CATEGORY: Recipes
MINI ROASTED TOMATO & SPINACH QUICHE:
I enjoy cereal and oatmeal for breakfast but sometimes the usual morning grub gets boring. I don’t always have time to prepare an omelet and I don’t like grabbing breakfast bars on the go. I find that the bars are never as satisfying as a home-cooked meal and always leave me hungry by 11:00 am. This recipe is great since it’s easy and can be prepared in advance. You freeze it and simply reheat it on your way out the door.
Ingredients:
4 eggs
8 egg whites
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 cups chopped spinach, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup low fat shredded cheese, cheddar or mozzarella
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sauté onions until golden. Add garlic and spinach and cook on low flame until heated through. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the spinach mixture to the bowl and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle in the cheese and mix together. Spray two 6 cup capacity cupcake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the muffin pans. Cook for about 20 – 25 minutes or until slightly brown on top.
~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar
CATEGORIES: English Food Choices Kosher Recipes Self made
RED PEPPER & FETA CHEESE OMELET:
When I am not running late, this is the dish with which I like to start off my day. There is nothing as satisfying as a light and fluffy omelet filled with sweet red pepper and salty feta cheese. I am obsessed with cilantro and the flavor works wonderfully with the pepper and cheese. Serve the omelet with sliced avocado or create the ultimate breakfast burrito by serving it in a wrap with some salsa and guacamole.
Ingredients:
1 egg
2 egg whites
A small bunch of cilantro
1 red pepper, diced
2 tablespoons crumbled Feta cheese
Directions:
Whisk the eggs in a bowl, then pour them in a frying pan. Once the eggs have become slightly firm, add the feta cheese, cilantro, and red pepper going down one side. Once the eggs are firm, flip over in half, forming a half moon. Allow it to cook for an additional minute or so before removing from flame. As mentioned above, I often serve this in wraps with salsa and sliced avocado and it’s fantastically simple and flavorful!
~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar
CATEGORIES: English Food Choices Kosher Recipes
{PASSOVER BROWNIES} THE ULTIMATE CHEESECAKE BROWNIE:
My mom’s got the best brownies on the block. It’s one of the reasons I don’t dread Pesach, I know there will be something delicious to nosh on. My sister Rivky has taken my holiday favorite and created something even more decadent with it. This cheesecake brownie is so amazing, you will want to make it all year round!
Ingredients for Brownie Batter:
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of potato starch
1/2 cup of cocoa (use Hershey’s cocoa for the best taste!)
Ingredients for Cheesecake Batter:
3 8oz. containers of whipped cream cheese
1 cup of sugar
4 eggs
1 8oz. container of sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
Prepare the brownie batter and pour into a 9×13 pan. Then combine the cheesecake ingredients in a mixing bowl and layer on top of the brownie batter. Bake uncovered on 350′ for about an hour. When you remove the pan from the oven the cheesecake will not be completely firm but will harden outside the oven. (These are also great served as cupcakes. Bake them in cupcake pans on 350′ for 15-20 minutes.)
~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar
CATEGORIES: English Food Choices Kosher Recipes Self made
{PASSOVER SCHNITZEL} CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN:
It’s quick and tasty recipes like this that get me in the kitchen! This recipe is easy, yet super flavorful. If you are looking for the perfect crunchy fried chicken, then you have found it right here.
Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 eggs
Potato Starch
Salt, pepper & paprika to season with
Directions:
Beat the eggs in a bowl. Put potato starch in a large shallow dish to dip the chicken in. Season the potato starch with spices. Bread the chicken in the potato starch, then dip in the egg batter and once more bread in the potato starch. Fry until crispy and golden.
~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar
{PASSOVER BLINTZES} THICK & CREAMY CHEESE BLINTZES:
These blintzes are made up of light and fluffy crepes with a thick filling of cheese that make them delicious and impossible to stop at just one.
Ingredients for Crepe Batter:
18 eggs
3 cups of water
3 cups of potato starch
Ingredients for Cheese Batter:
4 containers of cottage cheese
3 eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
Directions:
Mix the Crepe batter ingredients together. Pour 1/3 cup of batter into a frying pan and cook the crepe until solid. Then flip it out of the frying pan onto a plate. Once you have cooked all the crepes, mix together the cheese batter ingredients in a large bowl. Fill the center with some of the cheese mixture, and fold over the sides to form a blintze. Repeat until all blintzes are formed. Heat up a frying pan and cook the blintzes. Serve with jam or sour cream.
~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar
CATEGORIES: English Food Choices Kosher Recipes Social Culture
BERRY PIE WITH CRUMBLE TOPPING:
This is the easiest pie and everyone always LOVES it.
Ingredients:
Pie Crust (I use a deep dish frozen pie crust.)
Berries (fill it with your choice of berries, I use blueberries and raspberries. My sister likes to pair up strawberries with peaches. You can use frozen or fresh depending on season…and price!)
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 stick of margarine
Directions:
Cook the pie crust for about 10 minutes on 350′. Then remove from oven and allow to cool off. Place the berries in the pie crust. Combine the sugar, flour and maragarine in a bowl. Crumble it together with ur hands then sprinkle on top of the filling. Bake on 350′ for about 30 min or until crust looks golden. You can serve this with ice cream and it’s seriously the best thing ever.
