Jewish Delis on the Fall

An article popped up on my twitter feed today. A friend who I used to work at camp with runs an online Jewish community and follows interesting trends in the Jewish Community. She tweeted about an article on a man on a mission to save the Jewish Deli. I read, and loved the article. (And now, have a craving for a potato knish with deli mustard on the side to dip, cole slaw, half sour pickles and a diet cream soda.) I do love Jewish delis. As a vegetarian I do miss many meat products and often it's turkey breast on rye (or wheat) with mayo and mustard that can be had at Jewish delis. There is something wonderfully comforting about deli food - it's quick, it's terrible for you, it's giant, it makes you want to speak Yiddish, it's delicious. I wish there were more of them. It is a shanda that so many have closed down!! Bring them back!! Give me a knish!!!

Going Through the Archives

I'm a big fan of Google Reader, but one of the big problems with having all the useful features of RSS aggregation is that, if I want to comment about something, instead of merely sharing the LOLcat or missive from America's Beef Producers in the little widget box on the right, I have to "star" it and remember to look into my "starred items" folder later.

Which I don't do often enough.

Anyway, this will be the first in hopefully a series of posts where I clear out all the stuff I've been telling myself I'd blog about but haven't really.

LATKES
I am Jewish, therefore I blog about latkes. Haven't eaten any this season, because everyone around me is afraid of the demon fat and will not fry.

• Lots of movement on the internet about latkes. THe most interesting development was the concept of beetroot latkes with goat cheese, pioneered by the blog Eat Like a Girl. The goat cheese used is not the usual chevre, but an Irish goat milk brie. I'm not sure, if your local Teet does not carry brie made from Irish goats' milk (although what grocery doesn't, these days?), whether you should substitute real brie, chevre, or something else, like camembert.
• The Epicurious weblog had a round-up of many other latke blogs out there, which allowed me to consider a blog post about latkes without more of my usual manic searching for links. The best? A recipe on how to make latkes in the oven, which eliminates the oil which makes latkes ceremonially important, but is marginally healthier (if you can afford the carbs; for those who fear Demon Carbohydrate, this latke recipe is for you; if you want your latkes only marginally healthier, here are some tips to avoid common latke perils).
• Ms. McLellan at Slashfood realizes that one must alter the recipe slightly for sweet potato latkes.
  
• If you're taking this Hanukkah as an excuse to relive the famous DeLaurentis/Flay vs. Ray/Batali Iron Chef battle in your own home - Battle Cranberry, as we all remember - I would suggest this latke dressing from Two Fat Als. The Food Network has its own cranberry-themed latke, but I distrust it slightly because anyone who gives so much airtime to Paula "lard" Deen, Rachael "let's put the bacon on the challah" Ray, and formerly Emeril "andouille in everything" Lagasse can't take Jewish food seriously.
  
• Finally, the Jones Soda Company, who sell out their turkey-flavored soda every year despite it, well, being a kosher diet turkey-flavored soda, have a Hanukkah pack with latke-flavored soda. Use your best judgment.
  

The Treif You Crave

I'm sure by now you've heard of the winner of the annual White Castle recipe contest; you know, the woman who put chopped-up steamed hamburger bits in the root vegetable celebration of the victory of crazy fundamentalist Jews over assimilation-forcing Greek-wannabes. Hey, how many holidays do you have from the Apocrypha? I thought so!

Of course, the first thing I thought of was, "there's a White Castle recipe contest every year? Who knew?" And there is. According to the rules, the next deadline is July 13, 2008. The web entry form is found here. You take ten burgers and turn them into some non-burger food. Winner gets more burgers than he or she should ever eat; although, since the last time I ate at White Castle I and a couple other stupid people bought a box of 100 burgers, moderation doesn't really come into play.

Dunkin' Porkuts

Technically, getting all religious and political in a blog is my sister's sphere, not what I intend for this blog, but since it involves doughnuts, ham and cheese sandwiches, and the coffee that supposedly powers America, here I go.

