Squidly Cookery

I was looking around on the internet for the “kosher for passover” certifications status for alcohol (in general) and read an article from the LA Times, by Jerry Hirsch, about the recent expansion of KfP products.  Sadly, most of the mirrored articles available online were not complete – or had been spliced with other content – and lacked the full recipes for a couple of cocktails mentioned in the article.  Let’s hear it for Google, and a certain amount of perseverance, for helping me actually find those recipes (enjoy responsibly).

Moses Margarita:
2 ounces Casa Vieja tequila
1 ounce triple sec (Binyamina brand is kosher for Passover)
1/2 ounce lime juice

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. You can strain the mixture or simply pour into a salt-rimmed margarita or martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

10th Plague:
1 ounce tequila
2 ounces tomato juice
1 squeeze of lemon or lime
1 dash of maror (hot sauce, horseradish, etc.)
1 dash of celery salt
1 dash of salt and pepper

Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a tall glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge and a celery stick.

Egyptian Sunrise:
1 1/2 ounces tequila
4 ounces pineapple juice
1 1/2 ounces cranberry juice

Fill a tall glass with ice. Pour tequila, then pineapple juice, then cranberry juice into glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Article source: LexisNews // Recipe source: Casa Vieja Tequila.

I temporarily lost my original recipe for parve Hamantaschen cookies this week, so I decided to try another go at making a recipe for the Purim holiday treat. Here’s what came of it! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Download PDF of this recipe HERE.
Download PDF of the original recipe HERE.

Yocheved’s Hamantaschen Cookies v2.0
[Kosher - Parve] Ingredients I used to make this parve

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 medium whole eggs
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup margarine
2 Tbsp key-lime juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
favorite jams or other fillings

Directions:
- Take your margarine and either allow it to get to room temperature or soften it up in the microwave. Do not overcook / burn it. Pre-heat oven to 350 F / 180 C. Put non-stick on your cookie sheet(s).

- Add all dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Mix thoroughly. In a smaller bowl combine the eggs, key-lime juice, oil, margarine (slightly melted or room temperature), and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly, and then add to the dry ingredients in the medium bowl. Mix and finally knead with your hands until you have a nice solid and semi-sticky ball.

- Pinch off and roll up a ball about the size of two of your thumbs wide (sideways). Take a cup and dust the bottom lightly in flour, then use it to flatten the cookie ball into a nice circular shape. Then roll three sides up and pinch the corners together, forming a triangular pit for your filler to sit in. Using a spoon put about a teaspoon of filling into the cookie. As you finish each cookie transfer them to the baking sheet and make sure they have plenty of space to cook.

- Let bake for 12~15 minutes – or until the dough is lightly golden in color. When done, move cookies to a cooling rack and let sit for at least 20 minutes. You may find that some filler may have leaked out during the baking process – replace what is needed during the cooling phase.

- These cookies will tolerate refrigeration and freezing, as long as they are put in an air-tight bag before hand.

Hmmmm… Seems like the CGI I was using to power the searches for my “Online Kitchen Assistant” went kaput sometime in October. Searches errored out as the new CGI code used by the guys at ResearchBuzz, whom I have shamelessly been using for almost 2 years, no longer accepts the older data format that I was still pushing. Looks like part of the reason there’s a new CGI at ResearchBuzz is that Google itself has started minimizing support for SOAP, which was the search framework it used to encourage web coders to use. Now it’s all AJAX, baby!

So I signed up for a free AJAX Search Engine API from Google for “cooking.schleppingsquid.net” and started hashing out the design. Turns out that the whole project to replace the old OKA took about 1.5 hours. I updated some of my target search sites (increasing the number of kosher and vegetarian recipe sites) and tweaked the results page look.

Sign up for a Google AJAX API: HERE
Raw version of my revamped Online Kitchen Assistant: HERE
Revamped embedded Online Kitchen Assistant: HERE

The only advice I can give, for those wanting to create their own custom search engine, is: make sure that you have a good list of sites already set for your engine to query against. I used 30+ kosher food, vegetarian and mixologist websites, as well as Wikipedia (for factoids to help fuel witty banter at a gathering you might have cooked or mixed for), as the backbone for all searches put through my custom search engine.

Looks like the search applet I was using, for the Kitchen Assistant, is now no longer supported by Google . I have created a custom search engine, which will do much of the same thing, but it does not allow for specific searches based on kosher or vegetarian recipes. If you search for “turkey, celery, carrots” you could get kosher or the veggie alternative. The old tool allowed the user to select a specific sub-portion of the search area to concentrate on…

Well, the same general functionality is in there… You can search for Kosher, Vegetarian or alcoholic (aka. Drunken Squid) beverages. Will post it as soon as I knock all the kinks out of it…

Ugh…  I have been remiss in my recipe posting duties.  I owe you all a few goodies, to include my Sorta-Chili, Hammentashen, Key Lime Scones and Matzah Ball Soup.  For the kosher cooks out there the chili is meat and all the others are parve.

