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

The Thrill of Victory…

[I confess, it’s been just over two month since Kosherfest 2012, and this video should have seen the light of day much sooner. Though making our readers wait was unprofessional and unforgivable there were truly extenuating circumstances, unfortunately. In any case, the competition was exciting. The three competing Chefs, were consummate professionals. I have no doubt the judges had a very hard time declaring a winner. CS]

Last year, I was one of the judges at Kosherfest 2011 Chefs’ Competition , this year I was behind a SONY AX2000 taping the proceedings. There was excitement, at times the chefs nervousness was palpable yet – at all times – it was obvious these 3 professionals were thoroughly enjoying what they were doing.

All videos copyright of © The Kosher Scene

The judges were Chef Jack Silberstein, from Jack’s Gourmet, Chef Seth Warshaw of etc steakhouse, Paula Shoyer, author of The Kosher Baker and Pastry Chef Philip Kaemerle, pastry instructor at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts. The event was sponsored by CKCA, Jack’s Gourmet and Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine.

Chef Alexandre Petard from Ladino Restaurant, Chef Koby Weiner from Fairway‘s Kosher Food division and Chef Ari White from Got Cholent? and Gemstone Caterers went up against each other. Each created a masterpiece with the secret ingredient which they only were able to find out about immediately prior to the clock starting the 45 minute countdown. Yellow tail tuna, was that secret ingredients, while they could prepare it in any way they liked, they had to use each of a number of ingredients given them.

The fact that such varied dishes were made with the same set of ingredients is a true testament to each one’s imagination, creativity and professionalism. I hope, gentle reader, you enjoy watching this video as much as I enjoyed the live proceedings.

CS

Kosherfest 2012 Highlights

While we will be adding more videos (properly edited) to these post, over the next 2 days, we can’t wait to tell you about last week’s two day event at the Meadowlands Exhibition Center, Kosherfest 2012.

With more exhibitors than ever it was hard to talk to everyone or taste everything, but both Geila Hocherman (kosherrevolution.net) – author of  Kosher Revolution – and I, still managed to find some of the best products at the event.

We spoke to Scott Sunshine (video to follow), chef at OSEM, who spoke to us about the company’s new line of gluten-free products and their improved couscous; Ruti Schwarcz, The Wine Lioness from Happy Hearts Wine, who had us taste us to three superb new wines they are introducing to the American market;  Jack Silberstein, co-founder (with Dr. Alan Bronner) of Jack’s Gourmet (here, here, here and more).

Jay Buxbaum from the Royal Wine Corporation spoke to us about some of the newest healthy foods products recently introduced; Koby Cohen, from Gelato Petrini winners of this year’s Best New Product in it category (video to follow);

Next we spoke to brothers Benjamin and Martin Weisz, from Elegant Desserts, who described their new products for caterers and consumers – especially exciting was the news of their association with a young but seasoned chocolatier.

On Wednesday, we spoke to Rachel Golian, from Simply Bar – whose product won this year’s Best New Snack Food Award; our old friend Gabriel Boxer spoke to us next about his new company and delicious product – Shani’s Tahini Sauce; Leah Haddad, from Voila! Hallah came next; she was followed by the Iron Chef Competition sponsored by the Center of Kosher Culinary Arts  (here, here, here and more) and Jack’s Gourmet Kosher Sausages. Geila then spoke to the competition’s winner, Chef Alexandre Petard from Ladino Restaurant.

Paula Shoyer, one of the judges and author of  The Kosher Baker; we then spoke to Paul BenSabat, coCEO of The Manischewitz Company (here, here and more) who told us of some exciting new introductions. Elan Kornblum, from Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine, spoke to us next…

Our last interview was with Alexander Rappaport, CEO of Masbia, Yaakov Leibowitz, from Agri Star  and Chef Ruben Diaz for the Masbia Soup Kitchens and the wonderful work they are doing by feeding over 1000 Hurricane Sandy victims every day!

CS

Never Say This is the Final Road for You…

The Kosher Scene is far more than just food and wine, our Internet Radio guest tomorrow evening will be Irving Schild, Professor Emeritus and former Photography Department Chairman at New York City’s prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology and Chief Photographer for MAD Magazine. During his more than four decades in his chosen field he has traveled to many near and remote, familiar and exotic parts of the world, for his clients as well as his own creative pursuits. We will discuss his current book project on the rebirth of many Jewish communities in Europe, reborn in spite of Hitler’s (Yimach shmo!) attempts to permanently destroy them. He will show us, as the Partisans Song (Zog nisht keyn mol – Never Say) went, that in spite of the odds, in spite of the number of murderous attempts on the Jewish Nation, the Jewish Phoenix always rises from the ashes, from the blood, from the pain, from the tears!

