Healthy Jewish Cooking by Steven Raichlen, Greg Schneider

From the Publisher

Just in time for the High Holy Days, the bestselling maestro of low-fat cooking makes the cuisine that gave us chicken soup healthier than ever

Jewish cooking with a light touch? It sounds like an oxymoron, but Steven Raichlen—who continues to teach millions of Americans how to adapt rich dishes to today's leaner culinary lifestyle—proves it's not. Here, some of the heretofore heaviest food in the world is transformed by savvy techniques similar to those he shared in his award-winning High-Flavor, Low-Fat cookbook series.

In his newest book, readers will find delicious kugels, pirogis, and latkes of Raichlen's childhood reinvented with fresh ingredients, "bake frying,"and grilling techniques, and flavorful substitutions. Healthy Jewish Cooking is full of secrets: Yukon gold potatoes have a richer, more buttery taste; chicken broth instead of schmaltz lightens up dishes while cinnamon and nutmeg spice them up; olive oil replaces butter in Hanukkah fritters with honey syrup.

Tantalizing color photographs accompany all the recipes in this festively packaged book whose ingenious practical tips make it a lifesaver for the health-conscious Jewish holiday cook and gift giver.

Publishers Weekly

Isn't healthy Jewish cooking an oxymoron? That's the typical response Raichlen, author of Barbecue! Bible and Steve Raichlen's High-Flavor, Low-Fat Vegetarian Cooking, got whenever he mentioned he was writing this book. It turns out that Jewish cooking can be low fat and flavorful: the Amazing Low-Fat Chopped Liver uses roasted mushrooms and hard-cooked egg whites to reduce fat and cholesterol while intensifying flavor. Middle Eastern dishes, such as Shish Kebab with North African Seasonings, and Moroccan Grilled Pepper and Tomato Salad, are well represented here. To make traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dishes lighter, recipes call for using broth instead of schmaltz (chicken fat) and no-fat dairy products, and for roasting and bake-frying. Raichlen also provides a wealth of meatless dishes, including a vegetarian version of chopped liver and a Portobello Paprikash. Raichlin emphasizes the innovative, such as Zucchini Kugel (usually a sweet noodle dish), without losing sight of traditional foods, like blintzes, Passover dishes, knishes and The Three B's Cholent, a Sabbath stew. While there are exotic touches such as Rhubarb Haroset and Tropical Tsimmis with ginger and fresh pineapple--Raichlen's dessert section seems incomplete (where are rugelach and hamentaschen?). He isn't great at cutting down sugar, either, although some sinfully tempting recipes, like My Great-Grandmother's Chocolate Roll, list original ingredients as well as slimmed-down ones. But with homey anecdotes, food counts and preparation times, one hopes for a sequel to this heart-warming and user-friendly book. Photos by Greg Schneider. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Among prolific author Raichlen's 20 cookbooks are those in his popular "High-Flavor, Low-Fat" series, and now he has applied the calorie- and fat-lowering techniques he used there to his favorite Jewish dishes. He has also emphasized dishes that were relatively light to begin with (i.e., they did not rely on lots of schmaltz or butter). He covers all the basics--kugels, knishes and blintzes, and egg and matzo dishes, for example, get their own chapters--and added some innovations of his own. Purists may be horrified by such recipes as Amazing Low-Fat Latkes (they are baked, not fried!), and Jayne Cohen's The Gefilte Variations (LJ 2/15/00) offers a more imaginative and sophisticated approach to contemporary Jewish cooking. However, health-conscious Jewish cooks will certainly find Raichlen's latest of interest. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Details from Seller

• ISBN: 0670893129
• Publisher: Viking Penguin
• Pub. Date: September 2000
• Condition:

Comments from the Seller: New, unread, unused and in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages.