Hey everyone! So I was asked to guest blog on here and I must say I’m really thrilled! I love sharing my recipes with others and trying others’ recipes as well… I love to cook! This recipe is one of my own made up favorites. I made it up one day with my sis in law and now I make it pretty often, its awesome!

Ingredients:
Chicken Marinade:
BBQ Sauce
Duck Sauce - any kind (I usually use either sweet n sour or garlic)
Paprika
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder

Directions:
Mix ingredients in a bowl. Cut up chicken cutlets into bite size pieces and coat with the sauce, let marinade for about 20-30 minutes.

Remaining Ingredients:
Onion, chopped
Squash, cubed unpeeled
Red Pepper, cut into strips
Can Mushrooms
Frozen Broccoli
Some Oil for Sauteing
Angel Hair Pasta, cooked according to box instructions
Soy Sauce

Directions:
Put oil in a pot and sautee the onions. Once a little soft, add the chicken pieces. It’s ok if the sauce gets its way into the pot as well. When chicken is cooked take out he chicken and set aside. Add the rest of vegetables and cook till everything is soft. If it starts sticking to the bottom of the pot put in some of the leftover marinade sauce. When done add pasta and soy sauce. Mix well and let cook a few more minutes. Take off heat and serve.

p.s. Sorry there are no measurements, I just throw it in as I go along.

~ Recipe submitted by Yides Biederman

Beef Stroganoff, a Russian dish with origins rooted as early as the mid-1800’s, boasts a decadent, creamy sauce, traditionally flavored with dry white wine and sour cream. A rather simplistic recipe (with considerable variations throughout the years), a good Stroganoff offers a truly lovely textural and flavor experience. In this version, I used Tofutti’s Sour Supreme as a sour cream alternative. Although I was rather luke-warm to this product by itself, I must say that it’s a dream to cook with, holding up well to light simmering while contributing an authentic tang to the sauce. Serve over a bed of wide noodles; I used spinach egg noodles in this photograph. Not only is this rendition of Beef Stroganoff completely kosher, it also has fewer fat and calories than the traditional recipe! Pair this entrée with a cold, dry, white wine.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 lb Pepper Steak
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
1 Clove Garlic, minced
6 to 8 ounces Sliced Mushrooms
1/2 cup Dry White Wine
8 oz. Low Sodium Beef Broth, or substitute 8 oz water, 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce and 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 cup (approximately) Tofutti Sour Supreme (this specific product works the best)
1 Tbsp Corn Starch dissolved in a little water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large saucepan, brown beef strips in olive oil on high heat. You may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Turning heat down to medium high, add a little more oil and sauté garlic and onion until onions are translucent and fragrant. Deglaze with white wine, scraping bottom of pan. Add sliced mushrooms and beef broth (or substitute), cover, reduce heat, and simmer until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in Sour Supreme. Add corn starch and water mixture and stir until slightly thickened. The sauce should have the consistency of heavy cream, able to coat the back of a spoon. If it is too runny, add more corn starch. If it is too thick, thin with Mocha Mix, broth, or water, and then re-season accordingly. Serve over broad noodles. In this photograph, I used spinach egg noodles.

*This dish pairs nicely with Galil Mountain Voignier.

~ Recipe submitted by Allaya Diep

Ingredients:
3/4 of a bag of barley
3-4 potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into pieces
1 large sweet potato, skin on kept whole!
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
Meat (flankin on the bone or off)
Kishka (I use Benzies)
2-3 eggs in shell not boiled (I toss a few eggs in, cuz it browns and tastes awesome when mixed in or on the side, once served.)
1 jalapeño (if the mood strikes)
Cumin
Onion Soup Mix
3 handfuls of salt (ok maybe not handfuls, but lots of salt!)
Black Pepper
Paprika
Schug (according to how much spiciness you would like)

Directions:
Place potatoes, onion and garlic into the crockpot. Then add the barley, meat and kishka. Fill the crockpot with water and add the spices. Then add the eggs slowly so they don’t break. Cook on high for 1-2 hours then set on low for Shabbat.

