"Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine" Pre-Purim Newsletter

Do you have the best Chicken Soup?
February 19, 2009






Enter your best recipe and you may be the grand prize winner - a round trip ticket to Israel. Other prizes will be awarded.

Some pretty serious palettes will be gathering at Abigael's on Broadway for the final tasting in March.

* Jeff Nathan, Executive Chef and co-owner of Abigael's on Broadway
* Melissa Clark, a James Beard Foundation award winner & food writer
* Jamie Geller, Author of the successful cookbook, Quick & Kosher
* Lenore Skenazy, Op-ed columnist appearing in more than 100 papers
* Elan Kornblum, Publisher of Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine

Better Than Your Bubby's Chicken Soup Challenge"
Contest Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void Where Prohibited.

To Enter: Email your original chicken soup recipe to contests@njop.org
Include the name of your recipe, your full name, phone, cell phone and mailing address.

Entries can also be mailed to National Jewish Outreach Program, Better Than Your Bubby's Chicken Soup Challenge, 989 Sixth Ave, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2009. Multiple entries are permitted.

Please visit http://betterthanyourbubbys.blogspot.com/ for information about the chicken soup challenge. Only recipes that can be made in accordance with kosher dietary laws will be eligible.

Recipes must be for one gallon volume (serve 6-8). Ingredients must be natural - no bouillion cubes, no seasoning base, no MSG, no additives or preservatives. Meat products must be only poultry, no beef or veal stock permissable. All recipes must be typewritten. Judging will be based on the clarity of instructions and the flavor of the soup.

Eligibility: The contest is open to amateur chefs, those who do not earn a living as a chef and who are legal residents of the United States. Employees and directors of the National Jewish Outreach Program and its advertising and promotional agencies, and their immediate families and members of their households, are not eligible to enter this contest. All entrants must be able to travel to New York City in the event that NJOP requests the presence of finalists and/or winner at an event. If such travel is required, NJOP would pay roundtrip coach airfare and provide accommodations and said finalists and winner must be available for in-person media interviews. The final event will take place some time in March 2009. If unable to travel during said time or participate in the finals, entrant may be disqualified and an alternate may be selected. Finalists and winner must be available for media interviews, by phone, throughout 2009.

Prizes: One Grand Prize Winner will receive one round trip ticket to Israel, coach class. All expenses not specified herein, including but not limited to accommodations, meals, transfer, taxes and gratuities, are the sole responsibility of the Grand Prize Winner. Other prizes may apply.

Key Dates: The contest begins on February 1, 2009. Deadline for entry is March 2, 2009. Five finalists will be chosen on or about March 9, 2009; and the Grand Prize winner will be selected by a panel of judges on March 12, 2009.

Terms and Conditions: The five finalists (subject to eligibility verification) and the Grand Prize Winner will be chosen by a panel of judges selected by the National Jewish Outreach Program, whose decisions will be final on all matters relating to this contest. Finalists will be notified by telephone or mail, and will be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release and (where legal) a Publicity Release. The Grand Prize Winner will also need to make herself/himself available for media interviews if appropriate.

Except where prohibited by law, the winner's entry and acceptance of the prize constitutes permission for the National Jewish Outreach Program to use winner's name, photograph, likeness, statements, video/DVD submission, biographical information, voice and city and state address in all forms of media without further compensation. Winner and entrants also agree to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless the National Jewish Outreach Program and each of its officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents from and against any claims, damages or liability due to any injuries, damages, or losses to any person (including death) or property of any kind resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any prize or participation in any contest-related activity or participation in this contest.

List of Winners: For a list of winners, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope after March 25th to National Jewish Outreach Program Better Than Your Bubby's Chicken Soup Contest, 989 Sixth Ave, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018. You can also send an email to contests@njop.org.

Sponsor: National Jewish Outreach Program, 989 Sixth Ave, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018

Avi's List

Better Than Your Bubby's Chicken Soup Recipe Challenge
View the article here.

Event Date : 03/20/2009

The National Jewish Outreach Program is calling all Chicken Soup experts for their nationwide search for the best kosher Chicken Soup Recipe in America. The "Better Than Your Bubby's Chicken Soup Recipe Challenge" is seeking the best of the best in chicken soup recipes. Whether you have an awesome traditional recipe that has been handed down from generation to generation or a sassy modern version full of flavor, The NJOP wants to try it. The best entries will be judged by celebrity Chef Jeff Nathan, New York Times food writer Melissa Clark, and a panel of experts. The grand prize is a trip to Israel (and of course, bragging rights for having the best Chicken Soup in America!). The contest takes place on March 20th, so get your entries in soon! For official rules and entry guidelines, visit www.betterthanyourbubbys.blogspot.com. Good Luck!!!

Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul

Elizabeth Teitelbaum, February 3, 2009

Ah, Chicken Soup. The Jewish version of Soul Food. There is something so basic yet delightful about chicken soup, something reminiscent of sick days as a child, weekend trips to grandma's house, cozy winter nights spent in pajamas in front of the television, and diner excursions in Brooklyn.

Chicken soup has maintained a longstanding reputation in the American lexicon as being the hearty, home-cooked soup that serves a various array of purposes. The combination of the chicken stock with various other ingredients such as noodles,carrots, celery, or any and every other garden vegetable that suits your fancy makes this not only healthy but is thought to restore one to tip-top health on a cold winter day when you are feeling sick.

Well, at least for me. However, I am fairly certain that the mere mention of chicken soup will rouse memories in a fair percentage of Jewish minds. My love affair with chicken soup (and soup in general) began with my grandma. She made the best chicken vegetable soup the South has ever tasted. And by South, I mean South Brooklyn.


As a child my mouth would begin to water as soon as we got off the Belt Parkway onto Pennsylvania Avenue, anticipating the chicken vegetable soup that awaited my taste buds. My grandmother has since passed, and I am very angry that in the chaos and grief of having to sort through her apartment, I forgot to save her recipes, particularly her chicken soup recipe. But, even if I had, I know it wouldn't be the same as when I was a kid and she made it for me.

Chicken soup is comfort food. When there is nothing to eat and I cant seem to make a decision on what my tummy is desiring, I know I can always turn to my good, old-fashioned,trusty chicken noodle soup. But, in those instances it comes out of a can. There is the chicken soup that comes from a diner or a Kosher deli, often mixed with Matzah balls which give it that extra Jewish soul food treat which is my personal favorite variety. When searching "kosher chicken soup recipes" on Google, 624,000 hits come up. That is a lot of Jewish mothers and bubbys! Either way you cook it, boil it, or buy it, there is something undeniably comforting about chicken soup.

Which brings me to this nifty little contest: "The Better Than Your Bubby's Chicken Soup Challenge," which is a search for the best chicken soup recipe in America! It is in affiliation with the National Jewish Outreach Program. If you have a delicious or new and exciting recipe for this Jewish comfort food, I totally encourage you to send it in. And besides, this blog has the cutest name and banner logo.

Beliefnet.com

The Chicken Soup Challenge

Friday February 13, 2009

As Friday night approaches, homes across America will fill with the soothing aroma of chicken soup. It'll cure what ails ya - they don't call it "Jewish Penicillin" for nothing! Everyone has their family traditions and secrets (my Aunt Minnie put parsnips in hers, and that spicy, earthy flavor really sends me).

If you think yours is tops, you might want to enter the "Better Than Your Bubby's Chicken Soup Challenge" put on every year by the National Jewish Outreach Project as part of their "Shabbat Across America" program on March 20. Visit the website for rules (recipes are due by March 2). The prizes include a free trip to Israel!

But a note of warning: I covered the first annual NJOP contest as a journalist in 2004, and one thing stands out in my memory of the judges' comments. If you had a grandmother who made chicken soup for you in your youth, then there is no such thing as "Better Than Your Bubby's." And that's the true challenge of any chicken soup contest.

Please dish below on how you concoct chicken soup. Or is your bubby's secret just that?

The Jewish Star

Seeking Jewish Penicillin
February 13, 2009
View the article.

What need have we for medicine if chicken soup is simmering on the stovetop?
An exaggeration, perhaps, but chicken soup is credited with remarkable restorative properties.


The National Jewish Outreach Program is seeking the nation’s best chicken soup recipe to coincide with its 13th annual Shabbat Across America on March 20 — Parshat Mishpatim/Shabbat Shekalim.

Chicken soup is a universal Jewish food and there’s nothing more universally Jewish, or restorative, for that matter, than Shabbat — the point that NJOP is trying to make.

The contest rules are simple: your recipe has gotta be kosher and it’s gotta be submitted by March 2 to contests at njop.org. Click here for more info.

— Mayer Fertig