Our Guest This Week Will Be…

Last week we presented Jay Buchsbaum the Executive VP of the Royal Wine Co., as our interviewee. You can hear Jay and his encyclopedic knowledge of all things wine, here

This coming Wednesday, at 8:00pm, our guest will be Chef Lévana Kirschenbaum, the regulars of this blog know how much we enjoy her cooking demos, how much we enjoy her recipes. Mrs. Kirschenbaum has written three cookbooks Lévana’s Table, In Short Order and Lévana Cooks Dairy-Free!. She’s now hard at work on her fourth cookbook on Superfoods, due out this coming summer.

Who is Lévana? What are her credentials? Most of you may remember her ground breaking restaurant Lévana’s, but there is far more as we are told on her website:

For nearly thirty years Lévana Kirschenbaum has owned and operated a catering business, a bakery and a successful Manhattan restaurant all while raising a family. She understands that even gourmet chefs don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen. With this in mind, she keeps the recipes simple, insisting that using fresh, natural ingredients will yield fantastic results without a lot of fuss.

When Lévana opened her eponymous restaurant with her two brothers-in-law twenty five years ago, all Kirschenbaums were perfectly aware they were facing a hard sell: introduce fine kosher dining to the Kosher public, who until then was content either eating at home or grabbing a bite in the rare joints that served institutional old world treats. The general prediction was that the presumptuous idea would fall flat on its face.

Undaunted by being the trailblazers of the trend, they surrounded themselves with the best chefs, developed the most delicious dishes and waited patiently until the idea of gourmet kosher caught on. The rest, as we all know, is history: kosher food and wine has experienced a veritable explosion and has its place among the most prestigious competitions. Many luxury kosher restaurants have opened and thrived since Lévana’s pioneering days, bearing out the dictum that imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

With over 25 years of experience in professional cooking, recipe development, catering and teaching, celebrity chef Lévana makes the preparation of nutritious and exotic gourmet cuisine easy. She gets countless devoted fans for her fearless, practical and nutritious approach to cooking and spreads the good word on simple, streamlined, elegant and wholesome dining in her classroom on the Upper West Side – where she gives weekly demos – and around the country.

What is her goal?

Fine dining that is also contemporary, nutritious and easy to prepare is a way of life that Lévana instills in her classes. Lévana’s unfussy, straightforward approach utilizes fresh, all natural ingredients to create international flavors from her native Morocco and other wide-ranging culinary influences.

I’ve known Lévana for a while now and I can assure you that the show will be truly informative and entertaining. Just listen in, gentle reader, at 8:00pm on Wednesday, February 2nd, on Jewish Radio Network. Enter the site and click on the red “here” under the white “Radio,” then wait about 30 to 90 seconds for the application to start streaming.

CS

Horseradish Crusted Standing Beef Roast

When I first moved to the US, as a teenager in 1962, I discovered that American Jews – except for Passover – only ate horseradish with gefilte fish. Back in Uruguay, where I lived prior to immigrating to these shores, we would have horseradish with meat at almost any time we ate meat (daily!). In America that suddenly wasn’t cool… Arguing with Americans on this was futile… ahh, the American Jewish palate seemed so uneducated at that time. Fast forward 49 years… and we caught up with the rest of the world, we adapted all their seemingly strange foods and often improved them. When I came across this recipe, by Laura Frankel, it brought back some great memories and I knew i’d have to try it tonight.

Detail of photo from: theheritagecook.com

Serves 6-8

Something wonderful happens to horseradish when it is cooked. The pungent root vegetable so tearfully familiar during Pesach becomes sweet and savory once cooked and slathered all over gorgeous beef. The king of all meat cuts is a perfect celebratory gorgeous hunk of meat. It looks intimidating-but is actually really easy and can be done ahead of time and kept warm.

