Update From Smokey San Diego
Well, here’s some pics & videos the wife & I took to give an idea of the damage afterwards. These pictures are around Scripps Poway Parkway in Poway, CA:
And here’s a video!
As you can see, it’s cleaning up, but its still… Yeah. It’s been a ‘fun’ week. I’m baking some cinnamon rolls for a snack, and to take my mind off all this. First cooking I’ve really wanted to do for a while. So, yeah. I’ll return to food recipes after the sabbath. Until next time, Shalom and Good Cooking!
San Diego Fire Video (I’m Safe Still)
As you can see, I’m safe still, if a bit smoky & ashy. This is a video from this morning down here in Chula Vista. I’ll try to post tomorrow. Less than 4 hours to my birthday. Woo! Shalom and Good Cooking!
Birthdays and a Look at Kosher Restaurants
Well, a week from tomorrow (October 24th) is my birthday! So, its time to give the usual info. If you want to drop our favorite Renegade cook an e-mail or e-greeting for his birthday, send it to renegadekosher-at-gmail-dot-com. You can also visit my Amazon Wish List to peruse the items there, if you’re feeling really nice. Cooking stuff, Jewish stuff, and anime stuff is what you’ll find there. 🙂
Anyhow, people often ask what a Kosher blogger DOES for their birthday! Well, if I can afford it, I hope to get some friends together and mabye go have some sushi. Be served good food for once rather than to cook it up. I wouldn’t mind going to The Place, which is a nice Kosher restaurant that serves up good food (Much Love tio them for Kosher sushi!). Might also check out Shmoozer’s if I could afford it (What’s with all these Kosher places on El Cajon!? I thought most of the Jewish population was in North County!)
While not Kosher, per say, there are a lot of Delis around San Diego, too! If you can find parking, City Deli in Hillcrest is a wonderful place. Also, D.Z. Akin’s is a great deli, and they’re always packed! (And if i ever get a Kosher show on Food Network, they could have my picture up, too!) There’s also Hershel’s Restaurant & Delicatessen (1486 Encinitas Blvd, Encinitas, CA 92024 760-942-9655) in North County, but there have been mixed receptions on that place. The best day to go is Sundays, hands down.
So, yeah! Next week is my birthday article, so look forward to cake recipes! Until next time, Shalom and Good Cooking!
Returning to the Islands…
Once again, its time to modify our beloved brisket into ANOTHER creation. Having married into a Hula studio, one of the dishes that has always intrigued me is Kalua Pork. BUT, as we know, pork is TRAYFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, let us dust off the Trayfe-to-Kosher Challenge, and make up some Kosher Kalua Beef!
We begin with about 2/3 pd. per person, but I like going for a pound a person as this is a REALLY good recipe. We need a really fatty cut of brisket for this, to help keep the meat juicy during cooking. Take a generous amount of Kosher Sea Salt (Use Coarse Grain Kosher Salt if Sea Salt is unavailable), and rub it into the brisket like a dry rub. Let ir rest for about 10 minutes, then set it in a roasting pan fatty side up. Next, mix together 2 Cups Water and A Dash of Liquid Smoke, then pour into the roasting pan around the brisket. Cover the pan in foil, and roast at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 4 hours. When near the last hour, shred 2 Heads of Cabbage, CAREFULLY uncover the brisket, and line around the meat with the cabbage. Then recover and finish cooking!
When its finished, take the meat out and drain the liquid out of the roasting pan as best as you can. If a little remains, it won’t really hurt anything. Let it rest for about 15-20 minutes, then use two forks to shred the beef as fine as possible. Then toss with the cabbage and serve over rice with soy sauce. This delicious dish will bring a bit of Aloha to ANY table! If you want, you can also try some fresh pineapple rings serveds with it. Just remember, if you use FRESH pineapple, sprinkle a little salt onto it before eating it. Fresh pineapple is VERY acidic. The salt cuts that, and makes it taste even sweeter. Trust me, acidic burns on your mouth is NOT fun! Use the salt!
So, as you can see, salt is once again our friend. And while this may be a dinner to avoid for anyone on a low sodium diet, for the rest of us it’s a wonderful dinner anyone can enjoy! In fact, you could even make my Avocado & Pomagranate Salad with it. I’d suggest my Hawaiian Sweet Challah, but that has dairy in it. And as we all know, Meat & Dairy is a no-no! Anyhow, until next time, Shalom and Good Cooking!
