I Love Latkes!

Let's keep the Jewish theme going. Some of my ancestors immigrated here from Russia and were of the Jewish faith, and while I don't practice the religion, I do love the culture - and the food. So here's a shout-out to them and their cuisine. Best of all, you don't have to be Jewish and it doesn't have to be Hannukah to love latkes... :)

You'll need:

2 cups grated yukon gold potatoes (about 3 potatoes give or take)

1/2 onion, grated

3 eggs

2 tablespoons matzoh ball mix

salt and pepper

1/2 cup vegetable oil

sour cream and applesauce

Whisk the eggs together in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Grate the potatoes (preferably in a food processor with a shred function if you have it) and wring out the excess liquid either with your hands or in a cheesecloth. Do the same with the onion. Add potato and onion to the bowl with the eggs. Stir in the matzoh ball mix to an even consistency kind of like chunky pancakes. Season with salt and pepper if you'd like.

Meanwhile in a skillet, heat up the oil to med-high heat. Once oil is hot, add dropfuls of the latke mix and press down gently with a fork. Once they are browned on one side, flip them over and brown the other side. Drain on a paper towel and serve hot with a dollop of sour cream on the top and applesauce on the side.

I'm Not Jewish, But I Love Challah...

(Note: This recipe DOES require you to measure, making this blog's title a slight misnomer. But it's baking, come on! You've got to measure sometimes I suppose.)

     The past few months I've been playing the role of substitute teacher -- at a private Jewish school on the Upper West Side (...upper west side?). Recently, with the kindergarteners and first-graders I've been around while they have Chabbat. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what Chabbat is, but I know it means they share Challah (delicious bread) together at the end. I was raised Christian (see: "Born Again Christians") and since going to church was something that was not voluntary (early Sunday mornings for 3 hours) like any other adolescent (my sister included) I tended to revolt. Since the days of "I don't want to go to church anymore, Dad. I'm not going," religion has been kind of on the back burner.

     So being in this school populated with students and teachers "devoted" (some more than others, I'm averaging here) to the Jewish religion and speaking fluent Hebrew has introduced me to something new -- No, not the religion itself, but their food. (Firstly in their amazing catered "cafeteria food" at lunchtime. Restaurant quality stuff.) Their challah is no unleavened cardboard bread... Here's my first attempt. (Note: this recipe is not kosher... I don't think. I'm not sure.)

What You'll Need:

• 3 cups flour (and most likely an extra 1/2 cup)
• 1 packet of yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs, plus 1 egg separated (saving the white for egg wash)
• 1/2 stick unsalted, softened butter 
• 1/4 cup boiling water & 1/4 cup room temp. water

Put it all Together:

• Whisk 1 egg white in a small bowl with a little splash of water. (Cover & refrigerate.) Add the yolk to the other 2 eggs in a separate bowl. 
• Pour your boiling water into a measuring cup and add the butter. Mix until butter is melted, then add room temp. water and the 2 whole eggs & 1 yolk. Whisk.
• Get your mixer set up with the dough hook and to the bowl add 3 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.With the mixer on low, slowly add the butter mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Increase mixer speed to medium low and continue kneading for five to eight minutes, or until you have a cohesive, slightly tacky dough that just sticks to the sides of the bowl (if necessary, add up to an extra half cup of flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached).

• Spray a bowl with cooking spray and transfer the dough to it, cover and let it rise. (Set it some place warm.) This should take about an hour and a half or 2 hours. Then push it down to deflate it and let it rise about another hour. 
• Now transfer your dough to a lightly (you really don't need much) floured surface. Separate the dough into six even parts. 
• Instead of explaining in lengthy detail how to get that lovely challah braid, just watch this video. (She rolls the dough out flat first -- don't.) And I'll be honest... I found this to be confusing. I had to replay her directions over and over. So don't feel bad if you get a little lost.

• Once you're all braided up, put the challah on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, cover with a dish towel and allow it to rise yet again. Another hour or so. Then get your egg wash out, brush it over the top and bake your bread at 375 for about 30 minutes (or until it gets golden). 

 

Now, I'm sure this seems like a million steps and you're thinking, "I don't have time for this!" It really doesn't take long at all. You make the dough, put it aside to rise, clean up the kitchen, go about your day. Come back to roll it out and braid it (probably the longest part, if you've never done it before) then back to your business. Then stick it in the oven... only don't go too far away for this step! :) And voila! Lovely, slightly sweet, fresh challah bread! 

[Find the original recipe here. And where I found the recipe and video here.]

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Chicken Parmesan

If you don't like chicken parm then you are un-(italian)american.

