Although Natural Heart Month (February) is coming to an end, here are two delicious recipes from Dei Fratelli, a gluten-free, all-natural kosher brand, using heart healthy tomatoes.

http://www.deifratelli.com.

Tomatoes contain large amounts of vitamin C, providing 40 percent of your daily value. They also contain a healthy portion of your daily value of vitamin A, potassium, and iron.

Recent studies conducted by Harvard researchers show that women with the highest intake of tomato-based foods, rich sources of the antioxidant lycopene, had a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease compared to women with low intake of those foods.

Freshly canned and processed tomatoes, like Dei Fratelli’s, have higher lycopene content than garden tomatoes and don’t lose nutritional value during processing.

Research shows that lycopene acts as an antioxidant and can help people stay active even in old age.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Dei Fratelli Petite Diced Tomatoes, drained (approx. 1/2 of a 28 oz can)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced or soft goat cheese
Basil leaves for garnish, chopped

Bruschetta topping

3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Rusks/Bread

1 loaf Ciabatta bread, sliced 1/2 in thick

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush slices of bread with olive oil and rub with cloves of garlic. Place on sheet tray and place in the oven for approximately 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove bread from oven to cool. Combine all of the ingredients for bruschetta topping in a bowl. Mix gently. On cooled bread, place sliced mozzarella or spread on goat cheese. Add a spoon full of bruschetta topping. Garnish with chopped basil.

Serves 4-6

Tomato Soup

Ingredients

2 (28 ounce) cans Dei Fratelli Crushed Tomatoes
1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
1 cup onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
3 1/2 cups Chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
4 drops hot pepper sauce

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and garlic until onions are tender. Add carrots and celery; cook 7 to 9 minutes until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire sauce, salt, thyme, pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Serves 8

Wow.. what an exciting week it has been. The New York Giants were victorious in their Super Bowl quest. Hope everyone enjoyed last week’s Jewish Standard cover story with a round up of local eateries and their SB foods. My children were scattered, some together, and one at school.. and we were at our friend’s home with a nice small crowd of 7. The camaraderie, company, game, and catered deli/chicken wings, spinach dip in a hollowed out football-shaped pumpernickel bread, mini hot dogs, knishes, and of course, dessert to wash it all down, were great. Several of the office staff here event went to the stadium for Tuesday’s welcome rally.

Anyway, back to reality.

I found this delicious recipe in a newer cookbook “How to Cook Like a Jewish Grandmother—Old-Fashioned Jewish Recipes” by Marla Brooks.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Short Ribs

Yes, short ribs are a bit of an indulgence and sometimes a little fatty, but once in a while, everyone needs to splurge.

3 pounds short ribs
1/4 cup honey
1 cup beef broth
1 cup ketchup
dash Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, sliced

Broil ribs in broiler for 5 to 10 minutes, or until brown. While ribs are browning, mix honey, broth, ketchup, and Worcestershire together and set aside. Saute´ vegetables until soft and place in roasting pan. When ribs are done, place on top of veggies. Pour sauce over ribs. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 2 hours, turning ribs once or twice during baking. Serves 4.

Grandma’s Hot Beef Borscht

(fleishig borscht)

2 quarts water
2 pounds beef brisket
10 small beets, julienned or diced
2 yellow onions, sliced
juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste

Place the water, meat, beets, and onions in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook until the meat is tender. Add lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper and simmer about 10 minutes. Taste for seasonings. Serve with crackers. Serves 6 to 8.

SUPER BOWL weekend is here!!!! There is excitement in the air with our local New York Giants in the running against the New England Patriots.

There is a great recipe for sweet and sour meatballs and for those New England fans…. how about a pot of chowder? I have included two choices for fish soups. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the game and celebrates responsibly.

Sweet and sour meatballs

-Arlene Pomarlen

-Adapted from Gerrard Berman Day School’s cookbook “B’tei’ avon!”

Note from Beth…I always add cocktail-sized franks (or cut up regular reduced fat frank) and add to the sauce. The longer they simmer, the better they are.

1 14-ounce bottle chili sauce
1 8-ounce jar grape jelly
Juice of 1 lemon
8 ounces water
3 pounds chopped meat (Note from Beth..I always make a mixture of beef and ground white-turkey to my meatballs)
1 grated onion
2 eggs
about 1/2 cup panko or other plain bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
dash pepper/salt

Mix chili sauce, jelly, lemon juice, and water together. Bring to boil and let simmer. Set aside. Combine meat with seasonings, eggs, and onion. Add bread crumbs to meat and mix well. Coat a cookie sheet with vegetable spray. Form into small balls and brown in oven at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Drain well and drop into sauce. Cover and simmer on low heat for an hour. (add hot dogs if desired—B)

Salmon chowder

dairy

-adapted from the 1977 edition of the Moriah School’s “The Cook’s Book”

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cups chopped onion
2/3 cups chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped celery
4 medium-sized potatoes, diced
6 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 cups milk
2 cans salmon (drained) and flaked
4 tablespoons pimiento

In a separate pot, cook potatoes in salted water until semi soft. Set aside and drain. Melt butter. Sauté onion, green pepper, and celery, until light brown. Add flour, salt, and pepper. Mix to smooth paste. Cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add 1 quart of milk; stir until blended. Return to heat and stir until it thickens. Add remaining milk and heat to simmering. Cook for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, salmon, and pimiento. Serve with delicious crackers.

Festival fish soup

-from the “Kosher Cajun Cookbook” by Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson

(can be pareve by using margarine and leaving out the optional sour cream)

2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
4 medium-sized potatoes, diced (about 4 cups)
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 pound red snapper fillets
1 10-ounce package frozen French-cut string beans
1 10-ounce package frozen green peas
1 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)
4 tablespoons sour cream (optional)
3-3 1/2 cups water

Sauté celery and onion in butter or margarine until onion is transparent and celery is tender. Add 3 1/2 cups water, potatoes, bay leaves, salt, and Tabasco. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add beans and peas and cook for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are thawed and soup is hot.

But fish into 1-inch cubes. Add to soup and cook 5 to 8 minutes longer, until fish flakes easily. Serve with parsley and/or sour cream garnish, if desired. Serves four.

Get ready for football – winning recipes from Susan and Zoe Liebmann.

(See this week’s Jewish Standard FYI, page 3 for the scoop on this cooking duo from Fair Lawn.)

Look for more game time recipes next week.

In the meantime, GO GIANTS!!! I happen to be a big Ely Manning fan and now am the proud owner of a jersey to wear (thank you dear husband, Rob).

-Beth

According to the Liebmanns, “A great hamburger is all you need to set the mood for any great game or for great family fun time, and top it with a potato latke to make it even better.”

Stuffed hamburgers

2 pounds ground beef (Beth’s note: for a healthier version, I would use lean beef or might even mix with ground turkey)
about 6-8 slices of turkey/pastrami (can use corned beef)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Heat stove top pan or grill. Separate meat into equal portions. Place the meat into a bowl and add Worcestershire sauce, onion, salt, and pepper, and mix thoroughly.

Shape meat into patties. Take 1 slice of pastrami and fold or chop into center of patty and fold ground meat over to seal. Make sure the ground beef covers the filling. Flatten for grilling. Put a light thumbprint into center so burger comes out flat and your condiments will not slide off.

Avoid pressing patties while they are cooking. Grill to desired taste. Serve on buns.

Favorite toppers: lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, spinach, onions, mayo, ketchup, marinara sauce, barbeque sauce, salsa, guacamole, chili, and mushrooms.

However, according to the Liebmanns, “The best topper for a hamburger is a potato latke (pancake).

Potato latkes

6 peeled and grated potatoes
1 small onion grated
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoons vegetable oil (in mixture)

In large bowl mix all ingredients together. Fry in ½ inch deep vegetable oil. Carefully put a large spoonful of mixture into hot oil and flatten a little. Cook until crispy brown then turn over and cook the same way on the other side.

Place on paper towel to drain. Keep warm in oven.

“Most of them will be eaten right out of the pan!!”

-SL

There is still time to enter the sixth annual Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-Off!

