In advance of next week’s Super Bowl, I’ve revised my chili recipe to reflect two years of cooking it. A great way to feed a crowd, either during the Super Bowl or for Shabbos lunch. Try it with vegan cornbread, or forget the chili and make kosher jambalaya with Neshama Gourmet andouille sausages.

For quite some time now, GourmetFoodStore.com has offered a decent selection of French kosher cheeses. However, most of the time, they’re only available by the case (10-24 cut pieces per case), which has kept them, in my opinion, largely inaccessible to the casual buyer, and the next-day shipping charge can be an obstacle, too. As such, I’d like to initiate, on a trial basis, a cooperative effort to buy four cases and split them up among other kosher cheese afficionados in the Boston area.

Here’s how I envision it. Their Gruyere and Morbier come 10 to a case; the Brie St. Benoit and Roquefort come 16 to a case. We find 10 people to commit to the Gruyere/Morbier purchase at $25/person and 16 people to commit to the Brie/Roquefort purchase at $22/person (both prices include one piece of each cheese in the combo and 1/26th of the overnight shipping charge). Alternatively, participants can buy more than one share and reduce the number of folks required for the purchase.

Would anyone be interested?

UPDATE: Interested parties from the New York City area are also invited to express their interest; we’ll see if we can get two groups going.

KBlog reader Alex has alerted us to a new offer from Kosher.com. From their website:

Would you like to sample some of the vast array of kosher products currently being offered on Kosher.com, in exchange for your opinion regarding those products?

Each shipment will contain a minimum of $25.00 retail value worth of Kosher.com food products. Since we receive thousands of requests for our free samples, we must charge $3.95 to cover part of the shipping and handling costs. You will be contacted by email before your shipment goes out to confirm your eligibility.

Eligible participants will receive their first package containing approximately ten different sample products. Each participant will then receive an email with a few questions regarding their opinion about the items. Recipients of the emails will be able to respond to the questions concerning the products by email or by logging on to our site with a password.

To maintain your eligibility to receive free samples, you must respond to the emailed questions. We reserve the right to revoke your eligibility to participate in our free samples for any reason. There is no obligation, and you can opt out of the program any time you desire by sending an email stating that you no longer wish to receive such packages, to freesamples@kosher.com

Sign up here — http://www.kosher.com/FreeSamples.cfm

I was very happy to learn that my parents hadn’t yet used their new electric turkey fryer, so when we packed up to visit them on Christmas weekend, I made sure to take along a 14-pound Rubashkin turkey. Erev Chanukah, a few hours before sunset, we heated up three gallons of corn oil on the back porch, rubbed the turkey with spices, and gave it a dunk.

Only minutes later, our turkey was golden brown and fully cooked. Using great care and giant protective gloves, we lifted the basket out, let the turkey drain, and then removed to it a towel-lined tray. A big chef’s knife made quick work of the breast meat; the legs and and wings pulled off easily.

This was certainly the juiciest turkey I’d ever eaten, hands down, but it was sadly bereft of flavor. Bland meat, with hints of oil. The instructions made mention of a “flavor injector,” but, frankly, those things scare me, so I’ve never tried. Is that the only way to get some taste into a fried turkey? Suggestions welcome.

I’ve seen a few fleishig soup recipes that recommend drizzling non-dairy whipping liquid (i.e. Rich’s Whip) in striking patterns as a garnish. While this works well, I wanted to find an alternative that didn’t require unnatural chemical combinations. Since cocount milk is also white and sweet, I gave it shot. Over high heat, I reduced a can of Goya coconut milk by half, giving it a pleasantly creamy consistency. It was very well received when swirled over store-bought butternut squash soup.

And while we’re speaking of coconuts, has anyone tried using cream of coconut to make pareve whipped cream?

It isn’t rational. I have more soup recipes than I would ever use in a winter, more cookie recipes than I could reasonably use in a year, and more pot roast recipes than I will probably use in a lifetime. And there are so many other recipe sources, from the internet to my mother. But then, I have an irrational love of books and an equally irrational love of food. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that I drool over the cookbook aisle in every bookstore I visit, and that, cheapskate though I am, I often can’t bring myself to leave without making a purchase.

Still, when I returned from the SBL/AAR conference with Great Vegetarian Dishes by Kurma dasa, “one of the Hare Krishna movement’s most celebrated chefs,”* I began to think that I might have a problem.

Then I read this article:

Sally LaRhette, 75, has over 3,000, and she’s not letting up anytime soon. In fact, one of the reasons she moved to her Natick home was for extra room to house her collection. Daniela Coleman, 38, of Jamaica Plain has 250 books in her kitchen and another 100 or so boxed up in her mother’s attic. Jane Kelly, 49, of Wayland, owns around 850. The 75 she uses most often are in the kitchen, hundreds fill a large bookcase in her office, and the remaining ones are stored in the basement.

While some may wonder how anyone could possibly need, want, or use this many volumes, food lovers admit to pangs of desire when roaming the cookbook section of a well-stocked bookstore.

As it turns out, I have a long way to go. Since I don’t have a “problem,” I guess it wouldn’t hurt to place an order at Amazon.com. I think I’ll get Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking, by Julia Sahni. And The New Best Recipe — Jabbett seemed to like that. And Myra Kornfield’s The Voluptuous Vegan (I’m enjoying The Healthy Hedonist). And maybe. . .
. . .maybe I should sleep on this. I am a cheapskate, after all.

(Cross-posted to Apikorsus Online)

*The book includes “over 240 recipes from around the world,” including a lokshen kugel recipe attributed to the author’s mother. Draw your own conclusions.

