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.

Black Bean Hummus

 A new twist on a Middle Eastern staple.

By Leah Koenig for MyJewishLearning

While chickpeas--with their tiny stature and unassuming flavor--maintain a humble persona, their significance throughout history commands serious respect. One of the earliest plants to be domesticated for human use, chickpeas were first planted along with wheat, barley, lentils, and other ancient grains and legumes in the Fertile Crescent some 10-12,000 years ago. Fittingly, chickpeas have long been a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, found in everything from stews and savory pies to fritters to spreads

Hummus, which literally means "chickpeas" in Arabic, is arguably the most popular recipe in the chickpea canon. The exact origins of this spread of smashed chickpeas softened with tahini and olive oil are unknown, but likely stretch back for centuries. Hummus continues to be a favorite throughout the Middle East, including Israel where, as Janna Gur writes in The New Book of Israeli Food, "Israelis hold hummus in such high regard that it is rarely made at home." Instead, she writes, residents flock like pilgrims to their favorite hummusia (hummus joint) for plates of warm hummus topped with fava beans or a hardboiled egg and accompanied by plates of pickles and fluffy stacks of pita.

Vegetarians and health food enthusiasts like Mollie Katzen first helped to introduce the protein-packed spread to the American palate in the 1960s and 1970s. Today it is nearly ubiquitous: Sabra is becoming a household-recognized brand, hummus and pita platters show up next to mozzarella sticks and nachos on diner menus, and the dip has become a familiar-enough cultural reference to carry scenes in major motion pictures (i.e. the infamous "hummus scene" in Don't Mess with the Zohan).

The New York Times published an article discussing hummus' growing popularity in the United States, especially flavored versions that add savory mix-ins like sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and avocado. MyJewishLearning.com's blog Mixed Multitudes mentioned a New Hampshire-based company that launched a line of dessert hummus that includes flavors like caramel apple, chocolate mousse, and pumpkin pie. The three recipes below do not take hummus innovation to such extremes, but do offer some unexpected twists on the classic.

Of course, purists can make their own traditional hummus by following this recipe.

This black bean based-riff on traditional chickpea hummus is packed with serious flavor thanks to the fresh cilantro and ground spices.

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Easy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Sukkot and the Seasonal Shift

It happens like clockwork. Here in Connecticut, Rosh Hashanah is generally warm and sunny and by Yom Kippur the nights are downright chilly.
Sukkot comes just five days after and the foliage is suddenly tinged with vibrant oranges and happy yellows of Autumn. The festival of Sukkot requires us to shift our moods suddenly also, from the days of contemplation and solemnity to a spirit of joyful thanksgiving and celebration. Our menus quickly transition to warming foods and for many of us, that means soup.

In order to not overwhelm the cook with complicated recipes as we head into yet, another holiday, I share this super easy recipe by one of my blogging gal pals, Hannah Kaminsky. Hannah is a brilliantly accomplished cook, author and photographer. I am awed by her ambition and accomplishments, especially considering that she is only 22 years old!
I interviewed her recently, after the release of her book Vegan Desserts Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season. It has become my indispensable guide to non-dairy and vegan desserts. Her recipes are both easy and convenient for kosher cooks who require non-dairy soups, sides and desserts to accompany meat meals. Thanks for sharing , Hannah.

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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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