Ingredients

• 1 4-rib roast (about 9 pounds), cut from the small end or first cut with the chine bone cut off (ask your butcher to tie the bones on to the roast)
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 red peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper
• 6 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 cup prepared white horseradish
• 2 bulbs of garlic, roasted and the soft garlic squeezed out
• 1 750 ml bottle dry red wine (I prefer Cabernet Sauvignon)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

1. Lay the rib roast, bone side down, in a large heavy duty roasting pan. Scatter the vegetables around the roast. These will be the base for wine sauce later.
2. Season the roast with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Mix the horseradish and roasted garlic together.
3. Generously smear the mixture over the rib roast. Place the prepared roast in the pre-heated oven and roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature of the oven to 325 and roast for an additional 60 minutes.
4. Insert a meat thermometer into the the thickest part of the roast and when the temperature registers 115 (for rare-medium rare)-remove the roast. Loosely tent the meat with foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes. This will allow the final temperature to be around 125-130. The internal temperature will continue to rise in a process called carry-over cooking.
5. Remove the meat and place the roasting pan over a burner at medium heat. Add the wine and gently scrape up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until the wine has reduced by ½. Strain out the vegetables and discard. Adjust seasoning with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
6. Remove the bones and slice the meat. Serve on a platter with wine sauce and sautéed mushrooms if desired.
7. To hold the meat for Shabbat-once the meat has reached the desired temperature, turn off the oven and remove the meat as in step 4. After the meat has rested and any carry over cooking is finished-return the meat back to the warm oven-allow the door to stand slightly open and the meat will stay warm for another 30 minutes or more.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Shabbat Comfort Food

Last Friday we posted Oyfn Pripetchik… – In the Fireplace… with an unusual but interesting kugel recipe. Today we follow up with a very easy recipe for a great Yerushami Kugel. Truth is, I’ve never been a fan of this type of kugel, the idea of sweet pasta just doesn’t do it for me, but, last Monday at Chef Lévana‘s cooking demo I tasted this and was forced to change my mind:

Yerushalmi Kugel

Ingredients

• 1 pound thin noodles, any noodles (gluten-free will work too!)
• ⅔ cup vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper, or a little more to taste
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar or Sucanat
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 1/2 cup water

An individual portion of Chef Lévanas' Yerushalmi Kugel

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Boil the noodles until just barely tender. If you started with long noodles, cut through the whole pile with scissors until you get smaller pieces.
3. Place in a mixing bowl, and mix in the oil, pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, and eggs. Combine thoroughly.
4. Meanwhile, heat the sugar, agave and water in a small saucepan.
5. Reduce the flame to low and cook about 5 minutes, until the mixture turns a nice amber color (watch the cooking, don’t let the mixture burn).
6. Immediately add to the noodle mixture and stir to combine.
7. Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan or a greased tube pan.
8. Bake about 1 hour, or a little longer, until the top looks set.

Delicious warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy, gentle reader, and have a gutten Shabbos, Shabbat shalom umevorach!

CS

Pairing Food and Wine – Part 2

As we said – in the very first sentence – in the first part of this series, the one true rule of pairing food and wine is that such pairings are highly personal. The ethnic/cultural background and, specifically, the food one grew up with are influential on how taste is perceived by the individual. Someone who eats mostly spicy food will taste wine very differently from someone accustomed to more bland foods..

Photo from: http://www.la2day.com/dining/wino_wednesdays_food_wine_pairing

When you enter the differences of each individual’s taste buds into the equation you can understand that what may be a perfect pairing for one person, may not necessarily be so great to another. Rules are, at best, approximations based on the “average” person (read: “the average connoissseur,” often self-proclaimed, instead). I could find no scientific study ever conducted that definitely showed what is the “average” when it comes to taste matters. What is the point of this series, then, if the rules are subject to each individual’s preferences? That is a fair question! The answer is that all we intend to accomplish – here – is to give you, gentle reader, some departure points as you embark on your very own food and wine pairing journey. Just remember that wine should never overpower the food it accompanies but it should complement it.

