Oven-Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

The perfect, delicious, side dish for any main – whether on Passover or the rest of the year – it’s incredibly simple to make.

From Geila Hocherman‘s Kosher Revolution,  page 145

Serves 6

Photo by: Antonis Achilleous

Not every delicious dish needs to be complicated. This savory side of crisp, garlicky potatoes almost makes itself. It’s the perfect accompaniment to roast meats, chicken or fish – just about any main item.I like to season these with rosemary , but see other options in the ingredient listing.

• 3 pounds unskinned fingerling potatoes
• 6 garlic cloves, flattened with the side of a knife
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin oil
• Four-3-inch fresh rosemary sprigs, 4 thyme sprigs, or 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a medium roasting pan, combine the potatoes and garlic. Add the salt, oilve oil a nd rosemary, and toss
2. Roast the potatoes until golden , about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to 20 minutes to ensure browning. Serve.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!
CS

Thanksgiving Cooking with Gloria Kobrin, Part 2– Root Vegetable Casserole with Caramelized Onions

Here’s Gloria Kobrin again, demonstrating another vegetarian delight:

Root Vegetable Casserole with Caramelized Onions

Serves 10 to 12
Prep time: Root vegetables-60 minutes, Onions-40 minutes, Baking: 0 min
Equipment: 10 cup pot, large skillet, large mixing bowl, 10 cup casserole, large colander

Ingredients

•  3 pounds russet potatoes
• 1 pound turnips
• 2 pounds parsnips large
• 5 large onions 10 cup casserole
• 7 cloves garlic- peeled
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 medium bunch fresh thyme leaves
• 7 cups fresh/boxed vegetable broth
• 2 sticks non-dairy margarine-softened
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Spray casserole with olive oil.
2. Peel potatoes and parsnips. Cut them into 1½ inch pieces. Peel and cut turnips into ½ inch pieces. Put vegetables in pot with garlic. Tie thyme and bay leaf together and add to vegetables with stock. Bring to a boil. Cover pot and simmer about 40 minutes until vegetables are very soft. Cool slightly. Remove thyme-bay leaf bundle. Drain vegetables in a colander or lift vegetables out with a spider.. Transfer into large bowl. Mash vegetables with 1 stick margarine until blended yet chunky. Spoon into casserole. Set aside.
3. Peel and core onions. Slice thinly.
4. Melt remaining margarine in skillet over high heat. Add onions to skillet and sauté until onions are soft and golden brown- about 25 minutes. Spread onions evenly over smashed vegetables. Bake in 375 F oven until vegetables are very hot and onions have crisped.

Note: Completed casserole may be prepared one day in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking. To prepare for freezer: Spoon mashed vegetables into oven to table ware serving dish. Cool completely. Cover with waxed paper and foil and freeze. Defrost casserole the night before serving. Sauté onions and smother vegetable casserole with them on serving day. Serve hot!

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Thanksgiving Cooking with Gloria Kobrin, Part 1– Sweet Potato Casserole

Gloria Kobrin, author of Kosher Cookbook, an iphone/ipod app with over 300 step-by-step recipes, a shopping list generator and 52-week meal plans. She’s also a food blooger and is about launch a website (kosherbygloria.com) with more recipes, cooking tips and more. This past week I had the pleasure of taping her as she prepared easy yet delicious dishes for Thanksgiving. Here we present the first one of three:

Sweet Potato Casserole

Serves 18
Prep time: Boiling potatoes- 20-30 min. Mixing- 15 min. Baking- 45 min.
Equipment: Large pot, 6 quart oven to table casserole

Ingredients

• 6 pounds sweet potatoes
• 1 cup (tightly packed) + 6
• tablespoons dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup non-dairy margarine- melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract*
• 3 cans mandarin oranges – drained
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Boil potatoes until very soft. Drain, cool slightly and peel. Place potatoes in large mixing bowl. Add 6 tablespoons margarine, 12 tablespoons brown sugar, and vanilla to potatoes. Whip ingredients together well by hand or in electric mixer. Fold in oranges. Spoon mixture into casserole and smooth over the top.
2. Preheat oven to: 375 F.
3. Mix together remaining margarine and brown sugar. Scatter chopped pecans over the top of casserole. Dribble sugar and margarine mixture over nuts. Bake 45 minutes or until piping hot.

