Kosher Bourbon chicken with pan fried apples

I interrupt the flow of Thanksgiving themed recipes for something I threw together for guests last night. It was a great opportunity for me to break away from my usual fallbacks, as one of them detests both garlic and onions. Shocking, I know. I wanted to make something nice, but not intimidatingly fancy. More important, I wanted something I could cook mostly on autopilot while still hanging out with friends. Nothing is more dull than twiddling your fingers in the living room while someone else is cooking.

Really, this is just stir-fry using currently trendy western ingredients. You don't even have to keep a close eye on it - which is great for entertaining.

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup bourbon (or whatever whiskey/scotch you drink)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup parve margarine
• 2 tbsp Chinese Five spice
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Peel the apples and cut them into thin slices. Cut the chicken breasts into around 8 pieces, depending on the size of the breasts. Rub the chicken pieces with the Chinese Five Spice powder.

Melt the margarine on a medium-high heat in your largest skillet. Brown the chicken pieces for a couple of minutes. Add in the bourbon, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until you have a nice, thick liquid. Throw in the sliced apples and stir until they're well coated.

It should take around 15 minutes for the apples and chicken to fully cook. Stir from time to time to make sure everything is cooked evenly. You'll end up with a nice, creamy bourbon sauce. Feel free to add more five spice cinnamon, or delicious artery-clogging fat.

(Benecol, Earth Balance, and Fleishmans all make parve margarines that work decently in cooking.)

Kosher Parve Wasabi/Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

I find these wasabi/horseradish potatoes go great with beef dishes. Try them alongside a nicely peppered New York Strip Steak (with a bit of extra horseradish on the side for the meat.)

• 3 pounds potatoes
• 1 cup soy creamer OR 1 cup soy milk + 1 tbsp light vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tbsp horseradish - FRESH, NOT PREPARED! (Prepared horseradish often has dairy)
• 1/2 tbsp green wasabi paste
• 1 tsp fresh ground white pepper

I recommend peeling the potatoes. You can leave the skins on if you prefer, but I think the added texture distracts too much in this recipe. Skinned or not, boil and drain the potatoes then return them to their original pot. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl until smooth. This is just to ensure even distribution in the potatoes. You don't want to accidentally bite into a lump of pure wasabi. Add the mix to the pot of potatoes and mash until you reach your desired texture. I like mine a little lumpy, but you're welcome to get out a hand mixer if you prefer them uniformly smooth. If you'd like your potatoes a little creamier, add 1/4 cup soy creamer/soy milk. Don't add more sesame oil. It's more for flavor than texture.

If you want the flavor with a little less kick, cut the wasabi and horseradish in half and double the salt. If you're the type who loves the way horseradish clears your nostrils, go nuts with it. Or try adding a few cloves of garlic to enhance the flavor.

A note of caution - both prepared horseradish and some cheap wasabi pastes can be made with dairy. Please check the labels to be sure of what you're getting before you take anything home.

Kosher Parve Garlic Mashed Potatoes

In this age of excellent milk substitutes, parve mashed potatoes don't have to be mealy and dry. You can get that rich, creamy texture from nut milks.

In exchange for the texture, you're going to have to spice the potatoes up a little. Silk brand coffee creamer is a real joy in mashed potatoes, but there's no denying the heavy the nutty taste. I haven't been able to lay hands on Wildwood Organic's soy creamer, although I hear good things about it. 8th Continent soymilk tastes a lot more like the real thing (I especially love their light chocolate soymilk), but like most soymilks, is too low in fat to give the full, creamy mouthfeel. Regardless of which milk/creamer alternative you use, you'll want to disguise the flavor with spices. Luckily, those spices include garlic. You can never go wrong with garlic.

• 3 pounds potatoes
• 1 cup soy creamer OR 1 cup soy milk + 2 tbsp light vegetable oil (or parve margarine)
• 10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh grated mixed peppercorns
• 1 tsp onion salt

Boil and drain the potatoes. It's entirely up to you whether or not to leave on the skins. Dump everything else in the pot you boiled your potatoes in and start mashing. Again, it's entirely up to you whether to stop while they're still a little lumpy or get out the hand mixer and blend them until smooth.

The stealth ingredient here is the onion salt. Somehow, the slightly acidic tang of it really covers any nutty soy flavor. If you can't get ahold of onion salt, try throwing the garlic, 1/2 cup of diced onion, and a tsp of oil into a blender until you have a nice, smooth paste. I'd add a couple extra cloves of garlic, too, since a few precious scraps will still be left in the blender. Add the paste to the pot of potatoes and blend as per the other directions.

