Paula Shoyer Will be Our Guest This Evening…

This evening at 10:00pm (Eastern Time), The Kosher Scene’s Internet Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio.com will host Paula Shoyer. Paula has been our guest before (here) and has always been an audience favorite.

Ms. Shoyer is the author of The Kosher Baker and is coming out with a new pastry book, on holiday baking, due out in August this year. Tonight we will talk about baking on Pessach.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, why not listen to last week’s broadcast with  Leah Schapira – who’s been our guest before – and Victoria Dweck discuss their new book: Passover Made Easy: Favorite Tripple-Tested Recipes.

Please, listen in tonight at 10:00pm when we will be speaking with Paula Shoyer. We’ll be waiting for you!

CS

Italian Chocolate Truffles

I found this delicious, easy to make, recipe in Jacqueline Bellefontaine‘s What’s Cooking – Chocolate, I changed one ingredient (butter) to make it parve and it still tasted great, in fact these truffles disappeared in no time!

Photo by: St John Asprey - What's Cooking Chocolate, page 251

Yields: 24 truffles

Ingredients

• 6 ounces dark chocolate
• 2 tbsp almond flavored liqueur (amaretto) or orange flavored liqueur
• 3 tbsp unsalted margarine
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 3/4 ounces grated chocolate

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate and the liqueur in a double boiler, stirring until combined.
2. Add the margarine and stir until it has melted. Stir in the confectioners’ sugar and the ground almonds
3. Leave the mixture in a cool place until firm enough to roll about 24 balls.
4. Place the grated chocolate on a plate and roll the truffles in the chocolate to coat them.
5. Place the truffles in paper candy cases and chill.

Cook’s Tip: These truffles will keep for about 2 weeks in a cool place.

Variation: For a dairy, sweeter, truffle use milk chocolate and sweet butter instead of dark chocolate and margarine. Dip the truffles into melted chocolate to finish, if desired.

Either variation goes great with coffee. Personally, I can’t wait to make the dairy variation. These truffles could then become a great breakfast, or dairy lunch (or dairy dinner) treat.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Sachertorte

Sixteen year old Franz Sacher first developed his famous torte on a day when Austria’s Chancellor Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich‘s pastry Chef was out sick, and the Prince – who was entertaining some foreign diplomats that evening – needed urgent help. Since 1832, Sachertorte has been famous enough to attract many a tourist from around the world to the two Vienna establishments that serve it. The Demel Bakery, where young Franz worked at the time, claimed they had the original recipe while the Sacher Hotel – owned by the Sacher family – claimed theirs was the real one. After 7 years, of fierce legal battles, the courts decided that both could be sold under the name Sachertorte. The main difference between the two consists in Demel‘s being simply coated with apricot jam and chocolate icing, while Sacher‘s also has a layer of apricot jam spread through the center.

As the kids were growing up, this cake became a tradition in our home, a special treat to celebrate that special occasion, a celebration of that special landmark in each one’s journey through life:

Sachertote

Photo from: Holidays in Austria - Arrive and revive

Ingredients

• 5 oz unsalted margarine (or butter for a tastier, dairy, version)
• 5 oz plain chocolate melted
• 5 oz castor sugar (hard to find and rather expensive you can make your own by grinding regular granulated sugar in a blender or food processor, castor or caster sugar is much finer than confectioner’s sugar and dissolves immediately)
• 6 eggs separated
• 4 oz plain flour, sifted
• Apricot jam

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Apply margarine lightly to a deep, 9 inch cake tin and line the bottom with margarined greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the margarine and beat in the the cooled melted chocolate 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the sugar and egg yolks alternatively, beating well after each addition. Mix in the flour.
3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into the chocolate mixture
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for an hour, or until the cake is well risen and has shrunk slighly from the sides of the tin.
5. Remove cake from the oven and let it stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
6. When the cake is quite cool, either spread the top and sides with warmed – strained –  apricot jam, or cut the cake in half horizontally, spread the jam between the two layers (which I prefer) and put together the two halves before spreading the top and sides with more jam.

Chocolate Icing

• 7 oz plain chocolate
• 8 oz castor sugar
• 5 oz water
• margarine

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. In another pan, dissolve the the sugar in water over low heat. When the sugar has dissolved increase the heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Beat the chocolate until smooth; gradually beat in enough hot sugar syrup to make the icing the consistency of thick cream, Finally beat in a small piece of margarine.
3. Pour the hot icing over the top of the cake and let it run down the sides. Quickly smooth the icing round the sides of the cake with a spatula. The less the icing is touched, the shinier it will be. Set aside until the glaze is quite hard and dry.

