Pareve Irish Soda Bread

I don’t know why I wait for St. Patrick’s Day to make and eat Irish Soda Bread. It’s a really nice treat for breakfast together with my usual yogurt. It isn’t sweet and it has a compelling, moist, dense texture that makes you feel as if you aren’t going to be hungry again in an hour but also isn’t heavy at all. 

And yet I never think to make it until now.

Silly. This is too good for once-a-year.

Here’s a pareve version, which you can use if you’re kosher and want to have some delicious bread with corned beef and cabbage (or any other meat). It tastes just like the dairy version, made with buttermilk (there’s a note on how to substitute just below the recipe).

Irish Soda Bread (pareve version)

• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1-1/2 cups water

• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Mix the water and cider vinegar together and pour over the flour mixture. Mix the ingredients until you can form a soft dough. Work in the raisins and caraway seeds, if used. Sprinkle some flour on a work surface and knead the dough 18-20 times. Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten the ball slightly. Cut a small X on top with the tip of a sharp knife. Place the dough on the baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Makes one

NOTE: For a more traditional, dairy version use 1-1/2 cups buttermilk in place of the water and cider vinegar

Tdaziki

I don’t eat potato chips anymore because they’re a “trigger food” for me. That’s a term I learned from Dr. Stephen Gullo, a psychologist who is also an expert on weight management. I interviewed him once for an article on “how to control your weight during the holiday season.” 

He more or less said that trigger foods are the ones that you eat, and eat and eat and eat and also stimulate you to eat other food in addition to the trigger food, so you wind up eating more than you should or even want to. Trigger foods are different for each person.

For me it’s potato chips. I could eat an entire 7-ounce bag. In fact, I have. 

It’s not totally bad though because I am fussy about brand. I won’t eat just any potato chips. 

When I’m in a supermarket I run down the potato chip aisle so I won’t be tempted. Unfortunately, about a year ago my local Stop&Shop had 7-ounce bags of Lay’s on sale for 10/$10. It was too good to pass up, so I bought 2 bags and well, you know what happened. It’s just my husband and me in the house and he doesn’t eat potato chips.

But this coming Sunday night at my annual Dinner-at-the-Oscars for my brother and sister-in-law, I will not serve chip-and-dip. We get together during the afternoon and they stay until the award ceremony is over. That means some snacking when they come, dinner at 7 o’clock-ish.

This year during the afternoon I’ll be serving Tdaziki, a yogurt dip that I make with Chobani nonfat plain yogurt, which is so thick, rich and delicious that it’s almost hard to believe it really is what it says it is.

Tdaziki has grated cucumbers plus fresh dill and mint, so it is truly refreshing and bursting with flavor, making it the perfect dip for cut up vegetables, chunks of crusty Italian bread, pretzels and (gasp) even potato chips.

The recipe is from my book, Hip Kosher. Try it. You’ll like it. And I know that yogurt dip probably isn’t a bad trigger food for anyone. 

Tdaziki

• 3 cups thick, Greek-style nonfat yogurt
• 3 medium cucumbers
• 1 large clove garlic, mashed
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Place a double layer of cheesecloth in a strainer. Spoon the yogurt into the lined strainer and set it over a bowl. Let rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Place the yogurt in a bowl (discard the liquid that has accumulated in the bowl). Peel the cucumbers and cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop and discard the seeds. Grate the cucumber in a food processor or by hand. Press the cucumber in a sieve, pressing down to extract as much liquid as possible. When the yogurt is ready, stir in the cucumbers, garlic, mint, dill, salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Stir to blend ingredients thoroughly.

Makes one quart, serving 10-12 people

Bread Stuffing with Figs and Hazelnuts

Is it “stuffing,” “dressing” or “filling”?

Some people say it’s stuffing if it’s inside the bird, filling if it isn’t. But others say it’s a regional thing: “dressing” more of a Southern term, filling in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Or that “dressing” is British while “stuffing” is American.

My mother called it “filling” not stuffing. I always thought it was because her version was made with pasta, not the more traditional bread. It was filling, for sure (though no more than stuffing). And delicious too, made with egg-barley shaped noodles mixed with sauteed onions, mushrooms, celery and eggs.

I used to make “Nana’s Filling” every year until my kids told me they wanted something new.

I’ve been experimenting with recipes ever since and make new ones all the time (sometimes in addition to “Nana’s” or another old favorite). Sometimes I use bread, sometimes rice or whole grains like kasha or bulgur wheat. Maybe I’ll add fruit and nuts or a variety of mushrooms. Stuffing-dressing-filling is one of those versatile and forgiving recipes. You can more or less mix up a starchy ingredient, some texture foods (such as mushrooms, dried apricots, cashews, and so on), seasonings (chopped herbs and the like) and a binder of some sort (eggs, stock, cream, soy milk etc.), mix it all together and there you have it. Whatever you call it.

Here’s a recipe for a bread-based stuffing-dressing-filling with fresh and dried fruits and nuts too. We like it cooked separately from the turkey, but you can make it either way. This recipe makes about 12 cups — enough for a 14-15 pound turkey.

Bread Stuffing with Figs and Hazelnuts

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large Granny Smith or other crisp, tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup chopped dried figs

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup chopped hazelnuts

8 cups 1/2-inch diced bread

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or 3/4 teaspoon dried)

1/2 to 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the apple, figs and raisins and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Spoon the contents of the pan into a large bowl. Add the nuts, bread cubes, parsley, rosemary and thyme. Toss ingredients to distribute them evenly. Pour in 1/2 cup stock and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss ingredients. Add the remainder of the stock if you prefer a moister stuffing. Place inside the turkey. To bake separately, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spoon the stuffing into a casserole, cover the casserole and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for another 12-15 minutes. Makes about 12 cups.

Parsnip Soup with Croutons

If you’ve never tasted a parsnip go out right now and buy some. They’re sweet and easy to cook and useful for an incredible number and variety of recipes. Parsnips, the vegetable that looks like a creamy-white carrot, is at its finest just after the first frost, when the starches turn to sugar. The season is now and for the next couple of months (of course you can get them all year but they’re best now).

I learned to love parsnips because my Mom always stuck one in the pot when she made chicken soup, and it gave the broth a lovely, sweetness. Fanny Farmer was less than charmed by parsnips than I am. In 1906 she wrote, “Parsnips are raised mostly as cattle food.”

Taste for yourself. Here’s a thick and hearty soup to warm you up on colder days. If you’ve never eaten a parsnip this will give you a good first taste. If you have, well, then you already know how good they are and can add this recipe to your collection.

Btw, this is a terrific first course for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Parsnip Soup with Croutons

2 slices homestyle, firm white or whole wheat bread or French bread

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1/2 teaspoon combined dried oregano and thyme (or use mixed dried herbs)

1 clove garlic, mashed

1 large yellow or Spanish onion, chopped

1 pound parsnips, peeled and sliced (1/4-inch thick)

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

5 cups vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup half and half cream, whole milk or coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the crusts from the bread and cut the bread into 3/4-inch dice. Place the bread on a baking sheet and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Melt 2 tablespoons of the olive oil plus one tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the herbs and garlic, then pour this mixture over the lightly toasted croutons. Toss the bread to coat them with the herbed butter mixture. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. Heat the remaining one tablespoon olive oil and butter to the saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Add the parsnips, potatoes and stock and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer the soup for about 45 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Puree the soup with a hand blender or in a traditional blender or food processor. Return the soup to the pan, stir in the cream and reheat. Serve the soup topped with the croutons. Makes 6 servings