~ Recipe submitted by Erez Safar

The following recipe has been adapted from “Food from the Family Tree” by Pat Bell and Bonnie Rasmussen. These squares are very tasty and perfect for summer, just the right combination of salty and fresh, light yet filling.

Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon butter
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour (I used Whole Wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
4 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 tablespoon crumbled dried
½ teaspoon finely grated nutmeg
350g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (I used 5% fat ‘Bulgarit’ cheese)
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno (I used parmesan instead)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan cook the onion and garlic in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are softened.
3. In a large bowl beat the eggs with the milk until the mixture is well blended, stir in the flour, baking powder, thyme, basil and nutmeg, then fold in the onion mixture, spinach and cheeses.
4. Spread the mixture in a 9-by-12-inch baking dish, well coated with cooking spray, and bake it for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the mixture pulls away slightly for the sides of the dish.
5. Let the mixture cool in the dish on a rack for a few minutes and then cut it into bite-size squares for hors d’oeuvres or larger squares for brunch.

Serve the squares hot, at room temperature or chilled. Serves 12 as an hors d’oeuvre or 6 as a brunch dish.

~ Recipe submitted by Joanne Mandel of the delicious food blog, Eat Love Jump

This dish serves 2 people, adjust according to how many people you are serving.

Ingredients:
Rigatoni pasta, half a box or 8 oz.
5-10 pieces of garlic 1-2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon sundried tomatoes
3/4-1 cup of strained or crushed tomatoes. (I tend to use canned whole tomatoes. Fresh is fine too, preferably skinned.)
2 tablespoons heavy cream.
1 tablespoon vodka
2 pinches of kosher salt
1 of pinch fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
Start by pan roasting garlic till slightly & evenly brown. Keep in mind roasted garlic is sweeter and less strong & pungent compared to fresh garlic. Add in chopped sundried tomatoes. Stir in and then add tomatoes. Let them simmer for at least 10 minutes. You want to see the color change from bight red to a darker deeper color. Mash with potato masher or fork the tomatoes & garlic till desired consistency.
Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Add 1 tablespoon vodka in sauce, more if you need. Add 2 pinches kosher salt, pinch fresh ground black pepper, and additional spices to suit your personal tastes.

Pour water out of pasta but leave a small amount of the water. Pour pasta into sauce pan including 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water. This mixes with sauce and fills the tubes with the creamy sauce. If done right it makes for a different textural eating experience. It’s also why I use rigatoni which is larger than ziti and thus allows for more sauce flow. Sautéing seals the sauce in.

For this pictured version I took a tablespoon of chopped sundried tomatoes and mixed in pepper, chipotle and a bit of balsamic & basil. A note of green garnish will impress with color.

Additional Notes:

Garlic is central to many of my dishes. Browning it evenly makes the taste just right. I love to take leftovers and top with mozzarella cheese and bake till crispy. My recipes are guides. I never follow a recipe exactly. You can but I encourage experimenting with slight changes of your own. Use different tomatoes. Use your own favorite spices. Sauce consistency can vary but should always be well simmered while not runny or dry. You can experiment by adding cream to garlic & sundried tomatoes which will give the cream a richer taste. But careful not to burn by lowering heat first.

Think you can rock this dish? Send in photos of yours by emailing nina@kosherinthekitch.com !

~ Recipe submitted by David Zimand of creagency

I enjoy cooking healthful dishes, substituting whole wheat and whole grains for white flour and adding fresh vegetables whenever possible. However, there are certain times when I skip the healthful fix in favor of some good ol’ fatty flavor! The first time I saw this burger was in California when my husband ordered it from a Kosher spot called “Schwartz Bakery and Deli”. It’s called the “Schwartz Burger” and it’s a beef burger served with eggs over easy. After the first bite of this dish, I was amazed that I had never thought to combine these two greasy favorites together, and knew that it would be on my list of things to barbecue this summer. I wouldn’t recommend this burger to be served on a daily or even weekly basis; however, you must eat this at least once this summer!