Serve with one or two billows of Crème Chantilly (sweetened whipped cream).

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Napoleon – Gâteau de Mille-Feuilles

I never outgrew my sweet tooth, though there are some pastries which I prefer above all others. Given a choice, I’ll take a Napoleon over almost anything else. In Australia and England they call it vanilla slice, in Italy mille foglie, in Argentina milhojas, in Canada it is gâteaux Napoléon or Napoleon cake, in Poland it’s known as napoleonka, whatever the name and slight variations, I’m addicted to this pastry.

About a year ago, I sampled an incredible variant of a Napoleon, not only did it not look like the traditional version sold in your local bakery, but its flavor was far better than anything I tasted before. Chef Ehud Ezra, Pastry Chef at Basil Pizza and Wine Bar would not divulge his recipe, so it took me a while to come up with one that would be similar to what I had at the restaurant. While looking for a version that somewhat resembled the one that so inspired me, I came up with some bits of food history that I found fascinating. A few details follow:

In 1651, François Pierre La Varenne described a version in his Le Cuisinier François. This was later improved by Marie-Antoine Carême, who – writing in the early part of the 19th century – described Milles-Feuilles as pastry of ancient origin. The Larousse Gastronomique refers to it as Gâteau Napolitain (Neapolitan Cake), after the Italian city of Napoli rather than after the French emperor.

Chef Udi's original Napoléon...

I could never fully duplicate Chef Udi‘s recipe but here’s my approximation:

On Leah Cooks Kosher I found this recipe for the cream which I adapted by reducing the gelatin about 1/4 teaspoon her original called for:

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder
• 4 teaspoons cold water
• 1 1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Set aside.
2. Whip the heavy cream until is starts to thicken. Slowly add the sugar and beat the cream until it is stiff. We don’t want it too soft but we don’t want it to curdle.
3. Add the gelatin mixture and beat until combined. Chill for 30 minutes before using.

You can buy frozen puff pastry or, if you are adventurous, make your own; it will certainly taste better!

Puff Pastry

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (or margarine, for pareve dough), frozen
• 5-6 tablespoons ice water

Directions

1. Whisk four and salt in a chilled large metal bowl. Set a grater in flour mixture and coarsely grate frozen margarine into flour, gently lifting flour and tossing to coat butter.
2. Drizzle 5 tablespoons of ice water evenly over flour mixture and stir gently with a fork until incorporated. Test mixture by gently squeezing a small handful; the dough will not crumble if it has the proper texture. Add another tablespoon if needed stirring until fully incorporated and test again. Remember that if you overwork the dough or add too much water it will be tough.
3. Form the dough into a 5″ square. It will be lumpy and streaky. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, wrapped in plastic until firm.
4. Roll out on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, into a 15 by 8 inch rectangle. Position dough with a shorter side facing you, fold into thirds (like a brochure): bottom third over center, top down over dough. Rewrap and refrigerate until firm, about another 30 minutes approximately.
5. Position dough with a short side facing you again, on a well floured surface and roll out again folding and refrigerating two more times. Brush off excess flour wrap again in plastic and refrigerate for an hour and half or longer.

For the Napoleon, thaw the dough (whether your own or store bought) for 30 minutes and cut into 4 fairly equal squares; use a toothpick to make about 3 pricks on each. Preheat oven to 400 F, lower to 350 F and bake the squares on a cookie sheet for approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Take out, let pastry cool completely and spoon the cream over the first and cover with a second square, spoon cream over it and cover with a third square spooning the cream again. Top it with the fourth piece and sprinkle it with lots of confectioner’s sugar.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Michel Cluizel – Chocolatier Extraordinaire

Patrick Skene Catling wrote in his book The Chocolate Touch: “Other things are just food. But chocolate’s chocolate.”  However, as all true chocolate lovers know, not all chocolates are created equal. There are chocolates and then there are CHOCOLATES!

A partial view of the 5th Avenue store…

Nestled in the midst of the sparkling glittering bejeweled jungle known as the diamond district; sits a truly priceless holding. Enter the rich, luxurious, intimately French walnut interior of Michel Cluizel chocolatier extraordinaire (584 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Adorning the shop are vitrines of some of the very finest chocolate made in the world. From cocoa bean beginning to the end of process, Michel Cluizel produces an array of kosher pareve chocolates with 85% and 99% cocoa content.

