In a Nutshell

Sheet-Pan Gnocchi

Here’s my take on sheet-pan gnocchi: On a lined baking sheet, lay one package of gnocchi, 1 red onion, sliced in ½-inch slices; 1 cup of cherry tomatoes; 4 sliced portobello mushrooms; and 8 baby peppers, cut into quarters. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.

—Faigy Grossmann

FT, help me!!

Whenever I buy hard fruit like mango or melons, they never ripen properly. What am I doing wrong?

With our business, we buy many different cases of different firmness so we can rotate them and use them as they ripen. But if I were buying fruit for personal use, I would be hesitant to choose rock-hard fruit. If you’re buying it for Shabbos on Thursday, you can buy slightly firm fruit, but it should have a little bit of give when you press it. That should ensure that it’s ripe enough by Shabbos. Also, make sure to not refrigerate it, as the cold slows down the ripening. And, of course, once you cut it, all bets are off.

If you want to speed up the ripening process, wrap the fruit in a paper bag or newspaper. The ethylene emitted speeds up the ripening process.

—Chaia Frishman

Review It!

I know, I know, we don’t want or need more kitchen gadgets. But something about this electronic lemon juicer has simplified my kitchen game tenfold. It’s not new, it’s not necessarily innovative, but plugging it in on Mondays and squeezing lemons for the week keeps my dressings easy to prep and my morning lemon water a breeze to prepare. Try it out!

—Rivki Rabinowitz

Just Sayin’

This may be obvious, but it’s worth mentioning anyway. If you use parchment paper on a grill pan to save yourself from having to wash the pan afterwards, be careful that the paper doesn’t touch the fire!

—Esther Ottensoser

Ok, Quick:

What’s your favorite food-related product from 2021?

The Ninja Foodi blender has been the biggest game changer in my kitchen this year. It turned my pure pudding into what I now call “ice dream.” The torque method enables you to make smoothie bowls without liquid (or very minimal), so the consistency is super thick. My husband named it, due to its ice-cream-like texture.

—Rorie Weisberg

Here’s a Halachah

Rivky Kleiman’s Sesame Chicken (Issue 766) looks delicious, but many people hold that cooking chicken with nondairy milk is not allowed. Please have people ask their LOR before making the recipe.

The Rav Clarifies:

The problem of cooking chicken with nondairy milk is maris ayin, so if the milk can’t be seen, it isn’t a problem. If people can see the milk, for example during the production or after it’s cooked, then there’s a machlokes whether we must place the nondairy container in the area to ward off the maris ayin.

—Rav Avrohom Neuberger

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 772)