4 cups fish broth
1 cup water
6 ounces halibut, cut in 2 inch pieces
4 extra large sea scallops
7 ounces cooked lobster meat
1/2 32 ounce can San Marzano whole tomatoes, hand crushed
1 sweet onion, diced
1 Anaheim pepper, seeded, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
pinch of sea salt or kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 large leaves of Swiss chard, remove center stem, slice leaves in 1/2 inch strips
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Use a heavy 5 quart Dutch oven with a lid. Heat oil on medium heat, then add diced onions. Cook onions until they begin to soften, approximately 10 minutes. Add the Anaheim peppers, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper; stir and cook for another 10 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, return the heat to medium and cook for an additional 10 minutes
Remove fish from refrigerator and allow it to reach room temperature.
Add the broth, water and Swiss chard to the pot, stir, bring to a boil, cover the pot, lower heat so the liquid simmers and cook for 45 minutes.
Taste the soup and adjust seasoning.
Add halibut to soup and cook for 5 minutes. Next add scallops to soup and cook for 7 minutes. Finally, add lobster and cook for 2 minutes.
Serve with grilled Ciabatta bread and sautéed slices of polenta.
Serves 2
Cook’s note: A more economical version could substitute any solid white fish such as cod loin for the halibut. The lobster could be replaced with shrimp. A good wine with this is Cavit’s Pinot Grigio (from Italy) served chilled. It is inexpensive and quite delicious.
Editor’s note: This recipe is 100% heart healthy. Fish is a nutritious protein source which contains no saturated fat and very low amounts of total fat. Lobster and scallops are shellfish which contain only small amounts of cholesterol. All these fish components are heart healthy due to their fish oils. Note that the cooking oil chosen is olive oil, which is a “good oil” high in monounsaturated fat. Swiss chard is high in anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals. This recipe originally posted on Blogfinger in 2011.
Paperback still available on line. Type in Paul Goldfinger MD. 36 original heart healthy recipes by EILEEN GOLDFINGER.
MUSIC: To play while you enjoy your Italian Fish Soup by candlelight : Puccini, from La Boheme, “Musetta’s Waltz”–Kiri Te Kanawa:
2 1/2 pounds chuck roast, trimmed of fat, cut into 2″ cubes
10 cipollini onions, peeled
4 carrots, peeled (2 diced, 2 cut into 2″ rounds)
2 russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2″ pieces
2 yellow onions. diced
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
3 stalks celery, diced
1 cup fresh green peas (frozen can be substituted)
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 large mushrooms, thickly sliced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup red burgundy wine
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons margarine
searing flour, as needed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
In a 5 quart Dutch oven, heat 1/4 cup of oil on medium. Remove moisture from meat with a paper towel and lightly sprinkle cubes with searing flour; place meat in oil and brown on all sides. Do this in small batches and set meat aside as they brown.
Add diced carrots, celery and yellow onions to the Dutch oven and cook until they soften and brown, approximately 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook 3 minutes. Add wine, stout, beef broth, thyme, tomato paste, black pepper, salt and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and stir.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add meat to pot and simmer covered for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
While the meat and sauce are simmering, heat margarine and 2 tablespoons of oil on medium in a large nonstick fry pan. Add the 2″ pieces of carrot, potatoes, cipollini onions, tomatoes, and green beans; and sauté until the vegetables turn a little brown, approximately 30 minutes.
Add the browned vegetables to the meat and sauce after the meat has cooked for 1 hour.
* For the best flavor prepare the stew to this point a day or two prior to serving.
Reheat the stew on medium-low until the sauce begins to simmer. Add the green peas and mushrooms. Stir and cook for 1 hour. Taste to adjust for flavoring.
Prepare 1-2 days before serving Preheat oven 350 degrees
5-6 pound brisket
freshly ground black pepper
paprika
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cooking onions, diced
4 carrots, peeled, cut in ¼” rings
4 stalks celery with leaves, ¼” slices
1 package (8-10 oz) fresh cremini or white mushrooms, thinly sliced
5 small cans of whole white potatoes (drained of the liquid)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 8 oz jars beef gravy
1 cup red wine
1 box low sodium beef or chicken broth
½ cup marinara sauce
Rub paprika and black pepper on both sides of the brisket (approximately 2 tablespoons of paprika & 1 tablespoon black pepper.)
