Sunday, June 16, 2013

Super Easy Pasta & Cheese (GFE!) & Skewered Spiral Fries

Hey all my dear old Kosher Everyday friends…remember me?!!  I know it’s been a while but I haven’t forgotten you!  Things have been a little crazy around here!!  I’ve been collecting recipes and writing volumes of articles (in my head of course) and the minute I sit down to write, something comes up. My head hurts from all the articles rattling around in it ;-).  Work has B”H been super busy, but we all know that desserts spelled backwards is stressed – and making sure that all my customers are happy is incredibly rewarding but making desserts until all hours of the night is stressful!!  Everyone is always saying that the way to deal with stress is to make sure to take time for yourself.  Get a manicure, go shopping, take a bath, read a book, exercise. For better or for worse I often find comfort in food.  While that’s not too great for my waistline (we can talk about that later!), good food can be comforting. 

Now I have been trying to eat more foods that are gluten free (HOORAY!  I’m a GFE!!).  Although I’m not allergic to gluten, I find I do feel better when avoiding it.  I was SO happy when my sample box came from Goldbaum’s.  I wrote about Goldbaum’s a few months ago when I met them at Kosherfest 2012.  The Goldbaum’s Company makes awesome gluten-free products, such as pasta, snacks, and even ice cream cones!!  I’m not sure how they do it, but their products are fabulous and taste almost like they’re gluten-filled!  My go-to lunch lately has been Super Easy Pasta & Cheese.  Basically, it’s a lunch that I toss into a skillet, go about my business, and poof, a warm, comforting, cheesy, lunch is ready before I turn around.  They only annoying part is having to wash the skillet!  Also in my Goldbaum’s survival kit were some yummy crunchy snacks.  They are incredibly light but really crunchy!  My dear Mother in Law (KIH) a nutritionist and a GFE, was in town this past week. I eagerly showed her my GFE loot and offered to share.  She was excited about the pasta – it was great, but less than excited about the snacks.  They are great for a quick crunch but a little lacking in nutritional components.  I guess that’s why they’re called snacks!  Anyway, it was incredibly convenient to toss one of those bags of chips into my bag for a quick grab-and-go snack.  I’m also really looking forward to trying the ice cream cones…I’m waiting until I’m having a crisis that only an ice cream  cone can solve.



The Rutger's Chabad Dorm...
it's HUGE!!
This past week my dear son and I took a day trip to visit Rutgers University in New Jersey where I”H he will be going to school in the fall.  The campus is beautiful and the brand, spankin’-new Chabad dorm he’ll be staying in (I”H!!) is GORGEOUS!!  We didn’t have a lot of time, as we flew in in the morning and flew out the same night, but we did have time to grab a pizza and sushi dinner at Jerusalem Pizza in Highland Park.  The pizza and sushi were excellent of course, but what struck me was a spiraled potato on a skewer sitting on the counter.  Yes, I did ask permission to take a picture of it.  It was so cool!!  A while ago my girls and I experimented with making spiral potatoes but we had a little trouble having them not clump together while they were frying.  The ingenious skewer solved that whole problem!  So, before Shabbat we set to making our own version of Skewered Spiral Fries.  It was SO MUCH FUN!!  They are fabulous looking and evenly fried due to the stick!   I was a little nervous that this stick might catch on fire, but it was fine in the oil.  Whew!  Thank goodness my friends at the local Fire Department didn’t have to come visit!!  The spiral tool we used was an inexpensive little gadget that can be bought at most kitchen supply stores, although some people even have a fancy-shmancy spiral cutter that can be bought online.  I have a few of the cheap ones, and if you come into our kitchen while we’re spiraling fries you can watch us being challenged to keep them all in one piece while cutting them.  It’s not that easy!!  I’ll tell you this – a little salt and these fries are super delicious!  Bonus – they’re great for the GFE!!


I’ll add a few pictures of my latest creations – just so you don’t feel left out of my chaos the past few weeks.  It’s never dull in the Matten house – thank G-d!!!

Super Easy Pasta & Cheese (Great for the GFE - Gluten Free Eater!)
Nonstick vegetable spray
¾ cup milk
1 ½ cups cooked Pasta (Goldbaums GFE!!)
3-4 slices American cheese (I use the ones from the 3 lb brick), torn into large pieces
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (optional)

Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Spray with non-stick vegetable spray.  Add milk, pasta and cheese.  Warm, stirring occasionally, until cheese is completely melted and the sauce is thick and creamy.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Enjoy!!

Skewered Spiral Fries
Small red potatoes
Canola oil for frying
Spiral cutter tool
Long skewers
Coarse sea salt

Preheat the oil over medium-high heat to 350° F.   Using the spiral cutter tool, cut a potato into one long spiral.   Push a skewer all the way through the center of the potato, opening up the spiral on the skewer.  Place into the hot oil maintaining the 350° F temperature.  Fry the potato until crispy.  Repeat with remaining potatoes.  Sprinkle the fries with salt.  Serve hot!

Super Easy Pasta & Cheese
It all starts with the awesome pasta!!
Lowfat, cholesterol free, sodium free,
gluten free, easy to digest!
(It's all right there on the label!)
 Start with the basics...
 Add the cheese...
(this really can't be much easier)
 It's melting...
and melting...
 and melting...
 and melting...
 SO creamy...and cheesy...
and OMG!!!
It's even pretty plated!
The super cheesy sauce is dripping...
 She licked the platter clean!

 Skewered Spiral Fries
A simple tool - be careful...it's sharp!
 A perfect cut!
 Skewered...
This oil is really hot!
 Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...
SO crispy - wahoo!
Add the salt...
How fun is this??!!
Thanks Jerusalem Pizza in Highland Park, NJ!!
HEY!! No shnukering!!!
(OK, so maybe the little smusher pieces)

Just some stuff I've been up to...

 GO HAWKS!!






And now for a little Matten humor
(you never know what dear daughter will draw on next!)



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,
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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!