Roasted Chermoula Spiced Parsnips

I realize most people never get to say this but I had some Chermoula Dressing left over from some experimenting with recipes for a Grilled Goat Cheese Panini.  

Chermoula, a Moroccan style sauce made with spices and fresh cilantro, is a condiment that goes with so many foods it actually pays to have some stocked in the fridge. Like ketchup or mustard or Sriracha. 

My latest using the stuff? Roasted Chermoula Spiced Parsnips. Terrific side dish with chicken, lamb or beef. Nice with scrambled eggs too. Or part of a vegetarian dinner.

Roasted Chermoula Spiced Parsnips

Chermoula Dressing:

• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine the garlic, paprika, cumin, cayenne, parsley and cilantro in a small bowl. Stir in the lemon juice. Add the olive oil gradually, beating it into the other ingredients. Set aside. (You may use a small food processor to combine the ingredients.)

Parsnips:

• 2 pounds parsnips
• salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the parsnips and cut them into strips about 4-inches long, 1/2-inch wide and place them on a baking sheet. Pour 1/4 cup of the Chermoula Dressing over the vegetables and toss them to coat each piece. Sprinkle with salt. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning them once or twice, or until the vegetables are tender and lightly crispy.

Makes 6 servings

Rich, Dense, Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I've been experimenting with cream cheese lately, mostly because I had some extra left over from creating and testing recipes for Philadelphia Cream Cheese at JoyOfKosher.com. (You can find the recipes here, where there are recipes also from Tamar Genger and Jamie Geller).

But also because the Jewish holiday of Shavuot is coming and this particular holiday usually involves a lot of cream cheese.

I've made several cheesecakes. You'll read about them here soon.

But I decided to make a pound cake too. With the addition of cream cheese, this plain old cake is outrageously dense, moist and rich.

You don't need to add frosting, powdered sugar, any sort of glaze, accompaniments of any kind like ice cream or fresh fruit. Although, of course, none of those would hurt.

But this one is good just the way it is.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

• 1-1/2 cups butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 10-cup bundt pan. Beat the butter and cream cheese together in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium for about 2 minutes, or until well blended. Add the sugar gradually and beat for about 2 minutes or until thoroughly incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally to keep the batter smooth and uniform. Add the vanilla extract and lemon peel and stir them in. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat the ingredients for about 1-2 minutes or until smooth, uniform and well-blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1-1/2 hours or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes one cake serving 16 people

Cheesecake Cookies

I usually bake the same cookie recipes over and over. Butter cookies. Grand Finale (chocolate chip) cookies. Peanut Butter cookies. 

But recently I decided to branch out with some Chinese cookies. And a few other recipes I'll post about here soon.

I got my inspiration straight from the "cookies" folder in my file cabinet on one of those days when I decided to do a purge of unnecessary stuff. This particular folder includes recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers. I should have known as I collected them that I would probably never actually make most of them.

But there were a few handwritten recipes that I just couldn't resist. A few from my Mom and my Aunt Beck. A few recipe cards that are sentimental for me because they are from friends and relatives that have passed away.

There was also this recipe for Cheesecake cookies from someone named Rose. I have no idea who she is, or was. My Mom had a friend Rose. Maybe it was hers. I don't recognize the handwriting on the index card. It isn't my Mom's handwriting. Or my Aunt's. 

Unlike most of the hand written recipes from women of my mother's generation, this one was complete with a list of ingredients (though not in the right order) and instructions on how to make the cookies. I've edited the recipe to conform to our more modern style of recipe writing. But below is the recipe for the most fabulous, tender, salty-and-sweet, tangy with cheese, creamy centered but crusty sandwiched cookies you can imagine.

Nice idea for Mother's Day.

Thanks Rose, whoever you are. These are great! 

Rose's Cheesecake Cookies

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and set it aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, nuts and brown sugar and mix to distribute the ingredients evenly. Add the melted butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly. Remove one cup of this mixture and set it aside. Place the remaining mixture inside an 8-inch square baking pan. Press the crumbs down firmly to cover the bottom of the pan evenly. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until firm. Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well blended. Add the egg, lemon juice, milk and vanilla and beat the ingredients for another minute or until thoroughly blended. Spoon the cheese mixture evenly over the baked crumbs. Top with the remaining, reserved unbaked crumbs. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Cut into small squares (16 pieces).

