The past few weeks have been
crazier than my “Sharon Matten Normally Crazy” life. Since my dear Dad (A”H) passed away just
before Pesach, our family has been trying to function daily – get up, get
dressed, go to work, take care of the kids, and try to pick up a little where
my Dad left off. He left really
big shoes to fill, and we really miss him.
It’s a custom in our family for
the women to say Kaddish along with the guys.
I have never been to Shul so much in my entire life! It’s taken a lot of adjusting, not just for
me…but for my entire, very very understanding and supportive
family. Three times a day I daven in the
little office just off of the Shul’s Beis Medrash and say Kaddish with the
“men”-yan. I’m really impressed with the
guys that are on time and come to minyan every day. It’s a huge commitment and it is because of
them that I am able to say Kaddish for my father with a minyan. I’m still learning the rhythm of the minyan davening
too – what prayers are said when, what’s skipped in the siddur, and when to
jump to another seemingly random page for a single tefilah only to jump back to
where we started from. This is also the
first time in my whole life that I’m still counting sefirah with a bracha (yay
me!). I know that it’s been that number
plus a little over a week that my life irrevocably changed.
I never realized that there is a
15-20 minute break in between mincha and maariv when davening at Shul (I never
went during the week before). One of the
weird plusses of the whole experience is that I bring cookbooks to review
(Levana’s new one!) and some of my favorite culinary magazines to read during
the break. I have a quarter hour of
complete quiet to chill and catch up on new and interesting recipes and
articles. I recently received the latest
copy of the Penzeys Spices Catalog which not only has descriptions of all their
fabulous spices, but articles and recipes as well. This week I was looking for comfort
food. Something warm and welcoming that
made a lot so I would have leftovers for additional meals during my “gerbil
on an exercise wheel” week. I came
across an interesting recipe for Homemade Soft Pretzels that looked delicious
and not too hard to make, and I could even top some of them with our favorite “Everything”
spice mix (thanks Jamie!). I figured it
would make a great fast weeknight dinner (everything has to be fast
these days!) along with a hearty Minestrone Soup. Any leftover pretzels could be part of the kid’s
lunches the following day. I had a
plan. I then went to my favorite Mega
Fruit store, Jerry’s,
and found tons of amazing, fresh, beautiful vegetables. Because time was short, I figured I’d make
the soup with a tomato juice base and save time by purchasing the juice at the
fruit store too. As luck would have it,
none of the tomato juices at the store had hashgacha. ARGH!
I had to come up with a fast plan B.
It turns out that one of the other items that I purchase at Jerry’s is pasta
sauce! They have a great selection
of sauces and the prices are cheaper than anywhere else. I grabbed a few jars of tomato basil pasta
sauce to use as the base of my Jerry’s Minestrone Soup. It had all the
ingredients and spices that I would want to have in my soup, and thinned with
some water it was perfect! I ended up using my favorite Hindy Chopper (see here
for more information) to make what normally would be a huge, time consuming job
into a quick “chop-chop” zippy fast task.
I could have even used frozen pre-washed cauliflower to make the job
faster, but the cauliflower at Jerry’s was so fresh and appealing I figured it
was worth the extra prep time to use it in the soup.
 |
| Warm, hearty & comforting... |
Well, the pretzels came out great
– the kids were arm wrestling for seconds (what was I thinking…leftovers??). The soup was thick, rich, healthy! and
incredibly delicious too. The recipe
makes a lot so I was even able to have some during the week for tasty and
nutritious fast lunches. I guess there
are times in our lives where warm and inviting food can be a comfort, and the
simple, routine process of making it can bring some security and consistency to
an otherwise out-of-control, crazy life.
Homemade Soft Pretzels
Based upon the Penzeys Spice
Catalog recipe Early Summer 2012.
This recipe is cool because
the Pretzels are boiled in a baking soda and water mixture before being baked –
not fried! It also uses brown sugar
instead of regular for a wonderful soft, chewy, home baked treat.
