Kosher Everyday by Sharon Matten: grain

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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

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!!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

"Food, Family and Tradition - Hungarian Kosher Family Recipes and Remembrances" Review with Marble Cake & Prunes With Rice Recipes

Recently, my buddy, pal, all around awesome gal, and favorite publicist Trina Kaye sent me an email asking if I was interested in reviewing a brand new cookbook “Food, Family and Tradition- Hungarian Kosher Family Recipes and Remembrances” written by Lynn Kirsche Shapiro. I think I shouted YES so loudly that Trina actually heard me all the way in California! Let me explain, Hungarian Kosher is in CHICAGO (OK, technically Skokie but for all intents and purposes it’s the same difference). I have a longtime history and relationship with the store and its owners and this review is a very personal one.

As you all know by now I was born and raised in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. As a child the area between the north/south streets of California and Western along the main east/west street of Devon avenue was heavily Jewish and very gentrified. There were many kosher bakeries, a few butchers, department stores (Crawfords, Cover Girl, Gap) and the famous Cut Rate Toys (don't touch the toys!). One of the best small kosher grocery stores on Devon Avenue was Hungarian Kosher run by Mr. Sandor Kirsch. He was the nicest man, and I remember going into the store as a kid with my mom to buy the kosher products that we needed. It was close enough that if the weather was good I could walk there myself.

Sadly that part of Devon avenue began to change (you can buy fabulous sari's there now), and in the interest of maintaining and growing the business Hungarian moved to Skokie. Truthfully, not that far away - just not walking distance. Impressively the store grew into the premier Kosher full service grocery store in the Midwest, carrying a wide assortment such that you didn't even need to shop anywhere else. No matter how large or busy the store got Mr. Kirsch was still the same kind, calm, sweet man he always was. He was always willing patiently to answer any question you might have (and I'm sure some of mine were really annoying), I remember having one particular conversation with him about chicken feathers. Yes, chicken feathers.

Mr. Kirsche passed away several years ago, and now the store is run by his son Ira. The cookbook “Food, Family and Tradition” is written by Mr. Kirsche’s daughter Lynn. The book is really a fascinating historical cookbook with an in depth documentary of the Kirsche family’s experiences dating back from World War II. The recipes are typical Hungarian family recipes including favorites like Gefilte Fish, Sweet and Sour Gizzards (Pupiks), Schmaltz, Kindle, Sponge and Honey cakes. It’s the real “Hungarian” deal.

I chose two recipes from the book to make for my family to review, Rice with Prunes and Marble Cake. My family was a little hesitant about the Rice with Prunes...particularly the prune part. The rice was relatively easy to make, and was really sweet and delicious. Even the doubters were pleasantly surprised. The marble cake was a huge hit! Light, fluffy and flavorful everyone wanted seconds, and thirds!

This is a great cookbook for those that are looking for a super traditional book with the something more of a fascinating historical account. You can find "Food, Family and Tradition" at Hungarian Kosher foods, your local bookstore, and online amazon.com and at my house...but I'm not giving up my signed copy!

Rice With Prunes

Makes 4 servings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup uncooked rice

2 cups water

8 to10 pitted prunes

2 to 3 tablespoons sugar, optional

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a 2 quart pot over medium heat, add the oil and the rice and cook, stirring, until rice is opaque, about 3 minutes. Add 2 cups of water. Add the prunes, sugar if using, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, decrease heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve as an entree or a side to meat, poultry, or fish.

Marble Cake

Makes 1 cake

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup hot water

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil

7 eggs separated

3/4 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, mix cocoa and baking soda in the 1/4 cup hot water until it is a thick paste. Reserve.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Reserve.

In the work bowl of stand mixer, pour oil, egg yolks, the 3/4 cup water, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until white and fluffy, and soft peaks form when beaters are lifted. Donot beat stiff or dry. Carefully fold the whites into the cake batter. Divide the batter in half. Fold the cocoa paste into half the batter, mixing well so no streaks remain.

In an ungreased tube pan, pour half the white batter on the bottom, then half the cocoa batter, and repeat, first the white batter and then the cocoa batter.

Bake at 375°F for 55 minutes.

Remove from oven and let the cake cool. Cut out and serve.

Marble Cake

All the super simple ingredients!

Make the cocoa paste...

Mix the dry ingredients...

Blend the batter...

The light and dark side of things...

So cool!!!

DONE!!!

Looks just like the picture!!!!

Rice With Prunes

All the super simple ingredients!

Brown the rice...

Add the water and the prunes, cover & cook. It

doesn't get easier than that!!!

YUM!

Close up YUM!!

