Thursday, March 23, 2023
Super easy green curry with Israel ingredients
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Easy to read Massamun Curry recipe
Here's an easy to read Massamun Curry recipe adapted from an online recipe, with fewer ingredients and easy measurements.
You need:
- Cumin seeds - 1 - 2 teaspoons
- Olive Oil
- 5 tablespoons red curry sauce or paste (I use MaxChup brand available in Israel)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled & cubed
- 3 largish carrots, peeled & cubed
- 2 chicken breasts or 3-5 shnitzels and/OR
- 1 box tofu, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1 can coconut milk (I use low fat. If using coconut cream, add only 1/2 can)
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- Juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon
In a large soup pot, put the cumin seeds over heat for 30 seconds, then add about 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and the onion. Fry until soft.
Remove from heat and add the curry sauce, then add the chopped vegetables and stir until they are coated.
Add the coconut milk and water to cover. Stir in the peanut butter (At this point, if you want to make half vegan and half meat, split the curry into two pots.)
Add tofu or chicken as desired. (You can also make it without either.) Bring to a boil and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are done.
Before serving, add the lemon juice.
My entire family eats this!!! (No small feat.) Served with rice it makes one meal for four and one plus meal of leftovers. YMMV.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Gail's kale soup
I made my own vegan kale soup based on a recipe I found on food.com and what was in the house.
Here's what's in it:
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 diced carrot
1 large bunch of kale, sliced
2 large potatoes cut in small cubes
3 plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons organic vegetable broth powder (aka soup mix)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon red curry sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
8 cups water (possibly more)
I fried the garlic and carrot in olive oil, added everything else and cooked about 40 minutes. My daughter and I are happy.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Bars
Makes about 10 bars
Ingredients:
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup pitted dates
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Blend first 5 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add more cocoa powder if it doesn't taste chocolaty enough.
Mix in chocolate chips.
Shape into bars and freeze.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Turkey Cauliflower Burgers
Half a large cauliflower or one small one
500 g or one pound of ground turkey
chopped parsley, mint, and/or cilantro - up to 2 tablespoons of each
2 finely sliced scallions
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1-2 cloves of chopped or grated garlic
2 beaten eggs
Grind up the cauliflower in a food processor. Mix in all the other ingredients.
Line a tray with greaseproof paper. Fry small burgers in olive oil on each side. Put them on the tray. When you are done frying them all, bake at 400F/200C for 15 minutes. This makes about one large tray of small burgers, which is good for about 2 meals.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Stuffed peppers
6 small peppers
3/4 cup rice
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/8 cup chopped almonds
one onion
1/3 large jar of pasta sauce (about 3/4 cup, I used tomato-basil sauce)
Juice of half a lemon
Chop the onion and fry it in olive oil until soft. Add the rice, cranberries and almonds and stir and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Cut the stems off the peppers using a knife to cut around that part. Rinse out the seeds and pull out any white parts you can reach.
Fill each pepper 2/3 full of the rice mixture. Stand the peppers up in a medium saucepan.
Mix the pasta sauce with water and lemon juice. Pour into the saucepan. Add more water as necessary until the sauce is about 3/4 of the way up to the top of the peppers. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Open the pot and pour a little more water into each pepper. Cook covered for another 35-45 more minutes, until the rice inside each pepper is done.
Monday, April 13, 2020
Strawberry Mousse
Translated from Ruth Sirkis, המטבח בקלי קלות
2 containers strawberries (500 grams)
14 grams unflavored gelatin (one packet or tablespoon)
Half cup boiling water
Half cup sugar
1 container smooth white cheese. For those of you outside Israel, you can substitute yogurt or sour cream and the amount is about 100 grams/4 ounces. (I have made this parve but I don't remember what I used here. You could substitute non-dairy yogurt.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fruit liqueur (optional)
1 container whipping cream (250 ml) or Rich's whip
1. Clean the fruit and remove stems. Put aside 10 strawberries for decoration and cut them lengthwise.
Put the gelatin in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Mix until the gelatin is completely dissolved, and it is liquid, clear and with no lumps. Let it cool a little.
2. Divide the rest of the strawberries in half. Cut half into quarters. The other half put into a food processor. Add the sugar and process into a smooth paste. Add the white cheese and process another minute. Pour in the gelatin, while running the machine, in order to distribute it evenly. Add the vanilla and the liqueur. Put into a bowl.
3. Whip the cream or Rich's separately into stiff peaks and mix with the strawberry/white cheese paste. Add the quartered strawberries to the mixture. Line an English cake pan (a loaf pan) with plastic wrap, put the half strawberries around the edges, with the cut side out. Pour the cream into the middle. Cover with plastic. Refrigerate for 8 hours. Before serving, turn out onto a long tray and remove the plastic.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Yotam Ottolenghi Turkey Zucchini Burgers and Zucchini pancakes
Two big bowls.
