Plums - as Crisp, not Torte

A few weeks ago I spotted Italian prune plums at Fairway. It was 96 degrees out, in the middle of a heat wave, and here I was looking at the first culinary signs of autumn.

But there they were, the plums, and of course I bought several pounds of them.

My thoughts went immediately to Plum Torte, the iconic Rosh Hashanah dessert. I make one every year.

But those plums are too good to reserve for just one holiday.

So I made these Italian Prune Plum Crisps.

Crisps are a more homey-style dessert than a stately looking Plum Torte. However, I think they are just perfect for the holidays. Easier too.

Or, why not serve both?

Plum Crisp with Oat Streusel

Filling:

• 36 Italian prune plums
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Crust:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking or rolled oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, cut into chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the plums, brown sugar, lemon juice and flour in a baking dish. Set aside. Place the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and mix ingredients to distribute them evenly. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Place the oat mixture over the fruit. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is crispy and brown.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Philly Cheese Steak, the Kosher way

Philadelphia. City of Brotherly Love. So named (from the Greek words "philos" meaning love and "adelphos" meaning brother) because the city's founder, William Penn, wanted the place to be a refuge from religious persecution. 

I wonder what Penn might think of that today, what with this year's contentious election and the Democratic National Convention at hand in the city.

But, current times aside, Philadelphia has a lovely history.

Home of the Liberty Bell. And Independence Hall, where the founding fathers debated (and adopted) the Declaration of Independence AND the Constitution.

Once the temporary capital of the United States while the newly minted America waited for the District of Columbia to be built.

And, among the more mundane of matters, home of the Philly Cheese Steak.

Philly Cheese Steak.

I have to say, I've been to Philadelphia several times and never ate one.

But thoughts of the city and its famous hoagie (hero sandwich, sub, whatever others may call it) got me to think about trying one at home.

Kosher.

I looked at lots of recipes and saw that they called for different cuts of beef, cut into strips. I decided on skirt steak because it's so juicy and flavorful.

I also noticed that the cheese could be cheddar or American or provolone and even -- OY -- cheese whiz. 

I opted for provolone (non-dairy, soy-based from Daiya Foods) because it has such a magnificent tang to it.

Some recipes called for sauteed mushrooms or other vegetables in addition to the more usual onions and red bell pepper. I decided not to.

In the end -- magnifico!!

Does it taste the way a Philly Cheese Steak is supposed to? 

I have no clue.

All I know is that it tasted good. Very good.

And so, in honor of Philadelphia's few days in the sun again -- my recipe for Philly Cheese Steak.

 

Kosher Philly Cheese Steak

• 8 ounces skirt steak, semi-frozen
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 small red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced into narrow strips
• 2 hoagie rolls
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 slices Daiya soy “provolone style cheese”

Cut the beef into thin slices against the grain. Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper strips and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until soft and lightly browned. Add the meat to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until browned. Cut the rolls in half. Move the meat and vegetables to one side of the pan (or temporarily spoon into a plate) and place the 4 pieces of roll, cut side down in the pan. Cook for a minute or so, to lightly toast the rolls. Turn the rolls cut side up. Using equal quantities, place equal quantities of meat and vegetables on each of the two roll bottoms. Top with equal amounts of the soy cheese. Cover with the tops of the rolls. Turn the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook for a minute or so or until the cheese has melted.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Cleveland Cuisine! Really.

Cleveland cuisine? Really?

Yes!

Cleveland is an important place.

For one thing, it's the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

And that should be enough.

But there's also The Cleveland Museum of Art -- it has a large, diverse collection. And unlike so many museums of its kind, admission is FREE!!!!

Also -- Cleveland has a world-famous orchestra, a distinguished university (Case Western Reserve), an AFC football team (the Browns) and a major league baseball team (the Indians).

AND, of course, their basketball team is this year's NBA Champions! (You've surely heard of the Cavaliers!)

I'm impressed!

And now there's more. This summer Cleveland will be home to the 2016 Republican National Convention (July 18-21).

And, whatever the goings on at the convention itself, the city will get lots of extra attention in the press. There will be loads and loads of extra people in Cleveland.

So, me being me, I got to wondering about what those people might be eating during their stay. 

I don't mean the food they're going to get at the convention. I mean real, special, famous Cleveland food. 

Not every city has its own culinary specialties. Surely nothing in Stamford, CT., where I live. 

But Cleveland does! And some real goodies, at that! 

