Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Yummy Friday Night Dinner from Kosher Cookbook

If you're having guests, makes sure in advance that they eat veal!

Chicken Soup
Scallopine of Veal with Capers & Lemon
Rice
Roasted Asparagus
Peach apple crisp
Fruit Salad
Lace Cookies

**All recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook for iPhone**

Friday, July 23, 2010

Making Your Own Fresh Summer Fruit Salad


With the abundance of inexpensive and fabulous summer fruits, there is really no reason not to be constantly enjoying your own fresh fruit salad. Delicious, vitamin-filled and figure-friendly, you can serve this salad for dessert or with some plain, unsweetened yogurt or granola for breakfast or for a light weekday lunch.


Fruit Salad

INGREDIENTS
  • 8-10 cups fresh fruit: peaches, plums, apricots, seedless grapes, apples, melon, pineapple, bananas, assorted berries

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS:

  • ¾ cup orange juice
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • mint leaves, juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/8 cup liqueur

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel the thick skinned fruit: melons, pineapple, peaches, and apples. Plums and apricots need not be peeled. Slice or dice fruit and put into mixing bowl. Add grapes. Toss gently. Add bananas last.( Bananas turn brown when exposed to air.) Toss fruit lightly. Cover bowl. Chill 30 minutes. Taste.


2. Add orange juice and sugar for a sweeter taste. Add lemon juice for a tarter flavor.


3. Know your guests. A splash of liqueur always perks up a fruit salad for adults although often children find it an odd taste.


4. I like to add the berries as a decoration on top of the fruit salad. First of all, it looks pretty; and second of all you avoid the berries staining all the other fruit.


5. Mint leaves can also be added as decoration and also to impart a more exotic flavor.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

What's for Lunch on this HOT July Shabbat?



Spinach & Peach Salad
Breast of Chicken in Barbecue Sauce
Rice
Steamed Aspragus
Fruit Salad
Coconut Chewies

Alternately, grill some chicken breast and serve on top of the salad instead of the Barbecued Chicken for an even lighter summer dish!

**All recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone**

Thursday, July 15, 2010

A Refreshing Post-Fast Menu for After Tisha b'Av

Because it is in the summer, the Tisha b'Av fast ends pretty late in the evening (In NYC, this year, at 9:02 pm!) you need a meal that revives you just enough after the fast without being too heavy to prevent you from falling asleep a couple of hours later.
And, as with all fasts, remember not to eat too quickly! If you don't ease your stomach back into eating, you will have quite the stomach ache!


Fresh OJ
Melon
Frittata & Tomato & Mozzarella Salad or
French Toast with Mixed Berries
Poppyseed Cake with Orange Glaze (or leftover Blueberry Crumb Cake)

**Recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone**

Filling, but not too heavy--A Menu for before the Tisha B'Av Fast


Tisha B'Av, the fast of the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av, commemorates a series of tragedies which have befallen the Jewish people. The lunar month of Av, a summertime month, generally falls out in August, though this year it begins on the evening of July 19th (in NYC at 8:24 pm) and concludes the following night.

Before a fast, eat high carbohydrate and low-salt foods and to hydrate yourself very well. This dairy meal contains only a small amount of cheese which should help keep your salt intake down to a minimum. If you are very concerned, you can even leave the olives out of the salad.
Best to keep the salt shaker off the table for your pre-fast meal!

Spinach,watercress & Leek Soup (cold)
Mushroom Quiche
Avocado, Jicama, Tomato & Olive Salad
Watermelon wedges
Blueberry Crumb Cake



**Recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone**

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A Light Shabbat Lunch from Kosher Cookbook



Spinach & Peach Salad
Breast of Chicken in Barbecue Sauce
Rice
Steamed Aspragus
Fruit Salad
Coconut Chewies

**All recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone**

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Love Cold Soup? Try Spinach, Watercress & Leek Soup

Spinach, Watercress and Leek Soup P Serves: 8

This is a delicious chilled summer soup whose speckled green color will bring appreciative stares from your guests.

Prep time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 12-15 min. Chilling time: 3 hours or overnight

INGREDIENTS

3-4 large leeks

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes

1 stick pareve margarine

6 cups pareve chicken/vegetable broth

1 bunch watercress (3 cups packed leaves with some stems)

8 oz. baby spinach (3 cups packed leaves)

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

freshly ground black pepper

2 cups fresh croutons

EQUIPMENT

4 quart soup pot with cover

Electric food processor

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut off root ends and dark green parts of leeks and slice them down the middle. Wash leeks thoroughly and slice them thinly. You should have 6 cups of white and pale green sliced leeks. Set them aside.

