Biscotti Order Form

My Pots

MY POTS

(DK)   I am not throwing away my pots

I am not throwing away my pots

Hey I moved to city from country, but the family still gets hungry

and I am not throwing away my pots

Gladly kitchen equip my children, a mother’s role fulfillin,

Give to others I am willin, but why can’t I be grillin?

I’ll have no brief for cramping grief for my meat and dairy cutlery

from braising lamb n’ beef to the utterly (udderly?) buttery

(Chorus)    The scuttlebutt is unutterable, the lack of room unrebuttable,

                                The kitchen unliveably deplorable, yet she stayed unshakably lovable 
                                The place she strove mightily to kasher, from stove to fridge to dishwasher 
                                Then just watch her feed the nosher like a pasha! 
                                Once shed of mortgage, she had to forage for storage 
                                and squeeze and tease ably all into a freezer unfeasibly small 
                                The annual Passover - a virtual impasse over – 
                                Hey - success at a Seder might persuade her that the lack of space hadn't betrayed her

(DK)     Some place settings I won’t insist on, and will not reminisce on

And pass on an iron grill for the pretzel schnitzel, for mazel, for shizzle

I need a few pots and lids, more would overkill it,

Because it turns out that the skill – it resides not in the skillet

So if the question comes up, how much is two aliquots?

It’s best not to assume - measure by weight - not volume

But I am not throwing away, I am not throwing away, I am not throwing away my pots!

The Search for Great Chocolate Bundt Cake

The past few years, at the request of my special someone, my desserts have focused on chocolate. I've tried many recipes for chocolate pound cake and chocolate bundt cakes, but have never really been satisfied - until now. This shabbat I made an excellent, easy, naturally pareve chocolate bundt cake, which was annotated with weights, as well as measurements - HOORAH! I wish every recipe did that. Cooking is an art, baking is a science and requires accurate measurements to get consistent results. I'll write more about that later, but in the meanwhile

Deb's Chocolate Bundt Cake

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped as finely as you can

2.25 ounces dutched cocoa power (3/4 cup)

1 cup boiling water

2 cups packed brown sugar

8.75 ounces all purpose flour (1 3/4 cups)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or 1/2 vanilla 1/2 almond)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12 cup bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.

Put cocoa and chopped chocolate in bowl; pour boiling water over and let sit for 5 minutes. After five minutes, stir well until smooth. (note: Use real chocolate - not the baking bars that are more like chocolate flavored plastic)

Whisk together chocolate, sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil until very smooth; about two minute (can also be processed in food processor for one minute, but who wants to wash it!)

Sift flour, salt and baking soda. Add to chocolate mixture in two parts, whisking just until mixed. Most of the lumps should be gone, but do not overbeat.

Pour into prepared pan, bake 45 - 50 minutes, until cake test comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in pan ten minutes, then invert onto cooling rack.

Glaze or dust with confectioner sugar

enjoy!!!

Back to the Kitchen

It's been a while. After many years of lots of entertaining and extensive meal planning, I needed a break; some time to consider interests and priorities. Please, don't think that since I'm posting again I've magically found the secrets to life. Nope. But I have begun to figure out that I should consider my action, and think about what I'm doing rather than operate on auto-pilot. And as much as I love cooking and entertaining, making one fewer side dish, or buying challah instead of making homemade in order to spend time with someone I love, is a better choice.

But this shabbat, this empty nester has the joy of cooking for a son home on school holiday and here's what we'll have

Friday Night

Homemade Challah

Chicken Soup with Noodles

Roast Chicken with Shallots

Roast Potatoes

Popcorn Cauliflower

Shabbat Lunch (with company)

Fettucine with Tomato Basil Crudo Salsa

Silver tip Teriyaki Roast

Honey Ginger chicken

Basmati Rice

Hot & spicy cabbage

Spinach Patties

Carrot Kugel

Mesclun Salad with Toasted Pecans

Surprise Cookies (mallomar-ish)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Meringues

Lemon Squares

And if I don't have time to make the challahs, or pecans don't get toasted so that there's less stress - that's ok!

Shabbat Shalom

Ironic Menu Planning

You never know who or what will inspire you, and where the inspiration will take you...

