The Chanukah (Tevet) Kosher Cooking Carnival!

Let's start with a better turn down the volume  latke making demonstration:



If you haven't yet seen this, here's your chance.

I've long ago lost track of what number Kosher Cooking Carnival this is, but I do know that we're in Chanukah so it's Tevet.  KCC comes out monthly, according to the Jewish Calendar.  If you'd like to host one, then please contact me.  To submit an article use blog carnival's form or via the instructions on our facebook page.  Next month, Shvat, will be hosted on Frugal and Kosher.  Who can host Adar?  Please let me know, thanks.

The Kosher Cooking Carnival includes all sorts of posts about kosher food and kosher cooking.   It's more than just a collection of recipes.  I include halachik issues about kashrut,  reviews of kosher cookbooks and restaurants, too.  Enough of an introduction, here it is:

special for Chanukah or any time

Yosef presents Onion Bhajis and Cilantro Chutney posted at This American Bite, saying, "A great alternative to potato latkes."

I posted about low-carb latkes, which are worth trying.

desserts

Jay3fer presents Pareve Sugar Cookie Mix for (not exactly) a Year posted at Adventures in BreadLand, saying, "Make ahead and store in your freezer for a quick homemade mix to have cookies in minutes!"

Yosef presents Easy Apple Pie posted at This American Bite.

Mrs. S. presents Ceasefire Pie posted at Our Shiputzim: A Work In Progress, saying, "A recipe for chocolate mousse pie. Thanks for all your hard work!"

any time dishes

I present Simply Delicious posted at me-ander.

Jay3fer presents Happy Easy Tomato Egg-Drop Soup posted at Adventures in Mama-Land, saying, "Mmm... with or without chili flakes/sauce, a great way to warm up a chilly fall evening!"

Here's a new version of my vegetable soup, which I managed to make when I could barely use my arm.

anything kosher!

Leora Wenger presents Bok Choy Red Cabbage Salad - Here in Highland Park posted at Here in HP.

Chaviva Karon presents Grilled Thai Chicken posted at Challah Maidel, saying, "Save yourself from the excess amount of MSG,sodium, and calories by making your own Thai sauce for this simple but delicious grilled Thai chicken recipe."

economical use of left-overs

Yosefa Huber presents Cooking Outside the Box: Southwest Chicken Salad posted at Cooking Outside the Box, saying, "With this technique you can make soup and Shabbat lunch at the same time, or use leftovers in a fun, low-fat way."

Jay3fer presents My Brilliant Friend Rachel’s Brilliant Freezer Burritos posted at Adventures in Mama-Land, saying, "Make from scratch or use leftovers - freeze these for quick delicious HEALTHY lunches!"

Restaurant or Cookbook Reviews

Yosefa Huber presents Cooking Outside the Box: A walk in Tel Aviv, lunch at Armando posted at Cooking Outside the Box, saying, "I review a kosher fish restaurant in Tel Aviv."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of kosher cooking carnival-kcc using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Share |

Technorati tags: kosher cooking carnival-kcc, blog carnival.

Low Carb Latkes

OK, for some people that's an oxymoron but there's no requirement to eat potatoes on Chanukah.  Actually one isn't even required to eat latkes.  It's not like matzah on Passover.  But for many of us, it isn't Chanukah sans latkes.

Since I started eating a low carbohydrate diet/way of living, our family custom has been to make a batch of low carb latkes.

In my daughter's enormous food processor I shredded all sorts of veggies and greens.

And I mixed them with eggs and some salt and a bit of matzah meal.

Then the older grandgirls made "patties" on the baking sheet to reduce the oil, and we baked them.  They were very delicious!

PS there is no such thing as exact ingredients in this sort of recipe.

Eating Well, Though Dieting

This is the first day of Chanukah, and I haven't been tempted by the sufganiyot. I can't say that I'll stay immune to them the entire holiday, especially as my daughter informed me that we'll be making some for the kids. Sufganiyot are like jelly donuts. The "classic" and less expensive ones are, but nowadays, they're filled with an unlimited variety of calorie rich forbiddens. So, even if you make them at home, as healthy as possible, you're still talking about deep-fried dough.

For almost two weeks now, I've been keeping a public diet diary, since I'm on the Start Fresh kosher diet. I may not be the strictest dieter they have, since so far, I've refused to weigh my food.

As you can see, I do eat well.


The vast, vast majority of the foods I eat are from the unlimited salads and vegetables. That's why my plates look so full. Psychologically, it makes all the difference, at least for me.


Last night we were at an event at the Menachen Begin Heritage Center, and I had no problem finding vegetables to eat. Actually, I brought dinner along with me and ate it at my husband's office. I took a cucumber, red pepper, a slice of avocado and some cottage cheese. I really didn't need to eat any more, but I couldn't resist the vegetables and as a consequence was so stuffed that I couldn't even look at the cakes and sufganiyot. I may have over-done the fat, because of oil they used in cooking, but I had no carbohydrates, even the sweet potatoes.

Over the years I usually find that the sufganiyot aren't worth eating. Except for my homemade ones, they're always disappointing, but I never feel that way about the potato latkes...

New Version of Potato Latkes

Yes, Baruch Hashem, the house was pretty full last night to celebrate the 7th night of Chanukah.

I tried a new version of the classic, raw potato Potato Latkes (pancakes.) Using my food processor, I shredded about half the potatoes, onions and a nice big carrot. Then I used the knife attachment to "chop" the rest really fine. Everything was then put in a big bowl with the eggs, seasonings and matzah meal to sop up the liquid. No, I don't pour out any liquid from the potatoes and onions, and I didn't soak the potatoes in water, nor did I bother peeling the potatoes.

Everyone agreed that it was a great success! Doing it this way is the "best of both worlds."

Exact measurements? Sorry. There's really no way of measuring exactly. I'd estimate that you should have approximately twice the bulk potatoes to onions. You can add carrots and squash. This isn't some exact chemistry formulae.

And this is our traditional game. Pin the candle on the Menorah.