The Shabbat Table is the latest CJN column from noted chef and food blogger Norene Gilletz. Click here for last week’s recipes.
Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom, Chag Samayach!
Crumbs here, crumbs there, matzah crumbs everywhere! If you’re “fed up” with all that matzah and are looking for some culinary inspiration for the final Shabbat Pesach, you’ve come to the right place! Here are some delicious “Jewish soul food” dishes that are matzah-free, along with helpful guidelines on preparing for Shabbat from cookbook author, Mia Adler Ozair.
Ozair’s new book, Cook, Pray, Eat Kosher: The Essential Kosher Cookbook for the Jewish Soul (Feldheim), contains a collection of over 90 treasured dishes from Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions. A melting pot of the author’s family’s heritage, her heartfelt book will nourish both your body and your soul.
Playing on the culturally diverse nature of her own marriage, Ozair weaves together the culinary delights of both Ashkenazi and Sepharadi heritages, offering a full range of family-style dishes for every palate. Included are her guides for how to prepare meals for and observe Shabbat and holidays, how to fulfil the woman’s mitzvah of making and taking challah and a profound reflection on the essential relationship between food and the Jewish soul. Cook, Pray, Eat Kosher is an essential ingredient for any Jewish kitchen.
A clinically licensed physiotherapist with a private practice in Los Angeles, Calif., Mia Adler-Ozair is also the busy mom of nine kids – three of hers, four of his and two of theirs. For more information about Ozair, visit her website.
Ozair writes: “Preparing for Shabbat requires thought and care in order to prepare all food prior to candlelighting time each week.” She suggests that you create a “Shabbat list” of things to do right before Shabbat that you can reference every week. For example, prepare lights in house, fill the water heater and plug it in, plug in warming plate, remove refrigerator light, prepare the cholent, etc.
For an excellent and easy-to-use guide on warming food on Shabbat, she recommends Laws of Cooking on the Sabbath and Festivals by Ehud Rosenberg.
When it comes to Shabbat dinner menu ideas, she offers up helpful suggestions. “A typical Ashkenazi meal will include gefilte fish with horseradish or some type of fish salad, while a traditional Sepharadi table will include some type of cooked fish, such as Moroccan Fish, or perhaps baked salmon with some spice.
The main meal for both Ashkenazi and Sepharadi homes will typically include a dish with beef or chicken , some type of carbohydrate dish, as well as a vegetable dish.
The final indulgence of the Shabbat meal will include a touch of sweetness in the form of a plate of cut-up fresh fruit, as well as one or two pareve desserts.
By the way, if you’re looking for some ideas on what to do with all that leftover matzo, matza, or matzah (however you spell it!), check out Joy of Kosher’s excellent article: 30 Matza Recipes: What to Do with Lotsa Matza.
(see Note, below)
Source: Sarah Tikvah Bell Almogue
Ozair writes: “Sara Tikvah makes the best version of the Middle Eastern dish, Matbucha, that I have ever had. As an aside, she met her husband, Avi, at our Shabbat dinner table so I feel particularly honoured to include her in this book. Mazel tov, Sarah and Avi!”
1 to 3 chopped jalapeno peppers, to taste
20 or more chopped garlic cloves
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/8 to 1/4 cup sweet paprika, to taste
3 cans diced tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
Chop the garlic and jalapeno; sauté with olive oil for one minute.
Add paprika to mixture; sauté for one more minute.
Add tomatoes and stir.
Cook on medium-low flame for two to three hours, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. It should be a thick paste by the end.
Refrigerate for one to two hours before serving, overnight is best.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Note: Matbucha is a cooked Middle-Eastern salad made with tomatoes and peppers, and seasoned with garlic and chili peppers.
HONEY BRISKET
(Meat, Passover)
Source: Adina Torchman
“There can be no joy without meat and wine!” Gemarah Sanhedrin
1 14-oz. jar ketchup
4 onions, sliced
1 5-lb. brisket
paprika
garlic powder
pepper
2 bags (2 lb. each) carrots, cut up
3 lb. sweet potatoes, cut in quarters
1 12-oz. jar honey
2 lb. dried fruit (optional)
2 peels lemon
Preheat oven to 350.
Place ketchup and onions in bottom of pan.
Place brisket in pan on top of ketchup and onions.
Season generously with paprika, garlic powder and pepper.
Cover and bake for 1-1/2 hours.
Uncover and add carrots, sweet potatoes, honey, dried fruit, lemon peel, more paprika, and water if dry.
Bake covered for two hours or until done.
Check liquid and add water and ketchup when necessary.
Makes 6 servings.
BROCCOLI-SPINACH CASSEROLE
Source: Mom
2 10-oz. packages frozen chopped broccoli
2 10-oz. packages frozen chopped spinach
2 sticks margarine (1 cup)
4 medium onions, finely chopped
2 minced cloves garlic (or 1 tsp. from jar)
1 cup chicken soup (or pareve stock)
4 Tbsp. potato starch
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup matzah meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
Cook broccoli and spinach; drain well.
Melt margarine and sauté garlic and onions in Dutch oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in chicken soup (or stock) and potato starch; set aside.
In a large bowl, mix vegetables and matzah meal, then add soup mixture, salt and pepper; stir well.
Pour into greased 9×13-inch pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
Makes 12 to 16 servings.
Norene Gilletz is the leading author of kosher cookbooks in Canada. She is the author of eleven cookbooks and divides her time between work as a food writer, food manufacturer, consultant, spokesperson, cooking instructor, lecturer, and cookbook editor.
Norene lives in Toronto, Canada and her motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste good!” For more information, visit her website or email her at [email protected].