Carrot-Ginger Salad Dressing

What an incredible first days of Pesach! As the sun set on Monday we set up the tables for the 100+ people who would be attending our first Seder. While the table set up was very plain and simple, it was beautiful to know that 105 Jewish souls would soon be filling those seats and taking part in a Seder like millions of Jewish people before them.

We were busy in the kitchen getting everything ready for this large Seder and then 15 minutes before "go time" the room started to fill up. I would venture to say I had never met about 40% of the people in attendance - but it still felt like a giant room filled with a giant family. We are all one, and at this Seder you could feel it. It was a beautiful holiday filled with lots of people, lots of cooking and of course lots of eating.

Below is the "recipe" for the Carrot-Ginger salad dressing served with our vegetable salad.



Carrot-Ginger Salad Dressing


Carrots
Fresh ginger
Fresh garlic
Cottonseed oil
Fresh squeezed lemon juice
Fresh squuezed lime juice
Sugar syrup
Salt


Peel carrots, ginger and garlic and process in food processor fitted with chopping blade. Add oil, lemon juice, lime juice, sugar syrup and salt.


This dressing can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge, just make sure to stir before serving.

Seders in Every Corner of the Globe

109 years ago, on the 11th of Nissan, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was born in the city of Nikolaev in Russia. Today is the 11th day of Nissan on the Hebrew calendar and it marks the 109th birthday of the Rebbe.

The Rebbe was a visionary - and the Rebbe had an incredible impact on the world. The Rebbe knew that there were Jewish people all over the globe that were searching for ways to feed the fire burning in their Jewish souls. He knew that people from all walks of life were in need of Jewish education, were in need of a place to call their Jewish home. The need was so great to the Rebbe that he enlisted his own army of "Shluchim" (emissaries) to move to places near and far to provide for Jewish communities large and small. 

The Rebbe set up a system that allows Jewish people to connect with G-d in any part of the world in which they may find themselves.

Having been privileged to meet the Rebbe, and receive his blessings, numerous times, I am honored to be a part of the Rebbe's vision and be one of those thousands of emissaries. 

As I write, one of my six brothers is preparing to have Seders with the Jews in South Korea, and another is in the Ukraine for Pesach, and a third is in Montreal providing Seders for Jewish students at the McGill University. Along with my brothers, there are countless others leading Seders in a wide variety of interesting places. The Rebbe in his infinite wisdom set up this system to allow Jewish people everywhere to participate in a Seder. 

The Rebbe taught the world at large that through acts of goodness and kindness we can have an immense impact on the world - why not do something good for someone else today in honor of the Rebbe's birthday!

Speaking of Seders around the globe, I am sharing a recipe from our Seder menus this year. 

(PS: If you, or someone you know, is still need of a Seder make sure to visit www.Passover.net to find a Seder in almost any part of the world.)

And with that I wish you a wonderful Pesach. 

Cucumber Salad

(Yes, this is a SUPER simple recipe -  but tastes really good!)

Cucumbers

Sweet onions

Canola oil

Fresh lemon juice

Fresh lime juice

Sugar

Kosher salt

Peel and slice cucumbers and onions (I do half moons). Dress with canola oil, fresh lemon juice, a little fresh lime juice, sugar and Kosher salt. Mix well. Allow salad to sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving to allow flavors to blend.

Pre-Pesach Dinner

You know that feeling of "the calm before the storm"? That is sort of how my life feels at the moment. While it is pretty serene in my home at the moment, I know that Pesach and all that it entails is right around the bend. Luckily, this year we have been able to get our early Peasch preps done in a timely fashion without too much chaos. Yet, knowing that there will be around 170 people between the two Seders at Chabad House, and lots of people for the other meals, I know that the "storm" is coming.

(PS...if you don't have Seder plans yet, you are more than welcome to join us at Chabad House..you can visit www.ChabadofTidewater.com to RSVP)

One of the ways I managed to keep things relatively calm in my home this week is by switching my dinner style for the week. While I am normally the person who makes elaborate dinners, this week it occurred to me that I better just let dinner slide and go with some really easy and simple foods. Less work, less mess, less stress.

