White Bean & Escarole Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbl Olive Oil
• 1 small onion
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 4 cups veg or chicken stock
• 1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 15oz can white kidney beans – rinsed
• 4 cups chopped escarole

Method:

In a soup pot saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent.  Add broth,  tomatoes, crushed red pepper, orzo, black pepper and bring to a simmer until pasta is cooked (aprox. 5 minutes.) Add beans and escarole.  Simmer additional five minutes until beans are warm.  Serve.

Makes four servings.

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Thanksgiving Sage Grouse Apsa’alooke

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Cheese Blintz, Montana Blintz

The 2-day Jewish Biblical Festival of Shavuot (shuh-VOO-oht) commemorates the day when G-d gave the Jewish people the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) following Moses’ descent from Mount Sinai. This year, Shavuot will occur from sundown, Thursday, May 28 through sundown, Saturday, May 30 on the civil calendar.

Shavuot (Lev. 21:15-16, 21) occurs each year 7 weeks from the second Seder of the Jewish Biblical Festival of Passover. This explains the name “Shavuot” — which is Hebrew for weeks. If you count from one day earlier, from the first Seder of the Festival of Passover, there are 50 days, or as it’s known in Greek — Pentecost, meaning the fiftieth day. (Pentecost is what Christians call their celebration 50 days after Easter Sunday that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the followers of Jesus of Nazareth on that day. Pentecost is also called “Whitsun” or “WhitSunday” in the UK and other English-speaking areas.)

The Shavuot synagogue service includes the reading of the Book of Ruth and the “Akadamot”. The Book of Ruth is the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman, who voluntarily chose Judaism and because of her kindness, became the great-grandmother of King David (and for Christians, the ancestor of Jesus of Nazareth), and who is said to have been born on and died on Shavuot. The other book that is read is the “Akdamot”, written in Aramaic by Rabbi Meir ben Isaac of Worms, Germany in the eleventh century C.E., which describes what it will be like during the days of the “Moshiach” (Messiah).

The custom is to eat dairy foods on Shavuot because once the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) was given at Sinai, all methods of killing the animal, other than by “shechitah”, ritually-approved slaughter, were prohibited. Since animals could not be ritually slaughtered on Shabbat (Sabbath), and the Torah was given on Shabbat, on that day the Jews at Sinai had to eat dairy.

Ashkenazic (central and eastern European Jewry) fare includes a variety of dairy dishes including blintzes (fried, filled crepes), noodle or rice kugels (puddings), knishes (filled pastries), kreplach (filled pasta), priogen (filled pastry turnovers), vegetable salads with sour cream, kaesekuchen (cheesecake), strudel, schnecken (yeast pastries), rugelach (cream cheese cookies), kuchen (coffee cakes) and fluden (layered pastry).

Sephardim (Spanish, Portuguese, North African, Balkan, Greek and Turkish Jewry) serve such dishes as borekas (pastry turnovers), ojaldres (phyllo turnovers), calsones (filled pasta), esfongus (spinach-cheese nests), mengedarrah (lentils with rice) topped with yogurt, yogurt salads, sutlach (rice flour pudding), ruz ib assal (honey and milk rice pudding) and biscochos Har Sinai (mounded cookies representing Mt. Sinai).

A fairly newer custom begun in the U.S. by Reform Jewry, and adopted by Conservative Judaism as well, is to hold religious school graduation exercises on Shavuot. More traditional Orthodox communities begin a child’s formal Jewish education on Shavuot.

Chag Sameach (KHAG sah-MEHY-ahkh = A Joyous Holiday)!

For a Cheese Blintz & Montana Blintz recipe, click more Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Cheese, Ethnic, Jewish, Kosher, Recipes | 5 Comments »

Walter’s Pesach matzoh brei

The 8-day (7 days in Israel) Jewish Biblical Festival of Pesach (PEH-sahkh, PAY-sahkh = Passover), named for the ‘passing over’ of the Angel of Death that slew the first born sons of the Egyptians, celebrates the liberation of the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt and the beginning of the Israelite, now Jewish people, and has been continuously celebrated for more than 3,300 years. According to Biblical chronology, the Exodus from Egypt took place 890 years before the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 421 BCE, or in 1310 BCE, during the reign of the Pharaoh Adikam (not, as generally believed, and as portrayed in the movie “The Ten Commandments”, during the reign of Ramses II).