Just as some people like their potatoes lumpy versus smooth or with bits of skin versus pure pulp, there are degrees of creamyness. If these are a little dry for your taste, try adding 1/4 cup creamer (or 1/4 cup milk + 1/2 tsp oil or 1 tsp parve margarine) until they reach your ideal texture.

Kosher Crockpot Turkey

Oh, yes. There's a chill in the air and a new Bon Appetit in my mailbox. It must be Christmas. Wait, no, that's not until after Halloween, right? I'm so confused. My local Walgreens has a display with a cheerful green faced witch sitting on Santa's lap.

But here at home, I can dwell on the best fall Holiday of them all - a secular one shared by all Americans (even if I see gobbler turkeys decorated with skull necklaces next to a bed of mistletoe). It's finally time for Thanksgiving.

I literally can't get enough of those seasonal foods - and not just because most of them are delightfully parve. Thanksgiving isn't just a one day event for me. It' s more like eight weeks of hearty fare indigenous to our continent. Try to imagine a world without potatoes, tomatoes, corn, pumpkin or turkey. Okay, you can stop now. If you think about it too long, you'll get the shakes.

I let my Mother-in-law handle the dramatic Presentation Turkey for Thanksgiving itself. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking you must spend ten hours carefully crafting a hand basted golden brown bird every time you want a little turkey. No, no, no. In fact, as long as you don't mind a little judicious slicing before you bring it to the table, no one needs to know how easy this fall-off-the-bone moist turkey really was.

• 1 four to six pound bone-in turkey breast, thawed
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 head garlic (or 3 - 4 tbsp minced from a can)
• 1 tbsp basil
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup water

Make sure you remove any neck, giblets, gravy packets, or other extras that come with your turkey breast. You don't want a greasy surprise later. Now mix the garlic, basil, salt, and olive oil into a thick paste. Loosen the turkey skin and rub the paste between the skin and the breast. Wipe any leftover on your fingers on the outside of the skin. Stuff one bay leaf on each side of the breast.

Roughly chop your onion and carrot. Honestly, if you don't plan on making any gravy or using the juices, you can skip this step. I think it makes the broth taste better. Put the turkey in the crockpot, stuff the chopped vegetables under the bone, and add the water.

Cook the turkey on low for 8 to 9 hours. I put it in before I go to work and come home to a great smelling dinner. The turkey will literally be falling off the bone at this point. Remove the largest chunks you can and let them cool before slicing. Add a couple tablespoons of the juices to keep it extra moist (or just bring a bowl of the drippings to the table and let people add their own.)

NOTE: If you can only get whole turkeys, this recipe works just as well. The only real problem is fitting the whole thing in your crockpot. If you have one of the huge ones, you're all set. If you have a normal sized crockpot, you can always chop off the legs (kids often enjoy helping with this part) and wings, save those for later, and throw the breast in a crockpot.

LAZY GRAVY: Add a cup of the cooked vegetables and two cups of the drippings/broth to a blender. You might want to add a few ice cubes first if your blender doesn't play nicely with hot liquids. Add in a teaspoon each of salt and fresh ground pepper, then blend until smooth. This will be a little thicker than broth, but not really as thick as gravy. If you'd like to thicken it up a little more, add 1 tsp of cornstarch to 1/2 cup cold water and blend until smooth. Once the cornstarch mix is smooth, add it to the gravy. Stir well and wait for it to cool a little more. That should give it some body.

Kosher Vegan Yellow Lentils with Whole Spices

I love lentils. This sometimes surprises me, because I grew up hating beans. In retrospect, it turns out I didn't like the spices. Discovering South Asian and Middle Eastern food opened up a whole new word of tasty goodness for me.

Since they both take time to make and always taste better the next day, I tend to make lentil dishes in large batches so I can leave a pot in the fridge and graze out of it all week long. This particular lentil dish is a nice sweet variation loosely based on something I recently enjoyed at a Turkish restaurant.

• 2 cups yellow lentils, soaked overnight
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 2 tbsp minced garlic (or 4 cloves)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 inch peeled and chopped ginger
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground white or mixed peppercorns
• 6 cups water

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the garlic, cinnamon stick, ginger, bay leaf, cloves, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir well, cooking the spices for 2 - 3 minutes. Trust me - this really brings out the flavor. You'll notice a real difference if you skip the step (although I've dumped spices in the pot without cooking them first in plenty of recipes and had the result turn out perfectly edible. But that's not what you want. You want mouth watering.)

Now add the chopped onion and apricots. Stir frequently, cooking 4 - 5 minutes, until the onions turn translucent. Once the onions are ready, you can finally add the water and lentils. Stir everything well, then bring it to a boil. Cover the pot and bring it down to a simmer. Let the lentils boil for a good hour.

