Norwitz Notions

Masa, the corn dough used to make tortillas, tamales, pupusas, and more, is quickly becoming one of my favorite kitchen staples.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to get good quality product.  Even in Mexico, shops with fresh masa for home use are disappearing in favor of the powdered stuff. I began my quest in early 2008.  My […]

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Once a month, our synagogue, Ner Shalom in Cotati, California, holds a family Shabbat dinner.  Sometimes it’s a potluck, other times they order platters from a local restaurant.  A few months ago, I volunteered to do the cooking.  I had two motives here: 1) I love to cook for large groups of people.  Seriously, I […]

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We hosted a potluck for Sukkot this year and told everyone we would provide the challah.  The last shabbus potluck we went to had regular challah and Miriam ended up with some symptoms due to cross-contamination from the eggs (part of the ritual is breaking the bread with your hands; while we don’t do that […]

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Pupusas are a lovely Salvadorian food with two thick tortillas, stuffed with goodies, crimped at the edges to hold it all in. You can put anything you want in there (beans and cheese being a common vegetarian choice) and you’ve got a meal, a snack, or traveling food. I won’t purport to have an authentic […]

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“Using masa harina [masa flour] is like making mashed potatoes from a box.” So says Karen Waikiki, owner of Primavera, the Sonoma company that makes masa, tortillas, and tamales from organic stoneground corn. And she has a point. Though the tortillas I made from masa harina were way better than the store-bought tortillas I’ve had […]

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We belong to a Shabbus potluck group that meets every month or two.  Yesterday, it was at our home.  Although Miriam (and I) can’t have gluten, traces aren’t an issue.  Unfortunately, it’s not that way with egg.  Even a little crumb can give her symptoms. Challah is a braided egg bread that plays an important […]

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This recipe comes from my friend Carys Starfire, who has kindly given me permission to post it here. The bagels look absolutely amazing, though I’ve been holding back on trying the recipe myself because I think I’d like them too much and I’m trying to keep my carbs down. I’ll give in sooner or later. […]

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This year, I made my own Passover matzoh. Why on earth? Because Miriam and I don’t do well with gluten (we can cheat once in a while, but not two days in a row). So I wanted it to be gluten-free. Matzoh (aka matzah, matza, matzo) used during a Passover seder must come from one […]

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Another fabulous recipe by Monica of Foodlab, served at our recent Los Angeles Foodlab potluck. She writes: “The olive bread is just Pamela’s Amazing Wheat-Free Bread Mix, using the egg-free instructions, with the flax meal egg sub, and adding about 1/2 cup of oil-cured olives, very coarsely chopped. I used the bread maker instead of […]

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Making tortillas is one of those things that is insanely easy. Only it’s not. Once you know the tricks and have a few batches under your belt, it’s effortless. Until then, it’s an exercise in frustration. I’ve been working on this for a couple of weeks and have made it to the passable stage. I […]

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