Adapted from Robin Jemal’s holiday recipe kosher cookbook  Dare To Be Different ,
this dairy goat cheese salad with its citrusy dressing will be a major hit with your family and guests.

The toasted sliced almonds and Panko coated goat cheese adds a nice dose of topping crunch that, just for a moment brings back the good old days of  CARVEL chocolate crunch…. BUT getting back to reality, lets all accept the fact that if we were born before 1980- the Carvel topping days are not on the menu anymore, and now we might have to add that daily dose of crunch with a salad that has a sidekick of  sweet  roasted butternut squash and toasted almonds, and a citrusy dressing to top it all off. Recipes like these make it fun to be a grownup!

Creme Brûlée Ramekins and Accessories at Amazon.com

Served all over Europe and the Middle East, flan is the ultimate dairy comfort dessert food that is traditionally baked in a rich caramel sauce.  In Mexico and Spain it is titled Flan, and in France it sounds much more gourmet as Creme Caramel. To see the French technique of making Creme Brûlée, just watch the video above by French chef Mark Bauer.

When I tasted this delectable dessert at Debbie Gindi’s birthday party luncheon, I knew I had to get the recipe for this  fantastic creamy treat.

Mrs. Renee Gindi, Debbie’s mother in law, was so thoughtful and sweet to write up three of her favorite flan recipes, and here they are to share with all of my Jewish hostesses. Serve your flan at your dairy holiday lunch, Shavuot, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day.

Just remember that there are 2 necessary steps to making the perfect flan:

1- Caramelizing the sugar (below)

2-Hot water bath (below)

Three Dairy Recipes for Flan:
First Step- Caramel as the base for your Flan:

• To make caramel: Melt 3/4 to 1 cup sugar directly in “flan” pan over medium heat, stirring constantly to melt evenly until lit liquefies and turns golden. Don’t let it get too dark watch it without taking your eyes off the pan!
•  Turn pan to spread caramel over bottom and sides to about 1 inch from top edge. Set aside to cool while preparing “flan”.

Hot Water Bath:

Set your flan pan inside  a larger pan and pour water into the pan into the larger pan until the water level comes to 1/2 inch to the top of the cake pan. Remove your cake pan and place water bath into a preheating 350 degree oven while you mix your flan. Pan should be in the exact center of the oven. Remove all extra oven racks in the oven. When flan is mixed and poured into ramekins or your pan, place gently into the water bath and bake.

Decorate your flan with sugar corkscrews- check out the video HERE.

Flan Recipe 1:

• Boil and scald 1 quart of milk cool. Add 1 tbsp. of vanilla.
• Beat 6 eggs very lightly and add ¾ cup of sugar. Add milk.
• Pour over caramelized pan and cook in oven 350 over a baking tray filled with water for about 1 hour.

Flan Recipe  2:

• 2 cans of evaporated milk- add 1 tbsp. of vanilla
• 6 eggs
• ¾ cup of sugar
• Beat lightly
• Pour over into a caramelized pan and bake as above in a 350 degree oven for one hour.

Flan Recipe 3:

• 1 ½ qts. regular milk- Boil and cool. Add 2 tbsp. vanilla
• 2 cans evaporated milk 12 oz.
• 1 can of condensed milk 14 oz.
• 10 eggs
• ¾ cup of sugar
• Beat and pour in a caramelized pan.
• Cook in oven 1 ½ hours 300 degrees as above in a hot water bath as above.

Creme Brûlée Ramekins and Accessories at Amazon.com

Mother’s Day and Shavuot  would not be the same  in a Sephardic Jewish household if we did not serve sambousak as a side dish on the table.

Many people even serve it with the dessert and coffee or tea at the end of the dairy meal.

A bag of frozen unbaked  sambousak is considered like “gold” because of the loving handmade touch of each delectable crimped half moon pastry.

If you do not have time to make your own Mother’s Day or Shavuot dishes, you can always call My Secret List of Gourmet Kosher Cooks in Brooklyn, New York.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of smead- (semolina flour) available at Bob’s Red Mill
• dash of kosher salt
• 2 stick of softened butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 lb. low fat mozzarella cheese, grated,
• 2 eggs beaten,
• 1/2 tsp  aluminum-free baking powder.

