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Faith Kramer
Past President, Hadassah Oakland Ruach Chapter, Hadassah Writers' Circle

Hadassah Life Member Ronnie Fein’s Recipes Cater to Modern Kosher Tastes

Carrott Soup with Harissa and Coconut photo courtesy of the author.
Carrott Soup with Harissa and Coconut photo courtesy of the author.
Ronnie Fein, author of Kosher Cooking for Beginners. Photo courtesy of Ronnie Fein.
Recipes from Ronnie Fein’s Kosher Cooking for Beginners cookbook. Image courtesy of the author.

To warm you up this winter, cook up a pot of carrot, harissa and coconut soup from a new cookbook by Hadassah life member Ronnie Fein.

Fein first became aware of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, because of her parents’ support of what is now the Hadassah Medical Organization (HM0) in Israel. She joined Hadassah as a young woman after moving to Stamford, Conn.

Fein values Hadassah’s advocacy on behalf of Jewish, women’s and Israeli issues and its leading role in fighting antisemitism. She also found her involvement with Hadassah “set a path for what became my career” as a recipe creator, cooking teacher, food writer and cookbook author.

Kosher Cooking for Beginners: Simple and Delicious Recipes for the Modern Kitchen is Fein’s fourth cookbook. Both this latest cookbook and an earlier one, Hip Kosher: 175 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes for Today’s Kosher Cooks, aim to bring kosher food preparation “into the 21st century” by making it more accessible and in line with today’s tastes, while still drawing on influences from Jewish and other cuisines around the world. Her Carrot Soup with Harissa and Coconut (recipe below) is a good example of her globally sourced recipes.

Fein explains, “I started doing cooking demos on a volunteer basis to help raise money for HMO. From my volunteer cooking, I started a food writing career that blossomed over the years.” She focused on foods that were not just kosher but reflected what she, herself, wanted to eat.

For example, her Not My Grandma’s Kumput recipe re-envisions the traditional Ashkenazi compote by adding mango and candied ginger to the dried fruit mix and replacing long cooking with an immersion in hot syrup, based on an Egyptian recipe.

“I wanted us to be able to eat what everyone else eats, staying within the tenets of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws), of course,” Fein says. “I do some traditional recipes, and some riffs on traditional recipes, but I also create new recipes using the abundance of kosher ingredients available today.”

Fein calls herself a teacher at heart and makes sure everyone from beginners to experienced cooks can follow her recipes, understand why they work and what ingredients to substitute, if necessary.

A few of the other recipes in Kosher Cooking for Beginners that intrigue me are her Vidalia Onion Fritters with Sambal-Yogurt Dip; Cream of Beet Soup with Pumpernickel Crumbles (think of it as a borscht gone glam); Lamb Burgers in Pita with Lemon-Tahini Sauce; Roasted Chicken with Baharat, Garlic and Mint; Brussels Sprouts with Chorizo and Onion and Merguez Shakshuka.

Find out more about Fein and her publications at www.ronniefein.com. The recipe below is provided with permission from the author and is adapted for style.

Carrot Soup with Harissa and Coconut
From Kosher Cooking for Beginners (New Shoe Press)
Serves 6

Fein recommends this soup not only as a bright, seasonal warm up, but also as a parve and vegan starter for Rosh Hashanah and other holiday meals.

“The flavors (of this soup) are intriguing,” Fein writes. “There’s heat from the harissa, but coconut milk tames the spiciness and whole, fragrant cloves give it that mysterious ‘something.’”

2 Tbsps. (30 ml) vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, chopped
1 ½ lbs. (680 g) carrots, peeled and sliced
4 cups (950 ml) vegetable stock
6 whole cloves
1 ½ tsps. harissa (7.5 g) (see notes)
1 cup coconut milk (235 ml) (see notes)
Salt, to taste
Toasted unsweetened dried, coconut shreds, for garnish, optional

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion has begun to soften. Add garlic and carrots and sauté for a few minutes. Add stock and cloves and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover the pan partially and cook for 25 minutes or until carrots are soft.

Remove the cloves. Allow soup to cool until safe to handle. Purée in pot with an immersion (hand) blender or transfer to a food processor or blender (in batches if necessary) and process until puréed. Return soup to cooking pot. Whisk in the harissa. Stir in the coconut milk. Bring soup to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Taste. Add salt as desired. Serve garnished with toasted coconut, if desired.

Notes: Harissa is a North African hot sauce, available fresh, canned, jarred and in tubes at Middle Eastern, kosher, specialty and online stores.

Fein recommends using canned coconut milk, which is thicker and more concentrated than the thinner, refrigerator-case coconut milk beverage, but says either will work in the recipe.

Faith Kramer is a member of the Hadassah Writers’ Circle, a dynamic and diverse writing group for leaders and members to express their thoughts and feelings about all the things Hadassah does to make the world a better place, to celebrate their personal Hadassah journeys and to share their Jewish values, family traditions and interpretations of Jewish texts. Since 2019, the Hadassah Writers’ Circle has published nearly 450 columns in the Times of Israel Blog and other Jewish media outlets. Interested? Please contact hwc@hadassah.org.

About the Author
Faith Kramer, a former president and current board member of the Hadassah Oakland Ruach Chapter, is a member of the Hadassah Writers' Circle. The California-based food writer is the author of “52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen.” (The Collective Book Studio). She writes a twice-a-month recipe column for the J, Northern California’s Jewish News Source. See more about her cookbook, other writing, and recipes at faithkramer.com. She can be reached at faith@faithkramer.com
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