The February/March issue of Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller is out and boy is it loaded. We have hamantashen 3 ways and a Cowboy Seudah menu for Purim. We got comfort food recipes and tons of edible gifts you and your friends will love.
This is issue is not to be missed, SUBSCRIBE NOW and get your copy in time for Purim.
In this month’s issue of Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller, Jamie shares her Cowboy inspired Seudah menu. Last year in anticipation of making Aliyah she made Israeli food and now living in Israel she is going All-American. What is more American than good ole mashed potatoes, usually with heavy cream, butter and gravy, which won’t work with Fried Chicken, Chili and BBQ Brisket. Check out a few Quick & Kosher riffs on traditional mashed potatoes.
Wasabi Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes
Multicolored Martini Mashed Potatoes
With all the gadgets and gear available nowadays, kosher travel is becoming easier and easier. There are so many ways to make your vacation more entertaining, more comfortable and stress-free…and we’ve been noticing the difference over the years we’ve been involved with Eddie’s Kosher Travel. Here are a few things we reach for when we pack up the family for a trip:
Luggage scale – This is a must, because it takes all the guesswork out of making sure your suitcases are not overweight and you don’t pay hefty airline fees. Bring one along to make sure the souvenirs you purchased along the way don’t give you trouble. This one by Magellan is under $12.
Adaptors and chargers – When it comes to electronics and international travel, it’s best to buy multi country adapters. Pack chargers in a ziploc bag in your hand luggage so you can repower in airports or rest stops along the way if needed. Before you check out of hotels, remember to remove all chargers from outlets before you leave the premises. In a bind, some hotels do have spare chargers (from lost and found) if you ask.
Tablet and entertainment – On our last trip we downloaded some shows and movies on our tablet and were able to pleasantly pass the time while waiting for connecting flights on a long trip. Load it up with Jewish videos your kids can watch so they won’t be bored. This is a great gadget to have with you.
Travel pillow – Snuggle up and get some shut-eye during flights and car rides with a comfy travel pillow. Lots of cozy ones can be found with a quick online search. Who says you have to get a stiff neck when you travel?
Kosherclock3 – Here’s a kosher travel clock approved by rabbis…does that mean you could eat it? Well, not really, but the Kosherclock3 has a weekday mode, Shabbos mode and travel mode to make sure you’re on time wherever you are – even on Shabbos overseas. Check out the features and you’ll see why you need it.
Bonus: Handy Apps
Do you have a smartphone? Of course you do. Click into your phone’s app store and download these winners:
TripIt – “TripIt drags traveling kicking and screaming into the 21st century.” That’s their tagline. It turns all your flight, hotel and rental car confirmation emails into simple, mobile travel itineraries just by hitting forward.
FlightTrack – Track flights with this zoomable app that simulates the plane progressing towards its arrival airport. It’s easy to use and it provides departure and arrival information, plus gate and baggage-claim information, all refreshed every five minutes. It also works with TripIt.
Kosher GPS – Find nearby kosher restaurants, mikvahs and minyanim wherever you are. Kosher GPS has daily updates and thousands of locations, and it even offers free discount coupons.
Shabbat & Holiday Times – This app from Chabad.org shows you candle lighting times as well as when Shabbat and holidays end. It also provides quick access to more information on the upcoming parsha and Jewish holidays from their huge database. Times are automatically selected based on your current location or you can choose to show times for other locations.
Siddur – A siddur app takes the weight out of your luggage and dissolves it into your sleek phone. App stores offer siddurs for all kinds of styles and nusachs, so pick your choice. Just remember that if you’re traveling somewhere without a minyan, you can’t use it on Shabbos so bring a real siddur with you!
What are YOUR go-to travel gadgets?
