Latke-Vision: It Sure Beats The Yule Log

Here’s an oldie, but a goodie. Happy Chanukah — Jason and Rachel

This last Sunday, Rachel’s family got together and had a Hanukkah party, a week early. We were given the task of making the latkes, the venerable Ashkenazi-Jewish pan fried potato pancakes.

Although I tend to favor Sephardic-style cuisine, Latkes are among my favorite things from Ashkenazi (European) Jewish culture, and I hold them in extremely high regard. Hanukkah isn’t a particularly important Jewish holiday but I look forward to the annual latke frying ritual with great anticipation.

I didn’t grow up on homemade latkes — my mother wasn’t much of a cook and she wouldn’t use oil of any kind in the house because she hated the smell of grease and fried food. Frankly, I can’t blame her. The act of frying latkes will create odors that will linger in your kitchen for several days, and even with the best ventilation will require that your entire house get aired out in order to completely rid your home of the powerful chickeny/potatoey/oniony odor. Don’t let this deter you, however — the rewards are well worth it.

Click Here for Latke video if you can’t see the embedded Google Video below.

Want to learn how to make latkes? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Half-Guilt Turkey Cubano

Another oldie but a goodie.

Turkey Cubano made with Toufayan Low-Carb Sandwich Wrap, leftover Pavochon, Pickles, Low-Fat Swiss Cheese, and Hot Vinegar Peppers with a side of Boriqua Slaw. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Every Thanksgiving I look forward to the Turkey Leftover sandwiches — but this year, as we made Pavochon, I decided to raise the Turkey Sandwich to the next level: The Half-Guilt Cubano.

Also Read: Make Your Own Cuban Sandwiches

A legit Sandwich Cubano has to be made with roast pork — but if you’ve got leftover Pavochon, you’ve got the next best thing. Simply get yourself a low-carb sandwich wrap, set down a layer of Pavochon, sliced pickles, low-fat Swiss Cheese, a couple of vinegar hot peppers and you’re ready to go. If you just have regular leftover roast turkey, make some of Daisy’s Wet Adobo and use it as a condiment on the plain turkey. Wrap it up and smash it flat, grab your non-stick frying pan, and coat with a small amount of olive oil. Fry on medium heat for 3 minutes per side until heated through and the wrap gets nice and crispy.

I like these so much I may be making Pavochon full-time.

Thanksgiving at Daisy’s

Here’s one of our best Thanksgivings ever. We’re bumping this post up in case you want some great holiday ideas.

This year, Rachel and I were invited to our friend Daisy’s house for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating family traditions, and like many families, Daisy Martinez’s yearly observance of the holiday is one of integrating her American-ness with her cultural identity, which is Puerto Rican and Latino.

Turkey (“Pavo” in Latin-American Spanish) the iconic American centerpiece of Thanksgiving, has also been integrated into Puerto Rican culture as Pavochon, which was probably created by New York Puerto Rican immigrants (“Newyoriquens“) between 50 and 70 years ago as an affordable substitute for roast pork, or Lechon, for Christmas.

Related: A Jewish Puerto Rican Thanksgiving

Like Lechon, Pavochon is rubbed with a garlic, salt/pepper and oregano wet adobo and marinated for over 24 hours and then roasted. This one was marinated for 48. In the last half a century, Pavochon has since been imported back to Puerto Rico,  is a popular dish eaten throughout the year and is served alongside Lechon in the central Guavate region.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

A Jewish Puerto Rican Thanksgiving

Want to make the ultimate Thanksgiving turkey? That’s bursting with flavor and juicy as all get out? Follow our instructions below.

This is by far the most colorful Thanksgiving plate I’ve ever seen.

So after visiting Guavate, Rachel and I knew that we had to try making Pavochon ourselves, the real Puerto Rican way. This year, it happened that Thanksgiving was only going to be 4 of us — Rachel’s parents and the two of us, so we were assigned to doing the cooking. So if we were in charge, why not mix it up and do it Puerto Rican style?

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

NJ Dining: Maritime Parc

Maritime Parc Restaurant
84 Audrey Zapp Drive, Liberty State Park NJ
(201)413-0050

Web Site: http://www.maritimeparc.com

In Northern New Jersey and even New York City, waterfront dining has always been something of a disappointment. Most of these restaurants have typically been more focused on the setting rather than the food. Indeed, that mold had been broken by Arthur’s Landing which had garnered critical acclaim by even the New York Times, but its success was not to last, having closed its doors in early 2009.

So when I heard a new waterfront, high-end dining restaurant with a menu focused on seasonal and locally-sourced sustainable ingredients had just opened in Liberty State Park with a gorgeous view of downtown Manhattan, I jumped at the chance to dine there.

The brand-new space, which opened in late September of 2010 in the Maritime Building in Liberty State Park, facing the marina and with a breathtaking view of downtown NYC and the skyscrapers of Jersey City is the brainchild of Chef Christopher Siversen, a French Culinary Institute graduate and veteran chef at NYC restaurants such as “21″ and Alison on Domenick Street. Siverson was most recently in charge of the catering menus for the Glazier Group, has catered runway shows for Armani, Versace, Chanel and Marc Jacobs, and who has cooked for such well-known celebrities such as Martha Stewart, Steven Spielberg and Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

Maritime Parc Restaurant has it all — a room with a view and fine dining to boot. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

AMC’s Dine-In Theatres: The Movies’ Last Stand at the Box Office?

AMC’s Dine-In Theatre seeks to re-invent the movie-going experience with in-theater dinging cocktails and waitress service right from your seat. But in the face of On-Demand streaming content and inexpensive, high-definition home entertainment technology, is the movie theater still viable?

Like many Americans, I love going to the movies. There’s something special about the entire experience, sitting in the dark theater with a huge screen, booming sound system, munching on popcorn, and being in a large venue where you’re sharing the experience with others.

Movie-going has been practically a cornerstone of American society — more marriages and long-term relationships have probably started from “dinner and a movie” than any other. I myself can attribute the first date with my wife to going to a movie some 16 years ago. I even remember what film we saw — Star Trek: Generations. The movie was so awful, I’m surprised I even got a second date.

Click here to read the rest of this article at ZDNet Tech Broiler.

Check-Out Hunger In New Jersey

This year, along with a group of New Jersey bloggers spearheaded by Jersey Bites, Off The Broiler is again proud to participate in the Community Food Bank of New Jersey’s annual donations drive to help eliminate hunger in our state.

In 2009 Check-Out Hunger crossed the $2 Million plateau for the first time. The campaign raised $2,093,086 for food banks across the state. Since 1992, millions of people have supported the program at food markets and online at www.checkouthungernj.org.

Participating food markets include A&P, Food Basics, Foodtown, Kings, Pathmark, Shop Rite, Super Fresh, Wawa, and Wegmans.

Please make it a point to donate during the Holiday Season to the Check Out Hunger campaign.  With so many New Jersey residents out of work, this season is going to be particularly hard on families and demanding on the hunger relief programs in our state. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey reports that need for nutritious food is up 30-40 percent at its partner agencies (soup kitchens, pantries, shelters, etc) this year.

To donate funds to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, please click on the Donate Now graphic to the left.