I live in Brooklyn; work in Manhattan (Wall St. area). I love to cook and bake and read cookbooks like people read novels. I'm most interesgted in three things: food, food, food!
My grandfather moved to Israel in the 1930s -- the world called it Palestine then. But it wasn't referring to Moslems, then. It was referring to Jews. It was only after Israel was re-established as a Jewish state, that all of a sudden the Moslems claimed it and they became "Palestineans." As for the food, I think if it was called "Middle-Eastern" everyone would feel comfortable.
On the Sunday of every Labor Day weekend I go to Syracuse, my home town, for a couple days for two reasons: to visit the graves of my parents, and to attend the New York State Fair. After I check into my hotel, the next thing I do is head for Pastabilities. That tomato oil is so good, that if no one was watching, I'd lick the plate clean.
Sara: when I was growing up, there were just poppy seed or prune fillings. The chocolate and jam filled hamentaschen are relatively latecomers, but they turned out to be the most popular. Prune (lekvar) is my favorite.
FreeFood Boston: The goods at most kosher bakeries are mostly parve. That's because they can be eaten with or after either meat or dairy foods. The strictest kosher observant people wait up to 6 hours to eat dairy after meat. But since I'm a 90 percent vegetarian, I prefer baked goods made with butter. (That's the "beef" I have with kosher bakeries.)
I think it's called Porge's Canadian Style is because the owner moved to Brooklyn from Montreal. In actuality, the items lean more to European/Jewish.
I actually prefer hamentashen made from yeast dough, as opposed to the more ubiquitous cookie dough. Ostrovitsky's sometimes has great prune filled yeast dough hamentashen. Which remindes me that on my way home from work today (I'm glad I live in the neighborhood), I'll stop in to see if they still have them available.
Chag Samayach (that means "Happy Holiday")
LaSalle is my favorite. Many small grocery stores carry it and It's not in most supermarkets. But I noticed it in Gristedes. To me, it's better than Hagan Daz.
cwsilverberg: OMG, I like everything EXCEPT P'TCHA! My mother used to make it. I'll never forget the big cow's food she brought home from the butcher. Yuch!
by the way: are you from Syracuse? If so, I think I knew you when were were young.
too bad it isn't kosher
A bagel (preferably "everything" or "sesame") from Presser's on Avenue M in Brooklyn, spread with cream cheese, smoked salmon, ripe tomato, slice of vidallia onion.
I just got back last night after making my yearly Labor Day visit to the New York State Fair. There I was reminded that the term is "half-moon" and not "black & white" cookies that is used here in New York City. Sorry I didn't know about Mimi's, or I would have tried it. Perhaps next year.
I usually make a quantity of pancake mix and store it in a covered coffee can in the regrigerator. My mix contains powdered milk along with the dry ingredients. When I make pancakes, I add the liquids, oil or melted butter, and eggs.
I live in Brooklyn now, but I grew up in Syracuse. When I said I'm moving to New York, everyone assumed I was referring to New York City (although Syracuse is in New York State). I was raised believing the correct condiment for a roast beef sandwich was mustard; but that might be a Jewish thing (it seemed only "goyim" used mayo). But now, I often mix mustard and mayo together (dijonaise) for my meat sandwiches.
Please forgive me for yelling; so sorry!
This is what I have taught beginners to make (easy): A good marinara sauce for pasta; brownies; apple crisp. Also, I demonostrate knife skills. And, believe it or not, many people don't know how to properly make a hard-cooked egg; so I instruct them on that, too.
I leave out what I use most often, which is in this order: toaster oven, small citrus juicer, blender. For the record, I live in Brooklyn.
The cholent - er - lentils and kale, look delicious!
MissBrownEyes: That's just about what I was thinking. @olddad really must be an old dad! (still living in the 1950s)
I've been baking muffins for years and I don't need a recipe. I feel I can make them blindfolded. Yesterday I lovingly put together a batch of pumpkin muffins, using top ingredients, and carefully dropped them into each paper-lined muffin cup. I put them in the oven, and sat down to read the Sunday paper. This never happened before, but I got so involved with the paper that I completely forgot to take them out of the oven. Consequently, when I remembered (holy smoke!) I ran to the kitchen, opened the oven door, and took out a batch of pitch black over-burned rocks. Ya gotta pay attention!
There are several kosher bakeries throughout Brooklyn -- especially Midwood and Borough Park. Most sell hamentashen made from cookie dough. But I like the yeast dough prune-filled hamentashen from Ostrovitsky's on Avenue J.
I eat freshly baked bread the same day I buy it; but feeze (wrap air-tight) the rest So I never have moldy bread. For toast, I put a slice of frozen bread right in the toaster oven -- no need to thaw.
I only use Grade B because it tastes more mapely than Grade A. Besides using it for toppings (pancakes) and mixing into oatmeal, I have used it in place of recipies calling for other sweetners. I've made a delicious noodle/apple kugel with maple syrup. When I was a child in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, ice cream flavors were limited, to vanilla, chocolate, orange-pineapple, and maple-walnut (at least what I can remember back over 50 years ago).
Jewish cuisine is so broad because ("wandering") Jews were forced out of so many countries and had to re-settle all over the map. They adopted the respective regional dishes to meet kosher requirements. So, just about anything can be made kosher with a little imagination. For example, substitute veal for pork, or monkfish for lobster. And the reasons for the kosher laws are simple: Jews believe that G-d gave those laws specifically to the Jews, as written in the Bible. So in other words, Jews keep kosher because God said so -- not for health or other reasons.
My cupboard contains lots of spices. But the one I use way more than others and run out of first is cinnamon. The next used spices in order are cayenne, nutmeg, ginger.
Since my kids are married and out of the house, I usually make something good to eat when I get home from work and eat in front of the TV. I find that relaxing after a stressfull day at the office. But when it comes to Shabbat, I usually go to the son's family that lives within walking distance and join them for the ritual meal. My daughter in law has the table all set, holiday style, and the food is really special -- as opposed to the ultra busy rest of the week with everyone working or coming home from school at different times. We're so grateful for Shabbat.
Today's NY Times features an article about Peanut Butter and Pckle sandwiches. I was surprised to read that so few people ever heard of them, let alone ate them. I've been eating sandwiches containing Peanut Butter, Sweet Pickel and Mayo between buttered slices of white bread since the 1950s. It's my go-to snack when I'm really hungry.
I know this topic was dealt with a while ago, but I think it needs to be re-discussed. I'm always on the lookout to update what I thought was "the best" so this is a new discovery. I hosted a brunch a few Sundays ago and my son picked up the bagels. They were the best I ever tasted and were from Pressers on Avenue M in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Pressers is a bakery with a special section just for bagels. I hope others will try them and let me know what they think. A better bagel is not to be found (at least in Brooklyn).
Do you have a secret ingredient? Mine is non-fat dry milk solids sold in boxes containing individual quart-equivilalent packages. I add an extra calcium punch to lots of things I cook in liquids, such as puddings, soups, oatmeal, hot chocolate, as well as batters for muffins, pancakes, and more. When I make macaroni & cheese, I add a package to the water the pasta has cooked in (no draining needed) and, viola, a quart of milk is added, then I proceed with the rest of method (add cheese, butter, sour cream,etc. bake in heavily buttered glass pan, sprinkle w/bread crums). In a pinch, if I run out of milk, the powderd form is always on hand and it's not a bad substitute for coffee. The brand I most often use is Alba.
I've always been proud that the cable carrier I chose was Cablevision because I believed it provided the most channels and best service. But now, the Food Network and HGTV was taken off because Scripps (owners of those shows) and Cablevision cannot agree on financial terms. Consequently, Scripps has dropped those shows, and they say it's permanent!
So, Ina, Giada, Taylor, Rachel, Guy, Bobby, Paula: bye-bye; it was nice while it lasted. I'll really miss you guys.
It seems that many times when I really find a food, general product or magazine (Gormet?) that I really enjoy, it gets discontinued.This happened again. I went to the South Street Seaport last week (I work in the vicinity) looking forward to getting my favorite ice cream, Sedutto. But it was shut down! I contacted the South Street Seaport to see if there were plans to re-open, but they told me Sedutto will no longer be located there.
Does anyone know of a company that publishes a catalog of supplies for the home or restaurant cook? Years ago, I used to order from Maid of Scandanavia, but they went out of business.
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Loco guy: Sounds good. Any preferred flavor of jelly? I'll substitute Bacos for real bacon (that kosher thing!).