Monday, June 15, 2009

Kosher by You - Alternative to a Hechsher

We haven't been doing very much business - this has still not gotten off the ground - and we had to drop our Hechsher a while ago. We still hope to get another hechsher but in the meantime, we are offering something that might be even better depending on your skills and disposition.

Anybody that wants to cabn go into our kitchen and ask and questions. In other words do their own investigation. So that way, everybody and anybody can give us a hechsher.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Looking to cater Bris

Do you have, or will you have, a bris to make?

Consider using us. Good Kosher food and all parave and not too expensive compared to some other alternatives. Look at the entire menu at http://www.snurl.com/22199. Don't pay too mujch attention to the prices - we are offering discounts for the first couple or so people who do this so don't let the price stop you.

We can also make or buy a few extra things that are not on our menu to include with the meal and can also make private recipes.

Best would be if the bris was in the Agudas Achim shul at 1564 Coney Island Avenue, between Avenue L and Avenue M, across the street, more or less, from Chaim Berlin. (Rabbinical Academy Mesivta Rabbi Berlin at 1593 Coney Island Ave)

Don't forget also - we will prepare and deliver things for Shabbos or weekdays. So you can test out and taste any dishes in advance.

Contact me at 718-338-6043.

New Product - pita type bread

We have come up with a new idea - pita bread without a pocket in it.

The way pita bread is usually made there is a pocket in which you can stuff things like falafel. T

In this case, there would not be an empty space or pocket in the bread. But it would be the same bread. You could dig out your own hole and put falafel in it.

The way this is different from, say, a whole rye bread, is that rye bread is not strong - if you dig out the inside it will collapse. Pita bread is stronger and you can make your own pocket.

This way you get more bread but you also can put falafel or anything else in a pocketb after yiou eat a little bread.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Three rather new interesting books about food and eating

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (2008)

Real Food - What to eat and why by Nina Planck (2006)

and

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes (2007)

These books are to be found at about 613.2 in the Dewey Decimal system in a library.

Update: I also now found another book at 363.8 (food business)

It is The End of Food by Paul Roberts (2008)

The book by Gary Taubes is about double the length of the other two. The authors of the other two books have also written other boooks on the same or similiar topics but Taubes has not.

They all basically are a little bit on the same theme. The food we are encouraged to eat by the experts, and the food that is most readily available or maybe often eaten, and the food theories that are officially promoted - are wrong, or badly conceived, and they go into great detail.

One book even says that some of the theory the author might give contradicts itself , but it still adds up to the same thing.

For some reason at least of the books (I think) seem to trae the start of the problem to the 1980s when in reality it was much earlier. But they note that we originally did not have a wrong theory about carbohydrates before 1950 or 1960.

The point of one of the books is that we are now trying to think of food as made up only of its constituent parts, but this is wromng (especially since there are nutrients that never got counted or discovered or at leasts never got any publicity) I don't remember what exactly is in each book, and there are other sources to draw on, but there is one thing here I would like to mention taht in part comes from ideas in these books.

There are two - maybe three - maybe four - different things that are wrong with most breads.

The thing we hear most about is that you do not get the whole grain, and so are losing nutrients. This is actually the least important thing and is not the thing that might cause weight gain and diabetes etc. and is not really mentioned in these books.

The other problems are:

1) Wheat is now more finely milled - into smaller pieces. This is actually a bad thing, one book says, because it means the body digests it faster and the result is too much glucose gets into the bloodstream too fast. (as some would say, it has a higher glycemic index)

People did this because this flour was more white, and kept longer. Rats and mice don't like to eat it so much. We shouldn't either.

2) In general, if you need to make one simple generalization, eating grains (which are seeds) is not so good. We are eating too many seeds and not enough of other parts of a plant. Most parts of a plant contain more Omega 3 fatty acids relative to Omega 6 than do seeds, which have a lot more Omega 6. It may very well be that is not the amount of Omega 3 or Omega 6 that you eat that matters, but the ratio between them.

(It occurs to me that seeds are thing taht sometimes are considered kitniyos and there is a lot you can discuss about that - it is mostly custom and history as to what is kitniyos and what is not, but there are some very important real distinctions between something that can become chometz and something that cannot and might only be kitniyos)

Note: This post is actually by Shmuel Finkelman. In fact almost all of this has been by me. There is no way to allow more tahn one user with this software, apparently.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Macrobiotic menu

We have prepared a menu to cook macrobiotic meals for someone (approved by the person prescribing it) and we have one or two customers for that. We can prepare many different kinds of specialized kosher meals. Right now we are getting started cooking for one person. You can get this too - for yourself, or for a family member who either lives or doesn't live with you (somewhere in Brooklyn for the most part - not too many of the meals can be mailed)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Three more menus

Here are more dishes, in the form of a menu for breakfast, lunch, supper and Shabbos. Actually anything can be taken from any menu. Everything here is pareve.

