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Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 9th, 2009, 8:47 pm
by Lavabe
Does someone have a good recipe for charoset?

Am I the only one out here who doesn't like gefilte fish? :oops:

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 9th, 2009, 8:57 pm
by Sue71
Lavabe wrote:Does someone have a good recipe for charoset?

Am I the only one out here who doesn't like gefilte fish? :oops:
Puke puke puke puke puke puke puke. That stuff (which I will not dignify by specifying) is a nasty sort of awful.

As for charoset... um I can call the authority and ask her if you want me to.

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 9th, 2009, 10:03 pm
by OZZIE4DUKE
Lavabe wrote:Does someone have a good recipe for charoset?

Am I the only one out here who doesn't like gefilte fish? :oops:
No, and definitely you are not the only one!

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 9th, 2009, 10:12 pm
by cl15876
Lavabe wrote:Does someone have a good recipe for charoset?

Am I the only one out here who doesn't like gefilte fish? :oops:
I am not Jewish but did a search for the recipe, and would say that I would be willing to try charoset With all the fruits ranging from apples, dates, figs, nuts, etc. sounds yummy!

From Wikipedia, "There are many recipes for charoset. A typical recipe from the Eastern European (or Ashkenazi) tradition would include nuts, apples, cinnamon, and sweet wine — ingredients mentioned by King Solomon in Song of Songs as recalling the attributes of the Jewish people themselves. Honey or sugar may be used as a sweetener and binder: the mixture is not cooked. Sephardi-style charoset with apples, pears, raisins, figs, orange juice, red wine, pine kernels, and cinnamon. (Photo: Olve)

Recipes in the Sephardi tradition are usually cooked and may include raisins and ingredients native to the Middle East, such as figs, dates and sesame seeds. For example:
o In Egypt, it is made only of dates, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and sweet wine.
o In Greece and Turkey, it consists of apples, dates, chopped almonds and wine.
o In Iraq and Central Asia it sometimes consists of grape jelly
o In Italy, it can include chestnuts
o In Spanish and Portuguese communities of the New World, such as Surinam, it may include coconut."

I see the grape jelly mixture concoction! Is this like ketchup makes everything taste better?

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 10th, 2009, 7:57 am
by windsor
Lavabe wrote:Does someone have a good recipe for charoset?

Am I the only one out here who doesn't like gefilte fish? :oops:
I struggle with the smell of gefilte fish - it makes me gag so you are not alone. My long time friend's Grandmothers Charoset recipe is:

Ingredients
2 cups apples (peeled, cored, chopped)
3 bananas, mashed (the riper the bananas the sweeter the charoset)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (peanuts, walnuts - whatever you like)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup sweet red wine
sugar - if needed*

Blend all ingredients together. Refrigerate

*You can toss in a little lemon juice or orange juice (talking tablespoons here) to make it more tart or a little sweeter

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 10th, 2009, 5:20 pm
by EarlJam
I've got no substantial content to add here. I just have to express how much I love the term "Jewish Soul Food."

Would be a great name for an album.....or a band. The Beastie Boys?

"The Beastie Boys broaden their musical horizons with this courageous attempt at the sounds of soul. Look for their new CD, "Jewish Soul Food" to be out in stores this summer!"


-EarlJam

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 11th, 2009, 3:54 am
by colchar
This isn't about Jewish soul food, but a question about kosher food.

My understanding was that kosher food was that which has been killed according to religious tenets. If I am correct in that, how can there be items such as kosher salt (since it doesn't have to be killed)? I know I could look this up elsewhere but I'm shooting to be the first person here to reach 100 posts (CB&B is currently ahead of me) so I figured I'd be a PW and ask the question here.

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 11th, 2009, 10:44 am
by CathyCA
colchar wrote:This isn't about Jewish soul food, but a question about kosher food.

My understanding was that kosher food was that which has been killed according to religious tenets. If I am correct in that, how can there be items such as kosher salt (since it doesn't have to be killed)? I know I could look this up elsewhere but I'm shooting to be the first person here to reach 100 posts (CB&B is currently ahead of me) so I figured I'd be a PW and ask the question here.
Well, that's part of it. There is also a Biblical prohibition against cooking a kid in the milk that would have nourished it. So, you don't mix meat or milk products in a meal. There are meat meals and there are milk meals, and then there is food that is neutral or "pareve." You have meat dishes and utensils and you have milk dishes and utensils. There are meat sinks and milk sinks, meat dishwashers and milk dishwashers, meat fridges and milk fridges. You wait 4 hours (some wait 6--I only had to wait 4) between a meat meal and milk meal so that you don't mix the two in your stomach. ;)

Also, non-Jews can't enter the kosher kitchen, so I'm telling you about this, even though I've never entered one. I stayed at a hostel in Jerusalem one summer. I could tell whether we were having a meat meal or a milk meal simply by observing the utensils placed on the table. :D My favorite meal there was schnitzel and pasta. Wait 4 hours and then walk down to Ben Yehuda Street to have ice cream. YUM.

