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

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

My husband has been in school for the past 6 1/2 years. Just this week he finished. It’s the most unbelievable feeling for me, even though it is his accomplishment. He was doing the work and getting the straight A’s, while I was home taking care of our home. Not only will he have more time to himself, but he will also have more time to spend with us without reports and finals on his mind. Because of this huge occasion, we hosted a little get together with his classmates. We wanted it to be the one last hurrah to get his class together before they were to take the next steps in their lives.

I had many meal ideas planned out in my head for this event when my husband informed me that two of his classmates were vegetarian. It was not a big deal until I realized the majority of the dishes I was thinking of, were made of chicken and meat. I had to come up with something that was filling and tasty. I wanted to make something that also resembled the other foods I was making so as not to single anyone out. One of the dishes I made were a variety of wraps. So I figured one of the variety could be vegetarian. But then I had to think of what to fill the wrap with. I wanted it to be hot and have the same tasty flavors as some of the other wraps. And so I came up with this spinach vegetarian wrap.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 large flour tortillas
3 tbl. Olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
5 white button mushrooms
1 bag fresh baby spinach
Schwarma spice + a little olive oil
2 roma tomatoes
1 avocado
thousand island dressing

Directions:
Heat up the olive oil in a medium sized frying pan on a medium flame. Chop the garlic and add to the pan. Saute till you smell the garlic or when it begins to sizzle. Slice the mushrooms and add to the garlic. Saute until mushrooms absorb a lot of the oil. Then add the bag of spinach a little at a time. Cook all together in an open pan until spinach begins to wilt. It should not become too soggy. Remove from heat. Take 1 1/2 tbl. of the shwarma spice and add to a little bit of olive oil until becomes thick. Pour over the spinach and mix until it’s entirely covered. Chop the roma tomatoes and avocado and pour thousand island on top until mixture is covered. Take flour tortillas and put a little of the spinach mixture onto the bottom middle. Pour tomato and avocado mixture on top. Roll it together like a burrito. Slice in half and serve hot or room temperature.

~ Recipe submitted by Becky Brownstein of Spits & Giggles

There aren’t many kosher Thai restaurants out there, are there? After The New York Times published a recipe that seemed much easier than we thought making pad thai was, we decided to give it a try, only slightly differently. Using bits and pieces from other recipes around the internet, we decided upon this recipe, tasting and adding ingredients when needed. This better-than-a-restaurant meal was a satisfying dinner for four hungry people, with enough left over for one of us to pack for lunch the next day. After “marinating” in the fridge overnight, the flavors intensify, making tomorrow’s lunch extra flavorful.

Our version wasn’t vegan - we used eggs. Nor was it gluten-free - we used soy sauce. But these two ingredients can easily be omitted or substituted to make your pad thai vegan and/or gluten free! If you know where to buy kosher fish sauce, use that instead of the soy sauce (and let us know where to get it!). Or use tamari; either way, this can be an awesome gluten-free Passover dish.

(This recipe has been adapted from New York Times)

Ingredients:
1 (13.2 oz) package of rice noodles
1/4 cup peanut oil
5 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 eggs
1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and sliced
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
handful of cilantro, chopped
lime, cut into wedges

Directions:
1. Cook noodles according to package directions. After draining, drizzle with one tablespoon peanut oil to keep from sticking and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, put tamarind, soy sauce, honey, and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. Stir in red pepper flakes and set aside.
3. Put the rest of the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add scallions and garlic and cook for about a minute. Add eggs and scramble until just done. Add cabbage and cook until it begins to wilt. Add tofu.
4. When the tofu begins to brown, add the noodles and sauce to the pan. Toss until everything is evenly coated with sauce.
5. Serve, sprinkling each dish with peanuts and garnishing with cilantro and lime wedges.

Wasn’t that much easier than you thought? Most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry. Look for tamarind in Indian or Middle Eastern markets.

~ Recipe submitted by Stephanie and Jessica of The Kosher Foodies