• one beaten egg in a small bowl for dipping sambousak.
• 3/4 cup sesame seeds mixes with 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.

1. Mix flour, semolina and salt. Add butter , add water and oil slowly.

(Can be kneaded by hand, but I like using the metal blade of the food proccessor.)

1. Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes.
2. In a glass bowl, mix grated cheese with  aluminum-free baking powder and eggs .
3. roll the dough into walnut size balls.
4. flatten with tortilla press or your palm
5. place a teaspoonful of cheese mixture into the circle
6. fold over and crimp, starting at one end, rolling the dough between your thumb and forefinger and pinching as you turn the half moon. It takes practice!
7. dip half moon into beaten egg, and then into sesame seed mixture.
8. place on sprayed parchment on a cookie pan.
9. May be frozen on a tray at this point. Place in a freezer bag when frozen. or-
10. bake at 350 degees for approximately 20 minutes.
11. Done when bottom of each sambousak is a light brown and top is perfectly baked.

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This is a perfect summer Shabbat lunch salad (remember to grill your corn on Friday!)

This salad is also a winner for a  Sunday night Mother’s Day barbeque.

Juice of 1 lime

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic crushed

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 pint grape tomatoes cut in halves

1 ripe hass avocado, roughly chopped

2 ears of fresh sweet corn

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Grill corn over medium heat for 10 to 15 mins.  The corn should have some brown spots and be tender and not mushy.  DO NOT OVERCOOK!!  Cut the corn off the cob and scrape the cob with  the back of your knife to get  the juices.  Set aside and let cool.

Add all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Add the tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and grilled corn.  Mix well  so that everything is coated with the marinade, but be careful not to mash the avocadoes.  Refrigerate for 1 hour and serve.  Bon appetit!

adapted from Jehan Can Cook

How to Grill Corn on the Cob:

It is important to soak the corn in cold water before grilling. Remember to leave the corn husks on, but peel them back first and remove the silk. I usually soak it for 10-20 minutes. Make sure the entire corn ears are covered in the water. This will help prevent premature burning of the husks. If you want to add a little sweetness, you can add sugar to the water.

After soaking the corn on the cob, it is time to season. While there are many different recipes, we will start of with the basic.

Start off by brusing the entire corn with olive oil. We do not recommend butter at this stage, as it will burn the corn.

Add a generous combination of paprika (smoked if you have it), garlic powder, chili poweder, pepper and salt.

Cover the corn back up with the husks, and tie a string around the ends (this will help ‘steam’ the corn while grilling). If you do not have any string, you can use a piece of tin foil, just wrap it wround the end like a rope.

Fire up your girll and place the corn on the cob over indirect heat (not directly over the flame). Turn every 5 minutes to prevent the corn from burning. You will know it’s know when the entire husk looks like it is burnt. Don’t worry, this is what you want.

let the corn rest about 5-10 minutes in the husk, then remove the husks and any excess silk.

Adapted from How to GrillCorn.

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This week, I’d like to give a HUGE THANK YOU to the makers of Soy Vay marinades for helping me get dinner on the table ON TIME!!!!

Today, when I lingered on the world wide web for a little bit longer than I should have, and glanced at the top right of my digital screen, and “Oh my g-d the kids are coming home in 45 minutes and what the heck am I making for dinner?”

My mind raced as I called my local fish store, (thank goodness I live in Brooklyn where even a carton of milk is a phone call away)  I nicely begged the kosher fish store to rush over a 2 lb. wild salmon fillet over to my home. Whisking open my fridge, I found some ginger, a beautiful bag of mini peppers, and a bunch of asparagus. I flung open my pantry, and  I couldn’t help but notice the brand new shiny bottle of Spicy Soy Vay Wasabi Marinade that really seemed to be winking right at me. (ok- maybe I was on the computer for a little bit TOO long…)

With less than an hour to go, I twisted open my Soy Vay Marinade and finger taste tested  it quickly. In an instant I could tell that the recipes that we whip up with Soy Vay need not be too complicated or time consuming because Soy Vay has worked on all the chopping, mixing, and spicing for us.

