A confluence of factors led me to prepare these tuna tostados. First, Efraim (of muffin delivery fame) has begun delivering fresh fish every week to patrons within the Boston Eruv, including delicious tuna. Second, I had my first semi-professional cooking gig tonight. As anyone familiar with the Hub of the Solar System knows, Boston lacks classy restaurants — not even Taam China II (”the Deuce”) can provide a romantic or business atmosphere. So, when friends of ours had a special birthday to celebrate, I gladly offered my kitchen skills (and tastefully made-over dining room) for the occasion. Hey, I’m a Cook’s Illustrated subscriber, what more do I need?

To start off their meal, I thought these tostados would be perfect. Not only would they let me showcase Efraim’s ocean delicacies, but all the components could be prepared in advanced and assembled in flash at the last moment. The recipe required little modification — I replaced the cilantro with parsley (to suit my own taste), used Tofutti’s pareve sour cream substitute as garnish (it’s actually not that bad), and sprinkled a little sea salt on top for taste and texture. I also made larger wonton crisps than the recipe’s photo suggested — a little easier to hold, but perhaps a bit harder to eat since it’s not bite-sized. A rectangular platter, holding four tostados, was ideal for a dramatic presentation.

I know that I have a tendency toward hyperbole when it comes to food, but these really are the best blintzes I’ve ever had. (My apologies to Mother and Mother-in-Law, whose excellent recipes served as a starting point.) The blintz skins are from a French crepe recipe, which yields a more tender, creamy pancake than traditional blintz batter.

We use an 8-inch crepe pan, which makes fairly large blintzes. For a larger number of smaller blintzes, use a 6-inch or 5-inch pan. If you are inexperienced at making crepes, you may wish to make a bit of extra batter to allow for mistakes.

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Kosher Community Surveys is providing the Kosher Blog and its readers the following exclusive sneak-peek at some of the results of this year’s Massachusetts survey:

• Best Kosher Butcher/Store - Second Place: The Butcherie
• Best Kosher Bakery - Second Place: Shaw’s Supermarket (multiple locations)
• Best Kosher Restaurant - Second Place: Milk Street Cafe (Post Office Square location)

The full, final survey report is coming soon, and will be promptly posted to the Kosher Blog. If you are interested in receiving a copy of it directly as soon as it is complete, e-mail your request to Neil Rosenbaum at koshersurvey@gmail.com.

Last week, DH and I had a chance to sample what is perhaps the only kosher New England delicacy: fiddleheads! (No, it’s not always spelled with an exclamation point.) Fiddleheads are edible ferns with an extremely short growing season. They get their name from their shape, which looks like the handle of a fiddle:

Fiddleheads

Handle of Fiddle

In flavor, fiddleheads most closely resemble the dark outer leaves of an artichoke, though there is also some resemblence to asparagus. To prepare fiddleheads, first rinse them under running water, rubbing off the papery outer layer, if it is still attached. Cut off the ends, then plunge the fiddleheads into rapidly boiling water for about five minutes and drain. After that, you can marinate them, saute them with garlic, or do what we did: eat a bunch plain and put the rest in a salad.

Yum

(Cross-posted to Apikorsus.)

I was pleasantly surprised during my last trip to the local kosher market to discover the much-hyped arrival of OK-certified Joseph Farms cheese. Several varities were prominently displayed in the dairy case, including whole, shredded and sliced cheeses. I quickly grabbed four blocks, checked out, and brought them home for analysis.

What immediately struck me was the reasonable price. They run $6.00/lb. (a little less for the mozzarella) which is a substantial savings compared to run-of-the-mill Miller’s, whose cheeses usually sell for between $9.00 and $11.00/lb.

As for taste, they’re far from artisinal, but they’re a solid average. The medium Cheddar has bit of character, but for the same price, I’d probably stick with Tillamook (until Cabot returns to the kosher market). I found it pretty difficult to pick up much taste from the Monterrey Jack, but since I haven’t seen Anderson International’s Jack in these parts for quite some time, and since Miller’s Jack is terrible, it’s nice to have something to use on nachos. The mozzarella actually had a bit more flavor and pleasant soft texture, but lacked the stringy composition one usually finds in a good mozzarella. Melted on pasta, it was perfectly acceptable so, again, Joseph Farms gets the nod due to a superior’s absence;1 lb. blocks of Cappiello mozzarella are nowhere to be found. Last in the lineup, their Confetti Mix is a combination of Cheddar and Jack — nice to look at, good for a decorative party platter, but no distinctive flavor.

The verdict? It’s great to have more competition in the kosher dairy case, it’s great to have cheeses that will give the staid brands a run for their money, and it’s great saving money on popular varieties. On the other hand, it’s disappointing that so serious an effort to make a once non-kosher brand fully kosher only yields mediocre cheese. That said, until better alternatives appear, Joseph Farms will be the de facto “value” cheese in our refrigerator, and I imagine their kosher endeavor will meet with widespread success.

Rhubarb has a fairly short growing season in New England, and it happens to be now. This is also a great time to get fresh strawberries, which may be one reason why the strawberry-rhubarb combination is such a classic. It’s also quite delicious.

