Pesach Perfect: Avocado Salad!

This Israeli shuk inspired dish happens to also be perfect for passover... Bright green spring colors and fresh flavors, it always gets rave reviews.

Serves 6:
4 Avocados (Ripe but not mushy)
2 Red Peppers
1 Yellow or Orange Pepper
Lemon Juice (fresh- 2 lemons or bottled 1/2 cup)
Basil (1 Tbsp dry or 1/2 cup fresh, chiffonade)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Tips: To prevent Avocados from browning mix up the 'dressing' in advance and add some to the bowl where the cut avocados will go. Also, slice the peppers first, their high vitamin C content will keep colors bright. Also, if you're waiting to serve, or traveling to a picnic, use an air tight container to store. It's also a great shabbat lunch dish because you can prep it the night before and let the flavors marinate or the day of and serve shortly after tossing..

Mix olive oil, lemon juice and basil (if dry... if fresh, add at end), pour half into bowl
Dice Peppers
Halve and Cube Avocados
Add salt and pepper to taste
Add remainder of dressing
Toss all ingredients and taste.
I first made this after shopping at the shuk. A combination of my ideas along with those of a great friend.

Measurement Tip: Count a 1/2 to 2/3 avocado per person and 1/3 red and yellow pepper per person

Simply Divine Red Velvet Cake

When you add two things to a box cake mix people can tell. When you add two of the BEST things to a box cake mix, everyone says YUM. That's what I did with this red velvet cake recipe. Because seriously, it's going to color everything no matter what you do. In fact, my nails still look like they've been painted red, and they haven't been anywhere near that color for more than a month!

To make regular red velvet cake mix shine, simply follow the box directions - cutting down on the amount of oil you add. My recipe called for 1/3 of a cup, so I used 1/4 - it's just a few tablespoons difference, but I replaced with with fresh squeezed meyer lemon juice.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Spray/Greece cakepan (I forgot this step)

Red Velvet Box Mix

1 Meyer Lemon (rind and juice)

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (I used trader joes semi-sweet parve chips)

1/4 cup oil

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup water

Blend ingredients together according to package directions, lessening slightly the amount of oil and water, replacing with juice of one meyer lemon. Add in chocolate chips, place in pan and bake according to package. The flavor combination is really great, got nothing but compliments all weekend.

My new favorite way to serve cake is in little cupcake servers - it's really colorful, easily transportable and provides a reasonable serving size so that the 'second' piece is considered before consumed. I know I've seen it before, but I was reminded of the trick by a friend's mom at his aufruf (wedding weekend). I think it's genius.

Amaretto Orange Blossom Challah French Toast Casserole

The girls and I call this Grown Up French Toast!

The recipe needs to be prepped about 8 hours prior to cooking. If you're planning a grown up breakfast for dinner, that means you can set it up before you start your day. If you plan to serve this dish for breakfast or brunch, just set it up the night before.

Grown up French Toast - Dressed with Tangelo Zest!

• 1 loaf of whole wheat challah
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups unsweetened soy milk (or skim milk)
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 1/4 cup orange blossom water*
• 1/2 cup amaretto
• 1 tbsp sugar in the raw (or more if you don't plan to add powdered sugar or syrup)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• Dash of cardamom
• Dash of salt

Cut loaf into medium thick slices.
Arrance slices in overlapping rows in a 9x13 pan sprayed with vegetable oil.
Combine remainder of ingredients in a bowl and wisk until blended.
Pour over the bread in the pan, making sure to cover all slices.
Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight (8 hours or longer).
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until puffed and lightly golden.
The flavors married with the maple syrup - so much so that I might try baking some in next time. I also had to warm this, so poured a little more amaretto over the top before putting it back in the oven at 200. Special thanks to my friend Sam for the low butter/dairy/fat content of this recipe. It didn't feel lacking at all.
*A note on Orange Blossom Water: This ethnic delight is used in north african and persian cuisine and can be found in some ethnic food aisles. Occasionally, I have seen it as an additive to bottled drinking water, which I've used as a sometime substitute. Alternately, you can use a splash of orange juice or triple sec. It won't be quite the same, but still tasty.

