Cookies?

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In the spirit of Adar and the holiday of Purim, that guy spent the day yesterday with My fair lady and Bubbie making hamentashen.

Hamentashen are a triangular shaped cookie that are traditionally served on Purim. The cookies are cut, filling is placed in the center, and then pinched at the corners to give them their triangular shape. Bubbie made two kinds of dough: raised dough and cookie dough.

Our cookie dough hamentashen are filled with a raspberry jelly mix that also has coconut, walnuts, and raisins. We also made what I like to call Hamentashios- smaller bite sized cookies (size enough for one chocolate chip) that could be great in a bowl with milk!

Our raised dough hamentashen are made from a dough that has yeast in it, meaning that they become bigger when they bake. We filled them with mon- a poppy seed spread.

Boy are they yummy!

Chag Purim Sameach!

~That Guy

Steak and potatoes

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Hello again from Mid week meal! Nothing says being snowed in quite like a nice juicy steak. Okay, maybe not, but you never need an excuse for steak. I whipped up a quick and easy marinade, cooked my meat in it, then served the steak with a side of roasted fries.

Here’s what I did:

Steak Marinade:

  • 3/4 Cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1+ 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and marinade steak in it for at least an hour (I used two steaks for this, but the amount of marinade is easily enough for 6 steaks)

Cooking:

  1. Heat a fry pan with a little olive oil
  2. sear off all sides of the meat
  3. Add remaining marinade (that the steaks were in) and cover and place in the oven at 375 F for twenty minutes

 

Potatoes:

  • Cut the potatoes into small fries
  • season with paprika, salt, pepper, adobo seasoning, dried parsley, onion powder, garlic powder
  • Cook at 400 F for 45 minutes tossing every 12-15 minutes

 

Enjoy!

~That Guy

Presenting: Stuffed Chicken

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Basmati rice
Diced shallots ready to go
Oh Yea
“A gootchy gootchy goo. who’s a good bird?”
Stuffed Bird

Welcome back fellow mid week mealers! This week these guys put together a delightful dinner, the main course being a deboned and stuffed capon chicken stuffed with a spicy, and a sweet rice stuffing. These guy’s haven’t done anything quite like this, so we used this youtube video to help get a visual idea of how to go about the process. Now, the important things to keep in mind are to keep your knife as close to the bone as possible, the leg bone is partially left in, the wing is also left on the bird, and the tenders from the breast are sliced off and put in the areas where there is less meat to create a consistent layer of meat for the finished dish.

Ingredients:

Spicy stuffing:

  •  1 cups wild rice
  • 1.5 cups white rice (basmati)
  • 10 challots (diced)
  • 6 cloves garlic-chopped
  • fresh rosemary-chopped
  • Dried cranberries
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • paprika
  • red pepper flake
  • Salt+ Pepper to taste
  • Twine

Here’s what to do:

Cook both of your rices and then mix together in a bowl. Sautee your shallots and garlic together, add in your red pepper flakes and paprika( lots of both to make it nice and spicy). Once your shallots are golden toss them with your rice along with your rosemary, balsamic vinegar, and dried cranberries. Season to your liking. 

Take your stuffing and pack that lucky bird with as much of it as you can. As you can tell from the video they used a needle to tie up the bird.  These Guys used twine to keep everything together. Start by tying the legs together- keeping string on both sides to wind it around the bird. I tied a knot at each interval to keep everything nice and tight.

Put the bird in a roasting pan and cook covered at 375 degrees F for one and a half hours and check- your bird should be at 160 degrees when it is ready. Make sure to baste your bird often; we used our chicken stock.

Enjoy!

~These Guys

Big Red

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Deep red liquid slides smoothly down the side of the clear glass. Then, with a tilt of the bottle, a flood!

photo (18)

Embedded bubbles coalesce at the surface, forming white foam, a sign of life! Littleorganisms, single-celled yeast, float comfortably in the cold liquid, many of them in a dormant state, sleeping soundly after much feasting. Having found themselves plunged into a delicious and inviting sea of sugar, they gorged for weeks. In appreciation, these little guys produced carbon dioxide gas and a delightful organic molecule known as ethyl alcohol.

