is both kosher and naturally gluten free!

Recipe adapted from Clean Eating's newest magazine issue!

What I Fed My Mystery Guests

The bake.

For the second time since we've been in the Teaneck community, we were privy to take part in Mystery Shabbat. It sounds a lot more mysterious and spooky than it really is, and it is simply a way for the greater community I live in to get to know one another. People sign up as hosts or guests, the sisterhood matches people, and you find out at shul who you're eating by. The hosts find out who is eating with them the moment they, well, show up at the door. It's an up-to-the-last-minute surprise, and it allows people not to decline or prepare for certain guests (aside from dietary restrictions).

We had two couples and a single over for Shabbat lunch, with a total of three kids (one child, one toddler, and one baby). The only restrictions? A dislike of gefilte fish (bummer, but resolved) and dressing on the side. And, of course, my gluten restrictions. Here was the menu I chose, and the crowd was mighty pleased. The item that got gone the quickest? The Crapple, the recipe of which I got from @wifeofmottel, I simply de-glutenized for my noshing pleasure. Dig in!

Crapple!

Homemade Challah yes, I make it and don't eat it

Salad with cashews and craisins with a Raspberry Vinaigrette

Gefilte fish baked with honey and cinnamon

Matbucha, chummus, and chickpea salad

Crapple an oat and flour crust, cranberries and pineapple, with an oat topping

Roasted Potatoes a simple blend of potatoes with rosemary and garlic, roasted

Butternut Squash Cranberry Bake my favorite standby

Tarragon Corn the easiest thing to make, even mixing tarragon into cooked corn

Sweet & Spicy Chicken a huge crowd pleaser

BBQ Turkey Meatballs crumb-less meatballs bound with minced onion and egg in store-bought sauce

Chicken

Dessert was provided at the community oneg, which was part of the ending of the Mystery Shabbat festivities, providing a way for everyone to get together with old friends and new friends alike. Unfortunately, no gluten-free goods for me outside of fruit. Next time? I'm going to make some Coffee Cake or Brownies or my beloved Chocolate Mousse Torte!

Books Out My Ears!

I recently posted my review of "Kosher Nation," which comes out in hardcover tomorrow! What I didn't mention was the stack of books materializing on my doorstep for review. I'm elated, of course, because I love books and I love supporting authors of every time of literature -- be it a cookbook or a popular fiction reprint. So what can you look forward to here in the coming weeks ... er ... months, probably. I've got a lot to read and there are no more three-day chagim coming up for me to use and abuse for reading purposes.

After "Kosher Nation" arrived, I received a package from Other Press with "The Brothers Ashkenazi," the famed book by I.J. Singer. The book comes out in paperback on October 19, 2010, and the cover is incredibly telling. I read about 10 pages a few days ago, and it has a very good feel to it so far. The book, written originally in Yiddish in 1936, takes place in Lodz and tells of the changes that came after the 1905 revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and ends just after World War I. Color me stoked to sit down with this. I might, however, hold this until my Israel trip at the end of November (plenty of time on a plane to read, you know).

The next book to arrive also was from Other Press. The book, "The Witness House" is really up my alley, a it's a work of nonfiction (I was surprised to find that out, actually) and tells the story of Nazis and Holocaust survivors sharing a villa during the Nuremburg Trials. I know, you're thinking: Seriously? Really? And the answer is yes. I'm so excited to read Christiane Kohl's account of this microcosm of the trial scene in a vila on the outskirts of town. This book also comes out tomorrow in paperback.

And then? There are the cookbooks. Yes, delicious, awesome, cookbooks. Okay, for now there's just one, but I'm planning on receiving another as well. I received Susie Fishbein's newest addition to her Kosher by Design collection: "Kosher by Design Teens and 20-Somethings." You'll have to wait for a full review from me until October 27, when the book comes out officially, but if you stay on top of things, you'll be able to enter a contest here on the blog for your very own copy of the book -- and they ship anywhere, so it isn't just a U.S.-only contest! If you want to enter as much as possible, check out what other blogs will be posting reviews of Susie's newest cookbook (which, by the way, as a teaser, includes a recipe for a Chickie's-like sandwich in homage to the popular Teaneck establishment) over on http://kosherbydesignblog.com. The contest for the book here on the blog will be very unique, so stay tuned!