Ingredients:
beef burger
bbq sauce
1 egg
lettuce
1 tomato, sliced
pickles
bun

Directions:
Marinate the beef burger with bbq sauce. Then grill the burger. Once the burger is cooked layer it on the bun with pickles, tomato slices and lettuce. Prepare a sunny side up egg and add that to the bun. You can top it off with ketchup or mayo.

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

My husband has never been a fan of salmon until we had it one Friday night at our friends, Mira & Levi. I have to admit, at first I was jealous that she was able to get him to eat two servings of something that he would never finish at home. But then I gave myself a mental slap and realized I would be ridiculous not to ask her how she made it. So, as often happens when leaving the Martinez residence, I went home that night with a fabulous new recipe!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Chopped cilantro
Salmon

Directions:
Combine the olive oil and lemon juice and pour it over the fish. Then put chopped cilantro on top and put it in a 500 degree oven for 20 minutes, uncovered.

~ Mira Martinez’s recipe submitted by Nina Safar

Ingredients:
4 fillets of tilapia
Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup Trader Joe’s tomato basil marinara sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Marinate (or coat) fillets in Italian dressing. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and put a very thin layer of Italian dressing on top of it. Lay coated fillets in pan. Mix marinara sauce, olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper by shaking it in a closed container or ziplock bag. Spoon the sauce over the fillets. Slice an onion and lay the slices on top of and around the fillets. Cover the pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Then, turn the oven up to 400 degrees and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes.

~ Recipe submitted by Sarrit Kovacs

Ingredients:
A steak of your preference, approximately 1.6lbs
5 tablespoons of pomegranate extract
2 tablespoons of bbq sauce
1 teaspoon of honey
1 tablespoon premium olive oil
crushed black pepper
sesame seeds
1 teaspoon of rosemary.

Directions:
Combine the pomegranate extract with the bbq sauce. Marinate the steak in the pomegranate marinade. Place on wood cooking plank. Under grate place 1 or 1.5 cups of wood chips. (Soak wood plank prior to placing on grill.) Take remaining marinade and mix in one teaspoon of honey, 1 tablespoon premium olive oil. Brush onto steak 1-2 times during 20-30 minute cooking time. Prior to end of cooking, place final liberal coating onto steak and sprinkle crushed black pepper, sesame seeds and a hint of rosemary.

Different wood planks and chips will give different hints of taste in the cooking. In the photo I threw in some pine needles which goes well with with the rosemary. This recipe, like all of mine, are meant only as a basis. Alter it to your tastes as desired.

~ Recipe submitted by David Zimand of creagency

I have been slacking in the kitchen these past few months and wanted a fresh new recipe for dinner. I called up my sister in law Sarrit who told me about the following tasty dish her mom often makes. I am a huge fan of my mother in laws cooking so I knew without a doubt it would taste great however I also know that some of her dishes can be somewhat complicated so I was relieved to find out that this one is not only rich with flavor but is also easy to make. I served the fish with couscous and a fresh garden salad.

Ingredients:
Tilapia, either whole or fillets
Cumin
Black Pepper
Paprika
Salt
olive oil
1 onion sliced
1 tomato sliced
several potatoes sliced thinly

Directions:
Pour some olive oil and the above listed spices into a 9 x 13 inch pan and mix the potato, onion, and tomato slices with olive oil mixture to coat them. Then layer the potato, onion, and tomato slices in the pan. Rub the WHOLE tilapia or tilapia filets with the same olive oil/spice mixture and put the rubbed tilapia on top of the layered vegetables. Bake at 350 degrees, checking after 45 minutes to see if potatoes are done.

* If you are not using a whole tilapia, and instead are using fillets, check the fish after about 20 minutes and if it is ready take the fillets off of the vegetables and set aside. Return the pan with the vegetables back into the oven and bake until potatoes are ready (soft). Then place fillets back on top of vegetables and serve.

~ Frida Zipor’s recipe submitted by Nina Safar