CHANUKAH ISSUE
* YOUR SOURCE FOR ALL THINGS KOSHER *
WINTER 2015 | ISSUE 29
h a k u n Cha
ORANGE HONEY SPICY FRIED CHICKEN ON ZESTY WAFFLES PG. 33
SCENE * PARTY OR BAKE: * FRY SWEET & SAVORY DISHES LATKES + CREATIVE * PERFECT TWIST FROM @SMITTENKITCHEN * CHEESY PARTY BITES
EVERYDAY INGREDIENTS +5 MINUTE PREP:
Shakshuka • Crockpot Dinners • Black Grains
TOP CHEF KATSUJI TANABE’S FAVORITE RECIPES KNIVES 101 WINTER COOKIES USA $6.99 / CANADA $7.99 / UK £5.00 AUSTRALIA $6.99 / SA R77 / ISRAEL 25
KOSHER MEDIA NETWORK
a bitayavon production
FOR RECIPES, MENUS, CONTESTS AND MORE VISIT WWW.JOYOFKOSHER.COM
TRAVEL: KOSHER FO OD TRUCKS
| CHEESE APPETIZERS |
en lo o v o r P Fried Skewers Tomato lsamic with Ba tion Reduc
FRIED CHEESE:
CHANUKAH APPETIZERS NAOMI ROSS
CheddarWhite & WontonCs remini 24
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| CHEESE C H E E S E APPETIZERS APPETIZERS |
CHANUKAH CHA C CH H A NU HA NU NUK UK KA AH H 2015 2 01 201 20 015
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CHANUKAH SWEET TABLE PRODUCED AND STYLED BY OKSANA BELLAS As Sweet As It Gets Events www.assweetasitgets.com PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANNAH LEIGH www.hannahleighphoto.com
Every year, in anticipation of Chanukah, I dig through blogs, Pinterest, and magazines to find inspiration to create a fun and unique Chanukah celebration. Year after year my disappointment grows as I only find the white, blue, and silver-themed holidaydisplays to which we have all grown accustomed. This year I wanted to depart from the traditional colors and inspire you all to host a bright and color-popping Chanukah party with a sweet table that will be loved by young and old. Let’s face it: a dessert table is always a crowd pleaser. Below I will share steps for putting together a sweet spread that will inspire more than just your palate; it will be a feast for the eyes!
1. NAIL DOWN A THEME: Your sweet table should tell a story that seamlessly incorporates with the rest of your celebration and its identity. This is where you have an opportunity to be creative and play around with surfaces on which you will set up your dessert table, linens, accessories, and backdrop. Confetti and sprinkles were the inspiration for our sweet table. We used a bright paper confetti banner as a backdrop for the dessert bar built on a simple white surface to show off a colorful theme.
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2. BUILD YOUR MENU: Identify 4-7 desserts and candy that will relate to your theme. Mix homemade treats or embellish favorite bought baked goods. Easy-to-serve and bite-sized desserts such as cupcakes, cake pops, petit fours, cookies, specialty chocolates, and dessert shooters help create an inviting sweet table. The focal point of our spread was a tower of two-dozen sprinkled doughnuts. Stacked on a beautiful cake stand, we used delicious bought treats and made them the center of attention. Cupcakes made in confetti wrappers, bright dreidel cookies, and marshmallows dipped in chocolate and dunked in confetti perfectly complemented the theme. (See the resource guide for more details.)
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3. IDENTIFY CONTAINERS: Once you determine the theme and related décor for your sweet table, let your imagination go wild with the containers and serveware for the treats. Anything can be a vessel: trays, mirrors, vases, jewelry boxes — the options are limitless! Look into your bubby’s china cabinet and see what would complement your vision. For a unified look, use containers that relate to each other. Take into account the finish, materials, and the time/era they represent and their relationship to your theme. We chose to work with modern, white serving platters, allowing the colorful elements of our theme to stand out.
4. EMBELLISH AND WOW: Use embellishments and unexpected details to elevate your dessert table from ordinary to extraordinary. You can incorporate fun favors into your table display and custom-made items that match your theme. We displayed gumball machine favors and custom “Happy Hanukkah” Hershey chocolate bars to add a bit of wow to our sweet spread.
