R is for Risotto

March 12, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/common-mistakes/article/how-to-make-the-best-risotto-and-avoid-these-8-common-mistakes

As many of you know, most of my inspiration for this blog comes from my addiction (in a good way) to the show Chopped. This week is no exception as the episode I was listening to as I drifted to sleep (yes I fall asleep to reruns on the Food Network). What I woke up thinking about was how many times I have heard the judges discuss how hard it is to make rice on this show, never mind make the perfect risotto. I think it was Scott Conant I once heard talk about how many people have bad risottos. While it may be difficult to master, Bon Appetit magazine has identified as one of their favorite rice based dishes. They said the perfect “risotto is rich without being heavy, with al dente rice, a rainbow of seasonal vegetables, a shower of fresh herbs, all christened with a blanket of Parmesan.”[1] They did agree with the Chopped judges “it’s not always done right. In fact, it’s actually pretty easy to screw up.”[2]

Q is for Queso

March 5, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

Queso is just Spanish for cheese, but when I was in graduate school, I used to visit a Mexican restaurant around the corner from my apartment. Unlike the other Mexican restaurants in the area, who gave you chips and salsa, this restaurant always started you off with fresh chips and a bowl of their salsa and a bowl of their queso dip. The queso at this particular restaurant was amazing. There would always be salsa left in the bowl, but the chips and the queso dip would be gone. To this day, I am grateful for the chef, Tomas, who would create that amazing dip which tantalized my taste buds, and would make me give thanks for all those who contributed to its coming into being, from the farmers who cared for the ground on which their cows fed, to their sacrificing their milk, to those who knew how to make the cheese, to those who brought it to the restaurant, so Tomas could make the queso and I could experience the fullness of all those who gave and give thanks. I am also grateful to Tomas for teaching me how to make his recipe when I left Georgia. Perhaps for you it is not the queso, but for me it is. So whatever your “queso” is that provokes a spiritual experience and desire to give thanks, think of that while I reflect on my queso.

P is for Pomegranates

February 26, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

I know I was supposed to write about a Q thing this week, but I had an epiphany the other day while taking a 15-minute break and found myself in a quandary over whether to pay attention to my new P inspiration, my Q inspiration or write about both my P and my Q. In sharing with my followers on FB that I was discerning what to do most said to follow my instinct and inspiration and give myself another P week. A few told me to write about both my P and my Q. One of my friends, had a sense of humor, and shared that it was nice to see me paying attention to my P and Q. (LOL – Thanks Milton). So after some prayer and meditation, I have decided to do my P thing.

I was taking a short break from my normal routine of reading, writing, grading, and editing and when I turned on the television, Food Networks new show The Kitchen was on and Katie Lee was showing an easy way to get the seeds out of a pomegranate

P is for Patience

February 20, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

My inspiration for patience actually came from thinking about how some foods require patience in making them. My wife, who does not cook, discovered once that it takes patience to make something as simple as a quesadilla. Until she had to make one for herself, she did not realize how I patiently waited for each side to be the perfect level of “doneness” for her. Quesadillas are not the only food that requires patience in its preparation. When I am making my own gravlax, I have to patiently wait for three days while it undergoes it’s transformation in the refrigerator.

Last week, I began thinking about some of the foods we grew up eating. Growing up in a Jewish household, many of the foods people get in Jewish delicatessens today are things I used to make at home with my mother. She would patiently sit with me and teach me how to make foods such as gefilte fish, kugels, kishka, kasha, halvah, rugelach, chicken soup with matzo balls, cabbage rolls, and so much more. However, there was one thing my mother never taught me how to make and I wish she had – pastrami. Instead, every few months we would take the subway to New York City and take a family trip to Katz’s delicatessen. There we would buy pounds of food to bring home. To fuel us up on the way home, my parents would always treat us to corned beef or pastrami sandwiches. Pastrami was always my favorite.

O is for Openness

February 12, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

There are so many amazing foods that begin with O I could have chosen from this week. There is oat bran, oils, olives, okra, onion rings, onions, oranges, orange juice, omelet, oatmeal, octopus, oysters, orecchiette, and oregano. I could have even gone with some O brands such as Oreo’s or Olive Garden. Any of which would have been interesting, but it was a recent viewing of a commercial for Silk Almond Milk and a conversation with my wife Zoe a few weeks ago about trying turkey pastrami, which reminded me of how often we are not open to new experiences in our lives and in our food.

N is for Notes

February 5, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

I had originally planned to write my N blog about Nachos, but I will save them for S as I make them with Sweet Potatoes. That was my plan until the other day when I was decluttering one of my desk drawers and found a note that Zoe had left on my treadmill about 10 years ago. It was nothing fancy, just three little pieces of post it notepaper, which each contained one word I, Love, and You. I still remember how they made me feel.

