A Night of Art, Wine, and More – Part 2

Last evening, May 7th, Igal Fedida‘s gallery (1482 First Avenue, New York, NY – Tel: 310.466.3916) was filled with people, delicious cheeses, fruits, and good wine. People were coming in throughout the evening, enjoying the art, talking or listening to Igal explain what his art expression is about, and tasting the food and wine.

Details from three of the paintings in the gallery.

Among those visiting the gallery were people of every age group, in many cases you would never have expected these individuals to have much in common with each other, yet all were attracted by Igal’s art. At moments there were as many as 60 people filling the narrow gallery.

Eli Shemesh, from Anderson Foods International…

Eli Shemesh, surrounded by art and cheese

…presented two of Anderson’s lines of cheeses – the brand new Sincerely, Brigitte. and Natural & Kosher. Three of the six Sincerely, Brigitte flavors were represented (Garlic Basil, Tomato Olive, Parsley Chive); while I loved all three, but, my favorite was the Parsley Chive because of the subtle flavors herb flavors. The majority of the people, however, seemed to prefer the Tomato Olive. All three flavors disappeared as the gallery visitors gobbled them up, together with Natural & Kosher‘s selection of three goat cheeses; my favorite, among the latter, was (you guessed it!!) Fine Herbs.

The wine selections consisted of Ben Ami Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Alfasi Cabernet Sauvignon; the eight bottles did not last very long, a fitting testimony to their delightful flavors.

Partial views of the gallery, before the start of the evening and at one point when Igal Fedida spoke about his creations.

It was a wonderful evening of art, wine, cheese and superb conversation.

CS

RELATED POSTS

A Talk With Igal Fedida

A Night of Wine and Art

A Night of Wine and Art – Part 2

A Night of Art, Wine and More

A Night of Art, Wine, and More

This coming Tuesday, May 7th, Igal Fedida Fine Art (1482 1st Avenue, New York, NY) will host an evening of presentation and conversation. Igal Fedida will talk about his art and his vision. Kosher wine, kosher cheese, fruits and more will be served. Igal’s art, fuses his Torah and mysticism knowledge and combines them into a painting, which (while abstract) is easily understood as a vision of the various facets of creation. As I wrote in these pages before:

He is a modern painter with a message that extends beyond time. His colors are bold, Hebrew letters appear almost invariably, his brush strokes reveal a lot more about the subject matter than do the works of far more photo realistic artists. In short, though he paints Jewish art, his paintings speak to Jew and non-Jew alike, his works stir up emotions beyond what the eyes can perceive. While looking at his creations, you see the colors dance, you see the colors explode; no definable shape is discernible, yet everything that exists or ever existed is in them.

He recently moved his gallery to New York’s Upper East Side, after many successful years in Miami, Florida. Below is a video of the artist creating, one of many on his youtube channel.

Hope to see there!

CS

RELATED POSTS

A Talk With Igal Fedida

A Night of Wine and Art

A Night of Wine and Art – Part 2

Three Superb Imported Cheeses

This past Sunday, I run into Brent Delman (TheCheeseGuy.com) at a kosher foodie bloggers meetup, having met him before, having interviewed him on my radio show and having him sponsor our Shavuos contest for this year, it was natural we would get into a conversation. Of course, it centered on… you guessed it… cheese! We spoke about his latest cholov Yisroel offerings: Scamorza, Aged Havarti and Bastardo del Grappa.

The Scamorza is a new product and the one I had wasn’t even been labeled yet, it also did not make it to the photo above, because (I shamefacedly confess!) it did not last long enough for me to remember to take the picture for this post. It was originally made only from buffalo milk, though today it’s made from from whole cow’s milk (sometimes mixed with small amounts of sheep or goat’s milk). It’s basically a slightly salty type of mozarella, though smoked (in a smoker with cherry wood chips), unlike other smoked cheeses the smoke is not overwhelming. Rather, it’s balanced perfectly with the natural flavors. Creamy and with a somewhat nutty taste.

Aged Havarti (pictured above) is a cow’s milk cheese with a supple, elastic texture, with a sharp, intense tangy flavor tempered with creamy butter notes.

Bastardo del Grappa (also pictured above), used to be made with sheep, goat and cow milk mixed together, hence the name “Bastardo.” Today, it is produced by mixing cow’s milk from the previous evening and letting it settle during the night, with the milk from the morning. It’s got a strong flavor, with sweet notes and is slightly aromatic.

