Herbal Salve/ Ointment/ Balm Tutorial PLUS Freebie!

My good friend Allyson has been making natural household products for a couple years and just launched a business selling natural body products - Etz Adin (literally meaning gentle tree). {More info and Freebie coupon code at the end.} I asked Allyson to share her basic technique with us.

Salves are a lot of fun to make.  There are endless combinations of ingredients and you end up with a really great product that heals and nourishes the body.  We love the Natural Healing Salve at our house and use it for just about everything including bug bites, cuts and scrapes, sunburn, eczema, and even diaper rash!

Today, I’m going to share with you the basics of making a salve.  Although it is possible to create a salve from beginning to end in one day, you really want to give it 4-6 weeks to become as rich and effective as possible.

Sourdough Pita - Great Blog Swap PLUS Giveaway

Chef Alison of AliBabka

In honor of the first anniversary of the Kosher Connection I have been randomly assigned a fellow kosher blogger to be inspired by. It my my great pleasure to introduce my muse this week, AliBabka. The author is Chef Alison (Barnett) Gütwaks, is a recent graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in NY. It was important to her to get a well rounded culinary education and not limit herself to kosher culinary colleges. I enjoyed reading about the challenges she faced as a torah-observant Jew cooking in a non-kosher environment.

While reading through AliBabka in search of a recipe I would like to make my own, I enjoyed the creativity, wit, and professional experience that Chef Alison brings to the table. (No pun intended.)

Pita in a pan from AliBabka

In the post "Mo-Rockin In Your Kitchen", guest blogger Elisheva Avital writes about two Moroccan flat breads I have been wanting to try my hand at, pita and moufletta. With the easy access to fresh pita I enjoy in Israel, it's not often I find time to make my own, even if it is healthier and/or tastier. But I thought my blog was in need of both a sourdough entry and a pita recipe. In order to make the recipe my own, I converted her recipe to 90% Whole Wheat Sourdough Pita.

Kosher Cooking... Solemn Gathering

Welcome to the Kosher Cooking Carnival - KCC - for the Hebrew month of Av. As we enter the nine days of heightened morning over the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, we take on many morning rituals. We don't wear new clothes, cut our hair, or eat meat. In this spirit, I would like to share my unusually sparse, and completely pescetarian edition of KCC.

To get us in the spirit, let's start with the annual Our Shiputzim: A Work In Progress tradition: Requisite Fast Day Food Post: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars Edition by Mrs. S.

Speaking of shiputzim (renevations), This American Bite is looking good, Yosef! I was just drooling over some vegan Naan Pizza with Zaatar and Eggplant.

Devo K, from In the middle, on the right, had a Spiritual baking experience after reading The Secret of Challah, by Shira Wiener and Ayelet Yifrach.

What is Water Kefir?

For video and recipes - CLICK HERE.

It is my great pleasure to introduce you to my new friend Tibicos, AKA Tibi, Sugar Kefir, Water Kefir, Japanese Water Chrystals, California Bees, Beer Seeds, and more. In past posts I've written about kefir, usually a yogurt-like drink made from milk, and kombucha, a fermented tea drink. Water kefir uses a similar process to make a unique fermented beverage full of probiotic goodness. Dispite the name, water kefir is a different organism from dairy kefir. 

What is Water Kefir Soda?
When sugar water is cultured with the water kefir SCOBY, the resulting liquid can be bottled with other flavors to become a slightly fizzy natural soda. It has tiny gentle bubbles like natural champagne  as opposed to the big bubbles that are artificially pumped into commercial soda pop.

How does it taste and smell?
I mix mine with juice, tea, ginger, vanilla sugar, or whatever else I want it to taste like. I would describe the taste as slightly sweet, earthy, and yeasty. The longer is ferments, the less sweet and more yeasty or sour it might taste. Eventually it will taste a little alcoholic or vinegary (though I've never had any that long.) Kelly compares it to a mild wine cooler.

Intro to Fermenting Vegetables

I have been absolutely obsessed with fermenting foods the last few weeks. My interest began as I read and heard reports on the multiple benefits of probiotics and the importance of a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut. It went beyond good digestion and better absorption of nutrients. Studies show better mood and brain function associated with healthy gut flora. Research suggests that 80% of the immune system may be in the gut, with probiotic-rich foods, like kimchi, offering serious illness preventing effects.

A study published in Nature found that, "Mice fed a strain of Lactobacillus rhamnosus were less anxious and produced fewer stress hormones than control animals."

