Food Talk
I don’t know what to say. Chicago has a Kosher Dunkin Donuts and it is open 24-hours a day. In three days I ate four egg & cheese croissants, plus a donut. The beauty wasn’t the novelty of a Kosher Dunkin Donuts – Boston had one for many years – it was the fact that it was open 24-hours. No matter how late I got back, Dunkin Donuts was there and ready to serve me an egg & cheese croissant. I am home now and suffering from withdrawals. Please help.
March 5th, 2010
As More Torah readers know – I am a health nut and a sucker for healthy eating. And I saw recently that a little bit of chocolate is good for you (it does something, I am not sure what, but I think it has to do with the heart).
Intuitively, store-bought chocolate, loaded up with sugar and junk, cannot be good. But then I started noticing the high percentage cacao chocolate (I don’t know what cacao is – but it sounds healthy). I bought an 83% bar – it was good, a little bitter – but at 83% that means 17% junk – not for me.
Then I found 99%! And the bar apologizes for the 1% (they did it to be careful). It tastes just like raw coffee beans, but eating it feels good (except that it gets pasty and stuck to my teeth), and a lifestyle of 99% can only mean better living.
I am now an advocate for 99% cacao pure healthy chocolate. Along with coffee and shwarma I plan on living forever.
Does anyone know what “evaporated cane juice” is? It sounds like a scam to me…
October 12th, 2008
Over 50 people were at my Purim bash this year. The room was buzzing with joy and talk about my amazing meatball subs.
“Tzvi, how did you do it? They are even better then last years!”
Yes it is true, I’ve done the impossible and improved upon my famous, although not-so-secret meatball subs.
The two major changes were:
- On the advice of my mother, I used matzo meal instead of breadcrumbs. The meatballs stuck together perfectly – many commented about how smooth and round they were (last year’s meatballs fell apart and there was a lot of “meat sauce” at the bottom of the pot).
- I splurged and didn’t use the super cheap ground beef. The extra lean made all the difference in the world – there wasn’t a three-inch layer of grease along the top and no one got sick or woozy from it.
Rumor has it that my meatball recipe is going to be published in the Boston Torah Academy cookbook. Contact the school, pre-order one for yourself and extra copies for friends and family, and let them know that the meatball subs are your main inspiration for ordering. It will help the school and I am sure some of the other recipes in there will be good too.
March 11th, 2007
Today is Erev Yom Kippur (the day before Yom Kippur) – that means it is time for kreplach! Kreplach is a funky Jewish dumpling (the meat is a ground brisket, but ground beef works too, wrapped up in a noodle type pastry). On the three days during the Jewish year when we klop (bang on something) we also eat kreplach. We klop on Erev Yom Kippur (on our chests, during the pre YK confession), Hoshanah Rabbah (on the floor with our bundles of Aravas), and Purim (on the table and floor when we hear Haman’s name - boo) – these three days are also “hidden” holidays and hence the reason we eat kreplach (the meat is hidden in the dumpling). We have a tradition that anyone who eats kreplach three times a year until he is 120 will merit to live a long life. Gmar tov and have an easy fast.
October 1st, 2006
New York is the Mecca of Kosher meat (or is it Hallal meat?). I was there for a few days and I indulged - I think I over-indulged. I am now super sluggish and relegated to a regimen of carrot juice (6 – 8 carrots, 2 stalks of celery and a touch of ginger root), salads and whole wheat toast.
After steaks at my parent’s house in Jersey, I went into Manhattan to sample American shwarma at Alibaba’s on Amsterdam Ave. near 85th Street. It was very good and I think the lafa was whole wheat, though I am not sure – but it was brown. I went back to Jersey to a swank restaurant in Millburn and then I was back in the city – this time at Wolf and Lamb on East 48th. Wow – I ate like a king, a Philly cheese steak without the cheese, and by the end of that meal I had trouble staying awake. Large cups of coffee saved me.
I am now off to Texas and I looking forward to fresh barbecued steer. Can it get any better?
August 22nd, 2006
We went to Boston’s new kosher restaurant on Sunday. I knew it was somewhere in Newton but that was about it, so I called. “Where are you?” “Oak Street.” “Where is that?” “……” “I am on Route 9, where do I go?” “Oak Street.” “Great. Is that off Route 9?” “……” “Are there any landmarks, like a gas station or something?” “Yes, gas station.” “What is the name of the gas station?” “……” “Hmmmm, so when I see the gas station, that is Oak Street?” “No.” “No?” “First you make left on eiyiya.” “Eiyiya?” “Yes.” “How do you spell that?” “Umm… E.” “E?” “Yes.” “So I make a left on Eiyiya, at the gas station and then what?” “You drive until you see stopsign.” “Stopsign?” “Yes and you make a left at stopsign and you will see us ok?” “Ok, thank you.”
