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A time of changes

This is a Shabbat of transition. An old friend passed away. I'm going on a trip to Europe. Many of our friends are leaving for the summer. My army son finishes his first six months as a soldier. Our transplant recipient has passed the initial rejection risk phase. My high school children being summer vacation, and we prepare for the Summer Book project!

There is change in the air, and we hope that the changes are for the best.

This Shabbat, we will be hosting Asaf's donor and her family for lunch. We began this journey as neighbors. Not close, but familiar, as part of the large extended Hashmonaem anglo community. Together over the past 9 months, we have experienced many ups and downs. From the initial testing to the long drawn out detailed testing and finally to the transplant itself. The path was long and the results are absolutely amazing! Now that the excitement has passed, we hope to build on our shared experiences to maintain and enhance the relationship. She altruistically gave of herself, and we can do no less.

One of my regular rants is that I get bored cooking the same old things. I'm trying to break out of that mold this weekend. We've got an interesting soup for dinner and a Jamaican jerk chicken for lunch. The recipes for both are included at the end of this post. The rest of the menus are old standards. Should be an interesting set of meals.

Shabbat Parshat Korach
Dinner - 6
Broccoli, White Bean and Dried Tomato Soup
Stir Fry Chicken
Stir Fry Ground Beef
Rice

Lunch - 15
Jerk Chicken
College Goo
Prepared Naked Schnitzel
Rainbow B'Titim
Israeli Salad
Green Salad

Broccoli, White Bean and Sundried Tomato Soup
From "A Good Day for Soup" by Jeannette Ferrary and Louise Fiszer
Olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot chopped
1/2 tsp sage
400 grams dried great northern beans (soaked overnight)
10 cups chicken stock
1 package frozen broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 cup oil packaged chopped sundried tomatoes
Salt and Pepper

Cook onion, garlic and carrots in the oil until soft. Add sage and cook until fragrant (another minute). Add drained beans and stock. Bring to a boil, simmer partial covered about an hour (until the beans are soft). Add broccoli and tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes. Salt and Pepper and serve!

Jerk Chicken
Jerk recipe adapted from "The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors"
2 hot banana peppers, seeded and chopped
3 scallions, chopped
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 piece of fresh ginger (about 1 inch square), sliced
4 1/2 tablespoons(!) ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
4 bay leaves, crumbled
2 tablespoons canola oil

Put everything except the oil into a food processor and chop until it forms a paste. Add the oil and puree until it is as smooth as you want. Rub onto beef or chicken and let sit for at least 30 minutes. This quantity was enough for two whole chickens cut up into parts. I baked them at 350 for about 30 minutes. Jerk paste is good with beef and lamb. It has a very nice smell and taste. The hot peppers don't make it taste spicy, they just enhance the other spices.

Comments

SuperRaizy said…
Umm... "College Goo"?
Elliot said…
College Goo is a concoction we made up in college because I didn'y know how to cook anything interesting. Its rice, ground meat, mushrooms, onions and peas. Saute the meat, mushrooms and onions until nicely done. Add the peas and mix into the rice (including any oils that are in the pan). Serve warm with soy sauce.
Talia said…
Look at this link my father sent me:
http://www.mypickles.co.il/
I think you'll find quite a few interesting ideas there

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