Norwitz Notions

A few months ago, a new cafe opened in downtown Petaluma near Walnut Park.  Foodies in the know thrill because the owners are family of the owners of a now-defunct Turkish restaurant in Santa Rosa, Real Gryo, which I never had the pleasure of trying.  Real Doner is a small place with a deli feel.  [...]

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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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I’m always on the lookout for high-protein, lowcarb, vegan, and gluten-free recipes that don’t have soy.  None of us react to soy but it makes up a lot of our protein foods and I want more variety.  So I was thrilled when a friend told me about a recipe for nut burgers she found and [...]

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It’s Christmas Day and time for our annual tradition of Jews eat Asian food on Christian holidays (why? you ask…because we get the day off and nothing else is usually open, though that’s changed in recent years).  Normally we go down to Todai, a chain of buffets with huge amounts of decent sushi and other [...]

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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I originally made [...]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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Shhh…don’t tell anyone it’s vegan: they’ll never guess.  The first time we made this was Thanksgiving 2007 and it (along with all the cashew cream) was devoured. Someone else’s pumpkin pie (homemade with traditional ingredients) still had half left.  In 2008, this Thanksgiving treat was one of 3 pumpkin pies (all gluten-free as it happens) [...]

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This is a simple recipe but difficult to get just right. You need a good blender and some finesse.
I made the cashew cream to go with a vegan pumpkin pie I took to a Thanksgiving Potluck in 2007 and again in 2008, though it’s delicious on anything sweet.
Recipe:
2 cups raw cashew pieces (I keep [...]

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It’s fall! It’s pumpkin time! So what do you do with those seeds?  Well don’t waste them, turn them into a healthy nosh.
Start with any winter squash: pumpkin, acorn, red kuri, whatever you like.  In these pictures, I used butternut squash.
Cut the raw squash in half lengthwise.  Use a fork to pull out the seeds.  [...]

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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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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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While visiting the Vancouver area last month, we stayed with friends in Burnaby, a suburb to the east of the city.  Some other friends from New Brunswick overlapped their stay with ours then went to a hotel in downtown Vancouver for a convention.  On their last night, we met up with them for dinner.
Finding a [...]

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Michael and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary on August 21st (and 12 years of being together).  I was ill for our first wedding anniversary, and our second was a so-so dinner with Miriam after a doctor’s appointment, so we were determined to have a romantic dinner alone this year.  We were in British Columbia [...]

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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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My favorite seller was at the Petaluma Farmer’s Market the other week, Chris the peach guy.  Chemical-free, great prices, and amazing flavor.  He had a “rejects” box he was selling at $1/lb (half the usual price)–mostly ones with small blemishes that most people wouldn’t even notice.  I was picking through it when he said, oh [...]

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Popsicles are an easy summer treat that feels like dessert but can be very healthy if made with the right ingredients.  I always use whole fruit, never juice.  And I don’t sweeten them either.  But you can make them any way you wish.
The basic recipe is:
Pureed fruit
Liquid to make them pourable

For this batch, I used [...]

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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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Although I adore basil, I usually make my pesto from other herbs, simply due to availability and cost.  My favorite combo is half cilantro and half parsley.  If I don’t have cilantro, or I don’t have enough of it, I will use spearmint to make up the difference.  All the herbs must be fresh.
Your classic [...]

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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’ve hosted a Passover seder at my home every year for the last 20 or so (except for the year my mother died the night before Passover 1996 and the following year, the first with Michael, when Michael and I both had the flu).  Each one has a different mix of people, cultures, familiarity with [...]

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Success with horseradish has been extremely variable, both due to variation in the flavor of the unprocessed horseradish roots, and the fact that it is too strong to sniff or taste during preparation to make small modifications. The ones I made for Passover this year were pretty good.
I started with two horseradish roots. [...]

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Passover 2008: the year of the gefilte fish disaster.
This is only the second time we’ve made gefilte (gelfilte, gelfelte, gefelte) fish. The stuff in jars is pretty good (some people hate it but I grew up on and adore the stuff) but every last brand has eggs in it. And pretty much all have gluten [...]

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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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Borscht is a Russian and Jewish beet soup that can be made with or without meat, served hot or cold. The cold versions are often served with sour cream (unless it’s a Jewish recipe and it has meat). There are many variations. The addition of ginger and carrots is my own invention, [...]

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I made this lovely torte (or is it a tart? or maybe a cheesecake?) for Passover this year. It was a gamble, since we had never made it before, and didn’t have much of a recipe to go on, but it came out wonderful. Many thanks to Jessica of Foodlab for the [...]

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Rock fish, rock cod, plain cod…I don’t know. But it made a tasty stew. I got fillets at Costco.
Don’t fuss over ingredients. I made this out of what I found in my fridge and freezer. Next time I’ll make it with completely different vegetables. And why are there 4 carrots in the picture [...]

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