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My Top 10 Housewares Show 2016 Gadgets for Pesach

Every year the International Housewares Show is here in my very own hometown, Chicago!  This year was no exception and I had a fabulous time seeing all the awesome and cool new products that are available.  Here are the best of the best that will help your Passover prep.  I’ll even attach amazon.com affiliate links so you can get them asap!  Let me know which is your fave!

1. The Gefu Spirelli 2.0 spiralizer

I actually watched a demo of this mini wonder in action.  It really truly works.  What’s great about it is that it’s mini.  For those that store their Pesach stuff every year this is small, compact, and it works.  When you want zoodles (zucchini noodles) or sweet potato noodles - which we all do on Pesach when the wheaty real deal is nowhere to be found.  Unlike some of the other mini spiralizers this comes with a little pusher so you don’t have to cut your fingers off.

2. Kitchenaid (Mini) Mixer

One of my most used appliances on Pesach is my Kitchenaid mixer.  I can’t imagine whipping all those eggs without one.  Oh, and make sure you get an extra bowl - for when you need to whip those egg whites separately!

3. Hamilton Beach Chopping Food Processor

Back in the day when my parents made the seder they purchased a food processor (you know the one that starts with C).  I inherited it when I took over the privilege.  It’s great for grinding nuts or making charoset.  It’s the second tool I feel that I would have a hard time doing without.  Well at the housewares show Hamilton Beach came out with a fabulous new food processor - it actually dices.  Really and truly.  The dice is even and a beautiful thing to behold.  If you are looking for a food processor this is one to seriously consider. It's available at Hamilton Beach: Hamilton Beach 70825

4. Pencil sharpener peeler

One of the more fun companies that I came across was Monkey Business.  It’s an innovative Israeli company that had so many adorable and clever products I had trouble deciding which I liked best.  I absolutely fell in love with the Pencil Sharpener peeler.  It looks like a big yellow old fashioned pencil sharpener with a vegetable peeler on the back.  Remember how, when you used to sharpen your pencil, the shavings came out curled?  Imagine doing that with a carrot, or zucchini.   I plan on using mine to make carrot and zucchini flowers as a garnish for my gefilte fish this year.  Check out their web site...each gadget is cuter than the next!

6. French Bull acrylic Serveware

There were a bunch of fun companies but I particularly loved French Bull.  They have fabulous acrylic cups, platters, plates, and serving pieces in super fun and bright patterns and colors.  The display completely caught my eye.  Check out their stuff!!!

7. Chefman Immersion blender

Chefman is a company that makes competitively priced small kitchenlectronics.  I personally know people that work there and they are really committed to their products.  The immersion blender come in a bajillion colors and are not costly - perfect for helping to keep Pesach costs down.

8. Bella Coffee Maker

I personally own one of the original Bella Coffee Makers in a bright red and I love it.  I got it on sale for $9.99 at Macys.  It’s a single cup coffee maker that makes a great cup of coffee in under 5 minutes.  The only downside is that you can’t use those wonderfully convenient pre-measured coffee containers (you know the ones by the “K” company).  Well, now Bella has come out with one that you can use like mine, with your own coffee, or with those pre-measured containers!  For the price you really can’t beat it!

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9. Levoons & Savel

As a baker, I know that measuring precisely is super important.  I was really excited about the clever Levoons by Dreamfarm.  They are self leveling measuring spoons!  How great is that?  They come in tons of colors too.  They also make other useful gadgets like the Savel which you put in an avocado, or other fruit,  after you cut it to keep the unused half from turning brown. 

10. Paradox Timers

One of the best thing about the housewares show are the products that are brand spankin new and haven’t been brought to the market yet.  One of my absolute favorite products was the Paradox timer.  It comes in different varieties (there’s an egg timer for example), and contains different colored liquid combined with a water like liquid inside.  When you turn the timer over, the colored liquid goes UP instead of down!!!  It’s a paradox...get it?!!!  Super cool!!!!

