This Soup Will Save Your Life

I've been living without air conditioning, either because I'm a masochist or lazy, or some combination thereof. (Though I do have a mighty fine box fan in the window.)

Anyway, as a result, I've been making this cherry soup like crazy. It was the star of the first-ever Brooklyn Kosher-Test Kitchen. It's inspired by Mark Bittman, but I've changed it. It is also as parve as you wanna be.

Ingredients
1-2 pounds sour cherries -- one bag or plastic container should make about 4 servings
1 tsp cornstarch mixed w/ 2 tsp water
pinch salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbs canned cream of coconut (to taste)

Directions
Pit the cherries -- a messier ordeal than you might imagine. (At least, for this slob it is.) Put them in a saucepan with water to cover. Add cornstarch, salt, cinnamon. Cook on medium heat, until the cherries are very soft. Depending on how ripe they are, this could take anywhere from 20 - 30 minutes.

Add the lemon zest, then the canned cream of coconut. Puree with an immersion blender. This can also get messy! I wouldn't puree all the way - it's more interesting that way.

Chill.

Serve with ice cubes, sprigs of mint, yogurt (which makes it not parve, fyi). I particularly like it with fage and sprinkled with crushed walnuts.

The soup can be a first course, dessert, breakfast -- depending on how much you sweeten it. In that way, it's like those versatile dresses that get popular every few years, that you can wear in 101 stupid ways.



Difference between soup and dress? Soup you can eat. And it is considerably less complicated than the above.

FYI: Bittman calls for sugar to sweeten, but I think we all eat too much white sugar as it is. And this cream of coconut -- which you can freeze, by the way -- is kosher, and keeps the dish extra fruity.

Parve Cornbread

So I'm a huge meat person. But more and more, I look to vegan recipes, especially for side dishes. That makes it possible to serve a meat entree with side dishes that would otherwise be milchik - and therefore not kosher.

This cornbread recipe comes courtesy of my friend's cousin. She writes:

This is a delicious basic vegan cornbread. It is moist and crunchy and corntastic. It is not a sweet bread, but a bread to be savored with soup or smothered with guacamole. For best results, use old-fashioned cornmeal.

Ingredients
2 cups cornmeal (I like coarse ground)
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups soy milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350, line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper or spray the bottom lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk and the vinegar and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt).
Add the oil and maple syrup to the soy milk mixture. Whisk with a wire whisk or a fork until it is foamy and bubbly, about 2 minutes.

Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and mix together using a large wooden spoon or a firm spatula. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Slice into squares and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

Macromamas' tasty treats

So I've got to give a shout out to the Ithaca-based Macromamas, which is hands-down the most delicious hippie food I've ever eaten. Totally macro, totally vegetarian, totally kosher.
The peanut lime noodles can't be beat. The recipe is secret, but here is what I've been able to piece together. I need to work a bit more on the proportions, but this should work:

Several pounds soba noodles, preferably whole wheat
3 tbs Peanut butter (smooth, not chunky; whatever kind of natural, organic brand suits your fancy)
2 tbs pickled ginger, finely chopped
2 tbs lime juice
2 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs chili sauce
2 tbs sesame oil
3 carrots, grated
3 scallions, green parts only, finely cut
1 bunch parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. Combine wet ingredients, add to noodles. Then add carrots, scallions, and parsley. DEVOUR.

Parve BBQ + delicious potato salad

A good friend of mine from college once told me that her grandmother made the world's best potato salad. Her secret? After frying up the bacon, she poured the grease from the pan INTO the salad - instead of pouring it down the drain or whatever it is bacon-eaters do to be rid of the stuff.

Amazing, no? Especially when used in addition to mayo?


Kind of stretches the definition of salad. But I hear it's delicious. *By the way, that's bacon, not an anchovy.

Anyway, the Barefoot Contessa has some great suggestions on how to make a non-mayo, non-baconified salad, which was apparently influenced by Julia Child. You can bring it to a totally kosher bbq, because the version below is parve (though Barefoot Contessa's is fleishich). I've modified it for taste, fatness, and budgetary constraints. If you prefer a more-tangy recipe, up the mustard and the white wine. Also, if you don't have champagne vinegar on hand, feel free to skip, and substitute lemon juice or more wine. By the way, this is a great way to use up any Tishbi or Baron Herzog you have lying around -- or to get rid of the bottle your mother-in-law brought over for Shabbos, because you'd rather drink (traif) Sancerre.

• A few pounds red potatos (the regular-sized ones are fine)
• 2 tbs Champagne vinegar
• 2 tbs vegetable stock - try Osem or any other brand
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 2 tbs mustard
• Bunch of fresh dill
• Basil, if you have a fresh bunch on hand
• 10 tbs good olive oil
• one bunch scallions
• a couple handfuls snap peas

Boil the potatoes, but not within an inch of their life. Chop roughly. Toss with white wine and vegetable stock while the potatoes are still warm. Osem is not the most delicious, but it's way cheaper than Pacific or Imagine. And it comes in a powder form, so you don't have to worry about using up the quart left over from a recipe that calls for only two tablespoons of stock.

Mix the remaining wet ingredients as you would any dressing; pour over the potatoes. Chop up the scallions, snap peas (these are delicious raw), dill, and basil, if you have it. Add salt and pepper to taste.

OMG, I can't stop with the ghee

Ghee is clarified butter, and it is fundamental to delicious Indian food. It gives everything - rice, veggies, whatever - the aromatic smell and flavor that you get walking into an Indian restaurant. It's available in cow-based (traif) and veggie versions, though the vegetarian stuff doesn't have a hekscher - at least not at Kalustyans, where I do my Indian shopping. I have a good friend in India, a journalist, so for those of you who won't cook without a heksher - or who are interested in preparing the ultimate loophole-busting dish (chicken tikka masala!) for your most observant friends - stay tuned for what she turns up about kosher ghee.

In the meantime, a delicious recipe adapted from Heaven's Banquet,

4 tbs ghee OR ANY NEUTRAL OIL - like canola oil (if this needs to be hekshered)
2 tbs fresh ginger, fresh
2 tsp cumin
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into cubes
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
salt
2 tsp turmeric
4 chopped tomatoes
2 cans (16 oz each) chickpeas
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

In a saucepan, heat the ghee, then add the ginger and cumin. Add the tomatoes, then the eggplant and potatoes. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the salt and turmeric. Cook for anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours - depending on the size of the cubed potatoes, which take awhile to cook. I'm pretty lazy about this (more of a rough chopper than a fine dicer), but this dish is really delicious the longer it cooks, so that the eggplant almost caramelizes. Even people who hate eggplant will enjoy.
Before you serve, add the chickpeas and clinatro. Serve with yogurt.