So many recipes in The Open Kitchen beg to be made immediately if not sooner. Maple Roasted Parsnip Soup sounds elegant but looks simple to make, a great choice for a simcha or even a Yom Tov meal when you don’t want to face yet another bowl of chicken soup. Avocado and Pink Grapefruit Salad dressed with white grape juice, lime juice and shallots, among other things, sounds like my idea of heaven: low in calories and dripping with yumminess. Smoky Braised Portobello Mushrooms, marinated in soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, maple syrup, liquid smoke and garlic is the kind of dish I would want to double, because I know without a doubt that half of them would get devoured before it ever got to the table.
Having always heard how complicated it is to make risotto, Easy Risotto sounds like an oxymoron, yet I am already making a mental note to buy Arborio rice so I can try it out. Asian Seafood Sliders, which includes recipes for both spicy and avocado mayonnaises, looks like a fabulous, lighthearted alternative to the popular beef ones. Looking for some serious comfort food? Chicken Pot Pie, a great way to use up leftover roast chicken or turkey, cooks up in just one pot with chunky vegetables and can be topped with your choice of biscuit dough, pie crust or puff pastry. In case the thought of Veal Marsala, prepared with shallots, mushrooms, garlic and, obviously Marsala wine, isn’t enough to make you start salivating, the magnificent picture will have you running to the nearest store to pick up a package of veal. Kudos to the editors for offering two varieties of drool-worthy lemon mousse, neither of which contains any raw eggs, and one variation being totally egg free.
While so many of the recipes seem to speak to today’s culinary trends, the basics are here as well – four different challah recipes; a from-scratch gefilte fish recipe; a recipe for deviled eggs; an overnight potato kugel and recipes for chicken, beef and vegetable stocks. No matter what you are looking for, you will likely find it here.
The Open Kitchen is available at select Jewish bookstores, online at openkitchencookbook.com and at the SAR Academy at 655 West 254th Street in Riverdale. For more information e-mail [email protected] or call SAR at 718-548-1717.
The Open Kitchen. This one’s a keeper.
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Whole Wheat Olive Rosemary Loaf (Parve)
A delicious Italian-inspired bread; perfect with pasta and wine.
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup unbleached bread flour
2 tsp salt
½ tsp yeast
2 cups cold water
2 cups pitted black olives
3-4 tbsp rosemary leaves from 3 stems
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, salt, yeast and water; mix well. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and then with a clean towel. Place in a cool, dry place to rise for 18 hours.
- When dough has almost tripled in size, stir in olives and rosemary leaves. Dough will be stringy.
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
- Spray a loaf pan or pot with olive oil spray.
- Transfer dough to prepared pan. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes until bread is golden brown.
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Simple Smoked Salmon Family-Style (Parve)
Grilling the salmon outside takes the heat out of your kitchen in those hot summer months.
1 Alder or cedar wood grilling plank per salmon fillet
1 (3 pound) salmon fillet with skin
Dry Rub:
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1.5 tbsp brown sugar