Middle Eastern Mezze: Moroccan Cigars
From CKCA At Happy Home
Moroccan Cigars are a delicious appetizer and a great addition to any Middle Eastern Mezze (sampler or small plates). In honor of our upcoming course, Middle Eastern Mezze, which will occur on Monday, August 23, at 7:30pm (a few spots are still available! Call 718-758-1339 to sign up!), we are sharing the following delectable recipe for Moroccan Cigars.
About this class: “The lightness and emphasis on fresh ingredients makes the cuisine of the Mediterranean and middle east the perfect summer fare. Join CKCA and one of our top chef instructors for an exploration of “mezze” or small plates and tasty nibbles from a variety of countries throughout this region.”
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Florence Tabry’s Beef Stew
* 4 lbs. lean beef cut-up into little chunks
* 1 medium size onion
* 4-5 medium size red potatoes
* 4-5 carrots
* 3-4 stalks celery
* A handful of thin spaghetti
* 1 can of baby peas
* Salt and pepper
1.Dice the onion.
2.Slice the celery and carrots into small pieces.
3.Place beef, onions and celery into a pot. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Let simmer until meat becomes soft.
4.Dice potatoes and add to pot.
5.Add broken spaghetti.
6.When all ingredients are soft add peas.
7.Add salt and pepper to taste
Wilted Spinach and Strawberry Salad
Ingredients
* 1 10-ounce package fresh baby spinach
* 1-pint strawberries
* 1 teaspoon minced onion
* 1/4-cup apple cider vinegar
* 1/4-cup extra virgin olive oil
* 1/4-cup honey
* 1/4-teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 2 heaping Tablespoons toasted almonds
* 1-2 cups croutons
Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Salad
Ingredients
DRESSING
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
* 1/4 cup salad oil
* 1/4 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
* 2 teaspoons Apple cider vinegargood
* pinch of allspice
SALAD
* 1 pound boneless chicken breasts
* 1 recipe honey mustard salad dressing
* 1 papaya or 1 cup finely diced mango or cantelope
* 1 avocado, diced
* 3 cups assorted greens, bibb, radicchio, watercress
* 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
Mulligatawny Soup
Ingredients
* 1 3-pound chicken, cut up
* 6 cups chicken stock or water
* 1 onion stuck with 6 cloves
* 1 stalk of celery
* 1 carrot coarsely chopped
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 sprigs of parsley
* Salt to taste
* 15 whole peppercorns
* 1 cup packaged coconut
* 1 16-ounce can chickpeas, drained
* 4 Tablespoons Pareve margarine
* 6 Tablespoons flour
* 1 Tablespoon turmeric
* 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
* 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 Tablespoon ground coriander
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1-cup soy creamer
* Salt and pepper to taste
Amazing Baking Recipe: Feathery Summer Shortcakes
Here at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, our students recently perfected an amazingly light and decadent shortcake recipe which is a perfect building block for strawberry, blackberry or blueberry shortcake.
Split these warm shortcakes in half with a fork and fill them with regular or non-dairy whipped cream and the berries of your choice. If you prep individual shortcakes for each person at your table this Shabbos, you are likely to be greeted with roars of delight. Or better yet, bring the materials to the table and let them make their own(keep them warm in the oven so you can split them easily).
From CKCA Baking Column: The Art and Science of Honey Cake
Most bakers have a love/hate relationship with honey cake. They either have an amazing recipe that works out fantastically well every time, or they slave for hours and come up only with a tough, dry mess. My job today is to give you that ideal recipe—coupled with an understanding of the science that backs it up—that will turn out that “perfect” honey cake every time you make it.
CKCA Bakes Seven Grain Artisan Bread!
This week, CKCA pro baking students are working on all kinds of artisan breads. The smells coming out of the kitchen are amazing!
Here’s a great recipe for seven grain bread that is not just delicious; it’s also healthy!!!
