3/4 pound of cod fillets, cut in four inch pieces, or any other white mild fish
6 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 medium carrot, peeled, small diced
1 celery stalk, small diced
1 shallot, small diced
parsley, fresh, several sprigs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth
2 tablespoons of margarine (or butter)
14 ounces canned plum or cherry tomatoes with puree
Preheat broiler.
In a 10 inch cast iron pan heat margarine and add carrots, celery, shallot, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until the vegetables begin to soften, approximately 10 minutes. Stir ingredients in the pan, and if they seem to be sticking to the pan add a little of the chicken broth.
Next add the tomatoes with the puree, the chicken broth, and white wine. Stir and break up the tomatoes into bite size pieces. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Add fish fillets and shrimp. Cook them in the sauce for 3 minutes.
Turn the fish over and place the pan on a rack 8 inches from the broiler element. Cook for 5 minutes. Serve with a crispy French or Italian bread.
Serves 2
FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE: “The Saturday Night Fish Fry” from the original Broadway cast recording of the show Five Guys Named Moe.
Eileen’s holiday pot roast. Photograph and recipe by Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor@ Blogfinger.net . It’s as good as it looks.
Eileen’s Holiday Pot Roast: re-post on New Years 5785 (2024) Hebrew calendar
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.
Preheat oven 350 degrees.
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, hand written by scribes.
The Jewish New Year 2024. (Hebrew calendar 5785 ) 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: Rosh Hashanah is now 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, “the diaspora,” 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 usually 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. Eileen had some relatives who escaped to Mexico.
When I was a kid my parents liked to go to Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY. There, on the beach, I noticed many 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.
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…..
Clam Chowder with Red Potatoes by Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor @Blogfinger
8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 medium onion, diced
8 small red potatoes, quartered and parboiled
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ ancho pepper, seeded and minced
9 San Marzano canned whole plum tomatoes, diced
¼ cup marinara sauce
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
2 6 ½ ounce cans chopped clams, drained
2 dozen littleneck clams in their shell
2½ cups chicken broth
¼ cup white wine
1 cup clam broth
½ cup water
freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Broth:
In a 5 quart stock pot, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery and ¼ cup of chicken broth; sauté until the vegetables begin to soften, approximately 15 minutes. Lower the heat to low-medium, add garlic and ancho pepper, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and marinara sauce; stir and cook for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups of chicken broth. Then add clam broth, water, wine, potatoes, black pepper, canned clams, and parsley to the broth. Stir contents of the pot. Place cover, slightly ajar on the pot. Simmer liquid for 30 minutes, stir occasionally.
Littleneck clams:
After the soup broth has simmered for 15 minutes, in a large fry pan, add the remaining olive oil, chicken broth and wine, and heat on medium. When the liquid starts to simmer, add the little-neck clams to the pan and cook until all the clams have opened. As the clams open, remove them from the pan and set them aside. Discard any clams that do not open after 15 minutes.
Set out two large soup bowls and place a dozen clams in each one. Ladle broth over the clams.
Serves 2
Editor’s Note: This recipe is adapted from Eileen’s “Seafood Chowder with Red Potatoes” found in “Prevention Does Work: A Guide to a Healthy Heart.” by Paul Goldfinger MD and Eileen Goldfinger, BA.
Our book is still relevant for those who want to learn some heart-healthy recipes—originals by Eileen, with an emphasis on seafood. It is still available as a paper back from Amazon. Just type in Paul Goldfinger MD. It is $12.95 in paperback.
We also have posted Eileen’s other clam chowder recipe called Eileen’s Greatest NJ Clam Chowder.
4 San Marzano whole tomatoes from a can, crushed by hand
2 shallots, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup unsalted chicken broth
¼ cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp butter
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ cup fresh basil
In a 5 quart Dutch oven heat olive oil until it shimmers; add butter and melt. Add shallots and cook until soft; add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes, and sauté for 10 minutes.
Add white wine, chicken broth, pepper flakes, and half the basil.
Cook for 15 minutes or until the cherry tomatoes soften. Serve over pasta and use the remainder of the basil as dressing on the pasta and sauce.
Serves 2-4
It is delicious with a green salad, rustic bread and a glass of Italian wine.
Editor’s note: We have found superb Italian breads at “Jimmy Pecci’s Taste of Italy” 4060 Asbury Avenue, Tinton Falls.
Also try Antonio’s Salumeria nearby on Sunset Avenue. They also have terrific Italian breads. Here is a Blogfinger link:
July is blueberry time in New Jersey. A favorite way to enjoy them is in pancakes.
You’ll need a nonstick griddle. Heat on medium.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and place two parchment lined cookie trays in the oven.
This will keep the cooked pancakes warm while you cook the remainder of the batter.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted for the batter
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted for the griddle
3 cups fresh blueberries
pure maple syrup
Preheat griddle.
In a large bowl whisk together the first four ingredients.
In a medium size bowl whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and butter.
Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then fold in the blueberries.
Do not over mix the batter, leave it lumpy, or the pancakes will become tough.
Brush a thin layer of butter on the griddle. Drop a 1/3 of a cup of batter on the griddle.
Flip the pancakes when little bubbles begin to show on the top and the bottom begins to brown. Allow the second side to brown. Then transfer pancakes to the trays in the oven.
Add more butter to the griddle as needed. Continue making pancakes, keeping the finished ones warm in the oven.
Serve with real maple syrup.
Makes 12 pancakes.
Have a cup of Joe with your pancakes, and, at the diner, be careful how you say “I’d like a short stack ” to the waitress.
