Oh, hi there. How are you? It’s another mac n’ cheese recipe because it’s a day so why NOT write about mac n’ cheese, Jew know? This is one of my new favorite recipes. Truly. I judge my recipes based on my husband’s reaction. If he gives me a standard, “It’s good”, then I know it’s mediocre and he’s just being protective of my feelings. If he gives me a, “Dude, this is really good”, then I know it’s worthy of a post. If I get a, “Mmmmmmmmmm . . .” followed by a second and third helping of whatever dish is in front of his face. This recipe received the last described response. I mean, at it’s core, it’s mac n’ cheese topped with even more cheese so what can be bad about that?
Also, just a heads up, I’m running a giveaway of this AMAZING cookbook by founders of The Gefilteria, Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz, called The Gefilte Manifesto! The giveaway is being run on the Jewhungry Instagram account so check it out! There’s one more day before it’s gone!
And if you’re interested in wowing your partners, friends, family, and tastebuds with some amazing mac n’ cheese, head on over to Interfaithfamily.com for the full recipe. Hooray!
Have I mentioned that before I met my husband I wasn’t really a meat eater. Before I met my husband I hadn’t had red meat in a decade. I had my last bite of red meat at a bus stop McDonald’s in Beer Sheva, Israel in 2001 after a particularly harrowing camping experience in Maktesh Ramon in which my 2 beloved friends and I decided to go hiking and camping, only we didn’t have enough water or other supplies. We went to sleep that night at the bottom of the crater dreaming of ice cold Gatorade and big, juicy steaks. When we finally reached civilization the next afternoon, we gorged on the first food we could find, which just happened to be a bus station McDonald’s. It was later that afternoon, back at the dorms at Ben Gurion University, where I was studying abroad, that I really started to regret that kosher quarter pounder. I swore off meat all together for about 2 months until I got home and really started craving chicken Philly sandwiches (obvs., this was before I was a kosher-eater), which ended my vegetarianism but began my red meat ban. It wasn’t until 7 years later, back in Israel, this time in Jerusalem, when I slowly, slowly re-introduced red meat back into my diet.
At first it was meatballs. Then it was maybe a slice of brisket. It took a while for hamburger to be welcomed back into my belly but it too, eventually, made its way back into the fold. And so now its 2016 and I’ve got two little girls who LOVE MEAT SO MUCH. I mean sooooooo much. They take after their father in that respect. I mean if they had their druthers, they’d have meat with a side of meat, rolled up in meat and then dipped in meat. We tend to roll vegetarian during the week because it’s cheaper and better for the environment but come Shabbat, it’s a meat party. Yes we welcome that Sabbath queen with a good ol’ roast chicken or some lamb meatballs and if it’s been an exceptionally good week? Well, that’s when it’s first cut brisket, baby (this has happened once in our 6 year marriage. That stuff is expensive). Therefore, the recipe you have before you is not gourmet or particularly earth-shattering in it’s uniqueness, but it is representative of my family’s favorite little Shabbat indulgence (1st cut brisket aside). It’s literally meat wrapped in meat and then breaded and baked. Sometimes I like to dream big and play around with fancy recipes on Shabbat but sometimes I just really want some good ol’ fashioned Ashkenazi goodness.
Recently, on the Jewhungry Instagram page.
Chicken “Reuben” Roll-Ups
Ingredients:
(makes 5 roll-ups)
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced thin or “shnitzel-style” from butcher
1 cup Thousand Island dressing
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 cup Matzah Meal (or regular bread crumbs)
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp caraway seeds
8 slices pastrami (cut in half length-wise)
1/8 cup margarine (I used Earth Balance)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet and put aside.
Make sure your chicken breasts are thin. If need be, place chicken breasts one-at-a-time between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound out with a mallet or the flat bottom of a frying pan in order to get chicken to about 1/4 inch thick.
In 1 shallow bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, matzah meal, salt, garlic powder and caraway seeds until well blended. Place another wide, shallow bowl next to your bread crumb bowl and add your Thousand Island.
Using one cutlet at a time, coat each side in dressing. Next, lay one side of the cutlet in the breadcrumbs, gently pressing it into the crumbs so they adhere to the cutlet on one side. Lay 2 cuts of the sliced pastrami lengthwise onto the side of the cutlet that is not coated in bread crumbs. Gently roll up the cutlet and pastrami like a jellyroll, tucking in as tightly as possible as you go. If you have food grade toothpicks on hand, feel free to stick one on each end of the rolled chicken and pastrami in order to keep it sealed while baking. Place onto greased baking sheet with seam-side down. Continued on until you’ve completed all chicken.
Once all cutlets are completed, top with a slap of margarine (eeps!) before placing in oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest before cutting once they are done cooking. Enjoy!
We are done. The high holidays of 5777 have come to a close. Seriously folks who celebrated, give yourself a hand. That was exhausting, no? I feel like Rosh Hashanah was, like, 5 years ago. I haven’t counted the number of meals I cooked this high holiday season but suffice it to say, it was A LOT. I mean, gobs of roast chicken and potatoes, tons of salads and apple-themed desserts and more homemade challah than you can shake a stick at. I need a cleanse (if only I believed in ‘cleanses’).
