Kosher Clove and Honey Peas

This is a dirt simple side dish you can prepare in five minutes. The sweetness of honey works well with any fruity entree. The cloves temper the sweetness, adding a nice richness of flavor.

• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 tbsp honey
• 3 whole cloves (do not use powder!)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp coarse ground black pepper

Put everything in a microwave safe bowl and mix well. Microwave for 3 - 4 minutes (adjust time for your own microwave.) Stir again while hot, making sure the peas are evenly coated. Serve.

Do not use clove powder! If you do, the flavor will utterly overwhelm your peas, making them inedible. The whole cloves impart a subtle flavor rather than beating your taste buds into submission.

Kosher Crockpot Turkey & Gravy

My Bon Appetit arrived today, reminding me it's time to start planning for Thanksgiving. Half the recipes within seem to be some desperate attempt to make a turkey juicy instead of the sad, dry things so many of us are familiar with come Thanksgiving. My personal solution is to give up on the presentation turkey and instead focus on moistness and taste. Instead of a golden brown roasted bird, I put warm slices of juicy turkey on a pretty platter and let people dig in without having to carve off a hunk of meat. The best part is - it's incredibly simple. Like most crockpot foods, just plug it in and forget about it. No basting, no thermometers. No worries. In addition to reducing your stress, this leaves the oven free for pies, breads, and dressing.

• 5 - 6 pound bone-in turkey breast (or whatever will fit in your crockpot)
• 1 cup white wine (cook with what you drink)
• 4 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp basil
• 2 tsp fresh black pepper
• 4 small bay leaves
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced onions

Loosen the skin along the turkey breast, but do not remove it. Mix the garlic, pepper, thyme, and basil into a thick paste. Smear it under the turkey skin, covering as much area as possible. Tuck the bay leaves under the skin as well, two on each side of the breast, and smooth the skin back down over the turkey.

Put the turkey breast into the crockpot and "stuff" the cavity with the diced onions and carrots. This will be a bit of a sloppy mess, but try to get them down around the bones. Pour the white wine over the turkey.

Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours, or overnight.

In the morning, your turkey will be all but swimming in tasty juices. Drain off as much broth as you need for your dressing. Save at least 1 cup of broth for the gravy.

Remove turkey from crockpot and let sit until cool enough to handle. It should nearly fall off the bone. When cool, remove skin and bay leaves. Wait until the turkey cools, though. If you try to cut it fresh from the crockpot, it will be so hot and moist you'll end up with oddly sized turkey hunks. If you let it cool enough to handle, you can slice it into neat, enviable pieces. Drench the slices with warm broth and prepare to serve.

If you like making your own very tasty broth (excellent for December holiday recipes), put the bones, skin, and bay leaves back in the crockpot, fill with water, and leave on "low" overnight. The day after thanksgiving, when trying to figure out what to do with the rest of your leftovers, strain the turkey broth, throwing away the bones and bits. Frozen broth will last at least 3 months (possibly longer, but mine is always used up by then.)

If you don't have your own favourite, here's my e-z turkey gravy recipe.

• 1 cup broth
• 1 cup diced onions and carrots scooped out of broth
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Put broth, pepper, and veggies in a blender and blend until smooth. This will considerably thicken the gravy. Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Gradually add to the broth mix, stirring well. Reduce heat to low and continue stirring to prevent lumps.

Kosher 2nd Generation Chilli

Heirloom recipes are wonderful things. I want to send a big Thanks out to Margi, my wonderful Mother-in-Law, for this incredibly tasty Chilli. I've made a few modifications (mostly substituting my beloved chick peas for red beans and flavored tomatoes for plain ones) but this is her recipe. It's not cheap. I usually spend around $60 getting all the ingredients. However, I end up with a massive vat of chilli (around 5 gallons) which will feed me and my husband for a week...or a large group of our friends for a night. If you make your own modifications, please leave in the two kinds of meat. They add variation in the texture, which adds a wonderful mouth-feel to the richness of the chilli. (Unless you are a vegeterian, in which case you are excused.) I also urge you to cut fresh corn off the raw cob rather than use canned (or *shudder* frozen). Fresh corn stays amazingly crisp even after days in the fridge.

