Tag: Shabbos

Easy (Chicken) Schnitzel

Leave a comment
Set-up for preparation

Two packets of chicken cutlets (2 cutlets per pack)

1 egg, scrambled

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Place egg, and bread crumbs into separate bowls as shown in picture above

Cut chicken into thin slices

Pound chicken flat with meat hammer

Dip each piece, first into egg, then into bread crumbs, then set gently on plate.

Take a flat skillet with high walls, add enough canola oil to cover an inch of bottom. No more.

Important NOTE: Oil burns quickly, so this step has to be closely monitored. Fire can happen if the temperature of the oil gets too high. Constantly maintain an even temperature by lowering and raising heat. The oil should never be more than 350F as Canola catches fire at 390F. Use a meat thermometer to monitor your heat.

Place each piece of coated chicken gently into hot oil. Cook on both sides for 3 – 4 minutes each or until golden. Lay onto paper towel to absorb oil when it comes out of pan.

Chicken Filled Bourekas

Leave a comment
More brown food for the holidays
Chicken cutlets I use
Before going into oven…I could have been neater 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is one of the simplest recipes to put together, but the work is time consuming. Just turn on a good playlist, and you should be good to go 💕

1 pack of chicken cutlets as seen in picture

Pack of phyllo dough cut into 4”x4” squares

1 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp pepper

Dijon mustard (1/2 tsp per piece)

1 egg, scrambled for egg wash

Sesame seeds for covering

Cut up chicken in small 1” by 2” strips. Chicken cuts better when still a little frozen

Take spices and cover pieces liberally, mixing with your hands

Cut phyllo dough and place chicken in centre of each square

Cover with a dollop of mustard. 1/2 tsp per chicken piece. Not too much, because then the phyllo won’t seal properly

Gather edges of phyllo dough around chicken and squeeze to seal

Place each piece onto greased cookie sheet with sealed side upwards.

Cover each piece with egg wash (can use sesame seeds at this point but this house has food allergy fo them 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, or until brown.

Double this recipe because believe me, it disappears!!

Gefilte Fish Ratatouille

Leave a comment

1 medium zucchini sliced thinly

1 red pepper diced

1 medium onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup Tuscanini diced tomatoes 

1/2 cup water 

2 tablespoons sugar

1 jar  Manischewitz Gefilte Fish, drained of broth. 

Prepare all vegetables by dicing thinly. Place Gefilte fish in sieve, and drain broth. Place vegetables into warm skillet with oil. SautĂŠ until vegetables are tender, but not done. Add two tablespoons sugar and pepper. Add diced tomatoes and water along with Gefilte fish. Stir gently until everything is incorporated and fish is covered with tomato broth. Cover and let simmer for half an hour. Serve warm, but tastes great cold as well!

In university I used to need to work harder on some subjects and every Thursday night, I’d get together to study Engineering Static’s with a friend. This is where I learned about the amazing flavour of Ratatouille, and it’s a recipe that’s stayed with me forever.

Smoked Turkey and Farfel

1 Comment

This is meant as a side dish. Sort of like a goulash, without the liquid component.

One large smoked turkey thigh or 1 cup chopped smoked meat
1 package farfel

2 tblsp or oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 small stalks of celery, diced

1 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/4 tsp pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt to taste

1 container farfel

1 package smoked turkey leg or thigh, or 1 cup diced smoked deli meat

SautĂŠ veggies and spices in oil. The spices with incorporate into the veggies if you do this.

Add chopped pieces of meat and stir for three minutes or until meat completely covered with onion mix

Add farfel and stir until it’s coated with oil, onion/ meat mixture

Add 12 ounces of water.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until farfel is soft

This makes a great side dish and is very easy to prepare. Kids love it.

