Kosher Everyday by Sharon Matten: July 2012

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Warm Marinated Fresh Mushrooms with Feta & Whole Wheat Pasta

As everyone knows, I love mushrooms. I’m sure you’re this close to being sick of hearing me say it, so I’ll try to hold off on the whole mushroom thing for a while after today. In our Shul, we are sometimes treated to a marinated mushroom salad during Kiddush on Shabbat. It’s really good. Extremely garlicky, with little bits of scallions and whole chili peppers in it. I know where they get it, but don’t really have the chutzpah to ask for the actual recipe – after all, they do sell it. Anyway, I figured I could try to make something similar here at home. I posted on my favorite Facebook sites and got some really great advice on making the marinated mushrooms. I did get some interesting advice to cook/boil the mushrooms first – but it was after I had already made my version of the mushrooms…so it will have to wait for the next batch! I was very excited to try them out on my Shabbat guests this week…

Marinated Mushrooms:
Serve room temperature or warm...
not cold!!

This past week we have been blessed to have one of my son’s dear friends visiting Chicago and staying with us after just finishing his service in the Israeli Army (Yay Tal!). We got to know and love Tal when he was going to Yeshiva here with my son, and he has really become a part of the family. So at Shabbat lunch, I asked for his honest opinion about my marinated mushrooms. His reply surprised me – “I expected them to be warm”. It got me thinking...what if we actually warmed the mushrooms with some whole wheat spaghetti and topped it with some tangy feta cheese? It could be a perfect dairy Nine Days dish. Today, I boiled up some pasta and tried it out…and the Warm Marinated Fresh Mushrooms with Feta & Whole Wheat Pasta was fabulous!!! The cheese really did compliment the vinegary/garlicky taste of the mushrooms – it was another great way to use the yummy marinated mushrooms I had made.

Well, at the end of our Shabbat meal my Mom (KIH) gave one of her famous comments “Wow Sharon, you must have made enough food for an army!” I turned to her and smiled. “You know Mom…why don’t we ask Tal! So Tal…you just got out of the army – was there really enough food for an entire army??” Tal laughed and said “Well, maybe not an entire army…but maybe a small base!” We love you Tal, and you are always welcome here! Maybe we’ll even come visit you in Israel!!!

Warm Marinated Fresh Mushrooms with Feta & Whole Wheat Pasta

2 pounds small whole white button mushrooms, washed

2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced

4 green onions, thinly sliced

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

½ cup white vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

4 small hot red peppers (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a large zip top bag, then seal it tightly. Gently massage the bag to incorporate all the ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving. May be made up to 3 days in advance.

The pretty mushrooms...

The better to eat you my dear!!

The fresh herbs...

The dried chilies from last years garden!

So simple...it all goes into a Ziplock bag!

Great for a delicious side or...

Saute the mushrooms with some

whole wheat spaghetti...

Then top with the Feta!! Awesome!!

(Thanks Tal!)

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 Matten.

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!!

Congratulations!

KosherEveryday is one of the finalists for the

2011 CBS Most Valuable Blogger Awards!!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Cool Creamy Fruity Ice Cream and Mexican Chili "Hot" Popcorn

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. That pretty much sums up the week here in Chicago!! We broke all kinds of high temperature records with multiple days reaching above 100°!! You could literally fry an egg on the sidewalk. We even had some wacky rain storms as a result of the crazy heat. B”H we managed to get our broken air conditioning fixed on Tuesday…or you would have been able to mop us up with a Swiffer mop! I’ve been trying to keep my optimistic garden from completely drying out, which has been a bit of a challenge (until yesterday’s crazy rainstorm), and I even “Miracle Growed” it to give the garden a fighting chance. We did get some awesome tomatoes – hooray! The cute heirloom little yellow ones ripened (my Mom KIH described them as very “tomatoey”), and we picked the first harvest of the bright red cherry tomatoes – there are a lot of little green ones just waiting to turn. The squash is flowering, but sadly our cucumbers and strawberries fell victim to the pesky #$@&* squirrels. For some reason the peppers haven’t really been producing, maybe they realize that there’s already enough heat in the yard!!

It looks so innocent - but it's HOT!
(can't stop shnookering!!)

