The YBK Manifesto

Hello everyone!

I’m sorry for my inconsistency of blogging – Passover has really gotten in the way of my normal schedule. So, in order to get back to our usual pace, I have decided to write a manifesto for the blog and (upcoming) website. I feel that it’s important to outline the principles and the goals of this blog and website – which may launch as soon as this week!

Don’t worry, fair readers, I am not a communist, but manifesto is the best definition of my declaration of principles and goals. Here we go:

At Young, Broke and Kosher, we believe in many things, but most of all, what’s important here is good food and great stories. When it comes to the food, though, I firmly stand for the best food possible. I don’t believe in “good for kosher food.” We will always stand for food that’s good – and it just so happens to be kosher.

We refuse to alienate anyone, particularly based on religious observance. We don’t care if you wear a sheitel, hug your guy friends, or eat out at non-kosher restaurants. Hell, we don’t even care if you’re kosher, let alone Jewish! This blog is for anyone and everyone to share and enjoy, not to mention laugh and have fun with. If I do alienate you, I apologize.

We will not care if someone is eating bacon in front of us. But we, as a website and blog, will not be posting recipes with ham, lobster, shrimp, scallops or bacon. Unless there’s a miracle and lamb bacon is somehow available on the market. Yum.

We believe in fresh fruits and vegetables. We believe in wacky fruits and vegetables too, ranging from romanesco cauliflower and purple carrots down to blood oranges. But either way, we love things that come from the ground, as well as from beautiful trees.

We will try new things and experiment, all while trying to stay true to classical ways of cooking. We will honor French, Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, along with any other cuisine that may come our way.

We will have no fear when it comes to food. Anyone who says it may be too hard for us will be proven wrong. Unless it comes to developing my own baking recipes. That will be a little trickier.

We will share food with friends – particularly those who are willing to hold a camera for us in order to create our first video for the website. First recipe will be lasagna Florentine! On that note, we will also make sure to post videos and have great recipes featured in them.

We will have more photographs. That much is certain. And Kim will probably be taking them. Thanks, Kim!

We will launch the website… all I need to do is make sure I have $20 for the activation fee.

We will make the stories that we explore on the blog special. They will be funny, poignant, odd, sweet, sad, happy, confusing, controversial and/or sarcastic. But they will always come from the heart.

We will post more recipes – particularly the ones that I come up with in our kitchen on a regular basis, including the one at the end of this manifesto, which was developed on Passover. In turn, we will also welcome other people’s recipes if they are willing to share. (E-mail them to youngbrokekosher@gmail.com if you’re interested).

We will try to bring people together from all over the United States and beyond, whether hailing from the South all the way up to the Northwest. We will become the meeting place for people who love food, no matter how they eat – whether it’s vegan, vegetarian, kosher, not kosher, etc. So, p’tayavon, people!

STRAWBERRY CHICKEN SALAD

1 cup leftover chicken

1 medium head of romaine lettuce, chopped

1 small jar of hearts of palm, rinsed and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

1 can olives, rinsed

3 green onions, sliced diagonally into ½-inch pieces

1 medium basket strawberries, sliced

DRESSING

See recipe for Strawberry Gorganzola salad (see School of Salads for the recipe)

Combine romaine, hearts of palm, green onions, strawberries, and olives in a bowl. Shred the chicken into pieces and mix into salad. Add dressing and serve cold.