Once again, winter has shown itself relentless and bombarded us with another big snowfall. Considering that wine can warm the soul and gladden the heart, considering that medical most studies now find the health benefits in drinking 2 daily glasses of wine (like the French do), isn’t this weather just right for sipping wine, especially if paired with a nice soup?

A street in Brooklyn today... comfort food and wine weather

How about a Chicken Noodle Soup, paired with a Pinot Grigio or a Chennin Blanc? Perhaps a Cream of Chicken Soup with a Sauvignon Blanc or a Viognier would fit your preference? Maybe a French Onion Soup paired with a Beaujolais or a White Burgundy?  Hmmmmnnn, my mouth is watering already!

Since we are only offering departure points here are some favorite pairings:

Fish

Sauvignon Blanc – Light, zesty and citrusy

White Burgundy –  Goes well with salmon

Chardonnay – Perfect for rich fish dishes

Riesling – It’s lime/lemon juice flavor make it a nice complement to any fish dish

Pinot Noir – Yes, it’s a red wine, but try it with grilled fish and see what it does!

Meat

Beef or steak – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Shiraz

Lamb – Bordeaux, or almost any Red wine

Poultry – Chardonnay

Miscellaneous

Fruit – Any Sauternes, Muscat or Riesling (especially Late Harvest)

Very sweet or heavy desserts – I prefer to pair these with a Moscato d’Asti

Pizza – Chianti is the perfect choice!

This does not pretend to be an exhaustive list, it merely reflects pairings I’ve tried and liked.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Pairing Food and Wine – Part 1

Frankly the main rule to remember when pairing food with wine is that one should drink whichever wine one likes with particular food. Having said that there are some basic guidelines to maximize your enjoyment:

DrinkWine.com lists 5 basic rules:

Photo from: http://sipwithme.blogspot.com/

Match the weight & texture of the food to the weight & texture of the wine
Example: A light-bodied fish like sole works best with a light-bodied white wine like pinot grigio, while a heavier-bodied fish like salmon calls for a richer, fuller-bodied white like chardonnay.

Balance the intensity of flavors in the food and wine
Example: A mildly flavored food like roast turkey pairs well with light-bodied white and red wines like sauvignon blanc and Beaujolais, but in the context of a Thanksgiving dinner featuring stuffing, cranberry sauce, and other strongly flavored side dishes, an intensely flavored white like gewürztraminer or a rich, fruity red like syrah or zinfandel would be preferable.

Balance tastes
The five basic tastes are sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami (the recently discovered fifth taste found in savory foods like mushrooms, tomatoes, soy sauce, and aged cheeses and meats). Salty and sour tastes in food make wines taste milder (fruitier and less acidic), while sweet and savory (umami) tastes make wines taste stronger (drier and more astringent).

Example: A simple cut of beef tames the tannins and brings out the fruit of a young cabernet sauvignon, but chocolate (which some people enjoy with cabernet) will accentuate its tannins and diminish its fruit. Seasonings, such as salt, lemon, vinegar, and mustard, can be used to achieve balance in food-wine pairings, either to make the wine taste milder (salt, lemon, vinegar) or stronger (sugar or umami ingredients).

Match flavors
Flavors are combinations of tastes and aromas, and there are an infinite number of them. You can fine-tune food and wine pairings by matching flavors in the food and the wine.

Example: Roast duck in a plum sauce is well-served by red wines, like barbera or syrah, with pronounced black plum flavors while grilled steak in a pepper sauce will go beautifully with a peppery zinfandel.

Counterpoint flavors
Sometimes, the best choice is to counterpoint flavors rather than matching them.

Example: Pairing a spicy dish like Jamaican Jerk Chicken with a high-alcohol red wine may seem logical, but, in fact, the heat in the dish will ignite the alcohol in the wine to produce an unpleasantly hot, harsh impression. A better choice is a low-alcohol, fruity wine like riesling or gewürztraminer, which will both frame and tame the spicy flavors of the dish.

