Kosher Everyday by Sharon Matten: June 2012

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Grilled Hamburger Cups

It's a cup...it's a hamburger...
it's delicious!!

Yipee Skipee!!! Summer is finally here!!! Wahoo!! I don’t know about you, but I could eat grilled hot dogs and grilled hamburgers nearly every day. I say nearly because of the law of diminishing returns (it’s the geek in me…sorry) where the first hot dog is incredible, the second also incredible, the third…not so much, and the fourth…must—finish—the—hot--dog, and after that…well you get the point. Regardless, summer barbecue is awesome and I’m always looking for new and fun ways to serve grilled foods to my family – especially since I really do grill year round (we love it that much!). This week I had a thought. What if we grilled something that could act as a container for something else, like salsa or guacamole? What if that something were a Grilled Hamburger Cup???!!! It’s a grilled hamburger (YUM!) but you have a ready-made holder for your favorite toppings and no bun! I figured that just poking a hole in the meat probably wouldn’t hold the hole shape, so I covered a small medicine dispensing cup with foil and made the hole with that. Then I left the cup shaped foil in the burger to maintain the hole shape while grilling. What do you know, it actually worked!! They were amazing right off the grill with homemade guacamole. We also had them filled with salsa, salsa and guacamole together, and the boys filled them with a little barbecue sauce lake. I even popped a whole small salad potato into a few of them. They were deemed a rousing success! They were super-fast to make and best of all – they were grilled!! It’s all good!

For more super summertime and July 4^th recipes check out my article on aish.com !

Grilled Hamburger Cups (makes approximately 8 hamburger cups)

Note: Great for the GFE (gluten-free eater)
2 pounds of ground beef

4”x4” aluminum foil squares

halved salad potatoes (optional)

Your favorite hamburger toppings:

GRILLED HOT DOGS!!
Guacamole
Salsa
Grilled onions
Barbecue sauce
Israeli Salad
Chili

Four pounds of ground beef -

I doubled the "recipe"

The foil and the cup -

make sure to cover the bottom

of the cup

Make baseball size balls out of the beef...

I stuck in my thumb...

I always wear gloves when working

with raw meat. Poking a hole in the

meat ball with your thumb makes it

easier to push the cup into the meat ball...

Press the cup into the meat ball,

then remove the cup but leave in the foil...

Repeat with the rest of the meat...

You can even use a half of a salad potato!

(Sadly, we found out the hard way...

the whole ones don't cook through)

Toss 'em on a hot grill for 10-15 minutes

until mostly cooked through. Then flip them

over and grill for another 5.

Remove them from the grill then let them rest for

10 minutes...

Serve warm with your favorites!!!

Kosher Everyday is dedicated to the memory of my father

Dr. Theodore Saltzberg - Tuvia Ben Nachum Z”L

May his memory be for a blessing - Yihi zichro baruch.

Look for additional information about Edible Experience Kosher Everyday at www.koshereveryday.com,

aish.com, Mishpacha Magazine’s Kosher Inspired Magazine,

The Chicago Tribune Syndication,

or on Facebook at Edible Experience by Sharon Matten.

These recipes are for sole, personal use of visitors to Sharon Matten -Edible Experience Kosher Everyday. Edible Experience Kosher Everyday recipes are for your enjoyment but are not to be posted or reprinted without express permission from Sharon Matten. Thank you!!

Congratulations!

KosherEveryday is one of the finalists for the

2011 CBS Most Valuable Blogger Awards!!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Smoked Chicken and the Hamster Wheel

Have you ever seen a hamster running on a wheel? The faster the hamster runs, the faster the wheel turns, until the wheel is rotating so fast that the hamster can’t keep up with the speed of the wheel and ends up spinning dizzily hanging on for dear life. Lately, I feel like that hamster. I always talk about things being a little crazy here in the Matten household, but the past two weeks took crazy to a whole new level. Without going into a lot of detail, by the middle of this week I literally felt like I was dizzily spinning – can you say vertigo?!! Really. Couldn’t even walk across the room! I truly think that it was G-ds way of making me stop with no choice but to lie down and rest my weary self. Mind you that a day or so later, I was back up and running on the wheel again (mildly dizzy doesn’t count!). For a short time I was forced to take a much needed break, and although I was sidelined, life still went on around me without slowing down and I’m back on the wheel again.

Check out these smokin' chickens!!

