Category Archives: recipes

Incredible Vanilla Ice Cream

Pesach, recipes

I got this recipe from a friend who made it for my sheva brachos almost seventeen years ago, and I’ve made it a number of times and gotten rave reviews every time.  I rarely make ice cream anymore, except for Pesach, but this was the first year I’ve made this for Pesach.  It usually has a crumb topping, but for Pesach I left it off.  My kids liked this more than any other frozen desserts we made this year, except for the strawberry ice whip, which I told you has emotional staying power from year to year. 🙂

Incredible Vanilla Ice Cream

  • 2 containers whip (regular size), coconut cream, or dairy cream
  • 2 – 3 eggs
  • 1/2 – 3/4 c. sugar
  • 2 t. vanilla

Mix up the whip until thick, then mix the other ingredients into it.  Then:

  • 5 eggs, separated
  • 1/3 c. sugar

Beat the egg whites and sugar in a clean, dry bowl until stiff.  Mix the egg yolks into the mixture above.  When egg whites are stiff, fold both mixes together.  Put in a pan and freeze.  You can grate baking chocolate on top to add a decorative touch.

Avivah

Fruit Sorbet

Pesach, recipes

>>Could you please post how you make your fruit sorbet? I am assuming you don’t have a KLP ice cream maker and i am curious to know how you mke one without.<<

Here’s the recipe for the fruit sorbet – the name of it is really a misnomer because there’s no fruit in it.  It’s very easy and not a bit healthy; I doubt you can find anything redeeming about it nutritionally.  On Pesach we eat things and use ingredients that I don’t use the rest of the year, and this recipe is a perfect example of that. 🙂

Fruit Sorbet

  • 2 packages of jello
  • 2 c. boiling water
  • 1 container of whip

Mix the jello with boiling water, chill slightly but not until set.  Beat the whip partially, but not until stiff.  Combine the jello and whip, then freeze in a pan.  Take out a few minutes before serving.

I don’t have an ice cream maker, but in the past when making sherbert, what I’ve occasionally done is to mix all the ingredients together, pour into a pan, freeze, and then every 20 minutes or so to stir it. Another easier option that I did more often was to freeze it, then whip it, then freeze again only once more.  That way it has a sherbert-like consistency.

For Pesach desserts (on yom tov and Shabbos, not chol hamoed) we usually have one frozen treat with one baked good at every meal.  I don’t like to have more than that because it seems like overload to me.  Examples would be vanilla ice cream with apple pie, mocha squares with strawberry ice whip, or chocolate cake with fruit sorbet.  Even though it’s a lot more sugar than I generally use, everyone generally just has a piece of each per meal, so it’s still not horrible.

Avivah

Quinoa Pudding

Pesach, recipes

Quinoa Pudding

  • 1 c. quinoa
  • 2  c. water
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1/3 c. honey
  • 1/8 t. salt
  • 1/4 c. slivered or chopped almonds
  • 1/4 c. raisins
  • 1/8 t. cinnamon (for sprinkling on top)

Rinse quinoa to remove bitter coating.  Bring quinoa and water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 13 – 15 minutes, until the grains are translucent.

Mix quinoa together with all other ingredients. Pour into a greased 9″ pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Avivah

Matza Pizza – Pesach

Pesach, recipes

Here’s a quick and easy Pesach lunch:

Matza Pizza

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 c. milk
  • 4 matzos
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 16 cheese slices or equivalent of shredded cheese

Beat the egg and milk.  Brush one side of the matza with this, and put the matzos next to one another on a well greased pan, with the dry side down.  You can cover with sauce and put the cheese on top, or cover with cheese and pour the sauce on top.  (I’ll try covering it with cheese and then the sauce, for a different presentation.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Update – we made this, and tried it with and without the egg and milk.  I didn’t taste it but my kids did, and they didn’t think there was much of a difference.  They felt it was faster to make without it and would rather stick to just putting the sauce straight onto the matza.  We also tried it with the cheese on top, and the sauce on top, and they preferred it with the cheese on top, in the traditional way.