* Cognac can be used in place of vanilla.

Note: Marshmallows can be used instead of nuts and brown sugar. Decorate the top of casserole with them during the last 15 minutes of baking.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Beef Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Why not try a nice Sunday treat? Actually, you can try it anytime; whenever you do, everyone will love it!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 scallion, finely chopped, plus extra shredded scallions to garnish
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 12 oz ground beef
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 cup beef stock *
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F, prick the potatoes all over with a fork to let steam escape during baking. Put them directly on an oven shelf and bake in preheated oven 1 1/2 hours, until soft.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan. Add the scallions and the garlic and cook on low heat – stirring occasionally – for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the ground beef, increase the heat to medium and cook – stirring frequently – and breaking it up with a wooden for 8 to 10 minutes until evenly browned.
3. Stir in the tomato paste, soy sauce and 1/2 cup of of the beef stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 25 to 30 minutes, adding more stock if the mixture starts drying out.
4. Remove the potatoes from the oven and put them on 4 individual plates. Cut into 4 and squeeze gently, then ladle the ground beef mixture over them. Garnish with shredded scallions and serve immediately.

* Beef Stock

Yield: 8 cups

Ingredients

• 6 lb beef soup bones
• 1 large onion
• 3 large carrots
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 stalks celery, including some leaves
• 1 large tomato
• 1/2 cup chopped parsnip
• 1 medium potato
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 cloves garlic
• 12 cups water

Directions (from allrecipes.com)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Trim root end off onion. Slice or quarter the onion, peel and all. Scrub carrots and chop into 1″ chunks. In a large shallow roasting pan, place soup bones, onion, and carrots. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until the bones are well browned, turning occasionally.
3. Drain off fat. Place the browned bones, onion, and carrots in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Pour 1/2 cup water into the roasting pan and rinse. Pour this liquid into soup pot.
4. Scrub the potato and chop it into chunks, peel and all. Chop the celery stalks into thirds. Add celery, tomato, parsnip, potato, peppercorns, parsley (including stems), bay leaf, salt, thyme, and garlic to the pot. Pour in the 12 cups of water.
5. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 hours. Strain stock. Discard meat, vegetables, and seasonings.
6. To clarify stock for clear soup: In order to remove solid flecks that are too small to be strained out with cheesecloth, combine 1/4 cup cold water, 1 egg white, and 1 crushed eggshell. Add to strained stock. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Strain again through a sieve lined with cheesecloth.

Jayne Cohen’s Jewish Holiday Cooking

The Jewish calendar is filled with celebrations, each has its unique foods and traditions. What better way to celebrate than with columnist, blogger, cook author Jayne Cohen‘s Jewish Holiday Cooking? Ms. Cohen covers the spectrum of Jewish cooking around the world. Her dishes – though often traditional – include many a delightful surprise, an update in taste.

The recipes are peppered with quotes from the vast world of Jewish writing ranging from the Talmud to Nathan Englander, from Chaim Grade to Sholem Aleichem, from the Zohar to Shmuel Hanagid and more. It is obvious this is not just a cookbook, it is a paean to Judaism, its timeless spiritual and cultural values, with the recipes representing a way to celebrate it all.

As I browse through the pages, it is obvious the author loves many genres of books, her quotes, her references, her intros to the individual recipes, her writing in general becomes “unputdownable.” As you leaf through, as you read through, not only do you see yourself at the very locals she’s traveled but you can smell and taste as well. Written in the best tradition of M.F.K Fischer, Joseph Wechsberg, Hillaire du Berrier and Ruth Reichl, Ms. Cohen leaves you begging for more…

With Chanuka coming up in less than a month, what could be better than an interesting latke recipe to whet one’s appetite?

Garlic-Rosemary Potato Latkes

Pareve
Yield: About 4 servings

These exceptionally fragrant potato pancakes require no topping or sauce as adornment. They are perfect as is, ready to accompany any roasted or grilled chicken or meat.

