blue artichoke

Okay, okay, there is no place called Saladhouse or Saladhouse Rocks, but wouldn't that be cool?

I was going to say that the salad my friend Purple Jambalaya made the other day simply rocked. But then I thought of Schoolhouse Rocks and thus the subject line was born.

I figured I would let you all know this recipe, which came from her cooking magazine (which was NOT Southern Living but something very similar... Gourmet?). If someone finds it, I will gladly correct and post proper authorship. For now, it is simply:

PJ's Spicy Salad

Dressing:
1/2 cup picante sauce
1/4 cup italian salad dressing
1/4 tsp cumin

Salad:
4 c spinach
15 oz can (rinsed, drained) black beans
1 c sliced mushrooms
1 med sweet red pepper
1/2 c sliced red onion
8 strips crumbled bacon
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Mix the dressing well. Keep separate from salad and allow people to serve themselves.

Totally not kosher, by the way, as you'll notice the bacon above. Kasher the meal by leaving out the bacon.

What you're probably wondering is "what's the difference between picante sauce and salsa?" Well, easy. Picante sauce says it's picante sauce on the label. Oh, and it's typically more pureed than salsa, so you don't have as many chunks in it.

I have to say I am NOT a salad person nor am I a vegetable person, but this salad was so incredible I had three helpings and totally picked at the rest of my plate of meat. Seriously. It was sooooooo good.

Obviously it would be best if paired with a strongly-flavoured Mexican-style dish. It's pretty powerful.

And making my mouth water thinking about it.

Getting to Know All About You: In other news, does anyone need a roommate or know someone that needs a roommate or knows of a place in DC that's cheap yet nice and close to the Metro or American University?

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I do want to write about the entire Cross-Country for Dummies experience, but for now I can only comment on Vegas.

After being followed, and ultimately passed, by natural and unnatural disasters, Blue Artichoke and I found ourselves speeding across California heading for Las Vegas. We were pretty sure we'd hate it and agreed to stay for just a short time. We called White Mackerel's parents in Oklahoma and told them we'd be there in two days -- after all, we didn't want to be in Vegas and it was only because it was something we "had to see" and it was on the way.

We rolled into Vegas sometime mid-day, didn't we?

We parked at Mandalay Bay after driving all the way up the Strip and all the way back. It was a gaudy masterpiece of surrealism -- seriously, a large city in the middle of the frickin' desert.

We got on the little tram and rode until we reached New York, New York. We had lunch there -- I had a burger/chicken sandwich. It was nothing memorable, but it was in the sandwich genre of foods. We went to the Luxor, because if you're in the desert, you should have a pyramid. And if it's the desert, why not also make it BLACK?

Anyway, BA and I dropped some coins into the slot machines. I had $1.25 on me, so that's what I spent... and despite getting up to almost three dollars, I lost it all.

Blue Artichoke had much better luck, but she had a better reason to play. BA had a goal -- retiring at age 23 -- and she was going to win those retirement funds in our stopover.

It would have needed to be a frugal retirement -- BA walked away with $6.25, and I'm pretty sure that was a win, overall.

We decided against staying in the glitzy Motel 6, which was oddly expensive compared to the other hotels in Vegas, and found some random motel on the edge of town. We had hoped to go much farther and be well on our way to Oklahoma, but we really wanted to see the Hoover Dam, so we stopped for the night before reaching that.

The next morning, we took the dam tour, but the free dam tour, not the costly dam tour (which was $30 if memory serves me correctly).

We lamented the short time we spent in Vegas, as we had a blast. Six hours was definitely not enough. We were surprised, too -- but we went in with REALLY low expectations.

Getting to Know All About You: Have you ever been someplace you didn't think you'd like, and ended up loving? Or went someplace you'd always wanted to visit and then ended up hating it?

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Well, it's over.

Blue Chocolate Challah moved out about two weeks ago to live with his girlfriend, who is also kosher. The parting of the ways was quite amicable... in fact, I won't lie, I miss living with BCC. We got along really well and the whole kosher lifestyle was not really that bad.