Avivah

Strawberry Ice Whip

Pesach, recipes

This is a classic for Pesach in our family – it’s the one thing that I always make every year.  We have pictures of my oldest two when they were 3 and 2, blending this up together, and every year since then, my kids anticipate making and eating this strawberry ice whip.   Several years ago I mentioned that I wasn’t going to make it, and all of the kids vociferously protested and told me it wouldn’t feel like Pesach without it!  It’s super easy – the main thing is you have to blend it for the whole time so that it really fluffs up.

Strawberry Ice Whip

  • 2 c. strawberries, sliced
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 t. lemon juice
  • 2 egg whites

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix with electric blender (we use a hand blender) on high speed for twenty minutes, until the mixture triples in volume.  Put in the freezer (we put it in a pan) and serve when frozen – we cut it into squares for a yummy and light dessert.

We’ve served this to many guests over the years (most recently to yesterday’s lunch guests), and they’ve all enjoyed it, too!

Avivah

Quick and easy banana ice cream

homemaking, recipes

Today we were given a case of peeled frozen bananas from someone who needed the space in their freezer.  With my handy dandy dehydrator, I can now deal pretty efficiently with what in the past would have been way too much produce for me to deal with, short of feeding it to my kids nonstop!

My ds15 is the one who usually makes the fruit leather, so I asked him before I accepted the bananas if I should say yes or not.  I didn’t want him to feel overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of ripe bananas needing to be processed, especially this week, since I want to get the kitchen cleaned and all cooking that isn’t necessary out of the way.  He willingly agreed, so off we went to pick them up. 

He’s found that the most efficient way to make fruit leather is to throw the fruit into the food processor or blender.  So he started blending the first batch, and then added a little bit of fruit juice concentrate.  Before he even tasted it, he told me it looked like ice cream – it was light and fluffy.  He let everyone taste it, and the response of two of my kids showed me that: a) it was really good and b) they needed to take an immediate nap (because they liked it so much they started complaining and being sad when they had to wait for more.) 

The first batch was finished off within minutes of him making it – it never made it anywhere near the dehydrator trays.  🙂  And we decided to keep the bananas in the freezer to use for shakes and ice cream instead of dehydrating it.  It’s a quick and healthy treat that everyone enjoyed and I know that they’ll continue to enjoy.  And it’s always good to have yet another way to deal with ripe bananas.

So here’s the very unofficial recipe – take a bunch of frozen bananas (they have to be frozen – fresh bananas will have a different consistency), and blend them up.  Add concentrate – he estimated that the ratio of bananas to concentrate was 10:1 (about ten bananas and half a can of concentrate).  But the easiest thing is probably to taste it and add a little more or a little less, according to your preferences.  Serve immediately.  (If you make this in advance and freeze it, let me know how it works to do that.)

Avivah

Banana Crunch Muffins

recipes

I mentioned last week that I was planning to make these for Shabbos breakfast for the kids, but my mom surprised us by bringing over some cold cereal, so I didn’t end up making them after all.   I don’t usually share recipes until after I’ve tried them out and they’ve been successfully received by the family, but since Yael asked for it, here it is!

Banana Crunch Muffins

  • 1 1/2 c. flour
  • 1 t. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 t. baking powder
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 3 bananas, mashed
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 c. butter, melted

Mix all of the dry ingredients, then mix all of the wet ingredients in another bowl.  Combine both mixes, combining until just mixed.  Put in an muffin pan.

Then – Topping:

  • 2 T. flour
  • 1/8 t. cinnamon
  • 1 T. butter
  • 1/4 c. sugar (optional)

Combine all of the topping ingredients, and sprinkle on top of the muffins.  Bake at 375 degrees for 18 – 20 minutes.

Alternatives:

 – For the topping, you can substitute sliced almonds – that’s what I’d do. 

– If you’d like to use this basic recipe to make blueberry muffins, then replace the bananas with 1 c. blueberries and 3/4 c. applesauce. 

 I’d also use whole wheat or spelt flour, and substitute sucanat for the sugar.

Avivah

Bread pudding

recipes

Here’s a really good recipe for bread pudding that we had yesterday for the first time.  I’ve made challah kugel before, but this dairy version was much better.