For example, because the city is home to large numbers of families whose origins trace back to central and eastern Europe, bratwurst (on a bun) and crunchy apple fritters are really popular.

The apple fritters alone are worth a visit I think.

But also this -- among the most famous of "Cleveland food" is something called the Polish Boy (basically a kielbasa sandwich with coleslaw, french fries and barbecue sauce all on a club roll).

Well, okay. Maybe.

Then I discovered that among the iconic Cleveland dishes are pierogi.

Pierogi. Do you hear my heart pounding? Can you see my grin?

Oh! How I love pierogi! Doughy dumplings stuffed with stuff. Like beef cheeks or potato and cheese (served with thick, tangy sour cream).

Pierogi. The kind of food some of us used to get at grandma's, if we were lucky.

I haven't had a pierogi for as long as I can remember. Thanks to Cleveland I was reminded of that fact.

I had to have some. But the only ones I could find in Stamford, CT. were packaged.

So I decided to make some myself. And after a couple of tries -- oh!

They are as wonderful as I remember.

Thank you, Cleveland, for inspiring this recipe. Good luck this summer.

 

Potato Cheese Pierogi

Filling:

• 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes (about one pound), peeled, cut into chunks (about 3 cups mashed potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 cup farmer cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the potato chunks in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Drain the potatoes and spoon into a bowl. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes or until soft and golden brown. Add the onions to the potatoes. Add the farmer cheese, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix the ingredients until well blended. Set aside to cool before filling the dough.

Dough:

• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup water, approximately
• 1 cup dairy sour cream

Extras:

• butter
• vegetable oil
• sour cream

To make the dough: place the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dough until the mixture is crumbly. Add 1/2 cup of the water and the sour cream and mix the dough until it is smooth, soft and well blended. If the dough seems too dry, add more water. (You can do this in a food processor.) Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes. Using portions of the dough, roll the dough on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thick and cut out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Place the circles on a board or cookie sheet and cover them with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel while you cut the rest of the dough. Fill the dough using about one tablespoon of the filling for each circle.

To fill the pierogis: place the filling in the center of the dough circle. Fold the circle in half, pinching the edges to seal in the filling.

To cook the pierogis: bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the filled pierogis, 6-8 at a time, and boil for about 3-8 minutes depending on whether they are at room temperature, refrigerated or frozen (or until they float to the surface). Remove the pierogis with a slotted spoon and set aside; repeat with remaining pierogis.

Extras: To serve the pierogis: serve boiled (as above), with sour cream (can also serve with caramelized onions – make more when making filling above). OR, heat 1 tablespoon butter plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add some of the pierogi (do not crowd the pan) and cook for 3-4 minutes on the flat side, or until golden brown on the bottom, then turn the pierogis over and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until crusty and golden brown. Repeat using more butter/vegetable oil with the remaining pierogis. Serve with sour cream (and sautéed onion if desired). 

Makes about 4 dozen

Grandma's Blintzes

I feel blessed that my children and grandchildren come to stay over at my house in Connecticut for holidays and birthdays and occasionally just to hang out. It reminds me of when I was a kid and visited my grandma -- almost every weekend -- along with practically everyone else in my mother's family (aunts, uncles and cousins).

That was back in the day before children had so many other activities. Sure, there were brownies and cub scouts, but back then I never heard of things like soccer or gymnastics. Art classes happened during school hours. The only cooking classes for children took place in your own kitchen if you were lucky to have a Mom like mine who let you patchky around.

Weekends were strictly for family activities.

I'm not saying one way of life is better than another. One size does not fit all, as they say. And maybe today's kids are better educated or are more well-rounded than we were.

But I have wonderful memories of that life. 

It was good. I got to play with my cousin Leslie every weekend. She and her family lived with our grandma.

I also got to eat some of my grandma's wonderful food. 

I hope that in years to come my grandchildren will feel happy when they recall their visits to Ed and me. And have good memories of some of the favorite foods I cooked when they came.

Like Macaroni and Cheese. Apple Pie. Matzo Brei.

My grandma also made matzo brei and macaroni and cheese. But one of her signature dishes was blintzes.

She filled the blintzes with cheese, the classic, but, as I learned later, most people made the cheese filling sweet, seasoned with vanilla and/or cinnamon. My grandma's cheese-blintz filling was lemony, with just a hint of sugar.

Also, because there were so many of us, she had no time to fry them a couple at a time and still have everyone eat at the same time. So she placed the blintzes, seam-side down, on a baking sheet, topped each with a little dab of butter, and baked them until they were golden brown.

