A recipe – Acorn Squash with Butter and Brown Sugar

  

Ingredients

1 Acorn Squash

Little bit of butter

1-2 teaspoon brown sugar

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.     Cut the squash lengthwise in half

3.     Put the 2 halves in a baking pan. Fill the pan halfway with water.

4.     Bake for 15 – 25 minutes (until you can stick a knife into the squash).

5.     Put each half in a plate, add the butter and the sugar.

6.     Let it melt for a few seconds – and eat….

A recipe – Banana Bread

I was trying to make the right adjustments to this recipe so it would be kosher for Passover, but then I thought, “What’s the point?” First, Passover is over today. Second, this bread is so tasty that it is a sin to change the perfect balance between the ingredients.

I planed to keep my diet Passover kosher this week, but there are habits that I guess are stronger than we realize. The morning after the Passover dinner (The Seder) I woke up and fixed myself breakfast. While I was finishing cleaning the dishes I realized that I ate the same breakfast 

I eat every day: toasted bread with avocado. Well, kosher Passover is officially over.

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted butter (3 tablespoons)

¾ cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

¾ cups of all-purpose flour

¾ cups of whole-wheat flour

Handful of walnuts, roughly chopped

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

2.     In a big bowl, mix the mashed bananas with butter.

3.     Stir while adding the sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt and flour. Mix all together until completely combined.

4.     Add the walnuts into the mixture.

5.     Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

A recipe – Spinach Pie for Passover (and every day!)

The best thing about big Jewish family dinners is that you have leftover food for a week.

I even find myself cooking a bit more of each dish, so I will have leftovers. The problem is that sometimes you get stuck with too much of it, and have no choice but to eat the same food for a week…

This Friday we celebrated Passover dinner. There was a lot of food, much more than guests would normally eat, for sure. And guess what – I am going to eat this pie every day this week. Because, as you know, Jewish people can't throw food away…

Ingredients

3 eggs

16 oz (450 gr.) cottage cheese

8 oz (225 gr.) sour cream

3.5 oz (100 gr.) feta cheese

2 Pounds (1 Kg) fresh spinach leaves

3 tablespoon of matzo flour (matzo meal)

½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Salt & pepper

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.     Wash the spinach leaves and put them in big pot. Fill the pot halfway with water.

3.     Bring to a boil and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Make sure you do not over cook the leaves.

4.     Meanwhile – in a large bowl mix the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, feta cheese, matzo flour, nutmeg and salt & pepper.

5.     Drain the water from the pot then press the spinach between your hands until all water is removed.

6.     Chop the spinach roughly and add to the cheese mixture.

7.     Mix all together and pour into a round pie pan.

8.     Bake for 40 – 50 minutes or until the pie becomes golden.

* Suggestions:

You can play around with the cheeses – exchange the cottage cheese or the sour cream with yogurt or exchange some of the feta cheese with blue cheese.

If you make this pie not during Passover days, you can change the matzo flour with breadcrumbs, oatmeal or grain wheat.

Fish & Chips, the healthy version -

Cod fish and Sweet Potatoes french fries baked in the oven

A recipe – Amalya’s Zucchinis (Cooked Zucchinis with Eggs)

When I was a teenager my home was occupied by my parents, my 2 sisters and 3 dogs. Amalya, the female boxer dog was full of personality and funny behavior. She would sleep with her tongue out of her mouth, she would chase cats in the yard like she was a hunter in the jungle.

And she had weird food preferences. She liked grapes and watermelon, she loved sitting on a chair next to the table like a human being, and more than anything – she LOVED cooked zucchini with eggs.

My mother used to cook this dish quite often even though we didn’t really like it, and the only one who ate it was Amalya. Over the time the dish got its nickname: Amalya’s Zucchinis.

It might not sound so tasty, and it might not look so tasty, but it is really good!