Contest Deadline: Jan. 15

Enter for a Chance to Compete in NYC for $25,000 grand prize package

This year, the Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-Off will be bigger-than-ever as the contestants compete by preparing their best family-friendly recipes. Five finalists will compete live in New York City, for the $25,000 Grand Prize, which includes a series of Maytag appliances, cash, and a crystal trophy. Contestants will compete in front of a panel of judges led by the Celebrity Chef and food television star Claire Robinson as head judge.

Four finalists will be chosen by the judging panel and five semi-finalists will be posted on www.manischewitz.com, where the fifth finalist will be selected. From Feb. 13 to Feb. 24, consumers can vote online, and via Facebook and Twitter. For contest details, log onto www.manischewitz.com.

The competition encourages at home chefs to experiment with kosher products while preparing delicious recipes that could be a new family favorite or one that has been shared from generation to generation. The contest is designed to showcase the benefits of using kosher products as part of the home cooking experience and to think about using kosher products in other types of cuisine, including Japanese, Italian, Mexican, Greek, or something else.

All five finalists will win an all-expense paid trip to NYC to compete live on March 28 at The JCC in Manhattan in front of a live panel consisting of food media and other culinary experts. The grand prize package includes a Maytag appliance giveaway, cash and a beautiful crystal trophy! Recipes must include one of the new Manischewitz All-Natural broth flavors-Chicken, Reduced Sodium Chicken, Beef and Vegetable-and may contain other Manischewitz products as well.

This year’s Cook-Off will support rock CAN roll, a non-profit, hunger relief organization that collaborates with rock concerts, schools, corporations, and individuals to collect healthy and nutritious non-perishable food for distribution to local emergency food agencies and into the hands of children, seniors and families who live with hunger and in poverty. rock CAN roll is built on four basic principles: Healthy Nutritious Dignity & Respect. Bins made to look like Manischewitz broth cans will be set up in major cities during a portion of the contest period so that consumers can make non-perishable food donations in support of rock CAN roll. In support of this effort, Manischewitz will match all donations. www.rockCANroll.org

Additionally, the cook-off raises awareness regarding Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM), a national month of recognition of the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture. The Manischewitz Company, the founding sponsor of JAHM, will work with the JAHM steering committee to drive awareness of events and programs. Updates on JAHM are available on www.jahm.us and will continue through the end of JAHM on May 31.

To get inspired to create an original recipe using any of the new Manischewitz broths, visit the recipe section of www.manischewitz.com.

How it works

U.S. residents 18 or older are invited to submit an original, easy-to-prepare entrée using any flavor of new Manischewitz Broth product. Recipes should have no more than a total of eight ingredients and be prepared and cooked in one hour or less. For official contest details log onto www.manischewitz.com, complete the official entry form and submit your recipe online or by mail. Entries must be received by January 15. Four finalists will be selected and one finalist will be selected during the online people’s choice vote from February 13 to 24. Five contestants will compete live in New York City in front of a panel of live judges on March 28.

Thinking about activities to plan for days when the weather isn’t great? Of course I think about baking.. with or without children…it is so therapeutic and the rewards are fantastic!!!

Years ago, my mother, the late Ruth Janoff (who this blog is a tribute to) used to make a carrot cake from scratch, even grating the carrots. I have been searching for a recipe for years that reminded me of that cake and last weekend at a friend’s Chanukah party, I tasted such a cake. So here is the recipe from my friend Jean from New Milford for an authentic carrot cake with cream cheese icing (it would taste great even without the icing). Happy New Year to all my blog followers…may it be a healthy one with lots of yummy recipes too!!!!

Jean’s Carrot Cake  

(pareve if you eliminate the icing)

4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil (safflower oil)
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups carrots, chopped (4 small carrots)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup raisins (optional)

Beat eggs. Add sugar and beat. Add all other ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until mixed. Spray pan with baking spray. Pour in a tube pan or a 9 by 12 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Turn upside down on rack.

Cream Cheese Icing

(dairy)

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Cream the cream cheese and butter. Blend vanilla, sugar, and milk.