News, Links, and Candy Apple Salad
Yes, your friendly cook is going to attend a blogger meetup. 🙂 Now, what saddens me is San Diego has LOTS of people signed up for a Jewish meetup! Musicians, rabbis, housewives, cooks, bakers, doctors, and the like… And yet NO ONE has started the group! Doh! I’m sure we could start it, some of us! Mabye even have it in ne of the deli’s or kosher restaraunts about town? Ah, well… Pipe dream, I know.
Also, someone commented on a previous post that they couldn’t find kosher Hoisin sauce & kosher fish sauce. No big, no big. We start with the Hoisin sauce, for which I reccomend Lee Kum Kee’s Vegitarian Hoisin Sauce. You can find it OL on Amazon, health food web sites, and gourmet/vegitarian grocery stores usually carry it in stock. Ask your local Kosher grocery store, and mabye they’ll start stocking it for you? As for the fish sauce, the BEST and EASIEST kosher fish sauce is here. It is so simple, and SOOOOOOOOOOO good!
Now, for this week’s recipe, I want to do a Candy Apple Salad, just because we’re getting into the SPOOKY Halloween season! I know, I know. Some groups see Halloween as a holiday the Jewish people shouldn’t celebrate. BUT, this is also a recipe that you can make with your kids, so enjoy! First we take 4 King-Size Snickers Bars (They’re Kosher by the OU, before anyone asks). Chop the bars up roughly into chunks, then set aside for now. Next we’re going to peel, core, & dice 8 Apples. Now comes the FUN part! Take 8 Ounces Cool Whip or Whipped Dessert Topping and put it in a large sealable bowl. Now, let the kids pour the candy & the apples into the bowl, then use a large spatula to stir it ALL together! This can be served right away, or kept covered in the fridge for a day or so before eating. Just a nice dairy treat any kid (Or kid at heart) would love! 🙂 Until next time, Shalom and Good Cooking!
We return to brisket…
Brisket and I have a love/hate relationship. Anyone who has been reading me for a while knows this. So, when I can customize new ways to cook brisket, I do. This is intended to be a wonderful dinner to ring in Shabbat, and it is my hope that you enjoy this dish.
Today’s revision of brisket is something men the world love: Barbecue. We start with your standard brisket cut, but and good cut of beef will do well with this. I estimate about 1/3 a pound per person eating the roast, but you might want a little more if its a fatty cut (Or if guests drop by after services!). We start by slow roasting it to tenderize it the night before. If you’re using brisket, cook it in a pan of water covered in foil at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for an hour. Then drop the heat to 200 degrees F (100 degrees C) and cook it for another 6-8 hours. After cooking, just put it in the fridge to set overnight. I know, you WANT to remove that foil, but DON’T! Trust me, okay?
The next day, start up a wood chip fire in your grill. I recommend apple or maple, as I like the flavors they bring to the mix. As this fire gets roaring, then burns dfown to coals, we turn to our meat. Remove the beef from the pan and slice it into thin slices. Set it aside for now, and then pour EVERYTHING else, dripping and all, into a saucepan. Liquify it over low heat, then add in 1 Medium Sweet Onion, Diced, 1 Can Diced Tomatos, Tobasco Sauce to taste & Barbeque sauce to taste. If you like kick, go to town. But I reccomend using a milder sauce to try this out with.
Once the sauce is ready, lay the slices of beef into the pan again, the cover ALL of it with your new sauce. Cover with new foil, add ventilation holes in the foil, then take it out to the grill. By now, your coals should be down to just glowing embers. We’re going to set the pan RIGHT on the coals, and slow smoke for an hour or two. Make SURE that the temp stays low. The coals should slay glowing & cooking, but no flame. And don’t be afraid to add more wood to the fire. After the 1-2 hours, take the pan to the table, remove the VERY HOT foil, and have a wonderful dinner!
A variation I like to do with this is to prepare the first stage a day before a camping trip. Then I just bring it in a cooler, set it up in a dutch oven over the fire, and cook it up for a hearty dinner at the campsite. 🙂 I recommend baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and a cold dairy-free pasta salad to go as side dishes with this dinner. I hope everyone enjoys this recipe! Until next time, Shalom and Good Cooking!
Renegade Kosher Cooking 