I'm sold! But consuming effective amounts of probiotic tablets and yogurt can get very expensive. Multiply that times the six anxious, antibiotic ravaged guts in our household, and it is completely cost prohibitive. Then I remembered, I could culture my own probiotics! I've posted before about kombucha and kefir, but I was having trouble getting my hands on kosher kefir grains or a kombucha SCOBY. I discussed my interest with a friend, who told me she makes her own sauerkraut - and it's easy!

Pre-Pesach Kosher Cooking Carnival

Chodesh tov! I've been hearing people mentioning Pesach for over a month, and until recently, it hadn't quite clicked why. According to my daughter, the families of all her friends in our building are already done cleaning for Pesach! When she interrogated me about my Pesach cleaning, I assured her that I had begun... by cleaning out a couple boxes of cookies.

Well, the month of Nisan has arrived! I now give you all permission to begin your Pesach preparations, and even mention the 'P' word without me growling in return.

This week I am giddy with excitement to welcome a new member into our home, specifically, my kitchen - a Magimix food processor. It only cost half a years worth of diapers! I just can't stop thinking about it. It actually makes me want to clean faster so I'll have more time in the kitchen to chop and whip  things up like Pesach brownies, Homemade Gefilte fish, Cauliflower Tabouleh, Banana Ice Cream, quick tomato sauce for Shakshouka (pictured), and "Fresh" Sriracha - Homemade Hot Sauce.

I'm also going to make lots more of Faye Levy’s Almond Macaroons posted by Miriyummy.


Then after Pesach I hope to make more bread, like Easy Awesome Onion Challah (where I can use the Magimix to chop the onions and knead the dough) and stuffed focaccia like the Focaccia Hamentashen I made for Purim.

I love the idea of Schlissel Challah, Key Shaped Bread Baked After Passover (pictured) made by Creative Jewish Mom Sarah Rivka.

I could whip up Chaviva's No-bake Peanut Butter Mousse Pie or make a giant batch of Lavash/Laffa Bread posted on Challah Maidel.

Or maybe I'll mix up a giant batch of cookies and freeze some! Batya shared a simple cookie "nonrecipe" in Not Exactly The Recipe, But....

Focaccia Hamentashen

I've been wanting to make these for Purim for the past couple years, but something always comes up. Today I finally tested my concept, and I intend to put a couple in each Purim basket for mishloach manot/shalach manos I give my friends and neighbors. In Hebrew - פוקצ'ה אוזני המן

Start with your favorite pizza or focaccia dough recipe. I used my dad's pizza dough recipe. I think this one from Anne Burrell also looks good. The following proportions will make 8 hamentashen (enough for a test batch or family appetizer):

Dough:

• 3/4 tsp yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water (NOT hot)
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 egg (optional)
• 2 cups flour (I used whole wheat for this test, but I plan to use all-purpose for the mishloah manot.)
• 1 tsp salt

Tofu Pad Thai

There is something about the end of December that puts Jews in the mood for Chinese food, or at least Asian food as it has evolved in the diaspora. If you find yourself with a block of tofu or some leftover chicken, you can whip this meal up from things you probably already have in your pantry and freezer. (You could also add scrambled eggs for protein.) NOTE: Instead of me writing "optional" on all the ingredients, just assume all the ingredients are merely suggestions.

For tofu, start by slicing or cubing the whole block. Put it in between paper towels or tea towels. Lay a cutting board on top and put some cans or other heavy things on top to squeeze out the water. This works best if all the slices/cubes are the same thickness, thus squeezed equally. You may need to switch the paper towels if they are soaked.

While the tofu is draining, mix the marinade. Use your own taste and what you have in the house, but something like

• terriyaki sauce
• soy sauce
• ginger - fresh grated or powder
• garlic - fresh grated or powder
• silan (date syrup), molasses, or sugar

Homebrewing - Part 2: The Process, Amazing Hops, Useful links

This is the second post in our series on brewing beer at home, by special guest, award winning brewer Boaz Harel.  CLICK HERE to read Part 1: Why make your own beer?

One little piece of advice before you forge forth: Looking at all this stuff can be intimidating, and it's easy to get overwhelmed or feel like this is too complicated for you to do. It's not. Making beer is easy. Primitive stone age people did it 6000 years ago with clay pots and a bonfire, it it worked fine. The only difference now is that we've got much better equipment, and many more people to help you if you get stuck.

Using Wort Extract by Jason Pratt

In the Part 1 I discussed why you should brew your own beer at home. Now, I'm going to talk about the basic process of brewing, and try to tackle some of the common questions of new homebrewers. If you are familiar with the process (or are just impatient) you can skip to the links at the bottom of the post for more concrete instructions and resources for brewing at home. 

