My daughter asked, how come you haven’t made this since last year? Because I finally have enough basil to make a pesto! She had no idea that some dishes are seasonal.
Ingredients:
40 – 50 leaves of fresh basil
1/3 cup of olive oil, cold pressed extra virgin
1/3 cup of walnuts (or whatever nuts you choose)
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1 box of rotini noodles
(or substitute steamed cauliflower if you are on a low or no carb diet or gluten-free diet)
Boil water for the pasta. When the pasta is almost done, put the nuts, olive oil, basil leaves and salt in the food processor. Blend it all until you have a thick, green paste. You can taste it, if you want to be careful about the amount of salt (or just because it is absolutely yummy!). Drain the water from the pasta, put the pasta in serving bowl, and mix in the basil pesto paste. You can either eat this right away or refrigerate it and serve cold the next day.
Optional: the traditional way to make pesto is with parmesan cheese, so you can also had 1/3 cup grated parmesan to your pesto. In addition to experimenting with different nuts, pesto can also be made from sage or parsley. If you have any variations you want to share, please do so.
“What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?”
On that note from Alice, let’s begin our exploration of recipes, food topics, kashrut, anything kosher. Most links have been given a picture, because I like pictures. If you didn’t post it with a picture, I added one of my own. You are the recipe writer, I’m the illustrator. Unless you decided to self-illustrate. So without further ado, here’s Kosher Cooking Carnival #44:
Fit for a meal
Ilana-Davita teaches us how to make spicy fish – hraymi. She explains: “Hraymi is a red spicy fish dish that is popular among the Sephardic Jews of Libya.”
Annette tells us how to make Matzoh brei, which she says she makes year round! She teaches us: “Be sure to use plenty of salt and pepper, or you may find the Matzoh Brei too bland for your taste.”
Mimi makes my mouth water with her schnitzel photo and recipe. She suggests “serve with a rosé wine, cold beer, or lemonade.”
Batya shows us her delightful, sparkling minestrone vegetable soup. She says: “there are two fast days in the summer, and I love to break my fast on vegetable soup. ”
Breakfast Time
G6 shows us her breakfast food.
She says: “I figured that rather than have you all traipse over to my house in your pajamas on Sunday morning, I’ll give you the recipe here to share with your own families. It’s really easy. All you have to do is remember to set it up the night before, since it “cooks” in the refrigerator overnight. ”
Sugar cookies are brought to you by Soccer Dad’s daughter. And can you guess the missing ingredient in Soccer Dad’s challah?
Oatmeal Apple Crisp is brought to you by Mrs. S. – is it a dessert or a side dish or both? (and does it matter)
And another apple recipe (is it almost fall?) by Baleboosteh – Easy Apple Crumble.
Jacob Da Jew asks: Which Donuts Do You Desire? Responses include: “Am I the only one who doesn’t care about donuts, pizza, etc? Keep your donuts and bring me meat and beer!” and “Fresh French kruller from DD is just heavenly.”
An unexpected submission for the Kosher Cooking Carnival, Daled Amos tells us of a new job market for Orthodox Women. So will you be suggesting this to your daughter instead of occupational or speech therapy?
Since it is the Three Weeks (and now the Nine Days), a solemn time when we remember that the Beit HaMikdash (the temple that was in Jerusalem) was destroyed, I’ll leave you with some imperfection. It is customary in some families to not complete the building of a home; perhaps one brick is missing, or there is one piece of wall unpainted. So in the spirit (or lack of spirit) of the Three Weeks, here is an imperfect sentence, one that
Cucumbers, radishes, parsley, lettuce waiting to be pressed
Why press a salad? According to macrobiotics, a pressed salad makes the vegetables easier to digest. It is a way of preparing the vegetables without any cooking.
At first I thought I would need to buy a salad presser to press a salad, but then after an email from Klara convincing me to try putting a heavy bowl on top of the salad I came up with this homemade version of pressing:
My method of pressing: plate, vegetables, bowl and heavy jug of water on top
How to Press a Salad
Gather up some vegetables. Here are a few suggestions:
kale, chopped or torn into pieces
cucumber, sliced (my understanding is peel if it is not organic, you can leave peel on if organic)
radishes, sliced (they will be less sharp after pressing)
lettuce, torn in pieces
sweet onion, chopped
parsley, basil or another fresh herb
Put your vegetables on a plate. Sprinkle with sea salt (or whatever salt you have). You can put on some apple cider or rice vinegar, too, according to some recipes (I just use salt). Put whatever heavy objects you need on top of the vegetables for an hour or two or three. The vegetables should soften and release some water, too. You can rinse off the salt and drain any excess water.
Lemon juice might be tasty as an addition, too. Enjoy.