As commanded by the Almighty at Sinai (Ex. 12:14-20, 13:1-10 and Lev. 23:4-8), the 8-day Festival of Pesach begins on the 15th day of Nissan and ends on the 22nd day of Nissan (that’s the Babylonian ‘Nissan’, not the Japanese ‘Nissan’), which this year, this will be from sundown, Saturday, April 19 to sundown, Sunday, April 27 on the civil calendar.

As the only major Jewish celebration completely centered on the home and not in the synagogue, Passover is marked by special dietary restrictions, mainly the prohibition against using any grain or leavened product, other than matzoh (unleavened bread made from flour and water and baked for 18 minutes), and ritualized meals (Seders) that follow a specified order as written down in the Haggadah (huh-GAH-duh, the guide book for the Seder service that contains blessings, questions and answers, the story of the Exodus, and songs) on the first two evenings.

A favorite Passover breakfast treat is matzoh brei, French toast made with matzoh:

For Walter’s Pesach matzoh brei recipe, click more Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Breakfast, Ethnic, Jewish, Kosher, Recipes | 2 Comments »

It’s hamantaschen baking time

The one-day rabbinic Jewish Festival of Purim (PU-rim, PAWR-im), a very merry celebration of the events in the Megillah (m’-GILL-uh) Hadassah (Book of Esther), begins at sundown on Thursday, March 20 on the civil calendar, and with its costumes, noisemakers, food baskets, hamantashen cookies, a festive meal and carnivals, Purim is a favorite Jewish holiday for children and adults alike, especially for those with a great thirst because Purim requires more alcohol consumption than does St. Paddy’s Day.

Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern European) Jews eat hamantaschen (HAH-men-TAH-shen), tri-cornered fruit-filled cookies in reminiscence that the Persian Prime Minister, the evil Haman, was supposed to have worn a tri-cornered hat.

Photo by Ariela at Baking & Books

For a Blue Ribbon hamantaschen recipe, click more Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Cakes & Sweets, Ethnic, Jewish, Kosher, Recipes | 2 Comments »

Latkes & Sufganiyot

Chanukah (KHAH-nik-uh; KHAH-noo-kah) recalls the struggle for religious freedom and commemorates the Rededication of the Temple following the victory of the Jews over the Seleucid Greeks in the year 165 B.C.E. Chanukah means Rededication.

The 8-day rabbinic Jewish Festival of Chanukah always begins on the 25th day of Kislev and, depending on whether Kislev has 29 or 30 days, ends on either the 3rd or 2nd day of Tevet. This year, Kislev has 29 days and thus this year Chanukah will end on the 3rd day of Tevet. (On the civil calendar, this year Chanukah begins at sundown on Tuesday, December 4 and ends at sundown on Wednesday, December 12.)

According to tradition: a single portion of oil, used to light the 7-branch Temple Menorah (the symbol of the Jewish faith), that was to last only one night, lasted eight nights. In commemoration, the 8-branch Chanukah menorah is lit, increasing the number of candles lit each night, until on the eighth and last night, 8 candles are lit. In many American households, red, white and blue candles are set aside for use on the final night.

Continuing the theme of the “miracle” of the oil, the custom is to eat foods fried in oil on Chanukah. Latkes, fried potato pancakes, is typical to almost every American Jewish household of Ashkenazic (central and eastern European) descent. Jews of Sephardic (Spanish and Portuguese) descent favor sufganiyot, fried jelly doughnuts.

