Two For One: Spaghetti Squash and Salmon Patties

I've been making mild attempts to cook for myself more recently, since I've gotten into the bad habit of picking up food on my way home from one of the myriad of kosher grocery stores or restaurants that are within a 2-block radius of my apartment. (As my mom points out, I am lucky that this is an option!) Especially on those weeks when I have a dinner meeting one night, and an event the next night, and dinner plans the next - it almost doesn't make sense (at least, to me!) to buy ingredients and cook for the one night I am home. So I'm just being economical by buying a $15 dinner, instead of spending $15 on ingredients that will just end up going to waste, right? (Humor me.)

So, somehow spaghetti squash made its way into my head last week. I have no idea why - I've literally never cooked with it before. But that was what I wanted to make, and by god, I was going to make it good! (Tomato sauce and cream and caramelized veggies and cheese will do that to any ingredient!) I also decided that I needed a protein to go with it, and decided that salmon patties would win; I have really amazing memories of going to my grandmother's house as a kid for random dinners during the week where she'd serve us salmon croquettes. She'd mash a potato into the mixture and fry up a ton of onions with them. That smell is one that I still remember to this day! Since I can and will never make them as good as my little grandma, I decided to make my own version of her classic - this is not your grandmother's kosher kitchen after all!

Once I finished cooking everything and writing it all down, I realized that by swapping/omitting just a few ingredients, this could be a great Passover dinner! So, guess what I'll be making in a couple months again...if not sooner!

Spaghetti Squash with Creamy Tomato Sauce and Vegetables
serves 2 large portions
 
1 Spaghetti Squash
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/2 large onion, chopped
oil
1/2 jar marinara sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 bag shredded mozzarella
handful of frozen peas (omit if on Passover)

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out just the seeds.
2. Place both squash halves cut side down in a microwave safe dish and fill with 1 inch of water.
3. Microwave for 12 minutes (rotating the dish halfway). Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, sautee sliced mushrooms and onions in oil on medium-high heat, until browned.
5. Add marinara sauce and allow to start to bubble. Stir in cream.
6. Using a fork, scrape the spaghetti squash halves so that all the "spaghetti strands" come out. Save the squash skins to use as a bowl (optional).
7. Add the spaghetti squash strands to the marinara mixture and stir to combine. Add half of the mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and the peas; incorporate.
8. Put half of the squash mixture back into each of the squash "bowls" (optional, or just put into a small casserole dish). Top with remaining cheese.
9. Bake at 425 until cheese is browned, about 10 minutes.

Salmon Patties with cucumber dill sauce
serves 2-3
 
Leftover or store-bought poached salmon (or 1 large can of canned salmon with no bones/skin), flaked - I used 2 store-bought fillets of poached salmon, about 8 oz.)
1/8 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1/8 cup chopped dill
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/2 large onion, chopped
3/4 cup panko crumbs (or more if the mixture feels too loose and doesn't hold together) - (on Passover, use matzo meal instead)

1. In a large pan, sautee mushrooms and onions in oil. (I sauteed the veggies with the spaghetti squash veggies from above, and then just used half in each recipe.)
2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. (If the mixture is very moist, add more panko.)
3. Form patties; I got 5-6 from this mixture.
4. Heat 1/4 oil in a large sautee pan; pan-fry the patties for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
5. Serve warm with cucumber dill sauce.

Cucumber Dill Sauce
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped dill
1 persian cucumber, peeled and seeded, chopped very finely
1/2 tbsp. dijon mustard (omit if on Passover)
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
salt and pepper
1/4 cup cream (or milk or water)

Combine all ingredients, adding cream (or milk or water) until desired consistency. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Crisp-Filled Apples

Happy new year! I figure, new year, new recipe, new blog post - let's see how long I can keep this up!

After a month of Chanukah parties, family holiday gatherings, work events, volunteer events, travel, huge Shabbos meals, New Year's parties, and more, I was D-O-N-E. I spent my final day before heading back to work after the long New Year's weekend wandering the aisles of the grocery store, before heading home and cooking for a few hours, and finally eating the fruits of my labor - literally! - while watching Real Housewives and Downton Abbey. What did YOU do that sounds any better??