“COFFEE IN A CARDBOARD CUP.” From the Broadway show “70, Girls, 70” by Kander and Webb who wrote Cabaret.
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:
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:
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).
By Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor @Blogfinger.net Re-post.
Sauce :
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 28 ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes
1 24 ounce jar marinara sauce
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup salt-free chicken broth or clam broth
1 6 1/2 ounce can chopped clams, drained
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (a garnish)
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano.
In a 5 quart Dutch oven heat oil on medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until onion wilts. Add garlic and simmer for 1 minute. Add whole tomatoes and mash them in the pot. Add the remaining ingredients, except the parsley. Stir and simmer for 30 minutes.
Leave sauce on low heat while you prepare the pasta and the fresh clams.
See directions below for cooking the clams and assembling the dish.
Sprinkle parsley on sauce when ready to serve.
Cook pasta (I use linguine) according to package instructions, 1/4 pound per person. (Cook the pasta and the clams at the same time because they both take approx. 10-12 minutes to cook)
Clams:
1 50 ct bag little neck clams (We got ours at Wegmans.)
Clean clams: (This step can be done while the sauce is cooking.)
Fill a large bowl with cool water, 1/4 cup of ground corn meal. Stir. Place clams in the water (the water should cover the clams) and let them sit for 1 hour. This step causes the clams to disgorge any sand they may have ingested. Discard any clams that are cracked. If a clam is open, tap it gently on the counter top—- if it doesn’t close, discard it.
Remove clams from bowl by lifting them up out of the water so that any sand in the bowl stays at the bottom. Place clams in a colander and rinse them with cool water.
Check again to see if any are cracked or open.
Steam clams:
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot or small onion, minced
1 cup salt-free chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine or clam broth
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a 5 quart pot, heat oil on medium. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Add clams and cover the pot, lowering the heat to medium-low. After 5 minutes shake the pot so the clams cook more evenly. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the clams open. As they begin to open, remove them from the pot and set them aside in a dish. The reason for removing the clams from the pot is so they don’t overcook and become tough.
Assembling the dish:
Place a 1/2 cup of sauce at the bottom of a wide individual pasta bowl. Next put 1/4 pound pasta on the sauce. Place half the cooked clams on the pasta. Then ladle more sauce on top of the clams. Sprinkle parsley on each assembled bowl.
Flounder Almondine. Photo by Paul Goldfinger. Edward Weston slept with his models. Paul gets to dine with his.
By Eileen Goldfinger, Food and Garden Editor @Blogfinger
Fish:
1/2 pound flounder
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Smart Balance margarine
Sauce:
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 teaspoon Smart Balance margarine
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Kitchen Basics seafood broth or chicken broth
10 whole roasted almonds, chopped
Sauce preparation:
In a small sauce pan heat margarine and olive oil on low and add minced garlic.
Let garlic soften in mixture for 10 minutes. Add additional ingredients, stir, raise the heat to medium-low and simmer until fish is ready to be served.
Fish Preparation:
Heat 10 inch non-stick fry pan on medium for 10 minutes. Add oil and margarine and brush them to cover bottom of pan.
Sprinkle black pepper lightly on both sides of flounder filets. When oil and margarine start to bubble, add filets to pan and cook until fish browns; then turn filets over and brown on other side.
Place filets on plate and serve sauce on the side.
Serves 2
Cooks note:
The fresh flounder is from Iceland.
The corn and tomatoes are from New Jersey farms.
The wine is a Pinot noir from France. (Note the fleur de lis on the glass)
SOUNDTRACK: Let’s listen to something French while we are waiting for dinner. It’s Rina Ketty in 1938 with “J’Attendrai” (I Wait)
Editor’s Note: This amazingly delicious recipe is a perfect heart healthy dish. We have fresh fruits and vegetables, no sugar, no added salt, low calorie content, excellent portion size, protein, minimal carbs, good oils (fish, olive, and Smart Balance in small doses), red wine, and nuts (almonds are particularly healthy.) The corn on the cob, without butter, but with a small amount of margarine, is about 150 calories, mostly from the complex carbohydrate content. Paul Goldfinger, MD
Eileen Goldfinger, Food and Garden Editor @Blogfinger
Fish:
2 flounder fillets
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon Smart Balance margarine
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon
Stuffing:
6 medium shrimp, diced and peeled
1 scallion, diced
1 shallot, minced
1 small celery stalk, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground garlic
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons Eggbeaters
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
Prepare the stuffing:
Put the margarine and the oil in a 10 inch non-stick pan and heat on medium.
Add shrimp, scallion, shallot, celery, garlic, black pepper and salt.
Sauté until scallions soften, and shrimp turn pink, approximately 5 minutes.
Remove from pan and place in a bowl to cool. Turn off heat under pan.
When the stuffing is cool, add Eggbeaters and Panko bread crumbs to the mix.
Prepare the fish:
Re-heat the pan on medium and add a little more oil if necessary.
Rub the chili powder on both sides of the fillets. Lay the fillets, skin side down on the counter (the skins are removed), place half of the stuffing in each fillet. Pull the two ends of the fillet together, over the stuffing, and secure with a wooden toothpick.
Cook the fillets in the pan until they turn brown and then turn them over and brown the other side. While they are cooking, squeeze the juice from the lemon over them.
serves 2
Cookin’ Music: Clifford Curry with “Mamma’s Home Cookin'”
Sauté fish fillets in a non-stick fry pan. Paul Goldfinger photograph © November, 2015