So what have we been eating? We've had lots of pasta, lots of eggs, salad and even some pancakes. Tonight I made spaghetti with a homemade vegetable sauce (It's a simplified version of the tomato veggie sauce I make regularly.)  Super delicious and super easy. 

So whether you still need a quick idea for a pre-Pesach dinner, or if you will need something easy when you are relaxing when Pesach is over....this sauce will make your day a little easier.

Easy Tomato-Vegetable Sauce

Canola oil

1 onion

1 red pepper

2 cans Hunt's Tomato Sauce

1 can Hunt's Diced Tomatoes

4 fresh basil leaves

Garlic powder

Sugar

Oregano

Place diced onion, diced pepper and a small amount of canola oil in a pot. Sauté vegetables until they are somewhat browned and soft. Add cans of tomato sauce and the can of diced tomatoes. Season with chopped basil, garlic powder, a little sugar and some oregano. 

Bring to a boil and then lower and let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

Pesach Is Just Around The Bend...

Many people complain and kvetch as Passover rolls around. They grumble about cleaning their homes, they whine about all the cooking and they fuss about the lack of their favorite foods. While I don’t like cleaning anymore than the next person, I truly love Passover. 

Each year when Passover comes to visit, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the great miracles G-d performed for the Jewish nation in Egypt and throughout history. When I read about the slavery of the Jewish people, it is a good reminder to be thankful for our freedom. 

When the Passover story took place, G-d commanded the Jewish people to clean their homes of Chametz (leavened foods). He also commanded that forever after Jewish people should eat no Chametz and of course eat Matzah during the Passover holiday. 

While it is true that our regular diets contain lots of Chametz, Passover foods don’t need to be boring or tasteless. In my family we use very few prepared products and primarily use eggs, fish, meat, chicken and lots of fruits of vegetables. With all of the restrictions we still manage to find foods we love and eat more than necessary.

One of our favorite Passover foods is brisket....here is the recipe...Happy Pesach!

Traditional Brisket

1 whole brisket

2 onions, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Place brisket into a large pan. Chop onions and add to the pan. Drizzle the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice onto the brisket. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. 

Bake on 325 for 4 1/2 hours

Crunchy Chicken

Having a severe milk allergy, I am super duper careful with what goes into my mouth. After having seen dairy potato chips in bags of pareve chips on more than one occasion, I stopped eating potato chips a good number of years ago. A few years ago when I was in Israel I discovered that they have potato chips that are made in a dairy free facility - and I quickly made friends with the potato chips. So of all weird things to bring home from Israel (or to have friends bring home for me), I bring pretty red bags of Osem potato chips.

I recently found that one of the bags of chips seemed to have gone through a lot of trauma and all the chips were crushed. Today I decided to put that bag of chips to good work and did a little experiment. I opened up the bag, poured the chips into a dish and worked on crushing those oily, salty bits of potato even further. Once they were sufficiently crushed I used them to coat tonight's shnitzel.  Turns out that the potato chips make a delicious and super crunchy chicken coating! So whether you are trying to finish off chips left from a party, or simply are looking for a dinner with a good crunch, I am sure this chicken will please your family.

Crunchy Chicken


Chicken breast - cut into strips
Eggs
Garlic powder
Onion powderPotato chips
Oil


Preheat oven to 400.
Prepare chicken strips and place in a bowl. Beat eggs with a fork and pour into the bowl which has the chicken. Sprinkle in some garlic powder and onion powder. Mix the chicken so that all pieces are coated with the egg. Pour potato chips into a dish and crush. Pour some oil into a glass baking dish (or jelly roll pan), and tilt the dish so that it is coated with the oil. Dip chicken into the crushed potato chips and make sure the chicken is totally coated. Place chicken strips in the dish in a single layer - do not overcrowd. Place in oven and let bake - when the chicken looks crispy it is time to flip the pieces of chicken over. When the second side looks crispy they are done. If your pieces are not too thick they can be ready within 15 minutes (sometimes less!).
Serve with ketchup or your favorite dip.