Bread Pudding

  • 1 c. raisins (I left these out)
  • 2 c. milk, scalded
  • 1 stick butter (1/4 lb)
  • 12 slices stale bread, torn into pieces
  • 1 1/2 c. sucanat (I used 1 cup)
  • 4 c. milk
  • 6 eggs (you can separate them and fold the egg whites in, but that’s too much work for me for a regular meal)
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1/2 t. nutmeg
  • dash salt

Plump raisins in one cup of scalded water, then drain.  Mix 2 c. scalded milk and butter so that butter melts.  Then add the bread, sucanat, 4 c. milk, and eggs.  Pour the entire mixture into a greased pan.  Sprinkle raisins on top, and then top with some powdered sugar, if desired (I left this out).  Cover lightly with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for at least 45 minutes.  Remove foil and brown for the last ten minutes or so.  I’d estimate it makes a 9 x 13 pan full – we made one huge pan that’s double a 9 x 13, plus one small round cake pan.

I tried this recipe because I had a few loaves of challah that were overbaked – someone forgot to take them out of the oven. 🙂  I used three loaves of challah, and measured everything else out at triple the recipe, but only doubled the sweetener.  The recipe was still plenty sweet, so I’m thinking the above original measurements would probably be too sweet.  But I’m leaving it for you to decide.

It’s nice to have recipes like this that can put to use something like stale or dried bread, that otherwise would be wasted.  The kids said this was delicious, so I’ll keep it in my collection of recipes to use in the future.  (By the way, if you make the bread pieces small, you don’t have to wash for this.  I also think it’s more pudding like with smaller pieces.) 

Since lots of people find odd bits of challah and bread when they clean their freezers for Pesach, this could be very useful particularly at this time of year!

Avivah

Hummous recipe from shalach manos

homemaking, recipes

I got a call from a friend last night, saying the hummous we sent in our shalach manos tasted exactly like the garlic hummous made by Sabra.  She asked for the recipe, saying it would much cheaper to make it herself than to buy it! 

We made two batches, one with fresh garlic, and one with garlic powder, and I don’t know which she got from.  They should taste basically the same, but I can’t guarantee it.  I’m not making any claim to making a perfect imitation of the Sabra recipe; I’ve never even tasted it!  Here’s the recipe we used, with our adaptations:

Avivah’s Purim Hummous

  • 1 c. cooked garbanzo beans (also called chick peas)
  • 1 T. tahini (the pure sesame paste, not prepared)
  • 2 T. lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, or 1/2 t. garlic powder
  • 1/3 c. bean liquid/water
  • 1 t. sea salt

Blend the garbanzo beans in the food processor.  When smooth, add the rest of the ingredients, and give them a quick whiz.  Once it was in the containers, we sprinkled a few whole garbanzos on top along with a bit of paprika. 

If you use dried garbanzo beans and cook them yourself, this becomes a very, very inexpensive spread.  A pound of garbanzos equals around 4 cups cooked, and I recently was able to find them for .79 lb (until then I was getting them for around 1.69 lb).  It’s a nice spread to make for Shabbos, quick to make and yummy to eat (and nutritious, too, of course!).  Once you make it yourself, you’ll wonder why you ever thought it was worth spending so much money buying it!

Avivah

Yummy Hamantaschen

recipes

Our table was filled for hours yesterday with hamantaschen in the process of being made.  This year we used a new recipe, that came from a friend (thanks, RM!), and my kids said they think it’s a really good one.  I haven’t tasted them myself, but they look beautiful, and I trust my kids on the taste.  🙂

 I’m not sure how many this makes, since we made three times the recipe, and I have no idea how many there are.  It’s not a small amount.  As I said, they were busy with them for hours!  I think that just one time the recipe is a good amount to start with.

 Yummy Hamantaschen

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 c. oil
  • 2 c. sugar
  • 3 t. baking powder
  • 6 c. flour (add a little more if it seems too loose to you)

 Mix everything together.  Roll out dough until thin but not so thin that it breaks when you pick up a piece of it.  Using the open side of a glass cup, cut out circles.  Put a teaspoon of filling in the center of each circle – you can use jam, pie filling, or make your own.  (We made lemon pie filling and chocolate, but the chocolate wasn’t a huge success.)  Pinch each circle into points on three ends (don’t press too hard or they will break, don’t press too lightly or they’ll come apart when they bake – you’ll get the hang of it), and place onto a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Avivah