Menu I is at the bottom (first post) . You can see it at http://www.snurl.com/22199

Menu II

Breakfast Price per Lb:

Apple sauce (plain or with strawberries)......................... $7.00 a pound
Apple Torte................................ $8.00 a pound
Fruit turnover................................ $8.00 a pound
Whole wheat raisin sticks................................ $8.00 a pound
Fruity couscous salad................................ $7.00 a pound
Quinoats cereal or milloats cereal................................ $8.00 a pound

Quinoats is quinoa mixed with oats and millouts is millet mixed with oats. Quinoa - pronounced usually something like keen-wa - is also sometimes mistakenly called quinloa. It looks something like a cross between sesame seed and millet. It originated high in the Andes Mountains in South America and was for years known there as an Indian food and getting less popular with time, till about 1975. It had been used by the Incas for some of their religious rituals and was frowned on by the Spanish because of that. It was first test planted in the United Sattes in 1982 in Colorado and was popularized in a book published in 1989 (Quinoa the Supergrain: Ancient Food for Today - ISBN number 0870407805.) She has a forum today at Eden Organic http://www.rwood.com/Forum. Quinoa is not a true grain and is Kosher for Passover, although there are a few Rabbis who consider it kitnios. Of course it would need to be processed separately from any chometz products .

Glazed apples or pears................................ $7.00 a pound
Hot chocolate, hot choco or iced choco ........................ $7.00 a pint.

Hot chocolate is more liquid than the others. Choco is made from a type of rice drink known as rice dream, with a type of texture more like a milkshake.

Lunch

Veggie soute' ............................... $7.00 a pound
Roasted beets or mixed veggies............................... $7.00 a pound
Carrot soup............................... $7.00 a pound
Sweet and sour cabbage............................... $8.00 a pound
Mushroom pate'.............................. $7.00 a pound
Baked peppers and onions............................... $7.00 a pound
Fish salad (made from whitefish)............................... $12.00 a pound
Fish patties (of salmon) ............................... $12.00 a pound

Supper

Roasted saitan and sauce............................... $10.00 a pound
Mushroom Ravioli............................... $9.00 a pound
Tzimmis............................... $7.00 a pound
Potato (or butternut) chips or knishes.................. $9.00 a pound
Yam stew............................... $8.00 a pound

Shabbos

Matza veggie kugel............................... $8.00 a pound
Quinlet pilaf (Quinlet is quinoa mixed with millet) ....... $8.00 a pound
Sardine salad ............................... $10.00 a pound
Sorbet (plain or banana berry) ............................... $10.00 a pound

This sorbet is non-dairy. It is made of water, fruit juice and maple syrup
(instead of sugar) Sorbet is also called sherbet and is a frozen dessert.


Menu III

Deviled eggs with lox ............................... $13.00 a pound
Apple fruit cake or apple carrot cake............................... $9.00 a pound
Banana oat muffins (about 6 ounces each) ................... $2.00 each
Fruit dessert with nuts............................... $7.00 a pound

Lunch

Zucchini-tomato sauce ............................... $7.00 a pound

Zucchini is a variety of squash. The zucchini is mixed with tomatoes.

Vegetable casserole............................... $8.00 a pound
Rainbow couscous............................... $8.00 a pound
Carrot salad............................... $7.00 a pound
Tofu with tomato sauce............................... $8.00 a pound
Barley bean soup............................... $8.00 a pound
Rice & millet patties............................... $9.00 a pound
Spaghetti with veggies and sauce............................... $8.00 a pound
Baked tofu............................... $9.00 a pound

Supper

Potato bake (like a potato cake) ............................... $7.00 a pound
Zucchini kugel............................... $8.00 a pound
Guacamole (avacado salad)............................... $9.00 a pound
Rice amandine (this means rice with almonds).......... $8.00 a pound
Baked bean casserole............................... $9.00 a pound
Chickpea patties............................... $9.00 a pound

Shabbos

Pinto bean salad............................... $8.00 a pound
Imitation chopped liver (all vegetable) ................ $9.00 a pound
Pea spread............................... $8.00 a pound
Chocolate cake deluxe............................... $9.00 a pound
Chocolate banana............................... $9.00 a pound

This is basically a banana cut into pieces, covered with chocolate, and frozen. You take it
out and wait till it warms up a little - till it gets soft enough to eat. You shouldn't wait
until it gets close to room temperature.


