EST. 2011 BY LIZ RUEVEN
The Modern Kosher Kitchen Give-Away

The Modern Kosher Kitchen Give-Away

I love sharing the scoop with my readers!  Cookbook author and blogger, Ronnie Fein, has released her latest book called The Modern Kosher Kitchen . You may pre-order or pick it up after November 15. 

Better yet, you can play your hand at this cookbook give-away and hope to win it here and now. 

The subtitle of Fein’s book, “More than 125 Inspired Recipes for a New Generation of Kosher Cooks” tells a lot. This generation of home cooks may be honoring traditions but also seeks inspiring and approachable information about unexpected flavor combinations.

Fein set out to  “provide a more modern focus on healthy eating, with the use of less meat, less fat, more whole grains, more fresh produce.” She’s sensitive to today’s time constraints, too. Most of the recipes are simple and do not require a lot of steps to complete.

Looking to learn about less familiar ingredients?  Have you fallen for KAMUT yet? I love the easy recipe  for kamut, corn and tomato salad Fein posted on her blog, Kitchen Vignettes. Ready to shake it up with Sriracha, citrus peel, Harissa, Facon ? Fein uses many kosher-certified products our grandmas never imagined.

And while she’s at it, she introduces new ways of treating familiar ingredients, like cutting cauliflower into thick steak-like slices instead of simmering or roasting florets.  If your’e not a cauliflower lover yet, you’ll soon be a convert after considering this crispy, Roasted Cauliflower “Steak” in the recipe below.

 

Here’s how you can enter to win this cookbook:

Simply leave a comment at the end of this post. Tell us what the most challenging aspect of preparing Thanksgiving dinner is. Simple.

I’ll confess first. I worry that my turkey will be either grossly undercooked or dry and tough. YUP, I use a reliable meat thermometer but still worry about erring on either end of the turkey fiasco spectrum. There. Said it. Now your turn.

Comments must be submitted by November 5 at midnight. We’ll announce the winner on November 6 on my Kosher Like Me facebook page. If we’re not friends there yet, please get friendly pronto. How else will you know if you’ve won???

photo: Glenn Scott. Publisher: Fair Winds Press; November 15, 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

44 Comments

  3. If you cook a zaftig turkey then it will need to set for 20 -30 minutes before you carve it anyway. With regard to the gravy, why are you waiting till the turkey is done? Cook the neck, veggies, and chicken stock while the turkey is roasting. Then just add the drippings after the turkey is cooked.

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  5. I indulge the boys with sweet potato pie with marshmallows on top for Thanksgiving. The challenge is securing the kosher marshmallows ahead of time AND not having them melt into the sweet potatoes.

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  6. My most challenging part of preparing Thanksgiving is getting my kids to help me! I want to pass on all the techniques and tricks……and challenges! Thanks Liz for a great post!

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  8. I’d say the biggest challenge is going traditional and then foregoing pumpkin pie because it’s dairy, or making it with coconut milk, which does work, but it’s not quite the same; or blowing off the turkey and making something everyone can eat (we have one pescatarian) and throwing in the pumpkin pie as a treat.

    The only other one I find is whether there is time to go in the Turkey Trot in the morning or not.

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  10. I love Thanksgiving, and I love Shabbat. Our greatest challenge is how to have enough restraint in preparing and eating the Thanksgiving meal knowing we will do it again the next night at our weekly Shabbat feast-but eating enough so we won’t be tempted to serve leftovers!

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  13. I’ve been hosting Thanksgiving dinner for over 40 years.The most challenging part of planning the meal at this point is deciding which vegetable/carb sides to “leave out”. Every year I add something new to the buffet and then I can’t bear not to make our familiar favorites-so I make it all! The buffet is getting crowded:)

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  14. Making sure there is something for everyone to eat. I have a very picky family, one won’t eat Turkey, one can’t have gluten, one needs low fiber, etc. Always fun to feed everyone.

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  15. I always have a potluck because I can’t afford the whole deal. Being the host means the turkey and getting it cooked properly is a struggle for me. I don’t know why I have so much trouble with poultry, but I do.