Gdańsk Chicken

Leave a comment

SautĂŠ onions until golden
Place thighs, top down and braise
Turn thighs over and sautĂŠ other side
Add spices, potatoes and water and simmer

2 Tbsp oil

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 chicken thighs

2 large potatoes halved

4 tsp of sweet paprika

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 cups water or chicken broth

2 tbsp flour for thickening at end

Place oil into skillet and add minced garlic with sliced onion. SautĂŠ until slightly golden. Add chicken bottoms in, top down. Braise until skin is slightly brown, 3-5 minutes

Turn over and do the same to bottom half. Sprinkle each thigh with sweet paprika (1 tsp per thigh). Drop potatoes into pan, keeping everything level. If food is doubled up, it won’t cook evenly. Add salt and pepper to mix. Add 2-3 cups water and cover. Turn down flame, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Take off cover and turn chicken pieces over so tops brown. Add 2 Tbsp flour, stir and simmer for extra 5 minutes until gravy forms. Cover potatoes and chicken with gravy and plate. Sprinkle with paprika before serving. This is basically more “brown food” but it’s soft and a great comfort food for those chilly fall nights.

Serves two but you can double it!

(This recipe is from the Zacharias’ Family who came from Gdańsk. I think it’s “Chicken Paprikash” in Hungarian, but I’ve always called it this and never thought twice about why until recently)

Bubby’s P’tcha (Meat Jelly)

Leave a comment

My Bubby alwats made p’tcha (galarita) and kept it in an enamel pan in the basement fridge. I was the only grandchild who enjoyed it, but she used to make it when she knew my Uncle was coming to visit. He LOVED her meat jelly and she loved him. He was the only boy of three girls.

Her recipe was from years of trying different tastes, but she brought it with her from Galicia

Basically you either love this or you hate it. The way of enjoying it (for me) is with a thick piece of toasted challah.

1 package p’tcha bones (cut up cows knees basically. Ask your butcher)

1 package stew meat

1 medium cooking onion

1 large carrot

1 large celery

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp salt

Ground pepper

1-2 dried bay leaves

1 tsp garlic powder

Boil the cows feet for about 5 minutes and thoroughly rinse the bones and discard the foamy guck that comes to the surface. Place back in pan with stew meat, other vegetables and spices. Add water to JUST cover bones. (Use a medium saucepan that the bones will cover the bottom completely and not be on top of one another with no room in between). Bring to boil and then turn down to simmer for 4-6 hours.

Take out bones and pull off all meat and cartilage from them then throw away the bones. Dice stew meat and cut up cartilage and meat into fine pieces. Put into Pyrex pan (metal does something weird with this so it has to be Pyrex). Drain broth into pan and refrigerate over night. I cut up the carrot and put it in and discard everything else but if you want plain jelly you don’t have to keep the carrot. Scrape off layer of fat and discard.

Jewish Shabbos Cholent

Leave a comment

If you are lucky enough to live in a high rise when you first get married, as you walk up the stairs after going to shul (synagogue) you will invariably smell cholent on each floor. The thing I noted was no two cholents smelled the same. One smelled sweet, one smelled spicy, one smelled of beans, one of barley. As Jews we all shared in the afternoon meal yet no two cholents were ever alike. It seems it’s a lot like us as a people. We all share the same experience yet each of us brings something different to our “table”.

The above picture was taken of my cholent before Shabbos (because on Shabbos I refrain from all work including turning on my phone). The end product is a warm brown colour with soft beans and perfect flavour.

Ingredients:

Package of beef marrow bones

Two strips flanken (fattier the better)

2/3 cup pearl Barley washed and checked

1/2 cup Cholent beans washed and checked (use kidney, pinto and navy beans if you can’t find the mix)

Two large potatoes cut in quarters

One medium whole onion

Half of a sweet potato layered in slices

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic

3 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp pepper

Salt to taste (kosher meat is pretty salty)

Directions:

Add some canola oil to the bottom of your slow cooker recipe sauce pan. Add marrow bones and flanken. Add spices and ketchup directly to meat. Top with beans/barley and finish with potatoes and slices of sweet potato. Fill pot until water JUST covers everything.