Jacques Dahan, who directs the company’s American operation

Through the unrelenting efforts of Jacques Dahan, the manager of the company’s American operation, Michel Cluizel  now produces a line of French pastries prepared fresh daily by an award winning French pastry chef.

Opera, Ganache, Napoleon…

We sampled the Napoleon, the chocolate ganache, a coffee éclair, an opera, and the chocolate crisp (which was my personal favorite). They all did what chocolate is meant to do but rarely accomplishes these days, they were mouth- watering explosions of delight. I was there with Geila Hocherman, author of Kosher Revolution, and Lévana Kirschenbaum, author of The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen and more. There is nothing as delightful as a group of girls sitting together and eating the most delicious chocolate and chatting about it. Meanwhile, CS was taping a conversation with Jacques Dahan, for his upcoming Wednesday BlogTalkRadio.com broadcast.

The above cappuccino was indescribably delicious, as were the macchiato and the espresso.

Please listen to The Kosher Scene’s two broadcasts this week:

• Monday, December 19th, 8:00pm, Eastern Time –The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts

On Monday evening you will hear a prerecorded conversation with the Dean of CKCA, Chef Avram Wiseman and Jesse Blonder, the school’s founder and director. On Wednesday evening, you’ll get to hear about our tasting at Michel Cluizel.

SYR

Olive Oil Orange Cake

Chef Mark Green of Glatt A La Carte, always wanted to be a hockey player and even got a scholarship to play at Saranac in Upstate new York. Unfortunately he got hurt while playing, with his sports dream over he majored in art and photography.

After graduating from the New York Restaurant School, in 1982, Chef Mark spent the next 7 years as sous-chef at Club Med in Aruba. He did stints as Main Chef for the Divi Divi Beach Hotels in the Netherlands and the Antilles but came back to the US, eventually opening Glatt A La Carte, as Executive Chef, over 10 years ago.

He has graciously given us his recipe for a delicious, easy to make cake:

Portuguese Olive Oil Orange Pound Cake

Delicious... is an understatement!

Yields: 10 to 12 servings

Wet Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
• 5 eggs

Dry Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• zest of 3 oranges

Glaze

• 1 cup confectioner sugar
• 2 teaspoons of orange juice

Directions

1. Beat eggs lightly in large mixing bowl.
2. Slowly add sugar to the eggs until light colored and thicken into a ribbon consistency.
3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Add orange juice to egg mixture.
5. Mix until fully incorporated.
6. Add olive oil and flower alternating little by little into egg mixture until fully incorporated.
7. Mix until it becomes a nice batter with ribbon consistency.
8. Mix zest into batter.
9. Take a Bund pan and spray it with cooking spray.
10. Pour batter into Bund pan.
11. Bake at 350 F for 1:15 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.
12. Cool for 30-60 minutes.
13. Combine glaze thoroughly and drop on cake.

I’ve tried Chef Mark’s recipe, both at the restaurant and at home, it’s very good. Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Portuguese Olive Oil Orange Cake

From the Heart of Dixie

Even when I lived outside of the US, whether in Uruguay, Israel, etc., I’d hear about Southern cooking. When I first came to the States in 1962 and moved to Richmond, VA (the capital of the Confederacy), I actually got to taste a few superb kosher variations on the Southern theme.

Recently, I came across Simply Southern – With a Dash of Kosher Soul, a cookbook published by the Margolin Hebrew Academy/Feinstone Yeshiva of the South of Memphis, TN. I couldn’t wait to try out some of the book’s delicacies, I wasn’t disappointed! The recipes are a easy to make, short-cutting more complex directions with readily available ingredients that make preparation a snap. This ain’t no diet cookbook, so if you’ve been watching your waist after yom tov feasting save this for the times when you want to cook quick tasty dishes with that special touch of true Americana.  The recipes are clear, the assortment fun, pretty to look at and absolutely delicious.

For the last week we made quite a few of them and each proved delectable. The recipes are divided into ten sections running from

• Appetizers and Starters
• Soups and Sandwiches
  
• Salads
• Brunch & Dairy
• Pasta, grains & Rice
• Meats
• Poultry
• Fish
• Vegetables & Side Dishes
• Desserts

As you can see, it covers the gamut of the most common cooking types. It is hard to chose just one recipe to share, in fact it’s hard to chose, two, three or even four favorites from those we tried. But here are two very Southern selections:

Real Fried Chicken

True Southerners make enough for leftovers. Nothing beats cold fried chicken for lunch the day after. Do not skip the salt! salt is an especially important ingredient to the authentic taste of this signature dish of Dixie!