~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar
Tel Aviv market a bonanza from ordinary to exotic (Chicago Tribune)
TEL AVIV — Visiting a food market in a far-flung destination is a great way to get a sense of the people who live there. Israel is no exception. The market in Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city, showcases the small desert country’s agricultural innovations and the immigrant backgrounds of many Israeli residents.
Tel Aviv’s Carmel market, also known as Shuk Ha’Carmel, is close to the shore and a short walk down Allenby Street from the city’s hotel area. It’s part flea market, with vendors selling clothes, trinkets, cosmetics and cigarettes — there’s something quirky about seeing Camel cigarettes for sale in a place where you often see real camels — but mostly it’s a foodie haven of dried fruit, exotic spices, local olive oil, imported cheeses and fresh fish, meat and poultry. You also could spend your time dealing with the more immediate needs of an empty stomach by visiting stalls that sell persimmon smoothies, imported chocolates, mounds of colorful candies, fresh falafel, halva, lamb shawarma and borekas, the salty stuffed Turkish puff pastries that seem to be everywhere in Israel.
Tel Aviv chef Yair Feinberg, 35, gives market tours to travelers as part of his culinary business Fein Cook. He also offers cooking classes, specialty dinners and works on an Israeli television version of “Iron Chef.” Feinberg, the son of Argentine immigrants, grew up on a kibbutz in Israel’s Negev region and trained to be a chef at L’Institut Paul Bocuse in France. He later worked in several Michelin-star-receiving restaurants in Paris, Provence, France, and Tuscany, Italy, before returning to Israel in 2005.
It’s easy to wander the market alone and relish your solo discoveries. But a trip with someone like Feinberg can add insight and explanations about what you are seeing.
Take the giant lemons, for instance. After sampling some of the largest and juiciest clementines I’d ever tasted, I was convinced I was in the land of giant fruit when I came across what I was sure were the largest lemons I’d ever seen — about the size of a 16-inch softball.
CATEGORIES: Favored Food Choices Recipes Self made Short Story Social Culture
Purim is over, but you can still enjoy these savory treats: Savory Hamantaschen + Chocolate Raspberry Hamantash!
I adore Purim. Any holiday that encourages dressing up, eating large amounts of candy and drinking alcohol gets a thumbs up from me. I don’t like to eat Hamantaschen though. The three cornered pastry is a holiday treat and is traditionally filled with poppy seeds and various jams. Devouring it is symbolic of overcoming evil.(more on that HERE) I do like to engage in all the festivities and since I run a food blog, I felt it was necessary for me to bake some. I like chocolate and savory foods, so I came up with the following three versions that were in the spirit of the holiday but tastier than the usual selection.
1. Bleeding Hamantaschen: These chocolate and raspberry filled pastries were decadent but due to the raspberry juices leaking out during the baking process, they resembled bleeding hearts. Which works for me since my fam and I are dressing up as pirates this Purim. They may look messy but they taste divine!
2. Mediterranean Hamantaschen: Caramelized onions, tomato, basil and goat cheese make these the perfect appetizer to serve this holiday. I had to resist eating all of them long enough to take the photo!
3. Taco Hamantaschen: These came about by accident, as I had leftover taco meat and spinach from dinner and decided to use them along with some ravioli dough that I had in the freezer. The dough gets nice and crispy in the oven which makes these taste like real tacos!
Back in Brooklyn for Shabs! Nothing like the smell of freshly baked Zucchini Muffins to fight vacation withdrawal. Happy Shabs xxo
When this dish was served at a Shabbat meal several months ago, I was hesitant to have a taste since Zucchini was one of the ingredients. If it had been a kugel, then I would not have given it a second thought, but Zucchini cake? After my husband rolled his eyes I realized I was being childish and gave it a try. After that first bite, I had 2 slices!
This recipe can be served as muffins, as a side dish in a loaf pan or for dessert in a bundt pan! It is fluffy and moist with a hint of cinnamon.
MINI FRENCH TOAST:
Growing up, Sunday mornings meant waking up to pancakes or french toast. Sometimes I miss the wake up call of a sugary sweet breakfast waiting for me as I roll out of bed. Since I am now the “mama” in My house, I can’t just walk into the kitchen and grab a plate. I have to actually whip up the weekend treat first before digging in. Today was one of those mornings were the craving was greater than my fear of doing the dishes so I made these mini french toasts. This recipe can be used with regular challah or challah rolls. I had leftover rolls from shabs so I went with the mini version! My son was thrilled to dip his french toast into the syrup and my husband who doesn’t usually like sweet breakfasts, noshed on a few as well.
Ingredients:
2 challah rolls, sliced into 1 inch thick slices
1 cup of milk
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
Combine the milk, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Dip the challah slices into the batter and fry in a heated greased frying pan. I use pam but you could also use butter, margarine or some oil to heat the pan. After several minutes flip to the other side and cook until slightly browned. Serve with confectionary on top and syrup on the side.
~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar of “Kosher in the Kitch”