So, last week I had to take my boys in to the doctor’s office to take a test. Of course I didn’t know that I was supposed to pick up a specific medication for that test, and of course, none of the pharmacies in the area actually had two doses of the medication. So there I was running from pharmacy to pharmacy like a lunatic, rushing so that the physician wasn’t delayed. (Picture the hamster again…) During one of my sprints through a Walgreens, I passed pre-wrapped packages of mesquite wood smoker kits at 2/$3.00. I grabbed two, raced to the pharmacy counter, paid for the medication and the smoker kits and sped back to the doctor’s office with not a minute to spare. For those of you not familiar with wood smoker kits, a wood smoker kit is an aluminum foil package with wood chips inside and slits in the lid. The kits I bought are used for smoking beef or chicken on the grill. One of the easiest ways to grill chicken is to smoke it (do not put that in your pipe). You can buy different types of wood chips that give different flavors to the grilled foods, like mesquite, hickory, or apple wood. The idea is that you soak the wood chips in warm water for 30-45 minutes until they are saturated, then you place them in a smoker box directly on the coals or on the grill grates. I have a small 4”x8” metal box that has holes on the bottom where I usually place my soaked wood chips. As the chips cook on the covered grill they give off flavored steam which infuses the chicken with an awesome flavor. Normally, I de-skin chicken when barbecuing, but when I smoke my chickens I don’t even bother. After cleaning the chickens, I place them on the grill whole with the skin to help keep the meat juicy. Easy, easy, easy, easy. The bonus this week was that I didn’t even have to soak the chips! It turns out that the wood smoking kits I bought were specially designed so that you just placed them on the grill, no soaking required. Considering my fairly insane past few weeks, easy was really, really good!! The chicken turned out fabulously with rave reviews (at least I think there were rave reviews…does it count if you pretend to be awake at the Shabbat table??).

It pays to be optimistic!!
(our first cherry tomato- actual size!)

Looking on the bright side of things (as I go flying past at high speed), in addition to finding the super time saving wood chip kits, our optimistic garden has had its first yield of a beautiful little red cherry tomato. The wonderful daughter that popped it into her mouth said it was one of the best she’s ever tasted!

I have to admit that I’m truly blessed with an amazing family and especially dear husband (KIH). He’s right beside me on that wheel, holding on to me as tightly as he can making sure I don’t go flying off, keeping me safe. I know that, G-d willing, eventually the wheel will slow, and I’ll be able to run at a reasonable not-so-frantic pace…but until then…anyone have some oil so at least the wheel doesn’t squeak???!!!

It’s hard to believe that I am spending this Father’s Day without my father here. Especially today, we are reflecting on the sadness of the empty place in our hearts, and can’t fathom that he’s not here with us. I am going to try to be positive and focus on my children’s amazing father (KIH) today – my dear, wonderful, supportive husband. And, yes…we did get him a tie!

Happy Father’s Day to all the terrific Dad’s out there!

Smoked Chicken

1-4 whole chickens, cleaned, skin on
2 cups flavored wood chips or wood smoking kit

If using wood chips and a smoker box, soak the chips in enough warm water to cover, at least 30 minutes. If using a wood smoker kit, skip this step.

Pre-heat the grill. If using a gas grill, turn the heat to medium. Place the wood chips in a smoker box. If you don’t have a smoker box, you can make one by poking some holes in a small aluminum pan. Place the smoker box on the grill grate (or directly on the coals if you like). Place the chicken(s) breast side down on the grill. Cover the grill and cook for 15 minutes. Open the grill and quickly turn the chicken(s) over, smoking for an additional 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and measures 165° F using a meat thermometer. Remove from the grill and serve hot. Remove chips from the grill and allow to cool before discarding. Used smoker chips generally cannot be re-used.

The nifty smoker kit from

Walgreens

In case you didn't know what to do...

These are the wood chips you soak...

Here's my smoker box with used

wood chips...too bad you can't use

them again!

Toss the chickens on the grill with

the smoker box....

Smokin' hot baby!

I added the second box for extra smoky flavor...

Gorgeous, easy, and DELICIOUS!!

Now do the chicken dance...

Kosher Everyday is dedicated to the memory of my father

Dr. Theodore Saltzberg - Tuvia Ben Nachum Z”L

May his memory be for a blessing - Yihi zichro baruch.

Look for additional information about Edible Experience Kosher Everyday at www.koshereveryday.com,

aish.com, Mishpacha Magazine’s Kosher Inspired Magazine,

The Chicago Tribune Syndication,

or on Facebook at Edible Experience by Sharon Matten.

Congratulations!

KosherEveryday is one of the finalists for the

2011 CBS Most Valuable Blogger Awards!!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Rice Noodles With Chicken and Vegetables

This version has chicken...
but I made it vegetarian this week!