1 lb 10 oz water
1 oz fresh yeast
1 lb 8 oz high gluten flour
6 oz rye flour
2 oz barley flour
3 oz corn meal
3 oz rolled oats
2 oz flax seeds
2 oz millet
.75 oz kosher salt
Mastering the Muffin Method
Mastering the Muffin Method for Seasonal Loaf Cake Recipes
If you study baking like we do here at CKCA, you will learn that there are three types of quick bread mixing techniques, but there’s only one that will deliver perfect blueberry muffins, zucchini bread, banana bread and pumpkin cake every time. The muffin method is perfect for these kinds of recipes, and if you master this technique, your kitchen will always be able to reflect the fresh and delicious ingredients of the season.
The muffin method is characterized by the use of a liquid fat like oil or melted butter, instead of solid fats used with the creaming method such as softened butter, margarine or shortening. In case you were wondering, the third quick bread technique is the biscuit method, which uses a cold fat to achieve a flaky product. Since the muffin method is part of the quick bread family, you will have the benefit of a cake baked quickly, with a minimum of steps.
Cream Puffy Cream Puffs
CKCA student Yael Colman took this gorgeous picture of her perfect cream puffs. Pate aux Choux with vanilla pastry cream, garnished with powdered sugar and strawberries.
1 cup water
6 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 and 3/4 ounces flour
1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs and 2 whites
Tsuni’s Fake Tuna Fish Salad
recipe is from Mother Wonderful’s Chicken Soup by Myra C
As a child I was considered a juvenile Jewish anorectic, which meant I could live off my own fat for only seventeen weeks. “The child eats nothing!” was the constant lament of my mother and grandmother because I didn’t like what was considered “normal” food. They spent countless hours making dishes I would eat. This is one of them. I didn’t eat “normal” chicken salad, but I loved tuna fish salad, so my mother concocted a chicken salad that could pass as tuna fish salad. Here it is.
Roasted Pomegranate Chicken
This is a favorite Rosh Hashanah dish of Moroccan Jews. Because of their many seeds, pomegranates symbolize the hope that in the year ahead, Jews will be able to perform many worthy deeds, or mitzvahs.
4 SERVINGS
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) chicken, quartered
* 1 pomegranate, halved
* 1/4 cup dry white wine
* Juice of 1 lemon
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar
* Salt and pepper
One Cook, Thousands of Seders
NYT.com
Susie Fishbein, who writes kosher cookbooks, at home in Livingston, N.J.
TO Passover cooks parched for new ideas, wandering in a desert of matzo and dried-out brisket, Susie Fishbein is like a tall, icy Coca-Cola — the kosher for Passover kind, made with sugar instead of corn syrup.
Mrs. Fishbein is the author of the popular Kosher by Design cookbooks, which have sold more than 300,000 copies.
“No corn, no grains, no legumes, no seeds — not even mustard or soy sauce for eight days,” she said, searing a rib roast as big as a bread machine in her kitchen in Livingston, N.J. “It’s quite challenging, as a cook.”
She will not be making her famous tricolor matzo balls (colored by spinach, tomato and turmeric) for the Seder this year, and her signature napkin rings made of braided challah are prohibited during Passover.
Grilled Pastrami-Style Salmon
This is a 'Cooking light' recipe that uses the classic beef pastrami on grilled salmon. Allspice is a fairly strong spice, so if you're sensitive to its “burn,” use the lesser amount. Use a whole center-cut salmon fillet so that it will cook more evenly than a cut that contains the thinner tail end.
Ingredients
* 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
* 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 (1 1/2 lb) center-cut salmon fillets
* 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
* cooking spray
Apricot Pockets
Servings: About 16 (can be served warm or cold)
Ingredients:
* 1 package frozen puff pastry sheets (2)
* 2 jars (26 oz.) apricot halves, drained
* 1/2 cup sugar
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°F
Thaw puff pastry for 30 minutes or according to directions on box.
Drain apricots and slice each half into thirds; set aside.
When pastry is thawed, put each sheet on a lightly floured surface and roll out to extend each side by approximately 1/2 inch. Cut each sheet into eight rectangles to make 16 total.