Last week’s show featured the Puah Institute, we spoke with their Director General, Rabbi Gideon Weitzman, in Jerusalem and Mrs. Leah Davidson, Director of the American branch. We talked about their work on behalf of infertile couples, their free counseling services, their supervision services and more. If you missed it, you can hear the archive here: What is the Puah Institute?

Please listen to our conversation with Irving Schild, photographer extraordinaire. Tune us in at 8:00 pm, tomorrow evening – Wednesday, the 18th of May. You can find us right here: Talking with Irving Schild . Irving is a fascinating personality, this show promises to be interesting, informative while filling every Jewish heart with pride at our quiet revenge against those who would have annihilated us.

CS

No Broadcast Tonight

Kudos to our dear friend, Rabbi Yaakov Spivak at the Jewish Radio Network, for hosting the past eleven episodes of The Kosher Scene Radio Show. We’re so excited to announce that starting next week, we’ll be moving to a terrific new net station.  We’ll be bigger and better than ever with new tech abilities and worldwide coverage. Check The Kosher Scene Radio for updates and details about our new and exciting venue. This week, however, we will be taking a week hiatus from radio while we make the necessary transitions.

Last week’s show featured Moshe Aaron Zimmerman from Liquors Galore (1212 Avenue J; Brooklyn, NY 11230-3702; Telephone: 718.338.4166), if you missed it here is the archived show. In the past, Aaron has shared some basics of wine tasting on this blog’s pages, with a four part series on Enjoying Your Wine (Buying, Tasting, Storing and Grape Varieties). His talk on our show was interesting and very informative.

Here are the links to our past guests’ audio files:

• Pastry Chef Paula Shoyer – Author of The Kosher Baker.
• Sol Kirschenbaum – Owner of Teaneck’s NoBo Restaurant (1400 Palisade Avenue; Teaneck, NJ 07666, Telephone: 201.837.1000), partner at Presidental Tours and Israeli wine expert.
• Elizabeth Bland – Blogger, writer (for various trade magazine) and lecturer on all subjects cheese.
• Gil Marks – author of the Encyclopedia of Jewish Foods and more.
• Nina Shapir – Owner and operator of Natural Village Cafe in Brooklyn.
• Jay Buchsbaum – Executive Vice President of Royal Wine Corporation.
• Chef Lévana Kirschenbaum – Author of three cookbooks (with a fourth one due out this summer), the visionary trailblazer behind the legendary Lévana’s Restaurant and cooking teacher extraordinaire.
• Chef Jack Silberstein – Partner at Jack’s Gourmet.
• Tammy Cohen – Partner at 18 Restaurant .and marketing expert
• Rabbi Yaakov Spivak – Radio and TV personality and blogger at the New York Daily News

We have a great lineup of upcoming guests, enjoy a quiet night off tonight, but be sure to listen our new show. We’ll give you the details at the beginning of next week.

CS

Kosherfest: Day 1

Today was the opening day for Kosherfest at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, in Seacaucus (NJ). Not only was the number of exhibitors bigger than ever, but so was the attendance. There is no question that the kosher consumer is more and more demanding, both in the number of items as well as in their quality. I only stayed for a few hours, as I had prior obligations so I decided to go for some unusual or otherwise interesting items.

First, however, we decided to meet some of the cookbook authors we reviewed recently and had interviewed over the phone and on radio.

Paula Shoyer, Pastry Chef par excellence, cookbook author

Paula Shoyer, recently had her The Kosher Baker published by Brandeis University. It is one of the most beautiful kosher cookbooks both SYR or I have ever seen.

Susie Fishbein, the top kosher cookbook author and whose Kosher by Design series sold globally in numbers comparable to the world’s top cookbook authors was there too…

Susie Fishbein being interviewed, at the Kolatin gelatin booth by TJC TV

We reviewed a pre-publication copy of her newest – Kosher by Design Teens and 20 Somethings (due to hit the stores on October the 27th!) – yesterday.

Quite a few exhibitors used the occasion to launch new lines, among them we were happy to see that Lévana Kirschenbaum finally and officially put her new bakery products on the market. At the beginning of the summer SYR and I were among the exclusive few who got to taste these delicacies…

Lévana demostrating her new products

As I searched for unusual products, I spotted these unusual bottles of Tequila…

Kah Tequila... guaranteed to get your attention!

I then tasted the middle bottle of the Agave 99 line…

Smooth and flavorful

Next I did a tasting of the Secreto line of wines from Argentina.

Secreto - Vinos kasher de Argentina

I first tried their Malbec (80% Malbec – Argentina’s most famous wine grape – and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon); I followed it with their Cabernet Sauvignon (80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Malbec); next I tried their Trivarietal (50% Bonarda, 25% Malbec and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon). I found all three to be excellent selections, especially in their price range ($10-$12).