The other cookbook? The newest installment in Jamie Geller's Quick & Kosher series. I'm still waiting, but I should receive this soon and offer you some delicious goodies in the form of a review. The new edition is "Quick & Kosher: Meals in Minutes" and comes out on November 1, 2010.

And, while you're on the reading kick, check out the New York Times' Magazine's "Shared Plates: Keeping it Kosher," which discusses the ups and downs of Crown Heights' Basil restaurant. The restaurant has an interesting backstory and the staff there is also interesting to read about. Will it survive? As a kosher restaurant? Let me know what you think.

If this doesn't excite you about the books coming out these days, then I don't know what will. Let me know if you pick any of these reads up and what you think. Oh, and get your ovens ready ... the Kosher by Design giveaway will require a little kitchen savvy.

Loving and Learning to Cook.

Aarti is my newest inspiration. She's cute as a button, seriously. 

I've mentioned it time and again before: I left my parents' house with little to no cooking skills. My mom likes to joke that I could burn water, and she's right. My first big cooking adventure began Passover of 2008, when I decided that I needed to cook an abundance of Passover goodies for myself, because the Lean Cuisines I'd been living on (that helped me to lose 25 pounds back then) were neither kosher nor Passover friendly. The result? It was delicious and awesome and I blogged about it once upon a time here (that, by the way, was the first time EVER that I'd cooked fish). 

Now? Cooking is something that I love. Baking, even more so. I've got an abundance of cookbooks -- kosher and not -- as well as clippings from dozens of magazines like Cooking Light and Real Simple, whose recipes I try to use anew every week for Shabbat and our regular meals. This week, I went with an Indian-inspired menu, in honor of Aarti Sequiera, the freshest winner of Food Network's "Next Food Network Star." Aarti's background stretches from the media to food to her faith (she's a devout Christian), and I get her passion for what she does. And, well, I love Indian food! So here is my menu, inspired by Aarti, and I hope y'all will tune in to her Aarti Party on Food Network to get some Indian inspiration, too!

Homemade Challah 

(I realized using @hsabomilner's squish and squish method helped the challah keep its body!)

Marrakesh Carrot Salad (a la Kosher by Design ... light, I think)

Sweet Potato Salad (ditto on that ... sweet potatoes, maple syrup, cilantro, perfection!)

Curried Cauliflower Soup (again, same series, different book)

Curry Chicken (KbD, again)

BBQ'd Meatballs

Basmati Rice (I love my rice maker.)

Roasted Indian-Spiced Potatoes (winged this one)

Masala Vegetables (cauliflower, peas, potatoes, with a masala simmer sauce!)

Chocolate Creme de Pots (Kosher by Design strikes again! Plus, gluten-free "oreos" were used.)

Watermelon (nom nom nom)

What's your favorite easy-to-throw-together Indian or Indian-inspired dish? Next time, I think I'll shoot for a rice pudding or something of that sort to top off the meal.

B'tayavon!

A Cupcake in Your Eye!

Just finished my Shabbat cooking ... the highlight? Gluten-free cupcakes with some delicious Pillsbury frosting (I'm lazy). Here's Tuvia, er, a cupcake.

The rest of the menu? Carrot Kugel with a GF Chex topping, Corn Kugel, Acorn Squash a la Fall, Roasted Potato Wedges ... and ... what else? Oh right. A Chicken, Mushroom, Onion and Rice thing I threw together in a Dutch Oven. Overall, I'm crazy stoked. If they work well, and you're interested, recipes will fly at you!

Od pa'am, Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbos, Here I Come!

Well, let's just say I'm stoked that it's nearly Shabbos, and that Shabbos is starting earlier (if even just a few minutes). This day has me knackered. (In the, geepers I'm exhausted kind of way.)

I spent my entire day cooking, cleaning, and preparing for our impending guests, the illustrious @susqhb and @ravtex, who are heading off to Texas in a few weeks. We're glad to host them, even if it means we won't be at the home of @hsabomilner (feel better, toots!). The place looks pretty darn good, I think, and there are a boatload of photos up on Facebook if you're interested.

The menu, of course, is what excites me. I dabbled a bit online, a lot with Susie Fishbein's "Kosher by Design" series, and a little in my own stash of recipes. Here's what the Saturday menu looks like.