Heat a large oven proof pan (with cover) on the stove. When pan is hot place brisket in pan and sear until meat turns brown. Turn meat over and sear on the other side. Remove brisket from pan and set aside.
Add oil to the pan and heat medium low. Add onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté on medium low heat for 15 minutes. Next add garlic, 1 jar beef gravy, red wine, box of broth, and marinara sauce. Stir the liquids with the vegetables and add the seared brisket to the pan. Place the cover on the pan and put it in the oven for 3 hours. Half way through the cooking time, turn the meat over and continue cooking with lid on pot.
After the 3 hours remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool. Place meat and gravy in a closed container and store in the refrigerator until the morning of the day you plan to serve the meat. Remove congealed fat and take brisket out of container (scrape gravy off the meat). Slice the brisket in ¼” slices on the diagonal, against the grain of the meat. It is very important that you slice against the grain or the meat will be tough and stringy.
Place the meat in the original pot. Add the gravy, all the potatoes, mushrooms, and 1 jar beef gravy. Place cover on the pot and place in the oven for 2 hours. I serve the brisket right from the pot it was cooked in. Serves 8
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By Paul Goldfinger, M.D., Editor, Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, New Jersey
Rabbi/Cantor Meeka Simerly from Temple Beth Tikvah in Wayne NJ. Internet photo. The shofar (ram’s horn) is blown during High Holiday services. In the background are the Torah (Old Testament) scrolls, written by hand by scribes.
The Jewish New Year 2022. (Hebrew calendar 5782) begins on the evening of September 25, 2022. There are a few appropriate greetings for the new year. One that is widely used is “L’Shanah tovah” which translates to “Happy New Year.”
A taste of Jewish history: It’s now 5782 (the new year) by the Hebrew calendar, and Rosh Hashanah is upon us. The Jewish New Year is a serious religious event, but, like so many of our holidays, food is a big deal, especially traditional recipes. There are a lot of moving parts, but if Eileen leaves out anything she hears about it.
We eat apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year. Pomegranates have a similar purpose. (Although the Chinese like this too.) We have round (goodness without end) egg breads (challah)–often with raisins.
Some of our foods are so good that they show up at multiple holidays. For example there’s chicken soup with matzoh balls and/or noodles. Then there is sweet Kosher wine and, the piéce de résistance—pot roast. (using a particular cut: brisket.)
Of course Jews were scattered all over the world for thousands of years, so there are variations in the foods. If you are in the north east, brisket is usually used, but if you head to other parts of the country, the pot roast is made with different cuts of meat.
Many Jews that one might meet in New Jersey and New York are from families that escaped from eastern Europe during waves of immigration during the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.* So they brought pot roast with them. On the other hand the Sephardic Jews in Deal might have couscous, leeks, pumpkin and fish with the head still attached.
My family, like most others, wanted to be Americanized as soon as possible. And that included customs, dress and language. But the foods were never forgotten. They spoke Yiddish at home because of the grand parents, but they always spoke English elsewhere.
*Another wave of Jewish emigration occurred in the 1930’s as Hitler took over Germany. Those who escaped landed anywhere they might avoid the “final solution.” So some wound up in places like China and India, but other safe places included America, Canada, Palestine, Mexico, England and others. When I was a kid my parents liked to go to Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY. There, on the beach, I noticed many Jewish Holocaust survivors with numbers tattooed on their arms.
My relatives referred to America as the “Golden Land”
Here is a Yiddish song by the Barry Sisters. It’s called: “In Meina Oigen Bistie Shain” (In my eyes you look beautiful.)
From an album called To Life: Songs of Chanukkah and other Jewish Celebrations.
Currently ( 9/22) PBS is showing a remarkable 3 part documentary by Ken Burns: Holocaust and the U.S.
And here is Mandy Patinkin who made an album of songs sung in Yiddish, and in this song he celebrates America–not the old world, but the new…..