Hope all my loyal readers have been cutting out the recipes from the last two weeks of The Jewish Standard. There were some fabulous ones. In my review, I promised a few more recipes from “Temptations,” a new cookbook by members of Cong. Keter Torah in Teaneck www.ketertorah.org/cookbook as well as from “Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking” (Artscroll) by Leah Schapira. I am also including a donut recipe (thinking sufganiot) from a beautiful new book “Rose Petal Jam — Recipes & Stories From a Summer in Poland” (Tabula Books). Although not a kosher cookbook, there are many adaptable recipes, and the photos and stories from Poland (so many of us have ancestors from there) are just breathtaking and wonderful. Author Beata Zatorska (with Simon Target) recall childhood in Poland, mixing stories of youth with her grandmother’s handwritten recipes.

Thinking about a good main dish to serve with the latkes — from “Temptations” is an easy recipe for sweet and sour spareribs.. from “Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking” is a good one for honey mustard chicken. Enjoy!

Sweet and sour spareribs

8 ounces puréed (can use baby food)
1/2 cup chili sauce
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
4 pounds beef spareribs (flanken)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine peaches, chili sauce, crushed garlic, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and dry mustard in a saucepan. Place spareribs in a roasting pan and pour chili sauce mixture over meat. Bake the spareribs, covered, for 2 1/2 hours. Lower heat to 325 degrees, uncover spareribs, and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Yield 6 to 8 servings. The recipe is easily doubled.

Honey-mustard chicken

1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3-4 tablespoons oil
2 large onions, diced
(optional vegetables—suggestions.. red or yellow bell peppers, sugar-snap peas, baby corn, water chestnuts, carrots, mushrooms)
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons mustard

Cut chicken cutlets into 2-inch strips. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Add chicken strips and cook for 5 minutes. Add vegetables, if using. Add honey, mustard, and soy sauce. Cook for 10-15 minutes—stirring occasionally, or until sauce reduces. Serve over orzo or rice. (Beth’s note..or with latkes!)

Yield 3 to 4 servings.

Donuts (Pczki) with Rose Petal Jam

From “Rose Petal Jam – Recipes and Stories from a Summer in Poland” by Beata Zatorska and Simon Target, target='_blank'> http://www.tabulabooks.com.

My Polish grandmother filled these yeasty buns with jam made from the rose petals I gathered as a child, then left them to puff up under towels on tables and chairs, sofas and sideboards. Visitors, attracted by the smell of her baking, had to be careful where they sat. She simply crushed the rose petals with sugar to make a thick, paste-like jam, my favorite filling for these traditional Polish donuts. You can use store bought rose petal jelly – or substitute orange marmalade, apricot, or plum jam, even chocolate.

Makes 20 donuts

2 whole eggs
2 pounds, 3 ounces all-purpose flour
17 ounces warm whole milk
6 ounces fresh yeast (or 3 ounces dry powdered yeast)
4 egg yolks
7 ounces caster or superfine sugar
rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Polish spiritus* (or brandy or rum)
4 ounces butter, melted
14 ounces rose petal jelly (or marmalade)
4 pints vegetable oil for deep frying
5 ounces powdered sugar

For the glaze

2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 - 2 teaspoons water or freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 drops almond essence (or almond extract)

Place the eggs, 4 ounces of the flour, and 8 ounces of the milk with the yeast in a small bowl and work it together with your hands. This is your starter pastry that is going to grow and form the basis of your donut mix. Leave it under a clean cloth in a warm place for an hour to expand. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together. Add the remaining flour and milk and your expanded starter pastry mix. Also add the lemon juice and rind, the spiritus (or brandy), and the melted butter. Work it all together into a big ball of dough. Leave it for another hour to expand; it should double in size. Take the dough, a handful at a time, and roll it out on a floured wooden board to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut out 3-inch discs of pastry with an inverted tumbler. Put a teaspoon of rose petal jam (or jelly) in the middle of each disc, then pull the outside edges together, and pinch the dough to seal the donut so the jam is trapped inside. Roll the ball in your hand into an even sphere. Place completed donuts on a flat surface under a clean towel and leave them to grow for another half hour or so. Heat the oil. To test when the oil is hot enough, drop a marble-sized ball of pastry in and see if it fizzes. If so, drop a donut in – it should float in the oil. When the submerged underside is golden, roll it over so the top gets cooked too. Remove after a couple of minutes and allow to drain on a paper towel. Once cool, dust the donuts with powdered sugar. If you prefer to glaze them, make a thin icing by mixing 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar with a 1- 2 teaspoons of water or freshly squeezed lemon juice, adding 2 drops of almond essence.