Somehow we made it. “Eiyiya” was Elliot, the “E” was a big help, and yes, there was a gas station there too. I found the stop sign and all worked out for the best. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was lovely and best of all – there is a tanning salon just across the street. It is called “Incredible Tan” and one of my kids now really wants an incredible tan. We were able to talk him out of it for now, but I am afraid he may sneak out one day when we are eating lunch and come back orange.
May 31st, 2006
I got back from Israel yesterday. My flight landed at 6 AM at JFK and I decided that it was best to make the trek over to Moshe’s in Flatbush for Shachris and breakfast (I drove down from Boston the day of my flight and left my car at a long term parking place – very cool thing to do).
I needed the Belt, westbound to the Verrazano. (I am not explaining what anything is on purpose – being cool means knowing New York like a local). Obviously, I was in the right lane and the entrance ramp for the Belt was on the left – duh. [Dork alert – try getting across four lanes of New York traffic with Massachusetts plates.] It was great, no one would let me go; I sat there with my blinker on and didn’t budge. Every car honked, a few people were even kind enough to shout new words at me.
I then called Moshe on my cell phone for better directions. Big no-no – in NYC talking with a hand-held while driving is a ticketable offence – at least that is what the cop told me when he pulled me over. But he was great (all NY cops are great), he felt sorry for me, let me off the hook, and told me how to find Avenue P.
Breakfast was at the Garden of Eatin – a real diner with aluminum, mirrors and light-brown coffee (and it is totally kosher).
Not much more to say. I love NY; it is a real adventure, especially after an all-night flight from Israel.
May 25th, 2006
My meatball subs were a huge hit this Purim (they always are, but this year they were particularly good) and I am revealing my secret recipe. This is big news, please try them yourself and feel free to comment, offer improvements, health tips – whatever you want.
For starters, you will need a huge pot and a lot of meat (Rubashkins sells ground beef in 10 pound tubes, I bought two.) I was looking for a bargain and bought the cheapest, fattest meat I could get. It was a big plus – as the fat melted away, it left a flavor that was out of this world, but I am getting way ahead of myself.
Other ingredients included:
- Two bags of onions
- One large jar of minced garlic (tip – the spices, and “spice” products sold in the Hispanic section of the supermarket are not only usually Kosher, but at least half the price of the same stuff sold in other sections of the store)
- Olive oil
- Six large cans of tomato puree
- Two of the bigger cans of tomato paste
- Leftover challah and a loaf of Italian bread
- Assorted spices (I used garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil, black pepper and a wee bit of salt – but it doesn’t matter, if the meat is fatty enough all the other spices get lost in the mix)
- Eggs
The cooking process was very simple. I cut up almost all of the onions, dumped them into the bottom of my huge pot along with a healthy dose of olive oil, added all the minced garlic and stirred until it caramelized. Once it was hot and very yellow, but before the onions started to burn (if they burn you’ve gone too far and the sauce is ruined), I added one can of the puree. I then refilled the empty can of puree with water and added that. I repeated this process with the remaining 5 cans. After the puree and caramelized gunk was hot, I added the two cans of tomato paste and more water and stirred until it all dissolved.
While the sauce was warming, I put all the leftover challah in the food processor, ground it to dust, and added two onions and spices. I did this again as I went along with the loaf of Italian bread, but it was mushy and not nearly as good for meatball making as the old challah.
I then kneaded five pounds of meat, added about a quarter of a loaf of bread, and kneaded some more. When the texture seemed good, I add three eggs and all the spices. I kneaded until it looked done. (This year, I defrosted the meat early. It was a very good move because usually the meat is so cold my hands start to hurt.)
By this point the sauce was boiling, I stood next to the bowl and rolled five pounds (plus bread) of meat into balls and lovingly dropped them one at a time into the sauce. I did this entire process a few more times until all 20 pounds of beef were gone. At some point along the way I added spices to the sauce plus a pinch of salt.
It took me about 3 hours to complete this entire process; all the while the pot was boiling and boiling. By the time I was done, there were about 3 or 4 inches of grease (the joy of cheap meat) floating at the top of the pot. I let it cook until late in the evening. The next morning, my wife turned the pot back on and ladled off 3 large puree cans of grease!
Because of the pre-Purim fast, I was unable to taste as I went – it was a big plus and only added to the mystery. But it was worth the wait. I served the entire concoction on large seeded sub rolls to a group of about 50. Almost all of it went and I am now a hero to many. Follow these directions carefully and you too can be the envy of all your friends.
March 15th, 2006