Frittatas: 3 ways

Everyone has different tastes - but these non-dairy frittatas are so easy to make that preparing a few variations are just as simple as one.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For vegetables, start with a big pan (I use my flat wok) so that you can make ingredients en masse. If you're going to go from stovetop to oven, make sure your pan is oven safe.

Mushroom and Onion Frittata

1lb cremini/baby bella mushrooms (I picked mine up pre-sliced at Trade Joes).

2/3 sweet onion

8 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

Spicy Garlic (Grinder Blend from Kirkland - or garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes)

Sautee mushrooms - I used the Pacific mushroom broth and sherry instead of oil.

Sautee onions. (Season with salt, pepper, garlic to taste.)

Place in baking dish, pour in egg and soymilk mixture.

Stir.

Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until eggs set. Typically, with a frittata one starts the egg setting process on the stove (it speeds up the process), but given that I making 3 to serve a day later, I went with this more foolproof method.

Because I made three different kinds I used the "cut once" method with this whole prep process. For eggs, that meant I did the cracking and mixing into one big bowl - 18 eggs in total with 12 oz of soy milk. Some pepper and salt. Because I had non-mushroom lovers amongst my guests (when will my friends grow up and embrace the delicacy?), I cooked those separately first and then all the onions at once, splitting them amongst the mushroom pan and then stirring in the spinach for the next two frittatas.

Lox, Spinach and Onion Frittata

1/2 lb Spinach

2/3 Sweet Onion

6-8 oz Lox

5-6 Sprigs Dill (or 1 tbs dried dill)

8 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

Add spinach into the sauteed onion mixture, until cooked through.

place in baking dish.

Add fresh dill and salmon in small pieces.

Pour egg mixture into dish. Stir and bake for 45 minutes.

Pastrami, Spinach and Onion Frittata

1/2 Spinach

2/3 Sweet Onion

2 Tbs Jack Daniels Mustard
1/2-3/4 lbs Pastrami

8 eggs

1/2 cup soy milk

Add spinach into the sauteed onion mixture, until cooked through. (I did two at once and divided)

Add in pastrami and mustard to the pan with onions and spinach and sautee a bit.

Place in baking dish.

Pour egg in mixture. Stir and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven, make sure the eggs have set (they shouldn't wobble in the middle), slice and serve.

I heard from guests and found that when the savory eggs wound up with maple syrup they married quiet well.

1/1/11 at 1:11 ... New Year's Brunch Menu

Recovery Brunch!

Here's the menu with recipes to come once the reviews are in:

Hearty Pea Stoup: Parsnips, Carrots, Potatoes, Onions, Rice oh my!

Chickpea Salad: Dressed with Balsamic Vinegar

Frittatas:

• Lox, Spinach, Onion with Dill
• Pastrami, Spinach, Onion with Garlic and Mustard
• Mushroom and Onions with Garlic and Hot Pepper

Baked Amaretto Orange Blossom Challah French Toast Casserole

Meyer Lemon Chocolate Red Velvet Cake

Hydration station: "Berry Detox" Iced Tea, "Calming" Iced Tea (Both Yogi Flavors), Seltzer with Lemons and Oranges, Chocolate Mint Soy Milk

Dehydration station: Blue Moon, Pink Elephant, Lindeman's Pomme, Original Sin Cider, Yogev Cab-Petit Verdot blend

Friends bringing:

Tater Tots, Brownies, Sorbet, Homemade Challah, Sparkling wine

Can't wait to dig in.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sheridan's Honey Whole Wheat Challah Recipe

Honey Whole Wheat Challah ...mmmm

I have to admit I usually make a mini-loaf for myself because when it comes out of the oven I can't resist this. Also, somehow, my dough always miraculously over-rises and I wind up with more challah than I know what to do with. If that's the case, pull it a few minutes early and freeze a loaf or two for next week. Anyway, I'll stop talking so you can start baking and enjoy!