Menu IV

Breakfast and desserts

Banana bread or banana pie ............................... $7.00 a pound
Raspberry chocolate pie............................... $8.00 a pound
Carrot-nut torte ............................... $7.00 a pound
(a pound of carrots with a cup of nuts)

Vanilla pudding............................... $7.00 a pound
Oatmeal cookies or sesame almond cookies......... $8.00 a pound
Walnut cookies............................... $8.00 a pound
Almond butter cookies............................... $8.00 a pound

(almond butter is a paste made up of almonds)

Lunch

Tomato soup - one pint ............................... $6.00 per pint
Bean and pasta soup ............................... $6.00 a pound
Wheatberry salad ............................... $6.00 a pound
(Wheatberry is the whole grain)

Sardine spread (standard or plain) ....$9.00 a pound
(Plain = with no vegetables in it)

Tuna steaks ............................... $13.00 a pound
Salmon cakes............................... $13.00 a pound

Supper

Roasted vegetable soup ............................... $7.00 a pound
Pickled carrots............................... $6.00 a pound
Eggplant-walnut pate' ............................... $7.00 a pound
Corn on the cob ............................... $6.00 a pound
(One pound is about 3 cobs)

Oven fried potatoes............................... $6.00 a pound
Pasta squash with walnuts............................... $7.00 a pound

Shabbos

Apple crisp ............................... $8.00 a pound
Blueberry cream pie............................... $8.00 a pound
Falafel balls * ............................... $7.00 a pound
Lentil patties with tomatoes............................... $8.00 a pound
Cinnamon balls............................... $8.00 a pound
Honey cake............................... $8.00 a pound

* Note: Falafel, according to the strict rules of Hebrew grammar - that is,
the official beged-kefet rules enforced on Israeli radio - ought to be
pronounced palafel, I think (or maybe palapel?) but everybody says falafel.


Dressings: ($8 a pound)

1) Citrus
2) green garlic
3) coleslaw
4) tartar sauce
5) garlic dip
6) bean dip
7) Nayomaise

Nayomaise is made of a brand of mayonnaise preparation known as Nayonaise, which contains soy and not eggs - which, when some additional other ingredients are added, mainly vinegar, a book has dubbed Nayomaise.

* From Nasoya. See http://www.nasoya.com/nasoya/nayonaise_index.html

Condiments ($1 a pound)

1) Eggwhite mayo
2) cranberry conserve
3) tomato sauce - cooked
4) fresh tomato sauce
5) light lemon sauce 6) tofu spread
7) techina
8) corn relish

Salt-free menu

Salt free menu

Breakfast............................................................. $2 each

Orange cranberry muffins................................. $2 each

Tomato muffins.......................................................$6 a pound
Hash brown potatoes...............................................$6 a pound
Rye bread with onions............................................$6 a pound
Olive oil and basil bread..........................................$7 a pound
Honey and sesame bagel sticks..............................$7 a pound
Cinnamon raisin bread.............................................$7 a pound
Date and nut bread...................................................$8 a pound
Rice pudding...................................................$8 a pound
Apple sauce...................................................$8 a pound
Apple walnut cake,...................................................$8 a pound
Macaroons...................................................$8 a pound
Oatmeal cookies...................................................$8 a pound

Lunch

Brown rice ...................................................$7 a pound
[extra charge if adding tomato salsa]

Pasta and pesto...................................................$8 a pound
Cheeseless pizza...................................................$8 a pound

(When salt is removed, other parts of the recipehave to be adjusted)

Bean soup...................................................$7 a pound
Tabbouleh (bulgur) or couscous.............$7 a pound
Salmon, talapia or tofu steaks ........$12 a pound
[extra charge for adding corn relish]

Tuna salad with dressing ...................................................$10 a pound

Supper and Shabbos

Avocado and bean salad ...................................................$8 a pound
Challah or challah rolls ...................................................$6 a pound
Roasted garlic chummas ...................................................$7 a pound
Baba Ganoush...................................................$7 a pound
Cucumber salad...................................................$7 a pound
Potato and egg salad [separate or together] ..........$6 a pound
Mushroom pancakes...................................................$7 a pound