Get inspired to cook with this gorgeous kosher recipe collection

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Estee Kafra’s selections from KosherScoop.com

 

/Amit Farber and Daniel Lailah | MishpachaLeafing through “Cooking Inspired: Bringing Creativity and Passion Back into the Kitchen,” it’s almost as if the food is on the table in front of you, not beckoning from a one-dimensional image. That the author’s depictions of dishes are beguiling enough to make you want to take a bite out of the paper they’re printed on is not surprising – after all, Estee Kafra studied photography in both Israel and Manhattan. In fact, it was her interest in the field that led her to photograph leading kosher cookbooks and later join Binah magazine.

During her four years at the publication, Kafra wrote two best-selling cookbooks, “Spice it Right” and “Cooking with Color.” When Mishpacha magazine launched Kosher Inspired, Kafra served as editor, the position she still holds at the website – into which the print publication morphed – KosherScoop.com. The Voice chatted with Kafra about her food philosophy and her new stunning cookbook.

Going back to the beginning, she offers an example of a risky move paying off. Kafra shares that Kosher Inspired was proving to be extremely expensive to print, ship and mail. Undeterred by that obstacle, the creators switched to a more realistic platform and are now successfully sharing valuable content with their audience online. The arrangement is working out quite well – the site, offering perks such as cooking videos, reaches a much wider audience than the magazine ever did. Now people in Rhode Island can have access to tested kosher recipes. KosherScoop.com has become so popular that some visitors rely on it daily to inspire them. Kafra tells the story of a recent email she received on a day the website went down. A woman was distraught that she couldn’t prepare dinner for her family because she couldn’t consult the recipes on the site. Now that’s dedication!

Partly thanks to the immense success of the site, Kafra collected the best recipes from KosherScoop.com to create a new cookbook that encompasses both classic and innovative Jewish cuisine. To assemble the volume, she worked with a talented group of food professionals – some young and pioneering chefs and some well-known names in the culinary world. The contributors, whose bios are listed at the end of the cookbook, include such famous food writers and chefs as David Blum, Levana Kirschenbaum, Norene Gilletz and Paula Shoyer. To ensure that “Cooking Inspired” offered only the highest quality recipes, Kafra tested each one – first cooking it and then snapping a photo of it for the collection.

Another reason she wanted to publish the cookbook is to motivate parents to offer nutritious food to their kids. A parent herself, Kafra saw meal preparation as a challenge and often resorted to making foods that her children would find acceptable, not the healthiest fare. She does admit to still preparing macaroni and fish sticks sometimes but says that standing her ground by continuing to be adventurous with cooking has inspired her kids to be more open to unusual food choices along with her. For instance, they’re excited about eating herbs in their dishes because they know that they came from their own garden. Turns out, her children are not the only ones willing to experiment. Her friends’ and acquaintances’ kids have also been enjoying the cookbook’s philosophy. Kafra shares that many people tell her their kids not only love the recipes, but also cook them on their own. She has even received photos from parents who wanted to show off the meals their kids made based on her recipes.

Kafra explains that one reason teens might be drawn to the cookbook is the ease of the preparation. She says, “They’re [the recipes] not difficult to follow. I’m not a perfectionist at all. When it comes to putting things together, I like fast. I’m just as busy as everyone else.” While the recipes in the book have a gourmet feel and result in a powerful taste, they’re almost a cinch to make because the ingredient list is short and the instructions are concise. Browsing some reviews proves that many who bought the book appreciate the accessibility of the simple and varied recipes that mostly use commonly found ingredients. The fact that the volume contains selections for every taste is another plus. Staples, such as brisket, kugel and barley soup, join more atypical choices such as Mexican-style chicken wraps and Asian purple cabbage salad.

In addition to variety, the book boasts handy signs delineating the type of recipe you’re looking at – P for Passover, GF for gluten-free recipes and seasonal icons for the optimal time to prepare the recipe (when all the ingredients are at their peak). Kafra believes that it’s crucial to use fresh and seasonal ingredients. She says, “It’s the key – you can’t really have great food if you don’t have a great start. Nowadays, we are very lucky – we have so much available to us, everywhere around us.” Yes, we no longer have to travel miles to buy great produce or meats – local quality is fantastic. But when Kafra goes to the market, it still takes her a long time to shop because she walks up and down the aisles while thinking about all the possibilities.

It’s precisely that tendency to try something new that distinguishes Kafra as a chef. In her opinion, being adventurous is the most important quality for a great cook. Everything else can be smoothed over with practice. She hears a lot of people say that they like to stick to what they know and follow instructions. She wants them to recognize the advantage of being enthusiastic about change instead of doing the same thing over and over: “We live in a time of such plenty and abundance all around us that you just have to open your eyes, look around and say, how can I make use of all this amazing stuff that God put into our world and we have available?”

For Passover, Kafra suggests a healthier dessert. It’s a strawberry mousse with a nut crumb topping that’s perfect for people who don’t eat matzo meal. She also sometimes sprinkles the crumbs over baked apples, a substitution that, she discovered, tastes delicious.

Kafra enjoys the fruits of her own experimentation. She loves hearing her family’s compliments after a great meal. “When you accomplish something and you did a good job, it’s a good feeling,” she says.

You, too, can become bold in your cuisine. Think of it this way – you can perm your hair or buy a boat you can’t afford … or you can get a copy of “Cooking Inspired” and make a roasted vegetable shakshouka. Intrigued? Here are two tips from Kafra to get you started. Don’t overcook your veggies, and use only freshly ground pepper. Since three’s a charm, here’s one from me – perms went out with the ’80s and haven’t come back yet. 

Strawberry Mousse Crunch

Mousse:

3 large egg whites

3⁄4 cup plug 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 1⁄2 Tbsp. orange juice

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1⁄8 tsp salt

1 lb. frozen strawberries, or approximately 1 lb. of any other fruit of your choice, partially thawed

Crunch:

1⁄4 cup trans fat free margarine , at room temperature

1 cup potato starch or all-purpose flour

1 cup ground walnuts or almonds

1 cup packed light brown (or white) sugar

3–4 Tbsp. oil

1⁄2 cup slivered almonds or pecan pieces, optional

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Crunch: Place the margarine, potato starch or flour, brown sugar and walnuts in a bowl and crumble between your fingers to create a crumbly, sand-like consistency. Add the oil, 1 Tbsp. at a time, mixing between your fingers until small clumps form. Lay the crunch evenly on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You can add the optional slivered pecans or almonds at this point.

Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 18 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Remove from the oven and fluff with a fork to create crumbs. Let cool completely.

Mousse: Beat the egg whites in a large mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the sugar in a slow stream. Add all of the remaining ingredients in the order they appear and beat for a full 10 minutes.

Spread half of the mousse into a 13” x 9” dish. Sprinkle with a little less than half of the crumb mixture. Add the remaining mousse and top with the remaining crumbs. Freeze for at last two hours or until set. Scoop into cups before serving. (It’s so soft that it scoops easily, even when frozen.)

You may want to create small parfait-glass serving, layering the mousse, then crumbs, then mousse, and topping with crumbs. Let individual parfaits stand at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe from “Cooking Inspired: Bringing Creativity and Passion Back into the Kitchen”

By Estee Kafra

Distributed by Feldheim Publishers; September 2013

Irina Missiuro is a writer and editorial consultant for the Jewish Voice.