Ground Chicken Recipes For The Heimish Kitchen by Chef Jordana Hirschel have been created using minimal ingredients keeping in mind both costs in these difficult economic times, as well as specific Passover kosher guidelines -  as many have different customs as to what ingredients may be used on this holiday. We tried to keep these recipes down to a few basic ingredients that most families use and can easily get during this season. We also used volume instead of weight in regards to measurements with the understanding that many may have limited kitchen utensils for Passover.

Masbia KIS Recipes by Chef Jordana Hirschel is a collection of simple recipes designed for people who are introduced to the main ingredient for the first time and presumably have a minimal pantry of other ingredients and no fancy cooking equipment. It's not gourmet, it's not high end, it's not fancy. It’s basic in its truest form.

Masbia KIS Recipes by Chef Jordana Hirschel is a collection of simple recipes designed for people who are introduced to the main ingredient for the first time and presumably have a minimal pantry of other ingredients and no fancy cooking equipment. It's not gourmet, it's not high end, it's not fancy. It’s basic in its truest form.

Masbia KIS Recipes by Chef Jordana Hirschel is a collection of simple recipes designed for people who are introduced to the main ingredient for the first time and presumably have a minimal pantry of other ingredients and no fancy cooking equipment. It's not gourmet, it's not high end, it's not fancy. It’s basic in its truest form.

This year, Masbia was in the news almost eighty times. The news stories at the very beginning of the year started off with happiness, hope and positivity. In January there was a bridge building event for the MLK Day of Service mentioned in HuffPost, JTA, Hamodia and News12. February brought news of bat mitzvah girl Leora, daughter of Masbia’s co-chair Naomi Nachman, who was having a Challah Ingredient Challenge with a goal to feed one thousand families on News12. The NYPD Explorers volunteering to help those in need on Presidents' Day was featured on News12 as well as NY1. There was also Hamodia’s story of the Fish-to-Dish Challenge.

The pandemic took a toll on too many people's lives, but did so in way greater numbers on people's livelihoods, leaving many jobless and stranded for food.  The NY Times wanted to find a way to document it as it happened. The scope of the story went through many reformations. The resulting article was a three full page cover story in their Food section. At the time they first started working on this article, NYC was at the height of its COVID infections rate and was on lockdown. Travel was heavily discouraged unless absolutely necessary to the point where the streets were practically empty. Even newsrooms kept their staff close to home - literally. Stories were assigned to reporters based on their proximity and going indoors to gather information for stories was heavily discouraged.

In addition to the 500% increase in demand that Masbia experienced throughout the pandemic, the demand is spiking even higher with many new faces showing up.

Earlier this week, Masbia Soup kitchen Network announced that they were drastically increasing the amount of grocery food clients could take home in one visit to an amount that will last 14 days, and that the normally hot sit-down meals would be to-go. Today, they are announcing two new important initiatives. 1. Masbia launched a web page where people who are quarantined can request food delivery: masbia.org/quarantinefood  2. Masbia will open every day one hour earlier at all locations to accommodate the increase in demand.  This information was posted to: masbia.org/covid19 Masbia also launched a fundraising campaign to help pay for the increase in food demand (here www.masbia.org/corona). Masbia is also seeking funds to be able to buy excess kosher meals from the airline industry that will not be used in the near future and distribute them to the needy and elderly.  Contact: Alexander Rapaport [email protected] 718-972-4446x301 (Twitter: @masbia) 

Tisha B'Av is almost over and in a few short hours, we'll go back to our normal food routine. But for some people, there is no normal food routine. While we were traditionally doing without meat and chicken for the last few days, for the families who pick up emergency food packages at Masbia, proteins are the most sought after food items. From when we opened we knew the biggest challenge for people in need is to get sufficient kosher protein and therefore we started as a dinner program. As we expanded into raw food distribution, the most sought after item is chicken. That's why we distribute over half a million dollars worth of chicken a year. 

Naftali and Remi Engel, the founders of The Rebbe's Choice company, have been generously donating their high-end, delicious herring for Masbia's Shabbos Kiddush every week. They recently added a new item to their line of products: a delicious, homemade style cracker, known in Yiddish as kichel (after all, how can you eat herring without kichel). Those who follow their line know that each of their unique products is inspired by the teachings of a particular Hasidic Rebbe. Their new kichel is inspired by the legendary Reb Shayele of Kerestir, renowned for feeding the needy. Check out their home page for their complete line of products.