Giveaway update: Random number generator picked #65 Danielle Belford - an email has been sent to Danielle. Congratulations!
Release date March 24. Grand Central Life & Style
The Community Table Recipes & Stories from the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan and Beyond is gorgeous from the opening recipe of Weekly Challah to the last recipe of Goat Milk and Yogurt Panna Cotta with Spiced Fig Compote. Katja Goldman, Judy Bernstein Bunzl and Lisa Rotmil collaborated to bring us recipes that embrace the Community Table. "Food, family and community have always been at the center of our lives", they share. "May your copy be filled with splatters and crumbs, and may you enjoy many new wonderful gatherings drawing inspiration from our book." I love this sentiment - cookbooks are to be used and enjoyed and many of mine have remnants of meals past.
The photos, including step by step photos, of some of the braiding techniques for Queen Esther's Crown Purim Bread are fantastic. The chocolate crumb babka, the fig and fennel bread, Swedish cardamom ring, as well as the homemade pretzel look heavenly. I was delighted to see a recipe for Bubbe's Hungarian Sweet Cheese Hamantachen which is going to be made for our next dinner party. Hamantaschen has been all over the internet during the festival of Purim and I'm very interested in the savory aspect of this (albeit sweet cheese) hamantaschen.
The starters look delicious -- pickled carrots, homemade ricotta, summer and winter vegetable tarts, pickled grapes with rosemary, black bean cakes with tomato salsa -- but the latkes four ways are to die for -- potato, beet, curried sweet potato and finally a parsnip and potato combination.
The soup section ladles up yellow cauliflower soup with parsley oil, stracciatella "little rags", Vietnamese rice-noodle soup with beef, kasha and mushroom kreplach with vegetable consommé, cilantro matzah balls, and more. The vibrant salad section has recipes for Syrian potato salad, Moroccan carrot slaw and summer corn cucumber and tomato salad.
The pasta, polenta and risotto chapter contains pappardelle with lamb ragu, egg noodles with savoy cabbage and sausage, Hungarian spaetzle, risotto with salmon, leeks and peas, Israeli couscous risotto and two-grain saffron couscous.
For our seafood loving friends we have fish tacos with orange chipotle sauce and jicama-grapefruit slaw, Turkish roasted whole fish, lemon cardamom halibut, and simple sole with three sauces. And carnivores will love the chapters that include grilled chicken paillards for four seasons - I love this template for chicken with a fresh salad variation for all the seasons. There are recipes for green masala chicken, spicy chicken stir-fry with greens and cashews, braised duck legs, duck breasts with apples and maple cider sauce, Thai grilled beef salad, Pot-au-Feu, Iraqi lamb burgers with mint pesto and Moroccan lamb tagine.
Grains and legumes are covered nicely with orange-scented black beans with crispy onions, Moroccan chickpeas, caramelized saffron onions and date relish, spicy lentil dal, fava beans with string beans and hazelnuts and bulgur salad with pomegranates and pine nuts.
We have celery root and potato puree, savory butternut squash crumble, savory layered zucchini eggplant pie, shredded beets with yogurt, Matzah Brei Sri-Lankan style and more in the vegetable category. The authors also include a vegetable prep table for everyday meals with information on how to blanch, roast or saute vegetables from asparagus to zucchini with favorite seasoning suggestions.
And last but not least, the dessert section. Honey cake with grilled peaches, lemon layer cake, lime-olive oil with rhubarb compote, vanilla crescents with citrus and verbena salad, pumpkin rugelach, summer and fall crostatas and over a dozen more will tempt your sweet tooth.
The book ends up with charts for dairy, meat or pareve breakdowns for the recipes, an appendix for Shabbat and Holiday menu suggestions and for recipes that are kosher for Passover as well as a metric conversion chart.
I have plans to try a few recipes next week and will update the post with thoughts and photographs but wanted to post this today to share my love of this cookbook as well as post the giveaway.
This book is truly lovely with a nice variety and selection of recipes suitable for celebrations and family meals. If you chose to order the book - I would appreciate your ordering through the Amazon banner at the top of this post. It will not cost you anything extra and will help add a few pennies to the website fund.
NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY:
Grand Central Life & Style has offered a copy of this beautiful book for one of my readers. Please leave a comment here on this post for your chance to win. Tell me something you have made recently for a celebration. A random winner will be chosen on March 21st. US and Canadian addresses only. Good luck. Thank you Grand Central Life & Style for this opportunity.
I would love to have this book added to my collection!
I made mandel bread, my mother’s tecipe. I would love to have this book.
Frog commissary carrot cake
My DIL requested shrimp bisque for dinner last
Sunday and my son requested chicken parmigiana, love requests and family. Thanks for this opportunity Jenny.
This book sounds excellent.
This book would make a great addition! Thank you!
Things have been quiet around here since the first of the year, no celebrations lately. Late March/April the birthday celebrations begin. June is another busy month, as is October. So, I need this cookbook! I will then celebrate the win 🙂 Pretty please!
This book looks amazing. I would love it.
We recently made new friends, and when invited to their house for dinner, I made avocado and chocolate truffles rolled in ground pumpkin seeds.
I would love the book!
Thanks for the giveaway! I made a blueberry, alternate flour bundt cake last weekend that was really great. I hope to make it again.
I’m not Jewish but don’t hold that against me. I cook completely unbiasedly! Last celebration was Chinese New Year….and I’m not Chinese either. Just love a reason to cook good food!
This looks like a wonderful book! I’d love to try that Matzo Brei.
I made Hamantashen with my daughter for Purim from a recipe we’ve used since her days at nursery school. She’s 21 now!
Naturally, I’m always in charge of the cocktail!
I made baked ziti recently for a birthday dinner. It was wonderful & everyone enjoyed it!
Your review/description of this book makes me want to buy it immediately. I went to a crêpe fête last Sunday. The hostess made the crêpes and we each brought a filling. I brought sautéed pears w/thyme and blue cheese, and 2 jars of confiture that I made (quince and concord grape). There were so many wonderful choices…goat cheese, fresh honey (spectacular), Nutella, feta, nuts, and so much more.
My most recent celebration was for my stepsons’ honor roll report cards. They got to choose dinner, so one night it was my much requested mac and cheese with bacon and the other chose my chili with toppings “bar”.
Both of my parents are Italian. I would love to add your cookbook to my collection of wonderful Italian recipes.
I recently made food for a celebration.
Sounds great I wanted to learn Jewish food so I can make some for my friends
i would love to win this
I made some Matzoh ball soup!
I would love to win this. I made Matzah Ball Soup
I haven’t won a cookbook on the internet since 1998 when I won BEYOND PARSLEY from culinary.net. Would really love this one. Thanks for considering my comment.
I made braciole. And I love Jewish food, too!
I am sure that anyone would love to have this book!
It sounds like a wonderful book and I would love to have a copy to read, cook, and bake from.
Does a super bowl party count as a celebration? I made the requisite chili/cornbread along with handmade candy including turtles and red velvet cake bites.
I would love to add this cookbook to my collection. Just registered today. Love this site. Recently I baked s’mores Hamentashen for Purim and Nutella ones too!! Yummmmm
would love to have this! Recently made two types of hamentaschen- chocolate (filling is from an Israeli babka recipe) and also date/apricot. A lifetime ago I lived in Manhattan when I was younger and single….currently in San Diego, but nothing is like NYC!
Chicken and assorted pepper stir fry. I collect cookbooks (3500+) and would love to add this to my collection.
Great giveaway.
My 6 year old and I made hamantaschen cookies for Purim with three types of fillings: Poppyseed, Apricot and Prune! All from scratch and it was our first time baking in the new American stovetop/oven 🙂
I live just a few blocks from the JCC! Last week I made pistachio rose hamantashen for Purim – my office loved them.
I have a shelf of just Jewish cookbooks. I’m always looking to add more, especially with Passover coming up! The past few months I have been making the apple cake from Dorie Greenspan’s book (Around My French Table) for every dinner I’ve gone to, everyone loves that cake!
I make something special for every Jewish holiday, and love baking challah. I’d love to get my hands on this book, add to my collection of Jewish food lore, and learn more recipes and techniques!
