Bronx Borscht - Perfect for the Sukkah

From the old world to the new, nothing 'beets' this classic soup

By Marion Jacobson for Kveller

Usually, the sight of a root vegetable other than potatoes sends my kids running and screaming from the kitchen. But the beet claims a special place in our house whenever I make borscht.

Beets were a cheap commodity in Eastern Europe, so they caught on like wildfire in poor communities, both Jewish and Polish. Borscht (or borsch) is the generic name for a soup of Ukrainian origin that appears in hot and cold variations, but always with beets. Cold borscht is a true summertime soup, and I offer a thick, hearty version more like a Jewish take on gazpacho. Whatever kind of borscht you make, don't leave out the dill--a staple of Polish and Eastern Europe cooking.

A Generational Dish
My borscht obsession started with my first taste of my mother's soup, which her immigrant mother cooked and chilled every summer for her family of seven in a South Bronx tenement. Grandma Lena made a special Passover Borscht with russel (brine in Yiddish and Russian). She'd put the beets in wooden barrels with vinegar and water and let them sit for three to four weeks. Every few days, she'd skim off the fermented crust that would form at the top. My mother recalls this version being especially popular with some of their more (ahem) intemperate neighbors. But Grandma wasn't trying to get anyone drunk--she was just trying to get borscht to keep longer. Fermented borscht could keep for weeks or even months without refrigeration.

My grandmother made borscht in a pressure cooker, the old jiggle-top kind. If a food particle clogged the vent, or if she got distracted and forgot to turn down the heat (not an infrequent occurrence in a large household) the regulator blew off, taking the contents of the pot with it. The pink splotches on the ceiling are one of my mother's most vivid memories of her childhood kitchen.

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Has the kosher cheeseburger arrived?

By Talia Lavin for JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — When the world’s first lab-grown burger was introduced and taste-tested on Monday, the event seemed full of promise for environmentalists, animal lovers and vegetarians.

Another group that had good reason to be excited? Kosher consumers.

The burger was created by harvesting stem cells from a portion of cow shoulder muscle that were multiplied in petri dishes to form tiny strips of muscle fiber. About 20,000 of the strips were needed to create the five-ounce burger, which was financed partially by Google founder Sergey Brin and unveiled by Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

PETA hailed the event as a “first step” toward humanely producing meat products. A University of Amsterdam study shows that lab-grown meat could significantly reduce the environmental impact of beef production.

For kosher-observant Jews, the “cultured” burgers could open the door to radical dietary changes — namely, the birth of the kosher cheeseburger.

That’s because meat produced through this process could be considered parve – neither meat nor dairy — according to Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the Orthodox Union’s kosher division. Thus under traditional Jewish law, the burger could be paired with dairy products.

Several key conditions would have to be met to create kosher, parve cultured beef. The tissue samples would have to come from an animal that had been slaughtered according to kosher rules, not from a biopsy from a live animal, Genack said.

The principle underlying this theory is much like the status of gelatin in Jewish law: Though it is derived from an animal, it is not meat (the OU certifies some bovine-derived gelatin as parve).

Genack noted another source for viewing cultured meat as parve: a 19th century Vilna-born scholar known as the Heshek Shlomo wrote that the meat of an animal conjured up in a magical incantation could be considered parve. It may not be too much of a stretch, then, to apply the same logic to modern genetic wizardry.

But kosher chefs aren’t heating up the parve griddles just yet.

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Best Rosh Hashanah Recipes from the LA Times

Would you like to try something decidedly different this holiday? How about Baked pumpkin jam with cinnamon and ginger, served with couscous, Cilantro tomato soup with Syrian meatballs, Artichoke hearts with harissa salad, or Ejjeh b'kerrateh/Leek fritters? Be a little daring and add something not necessarily in your family's tradition this year. And if your family is Sephardic, go for the Ashkenazic matzah balls!

Roasted Chicken for the Holidays, Shabbat, Anytime

A perennial Friday night favorite

By Itta Werdiger-Roth for MyJewishLearning.com

In theory we would love to imagine and create new menus with fresh ingredients and ideas every week for Shabbat. But the fact is, it's really not so easy! Shabbat comes around exactly once a week, never soon enough, but always sooner than expected. This versatile recipe for roast chicken is the sort of meal you can either throw together in a pinch or re-invent with every chicken you make.

This version is autumnal, but you can substitute in any vegetables and spices that you like. Zucchini or other summer squash, peppers, any winter squash, mushrooms, celery, carrots, even brussels sprouts are all good options depending on what you have on hand and what's in season. And feel free to experiment with herbs, either dry or fresh. The only mandatory item is the chicken.

Chicken is often the center of the Shabbat dinner, and with good reason. For generations Jews have been making variations of this recipe to serve to their families on Friday nights. Both simple and adaptable, this recipe is a staple in Jewish kitchens around the world.

