Sunday's with Marlena Spieler - Muhammara

Love the matzo crackers with it...and any fresh veggie. Pickles and cheese? Yes. On kebabs or fish? Natch.
Click on photos to enlarge

[Photos by my gold mine of a husband, Dave Koontz.]


So it begins. Three bloggers and three recipes every Sunday until we finish the book... or kill each other. Please check out Shankari's blog and Eileen's blog each Sunday and follow along with us. If you make the recipes, send me a photo and I'll post it! If you have a blog, be sure to include the link. Let me know where you are from...so I can make fun of you. (no)


I decided to make Muhammara..or my version of it. It can be found on page 74 of Marlena Spieler's Jewish Cooking cookbook. Due to my huge fear of being sued by a publisher, I will not infringe upon any copyright laws. I switched the recipes up a bit and besides .. I thought I had all the ingredients and then..didn't! Adapt. Actually, I was going to start with Bulgarian Cucumber and Walnut Appetizer but changed my mind. I felt an urgent need to add some spice to my life. I checked with Ms. Spieler before starting the project and she has been helpful in so many ways. She spoke of feeling flattered and was so kind. Whew! wipes brow.

Instead of roasting red bell peppers, which I didn't have...I decided to use some jarred ones that I had. I didn't have any mild peppers either, so I used a few teaspoons of salsa verde..to taste. I had the choice to use pomegranate molasses or balsamic vinegar and I used the latter. I have some really great balsamic which I purchased at Corti's. (I did not buy the one that costs $499 bucks). I have purchased some at Taylor's too..love both of those stores!

Okay..so it is a delicious dip or condiment. I am going to use it on sandwiches..absolutely. Veggies dipped in it is perfect too..as is just about anything. Hell, I'd slide Stanley's paw down in it and lick it off! He is our cleanest cat.

So here is my adaptation of the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 slices of toasted whole wheat bread
1 and 1/2 jars of Mezzetta roasted bell peppers
3 tsp of hot salsa verde...or to taste (oh baby, I like it hot and spicy)
one cup walnut pieces
3 or 4 medium sized garlic cloves
2 and 1/2 tablespoons of decent balsamic vinegar (I also like Oak Aged California Balsamic)
juice of 1/2 a lemon...a real lemon
1 teaspoon of ground cumin ( I toasted mine first in a med. hot dry pan.. and then ground it)
1/2 to 1 tsp. of sugar.. or I suppose you could use honey
7 tablespoons or so of good extra virgin olive oil

So I tore up the toast and through it in, added the walnuts and ground cumin and pulsed it all in my food processor until it was ground up..but not like flour or anything. An immersion mixer would work too..or a decent blender. Next, the rest of the ingredients go in and get pulsed.. except for the olive oil. That goes in last while the processor is still running. Pulse more until it looks like a thick puree. I slowly added in the olive oil until it had a smooth consistency. It is best to serve at room temp.

My new favorite party dip and sandwich spread. Smokey luscious goodness. From so much pleasure, one could plotz!

**Click on this NPR if you'd like to hear Marlena on NPR a few years back talking about her Grilled Cheese cookbook. The muhammara would be great on a grilled cheese sandwich!

Jewish Cooking....Sundays with Marlena

Our first meeting...on a Sunday. We missed you Eileen. Breakfast at Market Club Cafe in Sacramento was quite good. (photo by Rajesh Easwaran)

I had this idea to learn about my heritage...the one that was a big secret. When I was about 16, I saw my mom packing/or unpacking some books. There were several Hebrew and Yiddish books. I said, "what's with the Jewish books?" She replies, "my mother was Jewish." I said, "no shit?" I was raised in the Baptist Church so this came as quite the revelation to me.

Turns out, my ancestors migrated from Poland into southwest Russia, where my grandmother was born. She immigrated to Canada with her folks in 1902 from Romania..and finally slipped down into North Dakota as a "german russian"...bible by the bookstand and everything!

Anyhoo...mom had this Jewish Cookbook. A few years back, I began buying other Jewish cookbooks..and one was by Marlena. Such a lucky, lucky day for me. I grew up eating most of the recipes....and I love em all! [well, not the cherry soup so much..but then I don't like cherries]. So, when Shankari heard about the project she wanted to help..and then so did Eileen.

On Sunday, November 8th, myself and two area food bloggers will begin a project to cook and blog our way through Marlena Spieler’s Jewish Cooking cookbook. *Three bloggers, three recipes every Sunday until we are finished.


We met and decided who was cooking what..at least beginning with appetizers/starters. Eileen couldn’t be at the first meeting as she had some lame excuse about having to be in San Diego for the birth of her grandchild. So, Shankari and I met, along with our contributing husbands. Rajesh will be doing the photography from time to time (feasts) and Dave has been very helpful in establishing a data base of all the recipes. I admit right here and now that I am quite jealous that Shankari is married to such a great photographer...her food always looks so delish...and is!


Yes, we know Julie Powell already did Julia Child’s book and got famous over it. We are hoping the exact same thing happens to us. In reality, we’ll probably be hired to wash dishes and laundry at a Kibbutz in the Golan Heights or something. Oy vey! Also, there won’t be as many expletives in our food journals…unless they’re in Yiddish, of course.


Please join us on our journey every Sunday beginning November 8th, 2009. We will link each other up so you can see what is happening on each other’s blogs. On Sunday’s…our blogs will be called Cooking with Marlena. It will be fun to ride along as a Hindu, a Buddhist, and a shoulda-been Jew take on this glorious challenge. From so much pleasure, one could plotz!


[By the way…we are not being paid to do this.... like I had to tell you that. Feel free to send money though. Cabbage and matzo meal is not cheap!]


*Just the Two of Us by Eileen Thornton

*Stream of Consciousness by Shankari Easwaran and Rajesh Easwaran

Festival of Lights-Three Ways

Jewish Festival of Lights

Hindu Festival of Lights

Buddhist Festival of Lights

I love diversity. I think it is one of the reason's I love living in Sacramento.

Food is a fabulous way to learn about other people. You saw Gran Torino, right? Food brought them all together.

The cooking/blogging project begins Sunday, November 8th. More tomorrow!

The Recipe-Sundays with Marlena

So the project begins this coming Sunday, November 8th. Two other food bloggers, and myself, will begin cooking and posting our way through Jewish Cooking by Marlena Spieler.

In Memoriam

It is hard to believe that it's been ten years since Paul died. He was my nephew..my sister Pat's son. This photo was taken at my mom's house in Wyoming in 1997. Paul was headed off to West Virginia State. He grew up in South Jersey. Over 700 people attended his funeral. He was a fantastic person...and is still missed very much.

Ten years...yesterday. RIP. We love you.

Piranha Chops? Really?

Okay...I saw this and had to post it.

Been craving piranha lately? Check THIS out.

Jewish Cooking....Holishkes!

Just before I poured the chopped tomatoes over.
Ahhh....after.
So we have sliced onions and chopped onions...and 5 minced garlic cloves.
I used two kinds of cabbage...blanched each and pulled leaves off for rolling meat mixture in.
I also used some beet greens...because I could. Not in original recipe.
This is how I roll.
Nice little package. The recipe is coming in the next post!

Two blogger friends and I are going to be cooking and blogging thru Marlena Spieler's Jewish Cooking cookbook, which was originally published under the name Jewish Heritage Cookbook. More to come on that project very soon!

Lori Rocks

lori rocks Thanks for helping me with my blogging difficulties!

Love ya ya!