A Very Cool Day...WallStreetaversary

One year ago an amazing thing happened in my life...I was featured on the front cover of the Greater New York section of the Wall Street Journal!

I was riding the subway at 8:15 am going downtown toward Wall Street.  I thought it was my lucky day because I scurried into the last seat on the subway.  As I was basking in my glory between two different people squishing their thighs against mine, my eyes drifted, as usual, looking at every person on the subway and taking in my surroundings.  When my eyes wandered over to the guy directly across from me, I noticed he was holding a newspaper.   I thought "He's wearing a suit so of course he's holding a newspaper!"  My eyes took a quick glance across the paper he was reading and saw a familiar setting and person on the front cover.  I screamed in my head "Holy shnikey!! That's me!!!"  Staring at the guy for at last 3 stops, I realized I was starting to be that creepy person on the subway gazing at people for long periods of time.  He noticed.  I whispered excuse me to him and pointed to the front page story he had already read, and told him that the girl in the chef uniform was me.  A quick nod of congratulations and 12 more very uncomfortable stops later I made my way to work.

The rest of the day people were coming up to me, emailing me, texting me, calling me....It felt like my birthday on steroids!   

My biggest worry was that I was going to be quoted wrong and my words would be understood the complete opposite of what I was trying to portray and explain.  It was a wonderful Kiddush Hashem (giving G-D a good name) and that is my biggest pride!  I went to a non kosher culinary school and sacrificed so much. To be quoted correctly, to inspire and to give over my beliefs to literally millions of people is one of the craziest and most rewarding feelings in the world!

When I got home, my boyfriend (now husband) had stacks of newspapers waiting for me!  He had gone to each Walgreens, Starbucks, everywhere you can name to buy all of their Wall Street Journals.  Each place he stopped, he would brag to the cashier while pointing to the picture that the girl in the picture was his girlfriend!  

In honor of it being one year since this, what I like to call, VERY COOL DAY, I wanted to make a recipe from Culinary School!  Click here for the WSJ article!

Chicken Stew with Columbian Ajiacio

Institute of Culinary Education

2 Each Chipotle, Ancho Pasilla Dried Peppers
1 Chicken, cut into 8ths

Salt, Pepper and  Oil

5 Oz. Onion, diced

5 Cloves Garlic, minced

¼ c. Masa Harina (corn meal)

12 Oz. Chicken Stock

2 Poblano Peppers, seeded and julienned

1 Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and julienned

2 Idaho Potatoes, large dice

1 Avocado, sliced

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Seed the dried peppers and toast them in oven for about 10 min. Once toasted, soak the dried peppers in water, drain, puree, set aside.  Sauté chicken in a pan with high sides.  Once the chicken is browned, remove and put to the side on a separate plate.  Saute onions till translucent, then add the garlic, poblanos and jalapeno. Add dried pepper puree, salt and pepper.  Add the Masa Harina and a little stock.  Put chicken back in and add the rest of the stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer, no lid.  Add potatoes and braise in oven for 40 minutes.  Serve with avocado.

Me Want Cookie!

One of my most favorite foods of all time is the Chocolate Chip Cookie.  Eating a warm, crispy on the outside (I like em' crispy) and gooey in the middle cookie right out of the oven or even straight from the freezer, brings me memories of happiness.  The smell could make someone tune into their animal like tendency's to sniff and salivate till they munch down on their treat.  

Asking a chef their favorite dish is like asking a painter their favorite color.  It is just impossible!  Too many choices and too many ideas!  It might be just as evil to give a child an ice cream cone in each hand during the middle of the summer and tell them to finish both. 

The bottom line is, I have numerous amounts of favorite foods and dishes and will continue to be my favorite till the end of my days while always adding more to my list!  Who knows...tonight I may have an addition to make!  

I guarantee  99% of the time you ask someone if they like chocolate chip cookies you will get a resounding yes.  There is even a study shown that links chocolate chip cookies to a homier feeling.  Have you ever gone through a house you were thinking of buying and smelled a whiff of baking cookies in the oven?  Suddenly that grungy, not so perfect house, became a little more appealing!

Do you want to woo that boy you have a crush on?  Make him chocolate chip cookies!  It worked with my husband...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Nestle Toll House…who else?)

2 1/4 C. Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1 cup (2 sticks) Butter or Earth Balance, softened

3/4 C. Sugar

3/4 C. Brown Sugar, packed

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 Eggs

2 C. Chocolate Chips

1 C. Walnuts

Preheat oven to 375° F.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

Mo-Rockin In Your Kitchen

Guest Blog Post by Elisheva Avital

I am a fairly skilled home cook, but baking has never been my thing.  I tend to do much better when I can wing a recipe.  This year, for the first time, I made a small Mimouna after Pesach.  This is an old Moroccan tradition to throw a typically loud, fun, open-house party on the night Pesach ends.  The main food served at this party is called Moufletta, which is a cross between a crepe and a flat-bread.  My poor, deprived husband has been telling me about this for years, and he hasn't had this taste of home since he emigrated to America at 16.  The stories always made it seem like a burden to do this right after cleaning up from Pesach, but we had so much fun doing it!  