Fill bottom portion of each rectangle with 4-5 pieces of fruit; moisten sides with a bit of water and pinch closed to form a square. Place pocket on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with sugar.
Cut 3 slits in the top of each for the steam to escape while baking.
Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes or until the pockets are golden brown.
Gefilte Fish with Tilapia
David Poran of Balducci's (published in the NY Jewish Week)
* 2 lbs tilapia fillet ground
* 1 cup grated onion
* 3 eggs beaten
* 3 oz matzah meal
* Salt and black pepper to taste
* Fish stock to poach
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except fish stock. Let fish mixture rest for an
hour, and then form into three-ounce balls or ovals.
Poach gently in fish stock for about five minutes, or until the internal temperature is 165F.
Cool down. If desired, thicken fish stock with gelatin.
Yield: About 12 balls
Broccoli Knish
Serves 6
Ingredients:
* 1 cup mashed potatoes
* 1/3 cup matzah meal
* 2 tbsp potato starch
* 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
* 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup Passover egg substitute
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli, steamed and finely chopped
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
In a bowl combine the potatoes, matzah meal, potato starch, onion, egg whites, pepper and salt and knead together. Divide the dough into 6 balls and flatten each. Divide the broccoli evenly onto each circle, fold over, and press edges to seal.
Generously coat a baking sheet with the cooking spray. Arrange the knishes in a single layer and place the baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes on each side. Serve hot.
Knishes: Spinach Cheese
* 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups flour
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 pound spinach, (10 oz.) frozen chopped
* 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
* 1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
* 4 ounces pot cheese
* 1 egg, beaten
Preparation:
With a fork, mix cream cheese and butter. Cut in the flour. Work with hands until dough holds together.
Place on waxed paper, form into a ball, and chill overnight. Roll out dough 1/3“ thick with floured rolling pin on a well-floured surface. Cut into 2” rounds.
Sauté onion in oil until softened, add spinach and salt. Cook over low heat until tender. Mix cheeses together and stir in egg. Add spinach mixture and blend well.
Place a little spinach filling on each round and fold over. Moisten edge so it will hold together. Flute edge with a fork and prick center. Place pastries on a cookie sheet. You can brush with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water) if you wish.
Bake in a 425°F oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 70 to 100 small pastries.
Sweet Cheese Blintzes
Ingredients:
* 1 8-ounce carton mascarpone or cottage cheese
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1 tablespoon milk
* 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel or snipped lemon verbena
* 1/4 teaspoon anise seed, crushed
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 large egg white
* 3/4 cup milk
* 1 large egg yolk
* 2 teaspoon walnut oil or hazelnut oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 cup seedless green grapes, sliced
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
1. For filling, in a small mixing bowl beat together mascarpone cheese, honey, the 1 tablespoon milk, shredded lemon peel or verbena, and anise seed. Cover; set aside.
2. For blintzes, stir together flour and baking powder. Set aside. In a small mixing bowl beat egg white with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until soft peaks form.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine the 3/4 cup milk, egg yolk, walnut or hazelnut oil, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until well combined. Add flour mixture; beat just until mixture is smooth. Fold in beaten egg white (texture should be that of a milk shake).
4. Spray a nonstick griddle or skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over medium heat 1 to 2 minutes. For each blintz, pour about 2 tablespoons batter onto griddle. Quickly spread batter to 4- to 5-inch circle.
5. Cook blintz pancake for 20 seconds or until light brown. Gently turn with a spatula; cook second side for 15 seconds. Invert blintz pancake onto a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter to make 10 to 12 blintzes. (You may cook up to 3 or 4 blintzes at a time in a large skillet.) Place a dry paper towel between each layer of blintz pancakes. Cover and keep warm.
6. To serve, spoon 1 slightly rounded tablespoon of cheese mixture across pancake just below center. Fold the bottom of pancake over filling. Fold in sides, then roll up. Arrange blintzes, seam-side down, on individual dessert plates. Top with grapes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
