Homemade Prune Filling

It is will great disgrace that I realize I haven't blogged in a year. But it's been a rough year. We know it's been at least a Jewish calendar year since my last post was about Hamentaschen. I just wanted to share again, the amazing Prune Butter recipe I found last year from Tori Avey. You can find her Lekvar Plum Butter recipe in full, with stunning pictures, here.This year, I felt comfortable enough with the consistency and idea of the recipe to freehand it a bit. I also did not remember to get the oranges I needed so I had to improvise... this was a common problem for me this year... being 6 months pregnant, my brain seems to have taken a vacation to Hawaii. I also forgot the lemon juice for the hamentaschen dough recipe (you can find that recipe here). What I learned is that white vinegar can substitute nicely for lemon juice. It gives the acidity but no flavor. It worked fine but (baby brain) I left the dough too long before I baked them (think 2 days) and it dried out so I had to start over. Fortunately then I had lemons and added the juice. It really does give it a nice zing.Anyway, here is my modified Plum Butter recipe that I used this year. My proportions are cut in a quarter from Tori's recipe. That was plenty for me to make half a batch of prune. Last year I had a ton of filling left over. I only make one batch these days but ... maybe I will be making more for preschool classes in the near future B'H!Kosher, She Eats Modified Plum Butter recipe (with ultimate gratitude to Tori Avey!)[ingredients]DON'T LET THESE MEASUREMENTS DRIVE YOU CRAZY! I only had a 1/2 cup of prunes so that informed the whole thing. I just felt it out. It needed a bit more water while it was cooking so I added it. I also used white bakers sugar because I couldn't find my brown sugar.Directions:

  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan except for the brown sugar. Stir and bring to a boil for one minute.
  2. Reduce heat to medium low so the mixture simmers slowly and constantly. Cover the pot. Let the mixture simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
  3. Remove the lid from the pan. Let the prunes continue to simmer for 3-5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated/absorbed. Keep a close eye on the pan to make sure the prunes don't burn. When there are about 3 tbsp of liquid left in the pan, remove from heat.
  4. Stir the brown sugar into the prune mixture till brown sugar melts and dissolves.
  5. Mash the prune mixture with a potato masher till a smooth puree forms. Run a fork through the mixture to break up any pieces the potato masher missed. You can also use an immersion blender for a smoother puree, if you want to.
  6. Let cool to room temperature before using. Store in a sealed, airtight container in the refrigerator. Refrigerating the filling to chill completely will make it easier to work with when filling hamantaschen.

These are Tori's instructions. They work pretty darn well. I was using a tiny saucepan since it was a small batch. We got a 0.5 quart all-clad butter warmer for our wedding. It was the best gift ever (thanks Joan!) because Dan uses it to warm his cream up in the mornings and I use it for tiny projects like this. Only downside is, it doesn't have a lid. So I did the recipe uncovered. It would have absorbed better covered but it worked just fine. So if you lost your brain (like me) or are in a rush (like me) you won't ruin it if you don't cover it. I also didn't let it cool fully before I used it and didn't mash the prunes enough. I tossed it in the fridge while I did the poppyseed filling and then used it. It was fine but she is right, it will work better cooled. As for the lack of mashing... it didn't seem like enough to use an immersion blender. And the pot was too small for a potato masher... so I violently attacked it with a fork. If I had more time, I might have used two forks. As people have been eating them, there are larger chunks of prune than I would prefer.Regardless of all of my shortcuts and changes, it's a tasty recipe and is now permanently in my arsenal. Now I need a homemade poppyseed filling... anyone have any good ones? Hamentaschen

