Bacon-wrapped matzvah balls with Top Chef Ilan Hall

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Heretic: Q & A With David Sax

By Rob Eshman

Rob Eshman interviews David Sax, author of the book, "Save the Deli."

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Move Over, New York

by David Sax

Brace yourselves, New York, because what I am about to write is definitely going to piss a lot of you off, but it needs to be said: Los Angeles has become America’s premier deli city.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

U.S. appetite for Israeli food grows

By Gil Shefler, JTA

When the staff at Hummus Place hauled the oven into the kitchen of the Israeli-owned chain's flagship branch and switched it on, no one was quite sure it would work.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sukkot Sweets, With Etrog’s Cousin

By Judy Zeidler

Sukkot, one of the happiest of all Jewish festivals, is a home-centered holiday that actually takes place outside of the home. The festival’s main symbol is the decorated sukkah, a temporary outdoor booth or hut, where Jewish law requires Jews sleep and eat all their meals for eight days. Families often invite friends and neighbors into their sukkah to share a festive snack or join the family for a meal during the week.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Home for Rosh Hashanah With Chef Todd Aarons [RECIPES]

By Judy Zeidler

What does the chef of Oxnard’s Tierra Sur cook for Rosh Hashanah? Since his kosher restaurant — located at Herzog Wine Cellars — is closed during the holiday, Todd Aarons has the opportunity to create a family meal at home.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Lighter Twist on Traditional Fare [RECIPES]

by Faye Levy

Around Rosh Hashanah, when the weather is often still hot, many of us prefer our menu to be a bit lighter and easier than the traditional holiday fare. To make it lighter, I like to include plenty of produce, serve chicken as a main course and bake a cake with oil, not margarine. To simplify preparation and serving, I choose dishes that can be prepared in advance and reheated.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Embodying Unity in Your Rosh Hashanah Meal [RECIPES]

by Joel Haber

Among the many Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah is probably second only to Passover as a time when Jews most embrace the cliché “you are what you eat.” The emphasis on the symbolism of specific foods on this holiday is well-known: honey represents our hopes for a sweet year ahead, a round challah for a perfect year, a fish head represents the rosh, or head, of the year, and a pomegranate celebrates the new harvest. I’ve recently begun thinking about extending this concept to the design of the whole Rosh Hashanah menu.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Judy and Julia

By Judy Zeidler

The movie “Julie and Julia” brought back great memories of how I met Julia Child in 1978 and how it resulted in adapting her bouillabaisse recipe for a kosher kitchen.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Man on a mission to save the Jewish deli

By Sue Fishkoff, JTA

Chicago and Cleveland have the best corned beef. Detroit is tops for rye bread. The best smoked meat is in Montreal, and for pastrami, you can’t touch New York and L.A.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Thinking Outside the Lunch Box

By Judy Zeidler

Coming up with lunch ideas can be more challenging today than in years past. Some schools may elect to forbid peanut butter on campus if a student has a peanut allergy, which removes the old standby of peanut butter and jelly. And almond, cashew or other nut butters don’t always appeal to tiny palates as a substitute.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Diet Cycle — One Woman’s Journey to Get Off the Bike for Good

by Debi Pomerantz

One day, almost three years after the birth of my youngest child, I looked in the mirror. I hated what I saw. I had been carrying around “baby weight” through four births, at least that’s what I kept telling myself. It seemed, though, that I was suddenly able to see clearly that this wasn’t baby weight at all. I was fat, plain and simple.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Thinking Outside the Matzah Ball Box

By Orit Arfa

When the Israelites rushed out of Egypt, Pharaoh’s men on their heels, they hurriedly bundled their belongings, food included, to carry as much as they could on their backs and donkeys. Seeking to nourish themselves throughout their desert journey to the Promised Land, they rolled together unleavened bread crumbs, eggs and oil to create a round, nutritious finger food. They heated these in water jugs, along with chicken bone scraps, to preserve them and give them flavor. And that’s how matzah ball soup was born.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Making of ‘The Chosen Dish’

By Orit Arfa

Prior to becoming a food writer and restaurant reviewer for The Jerusalem Post, I always thought of kosher food as limited and bland. But Israel demands competitive kosher cuisine — hotels generally adhere to kashrut laws; corporate lunch meetings must often accommodate observant clientele alongside secular counterparts who’d prefer a Tel Aviv bistro serving sautéed shrimp. This is true even though, at the same time, at the heart of Israeli culture are Jews who, no matter how much they like to think of themselves as the new Hebrews, still fondly recall their grandmother’s traditional kosher Jewish specialties.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Chicken and Duck Soup

by Chef Todd Aarons, Tierra Sur at Herzog Wine Cellars

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Exploding Knives, and Other Hazards of Kashering

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

Let me just start by admitting that I probably didn’t really need to put the knife directly on my burner. But it was the first time in a very long time I was kashering anything, and I had conflicting guidance from my rabbi and my mother, and I thought I needed to drop a hot metal object into my hot water urn to make it kosher for Pesach (I was totally wrong. Do not try it at home.).

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RECIPE: “Power” BBQ Brisket

Day 1: Prep time 30 minutes. Resting time 4-12 hours. Day 2: Prep time one hour. Cooking time approximately four hours. Resting time up to two hours.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

‘Power’ Brisket: Adding Barbecue Flavor for Pesach

by Alejandro Benes

My friend called from New York the other day. He wanted to get my recipe for smoked barbecue brisket so that he could make it for Passover.

“I’m really tired of bad brisket,” he said wearily.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RECIPE: Yemenite Charoset/Charoset Truffles

By Judy Zeidler

1 cup pitted, chopped dates, 1/2 cup chopped dried figs

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RECIPE: Passover Baked Vegetable Stuffing

By Judy Zeidler

1/4 cup olive oil, 3 onions, finely chopped

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RECIPE: Judy’s Passover Roasted Chicken

By Judy Zeidler

3 tablespoons safflower or olive oil, 2 onions, thinly sliced

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RECIPE: The Fluffiest Matzah Balls

By Judy Zeidler

3 eggs, separated, About 1/2 cup water or chicken stock, 1 to 1 1/2 cups matzah meal

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RECIPE: Judy’s Passover Chicken Soup

By Judy Zeidler

2 pounds chicken necks and gizzards, tied in cheesecloth, 4 large onions, diced

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

One-Pot Passover Dinner: Just the Recipe to Cut Costs

By Judy Zeidler

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RECIPE: Flourless Chocolate and Pistachio Cake

by Barry Sayag, Tatti Boulangerie, Givatayim

2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 pistachio nuts, coarsely ground