Tu B’ Shevat, the Jewish holiday celebrating the New Year of the Trees, is something I fondly anticipate each year in the midst of winter. As a child growing up in Northern California we always held our Tu B’shevat seder outside on the grass and then planted new trees in the back yard. The first bulbs of spring would be beginning to bloom and it was the perfect time of year to plant new trees. While it is a bit harder to feel that kind of tangible connection when in much of the country it is still the heart of winter, it is still wonderful to celebrate planting and trees and a time when the earth will be blooming again.
Almond Stuffed Dates
On Tu B’Shevat, it is traditional not only to plant trees but also to eat food from the seven species mentioned in Deuteronomy (wheat, barley, olives, pomegranate, figs, dates and grapes). Although they are not mentioned in the same verse, almonds also have a special significance for the holiday because they are one of the first trees to bloom in the spring in Israel and they have the symbolism of fertility and rebirth While I like eating all the different fruits and nuts commonly served at a Tu B’Shevat seder, I have to admit I like to dress them up and bit and turn them into more of a sweet treat.
One of my favorite things to serve on Tu B’shevat is almond filled dates. These almond stuffed dates are a common Middle Eastern sweet. A bit of sweetened almond paste is stuffed into a date and then topped with a whole almond. The soft sweetness of the date complements the almond flavor perfectly and the crunch of the whole almond brings it all together. These are extremely quick and easy to put together, but seem much more elegant than a simple dried fruit plate.
Another fun way to incorporate almonds into a Tu B’shevat menu is these almond linzer cookies. Many people have a tradition of making etrog preserves after Sukkot and saving them to eat on Tu B’shevat. Following that tradition I filled these almond linzer cookies with etrog preserves. It is said that eating etrog brings the blessing of fertility so if that isn’t what you are looking for, or you simply don’t have any etrog preserves in the house, feel free to use any other good quality jam or preserves.
Almond Linzer Cookies
My favorite Tu B’shevat treat, however, are these pomegranate and fig filled almond macarons. These are not the heavy coconut macarons of Passover. They are delicate almond confections filled with either pomegranate ganache or honey fig jam. They are a bit more involved than the other recipes but in my mind the results are worth it. They may seem intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of making the macarons they are not so hard to make. I use the Italian Meringue method which seems to be a bit more reliable than the French Meringue method. Precision does matter when making macarons so I highly recommend measuring by weight. I have to admit the process of making them is a bit addictive. You may find yourself making them again and again.
No matter if Tu B’Shevat brings great weather or snow, these treats are sure to bring the sweetness of spring to any Tu B’shevat table.
Italian Style Macarons with a choice of fillings
I almost always stick with round cake pops, for some reason shaped pops intimidate me. A crazy cake? No problem… a shaped pop? Yikes! But when I was asked to do a guest blog post I thought what could I do that I haven’t done yet and haven’t seen yet? Purim is right around the corner and I feel like my thoughts go immediately to masks. I thought I’d go out of my comfort zone and try mask cake pops! Well I think I was pretty successful with it and I hope you will be too. Enjoy my tutorial and have a Happy Purim!
Materials:
1) Make the Cake Pop mixture:
2) Melt your decorating bar.
3) Time for dipping!
4) Time to decorate!
The concept of “hiddur mitzvah” was always ingrained upon us by our teachers in yeshivah. If you spent a little more on your shabbat ingredients or table decor, then you were sure to be rewarded somehow, and for sure your extra splurges would be replaced.
Well, as The Jewish Hostess, I have taken that advice to heart! Since the holiday of Tu Bishvat is all about fruits and trees that are”new”, let’s add a “new” twist to our Tu Bishvat Shabbat table decor. I hope to inspire you to to dig into your heirloom dishes (people will think that they are new!), take out the fine china (new!), unearth your pretty vases (new!), add a “new” splash of a bright table cloth, and hunt down cool “new” table accessories that will light up your guests faces as they enter the room.
I hope to inspire you with my fantasy Tu Bishvat table, so that on Friday evening January 25, you will in your very own special way, create a “new” Tu bishvat Shabbat ambiance in your very own home . Whether you bake a memorable date cake for dessert, add some fresh scented florals, buy a cherry blossom branch to display, or whip up a pomegranate martini, the power to create is uniquely your own.
