Independent Jewish Spirituality
Lag B’Omer is a great holiday, because you get to build campfires! When I think campfire, I think s’mores. And thanks to Eatocracy, we have a new way of remixing s’mores with, of all things, Oreos.
The recipe is simple: twist and pull apart an Oreo. Roast a kosher marshmallow (not all marshmallows are kosher, so make sure to check for a label). Smash the two together, and bon apetit!
Chag Sameach!
I am a gourmet coffee NUT! Espresso, mocha latte, iced coffee, cappuccino…if it has the noble bean, water and some form of cream, I’m on it.
This is a very simple, very decadent coffee drink featured in the NewKosher vegan cookbook. I have made a small change by making it an espresso drink instead of traditional coffee, because I found that the crema (the oily brown foam that rests on top of a well made espresso drink) is enough cream that one does not need to adulterate the drink with cream, milk or soy.
In fact, most coffee drinking outside of the United States is not coffee as we know it. While traditional coffee that Americans drink is a rough ground coffee bean and slow filtered water, the Americano is more or less a watered down espresso: about double the water of an espresso “shot”. This makes a small, powerful cup of coffee with enough caffeine to bring you to life, without having to make an entire pot.
The flavor in this drink comes from cardamom pods and sugar. In theory, you could make a cardamom simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water, simmering the green pods until they impart their Indian citrusy flavor, but I feel that my method saves time and actually uses less sugar.
Cardamom Americano
One shot of strong, high quality espresso (don’t skimp on this — buy something that is not instant, and ideally not from the United States. The Swiss and Italians know what they are doing)
One shot glass full of hot water
Three green cardamom pods
One teaspoon sugar
Place three cardamom pods in a small espresso cup. Pour in hot water and sugar, stirring well. It helps to lightly mash the cardamom pods when they are fully soaked, but do not crush the pods as swallowing or biting into whole cardamom is really unpleasant.
Add the coffee and stir. Serve with biscotti, a hookah, or whatever your pleasure is.
Homemade chocolate syrup or chocolate sauce is key in my favorite drink: a homemade iced mocha! This chocolate sauce recipe is not a dieters delight at all. With butter, sugar, espresso, milk and of course, chocolate, this amazing sauce is truly decadent.
1½ cups of milk
1 oz (30 g) of butter
4 tbsp of sugar
4 tbsp of cocoa powder (any kind will do)
½ tsp of vanilla essence
1 “shot” of espresso (higher quality is better, but a twice brewed coffee will work in a pinch)
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, sugar, vanilla and stir constantly until well combined. Take off the heat and add milk and espresso, continuing until sauce gets syrupy, but still a little thin.
This is the secret. Take off the heat and place chocolate sauce in a chilled bowl or place the entire pan in an ice bucket, stirring constantly. The sauce will become very thick, very quickly, and will have a beautiful glossy shine. If it’s still too thin, put the sauce back on the heat and repeat.
To make an amazing mocha, just add two or three heaping tablespoons of the sauce to a shot of expresso and cold milk.
Nigella Lawson’s Jewish identity is pretty interesting. Taking part in the third series of the BBC family-history documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are?, Lawson sought to uncover some of her family’s ancestry. She traced her ancestors to Ashkenazi Jews who originate from eastern Europe and Germany. Though both of her parents are Jewish, she was not raised in the tradition. And like most British people, she has a love of Christmas (culturally only, as Lawson is an atheist). To her credit though, Lawson has said that she has developed a distinctly “Jewish character”.
Either way, we love her recipes and even though this recipe was listed as a great Christmas or Thanksgiving dish, we think it makes an even better Passover dish. Chametz free and totally easy, Nigella’s Butternut Squash with Pecans and Blue Cheese will put you into a food coma that will make you recline even more at the seder table than you are supposed to! Thank you, Food Network.
4-pounds 8-ounces butternut squash
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 stalks fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup crumbled Roquefort or other blue cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Halve the squash, leaving the skin on, and scoop out the seeds, then cut into 1-inch cubes; you don’t need to be precise just keep the pieces uniformly small. Having trouble with this part? Just click here for a video how-to.
Put into a roasting pan with the oil and strip about 4 stalks thyme of their leaves, sprinkling over the butternut squash. If you can’t get any fresh thyme, sprinkle over dried (but honestly, fresh is best).
Roast in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes or until tender.
Once out of the oven, remove the squash to a bowl and scatter over the pecans and crumble over the cheese tossing everything together gently with salt and pepper to taste.
Today we bring you the Exodus Pomegranate Lemonade, the perfect drink that’s kosher for Passover and a great drink for this warm weather. The recipe comes to us from the NewKosher Cookbook, available on all your favorite i-formats as well as ModernTribe.com.
Exodus Pomegranate Lemonade
“And upon the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about” (Exodus 28:33-4)
1 1/12 ounces lemon/citron potato vodka
lemonade
pomegranate juice
lemon slice (for garnish)
Pour lemon/citron vodka over highball glass with ice. Fill with lemonade and a splash of pomegranate juice on top. Serve with a lemon slice. Make sure the juices do not have high fructose corn syrup and that your potato vodka is kosher for Passover!
