Shabbat Shalom! This weekend is Super Bowl Sunday where we’ll see the Kansas City Chiefs facing the San Fransisco 49ers. I don’t follow football, but my husband and three sons will be among the millions of Canadian and American people viewing the game.
It will be a family event and I will be the purveyor of snacks and meals. Chilli and chicken wings are the traditional Super Bowl supper fare. I’ll be making Norene Gilletz’s recipe for Easy Vegetarian Chilli. When you think of Super Bowl food, you think red meat, but this chilli is as flavourful as the carnivore version. The recipe comes from The Brain Boosting Diet: Feed Your Memory, by Gilletz and Ed Wein.
I checked a number of cookbooks for a chicken wing recipe, with a sauce made from scratch, but most of the recipes I came across called for bottled sauces.
However, I did find an Asian-style, chicken wing recipe – Five-Spice Chicken Wings – from The Best Recipes Under the Sun. This cookbook was written in 1987 by food sleuth and podcaster Marion Kane, the former food editor of The Toronto Star.
I have also included a kosher recipe for Chinese Five Spice Powder created by Jamie Geller.
Some people barbecue their food all year round. Seth Buchman, a co-owner of What a Bagel on St. Clair Ave. W., offers tips for his no-fail method for Barbecued Chicken Wings.
On Feb. 9, Fort York will hold its annual Hungry for Comfort: A Celebration of Food History event. This year, the spotlight is on the Canadian Jewish community. The event will include speakers, demos and workshops.
One of the main presenters is celebrity cook and baker Daphna Rabinovitch, a contributor to The Canadian Jewish News.
Her French Toast Cake comes from her award-winning book, The Baker in Me. This recipe has a symbolic connection to Rabinovitch’s presentation on challah at the Hungry-for-Comfort event because the best French Toast is made from challah.
Rabinovich’s French Toast Cake, however, is a lovely dessert recipe that has the appearance and flavour of French toast.
EASY VEGETARIAN CHILLI (Norene Gilletz)
15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed (about 2 ml or 1½ tsp)
500 ml (2 cups) sliced mushrooms
1 can (540 g/19 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (preferably no-salt-added)
1 can (540 g/19 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained (preferably no-salt-added)
125 ml (½ cup) bulgur, couscous, or barley, rinsed (for a gluten-free option, see Norene’s Notes)
1 can (796 g /28 oz) crushed tomatoes, including liquid (preferably no-salt-added)
250 ml (1 cup) bottled mild or medium salsa (preferably unsalted)
125 ml (½ cup) water
5 ml (1 tsp) salt (or to taste)
15 ml (1 tbsp) chilli powder
1 tsp (5 ml) dried basil
2 ml (½ tsp) pepper
2 ml (½ tsp) dried oregano
2 ml (½ tsp) cumin
1 ml (¼ tsp) cayenne
15 ml (1 tbsp) unsweetened cocoa powder
Heat the oil on medium in a large pot. Sauté onions, bell peppers, and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 4–5 minutes longer.
Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes 10 cups.
Norene’s Notes:
- Brain Booster: Add 2 cups 500 ml (2 cups) coarsely chopped fresh spinach during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
- Gluten-free option: Use kasha (buckwheat groats) or gluten-free couscous instead of the bulgur, couscous, or barley.
FIVE SPICE CHICKEN WINGS (Marion Kane)
Marinade
75 ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice
30 ml (2 tbsp) Vegan Worcestershire sauce
15 ml (1 tbsp) red wine vinegar
75 ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce
15 ml (1 tbsp) Dijon mustard
dash Tabasco sauce** or to taste
30 ml (2 tbsp ) honey or molasses
pinch ground black pepper
5 ml (1 tsp) Chinese five-spice powder
** The original red sauce is kosher
Wings
16 chicken wings, tips cut off
125 ml (½ cup) sesame seeds
Combine the marinade ingredients in a large plastic bowl with a tight-fitting lid.
Cut the wings in half at the joint if desired. Place them in the marinade and close the lid tightly. Shake to coat well. Let the wings marinate in the the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Remove the wings from the marinade. Discard the marinade.
Place the sesame seeds in a shallow dish. Add the wings and roll them to coat well.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the wings on the foil. Bake 45 minutes. Brown the wings under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes or until they are crisp. Makes 4 servings as appetizers.
CHINESE FIVE SPICE POWDER (Jamie Geller)
45 ml (3 tbsp) ground cinnamon
10 ml (2 tsp) anise seeds, ground
7 ml (1½ tsp) fennel seeds
7 ml (1½ tsp) Szechuan or black peppercorns
4 ml (3/4 tsp) ground cloves
Combine all ingredients in a spice grinder, blend until finely ground. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for 1-2 months. Makes 125 ml (½ cup).
NO-FAIL BARBECUED CHICKEN WINGS (Seth Buchman)
Buchman says the key to crispy chicken wings is to grill them first without the barbecue sauce and apply the sauce once the wings are done. His recipe was published on Sept. 6 and can be found at https://thecjn.ca/food/the-shabbat-table-you-say-tomato-i-say-yum
FRENCH TOAST CAKE (Daphna Rabinovitch)
French Toast Filling
125 ml (½ cup) packed light brown sugar
30 ml (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
15 ml (1 tbsp) cinnamon
Cake
2 large eggs, at room temperature
160 ml (2/3 cup) sour cream, divided
5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla
430 ml (13/4 cups) all-purpose flour
250 ml (1 cup) granulated sugar
5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder
2 ml (½ tsp) baking soda
Pinch of salt
180 ml (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened (175 g/ 6 oz)
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Lightly grease a 22 cm (8½ inch) or 23 cm (9-inch) springform pan. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper cut to fit and set aside.
French Toast Filling: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, working them together until crumbly. Set aside.
Cake: In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, 15 ml (1 tbsp) the sour cream and the vanilla. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a regular stainless steel bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and the remaining sour cream. Using the paddle attachment or a hand-held mixer, beat the ingredients together until they start to clump together. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl once, for 1½ minutes or until the mixture is satiny smooth. Beat in half of the egg mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining egg mixture.
Remove a heaping 250 ml (1 cup) of the batter, stir in the cinnamon filling. Scrape the remaining batter into the prepared springform pan. Dollop the cinnamon-flavoured batter over the top of the cake. Swirl it briefly into the main batter but not so much that it disappears. Place the springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet.
Bake in the centre of the preheated oven until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out dry, about 55 minutes. The cake will look quite brown on the inside, just as the surface of French toast does, but it will not be over baked. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Unmould and cool, parchment paper side down, on a wire rack. Makes 12 servings.
CULINARY CALENDAR
Sun. Feb. 9 – A Celebration of Canadian Jewish Cookery at Fort York. Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will be speakers, demonstrations, workshops and giveaways. Participants will enjoy tastings and a catered lunch from traditional Jewish recipes. To purchases tickets, go to: https://fortyork.streamintickets.com/purchaseProductSP.aro?sum=Fort+York+Events#33460
Wed. Feb. 12 – Shoresh Annual Fundraiser: Taking Root. Time: 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Location: Eglinton West Gallery, 2301 Keele Street. For more information, go to: https://shoresh.ca/takingroot