Garlic Scape and Salmon Frittata

This is a summer favorite in the Kosher, She Eats kitchen. We grow our own garlic scapes and jalapeños and Kosher Hubby cold smokes his own salmon. (Yes, I know... overachievers.) One Sunday morning we decided to forgo our usual cheesey eggs (another KSE kitchen invention) and make frittatas with whatever was in our fridge. I will share the 'recipe' and preparation instructions below but first some ideas and explanations.What are garlic scapes? There are two main varieties of garlics and many sub-varieties. These two main varieties are hard-neck and soft-neck. Soft-neck garlic looks just like a mutant, large blade of grass. The magic is below ground with the garlic clove. Hard-neck garlics are neat because they give you TWO edible products. The first is the scape, which if left unpicked will Soba in Scapes_Originalbecome a flower with little bulbils (teeny tiny garlics). However, you can cut them off and eat them. They taste like a cross between garlic and green onion. Obviously, the second product you get from a hard-neck is the garlic clove. Here's a picture of our Kosher puppy with our garlics from last season. You can see the scape begins to curl and are fully curled when they are ready.Okay, ideas... this is sort of a kitchen sink dish. You can put what ever you want in here. We choose jalapeños, scapes, cheddar cheese, and smoked salmon because that is what we had in the house. You can use other types of peppers (hot or sweet), regular garlic, mushrooms, onions, spinach, goat cheese, whatever you want!How many eggs? Well... it's a safe bet to do two eggs per person. It depends on how many people, how big your pan is, and how hungry you are. For the larger size pan that we have, we would recommend six eggs. I am not going to put a quantity below, you can toss as much or as little in as you want!As for pans... we used our older non-stick skillets and no additional oil or spray however, this recipe calls for them to go into the oven SO there are a few caveats.1. Non-stick in the oven decreases the lifetime of the pan. We decided to designate a couple of our pans for oven usage, knowing that they will have to be replaced sooner. Fortunately, non-stick isn't too expensive.2. NO PLASTIC HANDLES IN THE OVEN!!Other option: you can, instead of using a non-stick pan, heavily coat a stainless steel pan with oil/butter/non-stick spray. The goal here is to have the frittata slide right out at the end and not make a mess. You will cut this like a pie, so staying together is a virtue for this recipe. We love this pan (this size is the smaller size we use) - Professional Non-Stick Restaurant Frying Pan Size: 8"- the rubber handle is removable![ingredients]Preparation:

  1. Set your oven to broil
  2. Dice jalapeños and chop scapes then toss them in the pan with butter to sauté. Sauté for approx. 5 minutes.
  3. Crack your eggs into a bowl (NOT THE PAN) and beat them together with approx 1 tablespoon of milk or cream (or half and half if you are out) per egg.
  4. Pour the egg mixture into the pan with the veggies and let cook for a minute or two and then layer the salmon on top.
  5. Grate cheese on top of the mixture. Add as much as you like.
  6. Here's the tricky part... when to put in the oven - let the eggs cook until they begin to set up on the outer ring of the pan. It is now time to put it in an oven. Put it on the top rack, right under the broiler.
  7. Keep watch on the frittata and pull it out when it begins to get golden brown on the top.
  8. Pull the frittata out and serve immediately. You can top with chopped chives or dill. We did one of each and really enjoyed both!

The process in pictures: 1_Jap scapes salmon 2_chopped 3_saute 4_eggs in 5_fish in 6_cheese See it starting to set up/cook on the sides? Time for the oven! 7_after oven Post oven... no flipping necessary! 8_chives Those are chives! 9_dill And that is dill!

