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My mother always said “don’t try out new recipes on guests.” Because what if the recipe doesn’t work or we don’t like it and so on and so on and then there might be nothing to eat. Well, first, there is never nothing to eat at my house. Because my mother’s other advice (shown by example) was to have a freezer full of food “just in case.” Second, because I like to try new recipes and who else could I try them on if not for the people who dine at my table? Usually what I do when I have a dinner party is to make one new dish. All my friends know there will be some experiment or other for them to taste and comment about. But next Sunday I am having lots of people over to celebrate the birth of our granddaughter Carina (I am a little slow, she is now 7 months old) and several of the dishes I will be serving are experiments. Only I took my mother’s advice. I tried them out first so I know they work. One of the hors d’oeuvre I worked on was gougeres, the wonderful, crispy baked French cheese puffs. I’ve made them a zillion times, so no problem there.  But I needed to make them dairy-free. How do you make gougeres without butter and cheese? I substituted Earth Balance buttery sticks for the butter. And instead of mixing in grated cheese I added finely chopped chorizo sausage (I used Jack’s Gourmet), which gave the puffs the characteristic tangy taste needed for a good gougere. Voila! Followed my mom’s advice and have plenty in the freezer just in case. Here’s the recipe: Herb and Chorizo Gougeres  1 cup water 1/4 pound (1/2 cup) Earth Balance Buttery Spread, cut into chunks 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 4 large eggs 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mixed herbs 1/2 cup finely chopped chorizo (one Jack’s Gourmet chorizo) pinch cayenne pepper Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the water and Earth Balance in a saucepan over medium heat. When the Earth Balance has melted, add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well blended and begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the herbs, chorizo and cayenne pepper and blend them in thoroughly. Lightly grease and flour a baking sheet. Drop 1-inch mounds of dough from a teaspoon onto the sheet. Leave space between the mounds for the puffs to rise. Bake for 20 minutes or until the puffs are lightly brown and crispy. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the puffs in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes about 60

My mother always said “don’t try out new recipes on guests.” Because what if the recipe doesn’t work or we don’t like it and so on and so on and then there might be nothing to eat.

Well, first, there is never nothing to eat at my house. Because my mother’s other advice (shown by example) was to have a freezer full of food “just in case.”

Second, because I like to try new recipes and who else could I try them on if not for the people who dine at my table?

Usually what I do when I have a dinner party is to make one new dish. All my friends know there will be some experiment or other for them to taste and comment about.

But next Sunday I am having lots of people over to celebrate the birth of our granddaughter Carina (I am a little slow, she is now 7 months old) and several of the dishes I will be serving are experiments.

Only I took my mother’s advice. I tried them out first so I know they work.

One of the hors d’oeuvre I worked on was gougeres, the wonderful, crispy baked French cheese puffs. I’ve made them a zillion times, so no problem there. 

But I needed to make them dairy-free.

How do you make gougeres without butter and cheese?

I substituted Earth Balance buttery sticks for the butter. And instead of mixing in grated cheese I added finely chopped chorizo sausage (I used Jack’s Gourmet), which gave the puffs the characteristic tangy taste needed for a good gougere.

Voila! Followed my mom’s advice and have plenty in the freezer just in case.

Here’s the recipe:

Herb and Chorizo Gougeres 

1 cup water

1/4 pound (1/2 cup) Earth Balance Buttery Spread, cut into chunks

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mixed herbs

1/2 cup finely chopped chorizo (one Jack’s Gourmet chorizo)

pinch cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the water and Earth Balance in a saucepan over medium heat. When the Earth Balance has melted, add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well blended and begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the herbs, chorizo and cayenne pepper and blend them in thoroughly. Lightly grease and flour a baking sheet. Drop 1-inch mounds of dough from a teaspoon onto the sheet. Leave space between the mounds for the puffs to rise. Bake for 20 minutes or until the puffs are lightly brown and crispy. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the puffs in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes about 60

It’s cheesecake season. Whatever the reason: Shavuot, Mother’s Day, graduation, upcoming pool or patio party, Father’s Day and so on. So last week I handed out my very special recipe for cheesecake.  Which got a terrific response and one particularly nice one for me from Eli’s Cheesecake in Chicago, Illinois, which I became familiar with many years ago when I was at college at Northwestern University. When the good folks at Eli’s read my blog and saw how I was bragging that my cheesecake recipe is unsurpassed, they offered to send me one of theirs to compare. So here’s the deal. My cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy. I mix in freshly grated orange and lemon peel to infuse it with a refreshing citrus flavor. Eli’s cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy, pleasantly sweet and spiked with rich vanilla.  It’s the old apples-oranges thing. They are too different to compare. If you like baking your own, try my recipe. If you’re looking for scrumptious bakery-bought cheesecake, order one (or more) from Eli’s. In addition to plain vanilla there’s lots of other flavors including gluten-free versions as well as chocolate, salted caramel, turtle, cappuccino, blood orange, key lime and more (including sampler packs that include several flavors together). Either way, you can’t go wrong, especially now. Cheesecake season. Whatever the reason.