Makes 16 cookies

How to Make Fish More Appealing

My Mom, good cook though she was, was not an ace at making fish. Her broiled salmon was delicious, but beyond that, well, .... let's just say she didn't love fish, didn't want to experiment with it and so we didn't have a lot of fresh fish for dinner.

Same for my grandmother, except for once a summer when my father, uncles and assorted other men would go for their once a year fishing trip and come back with either mackerel or bluefish.

Now, everyone knows that if you come from a family that doesn't particularly love fish, mackerel and bluefish are not the ones you would pick for the once-in-a-while fish dinner. But that's what the men caught during the summer (when we would always be at my grandmother's place).

My grandma did her best with what -- and who -- she had to work with. I was -- and remain -- a devout fish lover, along with my cousin Leslie, but we were the only ones. 

For everyone else, grandma had to be creative.  Even as a child I realized that what she did to make the fish more palatable was to smother it with other ingredients that would not only distract from the strong flavor of those oily fish, but also make the dish more attractive so that we would all want to eat the dish placed in front of us.

It worked every summer. Everyone regarded that fish dinner as a winner.

You can make this recipe for the darker, oilier fish such as mackerel and bluefish, but it's also wonderful with plain old mild cod, which most people prefer.

Roasted Cod

• 4 6-8 ounce chunks of fresh cod
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 12 pitted olives (green or black), cut in half
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 cup matzo meal or bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the fish in a lightly oiled casserole dish. Pour the vegetable oil over the fish chunks and rub to spread the oil on the top surface of each chunk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scatter the garlic and shallot on top. Scatter the plum tomatoes and olives on top, then sprinkle with parsley and dill. Finally, scatter the matzo meal or bread crumbs on top. Roast for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, or until the fish is cooked through.

Makes 4 servings

Koshary - Street Food

Why is it that "street food" and "food truck food" are always so intriguing?

Take shwarma, for instance, which I first tasted in Jerusalem many years ago. I absolutely couldn't resist, especially after my daughter Meredith, who had been living in Israel for several months, told me that I would fall in love with this particular dish.

I did. I can still remember that first awesome bite.

I am not tempted by all street food of course. I would never, never try one of those greasy-looking hot dogs that sit in cloudy water with those awful fat globules floating on top. 

But when we traveled to Egypt I was fascinated by this wonderful looking/aromatic dish called koshary. Fortunately Ed and I were on a Nile cruise ship and, just our luck! the chef knew how to make it. 

Lucky us. He prepared the dish for lunch one day and also told me the basic ingredients, which I have worked with several times to try to make koshary that tasted the way we like it.

That's it in the photo. This is a dish that takes some time and has several parts (unlike most of my recipes). But it is worth the effort. 

Koshary! Street food. Food truck food. Meatless Monday food. Vegetarian food. Filling. Fabulous, even when it's reheated.

 

Koshary

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1 2-inch cinnamon stick
• 28 ounce can Italian style tomatoes, including liquid, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook briefly. Add the cinnamon stick and cook briefly. Add the tomatoes, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until thick. Remove the cinnamon stick, puree the ingredients (I use a hand blender) and set aside.

The Grains:

• 6 ounces small pasta (elbows, farfalle, etc.)
• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1/2 cup Basmati rice
• 3-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 1 cup canned chick peas, rinsed and drained

Preheat the oven to warm (about 225 degrees). Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside. Cook the lentils in lightly salted water for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside. Combine the rice with 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 18-20 minutes. Remove from the heat but keep the cover on the pan to keep the rice warm. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan over low-medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the onions to a bowl and set aside in the oven to keep warm.

Final Assembly:

Reheat the tomato sauce. Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the sauté pan used for the onions. Add the cooked macaroni and cook over medium heat without stirring, for about 2 minutes, or until the bottom is crispy. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes to crisp the pasta. Remove the pasta to a serving platter. Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the sauté pan. Add the lentils and cook for 1-2 minutes or until lightly crispy. Spoon the lentils on top of the pasta. Top with the rice. Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Add the chickpeas and cook briefly to warm them. Spoon the chick peas over the rice. Spoon the tomato sauce on top. Top with the caramelized onions. 

Makes 8 servings

Warning! These cookies are irresistible.

WARNING!

Do not make these if you are on a diet.

Even if you aren't, hide them from yourself. As for me, as soon as they're cool I store these in my basement freezer so that if I am tempted to get one I at least have to walk down and up a flight of stairs.

These ultra-buttery, pleasurably sweet, satisfyingly crispy cookies are monstrously difficult to resist. 

