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Post by gazelle18 on Nov 21, 2016 7:42:53 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
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Post by gazelle18 on Nov 21, 2016 7:55:36 GMT -5
Good morning, all,
I am still down with a bad cold. Good thing I'm not cooking thanksgiving this year. We are going to the parents of our DDIL, which we do every other year. On the opposite year, they come to us. DS and DDIL are modern orthodox, but neither set of parents is observant. Thanksgiving is one of those neutral holidays where our kids don't care how we celebrate as long as the food is kosher!
Ok,another easy topic since your friend Lynne is sick: Tell us about a special food you like for thanksgiving. Like Aunt Golda's amazing corn pudding, with details.
My favorite is a Cajun stuffing called jalapeño andouille cornbread stuffing. It's a recipe by a New Orleans chef, Emeril Lagasse. First you make a cornbread with jalapeños (or like me you buy a cornbread, crumble it up, and add minced jalapeños. ) That's the base for the stuffing. From there, you sauté up what is called the Cajun "holy trinity," which is onions, garlic and bell pepper, add some Cajun spices, and then chop up come andouille sausage into the mixture. (News flash: you can buy kosher beef andouille), then add the cornbread and some stock, and bake. It's soooo good.
What's your favorite thanksgiving specialty?
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lee058
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Post by lee058 on Nov 21, 2016 8:59:42 GMT -5
Good morning everybody. Sorry you're still sick, Lynne. I hope you feel better by Thanksgiving.
I'm fine today. Later I will be baking two batches of cornbread; one and a half for stuffing, and half a pan for munching on before Thanksgiving.
My Thanksgiving speciality is spanakopita. H and I have made it every year for almost as long as we have known each other. Neither of us has a Greek background, so it is not a family recipe, but our recipe has evolved over the years and it is really good. It is a three ring circus to make, so we don't make it often, but we always have it for Thanksgiving.
The outside: filo with melted butter between the sheets. The filling: spinach; feta cheese; sautéed onions, hot and sweet peppers, and garlic (cooked in olive oil); cumin; fresh chopped cilantro; and a dash of allspice.
BRB
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lee058
This space for rent
Posts: 23,285
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Post by lee058 on Nov 21, 2016 9:18:08 GMT -5
Okay, I'm back. I had a phone call.
Basically, once the filo is lining the bottom of a greased 9x13 glass pan (we make two pans because we love this so much), you spread the filling on top of it evenly, and then repeat the layering and buttering of more filo on top. Bake the pan(s) of spanakopita at 350 degrees until the top/tops are golden brown. This takes about an hour.
As for specific amounts, this year we are using 4 lbs. of frozen leaf spinach (chopped is fine too), 2 lbs. of feta cheese in blocks (I prefer buying it already crumbled, but this year H decided that chopping it himself would be better), about 3 sweet onions, about 6 hot peppers, 2 or 3 sweet peppers (red bell), lots of garlic --- at least one full head, and 2 bunches of fresh cilantro. We don't measure the spices; just shake them in until the mixture smells good.
I hope someone gets inspired to try this as it really is fabulous.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's favorites! Have a peaceful day, Lee
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Post by savtele on Nov 21, 2016 9:55:52 GMT -5
Boker Tov All - Lynne I do hope you are starting to feel better!
My mom makes red cabbage on holidays. She cooks it with apples, a little vinegar, brown sugar, cinnamon - it smells delightful & has been a "winter holiday staple" at our house for as long as I can remember. My sisters & I all make it too, now. It's just one of those things - we make it the day before & the flavor gets better overnight.
BTW, Frieda, I loved your Israeli story!
Have a good day ladies - I'm taking my meds & heading to the pool.
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Post by happysavta on Nov 21, 2016 10:29:33 GMT -5
I don't seem to have any Thanksgiving "traditions". Any holiday or get together is an excuse for me to experiment with new recipes. I just try to make something with each the foods of the season, cranberries, pecans, squash, corn, apples. Here's one recipe that is on my radar. However, I have just 3 days to get the house clean and shop and cook, so no guarantees I'll get to this. Won Ton wrappers are a lot easier to work with than phyllo dough! And all Jews seem to be of Oriental descent as evidenced by their universal love of Chinese food.
