For Jews around the world, this is the week we eat matzo-imagine a large saltine, without salt, and even less flavor. Some will quibble with this description.

I know a matzo aficionado who stockpiles her favorite brands just before Passover, and eats it year round. She’ll explain that the whole wheat version can be flavorful; egg matzo is useful for ( Read more... )

When the weather gets cold, and I want something hearty and tasty for dinner but can't hang around the kitchen all day, I sometimes make this stew ( Read more... )

Yeah. I'm getting my Muppet fix for the day.

(Be sure to read the captions.)

I've always liked the concept of lasagna. Noodles, good sauce and cheese layered and baked together should be yummy. Yet, more often than not, I'd have some and think. . . eh.  Then one day someone made me a vegetable lasagna which was truly satisfying. I'm having trouble describing this--it was as if all the flavors popped, in a good way.

I tried ( Read more... )

I bake challah, a braided egg bread, with some frequency. It's one of the very few breads I know how to make with any success.

I have a reliable recipe, of course. But I've spoken to others who make challahs using a slightly different proportion of eggs, oil and sugar, who let the dough rest at different times, or who glaze the loaf with whole eggs ( Read more... )

I have always maintained that I could never get enough potato kugel. It is one of my favorite dishes and a mainstay of our Passover seders. As I grind the potatoes and onions, and mix them with eggs, oil, salt and pepper, I dream of the leftovers that I will savor for breakfast or lunch in the following days.

I have reconsidered.

In a fit of ( Read more... )

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It’s been a tough year for tomatoes around here. Many crops were lost to blight. But the folks who managed to nurture their plants have produced delicious fruit.

In the winter months, I stick to canned San Marzano tomatoes for cooking. In the spring and early summer, when we get better although not stellar fruit, I’ll risk them in salads. These days ( Read more... )

I asked my spouse, "Who is Elaine?" The answer: a friend of a friend back in the salad days. She made very good soup. "I think it was her grandmother's recipe." It is now one of my favorite winter soups -- hearty, filling and warm -- although we have been known to eat it year-round. Here is my version ( Read more... )