Turkey Dinner for a Crowd--A Late January Friday Night Menu

I saw one of my son's grade school friends last night and he reminded me how much he used to love my Cabbage Soup- THEN one of my daughter's college room mates posted on my wall that she tweaked my Vanilla Sugar cookie recipe and loved it.. How strange that those recipes were already on my menu for tonight!


Cabbage Soup*
Herbed Roast Turkey with Maple Glaze*
Cranberry Sauce*
Sliced Sweet Potatoes &Apples
Broccoli & Cauliflower with Crumbs*
Poached Pears in Red wine & Cinnamon*
Vanilla Sugar Cookies*

Gloria Kobrin's Almond Crescents Featured on KosherEye!

KosherEye is a site which purports to be the "matchmakers connecting kosher eaters to the best in kosher."

Gloria's Almond Crescent recipe is being featured as part of their Kosher Buzz!

A Tu Bishvat Menu from Gloria's Kitchen

The Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat, which occurs in Late January/Early February (and falls out on this Thursday January 20th this year!) coincides with the first flowering of the almond trees in Israel and marks the "New Year of the Trees." Customs include planting trees and eating fruits and nuts.


Black Olive Tapenade- with crackers*
Avocado and Orange Salad*
Chicken Cutlets with Caramelized Onions, Spiced apples and Currants OR Spaghetti Squash Primavera OR Tilapia Almondine for a pareve/dairy meal
Wild Rice*
Brussel Sprouts with Walnuts & Dill*
Glazed Roasted Pears with Pomegranate Sauce
Italian Almond Tart

A Perfect Tu B'Shvat Entree: Chicken Cutlets with Caramelized Onions, Spiced apples and Currants

The Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat, which occurs in Late January/Early February (and falls out on this Thursday, January 20th this year!) coincides with the first flowering of the almond trees in Israel and marks the "New Year of the Trees." Customs include planting trees and eating fruits and nuts.

This easy, quick chicken recipe is perfect for a celebratory weeknight meal!

Chicken Cutlets with Caramelized Onions, Spiced apples and Currants M Yield: 8 cutlets
This chicken dish can be made in less than an hour and you only need one pan. Add to that- it’s yummy.
Prep time: 20 min. Cooking time: 45-60 min.
Ingredients
8 chicken cutlets
3 large onions
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
5 granny smith apples-peeled, cored, quartered, sliced
1 tablespoon allspice
½ cup dried currants
2 cups low salt chicken broth
3 tablespoons freshly chopped Italian parsley
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
EQUIPMENT
12 inch skillet with cover
DIRECTIONS
1. Peel onions and slice thinly. Heat oil in skillet over medium high flame. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until onions caramelize and turn brown. Stir in balsamic vinegar.
2. Sprinkle apple slices with allspice.
3. Rinse chicken cutlets. Remove fingers from cutlets and reserve for chicken fingers. Quarter cutlets on the bias. Set aside.
4. Add chicken, apples and currants to onions. Stir. Pour in chicken broth. Stir again. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover skillet. Check skillet every 15 minutes and stir. After 45 minutes, chicken should be fully cooked. Taste. Season with salt and pepper. Taste again. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving. Serve with wild /brown rice and a colorful vegetable.

A Dressed-Up Weeknight Supper: Sauteed Tilapia Almondine with Braised Red Cabbage

Sauteed Tilapia Almondine with Braised Red Cabbage

Serves: 4

Tilapia is a firm fleshed white fish with a deliciously mild and sweet taste. The almonds offer a nice crunch and the slightly sweet and sour flavor of the cabbage balances the dish perfectly.
Prep time: 20 min. Cooking time: 30 min.
Ingredients
4 tilapia fillets
¼ lb. pareve margarine (or butter if you want it to be dairy)
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 lemons
1 cup sliced almonds
1 small red cabbage
1 large shallot
1 large Granny Smith or other crisp tart apple
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup apple juice/cider
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Equipment
2 skillets- one with cover
Colander
Oven to table serving platter
Directions

1. Core and slice cabbage into ¼ inch slices. Place sliced cabbage in colander and rinse well.
2. Peel and chop shallot.
3. Peel, core and slice apple thinly.
4. Pour oil into skillet and heat over medium flame. Add chopped shallot and sauté until soft. Add sliced cabbage and mix well until cabbage is coated in oil. Add sliced apple, apple cider and vinegar. Stir well and cover. Braise over low heat stirring every 10 minutes or so to be sure cabbage is cooking down but not burning. The cabbage should take about 30 minutes to cook.
5. Prepare tilapia while cabbage is cooking. Remove center bone from fillets. Rinse and dry fillets.
6. Mix flour and pepper on a flat surface. Dredge fillets on both sides in flour and set aside.
7. Melt two tablespoons margarine in other skillet over medium-high heat. Add two or three fillets so that they fit comfortably and are not crowded in pan. Sauté tilapia 3-4 minutes on each side or until flour has browned slightly. Transfer fish to platter, cover with foil (or keep warm in 325 F. oven). Repeat process adding margarine to pan-two tablespoons at a time- until all the fish has been cooked. Squeeze juice from one lemon over cooked fish. Keep warm.
8. Add sliced almonds to remaining margarine in pan (add two tablespoons more if necessary) and stir until they toast. Squeeze juice from remaining lemon in pan and stir well. Pour contents of pan over tilapia fillets.

To Serve: You can serve the Tilapia separately from the cabbage or serve it like I did in the picture. Make a bed of braised red cabbage and arrange the 2 tilapia fillets over the cabbage.

An Elegant Friday Night Dinner Party

Carrot Soup with Dill*
Endive & Avocado Salad with Roasted Red & Yellow Beets
Baked Tarragon Chicken*
Scallopine of Turkey with Lemon & Capers
Sliced London Broil*
Roasted Asparagus*
Mixed Mushrooms
Wild Rice*
Apple Tart*
Meringues*
Mandelbrodt*
Fruit Platter

*Recipes available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad

Meringues--The Magic of Egg Whites

Meringues

It’s amazing what egg whites and sugar can create.

INGREDIENTS

• whites of 6 large eggs
  
• 1 ½ cups super fine sugar
  
• small pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Separate eggs. Put egg whites in bowl of mixer and allow to come to room temperature. Use yolks for another recipe or discard.
   
2. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
   
3. Add small pinch of salt to whites. Using the whisk attachment of your mixer, start beating the whites on medium to high speed. As the whites begin to take shape, but are still quite droopy, add 1 cup of sugar while beating constantly. Beat for one or two minutes. As the mixture starts to become stiff and shiny, add remaining ½ cup sugar and continue to beat until meringue can form stiff peaks that retain their shape.
   
4. Preheat oven to: 180 F.
   
5. To form cookies: 1. Remove a teaspoonful of meringue from the bowl and push it on to the cookie sheet with another spoon. You will probably have a peak on top which you can leave or gently press down with your finger. Repeat process until mixing bowl is empty. You can place the meringues right next to one another as they do not spread while cooking. 2. Fill a pastry bag with meringue and attach the tip of your choice. Pipe cookies on to the cookie sheet.
   
6. My personal preference is to have snow white meringues but their taste does not suffer if they look toasty. Bake meringues for about 90 minutes (take them out sooner if they start to take on color.) and then turn off the oven and leave them in the oven overnight. Carefully, remove meringues from cookie sheets and store in an air-tight container.