(Homemade) Challah

(Frozen) Gluten-Free Heaven Mill Challah rolls (for me!)

Garlic Salad (Susie Fishbein; think kirby cucumbers, mushrooms, garlic dressing, etc.)

Gefilte Fish (to be served on my hand-made gefilte fish plate!)

Thai Quinoa (Susie Fishbein a la "Short on Time")

Teriyaki Rounds (Ditto, except in "Lightens Up") + Butternut Squash Casserole (This goes to Paula Deen)

Slow Roasted Tomatoes (Fishbein in the original "Kosher by Design")

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes with Shallots (Also in "Kosher by Design" the original)
Greek Garlic Chicken (Can't remember which cookbook, but it was K by D)

For dessert, of course, I have the delicious Chocolate Mousse Torte with some fresh strawberries!

I also put together some of Our Best Bites' Quick and Easy Creamy Fruit Freeze, which I look forward to having tomorrow night as a snacky snack.

Yes, it's a delicious bounty of food. Yes, there's just going to be four of us. But, you know, we're people who like food and it's all a lot of seriously fresh food (I love the local Farmers Market store), which is good for most of us (not Evan, who won't eat most of the vegetables anyway).

So Shabbat Shalom, and I'll catch you all on the motzei!

The Food Prophetess: Susie Fishbein

Do you worship at the church of Susie Fishbein? Have you known the food prowess and skill of her gloriousness, Susie Fishbein?

If not, boy oh boy, you can't move to Teaneck, New Jersey. I have yet to go to a home that doesn't worship at the church of Mrs. Fishbein, and I drank the Kool-Aid. I took the plunge. I bought the cookbooks, I bought the ingredients, I made the recipes (well, three of them anyway), and I'm pleased. I feel, well, the way someone probably does when they've been food-saved.

I typically get my recipes online. I think about what I want to make, and I find something online that resembles my cravings, schlep my laptop into the kitchen (which, as it turns out, isn't such a good idea), and cook. Now, I've got three versions of the "Kosher by Design" series: Lightens Up, Short on Time, and the original version. I flipped through them really quickly last Shabbos and marked dozens of recipes I'm jonesing to make, and this week I opted to rock three of them for our Saturday lunch alone.

1) A turkey, hoison-glazed thing that I had to substitute the hoison because every version I found was full of wheat;

2) Some jazzed-up vegetables with a red wine vinegar-drizzled sauce;

3) Sweet and Spicy potatoes, which I'd never make for normal guests because it's crazy spicy!

Overall, I'm very pleased. Susie knows what she's doing, and obviously the lovely residents of these apartments know what's going on, too. I'm glad I drank the Kool-Aid. Now, if Susie could just put out a yummy Gluten Free version of her series ... kosher cooks everywhere would be more easy-going about having Gluten Free consumers at their Shabbos tables, and Gluten Free guests would feel more comfortable attending (I'd be happy to lend my Kosher by Design: Gluten Free out to anyone and everyone!).

I Can't Believe I Used to Hate Cooking!

Although I have blogs wholly devoted to gluten-free and kosher living (the recipe blog and the review blog), I like to share my adventures in cooking on Just Call Me Chaviva because, well, food is what Jews do. Sure, food is the livelihood of all peoples, but there's something special about the flare of Jewish cooking and Shabbat preparation that is incomparable in other cultures.

This week, I decided to do a deliciously spicy Indian menu for Friday night and a light, fish-focused meal for Saturday lunch with leftovers on the menu for seudat shlishi. Tuvia and I are in the Poconos for Shabbat and the weekend, with him heading off to his new job in Newark on Monday and me staying here trying to stay sane, get organized, and get some work done. I'm also going to share with you my plans for Father's Day Brunch tomorrow with the in-laws. So let's get to it.

Friday Night

Challah

Dahl (a delicious lentil soup, it was amazing)

Chicken Tikka (I'd probably do this next time sans yogurt, which, by the way, was totally parve)

Saffron Rice (okay, this was store-bought and easily made on the stovetop)

Aloo Phujia (this was crazy spicy, but so delicious!)

Chickpea/Tomato concoction that I sort of rocked on the fly

(That is: chickpeas, olive oil, onions, garlic, tomato paste, salt & pepper)

Gluten-Free Brownies (store-bought, and they were so gooey in the middle!)