Recently, the Seventh Circuit (the federal appeals court headquartered in Chicago that handles appeals from federal courts in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin) held that, based on the circumstances of that particular case, Dunkin Donuts was discriminating against an Arab Muslim franchisee who refused to sell their ham-based foods.

While the facts are a little unusual, it got me to thinking. Recently, Dunkin Donuts has been treifing up its previously kosher stores with pig-related products, and while I don't necessarily think a lawsuit would solve the problem, it's interesting to note that when they do it, it may be considered discrimination.

Play Food!

I'm going to baseball with the Sherbs this weekend. Metropolitans/Nationals, or Mets/Nats. It gives us both a mediocre team to root for.

Anyway, we're already looking forward to the baseball park food. The Sherbs was worried that there might not be something for her, but I think there is, according to the Mets website (my favs highlighted):

There is a wide variety of food and beverages at concession stands throughout the stadium. This includes New York style Sicilian pizza available on all levels, as well as onion rings and ice cream desserts; Nathan's Famous hot dogs and fries; and Daruma of Tokyo behind home plate on the Field Level.

Hot Corner
Features the newly renovated Mama's of Corona, which offers a menu of gourmet sandwiches, fresh garden salads, antipasto and Italian pastries. Mama's is located on the third base side on the Field Level.

Family Food Court
Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins offer coffee, hot latte, and ice cream treats. Subway sandwich shop has heroes made fresh to order. B&B Sandwich offers a delicious Philly Cheesesteak style sandwich on a Kaiser roll. Kosher offerings include hot dogs and non-dairy delights. The Family Food court is located in the right field corner on the Field Level.

Note also the kosher alternatives. I ♥ NY.

I Feel Like Something Tonight

I will be having a food-related event tonight. Technically, it's a food and the roleplaying game Ars Magica-related event tonight, but roleplaying doesn't require any special considerations for Passover, nor is it that germane to the weblog.

I have a decision to make - meat or dairy?

In the house is leftover turkey, Passover stuffing, and sweet potatoes. With a salad, that's a dinner.

But I could also make a Passover "lasagna" by layering tomato paste, matzah, mozzarella, and cottage or farmer cheese in a pan, then baking it for 40 minutes. I'd make a salad for that, too, and, frankly, I think I like the cheesy option better, but I feel like I need more side dishes or I'll end up filling up on ring jells because I'm still a little hungry after the meal (for the record, the Joyva web page is lame).

I'll let you know what I eventually decide.

Eat already! It's getting cold

We have established in the past that The Pedant and I come from Eastern European cultures with distinctive food tastes (i.e., not very spicy and fairly salty). The Pedant recently posted about how our shared culture hates savory foods that are made sweet. His tirade on raisin and blueberry bagels was perfectly pedantic and poignant and I whole-heatedly agree. I do, though, as a lover of the sweets, love sweet kugel as much as I love savory kugel.

Kugel is one of those things only people who have clogged arteries, family histories of clogged arteries and live in a shtetl can appreciate. But, mmm, is it GOOD. Often it comes in the form of potato and noodles. I personally prefer noodle kugel, and was taught by my great-aunt (a Jewish mother par excellence) how to make it with the right amount of love and guilt.

The basic recipe is something like this:

• 1 pound egg noodles
• 6 whole eggs
• 2 sticks of butter
• salt and pepper (savory)
• apples, raisins, sugar (sweet)

See how the arteries clog? She probably put in schmaltz just the way they did in the old country.

I like it sweet, so I'll cut up apples and put in raisins, and the like. Although I haven't made it since high school because a slice of it has the same nutritional value that eating a spoonful of fat.

There has been some advances to the kugel. It seems that the Food Network is even branching out on the traditional kugel. Even Emril has a recipe. But he only puts in 5 eggs. That isn't enough. What, I should go to the store, buy a dozen eggs, make two kugels for 10 people for the holiday and have 2 eggs leftover?! I should just take the money and flush it down the toilet.