The definition of a pressed salad, from Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook, by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko:
“Very thinly sliced or shredded fresh vegetables, combined with a pickling agent such as sea salt, umeboshi, grain vinegar, or shoyu, and placed in a special pickle press. In the pickling process, many of the enzymes and vitamins are retained while the vegetables become easier to digest.”
Parsley tops green mugwort noodles and beet sweet potato sauce
Beet Sweet Potato Sauce
Ever want an alternative to tomato sauce for your spaghetti? Here’s an easy recipe if like me you often have a leftover cooked beet and a leftover sweet potato or yam.
Ingredients:
1 cooked beet
1/2 cooked sweet potato or yam
Put the sweet potato or yam in a bowl with the beet. Mash with a fork. If you don’t mind cleaning your food processor and prefer a creamier sauce, throw both in the food processor.
Mash until you get a lovely orange and pink sauce.
Meanwhile, cook your noodles. I used Eden mugwort soba noodles, which are a lovely shade of green, nutritious and delicious. When ready, mix immediately with your beet and yam sauce so the sauce warms up.
I topped mine with grated parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley. Get creative. Basil would be a great topper, too. You could also mix in a few drips of cold-pressed olive oil or some organic butter.
Serves 1-2.
Inspiration: Klara has a beet – carrot – onion sauce that she used to make as a tomato sauce alternative. See her comment on this post for the recipe. Since I often have a leftover beet and some leftover sweet potato, this recipe was a natural for me.
What could be more delicious than sourdough bread topped with homemade hummus? To learn how to make sourdough starter, visit Mother in Israel’s post. And to find out more about hummus and what makes an authentic chickpea dip (as opposed to some wannabes), visit the Occidental Israeli’s post.
Why sourdough starter?
Taste
Health: More in this article on fermented bread. Easier to digest seems to be a top feature. Also, some people have reactions to commercial yeast (my father may have this) and find they don’t have the same reaction with the sourdough.
I’m thinking of doing this in July, as Mother in Israel says it works better in the hot humidity. See also read Mimi’s Oatmeal Sourdough Bread.
Why hummus?
Why not?
Here’s the Occidental Israeli’s comments on common hummus errors:
Another mistake I saw on TV that day, was the host opening a can of chickpeas and simply pouring them into the food processor. When making hummus, you must, MUST, wash the chickpeas numerous times, to make the “hummus” even edible. Moreover, if you want your hummus to be good, even if you use canned chickpeas, you have to boil them and remove most the skins, from most of the individual beans.
The biggest mistake, however, was the lack of tehina (sometimes called tahini). For hummus to be really good it must include tehina. Apparently there are other authentic versions that replace tehina with ful or with labaneh, but simply mashing chickpeas (with other vegetables, no less) does not result in hummus.
This post is less of a recipe and more of a discussion on what to eat on Shabbat that is warm. Klara, who lives near Jerusalem, came to visit me a few weeks ago. I like to learn about macrobiotics from her, even if I only eat a few of the recipes (but I learn from the discussions). We were discussing warm food on Shabbat.
It is customary for observant Jews to eat something warm on Shabbat; this is because even though we have the prohibition not to cook or to light a fire, we should still show don’t need to eat cold food. Or sit in the dark. The traditional warm Shabbat food that Ashkenazi Jews eat is chulent (see Ilana-Davita‘s and Lion of Zion‘s posts); Sephardim (Jews that were originally in Spain) eat dafina or chamin.
I prefer not to eat chulent, as I find it too heavy a food. So I have a tendency to make lots of salads, and I greatly enjoy those. However, in the middle of this winter I noticed that the food that we had warm on Shabbat was mostly chulent and potato kugel, neither of which are my favorite food. I do sometimes eat a bit of chicken warm. So I started warming up beans cooked with turmeric and other curried flavors. But I really wasn’t in the mood for the beans.
Back to my discussion with Klara: Klara felt that in keeping with macrobiotic teaching, food on Shabbat should be warm. I think there is a conflict here, as macrobiotics seem to suggest food should be eaten warm AND right away (not left on a blech or warming tray for 4 hours). And I wonder how many nutrients a salad-like food such as kale has after 4 hours of re-warming.
My conversation with Klara did spur me on to find this one dish that I liked re-warmed on Shabbat. It is simply mushrooms, onions and something green sauteed in a bit of olive oil.
Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 onion
2 boxes of mushrooms, preferably baby bella because they are “meaty”
a green: parsley, basil, kale, collards, thyme, sage – I used a bit of broccoli rabe
Warm a bit of olive oil. Chop the onion, mushrooms (into slices) and greens (into bits). Saute the onion until translucent. Add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms begin to soften, add your chopped greens. If you don’t add the chopped greens, the recipe will be fine without it. Put it in a small casserole dish (covered) so it can be reheated on Shabbat.