I think BCC misses me, too. I think that started as he was packing up the final few things, as he was excited to get together a week later to go to the movies. It was a lot of fun, but kind of odd for us not to be heading back to the same place. Sure, occasionally we'd be out someplace and he'd then go over to his girlfriend's house, but this was different; he didn't come "home" to get his car and then go over.

I've been quite blessed when it comes to roommates. Starting with my first, who was a little unbalanced, my sophomore year of college saw me rooming with Pink Margaritas the Effeminate Heterosexual... although it turned out he was, in fact, homosexual. We hung out most recently on his trip to Boston in May, and he's still as funny as ever. We got along really well in our substance-free dorm room.

The following year I roomed with White Mackerel, in the largest room on campus. Had a blast, and laughed more over the course of that school year than I ever have in my life. There was a repeat senior year, though we added Purple Spaghetti to our on-campus apartment. It was an interesting year, since by the end of it WM and PS despised each other. Over the course of those two years one would think I would have developed an aversion to pizza, such was the frequency I ate it. But no, love it still.

The next roommate was in Colorado. Blue/Green Anything Edible was a fun roommate who pushed me to get into better physical shape than I'd ever been in, which unfortunately pushed my heart to the limit requiring surgery sooner rather than later. We worked together, too, and when he quit (good call) he moved away, leaving me roommate-less. To save money (especially as I'd be out of Colorado for two months), I moved in with Yellow Guacamole.

She is the coolest, most easy-going person I've ever met. She found out she was preggers a week after I moved in, too, which made things interesting. I moved out before the baby arrived -- it wasn't mine, that was for sure.

Then my move to Boston, where I lived with Blue Chocolate Challah.

I just realized this is more of a personal journal entry than it should be... sorry. To make up for it, I'd say that this past weekend one of my best friends and his fiancee came to town. He'll eat anything, but she is a kosher vegan... well, vegan is kosher by default, so that works alright, I suppose. We went to an Indian restaurant that was absolutely incredible! Rani's in Coolidge Corner has the standard Indian food plus some really interesting dishes from other regions -- not your standard Indian restaurant in the end. The food was delicious -- it's worth a trip if you're in the Boston area and like Indian food but want something other than chicken tikka masala.

I don't have any recipes to post, I'm sorry.

Remember the Gas Crisis? It's over... but BCC took all of his plates and pots and pans and utensils, and mine are still in storage. Next week I hope to cook again. Also, I hope to clean this place.

As great a guy as BCC is, the man didn't clean. Ever, to the best of my knowledge.

All in all, I managed to be kosher (in the home) for nine months. Not too bad, and most diets don't last that long. I'm kind of proud of myself.

Getting to Know All About You: What's been your most successful or longest diet? That might be two separate answers; I fully understand a long diet not being very successful!

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Remember when I started this crazy kosher adventure? I said I'd be posting recipes and I haven't done so well on that. I also said I'd probably post some kosher versions of Blue Artichoke's recipes.

Well, I simply can't do this when she keeps eating pork.

Plus, I've been WAY busy. I know that's a cop-out, but instead of going on a vacation I've been working 12 to 14 hour days. I know, I know, a lot of people do that. But a lot of people then don't go home to no gas, a missing hotplate (honestly, Blue Chocolate Challah, where is it?), and a cupboard full of no food and too many dishes.

I'm okay with that, though. I've been eating out a lot.

This weekend I'm attending a cookout, and while I have no idea what's going to be served, I'm taking a Mediterranean dip that seems to go well anywhere.

It's super-simple, and happily kosher.

Simple Mediterranean Dip

8 oz. hummus
4 oz. sour cream
1/8 c. chopped scallions
8 oz. crumbled feta
1 jar artichoke hearts in oil
4 oz. chopped black olives

Mix the hummus and the sour cream together, spread on a tray and refrigerate together for about thirty minutes. After that, add the scallions and feta on top. Chop up the artichoke hearts and add them, then drizzle the oil over the entire mixture. Top off with the olives.

Serve with pita chips. Lots of them, too.

