Recipe Caramelized onions and ‘bacon’ give these latkes oomph By Faith Kramer Dec 8, 2022 Looking to change up your latkes this year? Try these. They are filled with the oomph of caramelized onion and, if you want, the smokiness of “bacon” — using turkey, beef or plant-based strips. This…
Recipe This rabbi is writing a book on the foods (and recipes) of the Talmud By Faith Kramer Nov 17, 2022 What foods did the sages eat and write about? What does that tell us about Jews of ancient times? Rabbi Rebecca Joseph has pondered such questions in her studies of the Talmud and other classical…
Recipe With new cookbook, curing your own lox is easier than you think By Faith Kramer Nov 9, 2022 What’s for brunch Thanksgiving weekend and throughout the winter holiday season? At our house, the menu will center on home-cured lox served with cream cheese spreads adapted from Cathy Barrow’s new…
Recipe My real comfort food is baked ziti, not kugel By Faith Kramer Nov 1, 2022 In the New York neighborhood where I grew up, even if you weren’t Italian, you cooked like you were. Thus, the comfort food of my youth wasn’t kugel or blintzes. It was eggplant parmesan, lasagna…
Recipe No-bake ‘millionaire’ bars are a rich treat for a sweet Simchat Torah By Faith Kramer Oct 13, 2022 Marking the end of the annual Torah reading cycle, Simchat Torah is one of the most joyous days on the Jewish calendar. Tradition calls for dancing with Torah scrolls and eating festive meals and…
Recipe Dinner in the sukkah: try this spice-packed chicken rolo By Faith Kramer Oct 3, 2022 Chicken Rolo with Kale Filling and Tomato-Apricot Sauce is perfect for dinner under the sukkah this Sukkot, which begins at sundown Oct. 9. The rolo, or meatloaf, combines Italian, Sephardic and…
Recipe Start the year in Morocco with this veggie-rich Rosh Hashanah dinner By Faith Kramer Sep 14, 2022 Rosh Hashanah dinner in the Moroccan tradition often includes a dish of seven vegetables, many symbolic of the New Year, such as pumpkin for calling attention to our good deeds and leeks for…
Recipe This Rosh Hashanah, fill up on symbolic dips, bites and small plates By Faith Kramer Sep 7, 2022 Treat your Rosh Hashanah dinner guests to a welcoming array of appetizers that are not only tasty but also symbolic of our wishes for the new year. Chard Tahini Dip, Honey with a Kick, Whipped Garlic…
Recipe Let these Middle Eastern flavors spice up crunchy oven fries By Faith Kramer Aug 22, 2022 Crunchy, lightly spiced potatoes are tossed with fresh garlic and parsley for a tasty take on a Kramer family favorite: double-cooked oven fries. This version is flavored with a Yemeni hawaij…
Organic Epicure Wine (and pastrami) flowed at L’Chaim Napa food and wine festival By Alix Wall Aug 10, 2022 Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky. The pastrami was plentiful and the wine was flowing on Aug. 7 at the CIA at Copia in Napa, where Congregation Beth…
Recipe Tahini, silan and dates star in these frozen desserts By Faith Kramer Aug 8, 2022 Tahini and dates give two summer frozen treats a Middle Eastern twist. Tahini and Silan “Ice Cream” is a vegan frozen dessert flavored with earthy sesame seed paste and sweet-tart silan (aka date…
Recipe Kebabs turn paprikash into a perfect grilled summer entree By Faith Kramer Jul 19, 2022 Think of Paprikash Chicken Kebabs as a summer-friendly take on the traditional, paprika-rich braised Hungarian-Jewish dish. This grilled version of chicken paprikash gets its oomph from flavor-packed…
Recipe Kasha varnishkes, Jewish comfort food, gets a summertime upgrade By Faith Kramer Jul 11, 2022 This buckwheat and noodle salad gives a cool, summertime spin to a traditional Eastern European Jewish dish. It works as either a salad or a side dish. An Ashkenazi comfort food, kasha varnishkes (a…
Recipe Start summer with fruit salad and oven-fried ‘everything’ chicken By Faith Kramer Jun 16, 2022 An everything bagel topping makes this summer Shabbat (or anytime) meal fun and tasty, while seasonal fresh fruits add color and zing to the salad. Available at Trader Joe’s and many other grocery,…
Recipe Zesty toppings give flavor boost to grilled lamb and cauliflower By Faith Kramer Jun 9, 2022 Tangy tamarind-tomato sauce puts a Near Eastern spin on grilled cauliflower, and an herb-packed tahini sauce provides a Middle Eastern accent to grilled lamb chops in recipes that get extra flavor…
Recipe Strawberry rhubarb cheesecake for a sweet (and slightly tart) Shavuot By Faith Kramer May 31, 2022 Cheesecakes are traditional for Shavuot (from sunset June 4 to nightfall June 6) because of the holiday’s many associations with dairy foods. Here I’ve combined mini cheesecakes with rhubarb and…
Recipe International Hummus Day: elevate your hummus with these toppings By Faith Kramer May 12, 2022 One of my favorite spring and summer meals is hummus swirled into a bowl and topped with something saucy and delicious. I also like that much of the work can be done in advance. And this is the…
Recipe For Mother’s Day or Lag Ba’Omer, these dishes can’t be beet By Faith Kramer Apr 25, 2022 Turn one can of sliced beets into two delicious dishes for any upcoming spring or summer celebration — or, specifically, for Mother’s Day on May 8 or Lag Ba’Omer on May 19. Use the liquid in the can…
Recipe Passover potato dishes: croquettes, and a twist on khachapuri By Faith Kramer Apr 18, 2022 Potatoes are my go-to solution for family Passover meals. Here I’ve used baked potato as the “crust” of a Pesach interpretation of the traditional Georgian egg and cheese stuffed bread known as…
Recipe Matzah balls bursting with veggies and salmon topped with haroset By Faith Kramer Apr 7, 2022 At holiday dinners, most people look forward to traditional favorites, but I find there is room to tweak the menu to introduce variations and new recipes. So for this Passover, I am adding carrots,…
Our Crowd Honors, comings & goings, opportunities — March 2022 By David A.M. Wilensky Mar 28, 2022 Honors The Tramiel family of Palo Alto was honored March 30 at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s 2022 Western Region Tribute event. The late Jack and Helen Tramiel were Holocaust survivors who…
Recipe These Jewish recipes from the early 1900s are just as tasty today By Faith Kramer Mar 21, 2022 Ever wonder what the earliest recipe columns in this newspaper were like? Now that J. and its predecessor publications’ archives have been digitized, I was able to explore what local Jews were…
Small Bites Ottolenghi coming to town; Piroshkis for Ukraine; etc. By Alix Wall Mar 14, 2022 Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky. Galant Food Co. is donating 100 percent of all proceeds from the sales of its Paramount Piroshki through March 25 to…
Recipe A hamantaschen hat trick: tahini, peanut butter, berries By Faith Kramer Mar 10, 2022 Practice makes perfect when it comes to hamantaschen. That’s why I was so pleased to try Chabad of Marin’s wonderful recipe for the triangular cookies this year. Every year, the center’s co-director,…
Small Bites Bagels go brick-and-mortar; new Square Pie shop; etc. By Alix Wall Mar 3, 2022 Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky. In October 2020, we profiled three new bagels worth trying — all made by Jewish bakers, or outlets owned by Jews.…