Kosher Blog reader Jeff writes in with the latest on Half-Moon K, the Kosher Overseers Association of America:

A couple years ago you mentioned … something about the Half Moon K raising its standards and how at the time, Rabbi Hissinger would mention to people inquiring which Half Moon K products were up to acceptable norms of the general Orthodox community and which ones weren’t…. There is some new news about the Half Moon K and in case you haven’t heard, I thought I’d share with you the scoop I found out.

A few months ago, I and a few other observant Jews here in Des Moines (there is a small but dedicated and slowly growing Orthodox community here) called or e-mailed the cRc and asked them which Half Moon K products were acceptable (other than items which didn’t need a hechsher) and they told us: Matt’s Cookies, Rosen’s breads (some of which just say PARVE), canned veggies, and Kikkoman soy sauce. But recently, given the fact that I should try to give someone benefit of the doubt in most cases and that the Half Moon K has been working on raising their standards for quite a while, something inside of me decided that I should contact Rabbi Zvi Boruch Hollander (the Half Moon K’s current Rav HaMachshir) directly to find out more. Rabbi Hollander has been in charge of the Half Moon K since fall 2003.

So I e-mailed Rabbi Hollander a week ago (got his e-mail form the agencies section of the Kosherdelight website) and asked him if there were any other Half Moon K items that were now up to the acceptable kashrut standards of the general Orthodox Jewish world and he e-mailed me back saying that he wanted to talk with me personally on the phone about this. I called him back the next day and he told me that he and Rabbi Hissinger (who was the Rav Hamachshir for a few years before Hollander) have been spending several years getting the Half Moon K’s standards up to par and they worked tremendously hard on that task. Rabbi Hollander directly told me that the task is now fully completed to the extent that there isn’t a single Half Moon K product currently made that he wouldn’t recommend.

In other words, Rabbi Hollander believes the Half Moon K is now completely up to acceptable kashrut standards. I was so happy to hear this news, but then I asked him why the cRc, etc., only consider the Half Moon K reliable on a handful of items, he was guessing that the cRc and other hashgachot were probably relying on old, possibly outdated information. He also said that the local Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi has been doing some kashrut supervision work for the Half Moon K. Finally, R’ Hollander said that Rabbi Dovid Jenkins (who used to work for the cRc and Chof K) will either be running the Half Moon K or will at least be one of the head honchos for it.

So if you have any questions for Rabbi Hollander concerning Half Moon K items, he can be reached at:

E-Mail: rabbizbh@kosher.org
Fax: 1-323-567-4371
Half Moon K’s headquarters: 1-323-870-0011 (ask for R’ Hollander)

Manischewitz’s new chocolate-covered Tam Tams (akin to chocolate-covered pretzels) are making their debut in the Hub of the Universe, according to this article from today’s Herald.

Results were recently published for the 2005 Washington DC Area Kosher Community Survey, which gauged opinion on restaurants, stores, and local kashrut supervision. It’s encouraging to see grassroots efforts that empower the kosher consumer and build communication between individuals and businesses.

• Coverage in the Washington Jewish Week

Here are some recent news articles on kosher topics:

Hold the Mustard, Maybe Forever (New York Times)
New York’s Second Avenue Deli shuts it doors after a $9,000 increase in monthly rent.

• Photos of the sign being removed
• Photos of owner Jack Lebewohl closing up shop

Why the kosher diet gets people angry (Algemeiner)
Strategies for resolving tension between kosher and unkosher relatives.

New-wave kosher with Moroccan flair (LA Times)
Favorable review of BBC Cafe, a kosher Moroccan restaurant on LA’s Wilshire Blvd., under Heart-K supervision.

Hebrew University offers tour with classes in kosher cooking (Sun Sentinel)
Programs arranged by the Baltimore Hebrew University combine kosher cooking classes with European travel — Provence, Bologna, Tuscany.

Grocery adds line of kosher meats (Green Bay Press-Gazette)
Fresh kosher meats now available at Woodman’s Market in Howard, WI.

Kosher Persian in a Lush Setting (New York Times)
Review of “Colbeh” location in Roslyn Estates. Rating: very good.

Paradise Found: Kosher Cruises Chart a New Course (Forward)
Spotlight on Kosherica and JSingles kosher cruises.

Not just chopped liver (Helena Independent Record)
Joan Nathan’s French formulation for chopped liver pate. It’s a shame we have to broil our liver!

Quick update: Starting in February, Rubin’s (500 Harvard St., Brookline, MA) will feature an expanded menu with “gourmet fish entrees, steak entrees, duck, lamb, and veal,” plus a new breakfast Menu and $6.99 lunch specials. New wines, too.

While we’re on a “buyer beware” streak, here’s a blog with details of what pretty clearly looks like a fishy kosher travel package, Ahavath Torah Institute’s Jewish Heritage Tours.

I happened to notice at the local kosher market this evening that Miller’s actually produces an “aged cheddar cheese.” Intrigued, but naturally a bit skeptical, I purchased the $4.29 bar and brought it home.

The proof was in the first bite: it tasted nearly identical to their everyday “cheddar sticks” — the only difference may have been some extra annatto coloring. Of course, nowhere on the package does it say how long this cheese has been aged, so I guess it’s my fault for expecting real sharpness.

False alarm!

Just a quick something I learned when making several batches of dried-cranberry cookies in the past month: not all pareve white baking chips are made equal. Specifically, the Lieber’s “Decorating Chips” available at many kosher shops should be avoided entirely. They have no flavor to speak of, and actually detract from the quality of the cookie.

We did manage to find an alternative with decent vanilla flavor — Oppenheimer-brand Shoko-Chips Lavan from Israel.

Perhaps in other parts of the kosher world there are more pareve chip varieties?