Butternut-Squash-and-Sage Wontons
TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 15 MIN SERVINGS: 24
Ingredients
4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 sage leaves—1 whole, 1 minced
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup walnuts
3/4 pound butternut squash—peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium shallot, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
24 wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Arrange the garlic cloves and the whole sage leaf on a piece of foil and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Wrap up the garlic in the foil and roast for about 40 minutes, until the cloves are very soft. Let cool, then peel the garlic.
2. Meanwhile, spread the walnuts in a pie plate and toast for about 5 minutes, until golden brown. Let the walnuts cool, then coarsely chop them.
3. In a medium saucepan, cover the squash with water. Bring to a boil and simmer over moderate heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and transfer to a bowl. Add the roasted garlic and the sage leaf to the squash and mash with a fork.
4. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the shallot and minced sage and cook over moderate heat until the shallot is softened, 3 minutes. Mix the shallot and sage into the mashed squash and season with salt and pepper. Wipe out the skillet.
5. Working with 4 wonton wrappers at a time, mound a rounded teaspoon of squash filling in the center of each wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrappers with water and fold each one into a triangle, pressing the edges to seal. Bring the pointed edges together and press to seal. Transfer the stuffed wontons to a baking sheet and cover them with plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling.
6. Oil a steamer basket and set it over simmering water. Arrange half of the wontons in the basket, cover and steam for 5 minutes. Transfer the steamed wontons to a large plate. Repeat with the remaining wontons.
7. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil until shimmering. Add the wontons and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until lightly browned and crisp, 2 minutes per side. Transfer the wontons to a platter, sprinkle with the toasted walnuts and cheese and serve.
Make Ahead
The steamed wontons can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before sautéing.
Notes
One serving 301 cal, 13.5 gm fat 2 gm sat fat, 40 gm carb, 3 gm fiber.
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Post by hollygail on Nov 21, 2016 12:44:16 GMT -5
I'm not sure I have any "all time favorites" when it comes to Thanksgiving food... In the 1980s (before I was interested in kashrut), I had a dynamite recipe for cranberry sauce, but stopped making it because it includes sour cream which I no longer mix with turkey... (it was Susan Stambergs's mother-in-law's recipe; she called her mother on the phone DURING AIR TIME to get the recipe; I figured if she was calling ON THE AIR, it must be a great recipe, and of course it was!) Here's one url with it: www.npr.org/2006/11/23/4176014/mama-stambergs-cranberry-relish-recipe
(for those of you who do keep kosher, or even kosher style, it won't work for turkey...)
I really love turkey. My sister is one great cook, and she passed along a LOT of her love of cooking to her daughter, who has been hosting Thanksgiving for the last few years (after her mother announced several years in a row that THAT was going to be her last turn at hosting Thanksgiving). I don't know if DN uses her DM's recipe for turkey or not, but she makes killer roasted vegetables! (She also bakes, but I'm not a pie lover, so I've never tasted her pies; she also buys stuff at Costco, TJ's and her local fresh markets, of which there are MANY).
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Post by louise on Nov 21, 2016 13:00:18 GMT -5
Thank you for switching with me Lynne - most especially with you not feeling well. My mom arrived from Florida on Saturday and the temperature dropped radically that night. I will be working today and tomorrow and then we are off to Rochester on Wednesday. Right now Rochester has been described to me as a "winter wonderland" - not words I want to hear when I'm driving there - but they say the roads should be fine by tomorrow so we should be okay.
My mother is at my apartment making some of the things we like on Thanksgiving - chopped liver today (which I will hand chop this evening) and corn pancakes tomorrow. I have already made two noodle kugels which I make with apples and dried cranberries to give a nod to the holiday.
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Post by peachymom1 on Nov 21, 2016 23:32:34 GMT -5
Lynne, I'm sorry you're sick, and I hope you get plenty of rest and lots of liquids. I hope you're much better in time for the holiday.
It rained here all weekend, and it was wonderful! I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving. My favorite Thanksgiving food is pumpkin pie, I mean really good pumpkin pie with flaky, delicious crust, not just any old run-of-the-mill ordinary pumpkin pie! My sister in Kentucky makes the best pumpkin pie I've even had, but dang it, she's too far away!\
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