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Post shabbat post

I'm tardy. I should have posted before Shabbat started, but instead I decided to complete re-wiring the network for my wife's new office. That, coupled with small meals and an early shabbat left me no time to post. So, here is a "post"-mortem.

We have a nice family with little kids over for friday night. Binyamin and Shira moved to the yishuv last November. They have two little tikes (3 and 1.5) and one on the way. For lunch, not only did we not have guests, but my wife was out running a luncheon. Way too small with just six of us. We finished in less than 30 minutes.

Cooking for less than a crowd is hard. There are many fewer options and the food tends to be blander because everyone need to eat something. The food was good anyway, but I look forward to the return of the students starting in September. We already have a few guests pre-booked, because we knew their families in the old country.

A word about my roast chicken this week. I'm confused about making chicken. On the one hand, my cook books strongly suggest not overcooking the birds. It is supposed to make them tough. On the other hand, this week, I oven roasted two split chickens. I took them out when the temperature reached 170, but a few pokes drew colors liquid, so I put them back in. Then I forgot about them. An hour and a half later, they were very crispy and absolutely delicious. The meat was soft and falling off the bone. So what did I do right (or wrong)?

Shabbat Parshat Rei
Dinner - 8 + 2 (little kids don't eat much)
Roast Chicken
Spetzofai with Hot sausages
Roasted potatoes
Sautéed Zucchini
Fried cabbage and jalapeno peppers
Spelt banana bread for dessert (from our guests, moist and wonderful)

Lunch - 6
Left over Roast Chicken (still good and tasty!)
Collage Goo with mushroom (I remembered to add cumin)

See you next shabbat,
Elliot

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Comments

SuperRaizy said…
I think that if you leave chickens in the oven for a long time on a slightly lower heat setting, they come out tender and juicy, but if the temperature is too high then they get dried out.
Also, salting the bird before cooking and frequent basting keep it moist too.
But enough about the chicken! How is your son feeling?
August 16, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Elliot said…
All is well. Three months have past and the doctors feel that he is stable and healthy. He now has to decide what to do with his life.

Its hard for him to go out in public. He had the fear of infection laid upon him by the transplant surgeon and was told to stay home for three months. The time is up, but the fear is still there.
August 16, 2009 at 11:27 AM
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