For the latkes and sufganiyot recipes, click MORE:
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Dessert, Ethnic, Jewish, Kosher, Recipes, Veggies | No Comments »

Hot Italian Giardiniera – Chicago Style

Giardiniera is Italian meaning “pickled vegetables” (from Italian “giardino” which means “garden” in English.) Usually when one finds giariniera outside of greater Chicago it means a mix of pickled peppers, cauliflower, carrots and pimiento. Although that has a nice application the vinegar based pickling juice is too tart for other applications. Hence, for things like hot dogs and Italian Beef Sandwiches an oil cured mix is preferable. Here’s how I make mine.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh Serrano peppers – 1/8 inch slice
• 2 carrots – 1/4 inch dice
• 1 cup cauliflower – 1/4 inch dice
• 2 stalks celery – 1/8 inch slice
• 1 cup large green pitted olives – rough chop (Don’t be cheap – spring for the good ones.)
• 1 cup pickling salt.
• 2 tbs crushed oregano
• 1 tbs crushed chili flakes
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• enough extra virgin olive oil to cover

Method

1. Combine all of the vegetable – except the olives – in a large bowl. Add the whole cup of salt and mix completely so the salt covers the vegetable. Add enough water to just cover the mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 12 hours.
2. Drain the vegetable mixture and rinse very, very well to remove as much salt as possible.
3. Add chopped olives and remaining spices. Mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into jars (I use 1 qt canning jars and this usually makes 2 – 3 qts depending on the size of the veggies.) Pour olive oil into jars to cover (top off after 30 minutes when all the air has had a chance to escape from the veggies.)
5. Put in fridge for at least 48 hours before serving.

This recipe is a rough guideline and you can change it to whatever your tastes are. Some people use green or red peppers and reduce the amount of Serrano peppers for a milder mix. I often will let the Serrano’s ripen to red before using to reduce the heat and keep the flavor.

This mix will keep well about 3 months in the refrigerator. Depending on the quality of the oil it may have a tendency to “gel” when it’s cold. Simply take it out a half hour before serving to restore its consistency.

This goes great on Italian sausages, eggs, spicy tuna salad as well as hot dogs and beef sandwiches.

And, if 2 to 3 quarts is too much for you remember that the holidays are on us soon and this makes an excellent gift for the “spicy” eaters in your life.

Buono Appetito

Posted in Condements, Italian, Recipes, Veggies | 5 Comments »

Epcot Food & Wine ‘07

This year’s Epcot Food & Wine Festival at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida was another hit. We attend every year if for no other reason than we’re usually in Florida during at least part of the event, and we both love food. The event this year featured food and drink from various cultures around the world, some more appealing than others, of course.

This first installment of recipes from F&W ‘07 will feature items available at the Canada pavilion on Thursday, so without further adieu let’s get to it.

Maple Glazed Salmon with Arugula and Roasted Corn
-Serves 4

8 Salmon filets, 4 ounces each, with skin on one side
1/4 cup canola oil

-Honey Maple Glaze

1 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon orange blossom honey
2 tablespoons light brown sugar

-Garnish

2 cups trimmed and washed arugula
2 tablespoons EVO
1/2 cup “Sweet & Salted” walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup corn kernels, roasted
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste.

-Pre-heat the broiler
-Rub the salmon pieces with half of the canola oil. Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper. Set aside.
-Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the Honey Maple Glaze in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, just long enough to heat through all the ingredients and for the sugar to melt. Set aside and keep warm.
-In a heavy bottomed frying pan, large enough to accomodate the salmon pieces in one layer, heat remaining canola oil under the broiler. Once the oil begins to smoke, carefully place the salmon pieces in the pan, skin side down. Cook salmon under golden brown on top, while remaining moist inside. About 8 minutes.
-While salmon is cooking, toss the arugula with the roasted corn, olive oil and a pinch of salt & pepper. Divide the mixture among four dinner plates.
-When salmon is donw, place two pieces on each mound of arugula, drizzle with Maple Glaze and sprinkle with walnuts. Serve the remaining glaze in a sauceboat.

Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup
-Serves 6

1/4 pound smoked bacon, finely chopped
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup finely chopped carrots
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk, scalded
2 cups chicken broth–fresh or canned
12 ounces grated white cheddar cheese
3 dashes Tobasco hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon of Worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup Canadian Ale, room temp.
Salt and ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon thinly chopped chives

-Saute the bacon in a large heavy bottom, non-reactive soup pot over medium heat until wilted but not browned.
-Add onion, celery and carrots and cook until onions are translucent and bacon has crisped.
-Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Stir in milk and stock a little at the time, blending well to ensure there are no lumps. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
-Remove from heat and whisk in the cheese, hot sauce, Worchestershire sauce, and ale. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
-Divide soup among six serving bowls and sprinkle each portion with a few chives.
-Serve immediately.

