Jamie Geller, the ‘Kosher Rachael Ray,’ Dresses Up Simple Family Meals

‘I still don’t like to cook. I love to eat. I love to watch my children eat,’ she says in her new cookbook, ‘Joy of Kosher.’

By Lucy Cohen Blatter for Tablet
Jamie Geller has been described as the “kosher Rachael Ray” because of her propensity for crafting approachable, get-me-out-of-the-kitchen-quickly recipes. But the similarities don’t end there: Like the woman who made 30-minute meals a major brand, Geller has created a large media presence, albeit in the kosher world. She founded and is chief creative officer of Kosher Media Network, which includes JoyofKosher.com and Joy of Kosher With Jamie Geller magazine (which merged with Bitayavon last year), as well as JDeal and JBlasts—two Jewish-centric sites her company acquired—plus JGives, BuyIsraelWeek, and MetroImma. She has sold close to 60,000 cookbooks and counts 30,000 subscribers to the magazine.

But her latest endeavor, a cookbook tiled Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes being published this month, is a crossover into the more mainstream world of celebrity chefdom. Geller’s first two books—Quick and Kosher: Recipes From the Bride Who Knew Nothing and Quick and Kosher: Meals in Minutes—were put out by the Jewish publisher Feldheim; the new book is published by HarperCollins imprint William Morrow. “Last time around, my mother-in-law and I were picking out fonts,” said Geller. “This time there’s a lot more pressure to do something new and to do something on-trend.”

Staying on trend is increasingly important in the kosher cooking world. “Just like everyone else, people in Jewish communities have become foodies,” said Geller. “Kosher websites and blogs abound, and they showcase kosher Vietnamese, Mexican, Thai, and all different kinds of food. At fancy food shows you can see that many ethnic products want kosher certification because they know kosher cooks are using all of them.”

The new cookbook is a continuation of Geller’s ever-expanding Joy of Kosher brand, although she says it also continues in the style of Quick and Kosher before it: “Cooking quick and kosher is at the core of my being. I haven’t abandoned the essence of that brand.”

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Jewish Coffee Cake

No coffee required.

By Tamar Fox for MyJewishLearning

Ashkenazic coffee cake, most often made with sour cream, is a dish with a history going back to 17th century Eastern Europe. Recipes for this pastry have changed over time. Though the original Jewish coffee cakes called for coffee as one of the main ingredients, today most such cakes are perfect partners for a hot cop of joe, but are totally caffeine-free.

In contemporary Jewish homes coffee cake is often served for breakfast on Shabbat and holidays, and at the break fast table after Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av. When enjoying coffee cake after Shabbat, some families like to sprinkle the fragrant spices used in havdalah on top of the cake. Sweet, and containing nuts, cinnamon, and/or chocolate, a slice of coffee cake is one of the best ways to make a meal special.

This recipe comes from my mother, who liked to make coffee cake for celebratory brunches. The filling can be adapted for the crowd. If you're hosting some chocolate-lovers, try the chocolate filling. If your family gobbles up raisin challah, try the raisin-nut filling. The simple combination of pecans and walnuts in the nut filling is surprisingly elegant. Any way you go, you're bound to end up with a table full of smiles and crumbs.

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Sauteed Cabbage, Perfect Fall Recipe

 Sauteed Cabbage - Serves 6

It's so good you can't stop eating it. So simple you can't believe it!

1 small head of white cabbage, including outer green leaves (2 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fleur de sel to taste (optional)
Cut the cabbage in half and, with the cut-side down, slice it as thinly as possible around the core, as though you were making coleslaw. Discard the core.

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, kosher salt, and pepper and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Finish with another sprinkling of kosher salt or fleur de sel. Serve hot.

Copyright 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties! by Ina Garten, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, All Rights Reserved

Pumpkin Challah

Perfect for a Fall Shabbat.

By Leah Koenig for MyJewishLearning

I have never met a homemade challah I didn't like. There is something undeniably cozy and inviting about warm, fresh bread on the Shabbat table. Few other tastes can rival this.

On the other hand, challah's ubiquitous appeal means that it's hard to find one loaf that stands out from the crowd. Enter: pumpkin challah.

With a heady mix of pureed winter squash, cinnamon, and cardamom braided into deep, strawberry-blond loaves, pumpkin challah is at once exotic and familiar to my Ashkenazic taste buds. A rare find, indeed.

In Maggie Glezer's indispensable baking book The Blessing of Bread she writes that pumpkin challah--a.k.a. pan de calabaza--is a Sephardic specialty imbued with deep meaning. Like other foods made with pumpkin, it represents the hope that God will protect the Jewish people just as the pumpkin's thick shell protects the flesh inside.

Sephardic Jews traditionally serve this bread during Rosh Hashanah, when eating auspicious, symbolic foods is especially popular. Still, it is equally delicious served on any cold autumn or winter Shabbat when the added heartiness and kick of spice can be fully appreciated. Needless to say, the leftovers make a spectacular base for challah French toast. Continue reading for recipe.