gestalt768

Looking at recipes for hummus I saw one with "tatbilah" sauce made using "hot and sour shifka peppers." I have made and eaten lots of hummus in my day but never have seen or heard of tatbilah sauce (though it sounded quite good). I am also not familiar with shifka peppers. I tried to google search both the peppers and the sauce and the results were paltry and uninformative. (The only mentions of tatbilah sauce were in the recipe I had originally seen and in a review for a hummus restaurant in Beijing.) I can only imagine that both the pepper and the sauce are also known by other names or spellings and was curious to learn more about them. Does anyone know what this refers to?

Does anyone have a recipe with a vegetarian kubeh for kubeh soup? There used to be a place in Jerusalem next to brichat yerushalim that served a fabulous veggie kubeh soup and I 'd love to recreate...

I realize I missed the weekend in question but there's a new place about 15 minutes outside of Hudson...(Philmont to be exact on Route 217 which is a right turn off of 23B heading east from Hudson) called Local 111. It's on Main St, Philmont (which is route 217) in a former service station across from the Stewarts. I know it sounds ridiculous but it is lovely atmosphere (really good renovation) and excellent food using lots of local produce and products, hence the name. We have had three good meals there including a simple brunch one Sunday. I did hear a story of a really bad night with very slow service and not fabulous food but the manager gave them their entrees free in apology. I imagine it was just that a bad night.

I love trying new ingredients and bought a package of dry pozole a while back. Then I couldn't seem to find any recipe for it that didn't include meat and since I have a vegetarian house that wasn't helpful. I am looking forward to trying this recipe; it looks very good....thanks

I too love to buy and read cookbooks and have many that I rarely open after first getting them. On the other hand, I had been looking at my cookbook shelves quite a bit before seeing this topic and was surprised how many of my cookbooks I actually use alot... In no particular order... all Hazan books several Claudia Roden books including Middle Eastern and Jewish Cooking Joan Nathan Jewish Cooking in America, Jewish Holiday Cookbook Union Square Cookbook (alot) Bittman the Periyali Cookbook Barbara Kafka, Microware Gourmet Mimi Sheraton From My Mother's Kitchen Alice Waters Chez Panisse Vegetables Deborah Madison Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone a new favorite Ana Sortun Spice and I must confess that I return to Julia Childs now and again for old favorites like her Cauliflouer au Gratin or Celery Remoullade... My other very favorite resource these days is epicurious.com....nothing quite like it for finding just the right recipe for the beets I couldn't resist at the farmers market or a different recipe for butternut squash soup....

I noticed that the last posting about Swoon was a year ago and since I ate lunch there last week and dinner this past Sunday night I figured I'd add to the thread with the good news that the restaurant remains excellent. Lunch was tasty although not extraordinary....they were out of the tempeh rubin which is what we wanted and the grilled vegetable plate for my vegetarian daughter was fairly ordinary although my grilled chicken sandwich was very good. Dinner on the other hand was fabulous. For the vegetarians they created a plate out of a large selection of their sides which presented beautifully and tasted wonderful. My salmon on a puree of fava beans with peas was also very good. The salads were great and the desserts were very unusual.. The atmosphere was great, pretty floral arrangements, flattering lighting and friendly, polite, knowledgable service. In addition the cost came to significantly less than it would have in the city. Dinner for 4 including two appetizers, four entrees, two desserts, three cocktails and four coffees came to around $130 before tip for a sensational evening....