Do yourself a favor--always keep a chicken in the freezer. If your pantry, fridge, and cupboards are basically bare, you can still make a whole meal out of that chicken.

Many people prefer their chicken skinned and filleted. I prefer to use a whole chicken. This way, you can fill its cavity with herbs and other good stuff to enhance the flavor. Buying a whole chicken is also way more economical. If you want to lower your fat intake, take off the skin, by all means. But please, wait until the chook is cooked!

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Slow Cooker Honey Barbecue Brisket

From the Shiksa in the Kitchen

The scent of barbecue brings a flood of memories rushing back to me… memories of family and friends, some now departed, and the fun we had at my great uncle’s cattle ranch in the rolling hills of San Luis Obispo, CA. I have farmers on both sides of my family, and my childhood was full of Santa Maria-style barbecue cookouts. Uncle Dennis and his friends would stand over a huge iron oak-filled fire pit, slowly smoking the meat till it was tender and perfectly done. Aunt Pauline would make vats of ranch beans and salad. She’d spread French bread with copious amounts of garlic butter. Just before the meal, Uncle Dennis would throw the bread onto the fire pit till it soaked up the smoky oak flavor and grill marks were seared in. With the scent of garlic bread and barbecue in the air, we’d dig into the feast.

I miss those sunny afternoons. I miss sitting with my family and chatting about this, that and the other thing. I miss my Aunt Pauline and her sister, my Grandma Carolyn. What a blessing to grow up in a small town, surrounded by a loving family. Simple pleasures. Now that I live in the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, I appreciate it all the more.

While I grew up adoring those barbecue cookouts, my diet has changed quite a bit over the years. Now I eat flexitarian style, meaning the majority of my nutrition comes from vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes. That said, once in a while my family craves meat. Every month or two we indulge in some organic steak or brisket. Sadly I don’t have a giant iron oak-filled fire pit in my back yard, so this has become one of my go-to recipes for preparing barbecue-style beef brisket. The slow cooker keeps the meat from drying out, and it requires very little effort… just set it up in the morning and let it slowly cook all day long. The meat cooks up meltingly tender. The longer you cook it, the more it takes on the consistency of tender chipped beef, which I love. The idea originally came from a friend who recommended that I slow cook a brisket smothered in barbecue sauce. Over time, I’ve added some seasonings to the method to enhance the flavor. This recipe has been perfected over time; it was one of the first recipes I ever posted on my blog, but I am resharing it today because the modifications take it from good to awesome. It couldn’t be easier. Stick it in the slow cooker in the morning, and by the time you get home you’ll be minutes away from a hearty and satisfying meal. Serve with mashed potatoes or a baked potato and a salad on the side. You can also pile the beef onto hamburger buns and make barbecue beef sandwiches.

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Israeli Hummus Recipe

You've seen it in the stores. Now you can make it at home.

By Joan Nathan 

Reprinted with permission from The Foods of Israel Today (Knopf).

I have been making hummus for years and have concluded that despite the temptation to use canned chickpeas, the flavor is much better when it is made with dried chickpeas found at Middle Eastern or Indian food stores.

First I soak a large quantity overnight, cook some, and then drain and freeze the rest in two-cup batches in plastic bags.

Whenever I need them for hummus, falafel, or for the many chickpea soups and stews in this book, I just take them out of the freezer. When substituting canned beans, figure that one cup of raw chickpeas equals two cups of cooked or canned. Some old-time cooks in the Middle East either peel cooked chickpeas or pass them through a food mill before using them. I find there is no need for this laborious extra step. I add to my hummus a little bit of cumin, which blends beautifully with the garlic and lemony flavor.

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Quinoa Avocado Tabbouleh

Lebanese tabbouleh salad originated in the mountain region of Zahlé, according to Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. In the Bekáa Valley of Lebanon during the 1920s, open-air cafés served various local mezze to tourists from all over the Middle East. Tabbouleh became a regional favorite. Originally, it was made with lots of bulgur wheat and bits of fresh herbs. Over time the preference shifted, and bulgur became a side note as fresh green herbs took over. Today, tabbouleh is more often made with lots of fresh parsley and mint, with bulgur and other additions like tomatoes included as mere accents.
In this modern take on tabbouleh salad, I’ve lightened up on the chopped herbs and replaced bulgur with quinoa. Inspired by a salad I enjoyed at Le Pain Quotidien café, I’ve added ripe avocado and grated cucumber to the mix. Toasted pine nuts and a creamy dairy-free basil dressing take this salad from tasty to entrée-worthy. It’s a seriously satisfying meal, packed with protein, healthy fats and lots of flavor. It’s my new favorite lunch recipe!

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