1 large or 2 small grated zucchini, strained to remove most of the juice
2 tablespoons chopped mint
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 cloves chopped garlic
4 good sized scallions chopped
2 tsps cumin
2 tsps salt
1 tsp pepper
Mix this all together and put half in each bowl.
Turkey burgers-
Add 1 lb ground turkey and 1 egg - mix thoroughly.
Zucchini pancakes-
Add 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup rice milk, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon baking powder - mix thoroughly
Now get two frying pans, put in oil - the burgers need more oil. The burgers may have a kind of loose batter - I find they do better if I shape them and I keep them quite small. Fry burgers and pancakes separately. The burgers should be seared on each side and removed to a pan with greaseproof paper on it. The pancakes just put in a regular oven pan.
The burgers need another 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven. The pancakes just need to be kept warm.
Serve with salad and a starch if you eat that kind of stuff.
Both these items are a hit at our house. Both travel well as leftovers.
Monday, April 30, 2018
Shabbat leftover roasted vegetable gazpacho
6 ripe smallish tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 Israeli cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 spring onion - white and green parts chopped
Roasted pepper - about 8 strips
3-4 cloves roasted garlic
4 cups leftover Challah torn up without crusts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups cold water
1 tsp. salt
Put everything in a big bowl and mix with a soup wand (immersion blender). Leave a few chunks. If you have time, cool it - but you might want to just eat/drink it.
Friday, January 19, 2018
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Spicy Carrot Cake
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter or oil
Cook this for 5 minutes in a heavy saucepan, stirring often. Let it cool.
1 and 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinamon
3/8 tsp nutmeg
3/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Sift these together.
1 egg - beat until light yellow
Mix everything together until just mixed. Bake one hour at 350 in a loaf pan. She says the cake tastes better after 1 day - we wouldn't know about that.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Orange Chicken or Tofu
1 orange
1 cup orange juice
vinegar (anything but balsamic)
mustard
olive oil
flour
sugar
cumin
salt & pepper
1 pack tofu or 8 pieces of chicken shnitzel (that's flattened breasts cut in pieces for you overseas folks).
Marinade:
2 tbsp. vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. mustard
grated zest of orange
juice of the orange
pinch of cumin
salt & pepper
Mix the marinade and marinate the chicken or tofu in a flat pan for 30 mins to an hour.
Sauce:
heat 2 tbsp. oil and add 2 tbsp. flour. mix over a flame. add 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp. vinegar, 1/2 tsp. mustard and mix well. Add 1 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup water, salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth, heat until thickened, turn down heat and put a lid on to keep it warm.
While you are cooking the sauce, fry the chicken or tofu in a large pan, 4 pieces at a time. Fry chicken well on each side. You won't need oil because of the marinade, you can put a spoonful of the marinade on top of each chicken piece.
Put the chicken or tofu in the oven for 5-10 more minutes while you get your other stuff finished.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Apple Orange Muffins
Preheat oven to 375/190
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
Mix these together.
In another bowl mix:
1 cup orange juice
1 egg
1/4 cup - 50 g melted butter (or oil)
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix till just mixed.
Add 1/3 cup ground up cereal flakes - this is optional but good for texture. I used fitness flakes.
Add 2 small apples or one large apple, diced about .75 cm.
Mix gently and put batter in muffin cups.
Bake 25-30 minutes.
Makes 12.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
What I would do with Yotam Ottolenghi's leek fritter recipe if I had it all to do over again
One small onion
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs
150 g yogurt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
cubes of bulgarit - about 1/3 of a container (feta in the US)
Chop the onion small and the leeks in slices
Saute in olive oil until soft - about 15 minutes
Add the parsley and spices to the sauteed leek + onion
Make a batter of the flour, bread crumbs, yogurt, baking powder and eggs.
Mix the vegetables into the batter. Add the bulgarit.
Put on greaseproof paper in spoonfuls (think big cookies) and bake about 20 minutes at 170 C or 350 F. They should be browned and set like cookies.
This is only slightly different from what I did. This leaves out the sugar and butter from his recipe. (I used oil instead of butter but it was really unnecessary.) I would add the eggs - he had just one egg white. If you don't want to use two eggs, try it with one.
Serve with yogurt or sour cream, or make a fancy sauce by adding garlic and lemon to one or the other.
Let me know if you make these!!!!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Nut loaf and green bean spread - two recipes
Green bean spread - this is a veggie chopped liver:
For the spread (this is a moosewood recipe but she uses walnuts) - steam 2 cups of green beans and food process them. Hard boil two eggs. Add the green beans to the nuts and fried onions, then grate the eggs into the mix. Add two teaspoons mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate. Great on crackers or in sandwiches.