Of course, they didn’t find themselves in such a paradise by chance. Fresh chocolate and caramel malts, expertly singed in a kiln, were carefully steeped to add color, texture, and taste. Lightly roasted malt sugars were then boiled in to provide the little organisms with plenty of food.  Finally, the ground flowerings of the hop plant are added in painstaking intervals, balancing the sweetness of the malts with fresh bitterness, delicious flavor, and fruity aroma. Courtesy of Adam and Mother Earth.

       Thus is the life of a beer. An elixir of the natural world under the guidance of man. A divine partnership.

Notes of cocoa and toffee.  A soft red hue topped by a frothy head. A clean finish. Smooth and highly drinkable. Ladies and gentlemen: The Red Beard Ale.

Laughing Tzaddik

Cheers!

The Brewmaster

MidWeek Meal: Road Show

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Been a while, but This Guy is here again.

And yes you head it correctly, These Guys took the MidWeek Meal show on the road!

Hat tip to S. Katz for letting us borrow her kitchen, supplying us and helping out!

Thanks to everyone who came an enjoyed the feast!

Here is a quick meal that was fast, easy and delicious!

  • Spaghetti and Meatballs
  • Homemade Saaauuwwwccceee
  • Salad with Home Dressing
  • Challah Garlic Bread

Over the next couple days we will be putting out the recipes and the above food items will turn into links!

These Guys also want to spread the gospel of great-kosher cooking to the Metro-Boston area. So if you would like These Guys to cook for you…

Uncle_Sam_(pointing_finger)

Email us at midweekmeal@gmail.com!

Sincerely,

This Guy

Mid-Week Meal Presents…A Brew For You

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Benjamin Franklin once said,

Beer is proof that G-d loves us and wants us to be happy.

Laughing Tzaddik

This wonderful beverage is happiness in a glass, the love child of careful human intellect and the wild impetuousness of nature. As the brewmaster of the Midweek Meal, I hope to bring you a taste of that joy. We will be coupling our fresh brews with the mouthwatering dishes brought to you by These Guys at the Midweek Meal to give you something that will delight your palate and get you smiling. Stay tuned for our first featured brew, the Red Beard Ale.
Sincerely,

        P. Shapiro

       Brewmaster, Laughing Tzaddik Brewing Company

Puff puff Pass(try) Part II -Pizza Roll

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While thinking of what to make for dinner, My Fair Lady suggested we make pizza rolls. That’s right, Pizza Rolls! Puff pastry dough is such a versatile ingredient and tastes so good. Since puff pastry sheets come two to a package we made two different style pizzas- spinach and garlic, and Feef (Imitation ground beef).

Here’s how it was done:

Ingredients:

  • Puff pastry sheets -defrosted according to instructions on the box
  • Tomato sauce
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Fresh spinach
  • Feef (imitation ground beef)
  • Chopped garlic
  • salt
  • pepper
  • Basil
  • Olive oil for frying
  • Egg for eggwash

Spinach filling:

Sautee some garlic, add your spinach and cook down (spinach will cook down a lot) add salt and pepper – set aside

Feef filling:

Sautee some garlic, add feef (if it’s sticking together you  might consider rough chopping before throwing in the pan) add salt and pepper, add water to hydrate, and cook on medium heat till meat gets plump and juicy -set aside

Assembly:

Pre heat your oven to 425 degrees F and get your puff pastry ready to roll. Both rolls are layered the same way: cover the pastry dough with sauce and sprinkle with basil, cover with a layer of cheese, layer your filling, add another thin layer of cheese, roll (keep in mind not to roll too tightly). Place rolls onto a greased sheet tray. Scramble your egg and brush it over your rolls. Bake for 15-20 minutes (until golden brown).