My favorite is the Scamorza and I can’t wait until I find it  in a store near me, meanwhile, I’m more than satisfied with the other two pictured above.

CS

A Conversation with Brent Delman, The Cheese Guy

This evening at 8:00 pm (Eastern Time), we will be talking with Brent Delman, from The Cheese Guy.com. Brent graduated from George Washington University about two decades ago with a degree on International business, but in recent and in recent years he branched off to focus primarily on cheese.

Brent Delman, pressing cheeses curds in Ohio...

As he puts it, his cheeses are “a blend of creativity and flavor – a colorful fusion of my Eastern European Jewish heritage, the ethnic Italian neighborhood that I grew up in and my proximity to Amish farm territory. In collaboration with farmers and artisan cheese makers, I produce small batches of handcrafted cheeses based on my own recipes and formulas – I make sure to taste every batch.

…While most of my cheeses are produced domestically at family owned dairy farms, I do produce some cheeses abroad in Italy – made in the finest Italian tradition in small dairies that dot the countryside. Make sure to try our Pecorino Romano cheese aged over 18 months – it’s the best of the best!”

Fresh mozzarella being made at the creamery outside Rome, Italy.

He just returned from a trip abroad where he found new exciting cheeses, and new creameries to produce them.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, please listen to last week’s show A Conversation with Ari White, from Gemstone Catering. Don’t forget to tune us in this evening at 8:00pm (Easterm Time) at BlogTalkRadio.com. Having met Brent at a wine tasting a couple of weeks ago, I can assure you this will be a interesting and informative show.

CS

Date and Nut Bread

I had some dates from Israel and decided to use them in a recipe, I was intrigued by the following one from Elizabeth Wolfe-Cohen‘s Perfect Jewish 

Delicious!!!

Date & Nut Bread

Yields: 12 slices

Directions

• 1 1/2 cups self rising flour, plus a little more for dusting
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 – 1 tsp ground ginger [SYR used 1 tsp]
• 1 1/3 cups chopped dried dates [SYR did not use dried ones]
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 tsp butter or margarine, softened [SYR used margarine to keep it pareve]
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds [SYR used walnuts]

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease a 4″x8″ loaf pan. Line the base and and sides with nonstick baking parchment paper to come to 1″ above the sides. Grease again and dust with flour. Sift the flour, salt and ginger into a bowl.

Put the dates into a large bowl with bicarbonate of soda. Pour over the boiling water and leave to stand for 5 minutes.

Stir the egg and butter [or margarine if you prefer it pareve] and flour mixture into the date mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the nuts. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan, smoothing the top. Tap the pan gently on a surface to expel any air bubbles.

Bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour or until set and well colored and the bread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan; a knife inserted in the center should come out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes , then leave to cool completely Using the paper as a guide, carefully remove the bread from the pan. If not serving the same day keep in the paper to prevent drying out.To serve, remove the paper from the base and sides, slice thinly.

Prep time: 20 minutes – Bake Time – 1 hour

The bread came out very aromatic, it tasted subtly sweet, we had it with some cholov Yisroel Mascarpone cheese made at Pomegranate Supermarket‘s kitchen and recommended by their resident cheese expert, none other than our good friend Elizabeth Bland. We washed it down with a Herzog Selection Chateneuf 2009, a white semi dry with a fresh, fruity bouquet. The bread was delicious, the Mascarpone just right, and the wine proved a perfect pairing!

CS

Shavuos Contest

Last year we announced The Kosher Scene’s First Annual Shavuot Cheese Cake Contest, as a result we received 21 recipes by the time it was over. We realize that not everyone is a baker so this year instead of cheesecake we are announcing a Shavuot Best Dairy Recipe Contest. It need not be a cheescake, it can be anything, BUT cheese must be one the ingredients.

