Norwitz Notions

September means tomatoes here in California.  They’re still green on my plants but Greenstring Farm in Petaluma, has bushels of them.  Biodynamically (and organically) grown heirlooms of all possible types, for $1/lb.  I bought Golden Romas and tomatillos (plus a few extras for fresh eating) and made salsa. I’ve made fresh salsa before.  It’s pretty […]

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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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Chimichurri is a popular sauce from Argentina made with fresh green herbs (usually parsley, cilantro, and/or mint), garlic, acid (red wine vinegar, lemon, etc), and olive oil.  Some recipes have other ingredients.  It’s usually served on meat but I love it on fish, tofu, beans, salad, and all sorts of things.  Since I’m not a […]

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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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A couple of months ago, I found myself at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market, by the Primavera Tortilla stand. Primavera is a Sonoma County-based company that makes their own masa (tortilla/tamale dough) from organic stoneground corn. The handmade tortillas looked good but were pricey (and the fancy flavored ones had dairy) so I bought a bag […]

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Foodlab is an internet mailing list for sharing recipes, tips, support and more while discovering and living with food allergies/intolerances. Monica started the list a couple of years ago, after realizing that off-topic discussions of food allergies were starting to take over a parenting list. Most of the folks on Foodlab (the active posters anyway) […]

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Let’s see…it’s raw, it’s lowcarb, it’s lowfat, it’s high in protein, it’s filled with healthy stuff, it’s dairy & egg-free, it’s gluten-free, it’s legume-free…what’s not to love? Oh yeah, and it is astoundingly delicious and not hard to make either. The basic recipe is for Mexican Ceviche at http://www.recipezaar.com/8899. There are as many ways to […]

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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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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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