11. SodaStream

I had to add the fantastic Israeli company, SodaStream!!!  It’s perfect for making carbonated beverages even on Shabbat and Yom Tov!  A huge money saver, especially for Pesach!!!

So my honorable mention product is the Masha mashed potato masher by Salton.   They named it after my daughter Masha.  Just kidding, however they did give me one for that reason!!!  Thanks Salton!!! I’m saving it for Pesach and haven’t used it yet, but it looks like an immersion blender that makes perfect mashed potatoes...and who wouldn’t want that?  Especially with a name like Masha!!!

I’d love to hear about your favorite “I can’t live without them” gadgets.  One of mine is the Hindy Chopper (a.k.a the Vidalia onion chopper).  Post your faves below in the comments.  I’m sure everyone would love to hear how clever you are!!!

After Passover...the everyday fabulous gadgets and tchotchkies that were super fun at the show...stay tuned…

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,

JewishExponent.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!!

Passover Gluten-Free (non-gebrochts) Egg Noodles

I recently developed a recipe for Passover Gluten-Free (non-gebrochts) Egg Noodles.  When I posted a photo of the prototype on social media sites I got a plethora of requests for the recipe and instructions on how to make them. Super cool!

What I love about this recipe is that you can make the noodles any size or shape you like.  You can make fettuccini, ravioli, wide “egg noodles” for a goulash, or even lasagna noodles.  You also don’t have the mushy, fall apart mess that you can sometimes get from store bought noodles.  I actually dried some out before cooking (like store bought noodles) and they were still pretty good after I cooked them.  For those GFE’s (Gluten Free Eaters), I personally think this recipe is good enough to make year round.  

Now it turns out that I originally developed this recipe for my upcoming Mid-Atlantic Media Syndication Passover article.  However, I wanted to give my readers a little something extra this time - a visual to go with the written description.  I pulled out my handy dandy DSLR camera, ordered a fancy shmancy tripod on Amazon, downloaded my favorite movie editing software, and I was good to go.

So, without further ado, I present the Passover Noodle Making Video!

Enjoy and Chag Kasher V’sameach!!

(Please leave comments and let me know what you think!!!)

Looking for a Passover Cholent recipe? Here's one that I published a while ago: Kosher Everyday Passover Cholent

The official Passover Gluten-Free (non-gebrochts) Egg Noodle Recipe:

¾ cup potato starch

½ cup potato flakes (like instant mashed potato flakes)

½ cup tapioca flour (not starch)

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

3 large eggs

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the dough:

Extra potato starch for rolling.

Combine the potato starch, potato flakes, tapioca flour, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add the eggs and olive oil.  Stir until the ingredients are blended then knead until smooth.  Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.

Generously flour a rolling board with potato starch.  Divide the dough into 3 pieces.  Roll one piece into a very thin rectangle, rolling the dough as thinly as possible.  Using a sharp knife or pasta roller, cut the egg noodles into the desired shapes.  Set the cut pasta on a cookie sheet, cutting board or cooling rack.  Repeat with the remaining 2 dough pieces.

To cook:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta, gently stirring to separate the noodles.  Return the water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.  Cook for 5-7 minutes until pasta is al dente.  Drain then serve.

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,

JewishExponent.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!!

Pre-Passover Cabinet Cleaning Rice Stuffed Roasted Chickens with Yukon Gold Potatoes

Hello all!  It’s that time of year when you are being swamped with super exciting, new and enticing Passover recipes.  If you’re like me however, you’re still trying to clean out your chametz cabinets and use up all your rice (assuming you’re not Sephardi) and other chametz/kitniyot products.  I usually start the process right after Purim, and my family knows that they will get the most creative dishes during the weeks before I convert my kitchen for Passover.  It’s kind of like an episode of “Chopped”.  Hmmmm….what can I make with the beans, macaroni and cheese mix, rice paper, and green lentils?