Ingredients (for 2 people)

1 small onion - chopped

2 zucchinis (better to use the light green ones) – cut into small cubes

2 cloves of garlic - chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg - whisked

Salt & pepper

Directions

1.     Heat the oil in a wide saucepan; add the onion and garlic and fry while stirring until golden.

2.     Add the zucchinis and stir for 2 minutes.

3.     Cover the saucepan, low the heat and cook until the zucchini becomes soft.

4.     If needed, add a little bit of water.

5.     Add the egg while stirring and cook for a few seconds until the egg is cooked.

6.     Serve as a side dish with rice or as an appetizer with toasted bread

A recipe – Meatballs with Spaghetti

New York timing is even worse than “Sinai time” or “Ethiopia time”. In Sinai (Egypt), everything takes l o n g e r, shwaye shwaye (slowly slowly) and there is no reason to rush. With the Ethiopians (at least my Ethiopian friends in Israel) it is simple: they are always late. It can be 10 minutes late or even an hour.
Here in New York it is a mix, nothing starts on time (the subway is great excuse, and also great example), and most people run late as a routine.
And what keeps surprising me is that it looks like they don't really care - they don't care they are late and they don't care that they made you wait.


So take a deep breath and lets start to cook.

Ingredients

Whole-wheat Spaghetti (amount for 4 people)

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef

1 egg

3 tablespoons bread crumbs (or - semolina, wheat germ)

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

2 big onions – chopped

4-5 tomatoes - chopped

2-3 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 cup of water

salt & pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dried oregano or basil (or – bunch of fresh leaves)

Directions

1.     Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in boiling the water for 8-10 minutes or until done; drain and wash immediately with cold water (to stop the cooking process).

Meanwhile:

2.     Put all the ingredients of the meatballs in big bowl and mix together. Put the bowl aside (best in the refrigerator).

3.     Heat the oil in a large wide saucepan; add the onions and garlic and fry while stirring.

4.     Add the tomatoes and stir for 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and the dried oregano or basil (if you use fresh leaves – add them just before serving).

5.     Lower the heat and cover the pot. Cook for about 10 minutes (until you get a nice sauce and not just chopped tomatoes).

6.     If you don’t have enough sauce, add the water and bring to a boil.

7.     Lower the heat.

8.     Shape small balls from the meat mixture and add them gently into the pot.

9.     Bring to a boil again, cover the pot, lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes.

10.  Serve with pasta and Parmesan cheese

A recipe – Pasta with Young Zucchini

The funny thing about pasta recipes is that it takes longer to write the recipe than to cook it!

For this recipe I have two “rules”:

1.     Food that is cut in the same shape is more esthetic. I mean, if we use penne pasta, it is better to cut the zucchini in the same way – 2 inches long, in thin strips. If we want to add some vegetables to rice, it is better to cut them to small cubes. It applies to salads, cooked food, desserts – everything. Try it!

2.     Zucchinis are so tasty raw, and they cook so fast. So to keep the zucchinis fresh and not too soft (or even mashed…), buy the small green zucchinis. I know that it is not acceptable and maybe even rude in supermarkets here, but check they are hard. Just squeeze them slightly. We do that in Israel all the time. You can’t buy fruits and vegetables just from looking at them.

Ingredients

Whole-wheat Penne or Tagliatelle pasta (amount for 2 people)

6 medium green zucchinis – thin slices

3 cloves of garlic

Freshly squeezed juice from - 1/2 lemon

A small bunch fresh basil leave

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

1.     Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in boiling the water for 8-10 minutes or until done; drain and wash immediately with cold water (to stop the cooking process).

Meanwhile:

2.     Chop the garlic and sauté in olive oil for few seconds.

3.     Add the zucchinis and stir gently for 2 minutes. Add the lemon, salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.

4.     Add the pasta to the zucchinis and then add the basil leave.

5.     Stir all together just to mix all the taste.

6.     Serve with grated Parmesan.

A recipe – Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Tuna

I found myself with dozens of boxes of pasta.

For me, going to the supermarket is a big deal. There are preparations to make: making a list, checking it again and updating the list, taking the cart, coat, bags, sneakers, and here we go.

It is a journey. 15 minutes to get there, about 90 minutes there (I never understand how it gets so long) and 15 more minutes hiking the crazy hill back home.

Though I have a list, I walk down every aisle, observing every shelf or refrigerator. I only skip the cans, soft drinks, and the pre-made food. 

