Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Spring Issue

SPRING 2013 | ISSUE 13

ORGANIC: BEYOND THE LABEL

GLUTEN-FREE

GNOCCHI

3 WAYS FISH!

4 BEET-CURED SALMON 4 BEST COOKING TECHNIQUES 4 FISHING 101

Shmaltz Makes a Comeback!

+ 50

Garlic Parsnip & Roasted s, pg. 38 ne ibe Gr th wi up So

NEW PASSOVER RECIPES!

the All-Natural

a bitayavon production USA $4.99 / CANADA $5.50 / UK £3.75 AUSTRALIA $5.50 / SA R38 / ISRAEL 18₪

ISSUE

FOR MORE HOLIDAY RECIPES, MEAL IDEAS AND MORE, VISIT WWW.JOYOFKOSHER.COM

KOSHER MEDIA NETWORK

Contents SPRING 2013

le App nate r g e a .18 Pom e p sicl p o P

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additional features 6

RECIPE GUIDE

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LETTER FROM JAMIE

10 WE ASK, YOU ANSWER 12 GOURMET GIFTS AND GADGETS

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F is h ! p.46

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POPSICLES

EMULSIONS

SCHMALTZ MAKES A COMEBACK

As the weather starts warming up, treat yourself to these refreshing, guilt-free pops of fruit flavor.

With care and constant whisking, liquids that wouldn’t normally combine, such as oil and water, can be unified in an emulsion.

Animal fats contain fatty acids which help our bodies fight diseases, absorb vitamins and lower cholesterol. Utilizing every part of the animal, including the fat, gives you the most for your money and adds tremendous flavor to your food.

14 UNDERSTANDING WINE LABELS What is the difference between dry, semi-dry and semisweet wines? A wine guide to help you choose a wine customized to your taste.

16 ORGANICS An insightful look into the meaning of organic eating.

24 COCONUT AND ALMOND MILK Get the most nutrition possible by making your own almond milk and coconut milk.

26 SPRING SALADS 31 BEST OF KOSHER AWARDS 32 KEEPING KOSHER IN THE U.S. ARMY 33 BEHIND THE SCENES OF KOSHER TRAVEL The CEO of Eddie’s Travel, David Walles, shares a fascinating behind-the scenes look at what it takes to organize specialized kosher travel tours, hotels and cruises.

42 GNOCCHI 3 WAYS Gluten-free, flourless gnocchi, perfected.

Ch oc ola te it ou M ss e Pa rfa

p. 63

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FISH 101 Full of good-for-you vitamins and minerals, fish is a versatile and nutrition-packed protein.

Read about various kosher fish and optimal preparation techniques.

54 A VISIT TO GOLD’S Horseradish is being touted as the new superfood. We visited the Gold’s factory in Hempstead, NY to learn more about horseradish and the company that has been specializing in horseradish since 1932.

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PESACH MAINS

68 MERINGUE Techniques and recipes using whipped egg whites. Meringue and more.

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PESACH SIDE DISHES

JoyofKosher.com | SPRING 2013

These easy-to-prepare Pesach main dishes can be a gourmet centerpiece at your Seder meal or any other holiday feast.

Jamie shares her signature Quick & Kosher approach to Pesach side dishes. Cooking for Passover has never been easier (or quicker).

74 LAST BITE Beet-cured salmon

 CLICK Joy of Kosher magazine makes the Passover gift. Subscribe at JoyofKosher.com/magazine

 CLICK Go to JoyofKosher.com/

magazine for more spring salad ideas!

spring SALADS

BY ITTA WERDIGER ROTH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUVI LEIDER

O

Throughout the year, a common Shabbat side dish in America might be butternut squash pies made with store-bought crusts laden with shortening. A dessert might be I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-cream-cheese cheesecake. Chicken might be smothered in duck sauce (what sauce? You mean sugar and cornstarch?) or barbeque sauce (a.k.a. molasses, vinegar and cornstarch).

n Pesach, those very same people might find themselves making the freshest, simplest and most delightful dishes: Light salads with freshly squeezed lemon juice, chicken soup with healthy chunks of parsnip and kabocha squash, avocado blended in salad dressings to create creaminess in place of mayonnaise, and fruit-based desserts.

There is something beautiful about simple food, a mouthful of nature unto itself.

You can go ahead and eat tomatoes if they mean that much to you, but realize that they’ve probably traveled a long distance, which means they were picked while still green.

When fruits and vegetables are picked too early, they don’t get a chance to reach their potential — whether in nutrients or in taste. Compared to out-of-season imported fruit, local summer tomatoes are not only a flavor explosion, they’re also better for you.

Pesach can be a great time to cut down on your intake of processed foods, even if it’s not your personal minhag. In Israel and America, Pesach falls out right at the beginning of spring. What better way is there to celebrate nature than to eat a menu rich in vegetables for a week straight?

The recipes I’ve shared below use only seasonal spring produce. If you try to shop locally as much as possible, you’re also avoiding the extra costs of importing, you’re supporting your own country’s economy, you’re supporting local farmers (and, yes, you’re helping lessen pollution and reliance on Middle Eastern oil).

This type of eating doesn’t have to be limited to Pesach, or even just to spring. There’s a real beauty to eating seasonally. Imagine the feeling of having waited almost a year to finally eat a peach, or even a gorgeous, red, vine-ripened tomato. Throughout the winter, tomatoes are terrible and anemic-looking, yet people keep buying them and eating them like there’s no other produce to eat in the country.