It’s cheesecake season. Whatever the reason: Shavuot, Mother’s Day, graduation, upcoming pool or patio party, Father’s Day and so on.

So last week I handed out my very special recipe for cheesecake. 

Which got a terrific response and one particularly nice one for me from Eli’s Cheesecake in Chicago, Illinois, which I became familiar with many years ago when I was at college at Northwestern University.

When the good folks at Eli’s read my blog and saw how I was bragging that my cheesecake recipe is unsurpassed, they offered to send me one of theirs to compare.

So here’s the deal.

My cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy. I mix in freshly grated orange and lemon peel to infuse it with a refreshing citrus flavor.

Eli’s cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy, pleasantly sweet and spiked with rich vanilla. 

It’s the old apples-oranges thing. They are too different to compare.

If you like baking your own, try my recipe. If you’re looking for scrumptious bakery-bought cheesecake, order one (or more) from Eli’s. In addition to plain vanilla there’s lots of other flavors including gluten-free versions as well as chocolate, salted caramel, turtle, cappuccino, blood orange, key lime and more (including sampler packs that include several flavors together).

Either way, you can’t go wrong, especially now. Cheesecake season. Whatever the reason.

I like breakfast but don’t usually get the opportunity to eat the kind I would like (unless I am on vacation). I mean not only delicious food that takes more than 40 seconds to put together but also more time to sit and enjoy the meal, the surroundings and hopefully good company. Or maybe read a newspaper, enjoy the scenery. Stuff like that. So what I do is make breakfast for dinner, when there’s more time to relax and actually enjoy what I’m eating. When I can sit down at the table and use real dishes, not stand at the sink scooping yogurt from a plastic container. And when I say breakfast for dinner I don’t mean cheerios and milk or a doughnut and coffee or frozen waffles. I mean something like shakshouka. Peppers and eggs. An Israeli specialty made with sauteed tomatoes, onions and lots of red hot chili pepper. After this “salsa” cooks and softens you break eggs on top, cover the pan a little longer until the eggs are steamed done. I like this dish sprinkled with salt and zatar (a Middle Eastern spice blend). I love when the egg yolks are still runny and the rich, dark yellow liquid oozes into those hot vegetables.  Perfection. Rich and hot. Feisty. Filling. Perfection. For breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner. Shakshouka 1/4 cup olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and chopped 2 small habanero or other chili peppers, deseeded and minced 1 large garlic clove, minced 6–8 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil 1 tablespoon lemon juice 8 large eggs 3/4 teaspoon zatar Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and habanero peppers. Cook for 4–5 minutes or until softened slightly. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Add the tomatoes, basil, and lemon juice, stir, cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until vegetables are very soft and saucelike. Crack the eggs into a small bowl one at a time then transfer each one next to the other over the vegetables. Cover the pan and cook for 4–5 minutes or until the eggs are set but yolks are still slightly runny. Sprinkle with zatar. Serve each person 2 eggs and some of the vegetables. Makes 4 servings.

I like breakfast but don’t usually get the opportunity to eat the kind I would like (unless I am on vacation). I mean not only delicious food that takes more than 40 seconds to put together but also more time to sit and enjoy the meal, the surroundings and hopefully good company. Or maybe read a newspaper, enjoy the scenery.

Stuff like that.

So what I do is make breakfast for dinner, when there’s more time to relax and actually enjoy what I’m eating. When I can sit down at the table and use real dishes, not stand at the sink scooping yogurt from a plastic container.

And when I say breakfast for dinner I don’t mean cheerios and milk or a doughnut and coffee or frozen waffles.

I mean something like shakshouka. Peppers and eggs. An Israeli specialty made with sauteed tomatoes, onions and lots of red hot chili pepper. After this “salsa” cooks and softens you break eggs on top, cover the pan a little longer until the eggs are steamed done. I like this dish sprinkled with salt and zatar (a Middle Eastern spice blend). I love when the egg yolks are still runny and the rich, dark yellow liquid oozes into those hot vegetables. 

Perfection. Rich and hot. Feisty. Filling.

Perfection. For breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner.

Shakshouka

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, deseeded and chopped

2 small habanero or other chili peppers, deseeded and minced

1 large garlic clove, minced

6–8 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

8 large eggs

3/4 teaspoon zatar

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and habanero peppers. Cook for 4–5 minutes or until softened slightly. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Add the tomatoes, basil, and lemon juice, stir, cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until vegetables are very soft and saucelike. Crack the eggs into a small bowl one at a time then transfer each one next to the other over the vegetables. Cover the pan and cook for 4–5 minutes or until the eggs are set but yolks are still slightly runny. Sprinkle with zatar. Serve each person 2 eggs and some of the vegetables. Makes 4 servings.