Arts & Entertainment
CookinF With Hadassah!
Rock the boat and your family's taste buds with these 160 easy-to-prepare recipes.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
D
on't look for traditional brisket
and kugel recipes in The Hadassah
Everyday Cookbook: Daily Meals for
the Contemporary Jewish Kitchen (Rizzoli;
$34.95), which debuts this month.
The 160 offerings speak more to mod-
em-day families and their busy lives.
Author Leah Koenig, whose educational
and work background has brought togeth-
er religious and environmental interests,
shows combinations that smack of diver-
sity and meet her personal tests for taste,
nutrition and regional agriculture in a
Breakfast
0
...
Smoked
Salmon
Scrambled
Eggs
These eggs
feature the smoky
salty taste of a
Jewish breakfast
icon: lox. For over-the-top flavor, spoon
them over a lightly toasted everything
bagel. Dairy: Serves 4
1 /2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons chopped dill plus
more for garnish
8 large eggs
3 tablespoons milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Half a medium onion, minced
4 ounces smoked salmon,
roughly chopped
1.Combine sour cream and dill in a small
bowl and set aside in the refrigerator.
Whisk together eggs, milk. Salt and pepper
to taste in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium
heat. Add onion and cook until translu-
cent, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs and cook,
stirring with a rubber spatula, until eggs
hold together but are still slightly soft,
about 5 minutes. Add smoked salmon and
continue cooking 1-2 minutes until eggs
are firm.
3. Divide eggs onto serving plates and
dollop sour cream mixture on top. Sprinkle
with reserved dill and more pepper.
Jewish framework.
"My goal was to include ideas that
would make people feel excited to get into
the kitchen," says Koenig, 28, a freelance
food writer who grew up in Chicago and
now works out of her Brooklyn home.
"I especially wanted to inspire people
who are not comfortable cooks and make
them feel there was a place where they
could start:'
Koenig, who has written for a range of
publications from the New York Times to
the Forward, took some recipes, like pep-
per steak and apple walnut bread, from
the kitchen she knew growing up. The oth-
ers have been acquired from friends, chefs
and food bloggers.
"I didn't want the selections to be just
my voice," she says. "I particularly love
the Moroccan orange and olive salad, the
eggs in tomato sauce and the granola with
tahini.
"Being someone who has worked a
9-5 job and had to come home and cook
after that, I've learned a lot of good go-to
dishes."
Koenig does her own cooking in a
strictly kosher kitchen since marrying
musician Yoshie Fruchter, whose group
Pitom soon will be appearing at the JCC
Stephen Gottlieb Music Festival. While
she grew up in a Conservative home, his
Lunch ...
Dinner ...
Turkey
Sandwich
with Simple
Fig-Onion
Jam
Citrus Cod
with White
Wine
Who says a turkey
sandwich has to
be boring? This
fig-onion jam, ready in just 20 minutes,
dresses up any sandwich. Mix things up
by substituting chicken, sliced tofu or
Brie in place of turkey. Meat: Makes 2
sandwiches
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fig preserves
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 slices whole wheat or multigrain bread
6-8 ounces sliced cooked turkey breast
2 cups arugula
4 fresh figs, thinly sliced (optional)
1. Heat oil in a small saucepan over
medium heat. Add onion and sauté,
stirring occasionally until browned, about
10 minutes. Add the fig preserves and
balsamic vinegar; turn heat to low and
cook, stirring frequently, until onions turn
a deep brown, 5-10 more minutes. Remove
pan from heat and let cool slightly.
2. Spoon fig-onion jam on two pieces
of bread and layer turkey, arugula and fig
slices, if using, on top. Top each sandwich
with remaining pieces of bread. Slice in
half before serving. Store any remaining
jam in an airtight container for up to two
weeks.
Orange, lime and
lemon juice add
bright flavor to
this baked fish.
Parve: Serves 4
1% pounds cod fillets (or any white fish)
1 /2 cup white wine
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 2 limes
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 shallot, minced
3 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more
for garnish
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 yellow onion, sliced
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse
fish, pat dry and place in a glass baking dish.
2. Whisk together wine and citrus juices.
Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until
emulsified. Stir in zests.
3. Pour wine and citrus dressing on top
of fish. Sprinkle garlic, shallot and scallions
on fish and season with salt and pepper to
taste. Arrange onions around fish. If desired,
add a few thin rounds of one or more of the
citrus fruits to the dish for color.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until fish
is cooked through. Serve topped with
additional scallions, if desired.
family's Modern Orthodox observances
influenced their kosher choices.
The book, with royalties benefiting
Hadassah, is complemented by the pic-
tures of Lucy Schaeffer, former photo edi-
tor at Food & Wine magazine and photog-
rapher for nearly 15 cookbooks.
"I'm putting together a tour of cooking
demos in support of the boor Koenig
says. "I want readers to understand how
they can make the recipes their own.
"For me, cooking is not about mak-
ing anything super fancy although that's
fun. It's about showing your love through
what you make to feed and nourish other
people, the spirit of Jewish cooking."
Purim Dining,
Persian Style
ust in time for Purim, which
this year falls on March 20,
comes the publication of
another new kosher cookbook,
Persian Food from the Non-Persian
Bride (Feldhein; $34.99).
Written
by Reyna (a
Venezuelan
who started
her spiritual
quest at
age 12 when
she discov-
ered her
family were
anusim -
Marranos, or Crytpo-Jews), the book
is written for even the most inexpe-
rienced cooks.
Reyna, who now lives the Jewish
life she had always aspired to with
her husband and five boys in Boston,
took a crash-course in Persian cook-
ing taught by her future mother-in-
law and mastered the art of authen-
tic Persian cooking by the time she
walked down the aisle.
For an authentic Persian meal
this Purim, she recommends Water
Challah and Salmon Kebab as appe-
tizers; Chicken with Eggplant as an
entree; Tabouleh Salad and Beet
Salad as sides; and Persian Halvah
and Purim Cookies for dessert. II
j
RECIPES REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION COPYRIGHT THE HADASSAH EVERYDAY COOKBOOK: DAILY MEALS FOR THE COMTEMPORARY JEWISH KITCHEN, UNIVERSE, NEW YORK, 2011.
March 10
2011
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