I made surf and turf for Valentine’s Day, but am looking for more of a challenge for our next celebration, our anniversary.
I am an American Jew who was born and raised in Italy – I love to cook and mesh the two together!! Tortellini chicken soup is a standard in my household 🙂
Buon appetito.
The last celebration food I made was a layer cake decorate with piped roses. It turned out much better than I expected.
Looks lovely! I made king cake for Mardi Gras!
This book would make me happy. The recipients sound fantastic
Gluten free Matzo Brei and Chicken Soup with GF Matzo Balls!
We recently made a Japanese Shabu Shabu meal to celebrate Japanese cuisine. I once attended a Jewish seder, have I said that right? I loved the tradition and recently took 2 Passover books out of the library. I’d love to have a Jewish cookbook of my own.
This sounds like a wonderful cookbook and the first chapter I would turn to would be the vegetables for the Butternut Squash Crumble and then to the desserts for the Honey Cake with Grilled Peaches!
The most recent celebration was when my dad returned home from the hospital…I baked an old favorite of Date Oatmeal Cookies for him. They were enjoyed with gusto!
COMMENT
Brisket and potato latkes. Sounds awesome!
I made a triple layer chocolate cake to celebrate a friend’s 60th birthday.
I made a prime rib for Christmas dinner!
I cannot wait for these recipes! I’ve wanted to update some classics – just in time for Passover.
Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Sounds like an interesting book! =)
My last celebration was for the dogs, so I made liver cupcakes! Basically a corn muffin with pureed chicken livers. They thought it was a splendid celebratory treat. The rest of us had curry.
I would love to have this book.
Recent celebration was “Spring has to be coming”!! 3 couples for roast chicken, scalloped potatoes, roasted veggies, homemade sorbet.
We usually go out for celebrations. I need this book so I can cook instead….
Sounds like a neat book. I made a Brown Sugar poundcake with caramel icing to celebrate my being with my employer for 5 years. I like to reward my co-workers for putting up with me so bring a treat for them on my work anniversary every year.
Crawfish etouffee to celebrate Valentine’s Day!
This book looks amazing!
Growing up Jewish, this book would have a wonderful spot in my home.
I would love to make spaetzle! I have a few recipes but they’re all different! My OCD is making me stuck! I can’t choose the best way to make them. Maybe this book will help…
This looks like a wonderful cookbook! It’s a great find for fusion food lovers-like myself!
Always a good day for matzoh ball soup!
I made Filet Mignon with Madera Sauce and Gorgonzola Risotto to celebrate V Day! 🙂
I’m one for holding many family and friend dinner parties and celebrations.
Our last was Superbowl Sunday.
I decided to go “Classic South Baltimore”
Homemade potato chips fried to perfect and rival to our local Utz potato chips.
Our entree was South Baltimore Steamer burgers which were sold in small corner bars in the neighbors outside of Ft. McHenry.
Berger Cookies baked by a local bakery and served with vanilla ice cream.
I have made a Shao Long Bao to celebrate spring break!
i love when the description of the recipes can make my mouth water!
Sounds like a great cookbook and I would love to win it and try these recipes.
What a wonderful book! One of the most recent things I made for a celebration was for today, the feast day of St. Joseph. I made orange-scented olive oil cake for my family.
I just finished a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. We had traditional corned beef and cabbage but I also included turnips, rutabagas, parsnips and brussel sprouts. Topped it off with a cream cheese and peach pie. I love ethnic treats. This book will complement my collection whether won here or purchased.
I was hoping to make Hamantaschen this past Purim but the time got away from me. Maybe next year.
I probably missed the giveaway entry, but what an amazing looking book!!
I make my Father’s challah recipe he used in WII. He was the mess sergeant for General Mark Clark who was Jewish. I am from East Tennessee and the first Jewish farmer in Tennessee to win an award from the Farm Bureau. I grow many fruits and vegetables and I promise if I win, I will really put that gorgeous book to use. Thank you for the chance to win! I live in a place where there are very few Jewish people and it would connect me to my heritage to have this book. My Father was chased to Knoxville, TN. by gangsters from New York in 1935.