By Eileen Goldfinger, food editor @Blogfinger.net and Paul Goldfinger (right hand man)
We had family over for a chicken dinner last night, but the stars of the show were the Jersey tomatoes done up by Eileen who prepared her Caprese (Capri style) salad with slices of tomato alternating with sliced fresh mozzarella; See the actual recipe below.
The chicken thighs and wings. (thicken chis) were prepared with a dry rub and then finished with Wegmans’ Organic Sweet Chili sauce.
In addition we served fresh yellow Jersey corn from Wegmans. (4 for $2.00)
The crop of Jersey tomatoes is at its prime, now, and you can get them all over. They have ripened quickly due to the heat wave; $2.49 per pound and they are wonderful. We have purchased them at Matts in Belmar, Asbury Sunset market on Saturdays, and Wegmans Ocean.
Delicious Orchards will ship them for you.
Remember to look for the fruits where the red reaches the stem and don’t buy if they are too mushy to the touch.
They should have a slight give when gently squeezed, and that is a fine life lesson.
Here is Eileen’s Caprese salad recipe:
Ingredients:
NJ beefsteak tomatoes
Handmade mozzarella*
Fresh basil
Fig flavored balsamic vinegar
Tuscan extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Assembling the salad:
Cut four quarter inch slices of beefsteak tomato
Place the slices on a plate and sprinkle with salt
Place a slice of mozzarella on top of each tomato slice and place one or two large basil leaves on each slice of cheese.
Drizzle a small amount of balsamic vinegar over each stack and then drizzle a small amount of extra virgin olive oil over each stack.
Repeat the above steps creating four stacks of 2-layers each.
Use smaller basil leaves as garnish on the plate.
Serves two.
*The wonderful homemade mozzarella came from Antonio’s Gourmet at 2201 Sunset Avenue, Wanamassa, in the same strip as the liquor store.
Fill the night with song… Music, family and good food—-a fine recipe for a family gathering.
Here is FRANK SINATRA regarding a tomato he found in Italy:
The fresh blueberries and peaches are wonderful now—very sweet. (referring to mid to late June) Eileen got hers at Wegmans. In May blueberries are nice but no peaches yet. You can substitute fruits.
The French toast recipe is easy and delicious. You must use challah (braided Jewish egg bread) which you can always get at Wegmans on Friday. If you buy one, it will last for a week in your fridge, or you can freeze it. We bought ours this morning.
Use a large shallow bowl and break some eggs into it. (For two people, use four large eggs.) With a fork or a whisk, beat the eggs until the yolks and whites are combined.
Add two teaspoons of real vanilla extract and a pinch of salt, and stir into the eggs.
Cut three 1 1/2 inch slices from the center of the bread and place them in the egg mixture.
Allow the bread slices to soak up the egg mixture on both sides.
Add a tbsp. of vegetable oil to a 12 inch non-stick fry pan and spread the oil over the bottom of the pan. Heat until the oil begins to sizzle.
Place the bread slices into the heated pan and cook both sides until brown. (approx. 3 minutes per side)
Serve the French toast with fresh fruits and real maple syrup.
Serves 2. Make it for Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19, 2022 and bring Dad to the OG Townwide Yard Sale on June 18, Saturday.
4 asparagus, peeled and cut on the diagonal in ½ inch pieces
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon dry oregano
freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (grated)—optional
Pre heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Line the lower rack with tin foil to protect oven from drips.
Place a second rack in the middle of the oven. Use this rack to cook the pizza.
Spread the tomato sauce on the Boboli crust (or naan bread) with the back of a spoon so that it covers the entire crust. Layer the mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce. Arrange the vegetables on the cheese. You can substitute any low fat toppings that you like such as soy pepperoni, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, tuna or anchovies. Sprinkle the seasonings including the Parmigiano on top. Drizzle olive oil over the pizza.
Place the pizza in the oven.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Serves 2
DEAN MARTIN:
This recipe is adapted from “Prevention Does Work: A Guide to a Healthy Heart” (2011 4th edition , page 75 ) by Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC and Eileen Goldfinger, BA. In this book, Eileen has created 34 original heart-healthy recipes which have been designed to be both delicious and easy to prepare. The book provides patient information about all aspects of prevention, with an emphasis on nutrition.