If you want to double the recipe, the key thing is 2:1 ratio of hummus to sour cream. The remaining ingredients can be a little overpowering if you try to double them as well, but you really can't go wrong with this and can add and remove things as you want.

It really is quite tasty, though -- much more exciting than plain ol' hummus.

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's no gas crisis for the car. I run it on diesel fuel, and there's plenty of that. And at 50mpg (well, just 40mpg in the city), and prices the way they are... let's just say there's no crisis as I've never put more than $36 into Otto von Bismarck. Yes, you read that correctly. Otto von Bismarck. I named my car after the 19th century Prussian Chancellor that united Germany.

Otto only met Blue Artichoke's car Njiri once, but they got along well. He was saddened to hear of her demise, but reminisces about the good times in the parking lot that one night.

But I digress.

We, my roommate and I, have no gas at the house. We haven't had any for awhile now. It's become a game we're playing -- and in an odd way winning -- with the gas company.

When mail arrives at the Momo/Chocolate Challah (actual gourmand name pending) residence, we quickly separate it into three "buckets:"

1) Red Momo's mail -- this includes credit card bills and offers for still more credit cards, plus cards from my parents and White Mackerel's parents (why they send me cards I don't know, but I enjoy it).
2) Blue Chocolate Challah's mail -- this includes his random bill (most of his stuff is done via the internet) and offers from Subaru for him to buy a new car, because surely after six months he's tired of the one he bought.
3) Occupant/Resident/former roommates' mail -- this goes IMMEDIATELY into the trash with the exception of mail addressed to Purple Reluctant Vegetarian, who is not only my best friend but BCC's former roommate.

One envelope finally caught BCC's attention, however, and he opened it. It was addressed "occupant" and we have no idea how long we'd been throwing it out. But in the previous two years, there has been no gas bill for the apartment, and all of a sudden we had one for all that activity. It's only used for the stove/oven, so it wasn't too much, I suppose, but the fact of the matter is, we didn't feel we really owed them.

Blue Chocolate Challah decided he was going to call and tell them he would pay for the last lease period (eight months of the bill) and that was it, as he couldn't really be expected to pay for a bill that wasn't addressed to him. I agreed. However, before he called the gas company, they turned off the gas. It had been about four days, which is why we think they may have been sending bills to "Occupant" for some time.

In the meantime, we've purchased a hotplate. I'm not a big fan, I'll be quite honest, but it does the job (eventually). So we are not going hungry, but we do eat out a lot more. We also can only have one-dish meals.

Blue Chocolate Challah is moving out, however, at the end of the lease, and I will transfer everything to my name, plus call the gas company and get set up. And I will not -- repeat, WILL NOT -- be paying them when they can't get it right.

I was going to post a recipe but BA is back. YAY!

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When it rains, it pours.

About two weeks ago a friend of mine and I were discussing how much we "missed" Mexican food. We really didn't miss it (we both moved from Denver to Boston), but were just trying to adjust to having other meals that were not Mexican. Back in Denver, we ate Mexican food several times a week. An excellent restaurant, Benny's on 6th, had fantastic Mexican food and I would say one of my friends virtually lives there. Their margaritas are also delicious.

This past Friday, my friend Ken wanted to celebrate his birthday dinner at the Border Cafe in Cambridge. So I went out to Harvard Square, found a parking space that was free and only a block away (this is unheard of), and went in. It was the best and the worst of Mexican restaurants, depending on your viewpoint. Loud, crazy colours, and smells that were quite... interesting. Sometimes they smelled incredible, other times like used diapers. Pretty typical, I'd say.

The food was at best passable. Of course, other events at the birthday party shindig distracted me, so I couldn't really concentrate on my food, but it was only passable and I can only remember what I ate because it had been such a long time since I'd even seen enchiladas. The rice was sub-par, and the black beans were too dry. Afterwards, we went to a bar in Back Bay and two of us had tequila shots. I could have done those all night.