• 2 pound roast, defatted and cut into cubes
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 2 yellow bell peppers, chopped
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 2 jalepeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 6 uncooked ears of corn, cut from cob (honest. Unlike canned, this will stay crisp)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 four oz can diced green chilli's
• 2 28 oz cans chopped tomatoes with juice ("Italian" seasoned or plain)
• 2 fifteen oz cans white kidney beans/great northern beans (with juice)
• 2 fifteen oz cans chick peas/garbanzo beans (with juice)
• 1 cup strong coffee
• 1 twelve oz bottle beer
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tbsp paprika or chilli powder
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp black pepper

Brown the ground beef, drain off the grease, and set it aside. Brown the cubed meat (I just put it in my George Forman grill while browning the hamburger), drain off the grease, and set aside.

In a deep kettle, add olive oil and onions. Saute until translucent. Add hamburger, steak, brown sugar, garlic, coffee, chilies, jalapenos, and all spices. Mix very well, then simmer for about 10 minutes. It should smell very strong.

Add all remaining ingredients. Stir until thoroughly mixed, then bring to a boil.

Once boiling, turn heat to low and simmer for at least 2 hours - the longer the better. Stir every half an hour. You can leave it simmering on low all night and enjoy it for breakfast in the morning, or refridgerate it before bed.

Serve with chopped onions, grated soy cheese, and either cornbread or crusty French bread.

Variations:

• For more traditional chilli, substitute red kidney beans for the chick peas.
• For hotter chilli, double the chilli powder.
• For economical purposes, cut meats in half and double beans.
• For vegetarians, eliminate the meats and substitute 3 pounds of veggie ground meat substitute. Add the veggie ground round when adding the canned tomatoes.

Chilli is good in the fridge for up to 5 days. To preserve, refridgerate overnight, then ladle single bowl sized servings into freezer safe plastic bags and freeze. Chilli stays good in freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, empty the solid block of chilli into a microwave safe bowl, add 1 tbsp water, and microwave for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir well, let sit for 1 - 2 minutes, and enjoy.

Kosher Vegan Basil Green Beans

Vegetables have a bad reputation. People think they're bland, difficult to prepare, or just tasteless. This is because people make the great mistake of steaming or boiling their veggies then failing to add any spices. It's positively criminal. This weeknight recipe cooks up in 5 minutes, fridge to table. No kidding. People who hate eating veggies will think you're a culinary genius. Their tastebuds won't know what hit them.

• 1/2 lb fresh green beans
• 1 tbsp basil flavored olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper (or 1/4 tsp pre-ground)

Mix everything but the green beans in a microwave safe bowl.

Add the green beans and stir until well coated.

Microwave for 3 minutes. (Microwaving veggies is the best way to keep them crisp and avoid cooking out all nutrients.)

Stir well and serve. Yes. That's it.

Flavored olive oils are a wonderful thing. They can be found at most grocery stores alongside the olive oil and at all Wild Oats, Whole Foods, and other upscale grocers. My personal favourite for cost/flavor is the Consorzio brand.

Kosher Crockpot "Drippy Chicken"

This is called "Drippy Chicken" because it is a very wet recipe. Most lemon chicken recipes result in a dry chicken that seems to absorb moisture as it struggles down your throat. Not this one. It's wonderfully moist and absolutely melts in your mouth. One of the reasons is it's cooked in a crockpot. I do so love my slow cooker. Throw in your food in the morning, come home to dinner - no fuss, no worry. Crockpots are a wonderful invention. Every home should have one. This is loosely based on a delicious Greek recipe from "Jim's Coney Island" back in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you're ever in Tulsa, stop by one of the best hole-in-the wall restaurants you're ever going to find. It's half coney shop, half Greek food, and 100% delicious.

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Juice from 4 lemons
• 3 medium onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 bay leaf

Put everything but the chicken in the crockpot and stir until well mixed Add the chicken, making sure it's well coated in the wet mix.