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Use this opportunity to bring vegetables back into your diet in a wholesome and simple way. Instead of pumpkin pie made from canned pumpkin, baked in store-bought crusts, try basic pumpkin slices drizzled with a little olive oil and tamari, and roasted with sesame seeds. And when it comes to creating new dishes, remember: gorgeous, fresh, seasonal vegetables will speak for themselves.

Roasted Spring Vegetables with Pesto Dressing Seves: 6 FOR THE ROASTED VEGETABLES:

1

bunch asparagus, bottoms snapped off (you can reserve the bottoms for a future vegetable stock) 1 pound baby or regular beets 2 fennel bulbs 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper to taste ¼ cup toasted pine nuts Arugula Pesto (recipe follows)

1 Preheat your oven to 400˚F. 2 Wrap beets in foil, drizzle with one tablespoon oil and roast for forty minutes or until tender.

3 Place asparagus and fennel on baking tray, drizzle with remaining tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper, and roast for fifteen minutes or until your liking. If you are particular about how crisp you want your vegetables, you may want to roast the asparagus and fennel separately. I often do that anyway when cooking with large quantities, but for smaller quantities and for a casual meal at home, combining everything makes for a faster, easier dish.

4 Place in serving dish, top with toasted pine nuts.

5 Serve with pesto drizzled on top or on the side.

Arugula Pesto 2 garlic cloves 1/3

cup toasted pine nuts 1 pound arugula, washed and dried well 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil Juice of ½ a lemon Salt and pepper

6 Turn the bowl of your food processor on and add the following ingredients, one at time: garlic cloves, half of the pine nuts (reserve the rest for sprinkling), arugula, 7 olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use.

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wine pairing Barkan Classic Sauvignon Blanc

Parsnip & Leek Latkes pg. 41

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s e k a } m k la tz ebac m m h o s { ac

umynskin der

THE TASTY TRUTH ABOUT ANIMAL FATS

BY LAURA FRANKEL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUVI LEIDER

The 12th-century rabbi and physician Maimonides touted the benefits of chicken soup to one’s health. Many other cultures also believe in the restorative properties of chicken soup and it turns out that it indeed may be good for you. Poultry fat has monounsaturated fatty acid palmitoleic acid which boosts our immune system. Chicken fat has the most of this healthful fat and what has instinctively been understood by many cultures around the world can now be backed up by science. There is something magical about the golden pools of chicken fat.

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GLUTEN-FREE & GOOD!

GNOCCHI 3 WAYS B Y SHIFRA KLEIN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R U VI L E I D E R

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FISH FOR THOUGHT

BY SHIFRA KLEIN

A !

CATCH

Gone Fishing

own. A few summers ago we purchased fishing rods for the kids (bright red, Disney-themed ones) and started to go fishing in upstate New York during the summer. There is something incredible about sourcing food yourself, and my children felt My husband would bring home the fish, so accomplished with every fish they and scale, clean, and fillet it as well. I caught. It turns out that their fishing have never tasted such fresh and in- rods were quite effective and because credible fish before, and it was always boys will be boys, baiting the rods by fun to tell our Shabbat guests that the themselves with large, meaty worms fish they were eating was caught one or was never a problem. two days before on the shores of New Fishing became a family affair. My York. mother, a great sport, was horrified one I have two sons, ages six and eight who morning to wake up and find a Styrostarted to request fishing trips of their foam container of fresh worms in her

M

Y FAMILY’S PASSION FOR FISHING STARTED

out when my husband looked for an after-work hobby that would satisfy his passion for the outdoors. Growing up in South Africa, trips to the game reserve, water activities and hiking were a big part of his upbringing. Once a month after work my husband would meet up with some friends at the docks of Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn and head out into the Atlantic Ocean to catch fish. In the spring, he would bring home the freshest striped bass and fluke; sea bass in the summer, and mackerel in the early winter.

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fridge at her upstate bungalow where we were staying! My nieces and nephews joined some fishing trips, and the catch of the day was brought home and grilled for the weekly Sunday barbecue.

My grandfather filleted and cleaned the fish with my grandmother giving instructions in the background, and then we spiced and grilled it. This January, my husband braved the cold and went fishing for mackerel and herring. My grandparents made the most incredible schmaltz-herring from it.

Fishing became a bonding family experience which also fostered an appreciation for where food comes from. It is a great and inexpensive family trip that comes along with dinner as well.

“Give a man a fish, he eats for a day.

Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime” –Chinese Proverb J

pesach stunning seder mains B Y SHIFRA KLIEN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUVI LEIDER

The underlying theme in this issue is preparing foods in a wholesome, organic manner, since Pesach is the time when we do just that. Believe it or not, the simple style of Pesach cooking can inspire your cooking yearround. When tasting these recipes, you won’t feel like you compromised on avor, taste or texture in the least bit. Using fresh, high-quality ingredients and using them well is the secret to these recipes.

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Wine stopper, elegant candlesticks (pg 58) and beautiful frog salt and pepper shakers and toothpick holder (pg. 59) available from Quest Collection at 212-354-0979 or email info@questcollection.com.

Wooden cutting board and serving tray (pg. 57) available at www.ďŹ shseddy.com or Fishs Eddy retail store (1-877-347-4733) located at 889 Broadway in NYC.

wine pairing PaciďŹ ca Pinot Noir

wine pairing Hagafen Zinfandel

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