Review: Mayim’s Rainbow Cabbage Salad with Tahini-Lemon Dressing

As you read in this blog - Review: Mayim's Vegan Table - Kosher Hubby and I each selected a recipe we wanted to make out of Mayim's new cookbook to review. This is the one Kosher Hubby chose. He wanted something without pasta, bread, potatoes, etc. We just don't have those items in our diet, or at least very often. He chose this because he enjoys cabbage salad and thought it would be a great addition to our dinner. If you want to see my choice, it is here - vegReview: Mayim's Shepherd's Pie.Again here, she says it serves 4 people but it lasted for more than a week in our fridge. Know your tahini... we selected a common, Kosher brand and I found the flavor overpowering and ... not great. I've had tahini before and enjoy it. I did not enjoy this particular product. Kosher Hubby (KH) added his own flare and flavoring to the dressing.[ingredients]Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Using a rimmed baking sheet, toast the seeds for 8 to 10 minutes, watching closely. You can also use a toaster oven until the seeds start to darken, or sauté them without oil in a small pan until they brown and become fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
  2. Boil 8 cups of water while you chop the cabbage. Slice the cabbage in half through the stem. Slice each half in half again and chop roughly.
  3. Mayim's Vegetables Place the chopped cabbage into a strainer over your sink and pour the boiling water over it. Rinse quickly with cold water. Dry the cabbage roughly with a (dark-colored) hand towel or in a salad spinner.
  4. In a large bowl, mix together the celery, pepper, cabbage, shaved carrots, and parsley.
  5. Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender (tahini, garlic, lemon, and cayenne). Add enough water to make a dressing consistency.
  6. Add the dressing to the cabbage salad just before serving.Veg final

It was tasty and KH really enjoyed it. The strong tahini flavor really made it hard for me. We had some that wasn't quite dressed and I enjoyed it. Again I will say this here... I know that ethically, Mayim (and her co-author Dr. Jay Gordon) don't believe in eating animals and you can eat healthily without any type of animal products. We don't agree. In the Kosher, She Eats kitchen, meat is a very vital and central piece of the puzzle. We are really big animal protein people. I respect their views, I just don't agree with them. I found this dish to be another great parve side dish option for a dairy or meat meal.** Disclosure: I received this cookbook for free but I was not compensated for this or any posts related to Mayim's Vegan Table. Additionally, Mayim is a personal friend but that did not come into account while reviewing this cookbook. **

Review: Mayim's Shepherd's Pie

As you read in this blog - Review: Mayim's Vegan Table - Kosher Hubby and I each selected a recipe we wanted to make out of Mayim's new cookbook to review. This is the one I chose. I got really excited because for a long time, I thought Shepherd's Pie would probably be a delicious dish but it was never Kosher (since most include ground beef and dairy). Mayim's recipe offered me the opportunity to try something I couldn't before.Final Product - Mayim's Vegan TableShe says it serves four. It lasted more than a week in our house (granted there were only two of us). We halved the potatoes because we don't eat much white starchy foods in the Kosher, She Eats kitchen. It still covered the whole dish and we found ourselves eating the goodies under the potatoes. I also did not use the vegan margarine... I just couldn't bring myself to buy it when I knew I wouldn't use it again or often. VERY surprisingly, the mashed potatoes still were tasty without it.Other adjustments? Like I said, we halved the recipe for the mashed potatoes section. We couldn't find canned lentils so we bought some store brand, dried red lentils. They didn't need to soak, just be throughly rinsed and boiled. We were just unsure what the conversion would be between dry lentils and the can... we did about a cup, it could have taken some more. Also, I recommend prepping all the ingredients PRIOR to getting started. It will just help, things move pretty quickly.[ingredients]Preparation:

  1. Prepare the potatoes:
    1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 9-inch baking pan with the cooking spray.
    2. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender; about 29 minutes. Drain, return them to the pot, and mash.
    3. Place the nondairy milk and margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the margarine has melted. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper, and then add to the mashed potatoes and stir well until incorporated.
  2. Veggies - Mayims Vegan TableIn a large pan over high heat, heat the oil and sauté the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic until soft, about 8 minutes.
  3. Add the Italian seasoning and cook for 30 seconds.
  4. Add the lentils, peas, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and remaining teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes.Final product-Mayims Vegan Table(I recommend combining the Worcestershire sauce and mustard in a bowl and mixing. It got a little lumpy and I was afraid of pockets of mustard.)
  5. Pour into the prepared pan and spread the mashed potatoes on top. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden.