Do you ever do "ethnic" food night? I mean, beyond doing the Israeli thing with falafel and hummus. Do you get your Chinese or Greek on? How do you work your menus? Are you successful with guests, or do they prefer the usual suspects?

Saturday Lunch

Challah

Steamed Salmon

Lemon Rice

Roasted Potatoes (the usual, leftover but I knew Tuvia would eat them!)

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole (sans the nuts, oops; probably the "heaviest" item in the meal)

Corn

Gluten-Free Vanilla Rugelach, a la Heaven Mills! (perfect right out of the freezer)

I'm a sucker for cooking lots of food ... someday I'll be a master of hosting 10+ people at my home every week. That is, of course, until I have kids and my head explodes from being overworked. Luckily, this fall I have class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with an early-morning class Thursday, and that's it. I'll have Thursday and Friday to get my mad cooking skills on. I intend on using the rest of my time here in the Poconos to try out a boatload of recipes I have up over on Gloriously Gluten Free & Kosher, not to mention some other recipes (for crackers, go figure) that I haven't posted up yet. Until then, here's what I have going for brunch tomorrow for my father-in-law.

Father's Day Brunch

Some delicious OJ, Coffee, and Tea

Gluten-Free Donuts (SO GOOD! I'll have the recipe up later on my other blog)

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

Fresh Sliced Watermelon and Strawberries

Scrambled Eggs and Oven-Baked Eggs in Tomato Cups

Home Fries

Bagels (sadly, not GF) with cream cheese and/or butter

Mad props to the author of "You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free!" Roben Ryberg. Seriously, she's become my new go-to author when it comes to cooking. Her recipes are absolutely amazing, simple, and will be *excellent* come Passover (she offers her recipes in corn-based, potato-based, and oat-based options!). 

Shavua tov, friends, and happy noshing!

Shabbat Shalom a la Mousse!

Sometimes, I'm amazed at how few ingredients can be used to make something absolutely delicious and amazing. I put this together for a little going away shindig over Shabbos, and I have to say that the mousse is ... wow. So good. I'm proud of myself -- it's my first mousse! Not sure what the whole Chocolate Mousse Torte tastes like, but it sure looks good :)

[Note: This is perfect for those who are gluten free, and it also can be used for Passover! It's a perfect summer treat, too.]

The Liberated Me.

Liberating: Driving in my little Yaris (now deemed the Hot Temple Time Machine a.k.a. HTTM a.k.a. Carmine) with music blaring, singing at the top of my lungs. I. Am. Free.

Liberating: Signing up for a gym membership and actually going. Riding a bike and pumping my heart rate  while reading a new book. Sweating. Getting healthy.

Liberating: Choosing to go Gluten Free on my own accord, despite a failed blood test, because I have averse reactions to wheat/gluten. Feeling better, already. No stomach ache. Just me and natural goodies. Making good with my body.

Frustrating: Figuring out how to be kosher, vegetarian, and gluten free. Mad props to The Kosher Cupcake for recipes right up my alley. There's hope for me yet. I just need to figure out how to make some yummy kosher, gluten free challot (since they serve as mezonot and will allow me to make ha'motzi!), or maybe I'll just order some from Heaven Mills. YUMtimes. There's also some interesting stuff up on Gluten Free Mama, including a shopping guide. FTW!

Liberating: Emailing in my final paper for my M.A. in Judaic Studies at the University of Connecticut. Done and done.

Liberating: The consideration that I might post some of my poetry up here. Stay tuned.

Pesach Cookin', Chavi Style!

I cooked my heart out today. It's a low-key last two days of chag, and with my continued stomach ache, I'm probably going to spend most of the holiday sleeping, drinking some iced tea, and sleeping some more. Most of these items I threw together based on the recipes linked to them. However, 9 times out of 10, I completely didn't even follow the recipe; I tend to be "inspired" by a recipe but rarely follow them (unless I'm baking, that is). This is just a free-for-all of what I put together. What will be served when is yet to be determined! (Oh, and of course I don't list ALL the spices ... salt and pepper always are assumed.)

