Creamy Garlic Avocado Dip

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Labne (I used Karoun Lite brand) If you can't find Labne, sour cream or greek yogurt will do.
2-3 Avocados
1-2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
(A little lemon rind too, microplaned in)
Spicy Garlic Blend (to taste): Dehydrated Garlic, Red Pepper Flakes and Salt


Directions:
Slice avocados in half, spoon into bowl (or labne container!) Mash Avocado along with Labne, lemon juice, spices and lemon rind.

Serve with cucumber slices, crackers (or mini-matzah's), chips, as a sandwich spread, or with fish. If you're doing paleo or gluten free, it'd go well with even more crudite or Mary's Gone Crackers!

Ok. So you'll tell me that this is not quite guacamole. I presume that's not a complaint. Enjoy!

The BIG B Brisket Slow Cooker BBQ Burrito

This dish has it all: BBQ Sauce, Bourbon, Beer, Brisket, Beef Bacon and Beans. Made easy in the crockpot and all rolled into one beautiful burrito.
Sign me up.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Brisket Strip (Grow and Behold)
0.6 oz Beef Bacon chunks (G&B) 
24-36 oz Refried and/or Chili Beans (canned, I used Brads)
Tofutti Sour Supreme/Better than Sour Cream
Baby Spinach
(Optional: Onion, Corn, or Vegan Cheese)
Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

BBQ Sauce (Homemade or if bottled, add your own zing):
1/3 cup Organic Ketchup (no corn syrup!)
2/3 cup Tomato Paste or Sauce (if you have it)
A handful of favorite seasoning blend: italian, Pereg BBQ, mustard powder, Emeril's essence, garlic and onion powder, lemon peel, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, celery seed
2-4 Garlic Cloves (crushed/chopped)
2-4 dashes Hot Sauce
3 tbs Mesquite Honey
2 Bay Leaves1 cup Beer
1/2 cup Bourbon (I used Makers Mark)
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Combine all BBQ Sauce ingredients in slow cooker. Add brisket and bacon. If you're using an onion add it now (bonus: you can do a big chop, it'll melt into the sauce!). Ideally, this is low and slow, so plan on letting this simmer about 8-9 hours on low while you go about your day. You're saving the beans for later, when you have a *ton* of leftover BBQ sauce and no idea what to do with it! I like to make sure the liquid covers the meat, so adjust measurements accordingly (or add broth or water) if needed.

8 hours (or so) later, come on back to this pot of goodness, and place the brisket and bacon (points if you can tell the difference at this stage) in a bowl in order to shred it. It's fine if some sauce comes along for the ride, but leave most of it separate. Open up beans, and stir them into the sauce filled crockpot (or, if you'd like to dirty another dish, or task this role to a younger kitchen assistant, pour them together with the sauce into a new bowl. The sauce will warm up the beans. Mash them all in together, so the beans become BBQ beans. Feel free to taste and add more hot sauce, if desired.)

Now, the beef should be fork tender for you, so go ahead and shred it, either with a gloved hand or a fork. I keep brown sugar or coconut sugar on hand in case the honey doesn't provide enough balance. Taste your sauce as you shred the beef, and decide if yours needs some help with more spice, honey or sugar.

Once these major components are ready, set up an assembly line for you to build your burritos! Take a whole wheat tortilla and spoon a generous dollop of Tofutti sour supreme in the center. Top with leaves of spinach, then a generous spoonful of bean & sauce mixture, which you can flatten and spread with the back of the spoon, and finally, top with generous serving of the beef. Be sure not to overfill, as you'll want to roll this burrito tucked on all sides if you're making a tray full to serve at a shabbat meal. Rule of thumb is that the ingredients should take up 1/3-1/2 of the size of the tortilla (see picture above).

This got rave reviews at our "scotch and meat" meal. Enjoy!

Slowcooker Sweet & Spicy Tomato Sauce

This is the results of "OMG my fridge is packed with a full CSA haul!" when the person I share it with was on vacation.  Normally I'd add carrots and or celery to my sauce, but I'm set on not buying extra veggies given the abundance that I've been getting from the farm.