My family's savory matzoh brei unlike almost all the foods of my childhood came by way of my father's family. It's nice actually since though my father passed away many years ago when I was just in college, every Pessach when I make it I think of him. The big difference between our matzoh brei and most others is that I break up the matzoh into pieces about 2" (not regular shapes of course I just gave the measurement for approximation) and rather than soak it in water it goes right into the eggs which have been beaten with just the amount of water I might normally add to eggs for an omlette. (I use approximately one piece of matzoh for each egg if I'm using extra large or jumbo eggs...figure accordingly.) I then thinly slice an onion and saute in butter until it begins to brown. Then I pour in the egg/matzoh mixture. I smooth it down so it fills the pan. and I let it cook on a low flame (sometimes I cover to hasten the process.) I season with salt and alot of pepper. When it has come together I either turn it gently as a whole or if so large as to be unwieldy, I cut it into wedges like a pie and turn them individually. I lightly brown the second side and then serve. I usually serve it together with whipped cottage cheese. The difference between this and many matzoh bries I've eaten is that since the matzoh isn't presoaked it retains abit of crunch here and there. As I wrote this I realized that in someways it resembles a persian eggah though of course we're ashkenazi...My mouth is watering as I think of it...

It's funny, years I would spend hours traipsing from place to place looking for new and different pessach foods...Recently I have found that if for those eight days I pretty much stick to foods that don't need substitutes we're all much happier. The Kosher for Pessach necessities in my house are of course, matzoh meal, KP Diet Pepsi, the sugars, oils and vinegars...salt, pepper and oregano, spagetti sauce and cheeses...otherwise I find that using fresh fruits and vegetables and fish (totally non-meat house.) In interest of full-disclosure for seder I serve on paper plates with plastic flatware and order honey baked chicken from a local KP caterer...my extended family cannot fathom a veggie seder. The real favorite meal in my house is eggplant parmigina... That being said I certainly crave fresh bagette from the wonderful bakery across the street...

Well tonight I have a whole group of almost college kids and we're having Chickpea and Leek Soup Bruschetta Spagettini with Cherry Tomatoes and Scallions "Fagioli all Toscana" (cannellini beans Union Square Cookbook style) Spinach sauted with Garlic Roasted Peppers Tricolor Salad this meal is basically thanks to Marcella Hazan and Union Square....they are two of my favorites and get pulled out again and again... I must admit though that sometimes I wouldn't mind if this wasn't a vegetarian house and if I could just roast a chicken!!

not sure if I'm missing something but I just run the thyme stalks between my thumb and pointer and the little leaves just come off...always seemed easy... and easiest is that today I'm NOT cooking for Shabbat and not only that but we're actually invited to people who though having my family counter to the usual are not making a dairy meal. I am so looking forward to roast chicken for shabbat and my veggie crew will just have to eat the sides...

Thanks to all for the veggie shabbat ideas. Swisskaesse. would love your tagine and stuffed vegetable recipes. Sorry it took so long for me to reappear but with winter vacations and making three parties in one week I didn't have time to check back in here. We do eat dairy (I personally eat meat but since I'm the only family member who does it didn't seem worth the two sets of everything so I eat it elsewhere.) As for heating, reheating etc. it depends on the guests. I have no problem with cooked, heated foods for shabbat but we have guests who do and those are the difficult meals for me. By the way, the day I first posted I ended up making a somewhat provence like fish stew with anisette, striped bass and potatoes that was perfect. thanks for any ideas...Janet

My favorite Macaroni and Cheese is the one I remember from my childhood at the New York Automats... I found many recipes that claim to be that but none seemed quite right so I've been combining two...but this one actually seems to do it for me... http://www.theautomat.net/discus/messages/...html?1086122090 it's creamy with the rigatoni with the ridges...and it has the crushed tomatoes which turn the sauce slightly pink as well as adding an extra flavor that somehow makes it more comforting...

"COLD TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH BLUSTERY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES AROUND ZERO OR A FEW DEGREES BELOW THIS EVENING. THE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TONIGHT. AS A RESULT... THE WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS OVERNIGHT. BE SURE TO DRESS FOR THE COLD IF YOU ARE VENTURING OUT TONIGHT. " weather.com I'm staying in!!... and I'm cooking a big pot of smothered cabbage and arborio rice soup...if my daughter doesn't eat all the cabbage before its done cooking...

As the days get shorter and colder and shabbat gets earlier I find that putting together a vegetarian/dairy shabbat dinner gets harder. So much fish doesn't hold up till dinner if its cooked earlier and pasta gets all wierd. I would love any ideas for something that would serve the place of a chicken stew....