This is the Avital family method: (we halved this recipe.)

 Moufletta

6.5-7 C. Flour

3 C. Warm Water

1/4 C. Oil

pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients.  Let dough sit for 20 minutes.  Preheat a skillet on a medium-high flame. 

On an oiled countertop, divide the dough into small balls, then open and flatten each leaf by hand until it is very thin.  

Cook one leaf on the skillet until it is golden on each side, and then place one raw leaf on top of the cooked one, and flip the stack.  It  can be tricky to pick up the thin leaves without them tearing- this can take some practice.  Repeat adding raw leaves and flipping the stack until you have about 10 leaves, and repeat until all the dough is cooked.  You will end with something that looks like a stack of large pancakes.  Serve warm, spread butter and honey/confectioners sugar, and roll up like a crepe.

It was such a pleasure to be able to give my husband a little taste of his childhood. After seeing how easy it was to make Moufletta, I was inspired to try making my own pita!

I concocted my own recipe based on combining a few others: 

Pita

1 Package (about 2 Tbs) Yeast

1 C. Warm Water (add a little extra if using whole wheat)

 2.5-3 C. Flour (I did 1 C. whole wheat, 1.5 C. white)

2 tsp. salt

2 TBS. Oil

1 tsp. honey

Mix yeast and water and let sit for 5 minutes or until it is totally dissolved.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and combine well, then knead for about 7 minutes.  Place in an oiled bowl, and cover with saran wrap or towel and let rise in a 100 degree oven for 1-2 hours, until the dough doubles in size. 

 Once it has risen, place the dough on a floured surface and cut into 8-12 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball- the  more perfect the ball, the rounder your pita will be.  Flatten them by hand into a disc, and let rest in darkness (under a towel) for 10-20 minutes.  Preaheat an oven to 475, or a skillet on a high flame.  I used a skillet, because we like our pita to be a little blackened.  For more even color, do it in an oven on a preheated baking stone or preheated sheet. 

With a rolling pin, roll each pita to your desired thickness.  The more thick and bready you like your pita, the thicker it should be.  I rolled mine pretty thin.  Since I am a novice baker, I didn't even have a rolling pin, and a wine bottle did the trick.

If doing in an oven, bake on 475 for about 3 minutes or until the pita puffs up.

If using a skillet:

Test the pan to see if a droplet of water will sizzle away immediately.  If so, it's ready.  Place a pita in the pan, wait about 20 seconds until small bubbles begin to form, and then flip.  When large bubbles begin to form (usually about 1 minute), flip again, and the pita should begin to puff up like a pillow.  If your pita is not puffing, there are two possible solutions: Your pan may not be hot enough, so raise the flame.  If your pita is not moist enough, this can be fixed by spritzing some water on the dough before you put it in the skillet.  It's a neat little trick so that you don't need to re-knead all your dough with more water.  If you still can't get them to puff, they can be passed off as flatbread (-:.

Voila!  Making home made pita was so simple and delicious that I think I will start to do it regularly, and you can too!

Flour-Freealicouse!

Almond flour tastes good in any baked good!  It's nutty with a hint of sweet, which I call a WINNING combination! Matzah pancakes, Matzah Brei...all of those are good.  But 8 days of them?! It was time to switch it up. 

Although on the pricier side, almond flour is a great alternative to the classic flour free and potato starch Pesach mixes we are used to eating.   I added some caramelized bananas to the top to make these extra special, but feel free to put on any topping you would like.  

Almond Flour Pancakes

3 large eggs

1/4 C. dairy-free milk or water

1 TBS. vanilla extract

2 TBS. honey 

1 1/2 C. Blanched Almond Flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

a few tablespoons of cooking oil or ghee 

Whisk together all the wet ingredients in a large bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend well.

Heat a skillet on a low to medium heat with about 1 tablespoon of oil or ghee.

Spoon 1/4 Cup of batter per pancake on the heated skillet.

When you can slide a spatula under the pancake easily, flip the pancake and cook on the other side. Cook for a few more minutes and serve with caramelized bananas or maple syrup.

Dear Coco

Saigon Fireball and Paraguay Passion Fruit sound like cocktail names you only find on tropical islands.  Well, I have had the honor and pleasure of tasting these Dear Coco delectable’s in chocolate truffle form.

These creamy truffles stay true to their name and are bursting with powerful flavor! 

Saigon Fireball = Vietnamese Saigon Cinnamon + Dark Chocolate + Chili Powder + Cayenne Pepper + Natural Cocoa

Paraguay Passion Fruit = Passion Fruit + Dark Chocolate + Organic Hibiscus Flowers

Rachelle Ferneau, owner of Dear Coco and pastry-chef-turned chocolatier, is so inspiring! Check out her website and see what other flavor combinations she puts into chocolate form!