I hand stamped each one of these white craft bags and tags for each Tu Bishvat gift bag.
I definitely hope that the concept of “hiddur mitzvah” works here, because these gorgeous “new” fruits cost a pretty penny….
But seriously, I enjoyed every minute of coordinating and setting up this Tu Bishvat table!
Thank you to Miriam Haber for the use of her gorgeous home, a huge thanks to Morris Antebi Photographer for these amazing photos!
Happy Tu Bishvat!
The full story about the Syrian Jewish traditions for this holiday click HERE.
Hope you enjoy my Tu Bishvat table! Lots more cake, table, photo and floral how-to details on The Jewish Hostess.com!
So there are some things that I have never before seen in my life that are just so commonplace here. “Meat” Hummus is one of those things. Made with ground turkey, chicken or beef my cousin Bracha served it and we all loved it. Then my sister-in-law Devorah got the recipe from Bracha and she served it and we all loved it again. Then we were at our friends’ Mordechai and Sara’s for Shalosh Seudos and they spoke about it and we reminisced once more about our love for this new interesting little dish.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and probably again) that everything is better with hummus. And hummus is great on it’s own — just had a few spoonfulls while standing and staring into the fridge trying to decide what to make for lunch. You can make your own hummus with this easy Roasted Garlic Hummus, this easier classic Hummus, and this fancy-schmancy Tri Colored Hummus.
But when this “Meat” Hummus is on the menu I can’t be bothered by making homemade hummus from scratch because that would have required planning and I itch when I plan. I’d like to think that too much planning stifles my creative juices or at least that’s what I tell Hubby. He certainly has another theory that I am loathe to publicize.
So thanks to Bracha I deliever you straight from the Holy Land this Hearty Hummus. Bracha also has a recipe for perfect light and fluffy matzah balls which I will share with you come Pesach time and she can help you get anywhere you need to go in Beit Shemesh. Just call her from any corner and she’ll stay on the phone and hold your hand while you drive referencing landmarks and interesting local facts along the way. I love that Bracha for her food and her friendship!
Turmeric and cumin: Turmeric adds a great mustard yellow color and cumin is only the new love of my life.
Use ground turkey, chicken, or beef – can be extra lean if you like that sorta thing.
Break up the meat with the back of wooden spoon you can keep it somewhat chunky like this or break it up into little bits. I give you permission to express yourself here.
If not serving immediately keep the meat separate from the hummus in a bowl and warm it up and top the hummus just before serving. FYI you can also finely mince the onion – again permission has been granted to do your own thing.
The pretty finished product. You can also serve it in a round flat plate with the meat piled high in the middle.
Click on to see the full recipe, Chicken Hummus.
The pretty photos are courtesy of fellow Kosher Connection food blogger Yosef Silver from This American Bite. Hop on over and check out his local, seasonal, organic kosher recipes. He’s an inspiring writer and home cook.
Last year, for a short time, Tupperware sold different blends of tea. They did have good Hashgacha, so I gave it a try. Although, I was not a tea drinker, it was a nice beverage to add to my drinking choices. Green tea has numerous benefits over the common black tea. Normally, if my family sees me drinking a cup of tea, it’s because I have a sore throat and I am imminently ready to lose my voice—again! I drink many cups of tea over a two day period of time with a squeeze of fresh lemon and a bit of Splenda, and it helps me stave off laryngitis.
Tea as a beverage can be traced to China about 5,000 years ago; it was later brought to the West by Turkish traders. Traditionally, tea was consumed by Buddhist monks to stay awake during long meditation sessions. Green tea does contain some caffeine, but it is much less than what a cup of coffee contains: there is about 15 mg of caffeine in an 8-oz. cup of green tea as opposed to around 100 mg in an 8-oz. cup of coffee.