It can be obtained in paperback or hardcover at IUniverse.com or Amazon.com. It is usually priced at $12.95.
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2 inch strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into small cubes
1 stalk celery, cut into small 1/4 inch pieces
5 ounces crimini or white button mushrooms, cut mushrooms in half
1 cup frozen peas
2 russet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
14 ounces canned plum or cherry tomatoes with puree
1 medium onion, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup unsalted chicken broth
1/2 cup red wine
6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Combine flour with black pepper and lightly coat veal with flour. Heat oil in a 5 quart Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Brown the veal in small batches. Remove from pot and set aside on a plate.
Add celery, carrots, onion and garlic to Dutch oven, lower the heat and cook until the vegetables wilt, approximately 10 minutes.
Stir tomatoes, wine, and broth in Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add veal and peppers to the pot. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
At this point in the recipe, peel, dice into one inch cubes, and boil two russet potatoes in a separate pot until they are fork tender. Next pour off the water, take the pot off the heat, and leave the potatoes in the covered pot until ready to serve with the finished stew.
Cover the stew pot and cook for 3/4 hour. Continue to stir occasionally. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning (more pepper and salt if necessary.) Add mushrooms and peas, and cook another 15 minutes with the top back on or until the veal is fork tender.
Add some additional chicken broth during the cooking process if the liquid begins to evaporate.
Serves 2-3 people
PUCCINI. “O Mio Babbino Caro.”
*Editor’s notes:
Red wine is a must. We had an Acrobat Pinot Noir (2016) from Eugene, Oregon—-Wegmans selection. The bread is a Bastone, a crunchy-crusted Italian loaf from Mario’s in Fort Myers, Florida—by way of Sicily. But, in the OG area, “A Taste of Italy” on Asbury Avenue has excellent Italian bread.
Substitute meats: Skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into one inch pieces, or beef.
Eileen (left) and Myrna Goldfinger. Chester, NJ. c.1995.
By Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor @Blogfinger and Paul Goldfinger, Regular Editor@Blogfinger.net
Most Jewish families have a favorite recipe for what has been called “heaven in a bowl” (Jaimie Oliver, chef.) It is a “classic comfort food” and has been part of Jewish tradition since medieval times.
Jewish chicken soup is often prepared to make the sick feel more comfortable. The Huffington Post says that it “has healing powers,” and the University of Nebraska documented some health benefits (anti-inflammatory effects) for colds; probably due to breathing in those delightful fumes.
Eileen follows the tradition of my Mom’s family who came over from Eastern Europe (Poland) shortly after the turn of the 20th century. They settled in Bayonne, New Jersey where they lived in a small row house on the Boulevard. There were 9 children. Grandpa Chaim was a tailor. He sewed uniforms for the Czar until he got to New Jersey.
Grandma Helen was a little gray haired lady with a tiny kitchen where she turned out phenomenal traditional foods. I previously posted the photo of my Mom’s 4 brothers in uniform, newly returned from WWII.
As a kid I loved to meet my cousins in Bayonne where we would search the attic and basement for souvenirs from the Pacific and eat all those treats which we craved at that little house.
My mom, Myrna, known also by her Jewish name–Malka, was best known for her soups, and the one I loved so much was her chicken soup with matzo balls and/or noodles. She always said that she had two “secret ingredients” which Eileen divulges below (with asterisks.)
Never try this recipe without those two items. Sometimes Mom would exaggerate, like when she would tell her students that my Dad was in the FBI and wore a secret code ring. They loved her because she told stories and because she would dance and sing at the drop of a hat.
Mom’s soup is great anytime, but especially for a cold day or if you have a cold..
So here is Myrna’s recipe for Jewish Chicken Soup. (Shared by Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor @Blogfinger.net)
1 4 pound whole chicken, quartered, skinned; wrap it in a cheese cloth and tied with cotton string
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
4 carrots, peeled
2 cubes chicken bouillon*(see below for amount)
1 1/2 bunch fresh dill*
1 bunch fresh flat-leafed parsley
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
water
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste
Heat oil in an 8 quart stock pot; add onions and celery; sauté for 10 minutes, until they wilt.
