I thought I was done with Susie Fishbein. I swore off after I served her recipe for Glazed Chicken Breasts With Strawberry Salsa and the guest I was trying to impress nodded knowingly, saying “Oh, ‘Kosher by Design Entertains,’ page 124.”
You sit at enough Shabbat lunch tables, and her always reliable Cauliflower Popcorn and Asian Steak Salad start to feel a little unoriginal.
But the six books in Fishbein’s “Kosher by Design” series have sold 400,000 copies for good reason. Fishbein, a self-taught home chef from New Jersey, creates recipes that are tantalizingly accessible. So we keep coming back.
And she has done it again in her new “Kosher by Design Teens and 20-Somethings: Cooking for the Next Generation” (Artscroll / Shaar Press). In 2005, when her four kids were younger, she gave us “Kids in the Kitchen.” With this next book, featuring 100 new recipes, party plans and glistening photos, we continue to grow with her family.
Part of what makes the book appropriate for this crowd is the visuals — she’ s got the requisite denim background pages, the scratchy fonts and random graphics all askew on the page. The introductory sections on how to equip your kitchen, plan your menus, shop and follow a recipe are written without pretentiousness, but also without condescension.
But what really makes this book perfect for Fishbein’s intended audience is her choice of recipes. She has tapped into that bridge time between junk food and real food, between looking for the comfortable and familiar and venturing out on your own. If I were a teen or a college grad cooking for myself or hosting my first dinner party, these are the kinds of recipes I’d want (OK, I want them as a full-fledged grown-up, too).
Some examples: Pizza Soup, a creamy tomato soup with a cheesy toasted baguette floating in it; Lox and Avocado Salad with a spicy mustard-lemon vinaigrette; Tater Tot Casserole, with layers of seasoned ground beef, ketchup and mustard; Barbecued Potato Kugel; Spicy Carrot Sticks; and Chocolate Tart in Pretzel Crust.
My 14-year-old son made the chocolate tart, and, with some minor hovering from me, he was able to follow the clearly spelled-out instructions. The rich, gooey dessert was as good as it sounds.
Fishbein knows her teens: She coats chicken in tortilla chips and salsa, in French-fried onions with honey-mustard and horseradish sauce, and in pretzel sticks and Cap’n Crunch cereal. She makes Hot Pretzel Challah, Big Dogs in Blankets (it’s kosher, so no pigs here), Tie-Dye Cookies and Chocolate Fluffernutter Quesadillas.
But there are also a fair share of standards (Chicken Soup, Simple Salad, Eggplant Parmesan) and sophisticated grown-up recipes (Pesto Salmon, Garlic Rosemary Filet Split, Maple Roasted Pears and Sweet Potatoes).
I impressed a women’s discussion group in my home withFishbein’s super-moist Lemon Crumb Cake, and her Mango Brown Rice Salad, Spicy Carrot Sticks and Za’atar Cauliflower added zing to a recent Shabbat lunch.
I might even be willing to bet that the Za’atar version could one day replace the ubiquitous Cauliflower Popcorn.
PIZZA SOUP
(Dairy) Makes 6 servings
1 loaf French or Italian bread
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
1 large or 2 small onions, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
5 cloves fresh garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups fat-free skim milk
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Cut 6 (1-inch thick) slices from the bread.
3. Measure 1/4 cup olive oil into a small dish or bowl. Lightly dip both sides of each bread slice into the oil. Place on prepared pan and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until golden. Remove the bread and preheat the broiler.
4. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it “sweats,” or turns translucent. Do not let it brown, or burn, just become golden. Turn the heat down if it is cooking too quickly.
5. Add the garlic and oregano. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot. The garlic should be fragrant.
6. Add the tomatoes. Put 1/2 cup water into one of the cans and swirl to loosen sauce from the sides; pour the water into the second can and swirl. Pour the water into the pot. Break the tomatoes by poking with the spoon or spatula. Simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.
7. Season with salt and pepper. Add the milk.
8. Transfer the soup in batches to a blender or use an immersion blender right in the pot; purée the soup until very smooth.
9. Ladle the soup into oven-proof crocks. Top with a toasted bread slice. Top with 1-2 tablespoons cheese. Place the crocks onto the jelly roll pan and into the oven. If your crocks have handles, turn them in so they don’t touch the sides of the oven. Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately, being careful, as the crocks will be hot.