While waiting for my fish to arrive, I soaked and peeled my asparagus, and squirted  my beautiful mini peppers with vegetable spray. I quickly washed, dried, seeded and sliced them into little rounds, and then I diagonally sliced my peeled asparagus into the bowl with the peppers. By then, the doorbell had rung and within minutes the salmon was washed, dried, and on waiting on a  sprayed parchment.

I rubbed it with some crushed garlic that I had stored in the freezer and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I then brushed about 1/4 cup of Soy Vay Wasabi marinade atop the whole fillet.

I then slid my slightly spiced salmon into the oven on a sheet of sprayed parchment paper on 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

My sliced veggies were poured into a plastic food storage bag, with about 3 big slices of ginger for flavor,and in went about a half cup of the Soy Vay marinade. Flattening, I pressed out the air bubbles and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. I wouldn’t leave it longer than that, because the veggies start to “cook” with the marinade, and will start to lose their color before cooking with the fish.

I then slid my semi-cooked salmon out of the oven and squeezed out the marinated veggies, layering atop the fish.

Back in to the oven went my veggie covered salmon, and 20 minutes later, the kids drifted in exclaiming, “What smells so great,ma?”

Caesar salad and pizza on the table, the kids pulled up their seats, and very soon after, our salmon was ready. Using two life saving huge fish spatulas, I slid my Soy Vay Wasabi Salmon with Veggies onto a serving platter. “Fancy Shmancy, said one of the kids, as they began to dig in. “WAIT!!!” I said pretty loudly, “I need to take a picture!”

And the rest is history….

P.S.I did notice that the wasabi marinade has an extra unexpected hot kick that goes down a notch with cooking, so I would recommend sprinkling a teaspoon or so over the final presentation to add in that extra burst of flavor.

Salmon, Spiced and Marinated

sliced ginger for an extra kick

My huge fish spatula

Right out of the oven!

All done- THANK YOU Soy Vay!!!

Click here to purchase Soy Vay online.

P.P.S.The folks at Soy Vay sent me a couple of gratis bottles of their marinades to taste test for my Jewish Hostesses….

Soy Vay Wasabi Teriyaki Salmon

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Portobello Cranberry and Wine Brick Roast for Shabbat:

This recipe was inspired by The Kosher Palette Cookbook. The recipe is so easy to put together on a Friday morning for Shabbat.  When the sauce ingredients are simmered together, you would never know that there is a can of cranberry sauce in there- but that coupled with the cooking wine gives it unbelievable flavor! I love when an unexpected guest rings the bell on a Friday afternoon and they say how good the house smells!!! When you make this roast- it will be one of those days!!! If you are more of a brisket  roast hostess, please comment below with brisket roast tips for this recipe.

Please let me know how you like it! Marlene

p.s.- I didnt have time to snap a pic of the finished roast before Shabbat started, but I managed to snap a pic as it was sliding into the oven.

Kosher Brick Roast Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 cup Marsala cooking wine (my sister in law used half Kesser wine and it came out great)
• 1 cup of Imagine or Passover chicken broth
• 1 can of whole or jellied cranberry sauce
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves chopped
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary (my sister in law didn’t have rosemary and it turned out great)
• One 4 0r 5  lb brick roast
• 4 portobello mushrooms sliced

Directions for this Shabbat recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk wine, chicken broth, flour, onion, cranberry sauce, in a saucepan and heat on a low flame  until melted and boiling for about 10 minutes.
3. Rub roast all over with salt, pepper, garlic, and place sliced onion and rosemary on top.
4. Pour cranberry sauce mixture on top and cover.
5. Roast for about 1 and one half hours and then add half of sliced portobello mushrooms for another half hour.
6. Cool, slice, and re-heat for 45 minutes to an hour before serving.
7. Saute the rest of the portobello mushrooms in garlic and top as a garnish before serving.

Related articles

• Quinoa with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Dried Cranberries (thejewishhostess.com)
• Simple Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Chicken (thejewishhostess.com)
• Greek Chicken for Shabbat (thejewishhostess.com)

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Chicken WontonFlower Appetizers by Esther Mitta via Instagram

Use these golden chicken bites as an impressive Shabbat appetizer or as a an add-in to any meat meal. Bake for so many less calories and fat, as the wonton skins add so few carbs, its worth every nibble!

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