Main Dishes
Russian Onion Chicken (Russian Dressing, Onion Soup Mix, Honey, Chicken)
Honey-Mustard Breaded Chicken (Honey Mustard, Honey, Matzo Meal, Chicken)
Sweet & Sour Meatballs in Crockpot (Ground Turkey, Matzo Meal, Garlic, Sweet & Sour Marinade)
Sephardic Spicy Fish in Red Sauce AND Garlic Tilapia (still working on this one)

Side Dishes
Boxed Couscous (nothing special here, I don't even think it's real couscous, but it's kosher l'pesach)
Onion Kugel (Box of macaroni noodles, onions, garlic, eggs)
Apricot-Apple Kugel (Farfel, apple sauce, dried apricots, eggs, cinnamon, sugar) -- good cold!
Roasted Red Potatoes (Paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, red potatoes)
Roasted Honeyed Potatoes (Honey, honey mustard, garlic, olive oil, yukon gold potatoes)

And, of course, there will be matzo rolls, salad, gefilte, and maybe some canned soup. For Shabbat I made the Apricot-Apple Kugel (pictured) as well as a Pesach version of cholent (that didn't turn out so well), french fries (for Friday night) and hamburgers.

So that's that. If you really want to know precise measurements, I can try to help you eye-ball it :)

OH! And my favorite thing, I totally forgot I made it (and it's all good with JUST egg beaters egg whites, btw): Lemon Ice Cream. It's parve, it's creamy. It's amazing!

A Pasta-licious Shabbos Menu

My gratin didn't looks this scrumptious, but it came really close!

Another cooked-up Shabbat, and another menu to present to my readers. I like to venture outside the traditional box and mix up some milchig (dairy) treats, so this week I went the route of the cow! Its byproduct, that is.

Friday Dinner

Challah (store-bought, come on people, Pesach is coming!)

Boxed Butternut Squash Soup (I do have a life, after all)

Brown-Sugar Roasted Salmon with Maple-Mustard-Dill Sauce

Cajun Steak Frites

Cinnamon Streusel Cake n' Cup kit (an impulse by at Burlington Coat Factory, of all places)

Saturday Lunch

Challah (store-bought, FTW!)

Vegetable Pasta with OurBestBites.com's Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Vegetable Pasta with Trader Joe's Pasta Sauce

Sweet Potato and Butternut Gratin (Note: I obviously didn't include the pancetta!)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

The sauce with the fish was to die for. I could seriously eat that sauce ... I mean wow. It really blended well with the sweetness of the fish, too. I used Cary's Sugar-Free Syrup to help keep the badness down, too.

I was a little disappointed in the gratin, but it was my first time making something as such. I think next time I'd probably leave out one of the three main ingredients and settle for just plain potato + squash or plain potato + sweet potato. There's just too much going on in this dish!

The Guiltless Alfredo sauce, however, was a huge hit. Such a huge hit that even I, who absolutely loathes white sauces, loved it. There's some kind of special kick to it, and the fact that it's so easy and not horrible for you helped, I think. As a note, I did substitute the milk by using SKIM milk, and it turned out fine.

For both pasta dishes, I made the noodles, poured the sauce over it, put some mozzarella on top, and baked it for probably 10 minutes to get the sauces to thicken up for reheating on Shabbat purposes. They both came out amazing! The nice thing about using "vegetable" pasta is it gets Tuvia to eat his vegetables without shoving them down his throat!

Until next time ...

Shabbos Menu a la Chaviva, Part Deux

I was tasked with making Shabbos lunch this weekend. Me being a perfectionist/worry wart, I have no idea what the friends we're eating with will think. I can only hope that it'll be delicious. It quickly turned into a big, fat Asian Shabbos meal, but I'm okay with that. Who doesn't dig some yummy Asian goods!? Here's the menu:

Pull-apart Challah

Carrot Muffins

Asian Noodles

General Tso Meatballs

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the Asian Noodles, I did this: Cooked spaghetti, threw in some soy, some honey, some sesame seeds, and some garlic. BAM! Asian Noodles. For the meatballs, I used a basic baked meatball recipe with some Asian glazes/sauces to kick them up. I think I've posted the Carrot Muffins recipe before, but it's pretty simple (baby food carrots, honey, flour, vanilla, oil, and a few dashes of salt). And, of course, in the desire to clean out the cupboard pre-Pesach, the Chocolate Cake is Duncan Hines (parve) and the Cream Cheese Frosting is the yummy parve in-a-can stuff!