Honey-Soy Sauce Salmon

Last week my hubby and I went on a little date to paint pottery. (If you have ever been to my kitchen you know that I love painting bowls and plates to use in my kitchen - so much so that I don't really have any space left for new additions to the collection!) As I do each time I paint pottery, I picked out my piece, placed it on the table and then did a little staring at it, trying to visualize what I could do with the plain white plate.

Yesterday I rinsed the salmon fillets we were going to have for dinner and then placed them in a glass dish. The next thing I knew I found myself staring at the fish as if it were a blank canvas, trying to decide how to  "design" our dinner. It occurred to me then that at times cooking feels like an art. When I paint I need to decide on colors, shapes and shades. When I cook I need to choose flavors and textures. After contemplating my salmon for a few minutes I gathered some honey, soy sauce, fresh garlic, black pepper, lime juice and ground ginger. I mixed it all together and a short while later we had a great salmon dish.

(Sorry this time I didn't really measure anything, so here is my best guess.)

Honey-Soy Sauce Salmon

Salmon fillets

a few tablespoons honey

a few tablespoons soy sauce

a few cloves of garlic - minced

a few sprinkles of black pepper

a few sprinkles of ground ginger

a splash of lime juice

Pre heat oven to 385. Rinse and place salmon in a glass baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Pour mixture over the salmon. Take a spoon and spoon some more of the sauce onto the fish. Place in oven uncovered and bake for about 15-20 minutes. When the salmon is cooked it will flake easily with a fork. Spoon additional sauce from the dish onto the fish and serve.

Cornflake Crumb Coated Shnitzel

If you are a mother, then you are probably like most moms I know. I imagine that when it comes to cooking dinner you want to create something that is quick and easy, delicious, healthy - AND something your children will eat.

Luckily for me, my two kids are pretty healthy eaters (though one day my son Shalom announced that I must give him candy because he hadn't any had yet that day - I must've missed the memo stating that giving your kids candy every day is a must). For the most part they will eat lots of fruits and veggies which makes me quite happy. The tricky part with my kids is usually the protein part of dinner. Hamburgers have to be made a specific way, meatballs need to be a certain texture, salmon needs to be pretty pink and not have too much "stuff" on it, and chicken needs to be prepared in a few tried and true fashions.

When it comes to "shnitzel" I usually end up making what my kids refer to as chicken nuggets - though I can tell you they do not resemble chicken nuggets I've seen at any eatery. When I was in high school in Montreal, my aunt made fried "shnitzel" for Shabbat almost every single week. My aunt is an awesome cook, but I will say that the shnitzel was certainly a favorite.

When I got married and became the cook in my family, I thought about frying shnitzel - but to be honest, I don't have all that much patience for standing in front of a frying pan and turning each and every piece. I decided to try and duplicate the shnitzel - but without using a frying pan.

I quickly taught myself that the coated shnitzel can be oven fried and can be super delicious.  Every time I make these "chicken nuggets" they are finished off to the last drop!

Sooo..if you are like me and don't want to spend all that time frying your shnitzel - here's how to make it!

Cornflake Crumb Coated Shnitzel


Chicken breast - cut into strips
Eggs
Cornflake crumbs
Salt
Garlic
Oil


Preheat oven to 400.
Prepare chicken strips and place in a bowl. Beat eggs with a fork and pour into the bowl which has the chicken. Mix the chicken so that all pieces are coated with the egg. Pour cornflake crumbs into a dish and mix in some salt and garlic powder (feel free to use other spices - I just know this is how my kids will eat it). Pour some oil into a glass baking dish (or jelly roll pan), and tilt the dish so that it is coated with the oil. Dip chicken into the cornflake crumb mixture and make sure the chicken is totally coated. Place chicken strips in the dish in a single layer - do not overcrowd. Place in oven and let bake - when the chicken looks crispy it is time to flip the pieces of chicken over. When the second side looks crispy they are done. If your pieces are not too thick they can be ready within 15 minutes (sometimes less!).
Serve with ketchup or your favorite dip.


Some notes:
Of course you can make these in foil pans - I have just found that the chicken is more crispy when baked in glass or on jelly roll pans.
If you need to use racks in your oven - make sure to flip the trays in the middle - the chicken will get crispier when cooked on the top rack.