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  16. For me, the most challenging part of Thanksgiving is narrowing down my menu – my head races with all the incredible recipes i read about in differently publications, online and in books. Im a huge procrastinator so i don’t write a menu because I’m nervous that I won’t make the right choice. Once the menu is written and I commit to making whats written on the menu, its smooth sailing from there 🙂

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  22. I have two worries: getting myself up at a reasonable time on my “day off” AND timing. Like you, I want everything to taste fresh and yummy and appear as if it all happened by magic i.e. I did not slave at all. Funny how that never happens. Maybe this time……..

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  25. The most challenging aspect of preparing for Thanksgiving is cooking the turkey! I usually start at 6 am or earlier, make the stuffing, stuff it, baste it using a pastry brush and a paste made of olive oil and spices, truss it, add root veggies to the roasting pan and some water, put it on high heat first so juices are locked in, and then reduce it and let it cook for hours. BTW, Ronnie Fein’s recipe for asparagus with wasabi in her first book is
    perfection!

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  31. For me the most challenging part is not whether the turkey is cooked or raw or what side dishes need to be made. Everyone with small kids knows that the most important and hectic preparation step, is to make sure that there are enough chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and fries to keep the little ones happy!!!;)

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  33. I’m a pretty good cook, but have not mastered sauces. The only good ones I’ve made have taken waaaayyyy to long. So gravy would be a challenge. But we’ve been going to my in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner for years, ever since they made their kitchen Kosher, so this is not a big concern for me right now 🙂

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  34. I love making thanksgiving dinner for a crowd since everyone can drive here and then go home again (not like a yom tov!) But the challenge is to make the family favorites without having the calories add up to a huge total! (stuffing, sweet potato pie, desserts, and on and on…!)

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  37. The most challenging thing for me is- since growing up in a household/family where we did not keep kosher previously&mixing dairy&meat was not an issue- going forward to NOW where I am finally eating by kashrus laws&also moving into my 1st “completely kosher” apartment next week, I am hoping to finally be able to cook&host others at my home&THIS year will be the 1st year I am going to try to keep up the “traditional Thanksgiving meal” but not sure yet the best way to substitute tasty dish ingredients that are dairy free, for example in my mashed potatoes, etc.? It would be wonderful to recieve a kosher cookbook with not only practical recipes for everyday foods&popular eats- but also for more creative,fancier,or special dishes- when entertaining&cooking for guests or for over shabbos for example! On occasion, people may be okay with sharing a recipe, but most times it is a “secret” family recipe lol&so I’m here yearning to learn how to dazzle friends&family in the kitchen- &hopefully even tap into my own yiddishkeit “homemaker” flair with the help of a brand new kosher cookbook (hehe)! It would help lay a great foundation- &be a very resource for me to blossom into a kosher kitchen maven so that hopefully in the near future I too can have the needed skills&experience to cook a wide variety of dishes for my own family&children, G-dwilling, as well 1 day!! Specifically Turkey talk: I ALSO NEVER MADE MY OWN TURKEY- Nor did my mother ever make 1 at home so I would find a lot of the guidelines in the cookbook in general about on cooking times, temperatures, &amounts, to be EXTREMELY VALUABLE information to a gal like me! P.S. Good luck everyone! 🙂

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  43. While we’ve transitioned to a kosher kitchen making more items Pareve for the meatfest 😉 has been….shall we say fun. 🙂 But I’m so grateful I’ve been using Coconut Oil for so long!

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SIDE DISH
Photo by Jerri Graham Photography

Hi. I’m Liz and I welcome you to Kosher Like Me.

When I’m not caressing fruits and veggies at my local farmers’ market you’ll likely find me chatting with like-minded eaters, probing the scene in NYC or seeking inspiration in my spice cabinet. Life outside of this blog is all about my family, tasty travel adventures and power walks deep in the CT woods or along the shore.

Please brew a fragrant cup of tea, grab a nosh and stay a while.