Joy of KosherFast, Fresh Family Recipes

Known as the “Queen of Kosher” (CBS) and the “Jewish Rachael Ray” (New York Times), Jamie Geller is the founder and chief creative officer of the Kosher Media Network, publisher of the award-winning Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller magazine and JoyofKosher.com. She is also host of the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller cooking show and Joy of Israel with Jamie Geller food and travel show on JLTV and the author of the bestselling Quick & Kosher cookbook series. She has appeared on ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and Martha Stewart Living Radio, and been featured in the Daily News (New York and Los Angeles), Washington Post, Miami Herald, and Chicago Tribune, among many others. She and her husband recently moved their family to Israel, where their five children give her plenty of reasons to get out of the kitchen—fast.

Cranberry Chestnut Challah Stuffing

Crispy Salt and Pepper Chicken with Caramelized Fennel and Shallots

 

 

Cranberry Chestnut Challah Stuffing

 

Kosher Status: Meat • Prep: 10 minutes • Cook: 50 minutes • Total: 1 hour • Yield: 8 to 10 servings

 

In the dead of winter, my folks would drive us up to New York City from Philly. We’d catch a few Broadway shows and shop like crazy. We snacked on little bags of hot roasted chestnuts bought from a street vendor wearing fingerless gloves. The aroma of fresh roasted chestnuts in winter is my New York. So when I noticed bagged roasted and shelled chestnuts in a store recently—wham! I instantly saw Times Square . . . snow . . . funny gloves. There was no snow and no hot aroma when I opened the bag, but once baked in the oven with my stuffing, they were divine.

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 cup roasted and peeled chestnuts,

quartered

1 cup dried cranberries

1⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh sage or

1 tablespoon dried

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh

parsley or 2 teaspoons dried

8 cups 1⁄2-inch cubes white or whole

wheat challah

2 cups chicken broth, such as

Manischewitz All Natural Chicken

Broth

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

 

2. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and celery until softened and the onion is translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chestnuts, cranberries, sage, and parsley and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the challah, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Remove from the heat. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until lightly browned, 10 minutes more.

 

Quick Tips

You can find bags of roasted and peeled chestnuts in the snack aisle at the supermarket. This recipe doesn’t require day-old or stale bread, although it’s a great use for any leftovers on hand. Challah, hot dog and hamburger buns, even sandwich bread—use it all out, mix ’n’ match it, cube it, and make stuffing or Spiced Apple Challah Kugel (page 94).

 

Make It Pareve

Use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.

 

Make It a Meal

Serve with Sour Mash Whiskey–Glazed Whole Roasted Turkey (page 168).

 

 

Crispy Salt and Pepper Chicken with Caramelized Fennel and Shallots

Kosher Status: Poultry • Prep: 5 minutes • Cook: 45 minutes • Total: 50 minutes • Yield: 4 servings

 

Cooking doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated, and it doesn’t need to use lots of ingredients to be perfect. The better cook you are, the quicker you learn that. Here’s one recipe that proves it.

 

Cooking spray

One 31⁄2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour

2 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into

11⁄2-inch slices

4 shallots, halved if large

4 garlic cloves, smashed

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3⁄4 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

 

2. Place the chicken pieces and flour in a large resealable plastic bag and toss to coat evenly. Shake off any excess flour. Place the chicken, fennel, shallots, and garlic in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and black and white peppers. Bake until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crispy, 40 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley before serving.

 

Quick Tip

Fennel, sometimes called anise, can be found in the produce section of your supermarket. It looks kind of like celery and smells like licorice and even has a hint of that taste. It’s one of my favorite veggies to enjoy raw, thinly sliced in a salad. It’s also great sauteed, braised, and roasted.

 

Variation

For especially crispy chicken, after tossing it with the flour, pan-sear it in hot oil until golden, about 5 minutes per side, then roast with the vegetables.

 

Make It a Meal

Serve with hot “buttered” wide egg noodles. Toss drained hot noodles with margarine and salt and pepper to taste. Optionally, you can add poppy seeds or chopped fresh parsley.

 

Pair It Barons Edmond et Benjamin de Rothschild Haut-Medoc

A licorice flavor is sometimes detected in French Bordeaux. The anise in this recipe makes this one a great choice.

 

From the book JOY OF KOSHER: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes by Jamie Geller. Copyright (c) 2013 by Jamie Geller. William Morrow Cookbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.