Me? I still love blintzes lemony and baked. And -- surprise to me! -- so do my grandchildren.

Her recipe is below, but the filling instructions give you the option to make the more popular vanilla version (and also how to fry them). Don't worry if the wrappers don't fry into perfect circles -- you're going to roll them and if they're a little off, no one will ever know.

Grandma Rachelle Hoffman’s Blintzes

Wrapper:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk, approximately
• 2 large eggs
• softened butter for frying

Filling:

• 1 pound farmer’s cheese
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel, optional
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

To make the wrapper, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and stir to blend the ingredients. Add the milk and eggs and whisk until the batter is smooth and uniform (you may do this in a food processor). Add more milk if the batter seems too thick (it should be the consistency of heavy cream). Set aside for 30 minutes. Place a small amount of the softened butter in a crepe or omelet pan and place the pan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and the foam is beginning to separate, add enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan (for an 8-inch pan it will be 1/4-cup), shaking the pan quickly to spread the batter evenly. Cook for a minute or so or until the bottom is lightly browned. Turn the wrapper over and cook briefly. Remove the wrapper and proceed with the remaining batter, separating the cooked wrappers with aluminum foil or waxed paper.

To make the filling, place the cheese, egg, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the lemon peel OR vanilla extract and mix in thoroughly.

To fill each wrapper: use the first fried side as the inside of the blintz. Use about 2 tablespoons of filling for an 8-inch wrapper and place the filling in the center of the wrapper. Fold the bottom side up, over the filling. Fold the left side, then the right side over the filling, then roll up to enclose the filling. Fry the blintzes seam side down first over medium heat (using the same method as for frying the wrappers – let the butter melt and become foamy). Or, you can bake the filled blintzes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the blintzes in a single layer on a jelly roll pan, top each with a tiny piece of butter. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Makes 8 8-inch blintzes

Crispy Fried Onion Strings

Well. I'm a political animal, so every four years I become aware of polls and primaries and what have you. This year the candidates seem more strident than usual and it feels as if the circus has come to town.

Still, the process goes on and every week another state or U.S. territory will see (a small percentage of) voters turn out for their favorite candidate.

Me? I like to stay in touch with what's going on by making some food or using some ingredient that the state is known for. Like the South Carolina Bog I posted about last week, and the Minnesota Apple Bundt cake from a few days ago.

So, today, March 1st, which is Super Tuesday, and many states are having their primaries, I will give the nod to food from Texas and Georgia, which are among the many.

Why? Because both states are known for their onions. Texas sweet onions (the state's largest crop) and Georgia Vidalias. And there is almost no food I can think of that my husband will drool over and be thrilled about more than fried onion strings with dinner.

Crispy FRIED Onion Strings

• 2 large sweet onions (or 4 medium yellow onions), sliced thin
• seltzer
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• vegetable oil

Place the onions slices in a bowl and pour enough seltzer on top to cover the onions. Let rest for about 30 minutes. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, paprika and garlic powder. Remove the onion slices from the seltzer and press in a sieve or colander to drain off as much seltzer as possible. Place the onions in the bowl with the flour mixture and toss to coat the slices. Heat about 2-inches of vegetable oil in a large, deep sauté pan to about 360 degrees (a bread crumb will sizzle). Working with a handful of onion slices at a time, fry for about 3 minutes, tossing them as they cook, or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Continue with the remaining onion slices.

Should make 4 servings but if you really love crispy onion strings, this recipe will serve 2

Academy Award Winning Borscht

I always watch the Academy Award Show. I don't know why, because I don't go to the movies that often and don't really care what clothes anyone is wearing or which celebrity showed up with someone or no one.

But, as Tevye says, "it's tradition."

I watch because that's what I always do.

And usually with Ed, of course, and with Eileen and Jeff, who also don't go to the movies very often.

We will have dinner of course, and popcorn of one kind or another. 

I thought that for dinner I would make something representative of the one movie we did see: Bridge of Spies, about the negotiations for the return of Francis Gary Powers of the then-famous U2 spy incident.

The four of us are all old enough to remember Powers, whose plane "somehow accidentally got lost in USSR airspace" (so we were told back then when we were children). And of course we remember, when it was news, the spy exchange of Powers for Rudolf Abel (played, in my opinion, miraculously well by Mark Rylance).

So - borscht of course. So Russian. So delicious. 