My parents like to end meals with a chilled strawberry-rhubarb compote, which is very refreshing. Their formula: Combine strawberries, rhubarb, water, and sugar in a saucepan, simmer, and continue adjusting ingredients until it tastes good. (If you prefer a bit more precision, start with this recipe and adjust to taste.) Rhubarb is quite tart, so you will need a fairly high proportion of sugar, but bear in mind that cooked berries become significantly sweeter as they cool.

When I have guests, I like to show off a bit with a strawberry rhubarb crisp, served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream or a parve substitute. I use a modified version of a recipe in the New Moosewood Cookbook:

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
2 pounds rhubarb, cut into bite-size pieces
2 pints strawberries, sliced
1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar*
1 1/2 cups (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
a dash each allspice and nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole wheat flour mixed with 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour)
2 cups rolled oats
real or parve vanilla ice cream (not optional!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Combine rhubarb, strawberries, and sugar in an 11 x 13 inch baking pan.

Place the butter or margarine in a large, microwave safe bowl and microwave 1 minute or until melted. (Alternatively, melt in a saucepan over low heat, then transfer to a large bowl.)

Add brown sugar and spices to the warm butter and mix until well blended. Gradually mix in flour, then oats. (Toward the end, it will be easiest to use your hands.)

Distribute oat mixture evenly over fruit. Bits of fruit will peek out from under the topping.

Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until fruit has begun to bubble. Allow to cool slightly. Serve in bowls, topped with ice cream.

*Made with 1/3 cup sugar, the crisp is quite tart.

(Cross-posted to Apikorsus)

Note: The crisp will not suffer from a few hours in a warm oven, so it can be served on Friday night.

While we’ve all be munching on buffalo for some time now here in the States, occasional contributor Danny reports that Israel’s chief Sephardi rabbi has declared kosher the consumption of buffalo.

Why the separate consideration? As far as I understand, in these parts, we enjoy furry American Buffalo, of the genus Bison, whereas Israel has access to Water Buffalo, of the genus Bubalus.

Good news for Israel’s buffalo industry and Italian Jewish community which, according to Arutz Sheva, uses them to this day for their milk and meat.

Also mentioned in the article: Yak is next! Mmm, yak!

We’re a couple months shy of living in our new home for a whole year, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to give a critical review of our appliance choices.

Oven: Frigidaire GLEB27T9DB Double Oven
We’re really happy with it. The controls are easy, food cooks evenly, it’s easy to clean, and convection makes baking several trays of cookies a snap. There are a few annoyances that we’ve encountered, but they’re all minor: At times, one oven seems to take a while to get up to temperature; one of the convection fans occasionally makes noise; and hot condensation sometimes builds up around the door and sprays onto entering hands. The only pan I’ve ever had trouble fitting in the oven was an extra-large disposable aluminum tray, but pizzas, turkeys, lasagnas, etc., all fit fine.

As for the Sabbath/Yom-Tov features, they work as advertised; it’s really nice to be able to adjust the temperature on holidays. (I recommend keeping an oven thermometer inside to monitor the temperature, since the display doesn’t change.)

In any case, for $1,300, I think it’s a great value. If I had the space, the 30″ model would have been ideal.

Cooktop: Dacor SGM464GG
The big draw of this cooktop was its integrated gas grill, something I especially wanted to due to our lack of outdoor grilling space. While I enjoy having the option to grill, I’ve learned that excellent ventillation and a dishwasher should be required accessories. We’ve had trouble keeping smoke from the grill under control with our existing hood (which doesn’t exhaust to the outside) and the greasy parts (thankfully all removeable) would be a terrible hassle to clean without a dishwasher. On top of it, the grill definitely has hot spots and cool spots, and cooking takes longer than an outdoor gas grill since there’s no cover to trap in the heat.

As for normal cooking, it’s been a struggle getting used to gas burners, knowing how high or low to set the heat. Simmering is a challenge, but the included simmer platter helps once you get the hang of it.

We don’t use the cooktop at all on Shabbat or holidays. It’s spark-ignited, so it can’t be turned on during yom tov, but I’ve never felt comfortable leaving on gas appliances unattended anyhow.

Overall, the convenience of a grill is nice, if imperfect, and instant gas heat is also a welcome improvement over electric.

Dishwasher: GE Triton XL Built-In Dishwasher (GSD6200JWW)
This choice was a bit less critical than the previous, made mostly in terms of price and place of manufacture (I prefer buying American). Since we weren’t concerned about kashering it (or about hard water), we went with a cheaper, vinyl interior, but everything else has been top notch. The “pots and pans” cycle gets our pots and pans clean; the “china and crystal” setting gently scrubs away a Sabbath’s-worth of china and crystal, so far with no damage to stemware or our plates’ gold trim. I had to bend back one spoke on the top rack to fit the largest piece, but the dishwasher accomodates all our Dacor grill’s parts. Only the grate requires some after-wash scouring to get tough char off.

It’s not particularly noisy, but I don’t really care about noise, since we can set the dishwasher on a multiple-hour delay for overnight operation, or just close our kitchen doors.

Every week for the last four months, all we’d hear about Taam China II is that would open in two weeks. Well, the wait is over — the spacious suburban satellite of Brookline’s esteemed Chinese restaurant is set to open its doors tomorrow at 11AM.

Taam China II
108 Oak Street
Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464
(map)

(If I make it over there, I’ll try to post the menu, if different from the original.)