It was the same feeling I used to have growing up when I would get little notes from my mom in my lunch bag. She would put these little love notes in my lunch bag so that I would know that I was loved. I have done that for those I love since then. It is always nice when someone takes the time to prepare you a meal, although sometimes we just take it for granted. However, I have found that when I put one of those little notes in with the lunch, it brings a wave of love into the life of the recipient. I try to do the same anytime I prepare a meal for someone when they are sick, or when I am giving a gift of food as a gift for a birthday or holiday. Sometimes we all need to read those words of love.

M is for Marjoram

January 30, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

The other day I was cooking preparing to make some pasta sauce and found myself out of oregano. When searching out a substitute, I was led to marjoram. In the process, I came to learn that they are of the same herbal family. Most everyday cooks have oregano or marjoram in their cabinets, not realizing they are quite similar and nutritious of any by themselves and have a long history of spiritual and medical benefits.

As I sat and looked at this bottle of marjoram, I began to think about how little we know about the history hidden within these spice bottles. How much of the history of herbs has been hidden from us, begging to be revealed to us. When we open the bottle to use them, it is not just an invitation to season our foods, but to open ourselves up to hearing the story and history of these herbs.

L is for Lettuce

January 22, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

When most people think of lettuce, they think of salads, but like any other food, it does not just appear on one’s table and not all lettuces have the same flavor or texture. Each one brings their own unique taste to the salad bowl. One of my favorites is Boston lettuce because of its cup like shape and mildly sweet taste. Arugula has become another one of my favorites because of its peppery nature and because it does not look like any other lettuce (not a head of lettuce). I also like radicchio, especially when blended with something sweet like butter lettuce, or grilled slightly. It also brings some color to the party. Watercress is one of those lettuces, which I never thought of as a lettuce, like arugula, because it does not grow in a head. It is another lettuce I like best when mixed with something else. Frisee is another one. I love blending lettuces that have different tastes and different textures, like the curly leaves of Frisee and the flowery leaves of red or green leaf lettuce. What I have found interesting is that the least nutritious of lettuces is the one that is most commonly sold and ingested – iceberg lettuce.

Taking a vacation

January 15, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

I am taking a vacation from blogging this week to do some intense spiritual work on myself. Be back next week.

J is for Jellybeans

January 1, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

Recently someone asked me how I could possibly create theological and spiritual connections to the most random of ingredients. The secret, I shared came from a unique theological idea I became exposed to in seminary in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. In one of his books, he argued that everything in the physical world can convey a higher spiritual meaning. Swedenborg called this similitude between physical and spiritual realities correspondences.

It is this notion of correspondences, which has helped me to see the spiritual lessons behind foods such as waffles, spaghetti, artichokes, basil, cheese, chili powder, dates, French fries, hot dogs, and this week jellybeans.

I is for Indigestion

December 26, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

I had originally thought that I would write this blog on some I food like ice cream or Italian ice or ice pops, but this morning after having enjoyed a feast of good foods with friends last night I woke up thinking about indigestion. Indigestion is one of those things that many of us have experienced, especially during the holiday season, but rarely talk about when experienced. Perhaps in part because it often times is accompanied by other things that we do not like to publicly talk about such as flatulence (aka farts, gas, bootie burp, or butt thunder). Even telling my family what I was writing about this morning made them a bit uncomfortable. When I shared I was writing about indigestion because in part we rarely talk about it, my wife replied, “and there is a reason for that.”

H is for Hot Dogs

December 19, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

I had thought about writing about this a few weeks ago when I was reflecting on the letter F. however, since few people call hot dogs frankfurters, I chose to wait until I was working on H. I don’t know about you, but hot dogs have always been one of my favorite comfort foods. It was one of the few “meats” my mother could cook in a way, which did not taste like it was still mooing or shoe leather; it is hard to ruin a precooked meat.

Hot dogs, although originally developed in Frankfurt, Germany, are considered to as all American as baseball and apple pie. They are also considered to be a comfort food and today we have restaurants such as The Dawg House in Rochester, NY that sell nothing but the “dawg” and bloggers such as http://bombdiggitydogs.wordpress.com that write about nothing but hot dogs.

G is for Guotie

December 11, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

The Chinese call these Guotie, the Japanese call them Gyoza, and in the US, we tend to call them potstickers. When I am eating them, I am not so particular about what they are called; I am focused on how much I enjoy eating them.

If you have never had them, they are made with a circular skin and are then filled with a mixture of some sort, typically ground meat, and or vegetables. They are then sealed by pressing the edges together or by crimping them. They are usually served with a soy/vinegar dipping sauce. They are one of those things that are amazing to eat and seem complex to prepare but they are not. Usually when I make them, I make several dozen at a time, as they do not last long in our house. My favorite recipes for making gyoza are at http://www.food.com/recipe/japanese-gyoza-41660 and for guitoe (Chinese pot stickers) at http://www.food.com/recipe/chinese-pot-stickers-13320. While both recipes are time consuming, they are better then the guitoe you will find at most Chinese restaurants.