This version is loaded with cabbage and other vegetables, so the beets don't overwhelm. You can make it with beef stock (and even add some meat), but also with vegetable stock (and then serve the soup topped with dairy sour cream or plain yogurt).

Academy Award Winning Borscht

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 medium beets, peeled and shredded
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 parsnips, peeled and shredded
• 2 carrots, peeled and shredded
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1/2 medium green cabbage, shredded
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 8 cups beef or vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
• 6 tablespoons white vinegar, approximately
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• dairy sour cream or plain Greek style yogurt, optional

Heat the vegetable oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the beets, tomatoes, parsnips, carrots, celery, cabbage and parsley and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes. Pour in the stock, add the bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, one hour. Add the potatoes and cook for 45 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and dill and cook for 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper or vinegar to taste. Remove the bay leaf. If the soup is cooked using vegetable stock, serve it garnished with a dollop of sour cream if desired.

 Makes 8-10 servings

Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum

Now hear this! Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum is open!!!!

It's a cafe but also a retail takeout shop.

It's new. Clean. Bright. Comfortable. Kosher!

And with all those fabulous items we love -- like herring and lox and whitefish.

PLUS: lots more, like blintzes, mushroom barley soup, knishes, chocolate egg creams, noodle kugel.

Oh my, oh my oh my.

PLUS: some Israeli favorites: Shakshuka and Chopped Salad.

And a few extras like pickles, beet salad and halvah ice cream.

Ed and I were lucky to be invited for a preview lunch last week. I was a glutton and ordered two things. First Kasha Varnishkas, which I am really fussy about because my mother-in-law's recipe was so spectacularly delicious. This dish was fabulous and they add a modern touch that makes this side dish into a whole lunch (at least for me!) -- a poached egg on top so that the runny yolk oozes into the grains and caramelized onions. Ooooooh, is all I can say.

I also had the shakshuka (which they spell with an extra o), which was nice and tomato-y and rich with -- another poached egg.

I was too full for dessert.

Ed did the easy thing -- testing out the Russ & Daughters herring plate, which was loaded with tidbits of different flavored herrings and accompanied by several sauces and chopped beets. The fish were very fresh, briny, tender. I had tastes of course.

The fish is where Russ & Daughters has always excelled of course. The takeout shelves included whitefish that were so fresh and fat they didn't look real. I wanted desperately to get one but we were on our way elsewhere and I didn't think carrying a big fish around would be such a good idea.

The breads are some of the best I've ever tasted. Rye and pumpernickel and especially the challah. If you ever read this blog you know I am pretty stubborn about my own challah being unsurpassed. But Russ & Daughters challah is amazing.

We will go back. 

Thanks for the invite, Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper (4th generation owners). Good luck on your new venture!

Talking about South Carolina ......

Turn on the TV or radio and all you hear about is South Carolina. 

Now, I realize that the presidential primaries are coming up (Republicans on February 20, Democrats on February 27). So all this yakyakyak is not surprising.

And of course, South Carolina has always made news, politically speaking.

For example, do you remember in American History class learning all about South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, who was also Secretary of State and Vice-President (under both John Q. Adams AND Jackson), and famous for his fierce advocacy of states' rights, his fierce defense of slavery and his fierce leadership in the secession of southern states from the Union?

Remember Strom Thurmond? The South Carolina Senator who ran for president in 1948 (as a "Dixiecrat" aka States Rights Party) and actually got 39 electoral votes? He switched from Democrat to Republican in 1964 because he opposed the Civil Rights Act (in fact, in an attempt to stop the bill from passing he conducted the longest filibuster in history by a single Senator).

Chris Rock and Steven Colbert -- also from South Carolina, btw.

So all this political talk got me to thinking.

About food.

South Carolina food.

I did some looking and read about a famous South Carolina dish that sounded so delicious I just had to try it. It's called Bog. Basically, it's like a pilaf, or paella, with chicken and sausage. It may be called Bog because the chicken gets bogged down by rice. Some recipes are more soup-y, so maybe it's called bog because it looks boggy. 

In any case, the rice absorbs all that fabulous chicken flavor and becomes a golden/amber color (if you've ever cooked chicken and poured the roasting juices over cooked rice -- that's what this tastes like. OHMY it's good.).

I looked at several recipes, then devised my own.

It was awesome! 

Is it authentic? Does it taste like Bog that I might be served in South Carolina?

I have no clue, because I never tasted it.

All I can say is -- try it, you'll like it. Big winner.

