Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller

My new Joy of Kosher cookbook will be available on October 15^th. The whole idea of this book is that we don’t have to compartmentalize our cooking brains into “Everyday” and “Holiday.” We can build bridges. I take those fave recipes of mine and show you how to dress them up as a tantalizing, elegant dish worthy of entertaining or dress them down for Wednesday night din din. And we’re not talking about boring “kid food.”

More than that, this book is a book about life, my life. Literally. I ripped pages out of my diary and swiped pictures of my family and put them into this book. Nearly 400 pages of food, family, life and love.

This book is my most deeply felt, heart-baring, honest collection of recipes and stories. I cook the way I do because of who I am: my background (didn’t grow up kosher); my journey (pampered kid, TV producer, workaholic); my evolving story (becoming religious); my mom (allergic to the kitchen but my biggest fan); my husband (a kitchen natural with an incredible sense of humor); my grandparents (gourmet chefs who loved us to pieces with food instead of words); my kids (my absolute life and the inexplicable cause of all those happy tears); and, of course, my kitchen (so I don’t have a dishwasher yet, I’ll manage).

This book is where all that love, life and laughter converge. Not to mention the food. Mmm, that fabulous food. It’s one, precious, happy, deliciously big book. ENJOY! I wrote it with every fiber of my being for you – yes you!

Here are two recipes that you can taste at the party and then go home and make them yourselves.

Argentinean Brisket with Chimichurri

6 to 8 servings

• Kosher Status: Meat
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 2 hours, 10 minutes
• Rest: 15 minutes
• Total: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Originally from Argentina, chimichurri is a popular herb sauce used across Latin cooking. Basic “green” chimichurri is made from parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and white or red vinegar. Tweak the sauce to your liking with some additional flavorings, such as cilantro, paprika, cumin, thyme, and lemon. It’s traditionally served with grilled meat, but I also like it with white-fleshed fish or chicken, or by the spoonful. You know me by now, so you can’t be surprised.

Ingredients:

Brisket:

• 2 Tablespoons paprika
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 (3½ lbs.) brisket
• 3 Tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup beef broth, such as Manischewitz
• All Natural Beef Broth
• 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Chimichurri:

• 1½ cups chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the paprika, cumin, salt, oregano, garlic powder, and cayenne; mix well. Rub the mixture all over the meat.
3. Heat the canola oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the meat for 3 to 5 minutes on each side.
4. Add the broth and vinegar, cover, and transfer to the oven. Roast until tender, about 2 hours.
5. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and let rest at least 15 minutes before slicing.
6. To make the chimichurri sauce: combine the parsley, oregano, garlic, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, if using, in a food processor. Pulse to coarsely chop, stopping to scrape down the sides.
7. With the processor running, slowly add the olive oil in a stream until you have a fairly smooth but still slightly chunky sauce.
8. Slice the brisket ¼-inch thick against the grain, transfer it to a serving plate, and drizzle the chimichurri sauce on top.

Variation: I use a lot of dried herbs because in a kosher kitchen, fresh herbs and some vegetables must be stringently checked for infestations. Most kosher supermarkets offer washed and checked parsley, so I use it often throughout the book. If you want to check your own oregano, you can omit the dried oregano from the sauce, use . cup fresh oregano leaves instead, and reduce the amount of fresh parsley to 1 cup.

Quick Tip: If you’re not serving the brisket immediately but want to slice it, store it in the fridge, and rewarm it later, add 1 cup water and one 8-oz. can tomato sauce and double the beef broth to 2 cups and vinegar to . cup before baking so you will have a sauce to submerge your sliced brisket in.

Pulled Argentinean Brisket and Rice

Shred the meat and toss with chimichurri and 2 cups cooked rice. Serve with warmed flour tortillas.

Easy Scallion Cornbread

9 servings

• Kosher Status: Pareve
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 25 minutes
• Cool: 5 minutes
• Total: 45 minutes

When we’re feeling naughty, Hubby and I sneak out to the local bagel shop and order eggs sunny-side up, hash browns well done, fresh buttered croissants, and a hot corn muffin slathered in butter to share. We’re splitting the corn muffin ’cause we’re also splitting a chocolate chip muffin or a fresh-baked jumbo black and white cookie. This is a scene for cagey negotiations, folks. He likes both the black and white frosting, me only the white. So you’d think he’d be a gentleman, and a prince, and a mensch and offer me the whole white part. But no . . . well, sometimes he does, on my birthday. I love making this homemade cornbread and eating a warm slice with a giant shmear of salted butter.

Ingredients:

• 1⁄4 cup (4 Tablespoons/1⁄2 stick) margarine or olive oil
• 1 cup plain soy milk
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1½ cups yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄2 cup soy sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 3 scallions, green parts only, chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the margarine in an 8-inch square baking dish and place the dish in the oven.
2. Combine the soy milk and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Place the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Add the soy sour cream and eggs to the soy milk and whisk to combine.
5. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined and moistened; do not overmix. Fold in the scallions and pour the batter into the hot baking dish.
6. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
7. Let cool 5 minutes before slicing.

Variations:

• Swap the scallions for a handful of dried cranberries, or just omit the scallions for classic cornbread.
• Pretty Cornbread: Bake the cornbread in a large decorative mold

JoyofKosher.com with Jamie Geller is the No. 1 kosher food and recipe website, featuring more than 6,000 recipes from Geller, kosher chefs, food bloggers and community members. The award-winning companion print magazine, published bimonthly, is revolutionizing the way people think about kosher food. Watch Jamie’s new food and travel show Joy of Israel with Jamie Geller and help bring the beauty of Israel to the world. Order Jamie’s NEW highly anticipated cookbook Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes (William Morrow/HarperCollins) for over 200 recipes Dressed Up for Entertaining and Dressed Down for Everyday.

The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.