Inspired by these creative combinations, the upcoming holiday of Purim, and my wedding in Columbus, OH, I decided to create a NEW cocktail hamantashen!  While I finish creating and perfecting this recipe you can check out the three I created last year! Stay tuned!

Super (Bowl) Snacker

The Super Bowl is a few weeks away and I have already been dreaming of a menu.  Although my traditional super bowl food is chili and chips, I wanted to veer toward dairy this year!
The inspiration came from the scarce amount of food in my house.  Don't pity me...It's for a good reason!  I am moving soon, and as most people do when moving, I have tried using up the food I currently have in my house.   I had sweet potatoes and cheese lying around.  I added some spices and chili powder (to keep with the chili theme) and made the Super Loaded Sweet Potato!  I know you will enjoy these as much as I did!

Super Loaded Sweet Potato
2 Sweet Potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch
1tsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper, to taste
4 TBS. Olive Oil
Cheese, Shredded, Any Kind
Sour Cream
Chives

Preheat oven to 350.  Lay foil down on a sheet pan.  Mix the potatoes, oil and spices in a bowl and place the potatoes on the sheet tray.  Place the potatoes in the oven for 10 minutes.  Flip the potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes on the other side.   Add cheese to each potato and put in the oven for another 2-3 minutes until melted.  Add a dollop of sour cream and garnish with chives and freshly ground black pepper.

Whiskey Tasting for The New Year

Guest Blog Post by Matan Gutwaks

I’m going to start my post about a whisky tasting by talking about food.

The event I attended was catered by Gemstone Caterers- an exquisite  posse  lead by NYC’s very own Kosher Culinary Cowboy, Chef Ari White.

Chef White never disappoints.  Evoking his inner Texan, his first station provided a choice of either  a slow cooked pulled brisket or pulled chicken sandwich in an intensely flavorful and smoky BBQ sauce.  Remember that, because it’s going to come into play later.

He followed the sandwiches with an array of sushi and herrings (which is a way straight to my heart) as well as salmon done three ways- classic smoked lox, gravlaks (which is an herb cured lox), and (my personal favorite) pastrami cured lox.

White never disappoints, and the food alone would have made a lovely night out.  The real purpose, though, was an educational and, if I may, an intoxicating tasting.

A note:

I consider myself a man of expensive tastes.  I enjoy a few of the more expensive hobbies: luxurious food, great wine, and quality cigars are notable here.  Generally speaking, though, my familiarity with alcohol stopped at wine.  I knew that I preferred bourbon (and who doesn’t like tequila), but in the broader world of whisky (or whisky, depending on the location) I’m still an amateur.

So when I embarked on the First Annual Scotch and Whisky Tasting put on by Single Cask Nation, I was shown a whole new sphere of pretentiousness with which I could wet my palate.

There were more whiskies than you probably care to hear about (all of which were great), so I’ll just mention the ones I thought most noteworthy.

Glenrothes Select Reserve, is a blend that represents the flavors The Glenrothes are known for.  It’s full and slightly spicy with hints of vanilla; it made me think it was a liquid cloud.  If that helps at all.  The rep that Glenrothes had there explained that this is their “house style”- they intend, through blending different casks of different years, to yield a flavor that encompasses what their distillery is known for.

Koval, a company based out of Chicago, impressed me with its Lion’s Pride- organic whisky in five varieties that are all distilled from different grains (wheat, spelt, oat, millet, and rye, respectively).  Each tastier than the last, all delicious.

I took a liking to Angel’s Envy – a Kentucky Straight Bourbon – which, though unique, reminded me of Woodford Reserve.  It turns out Angel’s Envy was started by Woodford’s former master distiller after he retired.

 Finally, the guys that organized the event – Joshua, Jason, and Seth from Single Cask Nation, the Jewish Whisky company – rolled out their products.

We started with the Arran 12, which was quite nice - pungent with a nice spiciness.  We moved on to the Benriach 17- a single malt scotch whisky, matured in a single cask that previously head bourbon, whose pronounced smokiness reminded me of a BLT from my rebellious days.  Smoky, sweet, crisp, and refreshing.  I thought this was a really fantastic way to introduce peatiness to a beginner.  It does not overwhelm you with it, but it definitely gives you enough to know you want more.

Just so you know, they have more.

For those that can handle a ton of smoke there’s the Kilchoman 4.  They’d love this intensely peaty dram.  It’s floral and strong; it tasted like the liquefied smoke of a barbequed flower.  An amazing way to cap off the palate for the evening.

This, by the way, is a great callback to the menu from earlier in the evening, and one of the reasons why White did such an amazing job pairing dishes to the tasting.  His smoked and cured meats were just strong enough to prepare you for the intensity of what was coming.

I walked out, a bit more tipsy than I would like to admit, genuinely excited to experiment and enjoy all the bourbons, scotches, ryes and whiskies we tried (and of course, many more that we hadn't) , but more than anything thankful to the guys that set this event up.  Because after all, what good is a combination cigar/flask if I don’t have something great to put in it?

Special thanks to John Flemming for editing this post.