Last year’s winner got the following cholov Yisroel cheeses from N&K some of whose products we’ve reviewed on these pages (here and here):

Stack 108 slices stack White American, 16ozs. Mozarella chunk, 8ozs. Muenster chunk, 8 ozs. Cheddar chunk, 6ozs. Muenster slices, 6ozs. Swiss slices, 6ozs. Processed Pepper Jack slices, 8ozs. shredded Pizza Cheese, 8 ozs. shredded Chef's Blend, 12 Mozarella Cheese Sticks

You may not like to bake, but you may like to cook up a storm of delicious dishes for Shavuot, so please, send us some of your best recipes to:

KosherScene@gmail.com

We’ll publish the most mouth watering ones with the author’s name and the winner will receive a selection of cheeses from N&K to rival last year’s prize. All entries must be emailed by Monday, June 6 of 2011. We will announce the winner on Monday the 13th of June. Send us your best recipes, don’t be shy. Even if you think other readers may send in better ones, try anyway, don’t let your modesty keep you from winning. Your family will be proud of you, other readers will thank you. We can’t wait to see your best efforts, our mouth are already salivating.

For last year’s delicious winning cheesecake recipes, check out: and the winner is…

CS

Our Internet Radio Shows for this Week

Last week week Pastry Chef Paula Shoyer – author of The Kosher Baker – was our guest, based on emails we received after it aired, there is no question her charm, her knowledge, won the audience’s heart. If you missed it, you can hear it here.

This week, we will have two special shows. Tomorrow Wednesday, April 6 2011, we will a two hour show starting at 6:30. We will be transmitting live from NYC’s biggest Pre-Passover Wine Tasting. This event will take place at: West Side Institutional, 120 West 76 Street, New York, NY 10023. There is a Private VIP tasting which starts at 6:00pm and goes on until 7:00pm. General admission starts at 7:00pm. There are over 300 wines to sample, including new ones, classic vintages and many from Costas Mouzouras’ private collection.

Some of the hundreds of bottles consumed at last year's Gotham Wines' Show

Costas is Gotham Wines ans Liquors (2517 Broadway; New York, NY 10025; Telephone: 212.932.0990), kosher brands manager. His grandfather had a small winery, in Cyprus, where Costas used to help out during his summers as a teenager. We will talk to various distributors, we will taste wines and suggest pairings with cheese and other foods.

Brigitte Mizrahi, Anderson International Foods CEO, will share her expertise on wine and cheese during the broadcast and finally at 8:00pm – 8:30pm we will speak her about her company’s products. This promises to be a very exciting show, so please listen in at: Kosherscene, tomorrow – April 6, 2011 – from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

The next show of the week will be broadcast on Thursday the 7th, and will be pre-taped at tonight’s 20th Anniversary Puah Dinner. Puah is an organization that helps infertile couples within the halachic parameters. The show will, feature interviews with the various inspirational speakers on Puah‘s very important mission. As a child of Holocaust survivors I can attest to the importance of Puah‘s work as the only effective revenge on those who would obliterate us. This show will air on Thursday at 8:00-9:00pm. Please, give us a listen.

CS

Les Petites Fermières – Goat Cheese Medallions

Chèvre or goat cheese is white colored and somewhat tart in flavor. The West has popularized cow’s milk whereas in the rest of the world goat’s milk is preferred. As a rule, because it is usually manufactured in areas with little refrigeration, it is preserved with salt. As a result, most people believe that goat cheese is naturally far saltier than cow cheese. Perhaps the best known goat cheese in the US is Feta, which is qite salty as a result of being brined, having tasted the latest offerings from Les Petites Fermières, I can assure you that goat cheese also comes with more subtle flavors. The higher proportion of fatty acids such as capric acid present in goat’s milk, gives it that characteristic tartness.

I tasted all three of their available flavors: Goat Cheese Medallions with Fine Herbs and Garlic, Goat Medallions with Cranberry and Maple Syrup, Goat Cheese Medallions. My favorite was the last one, though I thoroughly enjoyed the other two as well.

I came up with the following easy recipe to go with these type of cheese:

Herb and Garlic Goat Cheese and Onion Dip

Ingredients

• 2 packages Les Petites Fermières Goat Cheese Medallions with Fine Herbs and Garlic
• ⅔ cup low fat sour cream
• 3 onions, chopped

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a blender.
2. Pulse 1–2 minutes until well combined but not completely pureed.
3. Refrigerate several hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.
4. Adjust salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Makes about 1¼ cups.

I also crumbled some of these cheeses into a salad and enjoyed it with a Baron Herzog Sauvignon Blanc 2008. When CS had the cholov Yisroel Chèvre from N&K, he paired them with a Chilean Alfasi Malbec-Syrah 2009, a perfect and inexpensive choice for someone who grew up on the Northern shore of the Rio de La Plata (River Plate, for us gringos).