Let’s start with the most basic question: What does brewing involve, exactly? Well, simply put, when you brew you take the sugars and flavors from malted grain, mix it with water, boil, season to taste, cool, and ferment. See? It's simple! Now go brew!

Ok, so maybe it's not as simple as it sounds. To get the sugar out of the grain you have to rinse it out with water at specific temperatures for specific times, using the twin processes of "mashing" (soaking the grain) and "luthering" (rinsing the grain and filtering out the particles). Doing this at home means that you start with a bunch of dry grain and end up with a big pot's worth of grain-flavored sugar water, known as "wort." When you start your brewing from grain you are using "all-grain" brewing.

Grilling Ideas PLUS Kosher Recipes Link-Up

I recently joined the Kosher Connection. Each month we'll jointly host a "Link-up" on a different theme. Today I'd like to share some general ideas about:

• Nontraditional dishes that make the most of a tradition grill (like things you can serve on Shabbat or bring to a pot-luck)
• Tips for using non-traditional "grills" (great for cooking on vacation or in dorm-style situations)

The smoky, dry heat produced by a grill gives food some amazing flavors. Once you already have the grill set up, there's no reason to stick with simple grilled veggies and the traditional meats. You can use the grill as a flavor-boosting step in so many dishes.

By using the grill you can add an exciting summery flavor to dishes that can be taken to a friends house, to work, rewarmed for Shabbat, or eaten cold.

This Shabbat I served a crustless quiche or pashtida. The main ingredient was grilled butternut squash. The grilling (or roasting) carmelized the squash in a way that wouldn't have been possible if I baked the whole cassarole at once. Instead, the squash was soft and sweet and fully cooked by the time the egg was done. I even enjoyed this cold for breakfast yesterday!

Kosher Cooking Carvival - Av

Welcome to the Kosher Cooking Carnival for the Hebrew month of Av. In the spirit of the nine days, we'll skip the meat, and the frills.  Welcome to the first ever Parve KCC! First, some news:

Tamar opened a "blogsite" - Kosher With Food Allergies - for information and resources for Jews dealing with food allergies. Maybe you have allergies and need tips for traveling outside your comfort zone, or you have guests coming this summer with food allergies, this is an incredible compilation/portal of resources.

Yocheved Golani is looking for a publisher for her new book The Comfort Foods Cookbook: Recipes to Calm You Down FAST Without Widening Your Waistline.  I've posted an excerpt from her book about whole grains and spreads.

Batya of me-ander is traveling to the states this summer and wants to know, So Which Starbucks is Kosher?

Israel has been threatened with rolling blackouts. Hannah K. of Cooking Manager wrote about Preparing Your Refrigerator for a Power Outage.

Photo credit: Mordechai Treiger

David Lebovitz (Living the Sweet Life in Paris) takes a culinary tour of Jerusalem.

At Isreview, Daniela reviewed PriGat’s "Retro" Blood Orange Juice and Bagel Bagel's Aleph-Bet Shaped Pretzels.

My friend Hannah Z. has revived her blog Keen on Quinoa and wrote A Lesson in Hilchot Kashrut.   Hannah posted several other blueberry themed posts including How to Can Blueberries, plus lots of cookie recipes.

Yosefa's Shakshuka

Now for the recipes:

I've been feeling extra Israeli in the kitchen lately. I recently posted Keys to Great Eggplant (you HAVE to try my eggplant and tehina) and I made sweet and easy Shakshuka.

Mrs. S. wrote The requisite fast day food post, including a  recipe for zucchini soup,  at Our Shiputzim: A Work In Progress.

A great idea idea for summer - Ester, of Frugal and Kosher, made Roasted Vegetable Gazpacho with a mixture of raw and cooked veggies. What a nice idea to get the fullest range of flavor and health benefits. Ester also made a vegan Raisin-Bran Cake. My mouth is watering!

For the Love of Goats

Sometime in elementary school I decided I wanted a baby goat as a pet. Was it on the visit with my aunt and cousins to a farm in New Jersey where we got to hold ducklings, chicks, chickens, and kid goats? I remember how special I felt being the only kid in the family big enough to hold these adorable little kids. Maybe it was the family trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina where we purchased ice cream cones full of goat food, before entering a trail of tourists trying to avoid being attacked by goats.