This reheats really nicely and is very tasty cold too. I ate it nearly every day for a week after we made it and enjoyed it each time! However, she uses this as a main dish. It just wouldn't fly in our house. We are really big animal protein people. I know that ethically, Mayim (and her co-author Dr. Jay Gordon) don't believe in eating animals and you can eat healthily without any type of animal products. We don't agree. In the Kosher, She Eats kitchen, meat is a very vital and central piece of the puzzle. I respect their views, I just don't agree with them. I found this dish to be a great parve option for a dairy or meat meal.** Disclosure: I received this cookbook for free but I was not compensated for this or any posts related to Mayim's Vegan Table. Additionally, Mayim is a personal friend but that did not come into account while reviewing this cookbook. **

Review: Mayim's Vegan Table

Mayim's Vegan TableI recently received a copy (see my disclosure at the bottom) of Mayim Bialik's new cookbook - Mayim's Vegan Table. I spent a few days going through the cookbook, looking at her recipes, reading the intro, and looking at the pictures. Overall, it's a very well written, interesting cookbook. Not too large or hefty with a nice selection of options in each category. One thing I noticed off the bat was that most of the recipes seemed rather complicated with quite a few ingredients and steps. However, once I tried a few, I realized that yes, there were a lot of ingredients but the recipes weren't too complex.In the beginning of the book, Mayim and her co-author, Dr. Jay Gordon, discuss vegan principles and how easy and ethical it is to eat this way. While their views do not reflect the views of the Kosher, She Eats kitchen, I respect them and their convictions. One big thing for me was, I wished there were more pictures and that they were attached to the recipes. The book has a picture section in the center and while the images are amazing, it's easier to visualize a dish when there is a picture nearby.The next few recipes I post will be from Mayim's cookbook. Kosher Hubby and I each selected a recipe to try and we made them on the same night. Mine was an entreé and KH's was a side dish. Unfortunately, it was just not enough of the right kind of food to satisfy our hunger. The KSE kitchen does not contain a lot (or really any) pasta, white potatoes, etc and many of the recipes are heavy on that. We are also avowed meat eaters. Like I said above, while I respect their views, we don't choose that lifestyle. So we made some meat to have for dinner as well.I found this cookbook to be very useful, well-written, and interesting. I think it holds a very important place in a Kosher kitchen... it offers you 200 some pages of perfectly PARVE recipes that you can use with any meal. From starters to salads and mains to dessert, you know what you pull out of this cookbook, you can use with anything! I appreciated having so many parve leftovers in my fridge so I could pull them out when I was craving them with either a dairy or meat meal. You can purchase Mayim's Vegan Table by clicking here.

** Disclosure: I received this cookbook for free but I was not compensated for this or any posts related to Mayim's Vegan Table. Additionally, Mayim is a personal friend but that did not come into account while reviewing this cookbook. **

Want me to review your product? Contact me at koshersheeats @ gmail . com

BR: Sponge Cake For Passover

This is the first in a new series we are calling Baboushka's Recipes (BR for short). Baboushka, or ба́бушка in Russian, means grandmother. In this series we will explore and save the recipes our grandparents brought with them or inherited from their parents. Kosher Hubby's family is from Ukraine and Belarus and my family is from Poland, Ukraine, and Germany... so Baboushka seemed pretty appropriate.My grandma's electric mixerOkay! Here we go, our first vintage recipe. This is my great-grandmother's Passover sponge cake recipe. I dug it out today (yes, Sunday, the day before Erev Pesach) for our dessert for the first seder. These instructions are verbatim, in my grandmother's handwriting from her mother. I will add my commentary in italics and parentheses. Ingredients:

  • 8 eggs, separated
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup cold water, to which you add
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice (you can easily fresh squeeze this!)
  • 1 tsp. orange juice (you can easily fresh squeeze this!)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup matzah cake flour, sifted
  • Grated rind of 1/2 lemon and 1/3 orange

