My Yiddische Nachos (for Daniel Saraga)

In its original incarnation, this was going to be a fun and frivolous post - truly Floozie-ish. A winding tale about a ridiculous but fabulous little concoction of Jewish-style nachos, using potato latkes as the base, that was inspired by my friend and blogging buddy Daniel Saraga of The Haggis and The Herring - the culinary adventures of a nice Jewish boy and his Scottish wife.

I had written on July 30 about Totchos - nachos made with tater tots. They're unbelievable, and also unbelievably good!

Dan wrote to me:

"Walking across the office it hit me: If you can make a really thin latke (thicker than a potato chip, but not too thick - maybe made with pureed potatoes), then you've got a plate of Yiddish nachos .... Dunno if I want to even attempt it - it sounds good, but it also sounds like a heart attack on a plate."

Well, I was hooked! So we bounced ideas back and forth a bit, and decided that instead of chili or refried beans we would use cholent [CHOH-lehnt] - an iconic Jewish stew that cooks slowly over a Friday night, so that Jews can return home from Saturday morning Shabbat services to a hot meal without violating prohibitions against cooking on the Sabbath. And we decided to make it a vegetarian cholent, incongruous as that notion is (since it's traditional to battle over who gets the marrow bones that are often put into it), because we determined we should respectfully honor the dietary laws and thus prohibit any mixing of meat and dairy products despite not keeping kosher ourselves. And it's just not a proper plate o' nachos without cheese, after all.

I'm not quick-witted by any means - it's a gift I admire and envy in others. When I asked Dan what this little taste treat should be called, he immediately wrote back to me: "Well, as long as we can get Mandy Patinkin to endorse them, 'My Yiddische Nachos,' of course :-)" [YID-ih-shuh]

Dan said: "Now we've talked about it enough that I might need to actually do something about it. I might wait until December, tho." I promised to get to work sorting out some details, trying to figure out how to cook the latkes to the proper consistency, how to make a good vegetarian cholent. I wanted to be ready for Chanukkah, when latkes are the mandatory food - fried in celebratory oil as they are - which would be the perfect occasion for our dish.

I left services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, September 17, and went to the store to pick up a few things. I saw a package of soy chorizo and thought to myself that I should get some, precisely because I intended to work on Dan's inspired nacho notion after the Jewish High Holidays and knew I would need this ingredient for the cholent.

I got home from the store, turned on my computer, and was surprised to find an email from Dan's wife Meredith. I couldn't believe what I was reading - it made no sense, it wasn't possible. Tears started streaming, because what Meredith told me was such a horrific shock: her Darling Daniel, as she always called him, had died suddenly just three days earlier after making dinner for his family, which he loved to do. Sadly, the very heart attack Dan feared from this dish is what apparently took his life. He was only 37.

Meredith wrote that Dan had considered me a friend, which I feel was truly an honor; he was a good, good man, a great guy, smart, funny, with a heart that shone even through a computer screen. He left behind two very young sons - Jacob just learned to ride a bike this past summer, and their Jeremy isn't yet 2 - with a third baby, affectionately known as "J3," on the way. And he left behind Meredith, whom he cherished and who adored him in return. Even though Dan and I never met in the real world so that I could see his face light up when talking about them - we had bonded in cyberspace over food and Judaism - his love for his family was abundantly clear in everything he wrote.

And so, what should have been a silly post about devising a plate of Jewish-style nachos - as two friends bantered back-and-forth from Toronto to Ann Arbor over the nitpickiest, yet critical, details - has instead turned into a bittersweet tribute to my friend Daniel Saraga, without whom this recipe would not exist. He devised the idea and named it; and his combined respect for tradition, love of food, multi-cultural worldview, creativity, and distinct playfulness and humor all shine through in this delicious mishmash.

I debated whether to make these with a Moroccan influence (Daniel's heritage - he teased me when I used my traditional tea glasses to serve peanut butter pudding!) or a Mexican-ish one; instead, I decided to focus on the "Yiddische" aspect, leaning towards Eastern Europe. Dan and I had considered the difficulty of choosing a cheese, but never settled upon anything in particular.

So I am immensely grateful to Simone of Morgan and York, a lovely shop offering exceptional wines and gourmet foods, who took on my quandry and recommended a wonderful Cheddar. She gave me two choices that would honor the ban against mixing meat and dairy products (cheeses without animal rennet), and also a wide variety of others that I could use in further experimenting for my own supremely treyf ([TRAYF] = non-kosher) purposes, such as adding brisket to the cholent before topping it with cheese. (She also provided a personal tasting session for my Jeremy and me, which was so fantastic!) I also offer thanks to Eric the Cheesemonger at The Produce Station, another fabulous specialty food and wine market, who suggested Comté ([kohm-TAY] - a Swiss-like cheese) for its exceptional melting qualities. Together, the cheeses offer the ooey-gooey factor coupled with an "oomph" of flavor.

It makes me so, so sad that I didn't get to share the final concoction with Dan, that he didn't get to try it or share it with Meredith and the boys; I would have waited anxiously, after sending him the instructions, to read his report back about who looked askance, who dove right in, how many days the house smelled after frying all the latkes ... :) I smile as I contemplate it, and as I write this remembrance of my friend.

But he won't be writing to me, won't be making me laugh with his comments, won't be sharing this last stretch of the Yiddische Nachos adventure with me. And I realize that this loss for me so greatly and inconceivably pales by comparison to knowing that Dan won't watch his boys grow up, won't hold his new baby, won't grow old with Meredith.

Dan led me to this dish, and I hope he was guiding me as I prepared it. Either that, or he's shaking his head and offering up a pained, "Oy!" I hope I came close to approximating his vision.

With many, many thanks to Dan for the smiles, the laughter, the thought-provoking questions and comments, and especially for his kindness and his friendship. Never doubt my philosophy that people bond over food, even in cyberspace. The term "blogging buddy" is so woefully inadequate to describe some of the truly wonderful people I've met online, like Dan, but never had the thrill and privilege of meeting in the real world so that we could share a meal. I am so grateful for having known him.

May Dan's memory be for a blessing ....


My Yiddische Nachos

Latkes:

• 1 egg
• pinch of kosher salt
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons matzah meal
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups frozen hash browns
• oil, for frying

In a medium bowl, combine egg, salt, pepper, matzah meal, and water; add hash browns, and let rest for 5 minutes. Place into a blender and puree until just a bit of texture is left.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil at a time in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add batter by the scant 1/4-cupful and fry for 4 minutes per side until golden brown. Remove to a plate and continue until batter is gone.


Cholent:

• 1 cup dry kidney beans
• 1 cup dry pinto beans
• 10 cups + 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 large scallions, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 12-ounce package Trader Joe's soy chorizo
• 1 14.5-ounce can stewed tomatoes, chopped, with their liquid
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2-1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt-free seasoning
• 1/3 cup quick-cook barley
• 1 cup beer

Place the beans and the 10 cups water into a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, and cook 10 minutes. Turn off heat, cover saucepan, and let beans soak for 2 hours or more. Drain.

Rinse the Dutch oven, then add the oil. Add onions, scallions, and red pepper flakes; cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chorizo, tomatoes, and mustard; cook for 5 more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes.

Place the cholent into a crockpot, and cook on "low" for 8 hours or more.

(If you prepare just the cholent, rather than the entire dish, it's a great vegan meal.)


Nachos:

• 4 ounces grated Comté cheese
• 1-1/2 ounces grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• sour cream, for serving

Place the latkes on a microwaveable serving platter, and top with 2 cups of the cholent. Sprinkle the Comté over the top and cook in the microwave until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle the Cheddar over the top without heating it. (Cheddar has a tendency to separate, so Simone recommended doing this to preserve its integrity.) Serve immediately with sour cream, a traditional accompaniment to both nachos and latkes.

Serves 4.

Chickpeas with Chorizo

Last week, I wrote a blog post that mentioned my dream of someday travelling to Morocco.  It's been ages since I cooked anything from that region ... and why?  I adore Moroccan food, with its vivid spices and flavors. I've been so busy with holiday cooking, writing about cookbooks, judging events, and other missions; and, of course, I have to accommodate other eaters in my life, who aren't necessarily terribly adventurous.  So much food to cook and eat, so little time!

This recipe is traditionally Moroccan in that it is stew-like and reminiscent of a tagine - a beautiful conical dish that simmers foods, as well as the dishes that are cooked in the utensil (the name can be used for both); this is indicative of influence from the Berbers of North Africa.  It is also Moroccan in that it has been strongly influenced by Spain, which is evident in the use of both chorizo and paprika.  Spain and Morocco are only 8 miles apart, across the Strait of Gibraltar.

To make this a vegetarian dish, I used a lovely soy chorizo that is available at Trader Joe's; it isn't a firm sausage, but rather a crumbly one.  It offers good flavor and color, and is great in many recipes (such as the Sloppy Joes that I'm told are a friend's family favorite).  You could easily use traditional meat chorizo, which is sliced rather than ground; of course, while that ingredient would be indicative of Spanish influence, it would also be an affront to Morocco's Muslims with its forbidden pork.  So many cultures, so much history, such a melange!

But whether you're serving carnivores or vegetarians, this simple, fragrant, fabulous dish is one you should absolutely try.

