Sweet Kaak

Sweet kaak is nothing like regular kaak, except that it’s also kinda like a bread stick. Actually, it’s really more like a cookie made with orange zest. I usually don’t love orange zest, but for some reason I absolutely love sweet kaak. It’s a traditional Syrian treat, one that if I have in my cookie jar (okay, fine, I don’t have a cookie jar, but I do have airtight containers that I can leave on the counter and store cookies in) I will finish in about a day. Basically, they are sugar cookies that are twisted. Yum! Continue reading

Whole Wheat Pasta with Lamb, Tomato and Cumin

Shabbat shalom and welcome to our first installment of recipe and wine pairings! This is a quick, yet special Shabbat dinner and here are two great kiddush wine options for you to enjoy with it.

Many food magazines and websites give wine suggestions with their meals, but they never ever suggest kosher wines. And why would they, they’re not kosher websites. But we are!

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Boston Cream Pie

Happy 2nd birthday, Kosher Foodies!! Today our blog turns 2. And to celebrate this momentous occasion, we would like to share one of our all-time favorite cake recipes with you. Sure, I made it over two months ago for Zeke’s birthday in May and wanted to share it with you the second I cleaned up all the forks and plates, but I figured that this special day warranted an extra special recipe, so here you go. It’s worth the wait.

Boston Cream Pie is actually cake. Delicious yellow cake with pastry cream in the center and drizzled with chocolate ganache. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Well what about if cut a hole out of the middle and stuff it with the cream, then put more cake on top and top that with lots and lots of chocolate? Yeah, it’s good. At least that’s what the people who ate all of it thought. It was a HUGE cake – I doubled a recipe that served 8-10, and at the end of the night only two slices were left. Those were quickly finished, as well. So if you’re in the mood to make an impressive cake, try this one. You won’t be sorry. Continue reading

Mechshe Basal, or Stuffed Onions

There are a lot of things you can stuff with hashu to turn into a meal. This time, I used ground turkey and (half-cooked) brown rice to make a healthier mechshe.

Since our mom doesn’t like onions, this mechshe wasn’t something we ate much growing up, but it’s definitely still one of my favorites! I love the flavor of slow-cooked onions, which get sweet and caramelized in the oven, and the contrast with tart tamarind sauce is perfect.

Since stuffing these is quite a process, I like to make a double batch and freeze half, so that next time the cravings hits, I can cook up a batch right away; no need to defrost, just cook the frozen onions for a bit longer.

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Sour Cherry Linzer Tart

I wanted to make something different for Shavuot. The picture of this tart in the cookbook The Art and Soul of Baking just jumped out at me, and I knew I had to try it. Also, I love nutty crusts. When I read through the recipe and saw that it called for cherry or berry juice, I knew I wanted to make this tart even more sour and use POM! Continue reading

Shakshuka

Sunday brunch means runny egg yolks to me. I’ve been practicing my poaching skills and getting pretty good consistently runny yolks and cooked whites. But you know what? Poaching in water isn’t your only option! This is something our dad always made growing up, eggs cooked in tomato sauce!

You can make this while you’re still half-asleep on a Sunday morning with slices of leftover challah and your favorite store-bought tomato sauce.

 

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Cherry Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti

I love biscotti! They are the perfect after dinner treat, and are a great treat in the morning to dip in coffee. These cookies are filled with dried fruits and nuts, which makes me think they’re healthy, too! I usually take my time and make teeny skinny biscotti, but these are great cut a bit thicker, since you get a mouthful of the dried fruit. Plus, it makes making the biscotti that much easier. Continue reading

Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins

Sour cherries and chocolate are an amazing combination. And muffins are a great freezer-friendly breakfast or snack. So when I bought an extra bag of dried sour cherries, I just knew I had combine them with chocolate. And I did! These muffins are great, and I made them a little healthier by using whole wheat pastry flour and cottage cheese in the batter, instead of all white flour and sour cream.

The tartness of the cherries combined with the sweet chocolate and batter is perfect. You may think you want to cut down on the sugar in the recipe, and I was thinking about it, too, but the cherries are super sour, so I was pretty sure we needed the sweetness to counteract the tart cherries. Maybe I’ll try to make these even healthier with raw sugar, agave, or even honey next time. Continue reading

Banana Pops!

On Monday I bought a Zoku Quick Pop Maker! I got home and put it straight in the freezer because I just couldn’t wait to try it out. And boy am I glad about that impulse buy! I had some overripe bananas hanging out on my banana tree (read: KA dough hook), and mixed them with just a teeny bit of sugar and some milk – voila, I made really healthy banana pops that rival those banana FrozFruits we used to eat on the beach (fine, more often we got coconut and strawberry. Claire always got lime).

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