A Buddhist story about the origins of tea recounts how the Buddha, unable to stay awake during mediation, tore off his eyelids and threw them to the ground out of frustration. Where the eyelids fell, tea plants sprouted and helped him and his monks stay awake during meditation.
Tea has been found to have many health benefits. All teas can be beneficial if they displace the role of drinks that are known to be harmful, such as coffee, liquor or sugary sodas. Teas come in many varieties, but one variety that has clear health benefits is green tea. Green tea has been studied extensively, and has shown promise in reducing the risk of heart attacks, reducing hot flashes and disordered sleep in menopausal women, and also helping to prevent the common cold and flu, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Most of the studies need more research, but so far the findings are positive.
Tea has been shown to boost your immune system, something we all need in the winter.
All teas come from the same plant (Camellia sinensis). The Most common are: White, Green, Oolong and Black. The differences come in the variety of the plant and how the tea is processed.
White tea: Young leaves, minimally processed (usually only picked and air dried).
Green tea: Picked and heated quickly by steaming or pan trying. Most well known come from China or Japan. Because the leaf is so delicate, best to use water below the boiling temperature to brew with.
Black tea: Result of complete oxidation (exposed to air) of the leaf. Leaf is spread out , it’s heated to stop the process.
Oolong tea: Semi oxidized (in between a green tea and a black tea)
Note: Herbal infusions are not teas: they are made from other plants or flowers and they contain no caffeine: ex. Chamomile, lavender, mint, etc…. Only in the U.S. are they referred to as “teas”
Storage: should be stored in a dark, airtight container (sunlight can degrade it). Can last for up to a year.
Warning
What about Caffeine?
Tea has more caffeine than coffee PER POUND….but A pound of tea = about 200-250 cups A pound of coffee = 30-40 cups
Caffeine content: Depends on the type, variety and brewing style:
Generally per 8 ounce cup:
Green tea: 5-20 milligrams of caffeine
Black tea: 45-60 mg
Coffee: 125-185 mg
My brother-in-law was ordered by the doc to cut out both white sugar and white flour from his diet. My sister-in-law, who just had a baby was all too happy to jump on the bandwagon. It’s so hard to watch what you eat on your own, to feel like you’re the only on in your house committed to healthy living while your better half is eating potato chips in bed (of course I am not at all speaking from experience so don’t read into this). But when both you and your spouse are on the same page and under doctors orders no less it makes it all that much easier.
So we go to their house one night for din din and she serves popcorn for dessert. I was like WHAAAAT? I’m sorry I hear the no sugar thing but you are not serving me something salty for dessert. I have a sweet tooth that must be satisfied. Now if you invite me over to your house don’t worry I won’t be so bold and so rude but this is my sis in law – we are super close and I was nice about it and just said – “come on Devorah, talk to me, can this salty snack really satisfy your sweet tooth”? It’s nosh, it’s snack, no doubt, and I love popcorn but on that day, like so many others (unfortunately) I needed chocolate. (When I am being careful about my diet I always use this Soy Cinnamon Hot Cocoa as an after dinner trick.) So she pulls out the food processor and starts to make me/us (really me) Agave Chocolate Shots. She came up with this to help her and Hubby’s bro when popcorn just won’t cut it. She had no measurements of course (why would my fabulous sisters’ in law have any complete recipes for me?) so when I tasted it, and I loved it, and dipped my popcorn in it, and told her I would steal it for my site she was so thankful because that would mean I would have to re-test it and come up with exact measurements for all of us. Each time she made it, it came out different and now I was here to save the day. See so it wasn’t all bad – she scratched my back and I scratched hers.
