Facon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich

I just had to try Jack’s Gourmet Facon in a sandwich…

Serves 1
Cooking Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 slices  Jack’s Gourmet Facon
• 2 slices whole wheat bread
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tomatoes sliced
• 4 baby lettuce leaves
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Heat a small nonstick frying pan and cook the facon> turning once, until it is golden brown and crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels.
2. Toast the bread on both sides. Spread one side of each toast with mayonnaise and arrange the bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and facon on top of the pieces. Season with salt and pepper and top each with the  second piece of toast. Cut into quarters and serve hot or cold.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

EXTRA, EXTRA! Contest, Contest!!!

Starting today and running until September 20, one of you – gentle readers – will have the chance to win 2 Jack’s Gourmet Variety Packs ($100.00 value)…

and a Jack’s Gourmet cap…

What do you have to do to win all these? How about sending us your best recipes using Jack’s Gourmet. sausages. The contest runs through September 20th, winner will be chosen by Chef Jack Silberstein and Dr. Alan Bronner (Jack’s Gourmet owners) and will be announced on these pages on Monday October 3rd. send in your recipes to kosherscene@gmail.com. If you care to accompany your entry with a good photo of the finished dish, we’ll feature it right here on our blog. To get an idea of what we are looking for go here, if you scroll down to the bottom of the page you’ll find some interesting recipes, including two of our own.

Meanwhile don’t forget to send us in your ideas for avoiding the back to school blues to: kosherscene@gmail.com. Why not send us photos of unusual and interesting lunchboxes.

We will publish the best photos and ideas and pick a winner who will receive:

• 1 carton of juice boxes
• 1 dozen assorted fruit roll-ups
• 1 lunch box

Keep those recipes and ideas coming, gentle reader. get to work!

CS

Kosher Food & Wine Experience 2011 – Part 1

It was billed as bigger than its preceding shows… it was, it was billed as better than its preceding shows… it was! This was one of those rare occasions when hype and truth actually walked in locked step. The food, the wine, the liquors, all added up to a wonderful evening, an epicure’s dream come true.

SYR and I went in at 4:00pm, we saw and met many friends, magazine editors, fellow foodies and bloggers. We delighted in some products we’d already raved about on these pages, we discovered the new and revisited some great restaurants. As we spoke to favorite chefs, we  were happy to hear their craft was more than just a job, their passion for food, their creative juices continue unabated. Chef David Kolotkin of Solo and Prime Grill, Chef Jeff Nathan of Abigael’s and his wife Alison, Chef Mark Green of Glatt A La Carte, Jose Mireilles of Le Marais were among old friends showing off their creations.

Pomegranate had a large booth serving up some dishes that could have been made at any top restaurant.

Chef Emilio getting ready to hand out some delicacies.

Shana Wendel and staff presented Pardes‘ fares…

Lamb Meatballs with Turnip and Olive. Juicy, succulent, beautiful to look at... unmistakably Pardes!

Dr Alan Bronner and Chef Jack Silberstein of Jack’s Gourmet were serving  Chorizo Tacos, Pepper and Onion Soup with Sweet Italian Sausage and Bratwurst Sliders. We sampled all three and and loved them, here is an easy recipe they shared with us:

Bratwurst Sliders

Ingredients

• 1 package (4 links) Jack’s Gourmet Cured Bratwurst Sausage sliced 1/4″ thick on an angle
• 12 slider buns (4 burger buns can be substituted instead)
• 1/2 cup sauerkraut
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• 4 tablespoons grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves

Directions

1. Combine the sauerkraut and caraway seeds and reserve.
2. Combine the mustard and tarragon leaves and reserve.
3. Heat a saute pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons oil. Add sausage and cook until golden brown, about 3 – 5 minutes.
4. To serve, slice the buns in half. Spead a small amount of mustard on the bottom half of each bun. Top with sausage and sauerkraut and place other half of bun on top. Secure with a toothpick if necessary.

Some other friends with a great product are Valerie and Robert Groper from My Brother Bobby’s Salsa. SYR finally got to taste their salsas, she fully agrees with me they are superb. Can’t wait until they are available in Brooklyn!

Shalom Bombay was there as well, I had a selection of their Chicken Pakoras, Chicken Biryany and the Chicken Tikka Masala liberally sprinkled with the Mint and Tamarind Chutney and loved the whole combo. Noi Due still makes the best Espresso I’ve ever tasted in the US.

A new discovery was got cholent? Inc. I had their Moroccan Dafina and the Polish Cholent (just like my mamma used to make!!!). They have 16 different types of cholent, wish I could taste them all… The same people folks also own Gemstone Catering and we were very impressed with their Eve’s Apple and Hickory Wood Smoked BBQ Pulled Brisket Sliders. Tammy Polatsek from Aristocratic Design Co. told us these guys make superbly delicious food, well… they do!

There were so many restaurants to choose from, so much looked, smelled and tasted great I could write a very long post extolling the virtues of each, suffice it to say that the choice of eateries and caterers represented was tops. We also talked to cookbook authors Chef Lévana Kirschenbaum, Chef Jeff Nathan, Chef Susie Fishbein, Chef Jamie Geller. All in all a delightful evening, amidst delightful people.

CS

And this Coming Wednesday’s Show…

Last Wednesday we had a great show with Chef Lévana Kirschenbaum as our guest. As you can hear, here, she was informative, witty and charming.

This coming Wednesday’s show will feature Chef Jack Silberstein from Jack’s Gourmet Kosher. What is Jack’s Gourmet Kosher? Two partners formed this young company. Who are they? As we said before:

Chef Jack Silberstein

Chef Jack graduated  from the Culinary Institute of America (America’s foremost culinary school) in Hyde Park, NY, in 2007. He worked as a private chef aboard a yacht and is a respected consultant with the meat industry. Dr. Broner is a dentist with a popular private practice as well as a professor of dentistry. Dr. Broner has a long time interest in cooking and fine cuisine having attended many courses and cooking demos both in Manhattan (many at the De Gustibus School School of Good Taste) and in Brooklyn. It was, in fact, at one such course given in Brooklyn (by Chef Jack) that the two partners met.

And what is the company producing?

Noting the lack of anything resembling good tasting sausages in the kosher world, they set out to produce them. I can attest they’ve succeeded and deliciously so!!! Not only were they the most popular stop at Kosherfest 2010, but every time I stopped by I saw most of the celebrity chefs standing in line waiting to get another bite.

To find out more about Jack’s Gourmet Kosher delicious products, check out our own reviews: Jack’s Gourmet – Part 1 and Jack’s Gourmet – Part 2.

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