Nut loaf
My aunt Eva says I gave her this recipe. Must have been a long time ago. Chop 2 celery sticks and 2 apples and saute them till soft. You can also use kohlrabi or carrot, chopped small. I also used a few mushrooms this time. Mix with the nuts and fried onions. Add 2 teaspoons curry powder (original recipe says garam masala), 4 oz. breadcrumbs or crushed rice cakes, 1 tablespoon ketchup, 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated cheese and one beaten egg. Mix evenly. Bake at 180 C or 350 F for 40 minutes. Gabi likes it overcooked. My aunt makes a vegan version without the cheese and egg for her grandson. Now that's love!
Finally, how to cook swiss chard - slice it then fry in olive oil with garlic and ginger that comes in those little freezer cube. One cube of each for one pack of chard - one package (called mangold here) gives you one small bowl of cooked chard.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Carrot muffins
I made these carrot muffins, adapted from a recipe I found online. Everyone, especially the kids, loved them. I am noticing Sasha's friends like me for my cookies. I see how I can get them to hang out here!
Carrot Muffins:
Preheat oven to 190 C/400 F
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups flour (the original recipe calls for half white and half whole wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cups shredded carrots (4 carrots)
Beat egg, add orange juice, oil, sugar.
Sift the dry ingredients together and add them to the wet ingredients, stirring only till just mixed
Fold in carrots.
Line muffin cups with paper or grease them, fill 2/3 full and bake 20 minutes till done.
Make 12 large or 18 small muffins.
I had forgotten how much I loved to make muffins when I was in graduate school. I still have my trusty muffin pan from that time. Hope you enjoy these are much as we did! And remembering Sarah Fenner - we miss you Sarah.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Easy "Shabbat" sweet potato kugel
2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes/yams/battata
2 large or 3 medium onions
4 eggs
1 cup flour
chopped herbs if you have/want
salt
pepper
sweet paprika
olive oil
food processor
Peel the sweet potatoes and use the slicing blade of the food processor to slice them thin. Put them in a big bowl. Slice the onions in the food processor the same way and fry them in a bunch of olive oil until they are golden. Add them to the bowl. Mix in the flour, salt, pepper and paprika and herbs (parsley, cilantro, whatever you want, it's fine with none). Beat and add the eggs and mix it all together.
Oil a large baking pan. Flatten the mixture into the pan - you choose if you want to make it deeper or more shallow by the size of the pan. More shallow will have crispier parts. This bakes for two hours at 180 C (365 F) or you can bake it overnight in a low oven. It comes out very sweet and delicious.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Gail's last supper
Gail's celery soup
This is so sweet, mild and delicious I am surprised! Gabi thinks it needs chunks - this recipe is just for a medium broth. (Not light, not thick.)
I know it's too hot for soup - but soup nuts were calling my name and I needed something to eat them with!
Half a celery (the inside half) cut up
One kohlrabi, in chunks
One diced onion
Four garlic cloves
One carrot in chunks
Cover well with water, add salt and boil for 45 minutes to an hour.
Puree with soup blender.
I strained it because Israeli celery is so stringy
Then add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of milk if you want.
Reheat and serve with the finest soup nuts!
Gail's salmon cakes
Two potatoes, cubed, boiled and mashed
1/2-1 lb (300-400g) leftover salmon, mashed
One onion, chopped and fried
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 eggs (you could do one egg, or one egg and one egg white - these were a little eggy)
1 tablespoon flour or one crushed rice cake
2 tablespoons grated fresh parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Mix this all together and make into cakes on a cookie sheet - I used greaseproof paper. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180 C (375 F?) until they hold together and are slightly brown. Serve with ketchup.
These were delicious. Sasha even ate one, but he gave it a score of 6 out of 10. We couldn't taste the cheese much - maybe add more if you want to taste it.
Alen would eat the salmon cakes, but not the celery soup!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
What do to with green beans - healthy food from Moosewood (adapted)
Fry an onion chopped small
Hard boil two eggs
Get 1/4 cup roasted almonds (or not roasted)
Mix this all in a food processor with a tablespoon or more of mayonnaise plus salt and pepper to taste. You can also add a little lemon. Chill and use as a sandwich spread. It tastes a bit like chopped liver, but not really.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Parve Tuna Pie
Here it is:
2 cans tuna, drained
One onion
One carrot
About 2/3 cup frozen peas
3 eggs
salf
pepper
1 teaspoon soup mix if you want
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
frozen pastry (parve) - the kind that comes in a roll, defrosted some
Chop the onion and carrot and fry them with some oil and salt. Let them cool. Mix the tuna, eggs, frozen peas, salt and pepper, soup mix if desired, and mayonnaise. Add the cooled onion and carrot. Mix well.
Put one layer of crust on the bottom of a rectangular pan (or whatever pan you want to use). Spread the tuna mixture on top. Put another layer of pastry on top. Bake at 350/170 for about 40 minutes until it looks done.
The cooked tuna is less strong tasting than you would think, and the pie is sweet. If you want, you could add an apple to the recipe. Gabi, Alen and I all liked it - of course Sasha did not touch it!