Preparation: whites In a large bowl (she really does mean large...), with an electric mixer, beat egg whites, adding salt, until stiff, but not dry. Set aside.Yolks-and-WhitesIn a small bowl, with electric mixer, beat yolks, add sugar, then liquids, and continue  beating for five minutes.With a spatula gently pour the beaten yolks on the stiff whites. Add 1/4 cup of sifted flour and fold in carefully. Continue to add 1/4 cup of the flour, carefully folding in until all is used.Lemon-and-Orange(She neglects to tell us what to do with the lemon and orange zest. I added it to the yolks before I added them to the whites. Worked great.)Final-before-bakingPour batter into an un-greased angel cake pan (we tried to use a 7x11 pan but it was too much batter... we used a 9x13 glass casserole dish in the end and it worked great). Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 55 minutes.Invert to cool, and cut out of pan when cool. (Oops... didn't do that. Planning to cut it tomorrow at the seder.)Final-productI tasted it, of course... had to right? It was delish. Just like anything else that is Pesachdik, it tastes like matzah meal but it's going to be a great, parve dessert tomorrow. With a tiny corner cut out. Don't judge. It's a family seder. :)This recipe is by my Nanny - Mrs. Abraham Cronbach (as she is credited on the recipe)... Rose Hentel Cronbach.CHAG PESACH SAMEACH from the Kosher, She Eats kitchen! Look for our adventures with Vegan cooking after the chag. We review Mayim Bialik's new cookbook - Mayim's Vegan Table.

Cauliflower Tabouli

For our first culinary adventure of our married life, we decided to make Cauliflower Tabouli during Passover. It was delish, tasted like the real thing and much healthier for us! This is our own, made up recipe based on ideas we saw around the web. Here's how to do it:Ingredients:

  • Full head of cauliflower
  • One bunch of parsley
  • Half of a cucumber
  • One tomato
  • Zest from half of one lemon
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Zatar to taste (optional but recommended)

Preparation:

  1. Break apart the cauliflower, removing the greens and breaking the florets into small chunks. Then wash the florets.
  2. In small batches, put the cauliflower into the food processor and pulse them until they look roughly like couscous. (AKA: are broken down into small pieces.) Don't over pulse them... you don't want mush, just tiny pieces.
  3. Over a medium heat, in a non-stick pan, heat some olive oil and toss a batch of cauliflower on the heat. You can salt it here if you would like.
  4. Cook for just a few minutes, tasting every so often until the cauliflower is partially cooked.Again, you don't want mush, you still want a bit of a crunch but not raw.
  5. Once all the cauliflower is cooked, set aside. You can serve this dish warm or cold but I preferred it cold. So let the cauliflower rest and cool while you prepare the rest of the dish.
  6. Dice the cucumber into small chunks and set aside.
  7. Slice the tomato in half. Since we don't want this dish to be too "wet," I recommend scooping the seeds and juice out of the center then dicing the tomato. Set aside.
  8. Take a bunch of parsley and wash thoroughly. Roll it up, and chop it.
    • Talia, what do you mean "roll it up and chop it?"
      • Well, remove the leaves from the stems. Once you have the leafy matter separate, literally roll it up into a little tube like object.
      • Once it is rolled up, start chopping from end to end. Be careful of your fingers!
      • Do a final chop of any big leaves that missed the knife before but this should take care of most of it.
  9. Now, combine the cauliflower, cucumber, tomato, and parsley into a medium size bowl.
  10. Mix them together and taste. Feel free to add more of any ingredient.
  11. Season with lemon zest, olive oil, salt, pepper, and zatar.
  12. Keep tasting until you get the proportions perfect. It is a personal taste situation.
  13. Top with some lemon zest, olive oil, zatar and serve.

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We are back!

I want to apologize again for the lack of posts in the past few months. My husband and I were married on the 10th of March and now we are back from our honeymoon.We had some amazing culinary adventures in the South Pacific and we are ready to start posting new, fun Kosher ideas for you all. Again this year, we are planting our gardens so we are excited to have tons of fresh, fun produce to use in our recipes. Look forward to more pickling and easy but unique recipes. We have agreed to have one night a week (Sundays, generally) where we will explore new recipes.So stay tuned! And check back often!Here's a picture of the amazing fruit we bought at the local market in Vanuatu:From left to right: local mango (best thing we have ever tasted), custard apple, guava, star fruit, bananas (totally taste different than ours), and papaya.