Alternative: use Ilana-Davita’s mushroom recipe. She suggests serving it cold, but if you are in the mood for a warm mushroom dish for your Shabbat meal, this one might work.
I usually make tabouli with lemon. The way I learned to make tabouli was from Mollie Katzen, author of the first Moosewood Cookbook. But last week it was Friday afternoon, and I discovered I had no lemon. But I did have an orange! And a beautiful bunch of curly parsley. I was also in the mood for ginger instead of garlic. Thus a new recipe is born.
Ingredients:
1 cup bulghur wheat
1 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil (or enough to coat)
fresh parsley and/or fresh mint
1 orange
1 tsp. chopped ginger root
optional but highly recommended: chopped fresh tomato, chopped fresh cucumber
optional if you like: chopped radish, chopped sweet onion, chopped carrot
Put the bulghur wheat in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt (not too much). Boil water in a kettle. When the water boils, pour 1 cup over the bulghur wheat. Cover the bowl with a pot lid. Leave it for about twenty minutes. Then add the olive oil, enough to coat the grains but not too much. Add the chopped ginger root. Squeeze the orange juice into the bowl. Stir. I tried adding the orange rind, too, but that was too bitter. Not a good part of this experiment. You can add the chopped parsley now, or wait until serving time. Add all the other vegetables before serving time. I didn’t have a fresh tomato, so I didn’t add other vegetables, but tabouli is so delicious when you do have the fresh vegetables, too. If not yet tomato season, add lots of parsley or mint. Refrigerate before serving. One usually has to wait a day for the bulghur wheat to soften. Enjoy! Serve at room temperature.
Radishes cooked with umeboshi paste
Klara gave me this simple recipe two months ago. Since then, I have made it at least 5 times. There are only two ingredients: red radishes and umeboshi paste. Since many of you are going to say, What’s umeboshi paste? Where can I get it? I did a little research. In Highland Park, Anna’s Health Food Store sells this delicious condiment. Others in the U.S. can buy it at your local health food store. Eden makes umeboshi paste with an O-K kosher supervision. Here are some store locations in France that may sell umeboshi paste. Klara tells me there is a health food store in Ma’aleh Adumim (Israel), and the owner delivers in Jerusalem once a week. Feel free to add other locations in the comments.
Why use umeboshi paste? Not only does it taste good, it is also healing. Here’s one site on umeboshi: “Modern day diets tend to create acid conditions within the blood which is more likely to cause illnesses. The strong alkalising effect of umeboshi can help to counteract modern day excesses, including alcohol. ” More here.
Ingredients
a bunch of radishes, nice red round ones
1-2 cups of water (depends on how many radishes)
3 Tbsp. umeboshi paste
Slice all the radishes. Bring water to boil with ume paste. Turn down flame, add radishes, simmer covered for 20 minutes or until radishes are tender.
Another version: After boiling the ume paste in water for ten minutes, pour over radishes and let sit for about an hour. (Note: this is the more “proper” version, which is the pickling method. My cooking version is OK, but not as healthful as leaving the radishes in the ume paste broth. I’ll try pickling method tomorrow).
All the radishes get nice and pink and have a lovely flavor, lose sharpness.
You may drain when pickles ready(optional). When they are room temperature, put them in the refrigerator.
Bake the squash in the oven for at least an hour or until tender. Cut it in half. Take out the seeds. Scoop pieces of the squash to mix with the stuffing (I didn’t do this, but I wish I did). Saute the onion until translucent. Add chopped mushroom and celery; continue cooking until soft. Mix in matza, thyme and bits of squash. Stuff it in the squash. At this point, you can bake it in the oven. However, what I did was put it on the warming tray for 3 hours. Serves two.
• • •
In other news, please enjoy this week’s edition of Haveil Havalim, brought to you by the Real Shaliach. Mother in Israel will be hosting the Kosher Cooking Carnival on her blog this coming Wednesday, April 22. That is why I am taking out the time late on Sunday night to type all this up instead of relaxing downstairs with my husband. When I hit Publish, that’s where I am headed. Have a good night!
Jew Wishes: Potato Pancakes
(you can probably leave out the baking powder on Pesach, or you can buy special for Pesach baking powder)
Mrs. S: Potato Kugel
Mother in Israel: Potato Kugel Secrets
Do you know that you can make blintzes/crepes on Pesach? Mix potato starch, eggs and water (or milk, but I can’t tolerate milk, so I don’t use it). I can’t tell you the exact amounts, so you will have to experiment. You can fill with potatoes, cheese, potatoes and cheese, sauteed vegetables, fruit, whatever you would ordinarily put in a blintz. My kids love these.
. But last week it was Friday afternoon, and I discovered I had no lemon. But I did have an orange! And a beautiful bunch of curly parsley. I was also in the mood for ginger instead of garlic. Thus a new recipe is born.