The inspiration for the recipe -- Dutch Butter cookies -- thanks to a friend, Ro Dekker, z"l, who passed away many years ago. She was a brave, smart, funny, good and righteous woman. She and her children escaped on the last boat out of Holland to America in World War II. (Her husband Mauritz, z"l, was already in the United States.) Everyone else in her family stayed behind and perished in the Holocaust.

I will always think of Ro when I eat these.

dutch butter cookies (Jan Hagels)

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup sliced almonds

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13”x9” cookie sheet with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper (or use spray). Beat the butter, brown sugar, lemon peel and 1 tablespoon of the egg in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix at medium speed for about 2 minutes or until well blended. Add the flour and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until a uniform dough has formed. Place the dough on the parchment paper and press to completely cover the entire pan. Be sure to make the dough as even as possible. Use a small rolling pin or tumbler to make the dough even. Brush the entire surface of the dough with the remaining egg. Scatter the almonds evenly on top of the dough. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the almonds. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown. While still warm, cut the cookies in 4 equal parts lengthwise and widthwise, to make 16 large cookies. (Or cut into smaller pieces.)

Note: pizza cutter works well for cutting

Makes 16 cookies

Mock Shak

It isn't Shakshuka. But this dish is a quick, incredibly satisfying substitute.

Or maybe just it's own thing.

It came about this way: I had some roasted tomatoes left over and wanted to use them in some other way than the leftover reheat.

But I didn't feel like cooking anything extravagant. So I made the leftover reheat.

But then I topped it with sunnyside egg/runny yolks, which I think can make just about any vegetable dish worthier.

This quick Mock Shak is a good bet for lunch, brunch and even dinner when you don't feel like fussing or spending too much time making a meal.

Obviously you can make the tomatoes a day or two ahead and reheat.

Glorious isn't it?

Mock Shak

• 12 plum tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1-2 tablespoon butter or olive oil
• 4-8 large eggs
• grated Parmesan cheese, optional
•  

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and place them cut side up in a baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. Brush the tops with olive oil and scatter the garlic on top. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil and parsley. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft. Place 6 halves on each of four plates.

When the tomatoes are almost finished roasting, heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat (or use two pans if making 8 eggs). When the butter has melted and looks foamy, crack 4 eggs into the pan (or 4 eggs into each of the two pans) and cook them, sunnyside-up style until cooked to the desired doneness. Place one or two eggs one each dish over the roasted tomatoes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Makes 4 servings

Ruth Bader Ginger Cocktail

A few weeks ago my daughter Meredith told me to check a post on Buzzfeed, in which Amanda McCall blogged about how Ben & Jerry's could solve its "woman problem."

What? Woman problem? Isn't this the company known for its progressive views on social and political issues?

Yes, but.

The company has no ice cream flavor named after a woman. There are, and have been, many flavors named after men. Like Cherry Garcia and Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream and the new Tonight Dough, named for the one-year anniversary of Jimmy Fallon's gig on The Tonight Show.

For what it's worth -- are you listening Ben & Jerry's? -- we women want some recognition!

And we actually eat more ice cream than men.

Ms. McCall said she realizes that creating a new "woman" ice cream won't help the gender pay gap, nor will it help more women win elective office, but it can't hurt, can it?

One of the flavors she suggested is Ruth Bader Ginger. In fact, if you agree, you can sign a petition urging the company to get to it.

Food writer that I am, I thought about creating my own Ruth Bader Ginger ice cream. I've taken cues from the company before -- I invented a version of Ben & Jerry's Charoset ice cream because that flavor is only available in Israel and I wanted to try some for Passover. 

But if Ben & Jerry's does this, it would make headlines and history. If I do it? Not so much.

Besides, I had a particularly hectic weekend recently and so I decided to relax with a nice stiff drink and opted to invent a cocktail, rather than an ice cream, to honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And it was amazingly good.

I believe it would be even more marvelous with a little dollop of Ruth Bader Ginger Ice Cream in it too.

But for now -- The Ruth Bader Ginger Cocktail.

In honor of one of the most brilliant, thoughtful and progressive Supreme Court Justices of all time.