Now you get to decide if you want them slightly soupy or thick enough to stand a spoon in. If you'd like a more soup like consistency, take it off the heat, fish out the bay leaf, cloves, and cinnamon stick, then serve. If you like your lentils thicker, take the lid off and continue cooking for another half hour - longer if you like your lentils really thick.

If you're feeling schmancy, let the lentils cool slightly, pick out the spices, and puree everything in a blender until it is nice and smooth. Personally, I like the mouthfeel of bits of onion and apricot (and, being honest here, I hate cleaning my blender).

Serve over rice or with naan.

VARIATIONS

Brown or red lentils don't need to be soaked overnight. If you're in a hurry, go ahead and use either of them. Red lentils hold up to to the sweetness of the apricots better, but they will fall apart faster, so you won't want to use the longer cooking time. You might also want to reduce the water by 1 cup. Brown lentils won't balance as well with the sweetness, but have a hearty solidity to them.

If you're feeling bold and daring, try substituting dried cranberries for the apricots.

If you'd like something a little mellower, try substituting diced dried apples for the apricots.

Kosher Greek Chicken and Potatoes

I'm on a crockpot kick right now. Crockpots are more than just an easy way to make shabbat meals. They're also great for weeknight dinners when I want to have something hot waiting for me the minute I get home from the gym.

For those of you who don't own a crockpot, they're dirt cheap (the low end starts around $15 these days) and incredibly easy to use. You put in the food. You put on the lid. You turn it on. That's all.

• 1 whole roaster chicken
• 1 pound baby new potatoes
• 3 tbsp oregano
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice (2 small lemons or one big one)
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Put the potatoes at the bottom of your crockpot. Mix the oregano, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt into a paste. Loosen the skin of the chicken and smear the paste underneath. Trust me - you want it under the skin instead of over it. The flavor difference is incredible.

Put the chicken on top of the potatoes. This way, the juices will drip down and season the spuds. If there isn't enough room in your crockpot, then put the chicken in first and stuff in as many potatoes as you can wherever they'll fit.

Cook on "low" for 4 - 6 hours. I usually make this at lunchtime and come home to a hot dinner. I've never tried making this before work and coming home to it in the evening, so I don't know how the meat will react to 8 - 9 hours of cooking time. I suspect it'll be fall-off-the-bone tender. If you try, please let me know.

Variations:

• Add 1 tsp minced garlic to the spice mix.
• If you have an open bottle of white wine, pour 1/2 cup over the top of the chicken after the chicken and potatoes are arranged in the crockpot. Always cook with what you drink.
• Slice up 1 white or yellow onion. Spread the potatoes at the bottom of the crockpot, add the onions on top of the potatoes, and the chicken on top of the onions.

Kosher Passover Irish Beef and Beer Stew

Impress the family next Passover with a "Guinness" stew. No kidding. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I love using it as an ingredient. It does wonders for any kind of beef in a crockpot. All of Ramapo Valley Brewery's beers are kosher, but their award winning HB Brew is also kosher for Passover (and, incidentally, drinkable by people with celiac disease. Some days, I really love modernity.) The tricky part of this recipe is finding the kosher for passover spices. One alternative is to buy fresh, refrigerated spices. If you can't find anything more than salt and pepper, use them liberally and trust the beer to provide the rest of the flavor.

• 2 pounds stew beef
• 2 large onions
• 4 large carrots
• 4 medium potatoes
• 1 bottle kosher for passover beer
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (or honey)
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (or 2-3 cloves)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

Dice the onions, carrots, and potatoes into large chunks, at least two inches. Add them to the bottom of the crockpot. Next add the meat. On top of that, sprinkle all the sugar and spices. Top it all off with the bottle of beer.

Cook on "low" for six to eight hours. Don't worry about over cooking. If you throw this in the crockpot before leaving for work, it'll be fine if you get home nine or more hours later.

When ready to serve, add the cup of mashed potatoes. Without this, the liquid will be tasty, but the flavors won't stick as well. The potatoes thicken up the stew and bind the flavors together. Like most stews, this one is even tastier after sitting in the fridge overnight.

WARNING

Resist the urge to make this stew too busy. You'll see Guinness Beef Stew recipes with rosemary, basil, marjoram - pretty much any western European kitchen herb. Don't do it. The simpler you keep this recipe, the better it turns out.

FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR

You can substitute 1/4 cup cornstarch well blended with 1/2 cup cold water instead of mashed potatoes. Both perform the same function as thickening agents.