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!

The Shabbos Menu

I haven't posted a Shabbos menu in a while, but I was particularly pleased with the outcome of this past weekend's nosh. The variety of cookbooks used, too, I think will boggle your mind. Are you ready?

We had guests over on Saturday, so most of my oomph was focused on Saturday, so we'll start there. The menu:

Challah

Mexican Salad from Quick and Kosher 

Broccoli and Raisin Salad from Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free

(Vegetarian) Kishke (that I couldn't eat)

Maple Chicken (Tuvia's favorite these days)

Polka-dot Squash Quinoa from No Whine with Dinner (recipe here)

Green Beans with Thyme and Almonds

Roasted Cauliflower

Mixed Sweet and White Potatoes (and I made my own homemade onion soup mix, sans the sugar)

Blueberry Crisp in Ramekins from the Eat Clean Diet

Chickpea Brownies (click for recipe)

If you click on each link, it will take you either to a website where I got the recipe, or to a Google Doc I've created for the recipe. If you try anything out, let me know what you think.

Now, as for the challah -- it wasn't my own, personal recipe. In fact, it was something I picked up in Dallas when I was visiting my good friends @susqhb and @ravtex for Shabbos before SXSW Interactive. We went out to dinner that motzei Shabbos and the restaurant Cafe Finos happened to be selling this interesting product called Simply Add Water. Essentially, it's a bread mix to which you just add water, you mix, you let rise, you go. BAM! You have challah. Now, I love making challah, but I hate the mess I always make, and although this product turned out dense (from the feel of it), my guests and Tuvia loved the taste. They said it was "dense in that good way." So, for what it's worth, it might be worth buying a few and keeping them as standbys when you want homemade, fresh challah but you don't have or want to make it yourself. And really, the fun of challah is the braiding anyway, so it's like you get to do that, without the mess. I just wish I had taken some photos ...

Stay tuned for a full review of The Meal Makeover Moms' "No Whine with Dinner" cookbook (I made their other quinoa recipe for dinner Friday), as well as a post on my trip to the Sabra factory in Richmond, VA, as part of the Sabra Tastemakers Panel!

Google Tarts + SNL Cookie Laughs

Yes, this can easily be made gluten-free. Pick up some GF graham crackers and get going!

Looking for a last minute recipe? Google, in all of its awesomeness, has given press to TV chef and author Ina Garten. Just go to Google.com and you'll get this:

Nom nom nom. That looks good. And the recipe? (Yes, I'm buying into the world-wide press for Ina Garten here.) All you have to do is click on the Google logo above (or on Google.com) and enjoy. There are six recipes available, enough for a full-on Turkey Day meal. So do the Turkey Trot into your kitchen and get busy!

And if you're just looking for a laugh Erev Thanksgiving -- and you're, perhaps, stressed out -- check out this hilarious audition tape from the one, the only, Cookie Monster for the SNL host spot! When did Sesame Street get so darn cool?! And if you missed it, check out my Shalom Sesame post from earlier this week. 

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!

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!

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.]

I took on Shabbat, and I OWNED it.

This past weekend, Tuvia and I headed down to the Poconos for an interesting and full weekend. We'd invited down Tuvia's friend and his fiance, as well as my friend Heather and her husband. As such, knowing that there'd be at least four people around for Saturday meals, I decided to seriously take on Shabbat in an effort to prepare myself for the impending weekend, as well as for the upcoming Shabboses when I'll be hosting folks in West Hartford. So what did I make?

For Friday Dinner: "Everything" Challah, Honey-Apple Chicken, Honey-Dijon Carrots, and a simple salad. (Meat)

For Saturday Lunch: More "Everything" Challah, Cholent, Corn Kugel, More Honey-Dijon Carrots, a simple salad, and Sabra Hummus. (Meat)

For Saturday Dinner: Baked Mac N'Cheese and Berry Crumble. (Dairy)

Now, most of these recipes were simply used, but did not define how and what I made. I've sort of realized that recipes are mostly meant simply to be followed, not completely to the letter. Of course, when it comes to desserts and breads, they usually have to be followed precisely. The Berry Crumble recipe came from Real Simple magazine and was a mixture of a few different recipes. The Baked Mac N'Cheese used some delicious White Cheddar Jalapeno cheese that melted gloriously for a delicious cheesy flavor. The Everything Challah is basically just your run-of-the-mill challah recipe topped with various things -- poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic salt, you  name it. Overall, I'd say that the food was outstanding, with the exception of the Honey-Apple Chicken. I wish I had photos, to be honest, but I don't!

At any rate, it was an amazing weekend with friends. We went to waterfalls, ate outside on a blanket, hiked around, and sat around chatting and catching up. And, most surprisingly, it wasn't so hard having non-Shomer folks around (some of our friends aren't Jewish, and some just aren't shomer), and explaining everything was fascinating. It was nice -- three couples out in the woods, hanging out and enjoying a beautiful summer day, probably one of the last. Stay tuned for some photos, because you know there's photos of the weekend.

I'm a cooking MACHINE.

On Thursday and Friday, I buckled down and baked and cooked my heart out. Tuvia and I were heading down to the Poconos for my last weekend before heading off to Middlebury, so I wanted to make Shabbos meals fit for celebration of not only Shabbos, but also my last weekend around. So what did I make?

For Shabbos dinner, I made Garlic Chicken with Orzo (sans Parm cheese as a topping, of course); some Parve Kishkah; a Strawberry, Sunflower Seed, Cucumber and Lettuce salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette; and of course the Challah.

For Shabbos day, I put together my first Cholent. It was a somewhat scary endeavor, especially since it seems like the ability to make a Cholent is like a ticket to Jewish success (I'm only half-joking, of course). I used this recipe as a base, but didn't make it exactly like this. There were some beans, onions, potatoes, barley and beef, and the base was the same, but as Cholent goes, it was mostly "a little of this, a little of that." We also had Challah, and I consumed some of my delicious salad.

For Seudat Slishit, I brought out the Kugel I'd made (not precisely like this recipe, but close), some challah, lettuce leftovers and whatever else was laying around.

I wish I had photos, but alas, Shabbos doesn't allow for photography. It was nice to spend my last pre-Shabbos cooking, doing something I won't get to do for seven weeks and probably for the next year when I head back to campus in August.

T-minus four days and counting.

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!

Food for Pesach!

Just a quick note. For my health-conscious friends, check out these EnLITEened Kosher l'Pesach recipes from Chabad.org.

I'm looking forward to the Salmon recipes AND the ice cream. Especially the Sephardic Spicy Fish in Red Sauce. Yumm!

Also: Chicago peeps ... I now have NO first-night seder. I got all verklempt and confused and thought I had one both nights, but ended up double-booking for the second night. Help!