Fill Your Freezer: 40 Freezer Friendly Starters, Soups and Sides

by 23 Comments

40 freezer friendly starters soups and sides on overtimecook

So, my Jewish readers who are feverishly starting to prepare definitely know why this is coming. For the rest of you, bear with me for a bit, but the Jewish high holidays are rapidly approaching, followed almost immediately by the Holiday of Sukkot. For Jewish housewives all over the world, that means a whole ton of cooking to be done. And for those who like to prepare ahead, the freezer becomes your best friend. (Of course, there are many times when pre-made meals in your freezer will make life easier, so keep this list handy all year round!) I personally love to have my food ready in advance, in the freezer. Most of the cakes and cookies on the blog freeze really well, but I figured I … [Read more...]

Pastrami Stuffed Shells with Honey Mustard Onion Sauce

by 19 Comments

pastrami shells 1

I feel like this dish should have been created ages before it was. Stuffed shells are a total staple of my cooking repertoire. I've done dairy stuffed shells, made with a cheesy filling. I've done meat stuffed shells with a ground meat filling. I've added vegetables to give it a healthy twist, and played around with spices. And suddenly when my sister and I were planning our recent holiday meals, another type of stuffed shells hit me. Why not stuff the shells with a delicious pastrami filling? And instead of the classic tomato sauce to bake it in, I knew I'd pare this with pastrami's friend honey mustard. And it worked so well! Not only did it serve up beautifully, but everyone licked … [Read more...]

Savory Meat Pie Hamantaschen

by 19 Comments

savory meat pie hamantaschen on overtimecook

It's 1:30 am and I am sitting at my computer thinking about hamantashen. But it isn't my fault, really. Blame it on... Oh forget it. It's totally my fault. I can't help myself. Not only do I imagine myself to have hoards of anxious fans waiting for my brilliant purim ideas yeah right but I also need to impress people at my own purim seudah (feast/party). It's hard, let me tell you. No matter how much pressure you might feel at parties, think about what it's like when you are a food writer. Exactly. Well I kinda wish I could invite each and every one of you to my purim party, because I am serving these meat pie hamantaschen as the appetizer and they are seriously delicious. But sadly I … [Read more...]

Mushroom Beef Sliders and a Review and Giveaway of CHIC Made Simple

by 161 Comments

mushroom beef sliders

Giveaway Closed! I'm super excited to be reviewing another fabulous and hot new kosher cookbook, CHIC Made Simple. The author, Esther Deutch, actually writes for the same magazine as me, Ami Living's Whisk magazine. Oddly enough, I didn't meet her until Kosher Fest, when we practically bumped into each-other. "You're Overtime Cook?!" She exclaimed. "I am such a fan." Well. After an introduction like that, I couldn't wait to see her beautiful cookbook and try some of the recipes. At a First Glance: CHIC Made Simple is beautiful. And I am not talking simply about the pictures (which are really nice!). This book is big, hard covered, and really nice all around. Every page has a recipe … [Read more...]

Yemenite Beef Soup and a Review and Giveaway of Kosher By Design Cooking Coach

by 136 Comments

Yemenite Beef Soup 2

Giveaway Closed! I've been getting a lot of questions lately about my thoughts on the new cookbook by Susie Fishbein, Kosher By Design Cooking Coach, and I am excited to finally share my thoughts on this fabulous cookbook with you. I should start by mentioning that if you aren't a kosher cook, don't stop reading. Susie's ideas are amazing, and you don't have to keep kosher to appreciate them! At a first glance: As is the case with all of Susie's previous books, this is a visually beautiful book. I opened it up and marveled at the absolute wealth of information. The book promises to be more than just a list of recipes, and it certainly delivered. Each chapter starts with a "game plan" … [Read more...]

Sukkos Recipe Roundup

by 4 Comments

Here's what I was supposed to do yesterday. I was supposed to photograph this amazing appetizer recipe and post it for you folks. But then I got home from work at 7:30. You read that right. Work. On a Sunday. I don't recommend it. I got cooking right away, and at 2 in the morning I was wise enough to realize that posting the recipe at that point would have been a really bad idea. So I went to sleep for like, four whole hours. Anyhoo. Here's a handy dandy list of stuff you should totally be making for Sukkot. They are a sampling of recipes from the archives, so feel free to dig around for even more! New recipes are a'comin, I promise. Wait, I don't. I have so much left to do! But I really do … [Read more...]

Puff Pastry Pastrami Pockets

by 11 Comments

Puff Pastry Pastrami Pockets

You know those foods that are so quintessentially Jewish that everybody associates them with New York and the Jews? I'm talking about foods like K'nishes (remember how I posted a recipe to make those at home?) and a big 'ol pastrami sandwich on rye bread. With a pickle. And sushi. Okay, that last one isn't necessarily a Jewish food, but we definitely support Japanese cuisine as much as we do Chinese cuisine, in recent years. Well, here's a food that is Jewish through and through: deli roll. Honestly, I'm often surprised that this hasn't made it out of the Jewish world much, because deli roll is just plain delicious. But it's also kinda boring. At least if you're a Jewish gal from New York … [Read more...]

Barbecue Beef Ribs with Homemade Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

by 12 Comments

bbq-ribs-1

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to share this recipe with y'all. Partly because it's every bit as mouthwatering, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth, and delightfully messy as a good rib should be. And partly because I made these for my Purim Seudah (party) and they were an absolutely smashing success. There were heaps of good food at this party, courtesy of various family friends and neighbors, but somehow nobody could stop talking about -or eating- these ribs. It's a good thing, too. I stressed over these ribs for ages. Starting with the sauce. Of course, I couldn't be content buying a bottle of sauce and pouring it over these ribs. No, I had to make my own. And naturally, after reading … [Read more...]

Hamantashen Shaped Beef Wontons

by 13 Comments

Hamantashen-beef-wantons

I know this blog has been non-stop purim treats recently. And I know that Purim is this week and most of you already have your Purim planned out, if not done. And I know that there should be some kind of witty introduction written here. Some kind of story, or a clever joke. Or maybe something to get everyone into the Purim spirit. But I must admit, I am exhausted. Too exhausted to write. Because every time I try to think of something to write by way of introduction to this post, I think about the crazy day I had at work today. I think about the million emails I didn't answer (or so it feels. In reality it was probably more like 50) and the 29 orders I haven't finished. (Not that I counted or … [Read more...]

Mini Shepherd’s Pies

by 43 Comments

shepherds-pie-1

What a week. I don't even know where to start. I guess with Sunday, when I worked a full day to make up for the days we were closed last week. Then came Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, all of which felt like a day later than they actually were. I got home on average 7:30 each night, and got straight to work in the kitchen. I went to bed after 2 am every night. Now it's Thursday, well after 2 and I am not nearly done in the kitchen. Did I mention that my company will be closed next week, so it's about doubly busy this week? Yeah, I did drink loads of coffee. Why do you ask? Enough complaining about me. Let's talk global issues. I honestly couldn't believe how saddened I was at the death of … [Read more...]