Gluten-Free Fairtrade Chocolate Covered Strawberries/Figs

These are fun and beautiful. A specialty of Laurie Hertz.

1 lb strawberries, washed and patted dry
(or another small fruit, like fresh figs or prunes)
1 chocolate bar (Equal Exchange Fairtrade preferred)
3 oz parve chocolate chips

Break chocolate bar and place in double boiler over boiling water along with the chips. For some reasons, the bar alone is a little too thin. The chips seem to have a thicker consistency. 

With an induction cooktop, but the chocolate directly in a small frying pan and set to 2 or 3. It will take 5-10 minutes to melt. 

Put a sheet of parchment paper on a flat tin. Dip each strawberry, holding it by the green stem. Shake off excess chocolate.

Set on the wax paper. If you  have extra chocolate, you can dip matzah, prunes, or add slivered almonds + raisins or craisins and make "haystacks". Or just dip matzah!

This was enough to dip 1 lb of strawberries + 1 lb of fresh figs.

It takes about 20 minutes for the chocolate to harden. You can speed it up by refrigerating.

Eyal dipping strawberries - last week of 4!

Mustachados - Walnut Macaroons

These lasted about 5 minutes - 2021

Mustachados are Sephardic cookies from Gloria Greene's original cookbook, The Jewish Holiday Kitchen. It was a gift from Judy Herzig-Marx and I used it a lot, and still go back to look for ideas. It's less complicated/pretentious than Joan Nathan and some of the other more recent Jewish cookbooks.

These are similar to Italian "Ugly but Good" cookies, which are hazelnut. These are not vegan, since they have an egg, but they are gluten free. I don't generally bake cookies but these are good, chewy, not-too-sweet cookies that pass the Passover test: I would enjoy them if it WEREN'T Passover.

Unlike a lot of Pesadik recipes, this doesn't require beating egg whites, so you don't need a hand mixer or egg whip.


1 large egg (does not need to be separated!)
1.5 cups (about 6 oz) ground walnuts.
      Food processor is fine, or you can buy them at Passover already ground.
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cinnamon

pinch of salt

Optional: chocolate for dipping

Shula - 3rd grade, 2024

Grease one large or two small cookie sheets very well. It makes about 20-24.

Heat oven to 325.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add the other ingredients to form a thick paste.

These spread. Wet your hands and shape into scant teaspoon sized balls, about 3/4", flattening into domes.

Bake for 20 minutes or so until the edges have browned.

Pry under them with a spatula to cool. You can stick two together when they are just removed, they way they are served in Istanbul.

Using the induction setting of 1, leave the chocolate in a frying pan for 5-10 minutes and it will melt. Dip away. (In Philly, at 1 it says MELTING.)

Green Doula Soup

I like the sound of this, Green Doula Soup, named for the day I handed off some of this soup to Micah to finish it before Passover, and your doula was coming for dinner.

This soup is from a plant-based diet advocate, the Happy Healthy Long Life Librarian, whom Nancy turned me onto. The original of the recipe is called Healing Cream of Greens Soup, a recipe by Chloe Coscorelli. I modified it some.

2 T olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
1 apple , peeled and diced
4 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 t. grated ginger
5 cups (1 pound) broccoli florets
3 cups (5 ounces) baby spinach or kale

4 cups vegetable broth

Freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste

• [option: add a grain like cooked quinoa or rice]
  
  1. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat and, add the onion, apple, ginger, and garlic . Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
  
  
  2. Add the broccoli, spinach, and broth . Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the broccoli is tender and the spinach has wilted.
  
  3. Remove the pot from the heat and purée directly in the pot using an immersion blender; return the soup to the pot. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of oil.
  
  4. Serve in bowls topped with some pepper. 
  This soup is also tasty chilled.

Dried Mushroom, Parsnip, Chickpea Soup

In the #zerowastePassover challenge, I needed a soup for Friday night that used a small can of chickpeas and dried mushrooms, two ingredients still in the pantry.

Abba actually liked this BETTER than mushroom barley soup, the reason I have the dried mushrooms to begin with. Hah!

1/2 c. dried mushrooms
1 to 2 T olive oil
onion, diced
1 parsnip, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 c or so dried potato flakes or mashed potatoes (these were leftovers, but they worked perfectly for thickening the soup.)
1 small can chickpeas
4 c. stock/broth (Telma)

Soak dried mushrooms in water.
Saute all the diced vegetables until soft.
Chop the soaked mushrooms, and add them with the water you soak them in, along with the chickpeas.
Bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes or so.