Serve, and enjoy!

Note: if you are planning to re heat, the rolls cut easier when they are cool so cut before re heating

~That Guy

Chicken Stock

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Yes

Stocks add such great flavor to dishes, and are also handy when throwing together a quick reduction sauce. You might think that powdered stocks you can buy in a can is good to use (and I do have those in my pantry just in case), but there’s just no comparison to a homemade stock. Chicken stock is great for risotto and chicken soup.

Here’s an easy recipe:

  • Chicken bones (this particular instance I used the bones from several chicken leg quarters)
  • Two medium sized onions- Diced
  • 3-5 carrots-diced
  • 6 stalks of celery-diced
  • A sprig of thyme
  • 1/2 cup white cooking wine-optional
  • 1 bunch of parsley
  • 2-3 bay leaves 
  • salt
  • Oil for sauteing
  • 1.5 -2 gallons water  

What to do:

Saute the onions in a little bit of oil till clear. Add the onions and carrots cook for another 3 minutes then add the chicken bones. If you are using wine this is when you would add it. Cook for another 3-5 minutes then add water, thyme, parsley and bay leaves. Bring the water to a boil, and then turn it down to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes occasionally skimming the surface of the water with a spoon (the idea is to have a clear stock). Use a strainer to strain out the veggies and aromatics. Now you are ready to make soups, sauces, risottos, rice, and so much more!

~That Guy

Roll Call

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Happy Friday Fellow Foodies!

When this guy was thinking of something to cook up here is what came to mind:

Meat? Check

Deli Meat? Double Check!

3 types of MEAT? TRIPLE CHECK!

Puff Pastry dough? I cooks wit’ that.

Mustard? Bring it!

Cajun? Amen

Here is a recipe that can be a meal in and of itself and is a traditional Shabbos treat!

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DELI ROLLLLLLLL

Ingredients:

Turkey
Pastrami
Turkey Pastrami
Puff Pastry Dough
Yellow Mustard
Cajun Spice
Pepper
Powdered Garlic
Dried-Ground Lemon Peel
Sesame Seeds

How To Cook Like These Guys:

  1. Spread out a piece or sheet of Puff Pastry dough (defrosted) and spread a thin layer of mustard evenly leaving 1/2 an inch of plain dough
  2. Add a sprinkle of all spices
  3. Layer the deli meat
  4. Sprinkle a little more spice
  5. Roll up the deli roll
  6. Cook at 375 for 25 to 45 minutes

Good Shabbos!

This Guy

Introducing *Drum roll* Ground Beef!

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YES!

Here is why I think ground beef is superior:
Who can argue that there is anything better than a nice juicy steak? Not That Guy! However, there is something to be said about the amazing versatility of ground beef. I like to keep a pound or two of ground meat in my freezer in case I ever want to whip up something last minute.

You must think I’m crazy, right? Wrong!

Here are some things you can make with ground beef:

…And anything else you can think of

Here are a few pointers when forming meat:

  1. Eggs and bread crumbs help make the meat fluffier
  2. Seasonings really helps bring out the flavor- I like herbs like rosemary, thyme, and basil, garlic powder, pepper, and paprika. Grill seasoning works great too.
  3. Be careful when adding salt- ground beef can already be salty so don’t overdo it


If you are trying to eat a bit healthier, or don’t eat red meat you will find ground turkey to be a tasty substitute. And for the record- soy meats are also quite tasty and great for stir frying.

Tonight, That Guy is going to bed with the thought of a nice juicy burger seasoned perfectly (with onion, garlic, rosemary, lemon zest, and paprika) on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and a sandwich pickle, and a side of homemade cajun french fries and maybe some coleslaw or israeli salad.
YUM!

~That Guy

P.S. I’m loving that burger idea so much that as soon as I can fire up the grill again I promise to make it for you guys!