6 lbs of tomatoes

1 cherry bomb pepper
2 green peppers
3 zucchini/summer squash (~1/2 lb each)
1/4 lb enoki mushrooms
1 onion
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup Red wine (it's fine if it has turned, or you can use red wine vinegar)
1/4 cup rice vinegar (I used roasted garlic flavor. It's delicious, you could also roast the garlic rather than putting in fresh cloves)
6-8 cloves of garlic (smash prior to putting in so the oils are released)
2 tbs honey or brown sugar for vegans (or more, to taste)
1/2 cup or more fresh basil reserve some for later addition.
1 bay leaf
some: oregano,  dried italian herbs, salt to taste.
Slow cook in crockpot: Low 8-10 hours

Even if you have a casual relationship with your cutting board you'll be a master of this in no time. Quarter tomatoes (I didn't remove skins, some recipes really recommend blanching and removing, but they break down easily in the crockpot and were all farm-fresh, organic and whatnot). Rough chop other ingredients and add along with liquid.
Walk away! Have an awesome day at work, out with friends, whatever.
When you get back hope around hour 6,8 or 10 just remove bay leaf, place the immersion blender into the pot and blend. Taste and add in extra seasoning (I used fresh pink salt here) and fresh basil to taste.

This made three 24 oz. bottles plus two cups... so served that night and bottled the rest for me and to give as gifts. Also, the one cherry bomb just gave it a bit of a roasted flavor. Feel free to add more hot peppers for more of a bang.

Polenta Lasagna

Polenta purists will probably damn me for using this super easy packaged stuff, but Trader Joe's sells prepped polenta so cheap, it's hard to resist just keeping in stock in my own pantry. And for this recipe, the alternative is just unnecessary work.


1 package Polenta, sliced thinly (I use Trader Joe's organic precooked)
1 jar Roasted garlic tomato sauce (TJs had a great sale, otherwise I use brad's organic)
Dried Oregano, dried basil & some extra garlic
1-2 cups frozen chopped spinach (Trader Joe's has one that's pesticide free which is about .50 cheaper than organic)
3-5 oz various cheeses: I used fresh (soft) pecorino romano (made by the cheese guy), millers' parmesan and  sliced Colby jack (le petit femmes).
4-5 dashes franks hot sauce
I did also add my secret ingredient which is a dried chili beer rub made by Jaimie Gwen. It's good on everything... you can add some of whatever your favorite spice rub is, or just a few sips of wine or beer. Whatever makes you happy.

Preheat oven to 375(ish) - you're going to want to finish it for the last minute on 400-425.
Cook time: 20 minutes
Prep Time: 8-10 minutes
Serves: 6

Directions: 

Layering: Adding in spinach

Layer the bottom of a baking dish (I used a square 9x9 baker. I mean, I think it was 9x9. Please don't ask me to measure it!) with a small amount of sauce then place thinly sliced layers of polenta. Cover in sauce (1/3 bottle) top w/a Dash basil, oregano, (spinach*,) and parm then another layer of polenta. Repeat (possibly twice, depending on how thin the Polenta is or wide your dish is). Top with slices or shredded cheese.

*The Messy Way:
If the spinach is already defrosted or in small chunks you can smatter it about in each layer as you go. I happened to think of the spinach when I took ice out of my freezer and had actually baked the polenta originally without, and decided to add it. So I kinda stirred it in and ruined the layers, adding the Colby jack on top. No one noticed...it was pretty easy to even out, and it gave me a chance to make a lunch portion. The neater way, by the by, would also just have you add in the extra herbs, spices and hot sauce directly into the bottle of tomato sauce. Probably. I mean, I don't typically do things the neat way.


The "Single Serving" or Lunch portion:

Mini-size!

As I added in the spinach I literally spooned a "slice" worth into my little mini baker so that we could have something delish for lunch the next day. Added the spinach there too, and cheese on top. Glad that I did, since there wasn't an ounce left of the tray I brought over to my friend's for dinner! 


Other suggestions: Consider including dried or fresh mushrooms, broccoli, dried onions, black olives, or the like. Whatever you enjoy in lasagna, even ricotta would work. This was just my first attempt at this dish, I'm sure to be experimenting more, but the simplicity is clearly one of the reasons I loved it so much. If you use a bigger pan, it doubles easily. Beceause the polenta is precooked this is really about melding flavors an melting cheese.

Also, this would taste almost as good without the dairy, so feel free to make it vegan friendly if you have friends who are inclined that way. The flavor really delivers.

Protein Packed Ginger Carrot Slow Cooker Soup

This hearty treat evolved to serve a whole lot of vegetarians when I was making Brisket. It surely satisfied and even was enjoyed by meat eaters as well. I'm bound to make it again soon and will try to save leftovers for photographs...

