Red Snapper Fillet in Green Sauce

Blend the following ingredients:

Fresh parsley
Garlic
Basil
Thyme
Cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
Salt
Black pepper
Olive Oil
Worcestershire sauce

Pour over fillets, bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes depending on thickness of fish.
Enjoy!

Braised Beef

Recipe from the creative and never dull Anne Burell. I halved the recipe, call it experimental. I couldn't get a good picture, hope this will do.



Step 1: Brown the ribs on both sides and remove from pan, drain fat.


Step 2: Slice carrots, celery, onion and garlic and run through food processor to create a coarse mixture

Steps 3 and 4: Sautee vegetable mixture in olive oil and add tomato paste, stir and let cook 4-5 minutes (don't forget to add salt).

Step 5: Add wine, reduce

Step 6: Return ribs to pot, add water to cover, add bay leaf and thyme (fresh is best if you have it). Cover well and let sit in 375F oven for a couple of hours.

Reviving Leftovers

Day One Menu:
Butternut Squash Risotto and schnitzel.

Day Two Menu:
Risotto patties, chicken salad.

Add egg to leftover risotto, mix well, form patties and fry in light olive oil until crispy and brown on both sides.
Meanwhile, cut the schnitzel into strips and to a salad combo of your choice. I used a Dole lettuce-red cabbage- carrot mix and added tomatoes and cucumber, then mixed up a dressing of sesame oil, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

The Forbidden Sauce, or, Adventures of a Stuffed Pepper

This is the story of stuffed peppers that morphed into Bolognese sauce. My culinary adventures are usually quite boring, but last night's dinner preparation was rife with trials and tribulations.
Allow me to provide a short backdrop to this extraordinary adventure.

A friend of my husband's recently introduced him to a fruit store in New Jersey (I believe it's in the Meadowlands, a name that is reminiscent of cows at pasture but in reality marks the home of a sprawling commercial site). The store provides excellent fruits and vegetables at remarkably low prices. I don't know if the merchandise "accidentally" falls off a truck, but I do know good produce when I see it.

Last Friday's haul included some decent looking peppers. They were the color of green bell peppers, but longer and more narrow. My husband happens to love stuffed peppers so whenever he buys peppers, I know that I will eventually be going to buy some ground meat.
And so it was.

On Monday afternoon I chopped some onions and garlic and added them to the meat along with a variety of spices. I then prepared the peppers, stuffed them and cooked them in tomato sauce, adding a dash of red pepper flakes for a touch of spiciness.

A touch of spiciness, indeed. Ignorance will not kill you but some knowledge might prevent your face and fingers from burning up. The knowledge, for example, of the simple fact that I had just finished stuffing Poblano peppers - long peppers that look quite innocent but can turn out to be extremely HOT!!!
When I called my husband, he said he had tasted a pepper in the store and it was not hot. Could have fooled me! A quick internet search confirms that some, but not all poblanos are hot. He must have tasted the wrong one. It seems that the role of a wife requires a not at all negligible amount of martyrdom.

Meanwhile, my daughter was climbing on the printer, throwing food all over the place and running around without any clothes on, and my face and hands were still on fire. My ultimate concern was the removal of my contact lenses, which I would have liked to get done before heading for bed.
Another Google search yielded advice for hot pepper residue removal: milk, yogurt, lemon, vinegar. I tried vinegar and it helped assuage the pain, but it was still there and I knew not to touch my eyes. I wasn't willing to sacrifice a cup of milk or dip my hands in yogurt, neither of which are practical solutions for the mother of an active two year old who will NOT go to sleep. I waited for my husband to show up and save my life, which he did, unbelievably, with a vat of acetone.

By the time my husband tasted the peppers, much of the heat had gone. It figures, doesn't it? They were still too hot for me to eat though. The next day, my husband suggested I recycle the meat stuffing- perhaps by making a meat calzone. I did not feel like putting up dough, and I had to get rid of some pasta because I recently bought ten boxes of Ronzoni pasta at $0.77 each (who can resist such a deal?!) and believe it or not, pasta cannot sit around forever in those boxes.

I came up with ultimate forbidden food: spaghetti in Bolognese sauce. Bolognese is a sauce of 2 kinds of meat, tomatoes, and milk or heavy cream. I wasn't about to treif up my kitchen, body and soul, but I did want to try a version of the sauce using rice milk, which I usually have in stock.

And so, I chopped some carrot, onion and garlic, sauteed them in olive oil and added the meat stuffing, breaking it up as it warmed up. Before removing the stuffing from the peppers I geared up by donning two disposable gloves on each hand. I wasn't about to risk hot fingers again.
I added some white wine and raised the flame, allowing most of the wine to evaporate. I lowered the flame and added tomato paste, water and yes, the rice milk. Miraculously, lightning did not come down from heaven to strike me for cooking this daring dish.
I lowered the heat and let the sauce simmer and slowly thicken while I cooked the spaghetti.
The result was pretty enjoyable and the abundant sauce will last another day or two.