Since then, I've always held a flame for goats. But, until I have space and time for goats, I will settle for making our household favorite - goat yogurt cheese with olives, crocheting with mohair, and reading to my kids from the copy of Gregory, the Terrible Eater that my grandmother gave me when I was a kid.

Check out my photo essay and restaurant review on Facebook and don't forget to "Like" Cooking Outside the Box to see links I share and what I've been up to in the kitchen between blog posts.

Stuff I Love - Spring 2012

For today's "Kitchen Tips Tuesday" I wanted to give a little shout-out to some products and foods I enjoyed this Passover. (In no particular order.)

Parchment paper baking pans - Lightweight, cheap, stackable. You can cut in them without ruining the pan or your knife. No need for extra oil, they are totally non-stick. I used them for all my kugels and brownies.


Homemade chocolate syrup - I used Alton Brown's recipe with honey instead of corn syrup, and with homemade vanilla sugar.

Baby Food For Thought

Ideas about what and when to feed baby vary greatly with time and culture. My little Avi is mostly nursing, but eagerly devours hummus from my fingers. I wanted to share two somewhat conflicting ideas about feeding infants.  I found both the following article and video to have very useful ideas for feeding babies.

In "Don’t Wait too Long to Start Solids", my friend Hannah Katsman, IBCLC, interviews Shoshi Belkowitz, a speech pathologist, Lactation consultant, and specialist in feeding and swallowing issues. I read the article several months ago, but one of the main points that stuck with me was the idea that baby's need for "solid" food coincides with their ability to sit up, grab small objects, and swallow. Teeth are not really necessary for mashing most foods.  Shoshi says:

... some nutrients need to be added to the baby’s diet at around six months, when iron stores from birth are starting to be depleted. While the iron in breastmilk is well-absorbed, iron is only present in small amounts. Also, at around this age, babies’ mouths and digestive system develop the physical ability to deal with solids. There is a psychological element too—at this age babies enjoy tasting, using their mouths, and experimenting with textures. 

Baby Canter's video "How to make baby food at home" has helpful tips for making and storing pureed baby food. I think that the actual need for this style baby food is limited. However, many parents find it an easy, convenient solution. My 2.5 year old has shown a sudden interest in baby food, so maybe I will try making and storing food like this for my little ones. I bet my older kids would also like eating frozen cubes of sweet potato!

Passover Ideas

My friend Tammy just emailed me, "Any ideas for Pessah lunch?" Here are some ideas off the top of my head.

I love Passover crepes. I make the crepes in a pareve (not meat or dairy) nonstick pan with minimal oil. Then I can put cheese on them and let it melt. Fillings include:

• Tuna with melted cheese and lettuce
• Homemade tomato sauce* with melted cheese and (optional) basil
• Fried or baked bananas with (optional) honey
• Sweet cheese ("gvina levana" and honey)
• Sardines (my kids LOVE sardines and my favorite brand is kosher without kitnyot.)
• Avocado and tomato salad

Kosher Cooking Carnival - Adar

Welcome to the Rosh Chodesh Adar edition of KCC!

I want to welcome new blogger Miriam, writing From Miriam's Kitchen. She makes "Safta Cookies" from her kitchen in the Negev for her 13 Israeli grandchildren. She also posted some great looking "Yummy Salads and a Dessert" including a pareve Chocolate Espresso Mousse Recipe.

Yael's strawberry cake in progress

It seems like yesterday I was welcoming Country Mouse Cooks to the J-blogosphere, but now Yael seems like an old pro.  She recently baked "Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies" and a layer cake with fresh strawberries in "Strawberry Season."

Yael and I are both bummed we didn't post our Purim ideas in time to share them here, so I hope you'll come back and visit. (Better yet, follow me!)

The past few weeks I, Yosefa, have been making the BEST EGGPLANT EVER. Even eggplant haters love my traditional Eggplant and Tehina. I am also excited and scared about getting a new kitchen and having strange Israelis in my house for a week.

Best 11 Podcasts of 2011

Happy New Year!  Time for me to share what I've been listening to.  As I said last year, in one of my most popular posts Best Podcasts of 2010 (PLUS Tutorial for Newbies),
Why am I sharing my favorite podcasts on my food blog? Because while I am patiently choosing produce, chopping veggies, babysitting beans, or washing dishes, I am usually listening to my MP3 player. Podcasts make boring chores fun. They inspire, inform, make me laugh, or just keep me company. I wanted to inspire you to check out a few podcasts.