F is for French Fries

December 5, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

I have to be honest, my first thought was to write this about the frankfurter, for reasons I will explain in about two weeks (how is that for a hint). However, as most people talk about them as hot dogs (H) that is when I will return to the all-American food – the hot dog. For this week, it is one of its all-American counterparts – the French fry. I am one of those people in the world who is not a fan of fast food French fries. I have tried to like them, but years ago, I had amazing French fries and fast food fries have never measured up since then. I am not a fan of frozen fries either. Over the years, I have tried to see if I like them yet, but I don’t. The other day, a friend stared at because I talked about throwing them away.

E is for Eating

November 28, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

After having spent most of the day in the kitchen cooking in preparation for our Thanksgiving Open House Pot Luck Dinner, reading about what my Jewish friends were eating in celebration of Hanukah, and all the amazing dishes my friends were making for their Thanksgiving feast this year, it was easy to think about eating. Each year, I tell myself I am only going to make the two things I commit to making, but that is never true. I always find it important to ensure I have made at least one thing that each member of my household, which this year is three, really loves on the table. So for Zoe it was my baked ham (thank you Ina Garten) and my macaroni and cheese. For Sam, it was pumpkin cheesecake, although it could have been anything pumpkin. For me, it was my two cranberry relish and stuffing. For my guests, I am making my twice a year holiday garlic smashed potatoes with mascarpone cheese. Ready to eat yet? LOL

D is for Dates

November 20, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

Of all the letters thus far, picking a food for D has been the easiest. I knew it had to be dates. My fascination with dates began in seminary when I was taking my advanced feminist and womanist preaching class. I was researching (aka exegeting) a scripture on the rape of Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-21, NRSV). In the process, of doing so, I came to understand the spiritual and healing significance of dates. Tamar means date palm. During ancient biblical times, people’s names were a prophesy about their lives. Date palm might not seem like much of a prophesy, but it was. The date palm is said to be the oldest cultivated tree. For the people of Tamar’s area, the date palm held particular symbolic significance. This palm tree was straight, tall, and fertile and in many cases, it was the only shelter and only food available. There were groves of these trees having one of two kinds of leaves on them, male or female. For this reason, people viewed the date palm as a symbol of fertility. The date palm was also known for its healing qualities. The fruit of date palms was used to help women through pregnancy, to strengthen the bones of the elders, to help women through changes in late life, to ward off cancers and to keep bodies operating smoothly. They thought of the date palm as the Tree of Life. So her name, Tamar became a prophesy about who she was to become – a creator and a healer of lives.

C is for Cheese

November 13, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

My focus on cheese started as a joke when I asked my wife what C food I should blog about this week. Her answer – cheese. Everything is better with cheese on it. This is true for all who live in our household at present; we are all cheese lovers. Growing up, we rarely had cheese in the house. My mother kept Kosher, at least for a significant part of our lives, and so we never served dairy and meat at the same meal. Periodically, she would offer up a cheese tray and remind us that even King David was served cheese. She was, of course, careful to ensure that all the cheese she put on the tray was marked as Kosher. As a result there were numerous types of cheeses we were never exposed to as they are made with or contain non-dairy ingredients such as rennet. This not only applied to cheese, but to anything which you could find in the dairy section such as yogurt or butter.

B is for Basil

November 6, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

How do I love basil? Let me count the ways? I could talk about how I love it in a fresh pesto sauce with some extra virgin olive oil, toasted pine nuts, and parmesan cheese and tossed with pasta. I could talk about how I love basil when mixed with freshly sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and then sprinkled with olive oil or a balsamic vinaigrette. The list of ways that I enjoy basil could be never ending, but outside of the more common Italian sweet basil and the spicier Thai basil, until recently I was not aware that there were over 60 different types of basil.

Basil has been highly regarded in a number of faith traditions throughout time. The Greek name for Basil means “King”[1] While there is no direct mention of basil in Judeo-Christian writings, it has been reported that it is one of the plants that was found at the site of Christ’s crucifixion[2] There are those who have argued it is also associated “with St Basil, whose feast day is celebrated in Greece on January 1 by having basil blessed at church.”[3]

A is for Artichokes

October 31, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

Several months ago, I was invited to participate in a blogging challenge of blogging my way through the alphabet, which I successfully completed in Inspiritual Reflections. The owner challenged some of us to complete the alphabet, if we had not, or do it again, which I have chosen to do. So this time I am going to blog my way through the alphabet in The Zenful Kitchen, spiritually reflecting on foods, herbs, spices, and other things culinary.

I decided to start this challenge with an ingredient, which has always intrigued me, the artichoke. Artichokes are interesting because from an alchemical perspective, they encourage personal growth and protect a person from negative elemental energies. Women were at one time warned not to eat them, as it was believed they were sexually stimulating.

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