Chickpeas with Chorizo

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 small red onion, quartered, sliced
1 small roasted red pepper, quartered, sliced (from a jar is just fine)
6 ounces chorizo (soy or pork)
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
juice of half lemon
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
generous pinch freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and onion; saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is softening.  Add the remaining ingredients and bring just to a boil.  Cover the saucepan, turn heat down to low, and cook for 10 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Serve "as is" with bread, or serve it over couscous.  Serves 2-4.

Spinach Feta Pizza

As I mentioned last week, I bought a huge tub of spinach on sale ... so, spinach being highly perishable, I've eaten quite a lot of the stuff in order to use it up before it started to get slimy.

Today's method of plowing through the supply involved a universal favorite: pizza.

I had a bit of leftover feta, as well as a lovely prepared blob of garlic-herb pizza crust dough (99-cents at Trader Joe's -- an incredible deal!), and decided that combining these ingredients would make not only a nutritious dinner but also excellent leftovers to bring for lunch at work.

So, that's precisely what I did: I placed the dough into a pan, threw as much spinach onto it as I could without burying the dough entirely, and used up the last of the cheese.

And it was an exceptional dinner, if I may say so myself ... :)

Spinach Feta Pizza

1 ball of fresh pizza crust dough
1/4 cup pesto
2 generous cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan.

With lightly floured hands, press the pizza crust into the prepared pan. Spread the pesto over the dough, leaving a 1" border. Tear the spinach leaves and distribute them over the pesto. Sprinkle the feta and the parmesan over the spinach, then grind pepper over everything to taste.


Bake for 20 minutes or so, until the crust is lightly browned.


Cut into 6 pieces and serve.

Chorizo and Couscous Stuffed Peppers

I developed a craving for stuffed peppers recently, and spent several days envisioning how I would make them. I've rarely eaten them, as most people make them with the green peppers that I consider to be an abomination -- they're much too strong and bitter. But I love the pretty colored red, yellow and orange varieties, and was determined to bake them up with something stuffed into their middles.

Woman on a mission that I always am to use up leftovers, I put my last bit of Trader Joe's soy chorizo towards this purpose, but needed more ingredients to make a proper filling. Onions and garlic, of course -- those were obvious, as saute partners with the "soy-sage," as Jeremy calls the soy "sausage." The trimmings from cutting the tops off the peppers would also be a given.

But what would the carbohydrate, the substance of the dish, be? I had brown rice on hand, but that seemed plain. So I used some of the whole wheat Israeli couscous that had been loitering in the pantry, waiting for a reason to justify its existence.

Israel couscous is much larger than the standard Moroccan couscous; it looks like it should be used as ammunition for a bb gun. I would pre-cook it, and then it would become even more tender when baked with all those vegetables.

And so, last Saturday afternoon, this is precisely what I did -- I chopped (including slicing my finger, which Tom expertly cared for by sealing the flap with Krazy Glue before bandaging me) and I stirred and I sauteed. Tom then took over filling the peppers and grating the cheese, before I wounded myself further. We watched baseball -- first the end of the Yankees win over the Red Sox, then the beginning of the Tigers loss to the Royals -- as the apartment filled with the fabulous aroma of spice and peppers and browning cheese.

The peppers were tender but not mushy once they'd finished baking, and -- as you can see -- were picture perfect: bright, festive, colorful, and enticing.

This is an easy recipe to make with either regular chorizo or with soy-sage, and I truly cannot recommend it highly enough. I'll use my uninjured hand to pat myself on the back for having this work out perfectly on the very first try ... :)



Chorizo and Couscous Stuffed Peppers

3/4 cup water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup whole wheat Israeli couscous
1 tablespoon oil
6 ounces soy chorizo
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped onions, both red and white
4 peppers, tops removed and chopped, seeded
1-1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bring water, salt and cumin to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add couscous, cover, and turn heat down to "low." Cook for 10 minutes, then turn off heat and let couscous rest for 10 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo, garlic, onions and the chopped peppers; saute until the vegetables are translucent.


Stir the couscous into the vegetable mixture.

Place the peppers into an 8"x8" baking dish.


Divide the couscous mixture among them, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil, divide the cheese over the tops of the peppers, and bake for 20 more minutes.



Serve hot. Serves 4 generously.

Lenten Friday: Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

For as long as I've known her, one of my co-workers -- who's a vegetarian -- has told me how much she misses Sloppy Joes. Burgers she doesn't care about; Thanksgiving turkey she has no use for. But she misses Sloppy Joes.

So I have considered the options in trying to see if I could create an edible version for her using ground beef-like substances. Dehydrated texturized vegetable protein ... bleah. Crumbled tofu ... retch. Nothing seemed even remotely edible.

