Norwitz Notions

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 decided [...]

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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I originally made [...]

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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 not [...]

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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 you [...]

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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.  [...]

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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 a [...]

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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 [...]

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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 of [...]

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I make this simple (but time consuming) dish for Passover every year. It’s not a Passover dish persay but it’s become a tradition. Some of my guests count on it being there.
Use quality ingredients and watch the cooking methods and this dish will be perfect. Otherwise, it can be bland or just [...]

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My go-to dish. Super easy to make and Miriam’s favorite. If you ask her favorite food, she’ll tell you “kidney beans!!!!!”
Normally I like to make beans from scratch, but it’s hard with a bunch of different kinds (because they require different cooking times). So canned is loads easier.
Recipe:
4 cans of plain whole beans. [...]

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Making beans from scratch is pretty easy, so you have to wonder why everyone doesn’t do it. Canned beans are okay in a pinch, but many are overcooked and insipid (Whole Foods brand is pretty decent, even the refried ). And dried beans are much cheaper than canned. For anything large, where I have more [...]

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I picked up some beautiful organic sweet peppers on sale at the market and thought they would be lovely for Miriam’s birthday party lunch, as a taco filling. And they were.
These are small peppers in vibrant yellow, red, and orange. They are thinner skinned than bells and don’t have quite the same flavor, but they [...]

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I have many versions of hummus because I make it so often. This one is my basic recipe made with dried chickpeas. Other recipes use canned beans, larger amounts, different flavorings, etc. I even have one made with edamame instead of chickpeas.
Recipe:
2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked
1 1/3 cups (10-11 oz) tahini
2/3 cup (5-6 [...]

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A favorite dinner of mine is a big salad with lots of finely chopped vegetables and warm protein on top. For those of us who want to eat more raw foods but feel better with something both physically warm and solid, this is a great combination.
The salad works on its own too, as a low-protein [...]

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For dinner tonight I made a simple but elegant meal. Each item wasn’t hard to make, though having four of them took more time. The details make a difference too. Nicer plates, eating at the dining room table (something we should do every night, but don’t), using wine glasses.

Miriam and I went to Whole Foods [...]

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Kim Chee (aka kimchi) is a wonderful collection of vegetables and spices brought together to ferment. This was my first attempt at making it. I used the recipe from Wild Fermentation, adapted a bit.
Recipe:
Napa cabbage (aka Chinese cabbage), 1 head chopped
Daikon radish, 3
Leeks, 2
Dried chile pepper, 3
Ginger (I used frozen that I had grated from [...]

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I was inspired by a trip to Han Il Kwan, a Korean restaurant in San Francisco. They had a huge spread of fermented dishes, including glorious crisp and sour turnip pickles. My attempt was simple and only partially successful.
I can tell you straight out that I used the wrong kind of turnip. What I had [...]

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This recipe couldn’t be easier.
Take one head of green cabbage and one head of red cabbage. Cut in half, remove the core, and slice into long strips.
Toss in a baking pan with olive oil and salt.
Bake at 350*F until very soft with intense flavor. Stir every 15 mins or so to release water [...]

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This is so easy it’s not really a recipe. But it’s one of my mainstays and I refer to it so often that I might as well put it on “paper.”
My basic recipe is as follows:
Cut up a bunch of vegetables, mostly root veggies that do not release a lot of water, toss in the [...]

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So easy and so good. These cultured onions are great on burgers, wraps, or anyplace you might think of adding onions.Thinly slice (I use a mandolin) peeled red onions into rings. They should be quite thin, so they don’t hold their shape well.

Add salt to taste. Let sit and/or knead a bit with [...]

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Sorry, no pictures with this one. No measured recipes either.
Spaghetti squash is a type of winter squash that gets its name from the fact that, if you cook it just right, it will fall apart with a fork into long spaghetti-like strands. Okay, here are some pictures and more info: http://www.fabulousfoods.com/features/featuring/spagsquash.html
What’s so wonderful about [...]

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Your traditional latkes are grated potato, diced onion, egg, matzoh meal, and seasoning all mixed together and fried in olive oil. But what do you do when all you can eat is fried salt and pepper? Well, alternative latkes have always been part of the tradition: despite what many think, it’s not just about potato [...]

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