I don't always have one, but yesterday, my sweet tooth was out in full force. I wanted to bake something warm and comforting to battle the snow and arctic blast that are heading our way this week. But, being that it's right after New Year's, and there are all these resolution shmesolutions, I wanted something that seemed a little healthier. So fruit, specifically, baked apples, sounded perfect to me! But then I kinda mucked it all up (and by "mucked it all up," I mean that I made it infinitely more tasty!) by adding brown sugar and oats and margarine and cinnamon and all the best parts of an apple crisp, stuffed inside a hollowed-out apple, baked with a gooey caramel sauce on the bottom, served it warm and steamy, and topped it all off with a nice scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt (because, moderation) on top. And: scene.

Fresh out of the oven, all hot and crackly and bubbly

The perfect crisp-filled apple

Check out that baby sliced open - filled with all that crisp topping. It's the perfect bite, every time!

Crisp-Filled Apples
serves 4

Crumb topping:
4 tbsp. margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

4 apples
1 tbsp. margarine
Sprinkle of cinnamon
1/2 cup water

Caramel syrup:
3 tbsp. margarine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Make the crumb topping: combine all topping ingredients by hand until fully incorporated and crumbly. Set aside.
2. Prepare apples: slice a small slice off the bottom of each apple to level the apples so they stand upright.
3. Using a paring knife, carve a circle around the stem of each apple, about 1 inch down. Using a spoon, scoop the inner stem part of the apple out to create a "bowl" to hold the filling. Do not scoop all the way to the bottom, but go pretty far down to be able to pack more crumb topping in there!
4. Pack 1/4 of the crumb topping into each of the apples, packing down.
5. Prepare caramel syrup: in a microwave-safe bowl, melt the margarine, brown sugar, and cinnamon for 30 seconds, or until the margarine is melted, then stir to fully combine.
6. Grease an 8"x8" dish and pour the syrup on the bottom. Arrange the apples on top.
7. Thinly slice the remaining 1 tbsp. of margarine and put a slice on top of each apple. Dust the entire dish with cinnamon.
8. Pour the 1/2 cup of water into the bottom of the dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the apples are soft and begin to crack.
9. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream and the caramel sauce drizzled on top.
 

Recipe Revamp: Pumpkin Bread Pudding

One of the earliest recipes I posted to this blog was a Pumpkin Praline Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Sauce. It was good and I very much remember enjoying it. But, I'm not gonna lie - I haven't made it since I posted it. That tends to happen to me with new recipes - I love them, people rave about them, and then I never make them again because there are so many new recipes out there to try!

Until a few weeks ago. I was assigned dessert for a meal I was co-hosting and, I don't even have to say it: it's fall, I'm obsessed with pumpkin, there was no way this dessert was going to be anything other than pumpkin-based. After referring to my old pumpkin bread pudding recipe and reading all my little notes about what I'd do differently, I decided to just do things differently from the get-go. I tweaked quantities, changed the topping, and - most significantly - I completely changed the accompanying sauce. My tastes have matured a bit since this blog began, and even though I'm not a whiskey fan myself, I can definitely appreciate the flavors of bourbon in a spicy pumpkin dessert. So, here she is: my updated Pumpkin Streusel Bread Pudding with Sweet Bourbon Sauce.

Pumpkin Streusel Bread Pudding with Sweet Bourbon Sauce
Serves 12

1 challah (I used a cinnamon crumb challah, but a large plain challah is just fine too)

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

3 cups non-dairy milk (I used original flavored rice milk)

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

2-3 tsp. cinnamon (I always err on the side of cinnamon)

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

For the streusel topping:

4 tbsp. margarine, softened

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

For the Sweet Bourbon Sauce

1 stick margarine

1 c. sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp. bourbon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
3. Cut the challah into 1-1.5" cubes and place in the pumpkin mixture. Mix well so all the challah cubes are covered; set aside to absorb.
4. Meanwhile, make the streusel topping. In a small bowl, mix the streusel ingredients by hand, so that they become crumb-y (pea-sized).
5. Pour the bread pudding into a greased 9"x13" pan. Drop the streusel mixture on top to cover.
6. Bake for an hour, checking after 50 minutes with a knife to see if the pudding has set.
7. To make the Bourbon sauce, melt the margarine in a small saucepan with the sugar over medium-high heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the egg and whisk continually for 2 minutes, so that the egg doesn't scramble. The mixture will thicken a bit. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the bourbon.
8. Serve individual portions of warm bread pudding with room-temperature bourbon sauce on top.

