Who’s in the kitchen: Shalom Karen-and thanks

As I sit at my computer to write this week’s column, my usual, “OMG I’m never going to get it in under the deadline,” is tinged with a bit of melancholy. My good friend Karen Cohen Green, is moving on from her position as publisher and editor of The Jewish Star. I’m going to miss her. She stepped into a completely unfamiliar world, and may I say, she did it with grace, confidence and a good deal of hard work. At any given time she was off to cover a function, an opening, an election etc. Whether Saturday, Sunday, or any given night, coming home after 11 PM wasn’t out of the ordinary. She is constantly evolving. She is committed to her community. Her contribution to the paper is just another layer of that. She brought people issues, serious issues and feature issues to the front page. She encouraged her readers to discuss, debate and be actively involved. When she took on the role as publisher, she asked me “Judy, would you like to write an article containing a recipe and a little information about it?” Last time I had written a recipe to be printed and distributed, it was in 1993 when all the moms in my son’s kindergarten class were asked to submit a recipe for a Mother’s Day Cookbook. Not quite confident I could pull this off, I said I would give it a try. I had a week; deadline was Monday at 10 AM. Monday at 10 AM, I called Karen and said I would need a few more hours. Wednesday at 10 am Karen called and said the paper would be printing in about five hours.

I managed to write a paragraph describing how I loved to be creative as a kid and always loved imagining that I owned a bakery, followed by a recipe for dreidle cake pops. The following week Karen asked, “What recipe will you be writing about this week?” “This week?” I stammered, “I have to write another article and recipe?” “Yes,” she responded, “this is a weekly column.” Not one to turn down a challenge, I decided to rise to the occasion. Although I was managing a clothing store three days a week, working as a personal chef and catering parties, I added “columnist” to my resume. Again, I panicked, because by Sunday night I still didn’t have an idea of what to write about. As the weeks went by, and I received positive feedback, I gained some confidence. Some actually went so far as to say that I had a flair for writing. I held myself back from laughing. “They like me, they really like me,” I thought, remembering the line Sally Field exclaimed when she received her Oscar. I’m always told I look just like her; maybe this was a sign I shouldn’t quit. So began a weekly saga of finding a recipe of mine that would appeal to the readers, and then come up with a short humorous story to go along with it. Each week I gained a little more confidence and, as people kept telling me they loved reading my column, I started giving shout outs to friends and neighbors. I got creative and researched facts about each dish, then I researched funny facts, looked up quotes from famous actors, historians and politicians which related (however remotely) to the recipe. Every now and then, ok, almost every week, I spoke about hilarious stores from my husband’s past. Sometimes I spoke of my past, but they didn’t seem to have the same comedic value as his.

It’s been over a year, and each week, I still complain that I’m running out of recipes and stories. I still never manage to make the 10 AM Monday deadline, can’t even make it 10 AM on Wednesday. But somehow I make it in by the time production starts. And it never fails, after every column I finish, I think of Karen and silently thank her for giving me this opportunity, for believing in me, for pushing me to dream big about my catering business and for putting up with someone who is totally unprofessional when it comes to writing for a newspaper. By the way, Karen, my favorite perk was ending up in the Braves’ locker room at Citi Field to interview the players, but that’s a whole article in itself….

Of all dishes that I serve, Karen picked one of the easiest I make as my last recipe printed under her. It’s not even a recipe made from scratch, but I must admit it tastes like it is. Below find the recipe to Mushroom Barley Soup with fillet steak.

Not to stray away from my usual facts about the dish, here you go:

Soup can be simple yet complex….as is Karen.

Soup is the food of the people, Karen is the voice of the people.

Soup is the product of resourcefulness. You can make a meal out of what you have on hand. Karen is a paradigm of resourcefulness.

It’s with a heavy heart that I bid you shalom, Karen. It won’t be the same with out you. I wish you much mazal in the field that you truly love, politics and government. Thanks for believing in me. You will be missed.

You might not be publishing papers anymore, but I’m sure we’ll be reading about you.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Ingredients;

n 2 boxes Streit’s Mushroom Barley Soup mix

n 12 cups of water

n 2 carrots, peeled and diced

n 2 stalks of celery, washed and diced

n 10 ounces fresh mushrooms washed and cut into slices

n 2 Bloch’s meat flavored cubes (can be found at Gourmet Glatt)

n 1/8 t. black pepper

n 1 lb. fillet steak cut into chunks

Bring the water to a boil and add the large soup packets

Once water comes to a boil again, add the rest of the ingredients, except for the meat. Lower to medium flame and cook for half an hour, then add the meat. Cook for an additional 50 minutes and add the two flavor packets and let simmer for an additional ten minutes.

Judy Joszef is a pastry and personal chef as well as a party planner. She can be reached at judy.soiree@gmail.com