Family of Food: April 2008

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Kabobs in the Valley

Adventures in the Valley...
For a few weeks I've noticed a place with a couple of signs out front claiming the title to the best Kabobs in LA. It didn't look like much, but I like a good kabob, so last night I checked it out.

The Superior Kabob Factory on Oxnard in Van Nuys is a small neighborhood grocery specializing in Armenian/Mediterranean foods. In the back there is a meat counter filled with prepared and marinaded meats ready for cooking into kabobs. You can order the meat to go by the pound, or have them grill it for you there. Four Kabobs are a pound and they will make a combo of different types of kabobs for an extra fifty cents.

I was in the mood for Loula or Koobideh type kabobs, so I got two lamb and two chicken kabobs grilled for me there. Both kinds were very good, but very similar, so I'd probably pick one type next time. I liked the lamb slightly better. I also picked up lavosh, a jar of tahini, and a large chunk of good Greek Feta. All of my purchases, enough to feed my family of four and have plenty of lavosh, tahini, and feta left over for other meals, were $14. It was a lot of quality food for the money. I am sure I will be exploring more of the kabob choices soon.

Superior Kabob Factory
13670 Oxnard St
Van Nuys, CA
(near the Oxnard exit on the Metro Orange Line)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Matzo Ball-o Loco

I had a craving for Matzo Ball Soup last night so I stopped by Junior's in Westwood.
It didn't dissapoint. Even my 18 month old twins were crying zzzooooup, more zzzzoooup.
What they wanted was more matzo ball.

Junior's is at:
2379 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064-2109
and can be found on the Family of Food Map

For those too far from Los Angeles to make the trip to Juniors, here are some links to Matzo Ball Soup recipes.

Good all around recipes and tips:
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Matzo-Ball-Soup/Detail.aspx

Vegetarian:
http://euler.ecs.umass.edu/pass-veg/#Matzo%201

Entertaining:
http://blacktable.com/gillin040407.htm

Scientific:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/177/Matzo-Matzah-Ball-Soup

Video Matzo Ball Soup:
I love these videos. The lady in this, Evelyn Igdaloff, is so sweet and she takes so much care in making this soup. Also, she has the same apron I have!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10lFumlVQms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff9jr0as_e4

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A Lighter Kind of Passover Recipe

I tried something different for one of my passover meals this year, a Weight Watchers recipe. There was nothing particularly Passover about this recipe other than it broke no Passover rule, but it works for the holiday, so why argue? It was fresh, simple, and low in calories.
I loved it and will surely make it again at any time of the year.

I am reprinting it here for convenience, but the original and many other great recipes can be found at:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/

Here's a direct link to the recipe:
Passover Chicken with Tomato-Mint Salsa

Ingredients:
2 cup grape tomatoes, halved (opt for small tomatoes)
1 small jalapeno pepper(s), cored, seeded and minced (do not touch seeds with bare hands)
1/2 cup red onion(s), finely chopped
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste, divided
1 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste, divided
1 Tbsp mint leaves, fresh, chopped
1 sprays cooking spray, lemon-flavor recommended
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 medium lemon(s), cut into 4 wedges

Instructions:
To prepare salsa, in a small bowl, combine tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper; sprinkle on mint and set aside.
Coat a large heavy-bottomed ridged grill pan with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
Sprinkle chicken with remaining teaspoon each of salt and pepper; place in a single layer on prepared pan. Cook until chicken turns white around edges, about 1 to 2 minutes; flip chicken and grill until chicken is cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes more.
Arrange chicken in overlapping slices on a serving plate; spoon on salsa and garnish with lemon wedges.
Yields about 3 ounces of chicken and 1/2 cup of salsa per serving.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Passover recipe - Matzoh Brie

Thia reipe is from SAM THE COOKING GUY.

Matzoh Brie

3 sheets matzoh 2 eggs
Kosher salt, duh
Fresh ground pepper
Grape or raspberry jelly, seriously
Butter

Break matzoh sheets into quarters and cover with very hot water for about a minute then drain well
Beat eggs with salt & pepper and add softened sheets, and break sheets into smaller pieces
Melt butter and small amount of oil in large pan and add egg mixture
Cook over low heat until lightly golden on one side, then flip and cook the other side
Remove to a plate and serve with a little jelly on the side

Passover recipe

SWEET & SOUR MEAT BALLS
ingredients:sauce

2 medium onions, chopped

1/2 head cabbage, grated

1 cup raisins

2 tbsp. brown sugar

16 oz. tomato sauce

1 can water, add more as needed

1 tsp lemon juice

ingredients: meatballs

1 lb ground beef

2 tbs. onion powder or one onion, chopped

1 tbs. garlic powder or one garlic clove, chopped

salt & pepper

1 beaten egg

1 grated potato

directions

1. Combine sauce ingredients and cook while preparing meat balls

2. Combine meatball ingredients and make into meatballs.

3. Add meatballs to simmering sauce.

4. Lower flame and cook for 1 to 11/2 hours.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Food that Killed More Jews than Hitler

Since the pediatrician has ordered Grandson of Food, now a toddler, to keep up his calorie count, and I was just making a batch of chicken stock, the byproduct of which is a batch of schmalz (chicken fat), I thought I'd try making something so unhealthy that my uncle used to say that "it killed more Jews than Hitler": gribenes. Gribenes, or chicken cracklings, is chicken skin fried in chicken fat with onions and a little salt and pepper until it's all browned and crispy. Father and Mother of Food can remember their parents making it when they were little, but I can't remember my grandparents making it. It was just a sort of taboo food that might be mentioned at Passover, which was traditionally a time when gribenes might be made as a byproduct of the schmalz that was a byproduct of the chicken stock used in the matzo ball soup, but I'd never actually seen it served.

One reads about people eating gribenes like potato chips, which is tempting and I suppose no worse than pork rinds, but I don't eat those either, and my doctor would be horrified if I were to follow the dietary recommendations of Grandson of Food's doctor. Gribenes does make an excellent garnish, though, like those salty crispy onion rings that came in a can and that people used to put on casseroles back in the '70s, except that gribenes is a fresh homemade thing with a rich chicken flavor that you can make yourself to your own taste with fresh sweet onions.