I have also started making instructional videos to help with the educational aspect of this site.  I know that although I nearly always add a lot of explanatory photographs, nothing is a good as actually watching the process first hand.  

I love my first video (not including the Spice Packet Video...although that one is fabulous!!) - it’s very informative although extremely flawed :-).  (Kind of like me!)  It’s extremely blurry in the beginning, but pulls through to be clear about halfway into the video.  I’ve had good feedback (which is really, really nice), and would love to hear your comments.  It will help in the editing of my Passover video coming out shortly.  

SO….here is the recipe and video…

Happy Cleaning & Eating!!

Pre-Passover Cabinet Cleaning Rice Stuffed Roasted Chickens with Yukon Gold Potatoes

2 large roasting chickens (3-4 lb each)

2 lb Yukon Gold potatoes (medium size B), cut into ½ inch slices

2 ¼ cups of your leftover uncooked rice (Brown, Black, Red, White)

4 cups vegetable stock (I like Manischewitz)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion diced

1 cup celery, sliced

2 cloves garlic, or 2 frozen cubes

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup teriyaki sauce

nonstick spray

olive oil spray, or olive oil

garlic powder

onion powder

black pepper

fresh herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - yes I know it’s a song!)

Preheat oven to 325℉ convection roast or 350℉ bake for an non-convection oven.

1 foot cooking twine, cut into 2 6” pieces

Spray a large roasting pan with nonstick spray.  Place the potatoes in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.  Place the chickens on top of the potatoes.  Set aside.

Combine the rice and vegetable stock in a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover tightly. Cook rice for the longest package directions of your combined rice.  When the rice is done cooking, off heat then allow the rice to rest covered for 10 minutes.  Uncover and fluff with a fork.

In a large wok or skillet, heat the oil.  Add the onions, celery and garlic.  Saute until the the onions are starting to brown.  Add the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are soft.  Add the teriyaki sauce and stir to combine.

Spoon the vegetables into the prepared rice.  Mix until completely blended.  Place 2-3 cups of the rice mixture into a separate bowl.  This will be the stuffing.  By separating out a few cups you avoid contaminating the whole batch of rice with salmonella from the chicken.  If more rice is needed for stuffing you can always add it after.

Gently spoon the rice stuffing into the chickens.  Do not pack the rice in.  

Once the chickens are full,  tie up the legs of each chicken to help ensure even roasting.  Spray the chickens with olive oil spray, or rub the skin with a thin coat of olive oil.  Sprinkle garlic and onion powder on top of the chickens.  Top with fresh herbs, tucking some of the herbs around the chicken for additional flavor.  Sprinkle some black pepper on top of the chickens.

Place a meat thermometer in the meatiest part of the chicken thigh.  Roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165℉.  Remove the chickens from the oven.  Remove stuffing and serve.

Note: If making this chicken in advance, remove the stuffing from the chickens before refrigerating.  Never store stuffed chickens.

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,

JewishExponent.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!!

GIVEAWAY & A review of Susie Fishbein's "Kosher By Design Brings it Home"

IT’S HERE!  Susie Fishbein”s new cookbook “Kosher by Design Brings it Home”!!!  After travelling the world doing cooking demonstrations, and after selling 480,000 copies of her super popular cookbooks, Susie Fishbein is bringing us unique and exotic recipes from all over the world.  To quote Susie “ While travel is truly one of life’s pleasures, and there is a thrill and gratification to seeing the world, there is nothing like the comfort found in bringing it home.”

To start, the photos in the book are breathtaking.  I wanted to go to France, Italy, Mexico, and of course Israel - no wait...I almost felt like I was there through the gorgeous photos of the interesting places that Susie has gone.  And the food!  Flavors from around the world like: Petit Farcie,  Arancini, Coconut Lime Pargiyot Skewers, Ranchero Soup, Moroccan Harira, Carmel Spa Pomegranate Almond Salad, Lentil and Tuna Salad (which I made!),  Rosemary Lavender Chicken, Udon Chicken Noodle Bowl, Freekah Pilaf (yes that’s really the name!),  Lemon Tiramisu, Halvah Baklava (YUM!) and Glazed Donut Twists…just to name a few.