3 tablespoons (3 packages) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup honey

3.5 cups lukewarm water

1 cup vegetable oil ( i use a little less)

6 large eggs (save 1 egg and add some water for egg wash)

2 tablespoons salt

16 cups flour total (I do a 2/3 whole wheat to 1/3 white all-purpose flour ratio ... leaning towards a little more white flour.)

Optional: sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling

1. Dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in 3 to 3.5 cups of lukewarm water in a large bowl. Let yeast proof/activate for 10 minutes. (You can start to measure other ingredients)

2. Whisk the oil into the yeast mixture, then beat in 5 of the eggs, one at a time, along with the remaining sugar, honey and the salt. (To prevent honey from sticking ,use same measuring cup as for oil. Also, you can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading.) Gradually add the 16 cups of flour alternating 2 Whole Wheat with 1 White and stir. When the dough holds together, it is ready for kneading.

3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out the bowl and grease it, then return the dough to the bowl. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour. (You may also put the dough in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees, then turned off.) When the dough has almost doubled in volume, punch it down, cover, and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour or so.

4. To make a 6-braided challah, take 1/4 of the dough and form into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand tapered at the ends about 12 inches long and 1½ inches wide. Pinch the strands together at one end, then gently spread them apart. Next, move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then, take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Regroup to 3 on each side. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2 to the middle, then move the second strand from the right over to the far left. Regroup and start over with the outside right strand. Continue until all the strands are braided, tucking the ends underneath the loaf. Tip: always to have 3 strands on each side, so you can keep your braid balanced. Either make the remainder of the loaves the same way and place the braided loaves in greased 10- by 4-inch loaf pans or on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches between them OR, alternately, you can take a round pan and make a pull apart challah very easily; just take some dough, about the size of a tennis ball, roll it out to about 12 inches, and swirl into a roll. Snuggly fit rolls beside one another in the round pan. (Leave a small amount of dough for the "challah is taken" blessing - l’haph’reesh challah min ha’eesah.- for more on that see: http://www.jewishtreats.org/2009/06/challah-is-taken.html)

5. Beat the remaining egg and brush it on the loaves. Let rise another half hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and brush the loaves with egg again, then sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds.

7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden. Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a rack.

Yield: 4-5 challot

Mushroom Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Turkey
1 lb Ground beef   (Or any combination)
1 Medium Sweet Onion
10-16 oz Mushrooms (I use portabella or cremmini including stems)
1 tbs olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup Sherry or wine (Tio Pepe makes a Great kosher Sherry)
1 handful Celery leaves or 1/2 tsp celery seed (replace with basil if you don't like celery)
1 1/2 tbs Italian seasoning blend
2 tsp mustard powder
fresh ground pepper
pinch red pepper flakes

Chop onions and mushrooms. The smaller the chop you get on these, the easier it is to hide the veggies from kids or other suspecting eaters. It doubles the volume of the meat and keeps them moist.

Optional: Saute onions and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat - for 12-15 minutes or until they start to caramelize. (Add some salt to speed up process and a bitlater pepper and some of the herbs) If you do this step, you'll want bigger veggies. Then you can either run your knife over the cooked veggies or you can pulverize in an electric chopper/blender etc.

Add mushroom mixture to ground meat, along with splash of the sherry, remainder of spices and egg. Combine, but don't over mix.
Divide and make into balls - size will vary cooking time - brown (and cook in pot or place in oven-safe dish) in same pot as used for mushrooms and onions, adding sherry/wine to deglaze any time the pot gets too brown.
Alternately, set the oven to 350, place shaped meatballs into a pyrex or on a baking sheet and bake 25-30 minutes (or cover in a sauce and bake until ready to serve).

Enjoy!