In honor of the extreme heat this week I decided to give you a “hot” recipe – Mexican Chili “Hot” Popcorn, and to make up for the extra heat – a cool one too: Cool Creamy Fruity Ice Cream! Thursday night, Dear Husband and I were trying to decide what recipes to add to this week’s article. Now it turns out that our favorite second oldest son works for the local Kosher Chinese restaurant, Tein Li Chow (shameless plug), and he brought home some extra Kung Pao Sauce (thanks!). Dear Husband had added the sauce to some leftover multi-grain rice and was eating that while we were having the discussion. It smelled incredible (I was actually sniffing the empty bowl when he was done!), and I kindly asked him to make some for me too (YUM!!). Now, although you all know that we love spicy food here, it may be a lesser known fact that Dear Husband and I love to snack on popcorn. We usually air pop a huge bowl, spray it with butter flavored non-stick spray, then sprinkle on the Kernel Season’s white cheddar seasoning. OMG – it’s SO good! We can easily polish off an entire bowl during a movie. It was a really simple transition to go from eating incredible, fiery Kung Pao rice, to spicy popcorn – right? This time I made the popcorn in a pot instead of air popping it. In order to make the popcorn really hot, I used a little bit of oil and heated the crushed Mexican Chili in the oil. It really brought out the heat of the peppers! I then added the popcorn kernels, tightly covered the pot and a few minutes later – perfectly popped hot popcorn. I used some fine sea salt, but you could use any type of popcorn salt as well. The popcorn was awesome. It has a subtle heat to it that somehow manages to get hotter as you eat it. For those that like it hot, this is the perfect snack!! Dear Husband was commenting that you could theoretically make all different types of flavored popcorn this way. I’ll keep you posted.

To make up for the extra heat that I just added to your already hot summer, here is a recipe for Cool Creamy Fruity Ice Cream. Originally, this is one of my aish.com Summertime Recipes and is posted as a layered popsicle type dessert or a refrigerated parfait. You can make it as a single pan of your favorite flavor of fruity ice cream though. I had enough people that liked the vanilla section by itself that you could leave the fruit out altogether (gasp!) and just make some really fast, easy, and delicious vanilla ice cream too – no ice cream maker required. It’s a great recipe to “chill” to.

Enjoy and stay cool!

GFE: Great for the Gluten Free Eater!

Mexican Chili “Hot” Popcorn (GFE)

· 2 tablespoons canola oil

· 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers/Mexican chili

· ½ cup popping corn

· ½ teaspoon extra fine salt, or to taste

Coat the bottom of a large stock pot with the oil. Add the crushed red pepper and turn the heat on to medium-high. Add the popping corn and shake the pan to coat the corn. Allow the oil to heat for a minute, then cover tightly and reduce the heat to medium. Pop the corn, shaking the pan frequently to keep the corn from burning. When the popping slows considerably, turn off the heat and allow the corn to pop for another minute until the popping stops. Sprinkle with the salt and toss to coat. Transfer to a bowl and enjoy!

So easy...

Use the best ingredients...

Heat the oil and crushed chilis....

Add the popcorn...

It may look innocent...

but watch out!!

This stuff is HOT baby!

Cool Creamy Fruity Ice Cream (GFE)

· 2 pints blueberries, washed & dried

· 2 teaspoons blueberry extract (optional)

· blue gel food coloring (optional)

· 2 pounds strawberries, hulled, washed, dried and cut into halves

· 2 teaspoon strawberry extract (optional)

· red gel food coloring (optional)

· 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix, 3.4 ounces

· 2 cups heavy whipping cream

· 2 tablespoons sugar

Using a food processor, coarsely chop the fruit and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the fruit in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream and pudding mix until stiff peaks form. Fold the fruit, extract, and food coloring (if using) into the cream. Transfer to a large aluminum pan or plastic storage container with a tight lid. Cover and freeze for at least 3 hours. Scoop into individual dessert cups and garnish with your favorite toppings.

Notes:

· For vanilla ice cream omit the fruit and proceed with the recipe as described above.

· For chocolate ice cream, substitute chocolate pudding mix.

For mini cream pops and for individual dessert cups see my article Summertime Recipes on aish.com.

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 Matten.

Congratulations!

KosherEveryday is one of the finalists for the

2011 CBS Most Valuable Blogger Awards!!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Hamburger Cupcakes with Twice Baked Potato Frosting

In Shul this Shabbat we read my all-time favorite Torah Portion – Balak. I love the fact that there is a talking donkey in this portion, and good triumphs over evil. Just to recap, Balak King of Moav, hires the non-Jewish prophet Bilam to curse the Jews. If the Jews are cursed then Balak just might be able to defeat them. Balak figures that Bilam must have the inside track with G-d because he’s a prophet, and who better to curse G-d’s chosen people that someone who has a direct line? Well things don’t work out quite like Balak planned. On his way to curse the Jewish People the donkey that Bilam is riding on suddenly stops in its tracks. No matter how many times Bilam hits it, the donkey won’t move. What Bilam doesn’t know, is that he can’t see the Angel blocking the path – but the donkey can see it! After being hit three times by Bilam, the Donkey actually turns around and speaks to Bilam!! This wasn’t just any everyday donkey, but a very special one. There were seven “Wonders of the World” that were created on the last day of Creation…one of those “wonders” was Bilam’s Donkey. This special donkey was formed with the express purpose of speaking to Bilam and warning him away from his goal. Of course, in the end Bilam is unable to curse the Jews, and instead ends up giving them a beautiful blessing – foiling Balak’s plan. I love that ending!!

As you all know by now, I have been spending a lot of time going to minyan. In the Shemoneh Esreh prayer, which we say at least once during every service, the last paragraph is the “Elokai Nitzor” tefilah (prayer). Here we ask G-d to guard us from speaking badly, to keep us from reacting to those that curse us, and to nullify the evil wishes of those that would want bad things to happen to us – “Elokai nitzor lishoni merah…v’limkallai nafshi tidom…vichol hachoshvim alai raah, mehara hafer atzatam…”

As cheesy as it may seem, the story of Bilam and his talking donkey, and the “Elokai Nitzor”, speak to me as a “recipe” for how to lead our lives (not too preachy, huh?). The bottom line is that we must have faith and continue to pray to G-d to help us against those that would wish us harm. With G-d’s help a curse can even become a blessing. The truth is, sometimes we are so immersed in our situations that we can’t see the obvious – even a donkey can see what we can’t or refuse to see!!

Happy Birthday America!!

Given that (whew!), I’m going to bless you with a fun summertime recipe for Hamburger Cupcakes with Twice Baked Potato Frosting. These are incredibly entertaining, conversation-starters, really yummy and similar to the Grilled Hamburger Cake, they are frosted with mashed potatoes. Whipped eggs lighten the recipe, with onions and grated carrots adding extra flavor. Unlike Balak’s half-baked plan for defeating the Israelites, these awesome “cupcakes” are twice baked – making them super delicious!! I recommend warning your family and guests though – these are so pretty, even a donkey might not be able to tell the difference between these Hamburger Cupcakes with Twice Baked Potato Frosting and the ones you serve for dessert!!

Don't forget to check out my latest summertime recipes on aish.com!!

Hamburger Cupcakes with Twice Baked Potato Frosting (gluten-free)

2 pounds lean ground beef, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temperature, separated
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic crushed, or one frozen garlic cube defrosted
¼ cup carrots, finely shredded
¼ teaspoon black pepper
pinch salt
foil lined cupcake cups
mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Place foil lined cupcake cups on a baking sheet. Set aside.

Place the ground beef in a large bowl. Break up any large pieces of meat. In a large mixing bowl, whip the egg yolks until tripled in volume and pale yellow – around 3 minutes. Fold the yolks into the ground beef, mixing until just combined. Fold in the onions, carrots and pepper. Set the meat mixture aside.

In a clean dry mixing bowl, with clean dry beaters, whip the whites with the salt until stiff but not dry. Carefully fold into the meat mixture, being careful not to stir too vigorously. When the mixture is completely combined, spoon into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 30 minutes.

Place the potatoes into a pastry bag (if using) and pipe the potatoes onto the baked meat muffins. If not using a pastry bag, spoon the potatoes onto the tops of the baked meat muffins. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the oven onto medium broil, and broil the muffins for 5 minutes until the tops are browned. Best served warm, but these are good cold too!

Finely chopped onion & grated carrots....