Norwitz Notions

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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.  [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

I’m loving this dehydrator a coworker of Michael’s gave him.  So far, I’ve made Fruit Leather and a bunch of dried fruits and vegetables.  Below are some of my experiments.  Everything was dried at 115*F to keep it raw.  I run the dehydrator all day then turn it off at night (or when going out) [...]

[Read more →]

I have a new (to me) dehydrator and it has a plastic insert for making fruit leathers. So I had to try it.
I just toss some very ripe fruit into the blender. Mostly stuff too soft for the dried fruit I was prepping. Peach, strawberry, banana. And a pinch of salt. [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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. [...]

[Read more →]

If you ask an Ashkenazi Jew (of Eastern/Central European origin, most American Jews) the recipe for charoset, you will generally get one answer: chopped apples, honey, wine, nuts (walnuts and pecans are popular), and (often) cinnamon. This version is so popular that many Haggadahs list it as such and I’ve had Jews tell me [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

When I was at the Marin County Fair on July 4th, 2007, one of the booths was promoting healthy eating for kids and they had samples of a blender drink. All fruit (no juice) and no added sugar. It was fabulous on that blindingly hot day (about 100*F).
Their slushie recipe:
Ice cubes (between 1/3 and 1/2 [...]

[Read more →]

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) [...]

[Read more →]

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 make [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

Who says you need dairy or sugar to enjoy ice cream? Though I make lots of sorbets and ice milks, this one is full cream.
Recipe
3 cups pureed strawberries
1 can coconut milk (lite works better but regular is fine)
A couple tsps vanilla extract
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Pinch salt
Stevia to taste
If you have an ice cream maker, [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

(This review was written September 1, 2007)
I got the recommendation for Alive last year, when Michael and I were planning a special dinner for our first wedding anniversary. But I got very ill and we canceled. This year, our second anniversary, we found ourselves needing to be in San Francisco the day after our anniversary, [...]

[Read more →]