I find making lunch more difficult because you really have to be careful about liquids in your dishes. On Friday night, you can bake up to the point that you're food is hot right before Shabbos and you're set. But when you're reheating foods, the liquid thing can be a serious issue. So I'm a little distressed and worried I'm going to screw up, but thank G-d for wonderful friends who will tell me if I did something wrong. I just like being able to finally cook for friends -- I LOVE TO COOK. I used to hate it, and now I love it.

I'm such a Yiddishe Mama! Shabbat Shalom!

Note: If you're looking for posts with more substance, stay tuned. I'm probably going to blog about some of the research I'm doing, and as of Sunday I'll be in Austin for SXSW, so there will be oodles of good on-location posts!

Chavi Was Never a Cook.

I have never been a cook. My mother didn't really teach me to cook, so everything I picked up I picked up when I was forced to cook when I ended up in Washington D.C. Before that I relied on fast food like Subway and Wendy's and that's probably how I managed to gain so much weight my senior year of college. When I moved to D.C. I learned to cook, but mostly vegetarian. It burgeoned even more when I was living in Chicago and my ability really took off around Pesach in 2008 when I mastered the art of melting sugar and cooking fish.

This weekend, the friends I often stay with (I'm not really staying with the family I used to stay with anymore because as the weather gets colder, my knees become mush faster; Tuvia still is staying with them however) are out of town, so they're letting me stay at their place alone. Tuvia thought it'd be a good idea to host people there if they'd let us, so I agreed, telling Tuvia that it was his job to invite people and my job to cook. Well, we're expecting about SEVEN to EIGHT people altogether tonight (including us). So I freaked out and made about five million things to eat. I even found a recipe for parve pumpkin pie, but that went horribly, horribly wrong and I had to chuck it. But here's the menu for dinner tonight. Note: All dairy ingredients were adjusted to protect the innocent (that is, to make them parve).

Challah (it rose too much, browned to quick on the bottom, and looks a little weird; sigh)

Butternut Squash Soup with Bagel Chips

Salad with candied walnuts and pears, with a simple vinaigrette

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole (which, by the way, looks amazing)

Green beans

Corn Kugel (now a standby/staple)

Meatballs with Orzo (some with pasta sauce, some without)

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Mixed Fruit

I think that's everything. I feel like there was more (well, there was the pumpkin pie). This is honestly the first time I've cooked food for anyone in the community. These are people who have cooked for me multiple times, and their food is outstanding. I'm anxious as hell. I was particularly anal because of bishul akum -- that is, Tuvia had to turn on all the burners for me since I'm not halakicly Jewish, I couldn't do the full cooking by myself for other Jews. I wanted to make everything perfect, making sure I didn't treyf anything up. Thus, the kitchen was a mess of things and I washed the parve bowls and cooking stuff probably seven times in the past day out of reuse. Either way, I am praying that it should be a successful meal. If anything, the soup and the casserole will be a big hit. I think they're outstandingly amazing.

Wish me luck!

Chavi's Cooking -- Look Out!

Winter is readily upon us here in Connecticut. It's a lovely 37 degrees outside at 9:30 a.m., and I couldn't be happier. I get to wear long jean skirts and sweaters. It also means that in no time I'll be needing to make some of my mom's delicious potato soup!

However, for now, I'm just preparing for this Shabbos. Tuvia and I have decided to spend Shabbos not in the community, mostly because our hosts are asking for a break and we need a serious break, too. The chagim wore us out and some serious relaxation time with Bananagrams and Long Naps is in order. So what's the meal looking like?

Friday Dinner
Klops -- Eastern European Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs (a favorite from Pesach 2008)
Sweet Potato Hash (A recipe borrowed from a friend from Pesach 2008)
Potato and Garlic Soup (Boxed, kosher parve! Yay!)
Gefilte
Apple Crisp (From Weight Watchers magazine)
Homemade Challah

Saturday Lunch
Chicken Cholent
Homemade Challah
Um ... not sure what else to serve here. Maybe a kugel?

Saturday Dinner
Tomato and Pepper Lasagna (recipe from WW; for me, because I like tomato sauce)
Stuffed Pizza Rolls (mostly for Tuvia, but I'm going to try one -- sans meat!)
Maybe some Orzo dish on the fly.
Either Cinnamon Crumb Cake or Lava Cake

You know there will be photos. OH YES. There will be photos. Stay tuned!