Cook on Low for 6 hours or high for 4.

When you take off the lid, the chicken will no longer be nice, solid pieces of meat, but instead will have fallen all to pieces. Use a fork to stir briskly until it has the texture of pulled chicken, like the kind you get in BBQ joints. This should produce a very wet mix of tender chicken and onions.

Ladle the wet chicken mix into heavy pita bread for sandwiches or eat alongside fresh green beans (preferably beans cooked with basil and garlic.) Store the chicken in it's juices. It should be good in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Notes:

• DO NOT USE LEMON CONCENTRATE. Your chicken will taste like Lemon Scented Pledge. Honest. Just squeeze 4 lemons.
• Frozen chicken breasts work just fine. Cook them on low for 6+ hours.
• If you absolutely must have intact chicken breasts for presentation purposes, use the same mix, but put it in a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and bake in a 350F oven for 45 minutes.

Kosher Fruity Angelhair

This is one of those recipes inspired by staring at the pantry and thinking, "I've got a lot of ingredients, but I don't have any food." It started as a way to concoct dinner from a lot of unrelated leftovers and evolved into something that gets regularly requested. It's fast, simple, and very versatile.

• Enough angelhair pasta to serve one
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup dried cherries
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp basil flavored olive oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. It won't look like enough, but don't worry. The fruit and peppers are the stars of this dish with the pasta taking a backup role.

In a huge skillet, cook onions in olive oil until translucent. Add everything but the pasta. Mix well and continue to cook until onions start to brown.

This should be about the same amount of time it takes for the pasta to cook. This is no accident. :) Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet, mixing until well coated.

Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until all excess moisture is gone. Serve with hot crusty bread.

Variations:

• If you can't get full without meat on your plate, add 1 cup of precooked, diced chicken after the onions are translucent.
• When seasonal, I sometimes add 1 -2 ears of fresh cooked corn. Canned gets mushy, and let's not talk about frozen, but a hint of fresh corn works surprisingly well and adds some nice color.
• Don't like raisins? Just add 3/4 cup of whatever dried fruit you like best. I use whatever's around the house. Just beware of dried apples - they turn into a sticky mess.
• Red peppers too expensive? Any 2 bell peppers will do.

Kosher Parve Lentil & Egg Curry

High in protein, low in fat, low in calories, and amazingly cheap to make - sounds like the worst dinner ever, right? But South Asian spices can rescue even the dullest of ingredients, and this combination transforms plain brown lentils and boiled eggs from sparkling glass to the rarest diamond. This a wonderful Parve dish is great as a side at either a meat or milk meal, or as the centerpiece of a hearty vegetarian meal. Like most (non dairy or soy based) curries, it tastes even better as leftovers, when the flavors have had a chance to mingle overnight. Ingredients

• 1/2 cup brown lentils
• 3/4 cup water
• 6 eggs
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 chopped tomatoes or one 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 heaping tbsp minced garlic (or 6 minced cloves)
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder (or 1/2 inch ginger root, peeled and finely chopped)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt (unnecessary if using canned tomatoes)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 cloves
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Egg and Lentil Curry

Boil lentils according to package directions - approximately 30 minutes, or until just tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, hard boil eggs. When cool enough to touch, peel eggs and cut lengthwise.

Fry onions in a large saucepan until almost translucent. Add all spices and continue to fry another 5 minutes, or until onions are tender and spices are aromatic. Add tomatoes, sugar, and 3/4 cup water. (If using fresh tomatoes, add 1 full cup of water rather than 3/4). Stir well and bring to a boil.

Simmer 5 - 10 minutes until sauce thickens. Add boiled lentils and stir well. Drop in boiled eggs, drenching with sauce but not handling too much.

Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve with basmati rice or warm bread to sop up the juices.

Variations:

• I like my curries hot, so I use the canned tomatoes with "zesty jalapeno" and add another 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.
• Add 1/4 cup of diced dried fruit when you add the tomatoes to add contrast to both the flavor and texture.
• Simply leave out the eggs to make it vegan.