* Polish Spiritus – a form of rectified alcohol repeatedly distilled until it is very strong – up to 95% is obtainable in Polish delis. (It is not a good idea to try drinking this undiluted). Substitute a tablespoon of brandy or rum if you can’t find it.

Rose Petal Jam

This fragrant jam is my favorite filling for Polish donuts (paczki). It is best made with fresh petals from the wild rose.

3 or 4 large handfuls fresh rose petals
roughly 1 pound granulated sugar

Gather the wild rose petals in the morning, before they have been in the sun too long and released their fragrance. Place them in a stone mortar or makutra. Slowly pour in the sugar and use the pestle to crush the petals together with the sugar. The juice in the petals will gradually blend with the sugar into a deep red, thick paste. No further cooking is needed. The jam can be preserved in sterilized glass jars for up to two years.

Hoping everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving meals and weekends with family and friends. I am sure it was nice to have all the college students back home and also nice to send them back. Our holidays are always filled with lots of memories. So now everyone is changing gears and thinking about Chanukah and even the New Year. Since there is a bit of time, try making one of the pie recipes below from Wholly Wholesome, a company in Morristown with many OU kosher products, that sent some interesting information about pies to share with my readers.

According to the company, there’s no question that pie is a staple in American homes during the holidays. Pie has the quality to bring together a family after a hard-earned holiday meal to enjoy some good old family tradition. Few Americans realize the history of pies. Originally called a “coffin” (meaning “basket” or “box”), the pie was the beginning of every holiday meal. For hundreds of years, every meal was baked into a crusty shell and served warm with meat filling the interior. Then, pies were considered a necessity. Today, however, pies are considered a culinary delight.

“Pies have been a central part of our family celebrations for generations,” said Doon Wintz, company president. “My sister, Bonnie, and I have a friendly competition at holiday meals. She makes her famous pecan pies and I make pumpkin or ice cream pies. The winner is the one whose pies are gone. Having a large and supportive family (we usually seat 40+), it always comes out a tie—no pie left. It’s a real treat to pass along our family’s tradition through wholesome, natural, and organic baked-goods. We understand the importance of family and how food brings them together in a really special way.”

Here are two kosher pecan pie recipes. Visit http://www.WhollyWholesome.com.

Aunt Bonnie’s Kosher Pecan Pie

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
4 tablespoons butter
3 eggs (beaten lightly)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 9-inch Wholly Wholesome Pie Shell (white, whole wheat, or spelt)
2 cups pecans (broken into small pieces)
60 whole pecan halves for top of pie

Combine sugar and syrup in a fry pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Melt butter into mixture. Set aside to cool (if you’re in a rush, put the pan on a bed of ice in the sink). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once cooled, add eggs, salt, and vanilla. Fill pie shell with broken pecans. Pour syrup mixture over pecans until it’s just below the rim. Arrange pecan halves on top starting with the largest pecans around the outside in a circle and using progressively smaller pecan halves as you circles move towards the center. Be sure to save some nice small ones for the center. Place on a piece of foil on top of a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake for 50 minutes or until pecans are nicely toasted, but not burnt.

Aunt Bonnie’s Vegan Pecan Pie

1/2 cup unbleached cane sugar
1 cup corn syrup
4 tablespoons vegetable margarine
3/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1 9-inch Wholly Wholesome vegan pie shell
2 cups pecans (broken into small pieces)
60 whole pecan halves for top of pie

Combine unbleached cane sugar and corn syrup in a fry pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Melt vegetable margarine into mixture. Set aside to cool (if you’re in a rush, put the pan on a bed of ice in the sink). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once cooled, add applesauce, salt, and vanilla. Fill pie shell with broken pecans. Pour syrup mixture over pecans until it’s just below the rim. Arrange pecan halves on top starting with the largest pecans around the outside in a circle and using progressively smaller pecan halves as you circles move towards the center. Be sure to save some nice small ones for the center

Place on a piece of foil on top of a cookie sheet and place in the oven

Reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake for 50 minutes or until pecans are nicely toasted, but not burnt.