Enjoy your pairings, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

And Our Internet Radio Show’s Guest, This Week, Will Be

Last Wednesday we had a very interesting show with Nina Shapir as our guest. She spoke about a life’s journey that culminated in her opening the Natural Village Cafe, an organic food restaurant, located at 2 Avenue I in Brooklyn.

A tiny sampling of Natural Village Cafe's delectable dishes

You can hear the broadcast here.

Jay Buchsbaum

This week’s guest on our upcoming Wednesday’s show will be Jay Buchsbaum, Executive Vice President at the Royal Wine Corporation. His knowledge of wine types, wine history, wine making, etc, is encyclopedic as you will hear. Some of you may already knew him, some may not, but everyone is in for a treat! So, please, give us a listen at 8:00pm on Wednesday, January 26th on Jewish Radio Network. Enter the site and click on the red “here” under the white “Radio,” then wait about 30 to 90 seconds for the application to start streaming.

We have some very interesting guests lined up for the coming weeks, chefs, experts, authors and more. If there is someone you wish to hear interviewed, let us know and we will do our best to schedule him/her. Email us at: kosherscene@gmail.com or make the suggestion in the comment section of this post (at bottom of post).

Well, gentle reader, here we are hoping you’ll send us in your guest suggestions, we hope to see your comments soon and – above all – we hope you’ll be listening to us tomorrow at 8:00pm on the Jewish Radio Network.

CS

How to Buy a Wine Glass and Enjoy Your Wine

What’s the best glassware to enjoy your wine in? Whether you buy a $125.00 Riedel Bordeaux Wine Glass at Nieman Marcus or a set of 4 Libbey Vina Red Wine Glasses – $15.49 for the whole, at Target – there are certain rules worth observing to maximize the enjoyment of a fine wine.

Pouring wine into the right type of glass shows off the bouquet and enhances the taste - Photo from: blog.andersonville.org

• Always get clear glass – Although crystal is preferred, it is expensive and only serious wine connoisseurs can justify the expense. Why clear glass? Seeing the color of the wine, unadulterated by any materials or colors from the glass is an important part of enjoying the particular potable. Besides, the wine color tells how old the wine is, what grape(s) it’s made of and more.
• The glass should be large enough to release the bouquet – Never fill the glass more than half way, this allows the top of the glass to capture the bouquet or aroma of the wine as you give it a swirl. A quality wine glass tapers at the top.   The bolder the wine the bigger the bowl the glass should have. A delicate wine requires a smaller bowl to bring out its best features.
• Always get a stemmed glass – This avoids your body temperature warming the wine, since you are holding the glass by the stem rather than by the bowl.

Riedel was the first company to introduce different size glasses to suit each wine type enhancing bouquet color and other fine qualities of the particular wine; many other companies, in almost every price range, followed. Not even the most fervent cognoscente will need every shape, but two or three types, especially when you know what suits which type of wine would add to the wine tasting experience.

The shape of this stemmed glass brings to the bouquet to the nose - Photo from: columbiatribune.com

Glassware used for a Pinot Noir or Red Burgundy are the widest and resemble a sniffer. These glasses direct the aroma to the nose while allowing ample room for the wine to air out. It’s really quite remarkable how wine that is allowed to air out (even for a few minutes) tastes different and far better than a wine that was poured and tasted seconds after.

Glasses for full bodied Bordeaux and other red wines are slightly narrower and less round, but still tapered on top. Chardonnays and White Burgundy are best enjoyed in midrange bowls and are even less rounded. Ideal glasses for Sauvignon Blanc wines are smaller yet, but have a wide bowl to fully show off the flavors and aromas of these wine types. Champagne (or any sparkling wine) is best enjoyed in a tall, narrow “flute.” This shape minimizes warming while letting you see the bubbles in the most attractive manner.