But even though I am technically stealing it and really most of the credit is due Devorah, I do see it as a bit of a collaboration. She was using all canola oil and I told her to half the amount of canola, opt instead for a good, fruity, high quality olive oil and make up the difference with boiling water. Got that nifty idea from mommy. She hardly cooked anything for us growing up but the one thing she did make was homemade Chocolate sauce/fondue – this way we ALWAYS ate all our fruit. It was her special potion of unsweetened cocoa, butter, sugar and water. So I remembered the water trick from her — she would stir it on the stove top until hot and then we would dip in bananas or strawberries, or apples or grapes or our fingers.
My sis in law makes her version entirely in the food processor no broken stovetop necessary. The result: a silky smooth creamy consistency. I tried it with turvia but it did not work at all – the granules never totally dissolved even after whisking them in the boiling water first it still tasted super sandy. I could actually stand it because I felt that it was a sacrifice worth making for a low calorie, sugar free dessert but I would never purposefully recommend it to anyone.
The best part about this practically guilt-free dessert is that it can be made in advance, sealed in an airtight container and stored at room temp for a couple of days. I grab just a (heaping) spoonful or two when I have a craving and because it’s rich and smooth and not too sweet it’s exactly what I need when I need it. You can of course turn it from bittersweet to sweet by adding more agave to taste. If subbing sugar for agave it’s 1 cup sugar. But I would dissolve the sugar in the boiling water first.
Get the recipe for Chocolate Agave Shots here.
The following recipes are great to have on hand for those days when you do not have the time or patience to spend hours in the kitchen preparing dinner. Some recipes take minutes to prepare but require you to be at home while the food is cooking; making you feel like a slave to the kitchen. The following recipes are quick to put together and dinner will be on the table in no time yet taste like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen.
Many chefs claim that it takes hours to make a Bolognese. Try this quick version and you may change your mind.
Schnitzel with Apricot Sauce, Broccoli & Rice
Soy sauce is the secret weapon in this recipe. It makes the chicken very moist and tender. In addition, the apricot dipping sauce compliments all aspects of this dish.
Pecan Crusted Honey Mustard Salmon with Couscous and Baby Arugula
The green scallions, brown pecans and pink salmon make for a nice presentation. Most importantly, the taste of this dish is incredible; the crunch of the nuts and panko and the tanginess of the honey mustard sauce make a great dish.
Macaroni and Cheese with Bruschetta Salad
Interestingly enough, this quick method of making macaroni and cheese yields a creamier and cheesier result than baking the mac and cheese for a long time as many recipes recommend. The bruschetta salad is a bright and healthy compliment to this creamy delicious macaroni and cheese.
As seen in the JoyofKosher with Jamie Geller Magazine (Bitayavon Winter 2011) – Subscribe Now
Cauliflower is in season right now and we want to help you get more of it. Here are our tips on choosing, cooking and getting the most of this versatile vegetable.
How to select cauliflower: Select cauliflower that is firm and tightly packed and make sure that the heads are purely white with no brown spots.
How to prepare cauliflower: Steam, roast, sauté, or eat raw. Make sure not to overcook as many nutrients are lost in the cooking process.
Although white cauliflower is the most common and readily available, there are actually 4 types of cauliflower
White
The most common form of cauliflower available, white cauliflower is crisp and light and becomes sweeter and tastier when roasted or marinated.
Purple
Purple cauliflower has anthocyanins, similar to red cabbage and red wine. When marinated in a vinegar based solution, the cauliflower tastes
incredible and turns the dressing into a beautiful purplish color.
Orange
Orange cauliflower has 25 times the amount of Vitamin A as the other cauliflower varieties and tastes almost exactly like the white cauliflower variety.
Green
Green cauliflower is a cross between white cauliflower and broccoli and is also known as broccoflower. A variety of green cauliflower known as Romanesco is a spikier, cooler looking version of green cauliflower.
Nutritional benefits: Cauliflower is low in calories, full of Vitamin C (a natural antioxidant) and dietary fibers and contain phytochemicals
which may aid in blocking cancer growth.
Whenever there is an abundance of fresh produce, it is always a good time to try pickling.