Cut 2 carrots into rounds and 2 carrots lengthwise and then in half. Add carrots to pot. Add chicken to pot and fill with water two inches above the chicken.
Bring to boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Take ½ of the dill* and parsley, tie them together with cotton twine, and place in pot. Break bouillon cubes* into pieces and add to pot. Then add ½ teaspoon black pepper to pot; stir.
Place cover on pot, leaving it ajar; simmer for 1 hour.
Remove dill and parsley from soup and discard. Remove the lengths of carrot from pot, mash them and put them back into pot.
Taste soup; add more pepper and salt according to taste. Add 4 tablespoons of chopped dill to soup.
Serve with cooked thin noodles or matzo balls. (Matzo balls can be purchased in the kosher, refrigerated section of some grocery stores).
Serves 4 (PG note: Some people throw out the chicken after that, but I have always loved boiled chicken with Heinz ketchup.)
Mom adored Broadway show music, and she sang those songs all the time around the house. The last show she saw on Broadway was her very favorite, Oklahoma.
Eileen and I took her and bought her an official T shirt which said “I’m just a girl who can’t say no.” She was thrilled.
This song, “People Will Say We’re in Love” from Oklahoma is performed by Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts; written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and would have brought tears to her eyes. (As did peeling and dicing onions for the soup)
By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger, Editors @Blogfinger
The striped bass has been a major prize for Ocean Grove fishermen for generations. In the 1980’s, stripers became endangered, but they came back by 2007.
In recent years, stores have not been allowed to sell them, although licensed fishermen are allowed to catch them, however there are strict rules governing size and numbers.
Eileen caught a striped bass at Wegmans, but it was a farm-raised hybrid striper. (see photo above) .
Wegmans sometimes carries these fish which are a cross between a striper and a white bass. A Wegmans seaman filleted the fish which weighed 1.9 pounds. It yielded a one pound fillet with the skin.
Eileen found the meat to be pinkish, but it was snow white when it was cooked, and it was delicious, coming off the skin easily with a butter knife.
Here is an action video filmed live by our movie crew in Eileen’s kitchen, and below that are her instructions for sautéing a hybrid striped bass.
Turn on the music below during the video. Repeat the video during the music by clicking on the “again” symbol at the lover left corner.
Heat a mixture of 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of margarine in a 12 inch nonstick fry pan until the margarine melts and the mixture is sizzling.
Rub paprika and freshly ground black pepper on the fillets. (Approximately 1 pound). Sauté the fillets skin side up for 10 minutes on medium low heat.
Dice 3 scallions & 1/4 bell pepper, and add them to the pan after the 10 minutes .
Then you are ready to flip the fish over and cook on the skin side. Raise the heat to medium and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
During the last five minutes of cooking use a spoon to baste the fish with the oil/margarine mixture bubbling in the pan.
Serves 2
SAVOY CAJUN BAND with Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer:
Preheat cast iron skillet on medium heat. It needs to be very hot.
8 large sea scallops
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Salsa:
1/2 mango peeled and diced
1/4 red bell pepper, minced
1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, minced
3 scallions, minced including part of the green section
1/4 teaspoon ground garlic
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
pinch of salt and freshly grated black pepper
2 tablespoons Ponzu (or 1 tbs. orange juice and 1 tbs. soy sauce)
Mix all the salsa ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Scallops:
Sprinkle a small amount of salt, pepper and chili powder on both sides of the scallops.
Put the olive oil in the cast iron skillet and brush the oil to cover the pan surface.
Place the scallops in the pan and don’t move them until they form a brown crust on the bottoms. This should take about 3 minutes. Turn them over and repeat the process on the other side, cook another 3 minutes.
Cut into one of the scallops, if the inside is still translucent, continue to cook scallops for another 1 or 2 minutes.
Remove scallops from pan, plate them and dress them with the salsa.
Serves 2
Photo by Paul Goldfinger
MUSIC: By Celia Cruz (The Queen of Salsa): “La Vida es un Carnival.” (Life is a Carnival).