Ingredients:

• About 1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold or 3 large russet (baking) potatoes, peeled
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon matzoh meal or unbleached all-purpose flour
• About 3/4 teaspoon salt
• About 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Olive oil, for frying
• Sea salt (optional)

Directions

1. Shred the potatoes, using the shredding disk in a food processor. (Don’t wash out the food processor–you’ll be using it again right away.) Transfer the potatoes to a colander or strainer and use your hands or a wooden spoon to press out as much moisture as possible.
2. Remove the shredding disk from the processor and replace with the steel blade. Return about one third of the shredded potatoes to the food processor. Add the garlic and rosemary and process, using the pulse motion, until roughly pureed. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the remaining potatoes, the egg, matzoh meal or flour, salt and pepper to taste, and the baking powder to the bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. Let stand for 10 minutes to mingle the flavors.
3. In a 10- to 12-inch heavy skillet (cast-iron is ideal), heat about 1/4 inch of oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Drop 1/4 cup of the potato latke batter into the pan and flatten with a spatula. Repeat with more batter, cooking no more than 4 or 5 latkes at a time; crowding the pan will give you soggy latkes.
4. Regulate the heat carefully, reducing it to medium as the latkes fry until golden and crisp on the bottom, about 4 minutes. To prevent oil from splattering, use two spatulas (or a spatula and a large spoon) to turn the latkes carefully. Fry until crisp and golden on the other side.
5. It’s best to flip the latkes only once, so that they don’t absorb too much oil. So, before turning, lift the latkes slightly with the spatula to make sure the underside is crisp and brown.
6. As the latkes are done, transfer them to paper towels or untreated brown paper bags to drain.
7. Continue making latkes in the same manner until all the batter is used. If necessary, add more oil to the pan, but always allow the oil to get hot before frying a new batch.
8. Serve straightaway, sprinkled with a little coarse salt, if you’d like. Or if necessary, keep the latkes warm in a 200 degree F oven (arrange them in a single layer on a rack placed over an oven-proof platter or baking sheet) and serve when they are all ready to be brought to the table.

From Jewish Holiday Cooking: A Food Lover’s Treasury of Classics and Improvisations
by Jayne Cohen (print edition: Wiley 2008; e-book: 2012).
Visit jewishholidaycooking.com

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy! And… don’t forget to tune in this coming Wednesday at 10:00pm (Eastern Time) when we will be talking with Jayne Cohen; we’ll be waiting!

CS

Crispy Roasted Potato Wedges

[Reader Sarah Rosenberg, from Los Angeles, sent in this recipe and photo. I made it last evening and it actually was every bit as good as she said it would be! Why not send us your favorite recipes with an accompanying photo? We will print them if they are good. If you send in a recipe from a cookbook, please give us the title, the author’s name and – unless you took the photo – the photographer’s name as well. CS]

I often serve these potato wedges as a side dish  for Shabbat evening and everyone loves them; in fact, they can’t get enough of them. They go great with beef or poultry, but I’ve been known to have them as a main dish sometimes during the week.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin oil
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 7 or 8 small unpeeled Yukon Gold or red potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• Juice from 1 lemon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Chop the garlic finely and put in a large bowl. Add the oil, parsley and rosemary.
2. Cut the potatoes into 1 inch wide wedges.
3. Add the potatoes to the bowl and sprinkle with salt.
4. Toss to coat the potatoes with the oil mixture.
5. Spread the potatoes on a large baking sheet scraping the bowl of any extra oil and herbs. Arrange the potatoes with a flat side down. Roast until bottom is golden – about 25 minutes – turn with a metal spatula (some potatoes may stick, scrape them loose). Continue roasting until golden and crisp outside, but tender inside, about 15 minutes longer. Sprinkle with the lemon zest.
6. Put the potatoes in a serving bowl, make sure to scrape up all the herbs and zest. Add several squeezes of the juice over the top. Toss gently to distribute and serve hot.

You’ll like the aroma and you’ll love the taste!

Sarah Rosenberg

This Evening’s Radio Show and a Recipe

Right before Pessach we did a two hour show featuring various wine experts and distributors, talking about kosher wines from around the world. It ended with a half hour conversation with Chef Jeff Nathan of Abigael’s.  You can listen to the archived show here.

