Always Room On The Shabbos Table

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Always Room On The Shabbos Table

By: Shoshana Greenwald

Published: November 25th, 2009

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It’s time for the next chapter in the re-education of kosher cooks. First came correctly pronouncing quinoa, incorporating edamame into salads and soups, and who can forget the strawberry mango salad? Now, there is a mass of new recipes available with the introduction of Kolatin, a parve bovine-based, kosher gelatin. Espresso panna cotta, here we come.

Luckily, the doyenne of kosher cooking herself is here to help. Susie Fishbein, the supremely popular author of the Kosher By Design cookbooks, has developed new recipes that incorporate gelatin into desserts, centerpieces and even berry sparklers. Some of the recipes will be available in her upcoming cookbook, Kosher By Design Teens in the Kitchen.

One of Ms. Fishbein’s recipes, tropical coconut pudding parfait, will be included on the first consumer package of Kolatin. Ms. Fishbein describes the dessert as “a really lovely coconut pudding layered with mango and graham cracker crumbs.” “Because you can layer this product,” she adds, “the presentation values are just stunning.”

Other recipes include triple chocolate mousse pie and the aforementioned espresso panna cotta.

This is not your grandmother’s Jell-o. “I was introduced to gelatin in the past,” noted Ms. Fishbein, “but I never used it because the results were not up to par. They didn’t have holding power and you want the shimmer. Once I got my hands on this, it opened up a world of possibilities to me of recipes I never developed before.” We’re talking no-bake cheesecake.

Using an advance sample of Kolatin, I made both a basic marshmallow recipe (designspongeonline.com), as well as Ms. Fishbein’s triple chocolate mousse pie. Both were delicious and neither required the oven. The mousse pie, in particular, was decadent and a fantastic recipe for the chocoholics in your life. The name comes from the three layers of chocolate-the crust, the mousse and an additional layer of melted semi-sweet chocolate that adds a deep and gooey texture to the dessert. The recipe is dairy and it tastes like it.

Gelatin-based foods and desserts, in particular, are great recipes to make with children and teens. There is, in fact, a gelatin recipe in Kosher By Design Teens in the Kitchen. According to Ms. Fishbein, the recipe is a variation on a traditional Jell-o sparkler, “where you take the berry sparkler and make it more upscale or healthier using fruit juices that are high in antioxidants,” pomegranate or blueberry juice, for example. Cooking with children (and teens) is generally a great way to expose them to new foods and get them more involved in what they eat.

For all of you one-pot cooks, I should warn you, that both recipes I tried necessitate a few steps as well as bowls and dishes.

That’s the thing of gelatin. Its magic takes time; not much time – five minutes will do.

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The accompanying recipe – excerpted from the Kosher By Design Supplement introducing Kolatin Kosher Gelatin by Susie Fishbein with Tish Boyle and exclusive photos by John Uher – is printed with permission of Glatech Productions. Learn more about kosher gelatin and get exclusive recipes at koshergelatin.com.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Pie

By Susie Fishbein

Dairy

Makes 8-10 servings

Hands on time: 10 minutes

Chill time: 3 hours

Here’s a no-bake pie that will thrill the chocolate lovers in your life. It is exceptionally easy to prepare, and makes a dramatic presentation at a party. Serve it with additional whipped cream, if you like.

Ingredients:

6 ounces semisweet good quality chocolate bars, finely chopped

2 cups (16-ounces) heavy cream, divided

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder