Kosher Keto Rumaki Bombs

THE ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Tonight marks mine and Dovi's 6th year anniversary. We made it! I always said that up to 5 years is still the newly wed stage (it felt like it- at least), and now we are 'over the hill'. We've reached the 5 year mark, we celebrated - and now we are in a rhythm. We're at 6. We've successfully picked up our lives and moved countries, we had our first child, we bought our first home - we have a groove.

Anniversaries are a time to celebrate. Because they come once a year, anniversaries are a good time to take a step back and take stock of the year(s) preceding it. I always find this opportunity to be a blessing. As life goes, time simply continues, routine gets in the way of refection, and these small moments we get, the days we have where we take some time for introspection are usually positive. I am so thankful for my hubby, how far we have come, and the family we have started.

Because our anniversary fell on a Friday this year, we obviously were not going out, so I decided to spruce up shabbos dinner a bit in its honor.

My husband is a foodie by all definitions of the term, but that does not mean he doesn't have his go to simple foods- one of which (you will quickly learn) is sausages! Hot dogs to most americans (but sausages in his South African accent does sound much fancier). So, one of the appetizers I decided to make for our anniversary shabbos dinner is a take on Rumaki.

Rumaki is most traditionally known as chicken livers & water chestnuts wrapped in bacon. I grew up with my mom making her own version of Rumaki wrapping Beef Fry around water chestnuts. I always enjoyed this appetizer, but truthfully felt that while the Beef Fry part was delicious, the water chestnut was just a vehicle for the toothpick to hold it all together. I've since experimented with various other fillings- some include sautéed sticky chicken cubes, steak, and now sausages! Luckily for us all, there are many alternatives to the old school Beef Fry as well. Jacks Gourmet makes an awesome Facon (while a tad pricey- it has proven awesome for various recipes), but I chose to use Romanian Pastrami from our local butcher, Tibors. I love this stuff, and often use it as a bacon replacement, as you will see.

So, here is the recipe. It's pretty fool proof, 3 ingredients, barely any prep, and people love it.

KOSHER KETO RUMAKI BOMBS

Ingredients:

6 All Beef Sausages (I chose to use Polish Kielbasa)

1 lb Romanian Beef Pastrami - sliced medium-thin

1 C Walden Farms Pancake Syrup

Directions:

1. Slice sausages into one inch cubes

2. wrap long pastrami slices around each sausage cube & insert a toothpick to hold it together

3. dip each prepared bundle into a bowl of pancake syrup

4. place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

5. bake for 25 minutes, or until pastrami is sticky & crisp

Serving:

Serves: Makes approx. 30 pieces (about 8 servings as one appetizer of a few)

Serve hot with spicy mustard or stadium mustard on the side to dip.

And that's it! This is seriously one of the easiest appetizers to make, and it is always a crowd pleaser. Let me know if you try it, or what kinds of fillings you would like to try next time!