I have a confession to make. I am an optimistic gardener. I love the promise of a just planted garden. Every small plant newly imbedded in the freshly cultivated soil, has the potential to grow into a beautiful, bountiful one. Every year after planting I stand back admiring my freshly planted garden and just know that this will be the year of huge yields! This year for Mother’s Day my family treated me to a trip to my favorite garden center, Meinke. I love walking through the rows of flowers and vegetables, looking for family favorites as well as new and unusual ones. Meinke has an amazing selection of fresh herbs, beautiful flowers, a wide variety of peppers (lots of hot ones!), and a huge assortment of typical and heirloom tomatoes. We always manage to buy some unusual vegetable plants (this year we bought mini eggplant and strawberries), and plant them with the tomatoes and peppers in our backyard garden. In addition, we look for different types of mint plants, and have the regular variety along with chocolate mint (imagine a peppermint patty in a plant!) and citrus mint. We like to use the mint for tea – the chocolate mint tea is especially good! I also bought cilantro, parsley, rosemary, and a few types of basil. I optimistically planted my herbs in long planters which stay on our deck off the kitchen. I dreamt of popping outside and clipping garden-fresh herbs for my aromatic summer recipes. Until my evil garden nemesis, the squirrel, dug up my entire assortment of herbs! I had even planted peppers in between to dissuade the squirrels, with no luck. They dug up the entire pepper plants and left them sitting next to the planters, the herbs were no were in sight (unless you count the newly fat squirrels sitting on my deck)!! ARG!! The darn pesky and annoying squirrels even ate our strawberry plants. All of them. Down to the roots. Not a single remnant of the strawberry plants. My strawberry dream is now a thing of the past. Sigh.

My Optimistic Garden

The Carnage

Last year I planted lots of small onion bulbs, and this year was rewarded with gorgeous, long, green, scallions popping up in my garden. These onions are perfect for Rice Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables. I originally wrote about this recipe for www.kosherscoop.com for a gluten-free article (great for the GFE’s!). I love rice noodles. They are the chameleon of the noodle family, taking on the flavor of whatever sauce or other ingredients they are combined with. One of my favorite rice noodle dishes to serve on Shabbat is Rice Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables. Since the rice noodles absorb the flavor of the sauce they are made in, they almost always taste better on the second day – perfect for Shabbat lunch. Rice noodles are also incredibly easy to prepare. You just fill a bowl with boiling water, add the noodles, come back in 30 minutes and tra-la…the rice noodles are done! Springy, with an al-dente texture. So easy! I often will make this dish vegetarian, leaving out the chicken, and it becomes a great favorite side dish. You can adjust the quantity of vegetables, adding more if you really like a particular one, without overly changing the result – like garden fresh scallions! This recipe is relatively low in fat. Using flavor rich toasted sesame oil gives this dish a huge taste boost without a lot of oil.

All the mint!

Another plus is that this recipe can be made gluten-free. The rice noodles by definition contain no gluten, and it is easy to purchase gluten free soy sauce at your local grocery or health food store. There is no reduction in the quality or taste of the end product. Perfect for GFE’s (Gluten Free Eaters)!

My dear sister in NY (where there are bunnies and raccoons in addition to the squirrels!) told me that if you plant hot peppers close to your other plants the animals won’t touch the plants in your garden. Good thing we like our food hot and spicy here at the Matten house!! The optimistic gardener in me is looking forward to tons and tons of vegetables this summer…I’ll keep you posted. Oh, and look out you squirrely squirrels – I’m on to you!!!

RICE NOODLES WTH CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES

10 ounces medium width rice noodles

1 gallon boiling water

¼ cup toasted sesame oil

3 chicken breast halves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon dried ginger

3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 cups thinly sliced green cabbage

6 ounces sliced shitake mushrooms (around 4 cups)

2-3 large carrots – grated, or 10 ounces shredded carrots

6 green onions, sliced diagonally

1 cup chicken stock

¼ cup (Gluten Free) soy sauce (or more to taste)

1 teaspoon sugar

In a large bowl, cover rice noodles with boiling water. Set aside, and let the noodles soak for 30 minutes. Drain.

In a large wok or skillet, heat toasted sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, ginger, and garlic, and sauté for 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Add cabbage and mushrooms and sauté for another 4-5 minutes until cabbage and mushrooms are soft. Add the carrots and green onions, stock, soy sauce, and sugar. Toss to combine, then sauté for another 3-4 minutes. Add the rice noodles and toss until completely blended with the remaining ingredients. Heat over medium heat for an additional 3-4 minutes until noodles are hot. Serves 8-10.

All the ingredients...

No chicken in this version...