Pickled Cauliflower Salad
Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichoke, sunroot and earth apple are native to North America and were actually cultivated by the Native Americans years before the discovery of America. Sunchokes come from the sunflower family and were therefore called sunroot by Native Americans. There are many theories as to why they are called Jerusalem artichokes as they are not from Jerusalem and do not look like artichoke. One theory stipulates that sunchokes became a staple item in the diets of the early European settlers in America a.k.a. the ‘new Jerusalem’ thus naming the vegetable Jerusalem artichoke. They are long, round like a tube and taste like a sweeter, crunchier version of a potato. Like a potato, they are great baked, roasted and in soups and stews. Unlike a potato, sunchokes can be eaten in its raw state, and are
great additions to salads and stir fries.
Try them in this tasty salad.
Roasted Red Pepper and Jerusalem Artichoke Salad
As seen in the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Magazine (Bitayavon – Winter 2011) – Subscribe Now
An interesting aspect to keeping Shabbat, is that every Shabbat dinner is like the once a year thanksgiving feast that most Americans discuss and plan for weeks in advance. Every week, Jewish men and women cook up a storm to celebrate Shabbat with food, family and friends. Listed below is a step by step guide to help you create a great tasting, and quick Shabbat dinner for eight. Keep in mind that the two and ½ hours include prep work and cooking time too. These recipes aren’t only for Shabbat; you can use the recipes for any occasion.
Shabbat Dinner
Shabbat Lunch
Click here to see the full Shabbat menu with links to the recipes and a Shopping List.
Now, how to get it done!!! Here is a timeline to get Shabbat done in less than 3 hours. Does anyone else feel like they are on Top Chef?
Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees.
Make chicken, place in oven.
Prepare soup, place on stovetop to boil.
Prepare gefilte fish.
Bring soup to simmer, cover soup
Prepare pickled salmon.
Roast eggplant according to recipe directions and set aside.
Make potato kugel.
Make deli roll pockets.
Make apple cobbler.
Place asparagus in oven.
Prepare salad dressings.
Make napoleon.
Mix eggplant salad.
Make cauliflower salad.
Place all cholent ingredients in crock pot according to recipe directions.
….Hand’s up, you did it and there is still time for a shower.
As seen in the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Magazine (Bitayavon – Winter 2011) – Subscribe Now
Travel is an exciting opportunity to get away from the humdrum of everyday life and show your children the great big world around them. Whether you’re going with Bubby and Zeidy or just the immediate family, there are so many exciting discoveries and treasured memories your children will keep for the rest of their lives. Make your trip smooth and fun with these helpful tips for traveling with little ones:
Whatever happens, the main thing is to stay calm and relaxed, with your sense of humor safely secured. Surprise detours and unexpected discoveries are one of the great benefits of travel. As long as you smile and take everything in stride, your kids will long remember the laughs and good times you had together on family trips.
What are your tips for traveling with kids? Please share them in the comments below.
Until next time, Nesia Tova!
Aran Goyoaga wrote this cookbook with recipes and stories inspired by her childhood in the Basque Country, motherhood, and living as an ex-pat. The book is divided by season and within each chapter you will find a section for small plates and another for sweet treats. Aran left the professional kitchen of the Ritz Carlton to stay home with her first child and she channeled her cooking into her blog, Cannelle et Vanille (cinnamon and vanilla) after the smells of her childhood. Aran became gluten free in 2009 and began adapting all her recipes to her new lifestlye. You can tell from her gorgeous photography that she had outdone herself. We asked Aran a few questions to get to know her a bit better. (Note – this book is not a kosher cookbook, but most of the recipes can be made kosher)
You have quite an impressive background cooking in a professional kitchen, do you ever miss it?
I come from a family of professional pastry chefs and I worked as one myself for a few years before I become a mother. I miss the camaraderie, the discipline and the intensity of the professional kitchen. It was addicting. But at the same time, I don’t miss the grueling schedule, no holidays off… It wasn’t very compatible with family life unfortunately.