A few weeks ago, when Rosh Hashana menus were far from my mind, a conversation at the Fairway kosher meat section with a man who regularly provides inspiration to so many people with his voice and spirit, gave me the inspiration to start planning for the holidays

We were talking recipes, and I told him about the grilled brisket that was this summer's "gotta have it"... He shared with me a recipe for a "meat" lasagna, using Morningstar crumbles - amused by the idea of making a "meat lasagna" for lunch one of the days of Rosh Hashana, I decided to continue the theme, and will be serving "crab" cakes for lunch the second day (my sister's recipe - I'll post it soon).

Never one to follow cooking recipes (versus baking recipes) very strictly, I combined the recipe Chazzan Yitzy sent me, with my regular spinach lasagna recipe, and took a little peek at the Ronzoni box recipe - to add a little authenticity -

Lasagna is a terrific holiday lunch meal - it reheats beautifully, and you can put it on the hotplate or in a low oven before you go to shul, have a tossed salad ready in the refrigerator, have the table set and when you get home from shul - IT'S ALL READY!!!! Considering how late lunch is after shul on Rosh Hashanah, after having received spiritual inspiration from Chazzan Yitzy (versus gustatory), this will be ready immediately and DELICIOUS!!!

Deb's "Meat" Lasagna

1 pound lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions

12 ounce bag Morningstar farm crumbles

2 jars good quality marinara sauce ( sometimes I make my own, but with a 3 day chag coming it was too much)

2 pounds part skim ricotta

1 pound mozzarella cheese - shredded

10 ounces package frozen spinach, defrosted - squeezed dry

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup grated parmesan

Stir crumbles into sauce. Combine well ricotta, 1/2 of the mozzarella, spinach and pepper. Ladle a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 pan. Lay down 3 or 4 noodles, overlapping slightly. Carefully spread half of cheese mixture in even layer over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/3 of remaining mozzarella cheese. Ladle over a generous amount of sauce. Place 3 or 4 more lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly. Carefully spread remaining cheese mixture. Sprinkle with another 1/3 of the mozzarella. Place 3 or 4 more lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly. Pour over remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake about 1 hour.

Shavuot Confession

Of the three major festivals, Shavuot is the least complicated to celebrate. No manic cleaning, no shlepping boxes, no building a hut and eating (or living) in the cold, and it only lasts two days. But from a cooking standpoint, Shavuot has never found it's way into my heart - I just don't do dairy!

An internet search for "passover recipes", will result in a trillion hits, but google Shavuot - and you'll get a trillion cheesecakes (and to tell the truth, cheesecake is cheesecake - it's all about the mix-ins)

But notwithstanding all my whining - I make terrific homemade blintzes, a killer oreo cheesecake and learned from a friend to make a phenomenal greek salad dressing.

This year, I'm hosting dinner the second night of shavuot and for once, rather than try to figure out a menu that's balanced, nutritious and delicious, I've decided to just have fun and make everyone's dairy favorites - and worry about calories and nutrition another time. So, my shavuot guests will be treated to the following:

Homemade Warm Cinnamon Challah - served with homemade strawberry whipped butter

Greek Salad

Spinach Lasagna

Cheese Blintzes

Macaroni & Cheese

Individual Mini Pizzas (with a topping bar - so I can make them for each person)

Oreo Cheesecake

Heath Bar Cookies

If they're not exhausted from all night learning the night before, they will be when they're done with this food!

Strawberry Spinach Salad - A Taste of Spring

First course on Friday night is nearly always soup (and we all know the story why!). Shabbat lunch first courses run the gamut from meatballs to puff pastry things, or pasta, but when the weather warms up, I like to start the meal with a salad - gives people a few minutes to relax into the meal, but isn't overly filling.

This past shabbat I tried a new recipe - the seeds in the dressing, along with the toasted almonds gave a lovely crunch and the strawberries in the dressing had a tart, sweet, tangy flavor that woke up palates! Don't even bother to use a "fancier" vinegar - it will get lost!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Dressing:

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablepoons grated shallot (use a microplane grater)

1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds - toasted

10 ounces baby spinach

12 ounces fresh strawberries, sliced

One day ahead of serving, put all dressing ingredients in cruet and shake well. Set aside to blend.

Immediately before serving, mix spinach, strawberries and almonds - shake dressing well, coat and toss!