Spectacular Spuds

I am of the opinion that no meal is complete without carbs. I come from a long line of women who would routinely prepare fantastic Shabbos and yuntif meals that were accompanied by a potato of some sort and a rice of some sort and some other version of a non-Atkins approved food item. Because that's just comfort. So when a friend asked me to prepare a potato dish for a recent yuntif meal, I was more than happy to oblige.

Mashed potatoes are kinda just the perfect blank canvas. They go with sweeter sauces and more savory items; they are the perfect bed for chicken, beef, fish, everything. But they can be sorta...blah. So I just started sauteeing and adding and mixing and, before I knew it, I had The Perfect mashed potato. I don't use that term lightly, so you need to trust me on this. Caramelized onions, garlic, and mushrooms added amazing sweetness and texture, and the combo of margarine, pareve sour cream, and chicken stock made for a very flavorful and moist dish - which I was a especially worried about because I made these several days before they were going to be eaten, and I knew they'd be reheated for several hours. (Nothing worse than a dry, chalky mashed potato. Priorities, people.) And then, how can you go wrong by adding crispy fried onions on top? I mean, you can't.

These flew off the table. And then I started giving out the recipe (which meant that I had to actually write down the recipe.) And then I made them again. And again. And now I gift them to you. You're welcome.

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Mashed Potatoes
serves 12

5 lbs. potatoes
2 10-oz. containers of mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 tbsp. minced garlic
oil

1 stick of margarine

1 12-oz. container of pareve sour cream

1-2 cups chicken stock (I've used both real chicken stock and the fake stuff. Both work fine.)

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of French's Fried Onions, for serving

1. Heat oil in a pan and sautee the mushrooms until caramelized on medium high heat, about 20 minutes. (They will release a lot of liquid at first. Continue cooking until all the liquid is gone and the mushrooms brown up.) Set aside.

2. In a separate pan with additional oil, caramelize the onions and garlic on medium heat, about 15 minutes. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1.5" pieces. Put them in a large pot and cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil until soft, about 10 minutes; drain and put back into the hot pot to evaporate excess water for 2 minutes.

4. Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl and begin to mash with a masher. Add margarine and sour cream while the potatoes are warm and incorporate.
5. Add the caramelized vegetables and chicken stock.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Potatoes are bland can handle quite a bit of salt.)

7. Serve on a platter with crunchy onions on top.

Punkey Bread

Happy Columbus Day! Or, as I like to call it: Happy There's-Nothing-Different-About-Today-For-Me-Because-I'm-Still-At-Work Day :-) We are heading into the final stretch - three sets of yuntif down, one more to go! For those of you counting, that's 14 yuntif meals (including pre- and break-fasts) eaten so far - thank goodness for a little dancing later this week to burn off some of those calories!

This is actually one of my favorite times of the year. Rosh Hashana brings tons of family to Harrisburg and to my house, and Sukkos has always been a special holiday in my neighborhood and in my community. So, to be honest, I'll be sad when it's all over next week!

This time of year is also fun because I get to play around in the kitchen and come up with some new recipes. This Sukkos, with its 65 degree weather and the leaves finally changing, I was craving - you guessed it - pumpkin. I can't help it: pumpkin makes me think of fall, fall makes me think of pumpkin, it's all just one big happy family to me.

I ran into a friend of mine last week who makes this really delicious Monkey Bread. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, get familiar ASAP - it's either balls or chunks or layers of bread dough, baked together (usually in a bundt pan) with some flavoring in between all the layers. You can just pick off individual chunks of bread to serve - so great for the food pickers in my life! (I love you all :-P) After I saw my friend, I thought about asking her for the recipe, but then I decided that it's much more fun making something that I have no idea how to make....especially in my mom's kitchen. She loves that. I also decided that I wanted to add pumpkin to really bring out the it's-finally-fall feeling.

