Chinese exporters are turning to rabbis to quell consumers' uneasiness about the country's food products. After last year's uproar over contaminated seafood, toothpaste, and pet food, the Chinese food industry is trying to clean up its act--or at least have rabbis convince people that they are.

According to the Orthodox Union, a New York-based organization that does kosher inspections, kosher certifications by rabbis have doubled to more than 300 in China in the past two years, and the number is expected to go up dramatically.

And China's not just doing this to ease the minds of consumers who still may not be over Fluffy's untimely death. Kosher is the new black, and China wants a piece.  

But while rabbis make sure that pork products aren't used in food production and that meat and milk stay far, far away from one another, they don't perform scientific food-safety tests. Still, at a time of intense international scrutiny, an extra seal of approval may boost consumers' confidence in products from China. If contaminated food does get through, blame the rabbis!

I think this granny deserves a spot on Food Network! Hungry for more? Go to Yideoz (YouTube for Jews) to watch all 19 episodes.

Next week is Tu B'Shevat, and for many Jews the holiday has become about a lot more than tithing trees, according to a recent article in Something Jewish. With the upsurge in environmental activism jump-started by Hurricane Katrina and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and our continuing concern over where our food comes from, Jews in their 20s and 30s are incorporating green ideology into their Tu B'Shevat seders.

Some organizers will relate Tu B'Shevat to issues of environmental justice and environmental racism, while others are using the holiday to advocate for local and organic food. According to the article, a seder scheduled in San Francisco is billing itself as "eco-kosher," meaning the food served is sustainably grown and produced in a socially just manner, "[combining] progressive politics with religious imperative."

While Tu B'Shevat seders focusing on environmental concerns have been around since the 1970s, today's seders include much more religious content, according to many of the organizers. Combining environmental activism, an issue so prominent on today's forecast, with Jewish tradition may prove to be an attraction for formerly disenchanted Jews to rejoin the religious community.

Here's a list of environmental seders to check out in the big cities:

* In Chicago, Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps is running its first communitywide Tu B’Shevat seder in the co-op apartment shared by this year’s seven young program participants, all in their early 20s.

* The Tu B’Shevat seder in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, held in Dolgin’s living room the past several years, is moving into a rented space to accommodate its growing numbers.

* The Kavod Jewish Social Justice House is having a seder in Boston for young adults with students from Hebrew College, alumni of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and the Charles River Bet Midrash.

* In the Washington area, Shomrei Adamah will be co hosting a Tu B'Shevat seder and Shabbat celebration with Am Kolel, Jews United for Justice and the Shalom Center.

* Hazon, a New York-based Jewish environmental group, is running its sixth Tu B’Shevat seder at the JCC in Manhattan, and one is being organized for Limmud NY, a Jewish learning program taking place Jan. 17-20 in the Catskill Mountains.

Everyone is reporting that the long-awaited Second Avenue Deli on 33rd St is opening on Monday, but I could swear I heard on New York radio station 1010 WINS this morning that it was open. As in, open at 7 a.m. I know that sounds crazy. Maybe I was still dreaming...or maybe they were having a special pre-opening breakfast for radio DJs.

Regardless, we're all excited. Gothamist has some great pictures of the new locale, and New York Magazine did a nice little Q&A with the new owner, 25-year-old Jeremy Lebewohl. Apparently they're doing a ceremonial salami-cutting of "nickel shtikel" links at 11 a.m. on Monday. See you there!  

I recently bought one of those beautiful, amazing Le Creuset Dutch ovens (Bloomingdale's was having a home sale), and I am newly obsessed with those Empire Kosher whole cut-up chickens (how convenient/delicious are they??), so I decided to try out one of the Amateur Gourmet recipes I'd been thinking about for a while: Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, which Adam Roberts made for his reluctant Jewish family in Florida.

It was the perfect meal to christen my new cookware with, and it's great to serve a crowd during the holidays (provided they like garlic, of course). But the garlic in here is so yummy, the cloves just melt in your mouth. The cognac and cream richen the dish (substitute nondairy creamer to kosherize it). I could give you the recipe here but might as well direct you to Adam's fabulous step-by-step, with mouthwatering pictures of every single detail. (I think we have the same Dutch oven!)