South Carolina Bog

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Italian style sausages, (about 6-8 ounces), sliced 1/2-inch thick (I used Jack's Gourmet Italian style)
• 16-20 chicken wing sections
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2-3 sprigs thyme
• 2-1/2 cups chicken stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup white rice

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sausage pieces and cook, turning the pieces occasionally, for about 4 minutes or until lightly crispy. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Working with a few at a time, add the chicken pieces and cook, turning the pieces occasionally, for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not crowd the pan. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set them aside. Add the onion, garlic and celery to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly softened. Return the sausage and chicken to the pan. Add the thyme. Pour in the chicken stock. Bring the stock to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Add the rice, stir it into the liquid and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan and cook for about 25 minutes or until the rice is tender. 

Makes 4 servings

The Vegetable that Looks Like a Creature from Outer Space

Have you seen this vegetable with its big bottom bulb and leafy-topped stalks sticking up like the antennae of a creature from outer space? It's not very popular and not very familiar, but should be, because it tastes so good and has such a terrific crunch when eaten raw.

I think people may avoid it because they don't know what it is or what to do with it. 

Basically it's this, a cabbage variant. The name means "cabbage turnip." You can eat the bulb and the leaves. (Cook the leaves like any green leafy vegetable.)

The bulb takes some work. You have to peel them as you would broccoli stems. Underneath the thick skin you might also find some fibrous strings, which you should also remove. Then you're left with the crispy, juicy, tender flesh, which you can eat raw (good for crudites), or make into cole slaw or as a substitute for cucumber in tea sandwiches and salad. 

On the other hand, kohlrabi can be cooked too, and, like all cabbage is especially perfect with potatoes. Mashed potatoes are lighter, sweeter and amazingly interesting when you mix them with mashed kohlrabi. For this recipe I've also included parsnips and apples. It's a terrific side dish for fish, poultry, meat or as part of a vegetarian dinner.

Kohlrabi, Parsnip, Potato Mash

• 1-½ to 2 pounds kohlrabi bulbs, peeled, chopped into ½-inch cubes
• 2 pounds parsnips, peeled and sliced ½-inch thick
• 1 pound Yukon Gold or all-purpose potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes
• 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons butter, margarine or olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Place the kohlrabi in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the parsnips and potatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the apple and cook for 5-6 minutes or until all the ingredients are tender. Drain and place the ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter and mash until smooth and thoroughly blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve topped with chopped parsley.

Makes 8 servings

Sriracha- Parmesan Popcorn

When I was really young, movie theaters were open early on the weekends so parents could send their kids off to to watch cartoons and some "westerns" and maybe even a newsreel.

It's like weekend TV today, only not everyone had a TV back then and also, children don't get the news on their favorite channels.

I don't remember any of those old movies. Just that I went with my older brother and had to share the popcorn with him.

I hated the way he doled out the pieces.

Maybe that's why, when it comes to popcorn, I am a gobbler. Stuff the stuff into my mouth without stopping until I am ready to explode.

I like all kinds of popcorn. Plain. Caramel. Chocolate-Marshmallow Heavenly Hash.

Recently I made some Sriracha-Parmesan Popcorn. Sriracha can be overbearing, especially if you just sprinkle it over or splash it on to food. But I popped the kernels and seasoned them with Carrington Farms Coconut Oil -- just one tablespoon was enough to give a hint of hot, enough to satisfy without tasting like fire.

I got the sriracha oil from a new website, Crafted Kosher, which is an absolute boon for anyone looking for kosher products that are unusual and hard-to-find, the kind of ingredients and packaged items that inspire creative cooking. Of course they also carry stock items (beans, pastas, spices, pancake and cake mixes, olive oils, soup mixes, coffee/tea, sauce/salsa, etc.) But it's so good to find so many specialty items (like Murray River Salt, Mango Vinegar, Coconut Nectar, Tandoori Masala) too, all in one place.

If you're a person who might be watching the Iowa caucus results tonight, or the Superbowl on February 7th or the Academy Award ceremony on February 28th or a movie or TV program any time, snack on this popcorn for a change.

Sriracha Parmesan Popcorn

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha flavored vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt to taste

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the kernels. Cover the pan and cook, popping the corn until all the kernels have popped. Place the popped corn in a large bowl. Heat the butter and Sriracha oil over low heat until the butter has melted. Mix and pour over the popcorn. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and salt, toss and serve.

Makes about 10 cups