Secret ingredient: Kineret Frozen Challahs. The same challahs of Cinnamon Bun fame. They are so versatile; why go making challah dough when you have great challah dough so readily available? Just defrost them in the fridge for a few hours and you're good to go.

Okay, so here's the thing. I had this whole grand plan in my head about how perfectly this was going to work out. But you know how it goes, "man makes plans...." I was going to mix up some pumpkin and melted margarine:

And then mix together some brown sugar, pumpkin pie mix, and cinnamon:

  
Then, I was going to separate the defrosted challahs into their individual (6) strands:

Before cutting each strand into 6 pieces, and then rolling the pieces into balls:

So far, so good. My work station looked beautiful:

So, I start dipping the balls into the pumpkin and then rolling into the sugar mixture. 

But that's when things went....icky. The pumpkin and the sugar combined into this sugary brown paste. 

Instead of starting over, though, I decided to just go with it. I mixed together all the pumpkin-margarine with all of the sugar-spices and just kinda rolled the dough balls in that. Roll, drop, repeat - 72 times (because I used two challahs), until the pan was full:

I let the dough rise for about an hour on the warm oven, and then I baked it. It rose almost to the top and smelled ah-mazing:

After a quick cool-down (I was really cutting it close to yuntif, but I needed to flip it out and get a photo in!), I turned it out and voila! The pumpkin-sugar made this sticky caramel glaze that coated (what was now) the top of the cake, and the dough balls were all perfectly covered in a spicy-sweet deliciousness. It was the perfect dessert to have around for the next 3 days just to pick at haphazardly. And we did. Oh did we ever.

Punkey Bread
The recipe that follows is the recipe that I ended up using (and not what I originally intended to do). It worked great, but if I tweak it going forward, I will update this blog post!

2 Kineret frozen challah doughs, defrosted in the refrigerator for 4 hours)
1 stick of margarine, melted
7 oz. (half a can) of pureed pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie mix
1 tsp. cinnamon

1.  Mix together the (cooled) melted margarine, pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie mix, and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. Carefully separate the challahs into their individual (6) strands, and cut the strands into 6 pieces each. Roll the sections into balls. (You should have 72 dough balls.)
3. Dip each dough ball into the pumpkin-sugar-spice mixture and drop into a greased bundt pan. Continue this process using all the dough balls, and make sure to evenly distribute the dough balls around the pan.
4. Allow the monkey bread to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Bake the monkey bread in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is browned.
6. Cool for an hour, and then flip onto a cake plate to serve.

Apple-Cinnamon Stuffed Challah

By popular demand, I present to you a creation I am pretty proud of. A few years ago, I got it into my head that I wanted to make challah for Rosh Hashana. But, being Rosh Hashana, I wanted to do something a little bit more special than your average round challah. (Though I will say that, as a very proud Harrisburg native, I am completely spoiled when it comes to challah, since we have, hands down, one of the best challah bakers living just a few blocks away and from whom we buy challah every Shabbos.) I decided to somehow stuff apples into a challah, and after some trial and error over the years (and several good tips that I've picked up along the way), this recipe was born. I'm so excited to bring six of these babies home for Rosh Hashana and to spend time with my family and friends this week. Shanah Tovah to everyone!

Apple-Cinnamon Stuffed Challah
The base recipe for my challah is Joan Nathan's challah recipe, which was published by the New York Times several years ago. I think this recipe isn't too sweet, which is great because the apples definitely add some sweetness to it. It's also dense enough to stand up to the extra weight of the apples.

One recipe makes 3 challahs of this size, so I doubled the recipe in order to get 6 medium-large challahs. This year, I did a 3-strand braid (though in the past, I've done 4- and 5-strand braids. But because of all the apples inside, 3 strands still makes a pretty wide challah.)

1 ½ packages active dry yeast (1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil, more for greasing bowl
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 to 8 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 apples, peeled and chopped finely (I used Red Delicious)
1/4 cup sugar
½ tbsp. cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water.

2. Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading.)

3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off.

4. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.