And in the end, the cart is full mostly with things that never mentioned in the list, like pasta. I always have a feeling that I will run off pasta, and just in case, I get a few more. 

So, I find myself with dozens of boxes of pasta; and that means we are going to cook a lot of pasta in the following weeks…

Ingredients

Whole wheat pasta * (amount for 2 people)
1 onion - medium size

4-5 tomatoes – sliced into cubes

3 cloves of garlic

1 can of tuna in water

Freshly squeezed juice from - 1/2 lemon

Chili - a little bit (not a must)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

* For this recipe I prefer spaghetti, but you can use any other type of pasta

Directions

1.     Chop the onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil until golden.

2.     Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in boiling the water for 8-10 minutes or until done; drain and wash immediately with cold water (to stop the cooking process).

3.     Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic and stir for 1-2 minutes. Cover and cook for about 5 more minutes (keep stirring every few minutes) until you get a nice sauce. 

4.     In a small bowl, mash the tuna with the lemon juice, and add to the tomatoes. Add salt, pepper and chili.

5.     Stir all together for 2 minutes.

6.     Add the pasta and mix all together, just until the pasta is hot enough (2-3 minutes, don’t over cook!), and serve.

A recipe – Red Beets Soup

I remember one time when I was a kid, two orthodox Jews knocked on our home door and asked for a donation for their Yeshiva. It was quite common those days in Israel. When my mother opened the door and these guys started talking with her. She immediately said, without even thinking twice, “I am sorry but my mother is not at home” and closed the door. My mother was at her 40s, and though I still think she looks wonderful, even then in the late 80's she didn’t look like a girl…

Oddly enough, I found myself using the same tactic. Once in a while, someone knocks on my door and starts lecture me about the gas bills, the electricity bills, X bills or Y refund… 

I always have the same answer: “Sorry, I am subletting”. Even if it is not relevant, they usually don’t know what to do with that and just leave.

 

 

Ingredients

2 potatoes - peeled and cubed

3 – 4 medium red beets

1 onion - peeled and cubed

2 cloves garlic - sliced

5 cups of water

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt & pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1.     Put the beets in a pot and cover with water. Boil and cook for about 15 minutes just until you can peel the beet. (The easier way to peel the beets is simply hold them under running water and gently peel them with your fingers. The shell will remove smoothly)

2.     Heat the oil in a large pot; sauté the onion and the garlic until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the potatoes and fry while stirring. 

3.     Cut the beets to cubes and add to the pot. Stir all together for 2 minutes.

4.     Add the water (5 cups) and the cumin, salt and pepper, stir and bring to boil, cover and lower the heat. Cook for 40 minutes.

5.     Turn the heat off.

6.     If you have a hand blender – blend all together inside the pot until they reach a desired consistency. Turn the heat again and bring to boil.

If you have a blender – pour the soup into the blender container and blend for 2 minutes until desired consistency. Pour the soup back into the pot and bring to boil.

A recipe – Crunchy Delicious Oatmeal Cookies

I am not a native English speaker as you probably know, so when I come across a new term, a phrase, or even a word that I don't know, the immediate response it to translate it word-by-word to my native language (Hebrew).

Sometimes it is the right meaning, but sometimes it made a “new language” and a very funny translation.

Comfort food, for example, relates to the physical feeling and the preparation of the dish – it is prepared simply, and it is easy to eat.

But I was sure that it is related to your feelings about it, a consolation that you get from a good meal. Don't you think that is better interpretation?

These cookies are a great comfort in this weird winter. And it is also easy to make and even easier to eat…

 Ingredients yield: about 25 cookies
1 stick unsalted butter, cool room temperature (4 oz)

1/2 cup very fairly packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup Ultra-grain flour or all purpose

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped

1/3 cup mixed golden and regular raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg; mix to combine. Mix in vanilla; set aside.
3. Combine flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and stir until mixed.
4. Stir in the oats, followed by the pecans and raisins.
5. Using a heaping tablespoon measure, shape dough into 24 mounds drop dough onto prepared sheets, about 2 inches apart (the cookies double their size during baking!)
6. Bake until golden and just set, about 13-15 minutes (You might want to check at 12 if you oven runs hot.