MARINADE

1 quart water
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

MARINADE

Whisk together water, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, white pepper, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.

CHICKEN

4 cut up chickens
12 cups vegetable oil
Self rising flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper

CHICKEN

Add chicken pieces to marinade. Toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 360-375 degrees. Drain marinade from chicken on paper towels and pat dry. Sprinkle chicken on both sides with self-rising flour. Blend eggs and water. Combine all-purpose flour, salt, garlic powder, cayenne and white pepper. Dip chicken in egg wash. Dredge in flour mixture. Place chicken on a large baking sheet. Let sand for 10 minutes. Fry chicken in hot oil turning a few times for 20-25 minutes or until golden browned. Drain on a rack over paper towels.

YIELD: 6 – 8 SERVINGS

For dessert I loved the Chess Pie, I also liked the humor in the intro to this dish.

Chocolate Chess Pie

Chess pie is one of the South’s great contributions to the culinary arts. One folk story asserts that it was originally called “just pie,” which was drawled as “jus’ pie,” eventually rolling off the tongue as “chess pie.” This is always a favorite!

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 eggs
10 tablespoons soymilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (9-inch) pie shell, unbaked
1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
Chocolate syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar, cocoa, and margarine in a bowl. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Blend in soymilk, vanilla and salt. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool top with whipped topping. Pie freezes well. Drizzle chocolate syrup across the top!

YIELDS: 8 SERVINGS

Each section starts out with a few short paragraphs detailing the transition of Southern cooking into Kosher cooking or an occasional anecdote to bring the Memphis community a little closer to wherever you are. Liberally sprinkled with humor and folksy story tellin’  Simply Southern – With a Dash of Kosher Soul is sure to change your view of classic American cooking.

Enjoy it, gentle reader, enjoy it in all its finger lickin’ goodness!

CS

Yom Tov Recipes – Personal Honeyed Chocolate Lava Cake

Pastry Chef Ehud Ezra, gave us this delicious recipe for yom tov. SYR and I got to taste it yesterday, thus, we can attest to it being  truly scrumptious without being overly sweet. One of the joys of this type of post is being in the company of such gifted chefs and bakers. Udi, as his friends and coworkers lovingly nicknamed him, is a warm hearted chemist and chocolate alchemist.  He’s got such a mastery of ingredients and technique mixed with a sensitive spirituality that reflects his soul in everything he bakes. His Rosh HaShana recipe for Honeyed Chocolate Lava Cake certainly demonstrates his unique talents as a master pastry chef.

Honeyed Chocolate Lava Cake

Yields 10 mini 5 ozs. portions made in 4″ muffin molds

Ingredients

• 1/2 lbs. butter/margarine/Earth Balance
• 1 1/2 lbs. semi sweet chocolate
• 2 tspns. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup honey
• 7 whole eggs
• 3/4 cup flour
• Confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Melt butter, 1 1/2 minutes in microwave, add chopped chocolate, mix until incorporated but not too hot add vanilla extract and honey.
2. In mixer whip eggs until they form high peaks, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Fold with chocolate mix.
4. Spray pans with canola oil. Scoop in batter until the top of pans (batter rises and then deflates).
5. Put in oven at 400 F, for 12 to 15 minutes, until top is crusted.
6. Sprinkle tops with confectioners sugar. Serve with 4 scoops of Rich’s whipped cream or vanilla ice cream w/honey on top.

Easy to make and fast to bake, if you make you’ll shine whether with your guests or even with your family.

Enjoy it, gentle reader, we certainly did!

CS

Honeyed Chocolate Lava Cake

x———)o0O0o(———x

KTIVAH VECHATIMA TOVAH!!!
SHANA TOVAH UMETUKA!!!
A GUT GEBENTSHT YOHR!!!