This is the best chicken parm I've ever made...

3 chicken breasts, butterflied in half.

flour, salt and pepper

2 -4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup red or white wine

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

pinch sugar

grated sharp provolone cheese

Pound out butterflied chicken breasts until they are very thin. Coat each side with salt and pepper and then dredge them in flour, shaking off the excess. Meanwhile in a deep skillet (with a cover which you will need later) heat up the olive oil and butter to med high heat. Once the skillet is hot, place the chicken in and cook each side until nice and golden. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside. If needed add a little more olive oil to the pan and then add onions, cooking until translucent. About a minute before they are done cooking, add the garlic. Cook garlic until fragrant. Then add wine to deglaze the pan. Stir until wine is reduced slightly. Add tomatoes. Stir everything around and reduce the heat to low, letting the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes. Add a pinch or two of sugar to reduce the acidity of the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the sauce is ready, lay the cooked chicken in the pan on the sauce and add the grated provolone over it (more is better). You can melt the provolone in two ways; one is to place a cover on the pan and let the sauce simmer on low heat until the cheese is melted, or you can stick the skillet under the broiler until the cheese melts. Your call.

Once the cheese has melted sprinkled some chopped or dried parsley and serve. Great as a sandwich or over spaghetti :)

Steak, Pepper & Onion Grinders

This is making me hungry just thinking about how to make it....

For the marinade:

1/4c. ken's italian dressing

1/4c soy sauce

1 - 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

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1 lb shaved steak

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

sliced mushrooms (optional)

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

split rolls

shredded italian cheese (anything sharp: provolone, asiago, fontina or all of the above)

Marinate the meat in the mixture for at least an hour. Heat about 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan on med heat. Add meat (reserving marinade liquid) to pan and cook until brown. remove meat from pan and add onions and peppers, cooking until softened. Add mushrooms and garlic about halfway through (5 minutes) this process. If your pan needs a little deglazing after all of this add a little of the leftover marinade, but not too much or your sandwiches will be soggy. Return the cooked meat to the pan and mix everything together 1 - 2 minutes.

Toast the rolls, spoon the steak and veggies onto them and top with the shredded italian cheese.

Beef & Beer

What You Need:

• Butter. About half a stick.
• Beef (whatever cut you prefer… I get the cheap stuff) cut into chunks.
• 1 Onion. Sliced into wedges.
• A few cloves of garlic. Crushed.
• 1 small apple, or half a regular sized apple. Peeled and diced—small.
• Flour. About 3 tablespoons.
• 1 bottle of Guinness. (Or something dark, Guinness is just my preference.)
• Beef Broth. 3 cups.
• Bay leaves.
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes. Chopped into big chunks.
• 5 carrots. (Depending on size, though.) Chopped into chunks.
• And S&P, of course.

Now Put Them All Together:

• In a big soup pot, melt about a tablespoon of butter. Season the meat with S&P, brown in the pot on medium-high heat. Don’t worry if it sticks a little and the bottom of the pot gets coated — that’s good! Once the meat is browned, remove from the pot and put it aside. (I kept a second pot on the burner (it was off) next to me.)
• Turn the heat down to about medium and add some more butter to the pot (just under a tablespoon) and soften the onions. When they’re about halfway done, add garlic and apples. (The onions needn’t be overly-soft, they’ll simmer in the broth later.) Remove them from the pot as well.
• Add yet another pad of butter to the pot — a good sized tablespoon. Melt. Sprinkle the flour over the top and whisk together. Let this cook together for a few minutes (keep whisking). Whisk in about 3/4 of the beer and then the beef broth. Bring it to a boil. Drink the rest of the beer while waiting.
• When your broth is boiling, add bay leaves, the meat and onions you set aside, carrots and potatoes. Season with S&P. When it comes to a boil again, turn the heat down and let it simmer for at least an hour — or until the carrots and potatoes are softened and the meat is fork-tender. 

I served it with cornbread muffins. Delicious. I should have taken some photos, but my boyfriend didn’t get home until around 8 so we were both too hungry to wait. Plus, the lighting in my kitchen is atrocious.

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Welcome to How Not to Measure

I'll be posting my food endeavors here -- recipes and photos alike! Eventually I'll get my sister, Rachael, posting too. She's one of the reasons I started cooking in the first place. She's got some awesome recipes; You can check her out here until she starts posting with me.

One of my favorite parts about cooking is how you can change recipes up however you like -- maybe because you're missing an ingredient or you don't like certain flavors or you just don't have the right equipment. So I adapt other recipes pretty often and I hope you do too.

Okay... well... enjoy!!

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