Norwitz Notions

Thanksgivukah, Thanksgivukah Come light the cranorah… Friends, family, and a once in a lifetime holiday.  And how else to celebrate the first, and probably only, mashup of Thanksgiving and Chanukah but with sweet potato latkes and cranberry applesauce? I’m no stranger to vegan latkes (due to my dairy allergy and my daughter’s egg allergy) and […]

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How do you turn a grain into a vegetable?  With spaghetti squash!  It’s lowcarb, it’s healthy, and it has a texture unlike any other squash.  Tastes good too.  It’s also pretty easy to cook, with a few tips. Every squash is different.  The size, density, and water content will all change the cooking time.  So […]

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Inspired by the chunky eggplant salad at a local Turkish restaurant, Real Doner, I decided to create my own.  I make baba ghanoush, a creamy eggplant dish, all the time but have never made it any other way. The hurdle was how to cook the eggplant.  Eggplant goes from hard to creamy fairly quickly.  I […]

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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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I was at Whole Foods the other day with crimini mushrooms on my shopping list.  These are the brown mushrooms that look very much like the common white button mushroom.  They tend to cost a bit than white mushrooms but they’re actually cheaper.  How’s that?  The white ones are mostly water, so they cook down […]

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Okay, so this isn’t a classic Thanksgiving dish, but it’s mine.  To people eating turkey or other meat, it is a nice side dish. For a vegetarian, though, it’s a good way to get significant amounts of protein without filling up on starch. This recipe disappears fast and gets raves (even from the meat-eaters). I […]

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I’m not going to pretend that making your own pumpkin puree is just as easy as opening a can and everyone should do it, but it is more satisfying, it tastes better, and does double duty using up your Halloween pumpkins.  And it’s not particularly hard. Start with the right pumpkins.  Your fabulous jack-o-lantern is […]

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With all the various fermented vegetables I’ve made, somehow I never got around to making cucumber pickles.  But that changed this summer when I tasted a friend’s potluck offering and realized how much I missed them.  The vinegared pasteurized version from the store just doesn’t taste the same. My friend used slicing cucs (the kind […]

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At the Petaluma farmer’s market in September, I found a stand with a big box of organic paste tomatoes (romas) which was on sale because they were overripe.  I picked out some good ones then thought, wait a minute, and turned to the farmer and asked to buy the whole box.  “I was hoping some […]

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Episode seven of the Next Food Network Star still takes place in Las Vegas and we’re down to 3 contestants: Aaron, Lisa, and Adam. Challenge #1: Prepare a 30 second promo for what could be their new show. Unlike in previous versions of this, each promo was carefully scripted (including wardrobe) by the Food Network […]

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I’ve been thinking about making pesto stuffed mushrooms for a while now, at least since considering the dish as worthy of a Food Network competition.  Then I was at the store and saw the beautiful criminis.  Usually they have the smaller ones, but sometimes they have ones almost big enough to be called portabellas.  If […]

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Episode three of the Next Food Network Star focused on presentation. Challenge #1: Feature one special ingredient (the potato) in a single dish (45 minutes to make it…if I remember correctly).  Full use of the pantry for other ingredients.  Then hold the dish, face the camera, and speak about it for exactly one minute, telling […]

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When I watch competition shows I do sometimes get caught up in rooting for the people I like but I usually end up wondering what I would do if it were me up there. The Next Food Network Star does include home cooks (though most are professional caterers, chefs, or restaurant owners, nearly all with […]

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Michael and I were in the terrific produce section of the new branch of Farmer Joe’s market in Oakland last week. They had a wide chile selection and we got some that looked like poblanos, but turned out to be spicier. I made a filling for them the other night. Recipe: 4 stuffing peppers (any […]

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Coleslaw is basically raw shredded cabbage, with or without some other vegetables, in a creamy and/or tangy dressing.  I usually make it from green and red cabbage and carrot, in a mayo/mustard vinegrette.  Comes out very pretty. How you cut the cabbage makes an enormous difference.  I have in the past used the shredder attachment […]

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