You became gluten free in 2009, as a pastry chef how did you handle that adjustment?
I started to dabble in it in 2009, but was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity in early 2010. It’s then when I become completely gluten-free. The adjustment was actually easy because I was so ill that I was ready to try anything. I followed a strict elimination diet for the first 6 months or so and I stopped eating not only gluten, but also dairy, soy, sugar, most grains, caffeine… I quickly began to feel better and felt very encouraged. Having worked as a pastry chef, it’s engrained in me the curiosity to experiment and try new ingredients. I loved learning about different flours and testing new recipes. It felt very natural and exciting.
Roasted Beet Orange Salad
Is there any food you still really really miss?
In all honestly, I rarely have any cravings for it. I stood inside Poilâne in Paris with that smell of yeast and freshly baked brioche permeating the air. That is probably the only time I have felt nostalgic for bread, but because it makes me so sick, I could never even attempt to eat it.
You organize this cookbook, Small Plates Sweet Treats, by season, why did you decide to do it that way?
I am inspired by seasons and it’s really how I like to shop and cook at home. My grandparents were farmers and most people we knew grew their own food, so cooking was always associated with the time of year and what was available at the time. That strong sense of seasonality has never left me. When vegetables and fruits are picked at the right time, at their peak and have grown in soil in accordance to nature’s rhythm, their flavor is so intense that cooking becomes simple and flavorful.
Who is your cooking inspiration?
I am inspired by many people really. My own family, other cooks and chefs, what the farmer might suggest… I have been very inspired by Basque chefs Hilario Arbelaitz and Martin Berasategui who have an immense understanding of technique and great respect for the raw ingredient, which is the way I grew up.
Swiss Chard Tart
What is your favorite dish to cook?
I find it hard to pick only one dish because it varies constantly. I really like to eat things with a spoon, so soups, custards, creamy risottos (yes, I eat them with a spoon), but I think that one of my favorite things to make are tarts. Both savory and sweet. Something about playing with different textures of doughs and fillings, rolling pastry… They are so versatile and allow for many variations. In my book, the Swiss chard, pear and Gruyere tart seems to be everyone’s favorite.
How did you learn to take such gorgeous pictures?
I am a self-taught photographer. I started slowly by reading the camera’s manual and practicing a lot. I would observe the photographs I responded to and try to understand what it was about them that I loved. This really taught me a lot about light and composition.
What is your earliest cooking memory?
When I helped my grandmother and mother cook Christmas dinner. It was a stew of lamb with artichokes, carrot and potatoes that my grandmother made often. The artichokes were dredged in flour and dipped in egg. That became my task. I stood on a green-colored stool and felt such connection to what I was doing.
Chocolate Hazelnut Pots de Creme
***Giveaway***
Win a copy of Small Plates & Sweet Treats for your cookbook collection, whether you are gluten free or just love good food, you will enjoy this book. To enter, let us know in the comments below – what smells bring you back to your childhood? Then enter with rafflecopter.
Have you ever heard of Bahia? How about Salvador? Not El Salvador, or San Salvador, but Salvador, the capital of Bahia, the largest of Brazil’s twenty-six states.
Well, neither had I, until about five years ago, when my husband and I established a Chabad House and Jewish center in Salvador serving the Jewish residents as well as thousands of Jewish tourists who come to visit the region’s idyllic beaches and fishing villages, Salvador’s Pelourinho Old Town and enjoy practicing Capoeira martial arts. Many of the Jewish tourists join the millions who throng to Salvador for the world’s largest Carnaval celebration every February.
Life here is like nothing we have experienced before. For a nice English girl like me, the weather alone presents enormous challenges. The thermometer never dips below seventy-eight degrees, and usually hovers around a hundred. Homeschooling our children, the non-existence of a mikva, and the lack of privacy due to our open home present difficulties. Interestingly, the one thing I thought would be hardest – feeding my family and guests a strictly kosher diet while living over twelve hundred miles from the nearest kosher shop – is not so difficult after all.