5. Meanwhile, during the second rise, peel and chop apples finely. Toss with 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Important tip: Put apple mixture into a strainer and allow the juices to drip out. (The addition of the sugar draws out a lot of liquid from the apples which, if not drained, will make the challah very soggy.)

6. Divide dough into 3 equal sections (one for each challah). Divide each of those sections into 3 even balls and roll the balls into long strands, about 12 inches long. Flatten the strands with the palm of your hand, and fill with a line of the strained apple mixture.

7. Fold the dough around the apples and seal tightly, rolling a bit to even out the seams. (Roll the dough in some flour if it seems like it's getting sticky.) Repeat with the remaining two strands.

8. Braid the challah and tuck the corners under to seal the braid. Place challah on a greased cookie sheet and brush with egg wash (made from the remaining egg). Either freeze breads or let rise another hour in refrigerator if preferred.

9. To bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. Dust challahs with a mixture of cinnamon-sugar (optional; 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tbsp. cinnamon).

10. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden, rotating halfway through. Cool loaves on a rack.

Moroccan Magic

Well, we're less than 2 weeks away from the Manischewitz All-Stars Cook-off, and now that I'm up on their website, I guess it's really official! For anyone who is in NYC and would like to attend the cook-off on March 27, please just send me a message to let me know - I'd love to have you there in my cheering section!

Just because I still need to perfect my Latke Crusted Chicken with Apple Cider, Mushroom and Rosemary Sauce doesn't mean that I can't have other recipes on my mind too! Gotta think about next year's cook-off ;-)

I had some people over for Shabbos lunch this past week and was a little sick of cholent (even though I do make a really good cholent, ifImaysaysomyself). But I also figured that throwing all the ingredients for whatever I was making into a crockpot on Friday afternoon and walking away would make my life super easy. I settled on a Moroccan chicken with lots of spices and Middle Eastern-inspired flavors. But then around 3:30 PM on Friday, after panicking for six hours that my chicken would dry out by lunchtime on Saturday after cooking for 17 hours, I decided to just bake everything and re-heat it on a hot plate for lunch. (These are literally the things that keep me up at night: "will my chicken dry out?")

I decided to make this dish with bone-in chicken thighs because the dark meat tends to be moister than chicken breasts, and since this was going to be re-heated the next day for several hours, I didn't want anything to be too dry. But if you're making this dish and serving it right away, use whatever cut of meat you prefer. (A whole chicken cut into 1/8's would work great, too.) I would, however, recommend using bone-in chicken (and not boneless) since the veggies underneath the chicken need to cook for quite a while, and boneless chicken will almost certainly dry out. I also kept the skin on because I love crispy skin, but you could remove the skin and it would still be great - in fact, the spices will permeate the meat even more and probably be extra yummy. Serve this over some rice or couscous and you have a really lovely tagine-inspired meal.

This is such a good, healthy, colorful, pretty dish - so pretty, in fact, that I totally forgot to garnish the serving platter with the toasted sliced almonds and chopped parsley that I literally prepped and had ready just for this meal. Such is my life..... (The instructions for the garnish are included anyway!)

Moroccan Chicken
serves 8-10

1 lb. butternut squash, cut into 1 inch cubs

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup dried apricots (cut in half - optional)

1 can chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup raisins

salt and pepper

3/4 cup canola oil, divided

4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 lbs. chicken on the bone with skin (any combination of pieces)

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup sliced almonds

parsley to garnish

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

2. Combine the squash, onion, apricots, chickpeas, raisins, salt and pepper in one large roasting pan or two 9"x13" pans. Toss with 1/4 cup oil to coat.

 

3. In a large bowl, combine cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper and mix with remaining 1/2 cup oil. Rub individual pieces of chicken with the oil and spice mixture and lay the chicken on top of the vegetables. (Divide chicken among two pans if using two 9"x13" pans.)

 

4. Pour chicken stock around the base of the pan(s) and bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until fully cooked. Increase heat to 425 and uncover chicken; cook for an additional 15 minutes until the skin is crispy.

 

5. Meanwhile, in a dry pan over medium heat, toast the sliced almonds.

 

6. To serve, on a large platter and pour the fruit and vegetable sauce over it. Scatter toasted almonds and chopped parsley for garnish.