Zabar's Blog

Recipe for Matzo Ball Soup

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

You need a classic matzoh ball in chicken soup recipe. Here is one is that is easy, and a perfect starter for a Passover lunch. This wonderful cookbook will guide you through tons of recipes. When you are planning another chicken dinner and want something different, you can expand your repertoire by trying Cock-a-Leekie soup, spicy chicken arrabbiata (angry chicken), arroz con pollo, or plain, baked pieces. Then, move on to some stews, such as burgoo or gumbo, and souvlaki skewers.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from The Chicken Bible by America's Test Kitchen

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Recipe for Chewy Iraqi Almond Cookies

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Get ready for Passover! Send a copy of this wonderful book, and some macaroon brownies, or these cookies, to your friends. The rest of the year, use your own copy to make some brisket, a kugel, shakshuka, or some salted honey chopped liver. What could be bad?

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Excerpted from JEW-ISH: A COOKBOOK: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch © 2021 by Jake Cohen. Photography © 2021 by Matt Taylor-Gross. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

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Recipe for Anchovy Spaghetti with Pine Nut Picada

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This lovely book has wonderful recipes: there is lamb from Spain, Sicilian caponata, and a Greek breakfast board you could put on the table any time of the day. Today's recipe has you melting the anchovies in olive oil, and throwing in a little of this and a lot of that for a marvelous pasta dish. On my to try next list: spicy cauliflower steaks and lots of fish dishes. There is even an octopus recipe for you brave cooks!

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Rustica: Delicious Recipes for Village-Style Mediterranean Food by Theo Michaels, photography by Mowie Kay, published by Ryland Peters & Small

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Recipe for Ricotta and Green Herb Torta

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This beautiful book features savory and sweet pies galore. I love the adorably named Piggy Pies with quail eggs, the mud pie, and individual apples baked in a crust-topped ramekin. This torta can be made with any combination of greens and is a simple, one dish meal. Next on my list: Greek spinach pie.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Pies, Glorious Pies: Brilliant Recipes for Mouth-Wateringly Tasty Pies by Maxine Clark, Ryland Peters & Small, photography by Steve Painter © Ryland Peters & Small, 2012

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Recipe for Pizza Margherita

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This adorable book is filled with stories and recipes of pizza around the globe. Here’s a simple recipe to make on a chilly day. Start your dough the night before, and have a simple, yummy lunch, easy as pie!

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Pizza by Thom Elliot and James Elliot photos by Dave Brown (Hardie Grant)

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