Maple Custard Topped with Almond Crumble
-Serves 6

1 cup cream
2 whole large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons granulated maple sugar
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of sugar

Garnish

6 tablespoons finely chopped almond cookies
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-In a small saucepan, put 1/4 cup of the heavy cream with the granulated maple sugar and cook over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside and cool.
-In a large bowl, add the cooled maple sugar cream, remaining cream, milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and a pinch of salt.
-Whisk all ingredients together until well combined. Strain the liquid into a 1-quart measuring cup using a fine-mesh sieve.
-Divide the custard between six 5-ounce ramekins and transfer them to a deep baking pan.
-Carefully add enough boiling water to the baking pan to reach up to the middle of the ramekins.
-Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or when a metal skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center.
-Transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack and allow to set for at least 30 minutes before serving.
-To serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of crushed almond cookies on the top of each custard and drizzle each with 1 teaspoon of maple syrup.

*Note: The custards are best served warm, however they can be made 1 day in advance, covered and chilled without the garnish. Serve at room temperature and garnish just before serving.

Enjoy!

Mike

Posted in Canadian, Ethnic | 1 Comment »

Be Careful What You Wish For

I have spent the last several years perfecting my Italian Beef Sandwich recipe – which I will not share. The ideal that I use is the sandwich that’s sold at a beef joint in Elmwood Park, IL. named Johnnie’s . Elmwood Park is an enclave of Italian Americans that is notorious for both great food and an infamous group of “citizens” that facilitate things like gambling and convenient personal loans. It really doesn’t get more Italian here in the states.

Anyhow, I usually make about 10 lbs of beef whenever I cook it. It’s kind of like an Italian version of the French Dip and I’ve never fed one to a beef loving Montanan who didn’t shower praises on it. Recently I fed a friend of mine and, afterwords, he asked me if I might do him the favor of making these for a tailgate party at a Griz game. Not thinking much about it I agreed. Thinking this food might have a commercial application I though it would be nice to see a reaction from people that might express raw opinions not fetter by friendship.

So, here we have it. In early November I’m supposed to feed the party which, I just found out, will be roughly 200 people. That means have have to roast (and slice paper thin) roughly 65 lbs beef, slice 200 rolls, make 5 – 6 gallons of “gravy” and a gallon of giardinera.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Posted in Beef, Cooking Anacdotes, Italian | 6 Comments »

Soup Sunday

There is so much coming and going around the house today that I thought I might just make a pot of soup to leave on the stove so people could eat when the might. Since I was at it I decided to make Rebecca’s (really, really) wonderful Blue Onion Soup (for those that might be looking for Kosher I think the soup could be made with a vegetable stock and it would be just as good.)

My wife, however, had in mind for today a soup that a co-worker had brought to work that likely will appeal to more of our kids. It, too, is delicious.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 10 6″ corn tortillas cut into 1/2″ strips
• 1 10 oz can green chili enchilada sauce
• 1 10 oz can red enchilada sauce
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 4 cups cooked & shredded chicken (no skin)
• 1 cup half & half
• 1 lg tomato
• 1 jalapeno pepper – seeded and minced (or more depending on taste)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Method

Combine chicken stock and tortilla strips in a large pot. Cook over medium heat till strips soften and broth thickens somewhat. Stir in enchilada sauces, cumin, jalapeno. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add chicken, half & half. Bring back to simmer (not boiling) and add cheese and tomato.

Remember that whenever you use cheese in soups and sauces you should not bring it to a boil or it will “break” leaving a greasy mess.

Garnish with perhaps scallions or cubed avocado.

Thanks to Kim Garding for this recipe.  A great cook and a good friend.

Posted in Chicken, Ethnic, Mexican, Soup | No Comments »