Recipes will be up SOON!!!  Until then… Chag sameach / Pesach Tov / Happy Passover.

[Vegetarian / Kosher - Dairy]

After one too many Cherry-o-Cheese pies my Mom decided to try something new. Her brainstorming session produced a variation of the previously mentioned confection… it involved a bit of key lime juice and ditching the cherry topping. WARNING! This pie is not for anyone who is on a serious diet (smile), it ’s sure to test that person’s will and add size to any thigh (or mid-section) of the taster ; P. Also, know that there is no way to adequately create a low-fat version of this dessert – the low-fat versions of the below ingredients do NOT set properly. You can do it, but the pie will ooze and not stay firm.

[Kosher - Dairy]

Ingredients:
1 graham cracker pie crust (9+ inches)
1 12 oz. can of sweetened and condensed milk
1 teaspoon (or more) of vanilla extract
1 8 oz. cream cheese brick
½ cup of key lime juice
2-3 drops of green food coloring (optional)

Directions:
** Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature before beginning! **
- In a bowl add your key lime juice, vanilla extract, sweetened and condensed milk and the cream cheese together.
- Use a beater to mix all of these items together until completely smooth. If the cream cheese has not been given sufficient time to warm up you will have a LOT more beating to do for a similar level of creaminess. Beat your mixture a good 5 minutes.
- I generally put my beater up to maximum speed during the last minute or so, and look to make sure that the mixture no longer has tiny bits of creme cheese floating around. The increased beater speed will also add a little air to the mix and quicken the setting process for the pie.
- Add coloring, if desired, and mix until satisfied with the hue. The effect of the coloring should suggest green, not to make it look like a green crayon.
- Pour mix into pie shell and even out the coverage with a spatchela. Add decorations (swirls of other colored cream, citrus slices, etc.) or leave plain.
- Cover and allow to set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

Makes 8 average slices. Advise slicing into 16 parts due to the richness of the pie.

A PDF and an interactive copy (on Instructables.com) of this recipe will be available shortly.

[Vegetarian / Kosher - Parve]

Here’s a goodie based on my mother’s wonderful cooking. This time, a fall treat: Pumpkin Bread!!

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family has!

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Ingredients:
3½ cups unsifted all purpose flour
2½ cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1½ teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla (*2*)
2 cups of pureed, cooked or canned pumpkin
1 cup of corn oil (*1*)
2/3 cup of water (optional, if it needs it)
4 eggs

(*1*) This may be replaced with either a ½ cup of safflower oil or 1 cup of apple sauce.
(*2*) Optional, but I add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (organic).

Extras:
This recipe will make up to seven (7) mini [5"x3"] loaves or three (3) large [8"x4"] loaves. Depending on what you are planning, have those tins ready.

Directions:
- Set oven to 350 (F) degrees. Grease and flour your load pans/tins.
- In a large bowl, stir together your flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- In another bowl, stir together your pumpkin, corn oil (or replacement), water, eggs and vanilla (if using that optional addition).
- Make a well in center of the dry mixture and add the wet mix to it – stirring everything completely together. Make sure the new mixture is without dry pockets or odd little bumps – it should be relatively smooth.
- Pour your mix into your greased pans/tins, about half way or less.
- Bake in oven for one (1) hour, or until a tooth pick (cake tester) inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for ten (10) minutes on a cooling rack. If your loaves will not be delivered in tins remove them carefully and re-place them on the cooling rack for a while longer.
- When the loaf is completely cool, wrap it in foil or plastic wrap and store over night.

A PDF copy of this recipe on cards is available HERE. A more graphic set of instructions will be set on Instructables.com in a day or two. Enjoy!!

In preparation for the food-heavy holiday of Thanksgiving (US), I have been in the kitchen limbering up for the big event. I’ve researched and dreamt up some items for the sides and main. All the while trying out mini versions of those ideas – so far so good. I’ll post the following recipes soon:

Mondo Mashed Potatoes (Completely parve)
Potato and Leek Soup
Turkey Brine
Baked Turkey
Beer Battered Fried Mushrooms
Nana Verity’s Keylime Pie

I decided to start blogging about food. If something yummy comes out of my kitchen, is seen out in my travels or in a culinary way piques my attention – I’ll put it here.

Right now I’m just working on a new type of recipe for Rosh Hashanah, using the traditional apples and honey, but it’s going to be a hard crust pie – kinda… Oh, and for the kosher watchers out there, it will be parve. More when I post it.

If you want to do a quick online look up of kosher or vegetarian recipes I have a bot you can use. Click the “Kitchen Assistant” and go from there. It also will allow you to try new mixes using what you have in your liquor cabinet ; ).

As I collect and test recipes I’ll post them as PDF files in the “Files” area.  Right now there is only one personal recipe up there – my hamantaschen cookies.