Kosher.com Gourmet Hamentaschen Giveaway!

February 10, 2010 by Stephanie | 13 Comments

What is your favorite hamentaschen flavor?

We tried to make them with pumpkin once, but they didn’t turn out as well as we’d hoped. Maybe because the pumpkin butter just wasn’t very good. Apricot is always a favorite, as is chocolate (one Hershey’s kiss in the middle or lots of chips mixed into the dough both work).

What’s your secret ingredient? We put orange juice in the dough. Not much of a secret, but it’s something different than your ordinary cookie.

Comment on this post with a link to Kosher.com for your chance to win a tin of gourmet hamentaschen! Make sure to leave us with your contact information so we can notify you if you win. We’ll be picking the winner at random on Monday, February 15.

Edit: And the winner is: Melissa! Congratulations, and enjoy!

Homemade Marshmallows

February 10, 2010 by Jessica | 10 Comments

I like making candy. I never really thought marshmallows were candy until I made them, but now I know they are. Making them involves cooking sugar and corn syrup to the “soft ball” stage, and anything that involves cooking sugar and using a thermometer is candy to me. The result is just very different than some candies we’re used to!

At first I thought making these would be hard. Plus I’ve never used gelatin before, but making marshmallows is surprisingly easy and very fast (except for the 4-hour waiting time while they set). Try it at your own risk – you’ll want to make them all the time. My favorite way to eat them is in hot chocolate. You can also add them to your ice cream, melt them on top of brownies, or make s’mores…the possibilities are endless. Did I mention they taste better than store bought ones? Continue reading …

Schnitzel (Kinda)

February 8, 2010 by Stephanie | 4 Comments

There are so many things to do with chicken cutlets! Some of them are healthier than others, some of them taste better than others, and some of them are easier to prepare than others. This one falls into the categories of easy, delicious, and kinda unhealthy.

Granola

February 4, 2010 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

Whenever I see granola at the supermarket, I think about mixing up the flavors to make the ultimate combination. Maybe I want cranberries and not raisins, or coconut and almond. Well, by making my own granola I can make my own flavors, and I can save money, too. Make two trays worth of granola and freeze half of it.

Lottie Biscotti

February 1, 2010 by Jessica | 10 Comments

Although we found this recipe in a cookbook and properly cited it, we chose to take it down. We plan to share with you a new and equally delicious recipe for biscotti in the near future, so stay tuned! In the meantime, please enjoy our lovely photographs of the process. If you have any questions regarding this subject, feel free to email us or leave a comment.

I love biscotti, especially this biscotti. They sell them all over New York, but I’m always too cheap to buy it. So when my aunt gave me the recipe from one of the Lottie’s Kitchen cookbooks, I hung it up on the fridge, ready to bake it. Well, it took a few months to finally get started. Biscotti baking is a whole day activity, really. Especially if you only have two available baking sheets. Make sure you have enough time to make the dough, bake it off once, then cut them and bake them in batches. It took me about five hours, including clean up (well, I was working on a few other things at the same time and don’t have a dishwasher). Continue reading …

Pumpkin Ice Cream

January 27, 2010 by Jessica | 2 Comments

We love making ice cream, and have been making it for years (though you can’t really tell from this blog!) It’s pretty easy, and the results are delicious! Much better than anything you can get at the supermarket. You can also experiment with all kinds of flavors, which is how I got to pumpkin. Though pumpkin season is over, the idea of pumpkin ice cream really got to me, and when I realized I still had a can of pumpkin in my pantry, I decided that this would be the perfect flavor to share with you.

“Meat” and Dairy Lasagna

January 24, 2010 by Stephanie | 6 Comments

When it comes to lasagna, we Kosher Foodies always have to make a choice: dairy or meat. Well, I bought some Morningstar Farms Meal Starters to use as meat, and so I could have “meat” and cheese together! Layers of pasta, tomato, meat, cheese, and vegetables made for a very heavy and delicious dinner, the perfect comfort food for a winter night. Whatever you don’t eat can easily be frozen and reheated.

Toasted Pumpkin Ravioli Appetizers

January 21, 2010 by Stephanie | 2 Comments

Remember when we made pumpkin ravioli and saved the ones with the store-bought wonton wrappers in the freezer for future use? Well, this time, instead of a classic brown butter and sage sauce, I decided to cook them up finger-food style as toasted pumpkin ravioli, not too unlike the toasted ravioli Rachael Ray inspired us to make a while back.

Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables

January 18, 2010 by Jessica | 3 Comments

This simple dish is a healthier version of mac and cheese. I adapted it from Giada’s version, but she uses way more cheese and adds sauce. I decided to omit the sauce and make it more like mac and cheese, less like baked ziti. Her recipe also calls for 4 mushrooms, which is nothing. I left them out, though they probably would have been a great addition to the meal. Next time I’ll definitely use them.

Flaky Pie or Tart Dough

January 15, 2010 by Jessica | 2 Comments

If you have a food processor, making pie crust is very easy. If not, it’s a little more difficult (but still not so hard). I have tried many different recipes, but prefer the ones that don’t use shortening (or lard, of course!), so when I found an all butter crust in The Art and Soul of Baking, I became hooked. I don’t use it all the time, but it’s definitely a page that I turn to often.