Various types of wine glasses - Photo from: http://www.all-about-wine.com

Non fortified dessert wines require smaller glasses, but are still rounded. Even smaller are Port glasses, which are also used for all fortified dessert wines, they show off the color while directing the bouquet to the nose through the relatively narrow top. While technically unnecessary, the Sherry glass has a more square bowl, it is smaller than a Port glass and very attractive.

Now that you have a nice collection of wine glasses, how do you care for them? Wash between uses, some experts advise washing only with hot water, while others suggest hot water with dish detergent as long as the glass is rinsed thoroughly to be free of all detergent remainder. Even a smallest amount of lemon or other such scented detergent can ruin the nose of any wine. When done, always hold up the glasses to the light to make sure they are clean. A superficially clean glass may be covered with a very fine scum which is very difficult to remove with a gentle rinsing. Such residue will adversely affect the wine especially if it is a champagne or other sparkling types, as they won’t show their fizz.

Once washed let the glasses drip dry, when dry polish them to remove any unsightly water marks. Store them upright in an odor free cupboard.

CS

Oyfn Pripetchik… – In the Fireplace…

It snowed overnight, after most of the snow and ice on the ground had just about melted away…

This morning’s view from my apartment window…

Oyfn pripetchik brent a fayerl
Un in shtub is heys.
Un der rebbe lernt kleyne kinderlekh
Dem alef-beys.

A fire is burning in the fireplace
and its warm in the house,
as the Rabbi is teaching little children
the aleph-beys.

Street view…

It’s cold and Shabbos is coming and as we recharge our batteries from the week’s harsh realities, or we contemplate on the week’s successes, there is that special Shabbos food to warm us, to comfort us. Cholent, kugel (whether potato or lokshen – noodles) and more.

As we sing Shabbos zmiros, as we tell over divrey Torah there is a warmth that permeates the heart’s own hearth – the tiny inner pripetchik where the pintele yid is always burning, always reminding one who and what he or she is. Regardless of the weather outside, whether cold, freezing, warm or hot, the heart’s temperature is perfect, as the mind feels uplifted by the niggunim, by the words of ancient wisdom, by the stories that touch one’s soul and the body enjoys those special flavors of the Shabbos food (the same food, prepared the exact same way, just tastes so different during the week).

[..]Gliklekh iz der yid vos lernt toyre,
Vos darfn mir nokh mer?

Happy is the Jew who learns Torah
What more do we need?

(Oyfn Pripetchik – Old Yiddish song)

Talking about the special taste of Shabbos food, I came across this easy recipe, on The Food Network, by Joan Nathan, it is different and very good:

Vegetable and Fruit Kugel Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 apples, grated
• 1 large sweet potato, grated
• 4 carrots, grated
• 1 cup matzoh meal
• 1 stick pareve margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 24 paper muffin cups
• 2 (12) cavity muffin tins

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
2. Place the paper muffin cups in the muffin tins.
3. Pour the batter into the cups. They should be two-thirds full.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done in a preheated 350 degree oven.

A gutten Shabbos – Shabbat shalom umevorach, gentle reader.

CS

Tu B’Shvat

Today is Tu B’Shvat – the New Year for Trees – Rosh Hashana la’Ilanot. In Israel beautiful almond trees are now in full blossom, new trees are planted toda and people eat dried fruits and almonds.

Two of the many Tu B'Shvat baskets sold at Pomegranate in Brooklyn

Tu B’Shvat is mentioned in Mishnayos Rosh Hashana as one of four New Years in the Jewish calendar. the ARIZa”L (Rabbi Yitzchak  Luria) and his disciples, in the 16th century, used to celebrate this day by conducting a seder where ten fruits specific to Israel were consumed with cups of wine. The idea was that eating those fruits in a specific order while reciting the appropriate blessings would bring the world closer to spiritual pertfection.