Living in bustling cities with strong Jewish culture, one cannot imagine existing without a kosher grocery, a butcher, a restaurant or two, and a take-out place nearby. I dreaded the logistics of having to plan my meat consumption three months ahead of time, ordering it from Sao Paulo, and arranging to have it trucked north for four days by refrigerated truck, then unloading it all and storing it in our industrial-sized freezers. I thought eating defrosted yogurt and cheese and UHT milk* would be unbearable. I thought doing without ice cream, pizza, bagels and gourmet cakes would be a real sacrifice. I was sure my husband, four small children and I would suffer from the lack of kosher amenities.
But, we are not suffering. Not remotely. I have learned to bake bread, bagels, pizza and gourmet cakes, using simple ingredients from the local supermarket that do not need kosher certification. My children know that the ice cream we eat is different from the ice cream they have on the infrequent occasion when we visit cities in which kosher exists; but it is ice cream nonetheless.
Absent from my kids’ diet are the endless bags of fried, salted, sugared, preservative-laden snacks kids everywhere eat. Our consumption of fresh and cooked vegetables has doubled, and a mango-papaya-maracuja (passion-fruit) shake is a treat for my children; no sugar, no cream, just fruit. When they get twenty stars on their good-behavior charts, there are no chocolate bars. We take a walk down the road to the nearest coconut vendor, and the lucky winner gets a freshly perforated coconut, ice-cold, with a straw inside to suck out the delicious, naturally sweet and vitamin-laden agua-de-coco (coconut water).
One of my children was recently diagnosed with celiac-sprue disease, a condition where the villi in the intestines cannot absorb gluten, shrinking away to nothing when gluten is introduced in to the system, thus endangering the body’s absorption of other vital vitamins and minerals. Since gluten is a protein found in all products made with wheat, barley, rye, and most oats, keeping to a gluten-free diet is extremely challenging. In the literature available on the subject, much space is devoted to discussions of the self-control needed (and often lacking) to stay away from these products. While reading this, I smiled. To the kosher-conscious (especially one living in Salvador) such self-control is par for the course.
My three-year-old knows when she walks up the candy aisle in the supermarket, that she cannot have even one item on the shelves. My children don’t even bat an eyelid when the ice-cream man rolls his cart down the street, shouting “Picole, picole!” When my four and six year olds recently attended a friend’s birthday party, they took bags of homemade cookies along, and refused even a lick of the spectacular Hot-Wheels birthday cake served. (I know because the birthday boy’s mother, amazed at their self-control, told me!)
The thousands of Jews who crowd into Salvador to attend the world-famous Carnaval (a weeklong outdoor festival) are amazed. Who would have thought you could buy a kosher schnitzel and potato salad within earshot of the samba beats? Who would believe that you could obtain a Shabbos meal with challah and chicken soup a hundred yards from the trio electricos (music trucks)? Our Chabad House, so close to the Caranaval offers kosher options for the thousands of Jewish revelers.
When we moved here, our new friends here told us it couldn’t be done. Keeping kosher in Bahia was an impossibility, and people predicted that it would take six months for us to start compromising. (They said this about my long skirts and my husband’s beard and black coat, as well). Four and a half years later, we have proven that keeping kosher in the land of Capoeira and Carnaval is a matter of making up your mind to it. I am inspired by the families that have jumped on the kosher bandwagon, and have taken steps towards bringing G-d’s blessing into their homes.
So – kosher Salvador? Absolutely!
*UHT milk is long life milk which doesn’t need refrigeration and lasts a few months. However, it tastes very different to regular milk found in supermarket shelves.
As seen in the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Magazine (Bitayavon- Winter 2011) – Subscribe Now.
Jamie Geller is a bestselling author of the wildly successful QUICK & KOSHER cookbook...
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