If you need a tutorial on downloading, subscribing, and listening, or still don't know what a "podcast" is, read last year's post.  If you have a smart phone, you can probably listen to MP3s on it.  If you find that you are always connected to the Internet, you might like Stitcher Smart Radio (downloadable app); I haven't tried it, but my husband is hooked.
Here are my current favorites:

1. KCRW's Good Food - This podcast packs in more food for thought than any hour long program I can think of.  It's local to Santa Monica, California, but host Evan Kleiman also discusses international food and environmental issues.  Every episode is juicy and delicious and gives me ideas I can't wait to share.
   
2. Planet Money - I love hearing about how the world works from an economist's perspective.  Twice a week. Always interesting and presented for the masses.
3. Nutrition Diva - From the Quick and Dirty Tips series - Monica Reinagal, M.S., L.D./N. presents well researched solid information about food and nutrition.  I always learn something interesting.  "Nutrition Diva" inspires many of my posts, like my recent "Celebration of Coffee", and my herb posts.

7 Ways to Make Coffee at Home

Photo by Lotzman Katzman

Caffeine is a drug that often gets a bad wrap.  Hey, I give coffee a bad wrap!  But today I'd like to celebrate the benefits of coffee.

First, some fun facts I've heard recently:

I've been hiding the following gem of information from my caffeine addicted, instant coffee loving hubby. According to "Nutrition Diva", Monica Reinagel, M.S.,L.D./N...

It turns out that caffeine has a lot of positive health benefits and, despite what you may have heard, relatively few drawbacks.  People who drink coffee every day, for example, have a significantly lower risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s, colon cancer, gallstones, and Alzheimer’s disease. Now, that may not all be due to caffeine. Coffee contains a lot of volatile compounds and antioxidants that may have beneficial effects by themselves, or in combination with caffeine. Read or listen to the full article "Is Caffeine Bad for You? March 3, 2009"

In the November 26 episode of KCRW's Good Food (29 minutes in), Evan Kleiman interviews author Kevin Sinnott about the terms and implications of fair trade, direct trade, shade grown and organic coffees. Most of us have heard of "fair trade," but did you know "direct trade" benefits the farmers more? Did you know that coffee from many countries is organic for all practical purposes, but the farmers don't pay for certification?  Listen to the episode or check out the Kevin Sinnott's book to learn more.

Mike of Daily Shot of Coffee shares lovely pictures of coffee making devices and how they work in "10 Ways to Make Coffee."  The article "The 7 Ways to Brew Coffee" lists different grinds recommended for different methods - course to Extra fine.

In a celebration of coffee, I'd like to present a compilation of video tutorials of different coffee making techniques.  How do you like your coffee?

Link Party! Celebrate What's in Season LINK-UP BELOW

Here are some pictures I took in the shuk (local market, Petach Tikva, Israel) yesterday.  Click to enlarge.

What's in season where you live?
Comment or attach a link below to your autumn food-related favorite things.
Or play Name That Fruit by commenting below. 

See additional details and what was in season this summer in the August 2011 What's in Season? Link-Up.

Kosher Cooking Carnival - The Holidays Are Coming!

Welcome to the Kosher Cooking Carnival (KCC) for the Hebrew month of Tishrei! Autumn is officially upon us. It rained this Shabbat here in Israel and I'm guessing some of you have an incredible view of the colorful autumn leaves. This year Israelis and Jews abroad unite under the infamous "three day yom tov."

For those who don't know: Outside of Israel, Jews celebrate holidays for two days, whereas in Israel the chagim are only observed for one day... except Rosh Hashana!  The Jewish new year is, and has always been, observed for two days throughout the world.  Outside of Israel, where two day holidays are commonly observed, it is not unusual for the holidays to abut or overlap with Shabbat, giving two or three days in a row where holidays are observed with the resulting restrictions.  But Israelis are not accustomed to the extended period of observance that occurs this year where two days of Rosh Hashana (beginning Wednesday night) lead directly into Shabbat.   This puts many in quite a frenzy, especially those in charge of preparing six festive meals in a row (lunch and dinner for two days of Rosh Hashana and Shabbat).

G6's  Croation Star Raisin Challah  

For the majority of us who have not been planning our meals and freezing kugals and pies for weeks, I hope this edition of KCC will put you in the mood to celebrate the way Jews do best... with food!

Food is an integral part of most Jewish holidays.  While Passover seems to be the best known for requiring specific foods, Rosh Hashanah has a rich tradition of food-based symbolism to reign in a good new year.  Sarah Melamed of Food Bridge celebrates Symbolic Foods of Rosh Hashanah with her beautiful photography and explanations of a sampling of traditional symbols.