SYR

Some New Cheeses from Natural & Kosher

N&K's newest selections

I may be a carnivore to the core, but I’m also a cheese lover. Thus, over the last seven days I’ve been trying some of Natural and Kosher‘s latest selections. These included: Horseradish Cheddar, Olive Cheddar, Part Skim Mozzarella, Goat Kashkaval, Sharp Goat Cheddar, Goat Mozzarella with Red Peppers, Goat Mozzarella with Fine Herbs, Cranberry Pecan Chèvre Goat Cheese, Fine Herbs Chèvre, 2 types of American Slices, Cheddar Cubes, Mexican Blend (Shredded blend of Monterrey Jack, Cheddar and Asadero) and a superb Fitucci Grated Parmesan Cheese. I found them all to be delicious choices. Feeling adventurous I decided to do a white omelette. SYR had been telling me about an omelette without yolks, made with only the egg whites. What’s the point you ask? A drastic reduction in calories and the elimination of almost all the cholesterol with no sacrifice of taste!

SYR‘s Hearty White Omelette

Delicious and filling!

Yield: 2 servings

Directions

• olive oil
• 1/2 medium sized onion, chopped
• 1/3 green pepper, chopped
• 1/3 red pepper, chopped
• 1/3 yellow pepper, chopped
• 3 Baby Portobello mushrooms, chopped
• 6 egg whites
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 slice N&K Horseradish Cheddar
• 1 slice N&K Olive Cheddar
• Fitucci Grated Parmesan
• 1 medium tomato
• Parsley flakes

Directions

1. Saute onion and peppers in a sprayed or lightly greased coated pan till light brown.
2. Add in chopped mushrooms. and saute for another few minutes till onions are golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Toss egg whites into pan on low-medium flame till lightly golden add salt and pepper to taste- flip
4. Add in suated onions, pepper ch0pped parsley mushrooms and cheese.
5. When cheese melts, fold in half and slide onto plate.
6. Garnish with tomato slices and sprinkle the whole with parsley flakes and grated Parmesan cheese.

What did we do with the yolks?!? With Purim coming up in a few days they were used for baking, of course.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

And Our Upcoming Wednesday’s Internet Radio Show Guest Will Be…

Gil Marks

We had a great show this past Wednesday with Gil Marks whose knowledge of all things food is truly encyclopedic. If you missed the show you can hear it here. It was fascinating to delve into the traditions of food, what’s behind a name, it was/it is well worth a listen.

This upcoming Wednesday’s show will feature another fascinating guest, Nina Shapir, a Brooklyn restaurateur with a difference. Who is Nina Shapir? I’ve spoken to her when The Kosher scene reviewed her Natural Village Cafe and this were my impressions:

Nina Shapir, who presides over this eatery is truly a fascinating personality, the personal journey that changed her life and motivated her to open this establishment is full of commitment and dedication.

Fourteen years ago, Mrs. Shapir – a very young mother of three – found herself sick and unable to move, unable to cope. It was not a question of being financially overwhelmed, any such concerns were well taken care of. Medical tests and treatments produced no positive results, on the contrary things inexplicably kept getting worse. She met Harav Chay Azoulay, from Herzliya, who told her the real malady was not physical but rather one that affected her neshama. After some thought, trying to make sense of Rav Azulay’s words, she went on a detox diet with the help of healthfood stores, intent on ridding herself of all negative energies. This decision was followed by six very hard weeks before she saw any measurable improvements but soon after she was her old active, curious, intelligent, enterprising self again.

At this stage, Nina decided to help others who, though similarly afflicted, may not be aware of the real source of their health troubles. She went on to study Healing Arts at The School of Natural Healing in Utah from which she graduated. Seven years ago her first organic restaurant opened its doors. Her partner, however, was not frum and it proved frustrating, eventually Nina bought her out. In 2008 she moved to the present location which combines her personal philosophy, her exquisite sense of aesthetics and the true love of a foodie for superb fare. She also has an an office adjacent to the restaurant where she treats the many in search of natural healing.

Please listen in on our show on Wednesday at 8:00pm on Jewish Radio Network. Click on the red “here” under the white “Radio,” then wait about 90 to 180 seconds for the application to start streaming.

CS