Sunday afternoon after watching Kimi Raikkonen lose, again, in a Formula One Grand Prix, my roommate and I went to Boca, a Mexican place in Coolidge Corner (about a five minute walk). What I had there was a quesadilla with "Colorado Chicken" -- I felt I had to eat this simply because I had moved to Boston from Colorado, but was pleased when I saw a spicy-looking chicken that was labeled "Colorado Chicken." I wish I could tell you what went into it, but it was a nice blend of spices and reminiscent of mole. Very tasty.

I also ordered some nachos with cheese... hoping for a little bowl to dip the chips into... denied. It was a plate of nachos with the cheese microwaved on top... I hate that. The chips stick together and as soon as the cheese cools off, it becomes a very messy proposition trying to get one or two chips away from the mass.

I realise it was only two meals, but two Mexican meals in one weekend is a lot for me. And I've had my fill for a few weeks, unless someone says "hey, let's go get margaritas."

Oh, and sorry there's no recipes here. I ate out all weekend.

Getting to Know All About You: What's the food you thought you'd never get tired of, but are really sick of and kind of prefer you never see again?

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So, weeks ago, I had a dinner date. Nothing special, and things ultimately didn't pan out. But it was one of those "I want to cook for you" things, and as I was working late, it was decided we'd make dinner together at my house. We both had a craving for macaroni and cheese and decided to have that.

There was a slight glitch in that Dinner Date couldn't pick up the ingredients, not understanding the full extent of kashrut in the house. So after we were both at my house we went to the Shaw's, complete with its three aisles of kosher products. We picked up several types of cheese and some macaroni and let loose.

The result was nothing short of spectacular. Unfortunately, though, I do not have exact measurements. I have suggested one of my friend make this for her mac'n'cheese cook-off, and her sister and brother-in-law tried it the night I told them about it only to rave about it for days afterwards. That made me smile.

Anyway, have at it:

Killer Kosher Mac'n'Cheese

Ingredients:
macaroni
small block of Cabot white cheddar
small block of Cabot sharp cheddar
small block of Cabot chipotle cheese
1/2 c. milk
butter
Ritz crackers

Cook the pasta as per usual. Shred a lot of cheese -- just eyeball it and use more than you think you should (cheesier is better, right?). Heat the milk and half a stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat, then add the cheeses and melt them down.

Drain the pasta and put into a 9x13 (or whatever size you think works best) pan and smother with the cheese.

Crush up the a sleeve and a half of Ritz crackers, melt about a stick of butter and mix together, then cover the top of the pasta with the buttery Ritz crumbs.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes -- just keep an eye on it.

The Ritz and the chipotle cheese are what make this super tasty. Just enough kick, just enough butter (well, more butter than really is necessary, but butter is SO good). And you can use any brand of cheese as long as there is a hekhsher mark on it (if you want to keep it kosher) -- Cabot cheeses are all hehksher'd, which is why I specified them above.

If you want to go a bit treyf, throw some ham in there. Totally not kosher, but I can only imagine that it'd be fantastic. I'll have to keep imagining it until my roommate moves out.

Getting to Know All About You: Do you follow recipes or make it up as you go along? I'm a recipe person myself, but Dinner Date was not (which is why there are no measurements above)...

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I happen to like bad weather. Sure, the sun is nice and everything, but I need variety, which is why I did not appreciate my time spent living in Colorado. Of course, I finally move out of there and lo and behold, it starts snowing like mad. Two blizzards in one week??? Crazy!!!

Anyway, today, New Year's Eve's Eve, it snowed in Boston. Yay! And in honour of such an occurence I made soup for lunch. Avgolemeno soup, actually, which is a Greek soup my mom makes. Avgolemeno means egg-lemon, so it's fairly self-explanatory.

My sister and I called it "Kissy Soup" because of the kissing sounds one is supposed to make while cooking. Supposedly it is done to keep the eggs from curdling as the lemons are added and then the hot broth added to the egg mixture. Either way, it's fun... bring the kids into the kitchen for a few minutes and everyone can stand around making kissing sounds. Alternatively, bring in a spouse or whomever your seeing (or an exceptionally good friend), and make out a little while cooking.

That's the way the recipe goes! I'm not making it up!