I barely seasoned it. The mushrooms have a nice, rich flavor.

Jane Brody's Best Bran Muffins

Jane Brody's cookbook was my favorite for many years. I make these once or twice a year. It's a double batch. Lately I have been baking half in muffin tins and the other half* in a not quite quarter-sheet that fits in the Breville. Way easier - instead of muffins, squares.

3 C shredded *bran cereal (e.g. All-Bran, 100% Bran, etc.)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 C raisins
1 C boiling water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 C buttermilk
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
4 t sugar
2 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, combine the cereal, oil, and raisins, and pour the boiling water over them. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly.

2. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, and molasses. Add this to the partly cooled cereal mixture. 

3. In another small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the cereal mixture, stirring just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Cover the batter with plastic wrap, wax paper, or a damp towel, and let it stand for at least 15 minutes, preferably for 1 hour. 

4. Preheat the oven to 400. Grease *24 muffin portions, and divide the batter among them filling each cup about three-fourths full. 

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven, and, when they are slightly cooled, turn them in the tins and tip them to cool.

Jane Brody's *All Bran crust for blueberry pie uses the same ingredient.

Sweet Potato Beet Apple Gypsy Soup

In the 90s I made a soup for Rosh Hashanah that I found in the Nutrition Action Newsletter, which I subscribed to for a time. I loved the soup but lost the recipe. I even went so far as to look at back issues online, but no luck. I think that's the only recipe I ever lost and longed for! It is a version of the Moosewood Gypsy Soup, I have since discovered.

I made it for Rosh Hashanah because of all the sweet ingredients: sweet potatoes, beets, ginger, and apples. It is super nutritious since it also has chickpeas.

Yael Kalman posted a similar Instant Pot version which I tweaked and I think this is now pretty close to the original.

It makes a giant pot of gorgeous color soup. The beets contribute their color to the collective; it's not as thick as lentil or split pea based soups. If you have Indian ginger-garlic paste, it saves some effort.

2 T oil (or butter if you don't mind it being dairy)
1 large onion, diced
2-3 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 t. ginger paste or finely grated fresh ginger
1 t. salt
1 t. paprika
1 t. cumin (ground)
½ t. turmeric
½ t. coriander
1 t. cinnamon

1 can chopped tomatoes (petite saves time)
2 largish sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 or 2 peeled, chopped apples
2 or 3 peeled, chopped beets (you can now find these vacuum packed, a time saver - if you like beets, just use the whole package)

1 can chickpeas, drained
2 -3 whole carrots, diced

optional: a few stems of chopped kale
6 cups vegetable stock (Telma/Israeli + hot water is fine)
Lemon and/or lime juice (about 2 T.)
brown sugar or agave -  about 1 T

hot siracha or other heat, optional
Parsley or cilantro for garnish


In a large soup pot, heat the oil and sauté the onions, garlic, celery, and ginger until soft and transparent.

Add the spices til incorporated.

Add tomatoes, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, apples, and beets.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cook about 40 minutes, or a few hours in the Wonderbag.

Add the lemon or lime juice and sugar, and the kale, if you decide to include. 

Using an immersion blender, process until it's thicker but leave lots of chunks of vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Red chili flakes or chili sauce, if you like, to give a little heat.

Serve with chopped parsley or cilantro.

Cranberry (or Blueberry) Cornbread

This is a new favorite! I've lost track of where I found it. It's always good to have buttermilk recipes, since it's a handy ingredient to have but hard to use up.

Baking it in a flat sheet pan that fits the Breville makes for a very quick bake and a lot of crust.

In muffin tins, it makes 18. I used silicon muffin pans, and the muffins don't look quite the same -- the tops don't round, and they don't brown quite the same, but they're cute!

1 stick butter, softened (7 T. works, but 8 is yummier)
1/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. cornmeal
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 to 1.5 c. buttermilk (I just baked it and accidentally used just 1 c. and it was fine)
1 c. cranberries, halved.  This is easiest to do with a small knife.

• In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Add eggs; mix well. 
• Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt
• Alternately add with the buttermilk. 
• Fold in cranberries.
• Transfer to a greased small rectangular pan. Bake at 375° until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, ~ 20 minutes in the Breville. 

Another version: 12 oz of blueberries (one and half pints) and some grated lemon zest. It's denser than blueberries muffins, very satisfying.

Baked in the round Lodge cast iron.