1 ¼ cups warm
water
1 tablespoon rapid rise yeast
¼ cup brown
sugar, packed
2 cups bread flour
1 ½ - 2 cups all-purpose
flour
4 cups water
4 tablespoons baking soda
Kosher
or Sea Salt, or your favorite “Everything” spice mix
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve
the yeast in the warm water. Let the
yeast sit for 5 minutes until foaming.
Add the sugar, bread flour and 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour. Mix by hand or with a dough hook until the
dough is smooth and elastic – around 10 minutes, adding the additional ½ cup of
all-purpose flour as needed. Cover the
dough and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. The dough will not necessarily double in
size.
Preheat oven to 500° F. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment
paper. Set aside.
Divide the dough into 12-18
pieces, depending upon the size of pretzel you want. Roll each piece into a “snake” around 18
inches long. Twist the dough into
pretzel shapes and firmly pinch the ends to keep them from unfolding in the
boiling water.
Bring the 4 cups of water to a
boil. Add the baking soda and stir to
dissolve. Dip each pretzel in the
baking-soda/water for 5 to 10 seconds making sure the pretzel is completely
immersed. Shake off excess water, and
place the pretzel on the prepared baking sheet.
Sprinkle with your favorite toppings.
Repeat with remaining pretzels.
Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden
brown. Serve warm with your favorite
hearty soup (Minestrone!) or dipping sauce (like hot spicy mustard).
Jerry’s Minestrone Soup
2 large potatoes (around ¾ lb.
each), peeled and chopped
2 cups green beans, tips
removed, cut into 2 inch pieces
½ - 1 pound baby
carrots, chopped
3 large ribs celery (around 2
cups), sliced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
3-4 cups cauliflower
flowerets
1 small onion, diced (around ¾ cup)
2 26
oz. jars tomato basil pasta
sauce (or your favorite flavor)
52 ounces water
(use pasta jars to measure)
2-3 cups cooked
ditali pasta (or other small bite sized pasta)
1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (or flat leaf parsley),
finely chopped
salt
and pepper to taste
croutons,
crackers, or your favorite soup toppings (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a
large 8 quart stock pot. Bring to a
boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes until all the
vegetables are tender. Serve with your
favorite soup toppings and a toasted crusty bread or Soft Homemade Pretzels.
Notes:
1.
Use the large holed
blade on the Hindy Chopper for bite sized vegetable chunks.
2.
To measure the water
for the recipe, empty the sauce into the stock pot, fill the jar with water,
swirl the water to get any remaining sauce in the jar, then add it to the soup.
3.
Depending upon how
thick your sauce is, this recipe will most likely make a thick, hearty
soup. To make a more “liquidy” soup use
3 jars of sauce plus one additional jar of water.
4.
You can substitute frozen
vegetables for some of the fresh ones to expedite the preparation of this soup.
Homemade pretzels...
make the dough then cut it into
12 pieces....
Roll them into pretzels & pinch the ends....
Boil 'em, top 'em, bake 'em,
eat 'em warm!!
Minestrone Soup:
All the ingredients for a
hearty, healthy, comforting soup!
Use the Hindy Chopper to speed up
the prep time...
Perfectly chopped veggies!
Perfect floweretts!
Can't wait to eat!
(and there's even enough for later!)
Yes...my kids do play with their food...sigh.
Kosher
Everyday is dedicated to the memory of my father
Dr.
Theodore Saltzberg - Tuvia Ben Nachum Z”L
May
his memory be for a blessing - Yihi zichro baruch.
Look for additional information about Edible Experience
Kosher Everyday at www.koshereveryday.com,
aish.com, Mishpacha Magazine’s Kosher Inspired Magazine,
The Chicago Tribune Syndication,
or on Facebook at Edible
Experience by Sharon
These recipes are for sole, personal use of visitors to Sharon Matten
-Edible Experience Kosher Everyday. Edible Experience Kosher Everyday recipes
are for your enjoyment but are not to be posted or reprinted without express
permission from Sharon Matten. Thank you!!
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