It's easy, but perhaps a little time-consuming. I'll also say that it's an acquired taste. But when you're looking for a soup and want something "different," give it a try. Oh, and you could very well have all the ingredients handy.

Oh, and it cures all your ailments. A bit like chicken noodle soup, it makes you feel good. Well, it does for me, but that could just be years of my mom making avgolemeno soup instead of chicken noodle.

Avgolemeno Soup (Greek Kissy Soup)

8 cups chicken broth (pareve bouillon cubes if you want it to be kosher, remember, or vegetable broth)
1 ½ cups rice
5 eggs
½ cup lemon juice – (3 large squeezed lemons, strained)
dash of water
Pepper to taste (I use quite a bit)

Bring broth & water to boil, add rice, boil 20 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Beat eggs, dash of water in a large bowl.

Next, add lemon juice to eggs, slowly a little at a time, constantly beating lemon-egg mixture; kiss the air (or whoever is in the kitchen) as you add in the lemon juice to keep the soup from curdling.

Then, very slowly add hot broth to egg mixture. As you add broth to egg mixture also kiss to prevent curdling. Add about ¼ - ½ c of broth to eggs at a time, until the egg mixture is very warm. Return warm egg-broth mixture to cooking pot and stir into broth & rice in pot.

Let rest for about 5-10 minutes off the heat before serving, this allows the soup to thicken slightly. If you should need to re-heat soup, start heating on low, and be patient. Keep a constant eye on it, but it does reheat nicely. Do not microwave.

Getting to Know All About You: Any plans for New Year's Eve?

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 09:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Okay, I'll admit it -- the above statement is simply not true. I'm not a genius. Yes, I can answer a lot of questions on Jeopardy, but I'm not in Mensa.

I was actually referring to my meal tonight. I had to write immediately after eating, before I even clean up, because it was that good. And I'm not a genius as it wasn't my idea. I got it out of a cookbook.

America Cooks Kosher is FULL of extremely appetizing fully Kosher meals. And this one, Cranberry Chicken, was DELICIOUS.

The only thing I would have liked was a chunkier (i.e. more cranberries) cranberry sauce. Mine was kind of thin on the berries.

Cranberry Chicken, from America Cooks Kosher

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Flour
Salt and Pepper (I omitted the salt -- I hardly ever add salt to anything)
1 egg, beaten
Olive oil
3 shallots, minced
1 (16 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
3 Tablespoons soy sauce (no need for salt now, eh?)
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 Tablespoons margarine

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Pound chicken breasts until thin. Season flour with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in egg, then in seasoned flour. Shake off excess flour. Brown in olive oil, undercooking to allow for reheating. Set aside.

Brown shallots in a saucepan in olive oil until carmelized. Add cranberry sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder, wine, and Worcestershire sauce over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Finish with margarine.

In large baking dish, combine chicken and wine sauce.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until hot.

Things I did:

- I probably browned my shallots too long.
- I made the sauce before cooking my chicken, and then just left it on low (with the margarine in it) until my chicken was done.
- I mashed my chicken into the flour before shaking the excess off.
- I cooked the full forty minutes, which seemed about perfect to me

I had this with a box of wild rice. I normally love wild rice, but it had too much salt for my tastes. Had it been less salty, it would have been just about perfect.

As it was, the chicken was absolutely amazing. I really, really liked it a lot and this recipe will be entering my regular rotation. I can't wait to share this one with my family when I'm home for the holidays in a few weeks.

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I eat out a lot in Boston. It's not that I don't want to cook, or that I like eating out (I do, but not all the time), but everyone keeps inviting me. Since I like spending time with these people, I go. It means I've only made a few dishes so far.

Chinese food is typically kosher -- did you know that? Sure, you have to make sure the meat isn't treyf (like pork), but something like chicken or beef can very easily be kosher. And the vegetarian dishes will naturally be kosher. This stems mainly from the fact that Chinese food uses very little (as in just about zero) dairy. For the most part, that is.

Anyway, I made kung pao chicken. I suppose I should say I made a variation of kung pao chicken. The recipe is from All Recipes website, which is a great little treasure chest of recipes for anything you can imagine. However, a warning: always check several recipes before picking one. The mushroom stroganoff from my last post for example -- wasn't as good as I'd hoped.