2. Peel potatoes and cut them into small chunks. Add to leeks.

3. Melt margarine in soup pot over medium high heat. Add leeks and potatoes and stir well. Saute vegetables until leeks have softened. Add five cups of broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover pot. Simmer vegetables 12-15 minutes or until they are very tender. Remove cover.

4. Rinse spinach and watercress well and add to soup pot. Stir 2-3 minutes until they are wilted but still bright green. Cool about 15 minutes.

5. Insert steel blade into bowl of processor. Puree soup two cups at a time. (I like to have a few lumps of potatoes left so that everyone gets a little surprise in their bowl.) Pour pureed soup into large bowl. Stir in lemon juice. Add pepper to taste. Chill soup until it is very cold. Add one more cup of broth if you want a thinner consistency. Taste again and adjust seasoning- even adding more lemon juice if you like.

6. Serve soup with fresh croutons on the side.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Salad for Dinner! Grilled Chicken, Peach & Onion Salad




Grilled Chicken, Peach & Onion Salad M Serves: 4

Even stovetop grilling brings out the sweetness of your ingredients. The combination of peaches, onions, and chicken arranged over a mixed salad makes a wonderful light summer dinner.

Prep time: 30-45 min.

INGREDIENTS

4 chicken cutlets

½ cup vinaigrette

1 large head Romaine lettuce-washed and torn into bite size pieces

1 large radicchio- washed and torn into bite size pieces

1 seedless English cucumber

1 large red/yellow/orange pepper (not green)

1 large beefsteak tomato/1 box pear tomatoes

1 15 ounce can kernel corn-drained

1 large onion

3 ripe peaches

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Optional: Avocado, endive, pitted olives, shredded carrots, diced zucchini are all wonderful additions to the salad. Vegetarians can just replace the chicken with pareve chicken strips but still enjoy the grilled peaches and onions.

EQUIPMENT

Grill pan

Small baking dish

Small mixing bowl

Large salad bowl

DIRECTIONS

  1. Remove “fingers” from the cutlets and pull out the white sinews that run through them. Trim any membrane or fat that is on the cutlets. Rinse chicken and mix with vinaigrette in small mixing bowl. Refrigerate until needed.
  2. Peel onion, remove core and slice into ¼ inch slices. Set aside.
  3. Cut peaches in half. Remove pits and peel peaches. (You won’t have to soak peaches in hot water before peeling if the peaches are ripe.) Set aside.
  4. Place grill pan over high heat. Grill peaches a few minutes on each side or until dark grill marks appear. Set aside. Do not clean pan. Scatter sliced onion on grill pan. Sprinkle with one teaspoon olive oil and grill until slices are charred and soft. Turn them over several times (picking up any peach juices on the pan) so they grill on both sides. Set aside.
  5. Arrange chicken fingers on grill pan and grill about 4 minutes on each side until they are fully cooked. Set aside
  6. Preheat oven: 350 F.
  7. Arrange chicken cutlets on grill pan vertically so you will see the horizontal marks from the grill when they are done. Depending on the size of your grill, you may have to grill two at a time. The more chicken on the grill, the slower it will cook. Grill cutlets about 8-10 minutes on each side. If the cutlets are thick they will not be fully cooked. Place cutlets in preheated oven for an additional 10-15 minutes to finish cooking. Add cooked fingers to baking dish and cover with foil until ready to serve.
  8. Prepare salad in advance or while chicken is cooking. Place torn romaine, radicchio and drained corn into salad bowl. Rinse cucumber and cut off ends. Slice cucumber lengthwise and then slice each half again. Cut slices into ¼ inch pieces and add to salad. Rinse, seed, and dice pepper and add to salad. Rinse and core tomato (or rinse pear tomatoes). Slice into wedges and add to salad. Toss salad and divide between four dinner plates.
  9. Slice each cutlet on the bias into one inch pieces. Place chicken pieces on top of the salad maintaining the shape of the cutlet but leaving some space in between the slices. Add a chicken finger to each plate. Slice peach halves into three or four pieces and place them in between the chicken slices. Scatter the onions around the chicken and peaches. Your dinner salad is ready. Serve with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper on the side so each person can dress their own salad. Fresh fruit with or without a cookie is a great finale to this summer dinner.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

A Festive Summer Shabbat Dinner



Mango, Jicama, Corn Salad
Honey Glazed Rack of Lamb
Roasted New Potatoes, pearl onions & carrots
Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie
Fruit Salad
Almond Crescents


**All recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone**

Thursday, July 1, 2010

An Elegant Summer Shabbat Dinner for Company



Cold Carrot Soup
Apricot Glazed Turkey
Vegetarian Tzimmis
Cranberry Sauce
Steamed Asparagus
Fudgey Flourless Chocolate Cake
Fruit Salad


**All recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone**