Posts

Is your couscous Israeli? (Are you sure?)

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  Last week, I happened to spot this item in our Israeli kids’ magazine. Don’t worry, I’ll translate it down below.   Wallah? Amazing fact of the week In all kinds of places all over the world, they sell a food called “Israeli couscous,” which actually has no connection with couscous. It’s actually just פתיתים / petitim, which are indeed an Israeli invention from the 1950s. And we say to the world: Wait ‘till you discover the amazing thing we call Bissli Grill (BBQ flavour)! Of course, it’s not quite true that there’s NO connection with couscous. Both couscous and Israeli couscous (petitim, which just means “flakes”) are made from semolina flour and water. It’s just a matter of what you do with it from that point. The production process for “real” couscous involves adding water to the semolina flour, rolling it around (traditionally with your fingers, but these days, by machine), then run it through a sieve to get pieces of the right size. It ends up looki

Simply Gorgeous Vegan & Pareve Florentine Cookies

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  If there’s one word that doesn’t come up much on this site, it’s GORGEOUS. That’s because I’m all about flavour and convenience. If something tastes great, it’s not too much potchke to make, and it comes out reliably every single time, then it’ll go on my list of favourites. If it’s a hassle and never quite succeeds – well, it’s not one I’ll try more than a couple of times, let alone share with you here. You might think these Florentine cookies are the exception. They certainly LOOK potchke-dik, especially if you garnish them up with drizzled chocolate, sprinkled icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar), or whatever frou-frou touches you care to add. But that’s the thing – they’re not . These are startlingly delicious and easy to make! And DEFINITELY fall into that magical category of “I can’t believe they’re really pareve.” (Or vegan, or whatever your food choices are…) Why Florentine cookies? I grew up eating Florentine cookies, which we’d buy at Yitz’s (not-kosher) deli –

The easiest way to feed your sourdough starter (video) - less than 1 min + totally foolproof

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Too many sourdough bakers fuss too much and make it sound like this thing is rocket science. I gave my daughter some of my starter and she got so perplexed searching online for how to care for it. So I thought I’d share how it takes me literally under one minute

Meet your new go-to weeknight one-pan easy-bake chicken and rice

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     What’s your go-to chicken recipe? One you can use for any given weekday or even, in a pinch, for Shabbos? One that just takes a few minutes to throw together? One you feel good about sending to other families in the community - or just keeping it and eating it yourself? Do you even have one? I didn’t used to, but I do now! And I'd love to share it with you. Many years ago, I was given Norene Gilletz's cookbook The Pleasures of Your Food Processor as a wedding present. Like a few cookbooks from this beloved Canadian food writer, it was actually

Don't worry, they're delicious! Pareve vegan lemon olive oil shortbread

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Pareve shortbread???? Vegan shortbread? Shortbread that showcases the unique, lovely, and delicate flavours of the Land of Israel? And hey, while we're dreaming, a fast, easy shortbread that comes together in a few fuss-free minutes? Have I got a recipe for you! This Lemon, Rosemary, and Olive Oil Shortbread recipe from Cookie and Kate combines just a few simple and unlikely ingredients, and the result is a great big sophisticated thumbs up.   Let me say right up front that while I love lemon desserts, I am not a massive olive oil fan, and naturally shy away from using it in desserts, except for this amazing Pesach olive oil mousse , which I make, in which the chocolate almost totally masks any olive-oily flavour.   So if you're not an olive oil fan

Healthier (and pareve! and vegan!) Dalgona / TikTok / Korean viral coffee

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Unless COVID-19 has totally passed you by, you've probably tried Dalgona coffee. Made famous by a bunch of copycat TikTok videos like this one , the idea is that with just three simple (and pareve!) ingredients, you can whip up a delightfully foamy coffee base: 2 tablespoons each of instant coffee, sugar, and water. You whip the base until it's firm, which is magic in itself. Then you gently stir the base into milk so you don't lose the foam and you have a nice cool coffee drink you can serve over ice cubes.   Voila!  Dalgona coffee! It got its name because the whipped texture of the base reminded people of dalgona, a sugary sponge toffee (honeycomb toffee to some) that's apparently popular in Korea (probably identical to the Canadian variety I've made often). I first succumbed

Two super-quick tricks for the most awesome cabbage rolls!

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Cabbage rolls… I admit it, they used to be a big YUCK from me, but they’ve really grown on me over the years. Think of them as Jewish sushi… heated up… in tomato sauce…? Okay, maybe not.   But I hope these quick tricks will have you thinking twice about maybe throwing some cabbage rolls into your family’s mix.   This post is exactly what it says: two tips that will save you a ton of time. Cabbage rolls are so totally forgiving, I'm not even going to give you a recipe. To make them, just mix up a bunch of meat with some parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, maybe rice if you like that sort of thing, and roll it into balls. (Omit the meat and just roll up rice for a veg/vegan version, as I do for NR!). Wrap balls in cabbage leaves, place on a bed of cabbage leaves in the pan (these don't get served or eaten, they're just there for flavour / moisture), and bake with your choice of tomato sauce / ketchup / brown sugar / ginger ale / garlic / sweet & savoury combo in

More delicious kosher morsels!