This kung pao chicken was, however. I was fairly liberal with my spices, so it had good flavour and a fair amount of kick. I would have liked a couple more vegetables, and would have liked a darker dish (I like the dark kung pao one finds in restaurants like PF Changs (not that I'm condoning or even implying that PF Changs is real Chinese food)). But overall it was really good. Recommended for those making dishes they want to be kosher or when inviting friends over that keep kosher.

For Thanksgiving, I just have to add that I went to see Plymouth Rock ('tis but a pebble) and to Plimouth Plantation for Thanksgiving dinner with some pilgrims. I was afraid it would be banquet-like disgusting food (like most wedding receptions), but it was really rather good. A dish I'd never heard of (I'm from the South) was creamed onions. They were good... I missed my grandmother's cornbread dressing, however, and my mom's Greek dressing: yemisi.

Yemesi -- Greek Dressing

1 ½ lbs of ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ cup rice
Parsley - either one bunch of fresh, chopped just the leaves or 1 ½ tablespoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon allspice
pepper to taste
2 small boxes raisins
1 can chicken broth

Brown meat with the onions, add chicken broth, parsley, allspice, pepper, rice and raisins.

Cook until rice is done and most of broth absorbed.

Yemisi is perhaps an acquired taste, but once acquired, it's something you'll want many times. With my family, since we're Greek (well, Greek mom), we've always had it on the table at Thanksgiving. I almost forget that it's not a traditional American dish, since I've seen it every year all my life.

My own question: What special/interesting/different foods does everyone's families have at Thanksgiving that aren't necessarily the "traditional" fixins?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

So, after a couple of weeks of eating out, I decided to make a meal -- a vegetarian meal -- in the kosher kitchen. It's a simple mushroom stroganoff. It's described as "rich and meaty," but it's not.

It wasn't a bad meal, I'll be honest. But it was rather bland. Perhaps I'm just not adept at cooking mushrooms, and perhaps I'm not good at creating cream sauces... but one thing I can say is that I cannot stand is margarine.

Margarine.

I really can't stand it. I don't think it tastes good. I think it looks unnatural. And I don't care for the way it cooks. I'm a proponent of butter. The REAL DEAL. It will be a problem when I want to make meat dishes, as butter is dairy... but for this meal I could have used butter and that would have helped slightly.

I will say that my upcoming Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Bourbon Sauce (courtesy of Blue Artichoke last year) will be made with real butter. Can't wait to cook it now that I'm back at sea level! Recipes no longer require high altitude adjustments! Yay!!!!

Editor's Note:
As Red Momo pointed out in the comment section, the pumpkin cheesecake recipe link above leads to the wrong cheesecake. That is the recipe for the front runner in the Snackdown battle, but is not the cheesecake to which RM referred. The recipe for that one was discussed here and here, but never posted. It's great, but was edged aside. Here's the recipe:

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake With Caramel-Bourbon Sauce

Crust
1-1/2 cups pecans, toasted, cooled
3 tablespoons golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Filling
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
4 large eggs
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Large pinch of salt
Sauce
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons bourbon
1-1/2 cups pecans, toasted, cooled

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Grind first 4 ingredients in processor until nut mixture sticks together. Press evenly onto bottom of pan. Bake crust until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool completely. Wrap outside of pan in triple layer of heavy-duty foil.
For filling:
Using mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, and lemon peel in large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then pumpkin, yogurt, flour, vanilla, spices, and salt. Pour into pan.
Set springform pan in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cheesecake. Place in oven. Bake until outer 3 inches puff slightly and center is softly set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool in water bath 30 minutes. Remove from water. Cut around sides of cake to loosen. Refrigerate in pan until cold, about 4 hours. Cover and chill overnight.
For sauce:
Bring sugar, cream, butter, corn syrup, and salt to boil in deep medium saucepan, whisking until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; boil 1 minute without stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in bourbon, then pecans. Cool, stirring occasionally.
Remove foil. Cut around pan sides; remove sides. Cut cheesecake into wedges; spoon sauce over.