The Ruth Bader Ginger Cocktail

• 4-6 ice cubes

• 3 ounces dark rum

• 1 ounce ginger liqueur or brandy

• 2 teaspoons orange juice

• 2-3 pinches ground cardamom

• 2 slices of orange

• 2 mint leaves, slightly crushed

Place 2-3 ice cubes in each of 2 glasses. Place the rum, brandy, orange juice and cardamom in a cocktail shaker or glass jar. Shake vigorously and pour equal amounts in the two glasses. Twist the orange slices slightly to extract a few drops more of orange juice into the liquid, then place the slice on the rim of the each glass. Place one slightly crushed mint leaf in each glass, stir and serve. 

Makes 2 (or one, depending on your mood)

Chinese Cookies

Passover is sort of like the visit from the grandchildren.

Both are joyous, thrilling and celebratory.

You love every precious moment.

It's also so nice when it's over. 

This is not a complaint. Just a statement of reality.

When the kids and grandkids leave after a visit, the house looks like the recycle guy made a mistake and dropped his truck full of stuff in your living room. Ah, the mess (despite your children's tidying up). But it's worth it. You wouldn't have it any other way and anyone who is a grandparent will tell you the same thing.

Besides, after they leave it's suddenly very calm and quiet and you can relax and sip a glass of leftover Passover wine.

When Passover is over you think over the hard work needed to get through the holiday. Cleaning the cabinets, the fridge. Getting out the dishes, setting the table, arranging the bridge chairs, making tons of food.  All the cooking, the matzo balls and chremslich, haroset and flourless chocolate cake were worth it. You wouldn't have it any other way and endless numbers of people will tell you it's worth it.

Besides, after it's over you can relax and sip a glass of leftover Passover wine.

And also, after Passover is over and you clean up from the visit and put away the new groceries, you can start to cook and eat all the foods you missed during the holiday. 

For me, that means cookies. Cookies are always what I miss most during Passover.

Like these almond cookies. When I was a kid these were known as Chinese cookies because they were served for dessert at so many Chinese restaurants in the New York Metropolitan area. Chinese cookies are tender and crumbly, redolent of almond, with a clump of sweet chocolate in the middle and a half almond in the very center.

This rich cookie, giver of childhood memories, is a perfect way to end a Passover diet.

“Chinese” Cookies

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate
• sliced or halved almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the shortening, coconut oil and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and well blended. Add the ground almonds, egg and almond extract and beat them in. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix for 1-2 minutes or until the dough is thoroughly blended and uniform. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thick. Cut out circles with a 2-1/2-inch cookie cutter. Place the circles on (ungreased) cookie sheets. Bake for about 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the oven and use a rigid spatula to place each on a rack to cool. Melt the chocolate. Spoon a small amount of melted chocolate into the center and swirl the melted chocolate to form a small circle in the center of each cookie. Place an almond half or slice in the middle of the chocolate. Let dry.

Makes about 24

Mashed Potato, Kale and Feta Cheese Pancakes

See these pancakes? I actually try not to make them too often, because, like the old Lay's ad said: you can't eat just one.

These pancakes are soft and creamy inside, fabulously crispy on the surface and have an earthy, vaguely mineral-y potato flavor plus the tang of cheese. They are among my favorite things to eat ever. 

Also, they are perfect for Passover because they contain matzo farfel, not bread or bread crumbs. 

They are perfect for Hanukkah when you might want a different kind of latke.

They are perfect for vegetarian meals anytime.

They are perfect as a brunch dish for company because you can make them ahead and reheat (preheat oven to 425 degrees F).

Try one! And maybe freeze the rest to keep yourself from overeating. They store nicely in the freezer (wrapped twice in plastic) for up to two months.

The recipe comes from my book, The Modern Kosher Kitchen. The photo is courtesy Glenn Scott Photography.

Mashed Potato, Kale and Feta Cheese Pancakes

• 2 cups matzo farfel
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups chopped fresh kale
• 2 cups mashed potatoes
• 6 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• 1 large egg
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• vegetable oil for frying

Place the matzo farfel in a bowl, cover with very hot water and let soak for a few minutes until soft. Drain the farfel and squeeze out as much water as possible. Return the drained farfel to the bowl. While the matzo farfel is soaking, heat the olive oil and butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the onion and cook for a minute. Add the kale, cover the pan and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes, or until the kale has wilted. Spoon the mixture into a strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the vegetables. Add to the matzo farfel and mix ingredient s to distribute them evenly. Add the mashed potatoes, feta cheese and egg and mix ingredients thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat about 1/2-inch vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Shape the potato mixture into patties and fry for 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.  

 Makes about 16-18 pancakes, 6-8 servings