I then saw a line of medicinal teas from Spain, Helps by Pharmadus.

A nice line of special teas for children, women's needs, and a whole lot more.

Next we saw Tammy Polatskek‘s new line of superbly designed dishes under the Carmona label.

Beautiful, unusual, contemporary

Beautiful, contemporary shapes that will greatly enhance the pleasure of any meal, the beauty of any table.

Before we left we passed by the booth of Happy Hearts Wine…

Some great wines from some of Israel's smaller wineries...

They distribute Israeli wines from from small boutique wine producers like, Odem Mountain Winery, Or Haganuz Winery, the Mony Estate Vineyards, Dovev Winery, Hameshubach Winery, and the Efrat Winery. Their selections were quite good, I was familiar with some of their labels already.

We didn’t cover as much as we would have liked, especially after some very interesting products we sa, but I’m going back tomorrow and I expect to cover far more ground.

CS

The Kosher Baker

A 1996 graduate of the Ritz Escoffier Ecole de Gastronomie Française in Paris, Paula Shoyer owns Paula’s Parisian Pastries Cooking School in the Washington, DC. area. She recipe tested and edited Susie Fishbein‘s Kosher By Design Entertains and Kosher By Design Kids In The Kitchen. Paula is also the author of the brand new book The Kosher Baker. Not only is this a beautiful tome, the attention to detail in its execution, the direction given in the recipes, make its publication an unparalleled event among kosher cookbooks.

I got the book last week and immediately started leafing through it. It has great great photos without being overbearing, the detail of explanation in the recipes will make for perfect results by whoever follows them fully. Each of the over 160 recipes is preceded by a little anecdote which makes it very friendly and offers us small tidbits of its author as very real and down to earth.

Having never outgrown my childhood sweet tooth, I was pleasantly surprised to find a recipe for the cinnamon buns I always loved. I made a batch of 20, on Thursday evening.

In a very uncharacteristic display of will power (likely due to being tired at such a late hour), I did not have even one! Friday morning, however, I had  intended to eat only a few myself and share the rest with SYR,  but alas… such was not to be! My will power failed and I finished the whole lot. As we are in Elul, I felt very guilty and confessed my dastardly deed and – predictably – SYR was rather upset with me. On Sunday – yesterday – she made two batches of cinnamon buns, thereby proving (again!) she’s a far better person than I. The buns looked better than mine, which gave me the opportunity to photograph them since in the losing battle against my sweet tooth I had entirely forgotten to do so. Best of all, her teenage son told her these were the best pastry she ever made!

Choosing just one recipe is hard; having gone through the book I can tell quite a few are destined to become new favorites (especially that Crème Brûlée on page 240!). Meanwhile I”ll quote the one recipe both SYR and I thoroughly tested:

Cinnamon Buns

MAKES ABOUT 20 BUNS
STORAGE
Store covered in plastic at room temperature for up to four days or freeze up to 4 months

Dough

1 cup parve plain soy milk
1/2 ounce (2 envelopes) active dry yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting work surface
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) parve margarine, softened, plus extra to grease pan (if pan-baking buns)
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

Filling

1 cup (2 sticks) parve margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Glaze

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

The remnants of SYR's double batch...

1. To make the dough: Heat the soy milk until lukewarm. Pour into a large bowl and add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. Add the flour, eggs, remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, margarine, and oil and mix well. knead using either a dough hook in a stand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes or by hand until the dough comes together into a ball. Cover with plastic and let rise for 1 hour.
2. In the meantime, prepare the filling. Place the margarine, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and mix with a whisk or beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Take a piece of parchment paper about 2-feet long and place on the counter. Sprinkle with some flour. Place the dough on the floured parchment, sprinkle with some more flour, and roll it into 15 x 24-inch rectangle. Spread the cinnamon filling all over the dough, all the way to the edges.
4. Roll up the dough beginning with the long side of the rectangle, so you end up with a log about 24 inches long. Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 1-inch slices. You can bake these two ways.
5. To make soft, pan-baked buns, grease a 9 x 13-inch pan with some margarine. Place the buns in the pan with the cinnamon swirl-side up. Bake for 40 minutes, or until browned on the outside edges.
6. To make individually baked buns with a slightly crunchy exterior, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment. Place the sliced buns cinnamon swirl-side up on the pans 3 inches apart. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden-brown.
7. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan (or on the cookie sheets) and prepare the glaze. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of the boiling water and the vanilla. Whisk in another tablespoon of boiling water and see if you have a thick pourable glaze. If you think it is too thick, add another tablespoon of boiling water and whisk to combine. If you accidentally made it too thin, just add some confectioners’ sugar. Use the whisk to drizzle the glaze over the cinnamon buns.

Enjoy, gentle reader, we certainly did!

CS