Almond Biscotti

Caponata for Rosh HaShana

Caponata Siciliana is a side dish of sauteed/stewed vegetables in a sweet and sour red wine vinegar reduction. The beauty of caponata is that it will keep on the fridge for a week or so you can make it a few days in advance, as I chose to do today in preparation for Rosh Hashana.

This recipe is a little time consuming but well worth it (the page linked might take a minute or two to load so open it in a separate tab while you read on).
The reason I find this to be appropriate for Rosh Hashana is that the combination of sweet- for a sweet new year - and sour, for people like me who prefer savory to sweet- makes a perfect dish to please most palates. I may have started a new tradition!


Peeling the eggplants. I only peel half because some might not like the texture of the peel.


After letting the eggplant chunks sit in salt, they are sauteed and then set on paper towel to drain.

The onions and celery jump into the pan

Followed by the rest of the crowd. Check out those wonderful colors.

Fennel & Tomato Linguine

Fennel does not make its way into our home very often. It is pretty expensive around here and my husband doesn't usually like it, so I only get it once in a while for my lunch salad.

While cruising through ShopRite this morning I spotted some fennel, two for $3. They were small, but I decided to go for it. The original plan was to keep them for myself as usual, but when suppertime rolled along I opened the fridge and there it was, that trusty fennel.
The following recipe was concocted on the spot and any resemblance to recorded and printed recipes is purely accidental. All rights reserved.

Frugal Kosher's Fennel & Tomato Linguine

1 Fennel bulb (2 if small)
1 Onion
1 or 2 Tomato
1 Large clove garlic
1 Pack Linguine

Slice the fennel in half lengthwise. If it's large, quarter it. Thinly slice each piece. Slice the onion, heat up some olive oil in a pan and add the onion and fennel, sauteing on medium heat.
After about 7 minutes get your pasta water going, don't forget to add plenty of salt to the pot.

At this point, the fennel is going from raw to cooked and is enduring a dramatic transformation in taste, losing some of that strong fennel flavor that some people dislike (case in point: my husband).

Chop your tomato and garlic and add to the pan along with some salt and pepper and a touch of savory if you have it. Lower the flame and let the vegetables cook slowly until the pasta is ready. Make sure you have enough oil in the pan to coat the pasta.

Once the linguine are done add them to the pan, stir, plate and garnish with some fresh parsley.

Enjoy! My husband did.

Chicken Burgers

I know what you're thinking: this dinner looks like a children's meal. Well, I would not serve chicken cutlets at a fancy dinner table but working with ground chicken is an affordable way to diversify and still end up with something tasty, nutritious and filling.
For last night's dinner I mixed 1.10 lbs of ground chicken with chopped onion, fresh parsley, salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and a touch of ground sage (when it comes to sage, always paired with chicken, a little goes a long way). I added two eggs which seemed like too much but ultimately the burgers came together and were nice and moist, there's nothing worse than dry chicken or meat burgers.

The chicken was served with roasted sweet potato 'fries', so good that before you know it you've already eaten the equivalent of three whole yams.
Slice the sweet potatoes and add olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 425 F for 25-30 minutes.

We had some leftovers and I plan on using them in a chinese noodle stir fry with peppers, eggplant and cabbage.

Ricotta Omelette

I cannot remember where I found the recipe for this light omelette, its copy-pasted into my files without any attribution but I will try to look through my cookbooks and favorite websites so I can properly credit the original cook or chef.

16 oz ricotta
4 eggs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 c milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp flour or cornstarch
Minced basil and mint to taste (or use dried)
Thinly sliced tomato for top

Break up eggs and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes .

Chilled Corn Soup

This is a light and gentle soup that is served cold, perfect for a summer evening. I do not remember where I got the recipe so I'm going to improvise:

Boil some ears of corn for 5-10 minutes. Let cool and remove kernels from cob with a knife. Puree the kernels in a blender with a few cups of water or broth. Strain the mixture and discard the kernels. Add salt, pepper and dried basil to the soup and chill. Serve cold.

Chicken Stir Fry Over Rice

The beauty of a dish starring vegetables is that you can prepare them in advance and refrigerate until you're ready to do the cooking.
Chicken stir-fry is a no-brainer but the advantage of stir fries is that it's easy to make them your own, there's no need to follow a recipe unless you're implementing an element you are unfamiliar with. It's also a great way to stretch that chicken. particularly when you serve it over a carb.