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.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Fresh Turmeric Brown Rice with Grilled Mini Peppers

Fresh Turmeric Rice with Grilled Vegetables

Last week was wacky fruit & vegetable week at our favorite mega-fruit store. I’m not sure what was up but suddenly there was “mutant” produce filling the aisles. There were cool varieties of unusual oriental mushrooms (Yay! Mushrooms!), and weird fruits that looked like alien mutant infestations. SO cool!! The store had actually cut open the large knobby Jackfruit. I almost bought one (just for the fun of the experience) but put it back when I found out that out of the whole “fruit” only little orange sections around the seeds were edible. Really? I’m going to purchase this monstrous fruit, whose cost is by the pound and only be able to enjoy 1/50^th of it? Thanks…but no.

No caterpillars in this bin
of fresh turmeric!!

I did buy a beautiful, fuschia colored dragon fruit. I fell in love with this pretty, unusual looking fruit – and it wasn’t a huge investment to take it home and try it. It was a great hit - sweet with a cool poppyseed-like inside. One of the more interesting items that I’ve seen many times in the store and was super tempted to buy but was too chicken, was Fresh Turmeric. I’m a huge turmeric fan and have published a bunch of recipes on Kosher Everyday featuring turmeric. The thing is, the bin of fresh turmeric in the produce store looked like a swarm of little caterpillars. Ewwwwww. I have large containers of the processed, dried, powdery version of the fragrant spice but had absolutely no idea what to do with the fresh variety. I took a leap and grabbed a handful (no, they didn’t squirm, although they did look like they would!), brought them home and sat down at the computer to do some fresh turmeric research. According to the very notably reliable Wikipedia.com, turmeric grows wild in the forests of South and Southeast Asia. I found a lot of information about fresh turmeric on tarladalal.com, and it has lots of health benefits “Activities of Fresh Turmeric include: Alterative, analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-allergic, antioxidant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, appetizer, astringent, cardiovascular, carminative, digestive, diuretic, stimulant, and vulnerary. Turmeric is known to be used medicinally for ulcers, parasitic infections, various skin disorders, strains, bruises, inflammation of the joints, cold and flu symptoms, preserving food and as a digestion aid.” Betcha didn’t know all that! I also found out that fresh turmeric needs to be peeled (similar to ginger) and has a milder less-strong flavor in comparison to the dried, powdered version. With my newly acquired fresh turmeric knowledge it was time to plan the fresh turmeric recipe. In the past I’ve added bright yellow turmeric to brown rice to give it great flavor. The mega fruit store also had fabulous multi-colored mini peppers on sale, which I had to toss into my cart! I decided to grill them to achieve maximum flavor greatness, then diced the grilled peppers and a grilled super-sweet-super-large Vidalia onion, and tossed them into the rice. Now, during my fresh turmeric investigations I learned that it is often used in Middle Eastern/Indian dishes and is frequently accompanied with other fragrant spices. I tasted the rice dish and felt that something was missing (I had an idea of what it was…) but didn’t want to mask the great flavor of the fresh turmeric. So…during our Shabbat dinner, I served the rice and asked our guests what they thought might be missing (we’re pretty informal). Our dear, sweet guest Cory suggested cumin. Correct for 1000 points! I brought out the container of cumin and we all sprinkled a little on our rice. Yippee Skipee! That was it (as I suspected). Using a little bit of cumin in the recipe totally enhanced the flavor of the fresh turmeric rather than overpowering it. Success!! So, in the recipe below I added a teaspoon of ground cumin – but feel free to add less or more to your own recipe.

Some people need to go to exotic places, and thrilling far away locales for excitement. Me…just a trip to the local mega fruit store and I’m good to go for a while. Don’t forget your camera!

Congratulations ME on my 100th Kosher Everyday post!! WAHOO!!

Next week…Shipshewana!

Fresh Turmeric Rice with Grilled Vegetables

5 small fresh turmeric “caterpillars”, peeled and finely grated (should yield approximately 1 heaping tablespoon)

1 medium Vidalia or sweet onion diced

1 garlic clove crushed or 1 frozen garlic cube

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups brown rice (I like Uncle Bens)

4 cups vegetable stock (I like Manischewitz)

2 pounds colorful baby peppers

1 extra-large Vidalia or sweet onion

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced medium onion and the crushed garlic. Sauté until soft and slightly caramelized, then add the grated turmeric and stir to combine. Add the brown rice and mix until rice is completely coated with oil and turmeric. Pour the stock over the rice, stir to thoroughly blend, then increase heat to bring stock to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook rice according to package directions, usually 20-25 minutes until vegetable stock is completely absorbed. Set aside.

In a large bowl toss the peppers with ¼ cup of olive oil until completely coated. Slice the large oinion into ½ inch wide slices – do not separate the rings of the slices. Brush or spray both sides of the onion slices with olive oil. Place the vegetables on the heated grill and cook until lightly browned, turning frequently. Note, the onions will take longer to cook through and soften. Place grilled vegetables in a small casserole or on a large plate. Remove the stems and dice the soft peppers leaving on the skins. Dice the grilled onions. Combine the diced grilled vegetables with the cooked rice. Stir in the salt and pepper until evenly blended. Serve warm.

This is what fresh turmeric looks like up close...