Our Teahouse in Topanga Canyon
Epic tree swing
This holiday season we were home save for a quick little jaunt to the cutest little hippie commune we could find that was only 30 minutes from our apartment. I don’t know how we stumbled across this little teahouse on Air B n’ B but we snatched it up as soon as we saw it. The kitchen is on the porch, there’s an epic tree swing in the front yard and a fully-stocked outhouse. We hit ‘book’ as soon as we saw it. Thank goodness. We needed to get away. We live in a community that is certainly bustling with religiously observant Jews as well as your fair share of non-observant Israelis but all of friends we’ve made through our synagogue live waaaaay too far away for a family walk for a dinner or a lunch on a high holiday. If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll know that our family is religiously observant, which means that for every Shabbat and holiday, we adhere to the strict, “no energy-usage” rule. This means that we do not operate cars, our phones, the TV or computer or even the coffee maker (that said, Gd did invent the automatic coffee maker and I love her for it). We have a pretty set routine for our Shabbat observance but these two-day holiday blackouts can get kinda exhausting after a while. I mean, I’m deeply in love with my little family but sometimes, we need a guest in the house to give us a break from each other.
weeeeeeeeeeeee!!
I feel like I’m being watched. Hmmm . . .
And so, since we did not have guests over for the first of the Sukkot holidays, we headed out to our little commune in Topanga Canyon for a bit of respite. It was kind of like camping but, like not. The kids slept great. We slept so-so. Husband and I drank copious amounts of coffee and we attempted a ‘hike’ but the roads were too narrow and not friendly enough for us wandering Jews. So we played board games and explored the other areas of the property and spent a considerable amount of time on that epic tree swing. We were sad to come home and even though we were exhausted, we were completely refreshed. Thank you, Air B n’ B.
Siona’s turn to play with the camera.
My reality . . . there’s always someone at my feet or on my chest.
This baby. She makes me SO DANG happy.
Coffee tastes EVEN better when it’s brewed in the French press in an outdoor kitchen.
OK, I’m not a huge pumpkin-eater (cheater, cheater?!), but I was asked by the lovely and talented, Sara Cornelius and Aimee Twigger of Cake Over Steak and Twigg Studios, respectively, who invited me to join in on their virtual pumpkin party! Sadly, the ‘party’ happened on Monday, Simchat Torah, but hey, isn’t there something out there about being late and fashionable!? There are a TON of amazing bloggers involved in this here sweet pumpkin party and you can find them all by searching the hashtag, #virtualpumpkinparty, on Instagram.
a dog, a penguin, a dolphin, a cat.
Close up of dog, cause it’s too dang cute.
mini Pumpkin and Kale Mac n’ Cheese Pie
Dough Ingredients:
2¼cupsall-purpose flour 1½teaspoonkosher salt ½cup(1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1large egg, beaten to blend 1tablespoondistilled white vinegar
Pumpkin + Kale Mac n’ Cheese Ingredients:
2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup milk, heavy cream, or half-and-half**
8 oz shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
8 oz extra shredded sharp white Vermont cheddar
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (read: NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup frozen curly blue kale
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp kosher salt
Pie Dough Directions:
Whisk flour and salt in a large bowl. Work in butter with your fingers until only pea-size pieces remain. Combine egg, vinegar, and ⅓ cup ice water in a small bowl and drizzle over flour mixture; quickly work in with your fingers until a shaggy dough forms.
Turn out dough onto a work surface and press together, working just enough to form a smooth ball with no dry spots. Wrap in plastic and chill until very cold, at least 2 hours.
Pumpkin + Kale Mac n’ Cheese Directions:
Fill a large stockpot with water, add your first tablespoon of kosher salt and bring to a boil. Add in the pasta and cook ONLY 5 – 6 minutes or just before perfect al dente (the pasta will cook more while it’s in the oven so you want to leave it a little underdone during the initial cook). Drain pasta over the sink and run cold water over it to stop additional cooking. Set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and has started to bubble, whisk in the flour; cook for roughly 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk until no lumps remain. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook milk mixture, whisking frequently, until it thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes.
Remove sauce pan from the heat and by the handful (SET ASIDE about 1/2 a cup of shredded cheese to be added to the mac n’ cheese bowl), stir in the cheeses allowing all of the cheese to melt into the sauce before adding more. Return the pot to the stove and turn the heat to low. Cook for an additional 1 – 2 minutes, stirring constantly, to ensure all cheese is melted. Add in the nutmeg, cinnamon and kosher salt. Taste and adjust seasonings as you see fit.
Add cooked pasta to a large bowl. Pour in sauce, followed by frozen kale, pumpkin and additional shredded cheese. Stir to combine.
Assembly:
Next, divide your pasta amongst your ramekins making sure to fill it to the top (makes up to 8). Divide dough in half. Working with one at a time, roll out to ¼” thick. Cut out 2 rounds about ½” wider than the diameter of ramekins. Gather up scraps, reroll, and cut out 2 more rounds (for 8 total – you might have leftover mac n’ cheese, which, no one ever cried about). You do not need to cut a vent into your pie crust at all. I did that for fun but it is not necessary.
Whisk egg, a pinch of kosher salt, and 1 tsp. water in a small bowl. Brush dough with egg wash; place over ramekins, brushed side down. Press firmly around sides to adhere. Brush tops of dough with egg wash. Set pot pies on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crusts are golden brown and domed, 25 minutes.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