If using a slow cooker, turn on high for three hours and reduce heat until Shabbos lunch. For stove top method, bring to boil and then simmer until Erev Shabbos. Before Shabbos place a “blech” (metal separation) between the heat source and pot and leave on the blech on a very low burner until Shabbos lunch. For my oven, the burner is set to 2 ( where 1 on my burner is the lowest) for the blech to have a slow heat.

You can alter the ingredients depending upon the amount of guests you have. More guests, add more potatoes or more barley. It doesn’t have to be expensive. People come for your company, not your meat. Before Shabbos if you find your water has gone down, add more and give it a stir. The water should be sitting at the top of the mixture before Shabbos so it doesn’t dry out.

Note: this is NOT for Pesach (Passover)

Bubby’s Old Fashioned Chicken Soup

Leave a comment

Chicken soup was a staple in our house. My grandmother could make a batch in no time and the smell was amazing. It was one of those things I took for granted until one day my mother was sick and couldn’t make the soup and it was left to me. I was terrified it wouldn’t turn out, but honestly it’s such an easy thing to make. After you get through all the cleaning and chopping, it just looks after itself until dinner time. I guess what I’m saying is don’t be afraid to try new things. You don’t have to use chemicals to get that old fashioned taste in your food when there are so many healthy ingredients out there.

2 carrots, peeled and washed

1 celery

1 parsnip

1 cooking onion

2 inches piece of sweet potato (can be omitted but we like this for flavour)

1 small potato

1 large RAW chicken breast

Package of chicken bones

1 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

12 cups water

Peel and wash all vegetables well and cut tips off. ( for people who want vegetables served with their soup, dice vegetables into small pieces. I leave mine whole and serve the broth) Place info large soup pot. Wash chicken breast and bones under water. Wrap chicken bones in cheese cloth, tie the end securely and place chicken into pot. Add spices, salt and pepper. Add water. Turn pot into high and bring to boil. Let boil for 15 minutes and turn to simmer. Leave pot partially covered and let simmer for 6-8 hours. It’s not a fast process if you want the good taste. When done, remove cheese cloth. Serve chicken soup broth with some parsley for garnish.

(The above soup is pictured with “kreplach” which is a meat filled dumpling)

Sheet Pan Lunches – ×ž×’׊

Leave a comment

So many people right now are making “sheet pan dinners” because they are easy and healthy. I decided to add to this with what seems to be big in Israel right now: sheet pan lunches or “מגש״” (magash meaning tray). There’s a well known cafe in Tel Aviv where everyone seems to go to that is especially known for this style. I’m not certain of whether they are kashrut certified, but their food sure looks great. I tried to copy their style at home. This is great for a healthy lunch or Shalosh Seudah or if you want to have a meal outside on these in between temperature days.

Ingredients for my sheet pan lunch:

1 can tuna salad

1/2 cp Hummus with schug

Garden Salad with Israeli Salad garnish

2 Hard boiled eggs cut in half

4 medium Pickles (one was eaten before this shot 🙈)

1/2 cucumber sliced lengthwise

1/2 medium red onion sliced

Take a tray and line with parchment paper. Places salads around tray, displaying each one separately. Add condiments around salads. You can have personal trays as well, but this platter would serve 4

( note: You can add whatever you like to this tray. Serve with crackers or wholesome wheat breads)

Roasted Red Pepper Dip – Feature Friday

Leave a comment

I think every Friday I’m going to try to feature my favourite recipes from other bloggers that I love. I chose this recipe from Miriam Pascal or http://www.overtimecook.com to post first because it’s so versatile. I use it as a dip with Challah on Shabbos, to baste my salmon before I bake it, to top my homemade hummus in salads or on toast. The list is endless. It’s great just as is too. I haven’t had any complaints ever about it being bland or needing more spice. Try it. I think you will really love it 😍

Roasted Red Pepper Dip