In our everlasting quest to bring you the best recipes, I found a whole delectable batch on Gil Marks ( author of the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food) own blog:

Popular Tu b’Shevat dishes include: Hungarian wine soup (borleves), Moroccan orange salad (salata latsheen), Middle Eastern bulgur-stuffed cabbage (malfoof mahshee), Bukharan vegetable and fruit stew (dimlama), Bukharan baked rice and fruit (savo), Persian sweet rice (shirin polo), Ashkenazic barley with mushrooms (gersht un shveml), Persian carrot omelets (havij edjeh), Middle Eastern wheat berry pudding (ashure), and German fried dumplings with fruit (schnitzelkloese). Dried fruit strudels and kugels are a popular Ashkenazic treat. Turkish Jews enjoy prehito/moostrahana, a dish of sweetened cracked wheat, or kofyas, a dish of sweetened wheat berries, called assurei or koliva by the Greeks. Syrians serve fruit and nut pastries such as ma’amoul (nut pastries) and ras ib adjweh (date pastries).

As always his encyclopedic knowledge shows right through. On the same page he also gives us some of the recipes he mentions and I felt this one was the most à propos, as it reminds us of the ARIZa”L‘s custom:

Israeli Wine and Fruit Soup

(6 to 8 servings)

If you prefer whole fruit, add the oranges to cooled soup.

Ingredients

• 4 cups dry red or rose wine (or 2½ cups fruity dry white or rose wine and 1½ cups dry red wine)
• 2 pints fresh or 40 ounces frozen raspberries or cherries
• 44 ounces canned mandarin oranges
• 1½ cups orange juice or water
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 2 (3-inch) sticks cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Bring all ingredients to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

VARIATION:

To Thicken Soup with Cornstarch: Omit tapioca. Dissolve 2 tablespoons cornstarch in ½ cup water; stir into boiling soup; and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until clear.

For the rest of Gil’s superb recipes you’ll just have to his blog.

Have a Tu B’Shvat same’ach, gentle reader!

CS

Salt… Part 3 – Table Salts

There are some interesting variations in table salts:

Pickling salt, Canning salt, Coarse salt, Gos sel – fine grained without iodine or anti-caking preservatives. This is basically table salt, but without the iodine and anti-caking additives that turn pickles dark and the pickling liquid cloudy.

Kala Namak Salt – Photo by: http://www.saltworks.com

Kala Namak – Kala Namak, or Indian black salt, is an unrefined mineral salt. It is actually a pearly, pinkish-gray color rather than black, and has a strong, sulfuric flavor and aroma. Vegan chefs have made this salt popular for adding in egg-y flavor to dishes like tofu scrambles. Kala Namak is used in authentic Indian cooking, and popular in mango smoothies.

Pretzel salt – large grained, does not melt quickly.

Rock salt – large crystal salt with a gray color. Grey color is due to minerals not removed as in normal table salt.

Popcorn salt – very fine grained salt which is flakier version of table salt.

Iodized salt – contains a small amount of potassium iodide and dextrose as a dietary supplement to prevent thyroid disease.

Seasoned salt – table salt with herbs added like onion, hickory smoke,  garlic or chili peppers. Great in soups stews or any meat dish.

On saltworks.com, we find another increasingly popular salt (with a well known kosher certification!).

Small, medium and coarse grain Himalayan Pink Salt – Photo by: http://www.saltworks.com

Himalayan Pink Salt

Himalayan Pink Salt is pure, hand-mined salt found naturally deep inside the pristine Himalayan Mountains.

The high mineral crystals range in color from sheer white to varying shades of pink to deep reds which indicates a beneficial amount of all 84 trace elements & iron (normally available in almost every unrefined, unprocessed salt).

Primarily used in gourmet cooking and body-care it makes a beautiful table salt. It’s used mostly with salads, soups, fish, grains, pasta and vegetables.

CS

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