Jewish Food (for thought)

I just realized -- while checking out a blog posted over on Ilana-Davita's blog (yes, it's that vicious J-blogging cycle of click here, click there, click over there, and bam suddenly you're reading a blog by a Jewish guy named Sven who fancies cholent and lives in Zimbabwe) -- that I haven't spent much time blogging about Jewish food blogs. Food, the lifeblood of our (and all) people, is a big blogging topic in the J-blogosphere, it's true. However, I haven't managed to really throw much out there in the way of promotion for other bloggers (not that they need it, but I like to spread the love). So I present to you, a series of Jewish food blogs of which you should most definitely devote yourself. Sometime in the not-so-distant future I full intend on blogging about my favorite Jewish/kosher cookbooks, as well, since I've basically checked out every last one my library has over the past few months! But let us begin ...

Rebecca Joseph, a Conservative rabbi, has a really beautiful (aesthetically and otherwise) blog called The Parve Baker, which I found on I-D's blog just today. The rabbi says, " ... I understand baking as both a religious obligation and a cultural practice shaped by my upbringing, education and community. The recipes and information here reflect what I do in my own kitchen, but you don’t have to keep kosher or be Jewish to enjoy them." The great thing about this blog is that it's a fresh one; from what I can tell, the blog has only been around since February!

Heeb'n'vegan actually very recently posted about the creation of this "niche" in the J-blogosphere for the foodies. You can read the post here. HnV posts several vegan/veggie blogs in that post, as well.

Kosher Vegan Lasagna features an ark-load of recipes worth your viewing time, but as far as I can tell it hasn't been updated since last month. The old blog for KVL can be viewed here. At any rate, I can think of at least one person I know who would be stoked to see this Kosher Crockpot Herbed Chicken recipe!

Probably one of the best Jewish/kosher cooking sites I've come across is the Kosher Hostess. If you go into the recipes section, the collection is broken down by course and the site is really well organized otherwise -- I'm all about the aesthetic pleasure!

Of course there's the Kosher Blog, touting "We're Not Just Bagels Anymore." And if you're in the mood, you can take on Cooking with Yiddishe Mama.

The thing of it is, though, in the past hour that I've spent perusing all the Kosher/Jewish food blogs out there ... is I've definitely found that a lot of the blogs that *are* out there are idle or haven't been tapped in months. I know how hard it is to keep up a blog actively when you're not getting paid and there are all of life's other dramas to handle, but it's really too bad! Not that these sites don't have anything to offer from their archives, but it would be nice to see updated content!

To top off this Kosher/Jewish blog mini-spiel, I give you a few words from Rabbi Morris Allen's blog, the director of Hekhsher Tzedek*:

We need to be in a world where we can say that keeping kosher is the way in which I demonstrate not only a concern for my relationship to God and Torah but the Jewish concern for our relationship to the world in which we live. That's what I really want to get across to people.

*Hekhsher Tzedek is a shared effort between the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism to display a seal on already designated kosher foods that reflects production benchmarks consistent with Jewish ethical standards, including how companies treat their employees.

A Recipe Interlude

I know I've been doing lots of cooking stuff earlier, but I figure it's a good mix of things, yes? I recently gave a budding blogger the advice that the way to succeed is to pick a topic you're passionate about, to focus on it, and to blog about that topic at least 92 percent of the time. So this is some of my 8 percent of the "other."

I just made this make-ahead meal that I found in the most recent Real Simple magazine. I packaged everything up on Sunday night in individual freezer bags, and this is extremely convenient for someone like me who lives alone and who's trying to focus on portion control. It limits how much you eat, and keeps it within the portion size of the recipe! The recipe? Rosemary Chicken with Zucchini. I'll note, though, that I left out the zucchini because I'm not a fan. I suppose I could have substituted another green veggie, but I had a salad, so it's all good. Anyhow, it was quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. It was my first time buying fresh rosemary, and I have to say the fresh spices definitely make a huge difference. Anyhow, check out the recipe and enjoy!

Note: This is a meat dish, and I think the only way dairy could come into play is if the mustard somehow ends up with dairy in it, so if you're doing kosher, be sure to look out!