fruit in Vanuatu_03-23-13

Cherry-Apricot Jam/Preserves

I am sorry I have been slacking! I have had so many fun culinary adventures with my Sweet Boyfriend. We have been documenting them all and taking pictures. I have to get him to write here to tell you more about his smoking and grilling and fast cooking ways but for now, I'll share my side.A few weeks ago we went for a weekend walk through the neighborhood. It so happens that his neighborhood has TONS of cherry trees! We decided at the last minute to pick some of these super ripe cherries and use them. They were very small and the tart/pie style of cherry. We grabbed one of the bags provided for 'doggie cleanup' and started picking... We ended up with a pound and a half of cherries!We also picked up a few local, organic apricots at the farmers market in his neighborhood. Once we got home we were a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cherries picked! I decided I wanted to make a cherry preserve or jam with the apricots. I researched online and found SavorySweetLife.com and her Cherry Jam recipe. We modified it, used less sugar, and added apricots. It turned out so well!

I really like this recipe because there is no pectin in it. It is an easy, simple, and healthy recipe. Sweet Boyfriend and I decided that it would be delish on chicken or duck. His parents and mine enjoyed their servings immensely.Here is the recipe and pictures. Mind you, there aren't really measurements here... seems hard, I know but just watch it and feel it. You will be fine!

Easy Cherry-Apricot Jam/Preserves:

Ingredients:

  • Cherries (the more tart the better), stems and pits removed, and chopped
  • Apricots, chopped and pitted (fresh, NOT DRIED)
  • Lemon rind/juice
  • Sugar

Directions:

  • In a medium size pan, add chopped cherries, apricots, lemon rind, and lemon juice cooking on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. 
  • Add a cup or two of sugar. Taste the brew and feel out how tart the cherries are. Do you need more sugar? Add slowly and taste frequently!
  • Once the sugar is fully added, reduce heat to medium.
  • Stir everything until sugar has dissolved.
  • Cook for an additional 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
  • Remove from heat and cool.
  • You can jar it or enjoy now!

Carrot-Ginger Soup

After all that cheese and dairy, it's time for something soothing and hearty. I made this soup for my boyfriend this weekend. He was coming home from a trip to London and Paris and I thought he might enjoy something simple but hearty. The ginger was an added bonus to help settle his stomach if the flight was rough. I know when I travel, I don't always feel like eating something heavy. This is a fairly simple recipe and I can't even remember where it came from, an online recipe site, but I did add my own spicing to it.I'm going to remind you, read the recipe all the way through before you start. Trust me, I've made that mistake before and I have some tips at the end.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp margarine
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds*
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • dash salt and pepper, to taste
  • Nutmeg, cloves, chili powder/cayenne pepper - optional

Preparation:

  1. First thing, I started to make this mistake, prep all your vegetables before you start the recipe. Chop your onions, carrots and mince your ginger. Have them ready in prep bowls before you start sauteing the onions.
  2. In a large soup pot, cook the onions in margarine until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add carrots, ginger and coriander seeds* and cook, stirring for a few more minutes.
  3. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a low simmer. Cover and cook for at least 25 minutes, or until carrots are very soft. (This was about 50 minutes for me... but make sure you aren't boiling off the liquid too much)
  4. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and puree, working in batches if needed. I did not blend it into oblivion. I left it a touch chunky.
  5. Add a dash of salt and pepper and other spices. Serve hot, re-heating if necessary.

After I had blended the soup, I started playing with spices. It can be a bit bland so I added nutmeg and just the smallest dash of cloves. Too much cloves will make it almost sweet. I added a dash of spice with the chili powder (or you can use ground cayenne pepper). Again, be careful - it is easy to over-season and you DO have the ginger in there. It comes out with a nice bite but tastes good.*I could not find coriander seeds where I was shopping so I used ground coriander. I added a bit when I added the carrots to the onions but put more in after the blending.The key is to taste the whole way through. You can also add white potatoes or sweet potatoes if you want some more starch in it.