As always when doing a review I set out to try one of the recipes from the book.  I picked Lentil and Tuna Salad.  It looked so pretty in the book, I simply couldn’t wait to try it.  A heads up though, with many of the recipes you need to prepare a little in advance.  Some of the ingredients are not those that I stock regularly in my pantry.  I took a trip to Sunset Foods, which carries many more gourmet and international ingredients, and was able to get the French Lentils, and most of the other ingredients for the recipe.  I wasn’t able to get Italian tuna with olive oil, so I got the best tuna with olive oil I could find.  And yes, French lentils are different than regular lentils, and did make a difference in the quality of the salad.  Susie gives clear instructions for each of her recipes, so even if some of the ingredients are foreign (it is an international cookbook after all - there are going to be some unique ingredients in the book!), you can still prepare the recipes like a pro.  As you can see from my photo the result was pretty close to Susie’s (yay us!).  We felt very rustic eating the salad Motzei Shabbat, as if we were in a little town in Tuscany.  

The salad was pretty quick to prepare and was unique and delicious!  If your family would prefer another protein other than tuna in the salad, you could even substitute chicken, or chorizo and it would be delicious (if not authentic).  

This is another beautiful book by Susie Fishbein - it could even be a coffee table book!  Just make sure you serve your coffee with one of Susie’s fabulous international desserts like French Napoleons or Almond Bobka Ring.

Now….guess what!!! You can win a copy of Susie Fishbein’s book “Kosher By Design Brings it Home” or other great stuff!!  Here's a picture of what you can win!!!

Simply click on the link below to enter.  It’s that simple. Awesome right?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don’t win, you can always buy the book on amazon - super simple...here’s the link.

Bon Apetit!

Lentil and Tuna salad (from Kosher By Design Brings it Home)
Lentils, dubbed the “poor man’s meat,” are a low-cost source of protein. This delicious recipe is a typical Tuscan picnic dish. It can be made in advance, is healthy, and travels well. It is a perfect addition to a shalosh seudos table or a great summer Shabbos appetizer. Seek out the Italian or French Puy lentils; they make a huge difference in taste and texture. They are nothing like the mushy soup lentils you may be familiar with. They are hearty, intensely flavored, and keep their shape perfectly.

1 carrot, peeled 
1 rib celery
½ white onion, peeled
1½ cups French Puy lentils or lenticchie di Castelluccio
6 whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1 (200-gram) can tuna, preferably Rio Mare or other Italian tuna packed in olive oil; don’t drain
leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme
¹∕8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar sprigs of fresh thyme,
for garnish Maldon or other flaky salt, for garnish

Fill a medium pot halfway with cold water. Add carrot, celery, onion, lentils, peppercorns, and red wine vinegar. Bring to a boil. Place the tomatoes into a strainer to drain; discard liquid. Set aside. Check the lentils after about 20 minutes, although they may need closer to 30 minutes. Not all lentils cook in the same amount of time, so you will need to taste one. They should be slightly al dente, not mushy and falling apart but not hard. When the lentils are almost done, add 1 teaspoon coarse salt. Stir. Drain the lentils, rinsing in cold water to stop the cooking. Pick out and discard the carrot, celery, and onion. Place lentils into a large bowl. Add drained tomatoes and tuna with its oil. Add the thyme, cayenne, olive oil, and vinegar. Stir. Season to taste with more coarse salt, at least ½ teaspoon. Drizzle with additional olive oil; garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme and a small pinch of Maldon salt.      YIELDS 6-8 SERVINGS

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,

JewishExponent.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!!