 

Ingredients:

6 peeled sliced carrots

1 ½ inches  of fresh ginger root

3 cloves of garlic

2 cups red lentils

2/3 cup Mirin

6-8 cups broth and/or water (I like Brad's organic vegetable broth)

Celery leaves

1 sweet onion

3 ribs chopped celery

Dash Emeril’s Asian seasoning

Dash Allspice

Scallions (Whites for cooking, greens for decorating on top)

Directions:

Place ingredients into slow cooker on high for 2-3 hours until soft, then use a hand blender to mix all ingredients together, and if serving within 3 hours, keep on low, if serving the following day, keep on warm.  You may need to add more liquid depending on preferred consistency.


PS - I may have added a bit of the brisket gravy to the leftovers ... it was DELICIOUS ... so if you're not serving vegetarians feel free to add in some beef variant as well. If you are, either Sherry or Beer can be added to the liquids for more depth of flavor.

Newlywed Meatloaf

Honey Love Layered Meatloaf

This layered dish ups the anti on meatloaf but just takes one extra step to turn traditional into fancy pants in a simple way. I was ready to kick up my cooking a notch because it felt like I had a rare opportunity to make a celebratory meal. Even though shabbat comes every week, and I managed the holidays with quite a bit of fanfare, this particular celebration was layered on top of Shabbat, so held more significance than a traditional meal around the table. I made this dish for a newlywed couple's first shabbat dinner after their wedding, this meal served as a night of their "Sheva Brachot." I wanted the ingredients to reflect some Jewish and general wedding customs, so I played around a bit there. Reviews say that the results were delicious. (Note the bold ingredients which will be explained below.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Ingredients:
For Meatloaf
1/3 of a cup honey
1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce
1lb ground beef
1lb ground turkey (not white meat)
2 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup corn flakes, crushed
Spices:
Nutmeg (fresh ground)
3 tbs Grill seasoning (Jaime Gwen's Chicken & Turkey spice rub - rosemary, sage, thyme)
1tbs Emeril's Essence seasoning blend
2 tbs Garlic Powder
Chili Flakes (to taste)
White Pepper (a guest was allergic to black, use tricolor if you have it on hand)
(I don't add salt because it's kosher meat, which is already salted. Add to taste if the meat isn't kosher)

For Veggie filling/topping:
1/2 cup Tio Pepe Sherry (or dry white wine), + 1tbs sherry for egg mixture
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 sweet onion, large
3 large celery stalks (leafy parts too)
10 oz mushrooms (1/2 cup)
2 cups spinach

• Add the honey, teriyaki sauce, and spices to a big bowl then folded both meats together with spices and honey, and let sit.
• Chop the veggies really small and added them to a pot to cook along with the sherry, adding the spinach last. You may want to use a bit extra of the same seasoning when you saute the veggies, I only added the garlic. Feel free to use fresh garlic if you have it.
• While the veggies saute, take a small bowl and crack two eggs, whisking them with a tbs of sherry.
• Add crushed cornflakes into the egg mixture to soften.
• When the veggies are done sauteing, create a well in the seasoned meat and added in the egg mixture, combining thoroughly.
• The next steps depend on whether you're folding the veggies into the meatloaf (particularly great if you're hiding them from picky eaters) or layering them (if you want to give permission to your picky eaters to just avoid them). I filled the large meatloaf pan half way, added 3/4 of the veggies, and spread out, then added the second half, decorating the top with a design of the remaining vegetables.
• Place in the 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until sides crisp.
• Strain the excess gravy into a bowl and discard or save to serve later.
  

Enjoy! (this version had a little difficulty staying together - so if you have recommendations for how to improve that, feel free to share. Also, typically I *always* add mustard or mustard powder to my meatloaves, but somehow forgot this go around. Feel free to experiment.)

Other tips and tricks: More veggies will make the meatloaf go further if you're on a budget. Also, you can use more turkey which is less expensive. For nearly the same rich flavor you can go as far as a 2:1 ratio. Also, save the gravy if you're making noodles or rice and serve it on the side. Saute extra vegetables for the side too. (Using chicken or vegetable broth and sherry keeps the extra fat away from that step of the dish.)

Wondering how the ingredients I used relate to marriage?
Two kinds of meat, for the blending into one family.
Honey, traditional on shabbat throughout the first year of marriage to set up a future filled with sweetness.
Teriyaki for all the future Christmases that will be filled with Chinese food.
Eggs, as a symbol of fertility, the life cycle and wholeness.
Spices are, indeed, emblematic of the spice of life, and the flavorful life that the couple will have.
Also, I shaped the extra veggies into the shape of a heart a top the meatloaf.