That is, until the day that I found the soy chorizo at Trader Joe's. I've used it in chili, and I've sprinkled it on nachos; it's got the meaty consistency, good flavor and color ... it was the perfect choice for my attempt at Sloppy Joes.

But I wanted to stretch it out a bit, not use only the chorizo; so I combined that with a package of the Morningstar Farms vegetarian "crumbles" and then set to cooking.

I couldn't find my usual recipe for Sloppy Joes, but knew it involved chili sauce and mustard ... I kinda winged it from there, relying upon some of the flavor from the chorizo, too, and not wanting too many ingredients competing and perhaps not playing well with each other.

I cooked everything up one evening, and the house smelled amazing!!! I wanted all of those soy products to absorb as much flavor from the sauce as possible, so I packed it all up and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Then I served the Sloppy Joes for dinner the next day.

And I must say -- with or without mustard, with or without pickles, with or without onions, with or without the chips and cole slaw on the side -- this was an excellent meal! A little bit barbecue-y, a hint of spice, lots of flavor. If anyone who ate them hadn't already known these were meatless, I'm pretty sure no one would have guessed from either the taste or the consistency.

So, the ultimate test: does my friend like the Sloppy Joes??? I don't know -- they've been so popular around here with Tom, Jeremy and me that I'm going to have to make another batch for her to try!

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

12 ounces Trader Joe's soy chorizo
1 12-ounce package Morningstar Farms vegetable crumbles
1 small red onion, chopped
1 12-ounce bottle chili sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
buns, for serving

Place the chorizo and the vegetable crumbles into a large skillet; cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the onion and cook until the onion is translucent.


Combine the chili sauce, mustard, soy sauce, salt and pepper; pour over the chorizo mixture and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Refrigerate overnight for the flavors to blend, then reheat and serve on toasted buns.

Serves 8.

iCarly's Spaghetti Tacos ... Spaghetti SQUASH Tacos, That Is

Back in October, I read an article in The New York Times about legions of iCarly fans who were begging their parents to make a dish that had been featured on the show, which is a colossal tween favorite: Spaghetti Tacos.

Dan Schneider, the creator of Nickelodeon's iCarly, is the genius (no, I'm not kidding -- consider what a phenomenon all of this is!) behind the joke of the spaghetti tacos as a dinner option. They've now become all the rage at birthday and slumber parties, and are precisely what you think they'd be -- taco shells filled with noodles à la Chef Boyardee.

Bleah.

But in reading further about variations on the dish -- some with meat, some with oversized shells, and some (like those of my blogging buddy Dan, of The Haggis and The Herring) using linguine and cheese sauce to accommodate family preferences -- the notion of somehow making them appetizing and edible kept gnawing at me. There had to be a way! There had to be some way to make these less repulsive, more nutritious, and something that adults could eat, as well.

And then my epiphany struck: spaghetti squash. I'll use spaghetti squash!!! That still makes it a spaghetti taco, right???


So I baked up a squash, then coated the spaghetti-like strands with taco seasoning to make the basis of the filling. Top it all off with the usual accoutrements of lettuce, cheese, salsa, etc., and you've actually got yourself a nutritious vegetarian meal.

And so, now for the big question: how did the tacos taste ...?

They were pretty good! I can't promise that I'd ever make them again, as I'm a pretty big fan of beef and chicken tacos and I don't have any iCarly fans in my house clamoring to eat like their favorite t.v. star. But they definitely made an excellent, though messy, dinner.

I had bought Trader Joe's taco seasoning, which was heavy on the cumin and not as high in sodium as other mixes; it had a very good flavor which was exceptionally well suited to the sweetness of the squash. The squash didn't overpower any of the other parts of the dish, but every so often there was just a hint of it shining through. With the exception of the filling being so different from the norm, otherwise these were just good ol'-fashioned familiar comfort food, falling apart as they were bitten into ... part of the joy of tacos!

Spaghetti Squash Tacos

1 spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
12 taco shells
shredded lettuce
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped tomatoes
chopped scallions
fresh salsa
guacamole
sour cream

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan.

Cut the squash in half horizontally, and scrape out the seeds.


Place the squash cut-side down into the prepared baking pan and bake for 50 minutes until very tender.




Scrape out the flesh of the squash, and place it into the dish you just baked it in, discarding the shell. (Who needs another bowl to wash??? The baking pan is already dirty.) Combine the oil and the taco seasoning to make a paste.


Spread the seasoning over the squash, then use 2 forks to toss the squash with the mixture until the squash is coated evenly.

Meanwhile, heat the taco shells according to package directions.

Place some of the squash into the taco shells; top with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, salsa, guacamole and sour cream as desired.


Makes 12 tacos, and you may have some extra squash left over for burritos or nachos or quesadillas or anything else your little heart desires.