Tiberias

Comfortable, relaxed, upscale, delicious… Those words barely describe this brand new eatery in Midtown Manhattan. Tiberias (45 East 34th Street; NY, NY 10016; Tel: 212.481.4222). is under OK supervision, its fare is cholov Yisroel dairy. SYR and I went there yesterday at mid afternoon, less than a week after it opened. It may be brand new but, the two Steinhart brothers have been working in and managing restaurants for the last five years, in spite of their very young ages. This is the realization of their dream, a dream of having a unique restaurant with something different than the standard offerings. If this is how they started, it will not just be a dream!

A partial view of Tiberias Restaurant

SYR started the meal with the Stuffed Mushrooms, stuffed  with fresh vegetables topped with mozzarella and doused in cream sauce.

5 button mushrooms, stuffed with vegetables, topped with mozarella, doused in cream sauce.

She found it very flavorful, each ingredient combined for a delicious, perfect, appetizer.

I had the Gravalax. Homemade smoked salmon with potato crustini and cucumber salad with dill and mustard,  subtly flavored and very good to the palate.

We then shared the Special of the Day, Pasta del Sol. It consisted of penne with cream sauce and cherry tomato culis, topped with a nicely sized grilled Atlantic salmon.

Considering it was a hot, humid day SYR accompanied the meal with a Lime & Srawberry Smoothie, made from freshly squeezed lime juice, a bit of lemon zest,  fresh strawberries and crushed ice. It looked great and tasted even better. I had the Coffee Slim Shake (it’s sugar free, but you wouldn’t believe it from that great taste!), it came with ice cream, skim milk and was topped with cocoa powder. On the table next to us, a young lady was feasting on an interesting looking Affogato de Gelato, her expression told us it must have tasted heavenly. She explained to us that she’s enjoyed it here before, it consists of a large scoop of sugar free vanilla ice cream, in a boiling shot of espresso served in a martini glass…

We ended the meal with their Jack Daniels Cheese Cake, this is a Mozart type cheese cake with 2% percent of Jack Daniels whiskey. It tasted superb  and looked great, served with three ice cream scoops, some whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Jack Daniels Cheese Cake

SYR had a Torino Hot Chocolate, gourmet hot chocolate with a partially submerged milk chocolate bar… buonissimo, ottimo!!! I had their Cappuccino, an espresso with steamed milk topped with foam, made from Italy’s famed Danesi Gold Beans…. subtly sweet with a pinch of brown sugar, artistically presented.

Tiberias Cappuccino

A great experience in a brand new eatery with a nice ambiance; as SYR puts it, NO-GUILT DELISH! This definitely calls for an encore…

CS

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts

CKCA, The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, (1407 Coney Island Avenue,, Brooklyn, NY 11230; 718.758.1339) is right in the heart of the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn’s Flatbush community. It is the only kosher cooking school in the US to offer professional level training in both Culinary and Baking and Pastry Arts.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a session of their Baking and Pastry Arts course, taught by Pastry Chef Mark Hellermann. Though I’m not part of the student body, I was enthralled by the instructors explanation and his easy, friendly style of teaching. His 20 years of experience as a Pastry Chef and teacher served him well.

Pastry Chef Mark Hellermann

Without exception the students seemed passionate about their interest in the subject matter. Without exception, each one strove to produce the best, visually enticing, delicious Bavarian pastries.

...listening raptly

As soon as the pastries were ready, I could hear them calling out my name and my notorious sweet tooth knew just what to do about the situation. I started with the Pyramid Bavarian, a two toned combination of pureed fruits consisting, in this case, of mango and strawberry. It had just the right combination of tartness and sweetness, its texture was very smooth. Loved it! Actually… I had no choice but to devour the three that distinctly and pleadingly, called out to me. I segued with a Crème Caramel, very sweet but not overbearing, smooth… It too was delicious.

Pyramid Bavarian and Crème Caramel

I followed with a rounded Strawberry Bavarian and a  rounded Mango Bavarian. These Bavarians consist of three parts each, a thin sponge cake bottom, pureed fruit and the glaçage or mirroir top. This a jellied mirror like covering in the color of the particular fruit used in the puree.

Mango Bavarian

The garnished Bavarians showed creativity, the very thin twill cookies adorning many of these came in all shapes and the cookie’s crispness and pureed fruit combined to give each Bavarian a pleasant, inviting appearance.

This course is given four times a week, in four hour sessions for 10 weeks. Having obverved the students during the preparation, their passion and dedication to their tasks were palpable, I have no doubt they all have a bright future ahead!

The next course will start shortly after Pessach and run through June, don’t forget to sign up by calling Jesse Blonder at:718.758.1339.

CS