Ever since I read the Rebbetzin Machlis book, I wanted to get more involved in making Shabbos. It was more of a wish/dream instead of an actual goal because I kept running into this resistance in my head that told me that making Shabbos before I was married would just be “pretend.”
One of the positive developments for me in lockdown is a newfound confidence in the kitchen. I mentioned the cookbook that my friend bought me before her wedding, Table for Two by Rivka Parizad. Well, I have been powering through that thing. At one point I realized that I was making a lot of things for Shabbos so I decided to set an intentional goal of cooking my way through each course of the Shabbos meals.
It’s been about six weeks so far and here’s what’s gone down:
Challah – not yet. My dream is to learn how to make really good challah. My mother does; one day when it feels right I’ll ask her to teach me.
Dips – I made the babaganoush (eggplant dip), matbucha, and dill dip from Table for Two. All earned good reviews. My personal favorite was the eggplant. I would like to try making my own techina (years ago I used to, it’s really easy) and maybe chummus.
Friday night:
Fish – I made the half-loaf of gefilte fish from Table for Two, which was extremely easy. I don’t feel the need to try gefilte fish variations but trying my hand at salmon would be nice.
Chicken soup – the recipe I made was a compilation of a few recipes I looked at plus advice from the internet. The soup received favorable reviews although personally I still think it’s missing something. I used chicken wings and a turkey neck, parsnip, turnip, onion, leek, carrot, celery, parsley, dill, bay leaf, whole peppercorns, salt and pepper, and cooked it for about 7 hours on a low flame.
Matzah balls – I tried the recipe from Table for Two which sadly didn’t produce the fluffy balls I was hoping for. I then tried a recipe from a friend (twice, because the first time I left out half the seltzer, eeps) and that was a bit better but still not matzah ball perfection. I will probably revert to the boxed Kemach mix I have used in the past.
Main dish – I made chicken once, a variation on this recipe using fresh mushrooms and bone-in chicken thighs. It was really delicious. If I’d make it again, I would probably roast the mushrooms for a bit after cleaning them because they absorbed a lot of water. I want to try some more Shabbos mains but I can’t think of anything right now that excites me. Maybe some kind of pesto-garlic chicken?
Kugel – I made a lightened-up variation of the sweet potato kugel from Table for Two that was scrumptious. I also made amazing broccoli kugel, my really easy recipe; doughless potato knishes, which were scrumptious and so easy; and challah kugel, which flopped. I have not tried my hand at potato kugel because food processors intimidate me.
Other sides – have I made any? I don’t think so. I’ll probably try string beans and some type of roasted veggie at some point.
Dessert – haven’t made any
Shabbos day:
Salad – this is the salad I make and everyone loves it. I would like to try some other salad recipes, drawing a blank now but there must be something good out there.
Cholent – I followed the recipe in Table for Two exactly and it came out yummy every time I made it. The recipe as written definitely makes at least four generous portions. Personally I would prefer it with a thicker consistency so I may try adding more barley to absorb some water. I am also ready to play around with flavoring and add fun stuff like maybe barbecue sauce? Tip: I soak the beans overnight per everyone I asked.
Shalosh seudos:
Ok, I’ve been pretty weak on the third meal (and it is the holiest part of Shabbos so it would really be right to work on this) but I made ice cream bars a couple of times. I bought molds a while ago and they’re great molds but the recipes I made were more trouble than they were worth. I need to think about what else to try with these.
That’s all so far, what should I try next?? Feel free to post recipes and ideas! I am also open to trying Shabbos foods from a variety of cuisines, backgrounds, etc.