This evening our internet radio guest will be Chef Sarah Lasry. Mrs. Lasry is Food Editor at Binah Magazine, author of The Dairy Gourmet and The At Home Gourmet. For eight years she owned and operated Tastebuds, a very successful dairy restaurant in the Howell/Lakewood area in New Jersey. You can hear our conversation, at 8:00pm (Eastern Time) on BlogTalk Radio. To talk to our guest, or to comment, you may call in at: 714.333.3357, we will be on from 8:00 – 8:30pm.

Looking through her latest of cookbook, The At Home Gourmet, I found it well organized and easy to follow. It’s divided in seven sections (Amazing Appetizers, Simple Soups, Zestful Salads, Lazy Lunches, Delicious Dinners, Waist Watchers, Basic Desserts) )and has a well organized Index. Quite a few of its recipes are destined to become new favorites, among them some of the very decadent desserts.

While I’m a carnivore to the core, those who follow this blog also know that any recipe that calls for cheese is sure to get my attention. Therefore, out of the many mouthwatering recipes in this book, I thought the one below would be perfect…

So Cheesy Onion Potato Gratin

• 1 large onion sliced thin
• 2 tbsp.extra virgin oil
• 2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced into thin rounds
• 2 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp. Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup grated Mozarella cheese
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 4 tbsp. melted butter
• Extra shredded Cheddar or Mozzarella for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a skillet over med-high heat, saute the onions in olive oil until they have browned (about 4-5 minutes). In a sprayed 9 x 13 baking pan, layer the bottom with the fried onions. Then layer the potatoes over the onions, covering them completely and overlapping the potatoes one on top of the other.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream, salt, black pepper and both cheeses together. Pour the heavy cream mixture over the potatoes. In a separate bowl, add the crumbs and melted margarine, mix well and then spread generously over the top layer of potatoes. Sprinkle with a little more cheese and bake the gratin until it becomes bubbly, the top is brown and the potatoes are completely soft, about 20-30 minutes. Let gratin rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy! As for me I plan on pairing it tonight with a well chilled Balma Venetia 2006 Muscat Beaumes de Venise… can’t wait!

CS

Yom Tov Recipes – From Prime Grill’s Chef David Kolotkin

[Chef David Kolotkin, Executive Chef at The Prime Grill (60 East 49th Street; New York, NY 10017; Telephone: 212.692.9292) has appeared before on these pages (here, here, here,  here, and here). Once again he graciously acceded to share three yom tov recipes with our readers. CS]

Rosh Hashana Duck Meatballs with Sweet Sauce

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs ground duck meat
3/4 cup chicken or duck fat
2/3 cup soy milk
1 3/4 cup-2 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme

-Combine all ingredients.
-Roll into 1 1/2 oz meatballs
-bake in 350 degree oven 8-10 minutes or until cooked through

Sweet Sauce

3 cups Pineapple juice
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/5 cup white Vinegar
1/4 cup Dark brown sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch
6 tbsp cold water

-combine the first 4 ingredients and bring to a simmer.
-combine the last 2 ingredients and whisk in to the simmering 4 ingredients. Bring back to a simmer.
-toss the meatballs into the sauce and serve.

Dry Rubbed Double Cut Veal Chop for Two

Ingredients

½ Tblspn Black Pepper
2 Tblspn Sugar
2 Tblspn Salt
5 Tblspn Porcini Pepper (dried porcini ground in spice/coffee grinder)

Mix all of the Above

1 Double Cut Veal Chop
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil

Sprinkle the dry rub generously on the veal chop before searing. In a hot sauté pan, using the oil, sear the veal chop on all sides. Put onto an oven-ready tray. Roast in a 350 degrees oven for approximately 10-15 minutes. Medium is my preferred temperature.

Red Pepper Jam

2 Red Bell Peppers—seeded, ribs out, julienned
¼ cup Sugar
1/3 cup Rice Vinegar (White Vinegar can be substituted)

Combine all ingredients in a small pot. Bring to a simmer. Slowly cook down until a jam like consistency (almost dry).

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Ingredients

3 cups Sweet Potato Puree
1/3 cup Sugar
Pinch of Salt
3 Eggs
1 Vanilla Bean
½ cup Pineapple Juice
½ cup Flour

Combine the first 6 ingredients. Fold in the flour. Pour into a greased pyrex baking
dish. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 40-45 minutes.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Sweet Potato Soufflé