Makes 12 servings.

Bon Appétit, November 2005

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Kosher Vocabulary

Blue Artichoke fortunately explained what a hekhsher is, but there are some other terms that I'll be throwing around in the upcoming Kashrut Quest.

kashrut -- From a root meaning "fit," "proper" or "correct." Jewish dietary laws.

pareve (or parve) -- Kosher foods that contain neither meat nor dairy and therefore can be eaten with either. Yiddish for "neutral."

treyf -- Food that is not kosher, and hence forbidden.

The ramen I was going to make the other night (I had been at work for twelve hours!) was packaged in a factory that also packages shellfish, which is treyf. I chucked it (it was only a nickel) and my roommate went out and bought me a few packages of kosher ramen so that I'd have something I could make in three minutes on those really late nights. Wasn't that nice???

A quick rundown of the rules, as best as I can manage (and keep in mind I am NOT a vegetarian, so please don't suggest I do that for the next ten months):

1. Beef, lamb, buffalo, venison, chicken, duck, turkey and fish with scales are kosher.
2. Pork, rabbit, camel (you know, all the camelburgers we have these days), shellfish, birds of prey, amphibians, and insects are all treyf.
3. Meats from kosher animals must be slaughtered and completely drained of blood.
4. Meat and dairy shall never, ever, ever be put together. That means no cheese and beef on a pizza. It also means no chicken and cheese, either.
5. Pasta, rice, bread, etc, are in most cases pareve.

There are some strict guidelines as relate to Passover, but my roommate avoids his kitchen during Passover and eats out all the time so as not to have to worry about those specifics.

For more information, I suggest http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm. It has much more detail and several of the scriptures that form the basis of kashrut.

After saying I'm not a vegetarian, I am trying to vege-up a bunch of my staples. 'Twas I that submitted the pastisio recipe that set Blue Artichoke's kitchen on fire... but as that was ground beef and cheese, I need to do something else. I'm thinking of beef spices (bouillion cubes) mixed in with seitan, or wheat gluten (it sounds better as seitan, doesn't it?). It would make it strictly a dairy meal, but may have the right flavour. I will be trying it soon.

First, however, a safe mushroom stroganoff.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

48-hours, Mistake Number One

After a weekend of eating out and trying to unpack my belongings, my roommate came back to town to finish helping me and to point out that Gummi Bears are NOT kosher. I can eat them, they just can't go in the kitchen. I didn't even think about the hooves being treyf. But they are... so be warned! Ye lovers of Gummi, look for a hekhsher -- and let me know if you find a gummi product with it!

Blue Artichoke's note: hekhsher, also hechsher, is the formal granting of certification, usually by an authorized Orthodox rabbi, that a product is certified as kosher (meaning "fit" for consumption). The best known hekhsher symbol is the "OU" symbol of the Orthodox Union, based in New York, but there are many others, often followed by a descriptive qualifier, such as Pareve (the neutral food class), Meat, Dairy, or Kosher for Passover.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some of you who read the comments know that Red Momo is becoming kosher. He will occasionally guest blog about his efforts and beg for delicious kosher recipes. Here's his first entry, and for those unfamiliar with Jewish lingo, tref (also treyf, trayf, terefah) means unclean and unfit for consumption according to dietary law; not kosher.

Becoming Kosher

I just moved to Boston, and the rental market here is insane. However, through a friend I've found a roommate. I don't yet know his gourmand name, but I guarantee it's kosher. Well, at least not tref (or treyf). Anyway, for the approximately $800 I'm saving EACH MONTH to live in this palatial apartment, I have to learn to be kosher. Not a problem.

Well, wouldn't be a problem if I had any experience with it. I have never followed kosher as I'm Greek Orthodox -- we don't have rules like this. Like most religions, we have our quirks, but only our slightly lost Catholics brethren keep fasts and such like we (and the old religions) do.

I will gladly take any help, suggestions, and comments. Plus any recipe suggestions. And delicious things you see here? There might just be a kosher version... wait and see...

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)