And kosher salt gets its name not because it's necessarily kosher, but because it is used to remove blood from meat, and therefore make the meat kosher.

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 11th, 2009, 11:08 am
by herb
CathyCA wrote:
colchar wrote:This isn't about Jewish soul food, but a question about kosher food.

My understanding was that kosher food was that which has been killed according to religious tenets. If I am correct in that, how can there be items such as kosher salt (since it doesn't have to be killed)? I know I could look this up elsewhere but I'm shooting to be the first person here to reach 100 posts (CB&B is currently ahead of me) so I figured I'd be a PW and ask the question here.
Well, that's part of it. There is also a Biblical prohibition against cooking a kid in the milk that would have nourished it. So, you don't mix meat or milk products in a meal. There are meat meals and there are milk meals, and then there is food that is neutral or "pareve." You have meat dishes and utensils and you have milk dishes and utensils. There are meat sinks and milk sinks, meat dishwashers and milk dishwashers, meat fridges and milk fridges. You wait 4 hours (some wait 6--I only had to wait 4) between a meat meal and milk meal so that you don't mix the two in your stomach. ;)

Also, non-Jews can't enter the kosher kitchen, so I'm telling you about this, even though I've never entered one. I stayed at a hostel in Jerusalem one summer. I could tell whether we were having a meat meal or a milk meal simply by observing the utensils placed on the table. :D My favorite meal there was schnitzel and pasta. Wait 4 hours and then walk down to Ben Yehuda Street to have ice cream. YUM.

And kosher salt gets its name not because it's necessarily kosher, but because it is used to remove blood from meat, and therefore make the meat kosher.
While I am nowhere near Othodox, the designation as "Kosher" also depends on the supervision of the process in preparation of the food. Thus rabbinical supervision (and blessing) plays a part. In fact there is a bit of a conflict between groups performing the supervision - so that there are segments of the Orthodox popoulation who do not recognize another group's "certification".

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 11th, 2009, 11:10 am
by CameronBornAndBred
herb wrote: While I am nowhere near Othodox, the designation as "Kosher" also depends on the supervision of the process in preparation of the food. Thus rabbinical supervision (and blessing) plays a part. In fact there is a bit of a conflict between groups performing the supervision - so that there are segments of the Orthodox popoulation who do not recognize another group's "certification".
That would make for some interesting pot luck dinners to sit in on.

VIEWING ALERT NOW!!!

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:03 pm
by Sue71
Bobby Flay is doing a matzo ball soup Throwdown on the Food Network. :-?

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:10 pm
by Lavabe
Using SCHMALTZ? And a piece of flanken?
Oy!

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:11 pm
by Sue71
Lavabe wrote:Using SCHMALTZ? And a piece of flanken?
Oy!
I know about the flanken! WTF?

Schmaltz... yeah we do that.

What was with the baking powder???? Is THAT how they get to be floaters???

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:14 pm
by Sue71
Oh and someone told me at Passover dinner that boiling the matzo balls in water (vs the soup, which I always do) makes them lighter.

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:14 pm
by Sue71
Sue71 wrote:
Lavabe wrote:Using SCHMALTZ? And a piece of flanken?
Oy!
I know about the flanken! WTF?

Schmaltz... yeah we do that.

What was with the baking powder???? Is THAT how they get to be floaters???
Jalapeno? WTF??????

Sofrito (sp?)???????????

Are these two on crack? It's JEWISH soul food. Damn, people.

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:16 pm
by Lavabe
Correction... it's jalapeno dill.

HERESY!!

And both seem to prefer floaters. UGH!! ~x(

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:19 pm
by Sue71
Lavabe wrote:Correction... it's jalapeno dill.

HERESY!!

And both seem to prefer floaters. UGH!! ~x(
My grandmother is rolling over in her grave. :-t :-q

And I don't care if it's jalapeno matzo meal. Barf. :ymsick:

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:27 pm
by Lavabe
If it wasn't for the jalapeno, I'd take Bobby's, as it looks more traditional. The sofrito business is downright scary. I half expect them to pull out some Madame Chalula's habanero sauce. x_x

And the fluffy matzah balls ... ycch. b-(

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:28 pm
by Sue71
Ok, so um, check this out. Hahahahaha! She was a judge for the Throwdown.

Re: Ymm, Jewish Soul Food

Posted: April 12th, 2009, 11:30 pm
by Sue71
Lavabe wrote:If it wasn't for the jalapeno, I'd take Bobby's, as it looks more traditional. The sofrito business is downright scary. I half expect them to pull out some Madame Chalula's habanero sauce. x_x

And the fluffy matzah balls ... ycch. b-(
Yeah, they're both EPIC FAILS for me. No sofritos and no jalapeno. Take them away and I might try either one. Add them = FAIL.