Frugal Kosher Chicken Stir Fry

1 Large Onion
1 Yellow squash, medium
1 Green bell pepper or 2 small
Fresh green beans
Fresh broccoli
1 Large clove garlic
2 Carrots
Olive Oil
Chicken Broth
Spices
Boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size chunks
Flour

Heat olive oil in pan. Meanwhile, mix a little flour with salt, pepper, paprika, a little sage. Dredge chicken pieces lightly in the flour and fry on all sides until golden. Remove from pan.

Chop vegetables to desired sizes and put in pan. Sautee for a few minutes, add spices and a little broth and cook on a low heat until a few tablespoons of the liquid are left. Add the chicken 5-10 minutes before serving time.
I served this over brown rice one night, and the next day we had the leftovers over couscous.

Simple but delicious.

Carrot Side Dish

One of my rules of cooking is: the simpler the better. Not very original, I know, but there are people out there who think a complicated dish is going to taste better and make a longer lasting impression. The stewed carrots I make as a side dish often garner compliments and when asked for the recipe I can honestly reply: "Oh, it's nothing, just carrots and parsley".
This recipe for 6 is from Edda Servi-Machlin's excellent book Classic Italian Jewish Cooking but I added the garlic.

Stewed Carrots

1 1/2 lbs carrots (5 cups)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
1 large clove garlic
3/4 C. water
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

Chop the onion and slice carrots while heating the oil. Add the peeled garlic clove to the oil and let it infuse for a few minutes, remove when golden. Add onion and carrots with salt and pepper to taste. Sautee for a few minutes, then add water, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Uncover the carrots and cook on a high flame until the remaining water has evaporated. Add parsley and let cool.
Enjoy!

Cold Cucumber Soup

Two summers ago, a few hours before my daughter was born, I put together a cool cucumber soup, covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge, not to be seen until dinner time. As it turned out, that was the last I saw of it until over a week later. The c-section I had kept me from going downstairs much of the first week I was home from the hospital and I studiously avoided the kitchen with its piled up dishes. When I eventually ventured down to the kitchen and opened the fridge, I was greeted by my neatly covered cucumber soup, untouched and covered by a layer of gray mold.

Cold Cucumber Soup
(this recipe is in my folder and I think I printed it from cooksrecipes.com)

2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3 cucumbers
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 C mint leaves
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Pepper

Peel and crush garlic and place all the ingredients in a blender, blending until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper and serve at room temperature or chilled.

Quick Challah

When we don't have guests I make an easy four-cup-flour recipe that yields two or three small challahs.

2 1/4 tsp. dry active yeast
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 C. oil
3/4 C. lukewarm water
2 eggs
3 3/4 C. flour
Salt

Mix yeast with 3/4 c. flour and some of the sugar. Pour water over mixture, mix well and let sit for about 20 minutes until it puffs up. Add oil, eggs, sugar and mix well, then add the remainder of the flour and salt and knead for a few minutes. Add a little more flour if too sticky.
Let dough rise for a couple of hours then form shapes and bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes.

Sometimes instead of using an egg I sprinkle water over the challah to form a nice crust.

Fridge Soup and Pasta Sauce

Fridge Soup is what I make when I don't want to run to the store and realize I might as well use what I have, because even when I feel 'there is nothing to eat' the kitchen is never truly empty and our fridge is always overflowing. A quick vegetable soup served over rice or couscous or your carb of choice is a perfectly filling meal that you can serve up relatively quickly.

I do the same with pasta sauces and tonight I plan on using some of the leftover chicken soup from shabbos and the ingredients of the vegetable drawer for a sauce.

Stir fry/sauce:

Carrots
Zucchini
One large onion
Fresh garlic
Butternut squash
Chicken broth
Salt, pepper, parsley, paprika, bay leaf
Optional: flour or cornstarch for thickening
Optional: dry white wine

Slice carrots, zucchini and onion and cut the squash into medium cubes. Saute onion in deep pan then add the other vegetables. Peel garlic, smash it lightly with a knife to help release the flavors and add to pan. Add spices and sautee veggies for 8-10 minutes until al dente. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, then minimize the flame and let the broth boil down to desired sauce consistency, checking for spices once in a while.
Cook your pasta until one minute less than it says on the box. Add it to the sauce to finish cooking for a minute or two, then serve immediately. Enjoy!

Fishy Business

From time to time I avoid the ridiculously high prices of fresh fish by opting for the frozen variety (don't tell my husband). I've had success with Dagim's flounder fillets that come in a bag. I defrost them in cold water, pat dry with paper towels and fry in bread crumbs or a beer batter.
I tried Dagim's frozen sole fillets in a box and they were awful, I had to throw them out.

Beer Batter for Fish:

About equal parts beer and flour, add salt, pepper and other spices you might prefer, mix well and dip fish, letting excess batter drip off before frying.