Recipes and food adventures with Adam Roberts

Category

Jewish food

  • Stuffed Cabbage with Pomegranate Molasses and Mint

    Stuffed Cabbage with Pomegranate Molasses and Mint

    |

    When it comes to Hanukkah, I’m a latke guy but not a brisket guy. Latkes are crispy and salty and fun to make. Brisket dries out really easy and it’s an expensive thing to screw up. So this year, for the first night of Hanukkah, I decided to go with another beloved entree with Jewish-inflections:…

  • Thai Diner

    Thai Diner

    , ,

    |

    Since I moved back to New York two years ago, there’s one restaurant that comes up again and again as one of the most beloved restaurants in the city and that’s Thai Diner. Located on a highly-trafficked block in the Lower East Side (especially on a Friday night), Thai Diner looks a bit like a…

  • Mile End Deli

    Mile End Deli

    , ,

    |

    [From the 2/13/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] Craig and I were embarrassed never to have been to Mile End Deli in our neighborhood, even though it’s often on lists of the city’s best. Suffice it to say: we have a new favorite local deli. That there is the smoked meat sandwich — I believe it’s brisket…

  • Matzo Brei with Lox, Eggs, and Onions

    Matzo Brei with Lox, Eggs, and Onions

    , ,

    |

    Here’s the thing about my Jewish childhood: I grew up eating lox, I grew up eating eggs, and I grew up eating onions (lots and lots of onions), but I didn’t grow up eating matzo brei. What can I say? It was a blindspot in my otherwise very Jewish upbringing. And it’s a shame because…

  • One Hour Chicken Soup

    One Hour Chicken Soup

    ,

    |

    Imagine this. You get a terrible cold, you’re sick as a dog, your boyfriend gets you juice, soup (Pho from down the street), the works. Then you get better, fly to Florida for your parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, and while there, your boyfriend breaks the news: he has your cold. You’re not there to help,…

  • Rejoice! Everything Bagels from Scratch

    Rejoice! Everything Bagels from Scratch

    , ,

    |

    Like a dying swan, I came to L.A. and watched as, feather-by-feather, all of my bagel-eating genes fell to the ground. I tried, I really did. I made bagel bombs, which were a nice alternative, but not the real thing. I stood and ate a bagel at Brooklyn Bagel and thought, “Oh man: this doesn’t…

  • Stuffed Cabbage

    Stuffed Cabbage

    , ,

    |

    At that same Jewish dinner where I made the chopped liver, I decided to try my hand at stuffed cabbage. Over Thanksgiving, my brother’s wife’s sister’s boyfriend’s grandmother (did you follow all that?), a Holocaust survivor named Anka, told me her recipe for stuffed cabbage. “The secret,” she let me know, “is raisins in the…

  • Chopped Liver!

    Chopped Liver!

    ,

    |

    It’s time for chopped liver to make a comeback. I mean think about it: chefs flaunt their charcuterie and pâtés at places like Bar Boulud in New York and Salt’s Cure here in L.A. And what is chopped liver if not liver pâté’s chunky Jewish cousin? I grew up eating the stuff–my grandmother used to…

  • The (New) 2nd Ave. Deli

    The (New) 2nd Ave. Deli

    ,

    |

    Oh, The 2nd Ave. Deli. Remember how much I loved it? I blogged about the original here, here, and here. It was my favorite New York Deli; more inviting than Katz’s, less touristy than Carnegie. And then it disappeared and became a Chase Manhattan Bank. When the new one opened up on 3rd Ave. and…

  • The Science of Fressing

    The Science of Fressing

    |

    [The Amateur Gourmet is on vacation and, while he’s gone, he’s asked his friends to cover for him. Now comes a post from not just a friend of Adam’s, but a colleague: the director and producer of The FN Dish, Matthew Horovitz. Here Matthew shares with us his knowledge of all things Jewish, fishy and…