5. LABEL: With food labels you take the guesswork out of what is being served. Specify items that might meet specific dietary restrictions (dairy, pareve, gluten-free, sugarfree, etc.). 6. CONSTRUCT: Follow a pyramid-like schematic for your sweet table. Once you establish the focal point, build the rest of your table striving for symmetry or pattern in the way you arrange your containers and serving platters.
Whether the sweets will be a conclusion to a dinner party or a centerpiece of your dessert-only celebration, have fun and don’t be afraid to do the unexpected! Happy Chanukah! CHANUKAH 2015
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| CROCKPOT DINNER |
SESAME CHICKEN
CROCKPOT DINNERS SHIFRA KLEIN
Slow cooking food enhances all flavors without any hard work, which makes it a convenient and optimal way to make delicious, full-flavored family meals. Throw in the ingredients in the morning and come home to an aromatic kitchen and ready dinner. If you do not have a slow cooker, you can cook all the following recipes in a 220 degree oven for six-eight hours in a tightly sealed baking pan.
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HEARTY BUTTERNUT SOUP
DINNER SERVED ON Coyuchi Stitched Felt Table Runner in Deep Charcoal www.coyuchi.com
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| INTERVIEW | S ITA N R BEE
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W: E I V R E T IN uji s t a K Chef e b a n a T
S
erving up Mexican food that happens to be kosher has garnered Mexican-born chef Tanabe rave reviews from eaters of all culinary backgrounds who enjoy the traditional yet kosher Mexican fare served up at Mexikosher, a Los Angeles hotspot and must-try destination. (Interesting to note: Mexikosher is the most Yelped-about kosher restaurant, with over 200 reviews and an average four-star rating…a reflection of the popularity and praise Mexikosher and Chef Katsuji receives.) Chef Katsuji chatted with us in between his many TV appearances and TV cooking shows, which have gained him worldwide fame.
Why kosher? I always say that I didn’t pick kosher; some Higher Power picked kosher for me. After getting involved in kosher my life changed in so many good ways and I am glad to be in the community.
As a chef and parent how often do you cook for your family? Thank God for Shabbos. That is one day a week that I can spend with my family and have a full day off without worries. Also, I bond with my kids after work with fresh popcorn or other healthy treats.
What is your family’s favorite dishes? Braised items with rice.
Secret to making perfect rice: CHEF
TAN
AB
I highly recommend a thick-bottomed pot for rice. Depending on the meat, I bake the rice and meat together.
E'S
F
AV
What are some challenges of cooking kosher? How long did it take to understand kosher rules and regulations?
OR ITE
TAC O
Understanding kosher…not really the right answer. I don’t think I will ever fully understand kosher, but I look at it like a competition. It is a challenge: how do I cook with these ingredients. Once I knew the ingredients I can use I adapted to that situation. I would say it took me a few weeks.
Most popular dish at Mexikosher: Carnitas. Carnitas traditionally are made with pork but my kosher version is made with brisket which is very slowly cooked in duck fat and salt. Once we run out we run out…we can’t make this dish on the spot and we always sell out every night. 52
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| NEW PRODUCT REVIEW |
Jack’s Gourmet BBQ Pulled Beef Brisket J
ack’s Gourmet has recently introduced an innovative new product: ready-to-eat BBQ pulled beef brisket, now available for the kosher consumer and meat lover. The innovation is reflective in the packaging, fresh quality of the product, incredible taste, and inexpensive price. The cost of the 10-ounce package is $10-$12, which is enough meat to make 4-6 sliders or 2-3 pulled beef sandwiches.
The pulled beef brisket is available in markets throughout the United States and can be puchased online at www.jacksgourmetkosher.com. Teaming up with Jack Silberstein, chef and CEO of Jack’s Gourmet, we cooked up a multitude of easy finger food and memorable family dinners.
The p roduc t is glu nitrite ten fr free, ee, msg-fr comple ee an tely f d ree ingred ients a of artificia l s well as pal friend e o ly.
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5-MINUTE P REP
SHAKSHUKA
DINA SCHWARTZ
Shakshuka is a savory and mouthwatering Israeli comfort food dish. Inspired by the Shuka Truck (see pg. 62) we have created a few very quick versions of this delicacy. You can make this anytime of day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These recipes deliver full-flavored meals with minimal effort and ingredients.
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ies
Spice Up k o Your C o
BY PAULA SHOYER
C
ookies have a special place in my heart and I would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite. (Top contender: butter shortbread.) Like many Ashkenazi Jews, my first experience baking cookies was trying my hand at hamantachen when I was little and later venturing into chocolate chip cookies to bake for friends in college and law school. Today, I am always excited to develop new cookie recipes. Cookies are so easy to bake in advance and freeze and then you just grab a bunch when friends show up, or if you need a little boost that day. They also are the perfect gift for the person who has everything. Gingerbread was brought to France by an Armenian monk in the 900s and then spread throughout Europe. The most famous spice cake in the Jewish tradition is the honey cake eaten on Rosh Hashanah. In 2013, I included honey cake biscotti
in my Holiday Kosher Baker Cookbook, my version of spice cookies for the New Year. Although spice cookies are not typical Chanukah treats, they should be. The flavor profiles are perfect for the dreary wintertime; they will wake up your palate. You can also add more spice to the recipes as you like — if you love cinnamon, add ½ teaspoon to either recipe, and if you do not like cloves, you can reduce or omit that ingredient. Feel free to boost the spice content and let me know how it worked out. Cookie butter is more recent in origin. In 2007, companies in Belgium started blending speculoos cookies into a paste. Once it hit Trader Joes during the last few years, it became popular in the United States. Feel free to use any dry cookie for the butter, and note, the recipe here is pareve.
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Black Grains
SHIFRA KLEIN
Looking to make a statement with your food? Look no further than presenting a one-color themed dish utilizing black grains. Black grains are nutritious and unique, but you can go ahead and use any color grain for the following recipes. Use regular quinoa in place of the black, any leftover rice for the rice cakes, and your lentil of choice for the lentil-beet salad. SERVING TIP: We used trendy black dishes to serve up the black grain recipes for even more impact. You can ďŹ nd black dinnerware in most home goods stores; look for these dishes in Ikea, West Elm, Crate & Barrel, and World Fair, just to name a few.
SERVING SIZE: The following dishes serve four main dishes or eight side dishes.
COOKING GRAINS: All packages come with very speciďŹ c instructions for how to cook the grain. Simply follow the instructions on the labels for the following recipes, making sure to cook until just ready, and remove immediately from heat to avoid over-cooking the grains, which should be just cooked for the following recipes.
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| BLACK GRAINS |
NUTRITION NOTES: Like their brown
counterparts, black whole grains have high protein and fiber. However, the black grains contain high concentrations of anthocyanins — the same antioxidants found in dark fruits, like blueberries and plums. Anthocyanins may improve memory and reduce the risk of cancer and chronic diseases. Tamar Genger, MA, RD
Black Lentil Salad
with Goat Cheese Arugula Puree Few ingredients, easy prep, and modern, fresh flavors…what is not to like about this dish? You can make all the components in advance and plate ingredients as needed; simply cook lentils and beets and puree sauce, and store separately in fridge until ready to plate. 2 cups cooked black lentils 1 large beet, cooked and diced* 1 cup arugula 1 cup basil 1 clove garlic 4 ounces goat cheese ¼ cup milk 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon black pepper
1. Blend arugula, basil, garlic, goat cheese, milk, salt, and black pepper using an immersion blender, blender, or food processor. 2. Place ¼ cup of goat cheese dressing in center of plate. 3. Use a spoon to spread dressing across plate. 4. Top with lentils, diced beets and fresh baby arugula for garnish. 5. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over plated dish, if you would like for extra richness.
*Cook beet by either roasting or simmering. FOR ROASTING: place beet on a large square of aluminum foil and drizzle with a bit of oil, wrap tightly, and roast in a 375 degree oven for about an hour. Allow to cool, peel, and dice. For simmering: bring a medium pot of water to a boil, lower heat and place unpeeled (but washed) beet in water and simmer until tender, about 35 minutes. Cool, peel, and dice.
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