Three Years Later...

This past week marked three years since the day that darkness descended on the Chabad House in Mumbai, India. Though I never met Gavi and Rivky HY"D, I felt like I knew them - and their absence was sorely felt. While darkness entered the world that day - it only brought forth an abundance of light, with the addition of more and more Mitzvot by individuals around the globe.

The post below was written a few months back - and somehow never got posted. Now seemed like a good time to post..

The birth of a child is always a special occasion. Two weeks ago my friends Hallie and Yehoshua  were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. 

Last Sunday the Chabad House was filled with family and friends who came to celebrate with them at their son's Bris. Of course like everyone else in the room I was curious to know which name had been chosen for this little cutie.

When his name, Gavriel Noach, was announced, I was a little surprised to feel my eyes well up with tears. I was totally moved and turned to Hallie and said, "I love the name, good choice!" (as if they need my approval) ;)

I was so taken by this little boy's name because he was named for the incredible Shliach (Chabad emissary) who was tragically killed in Mumbai, India. The baby's father explained that they wanted their son to grow up in the footsteps of this wonderful Shliach. He continued that they wanted their son to evolve into someone who would do his best to help fellow Jews get in touch with their special roots, just as Gavriel and Rivky Holtzberg did - and as Chabad Shluchim around the globe continue to do.

I am truly excited to watch little Gavriel Noach as he grows up and it is my wish for Hallie and Yehoshua that they get much nachas from their little boy.

So of course being that this is a food blog I will share a recipe:)

As part of the menu we served egg salad. I wasn't actually the one who made the egg salad as I was busy putting together flowers in vases, but I will share my recipe for delicious (I think!) egg salad.

Rashi's Egg Salad

Hard boiled eggs (boiled to the perfect yellow color)

Mayonnaise

Salt 

Black pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

This is how I boil eggs.

Place eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Place the lid on the pot. Place on stove with burner turned to high. When the water starts to boil, remove the pot from the fire and let sit covered for 15 minutes. At 15 minutes, rinse eggs in cold running water for a couple of minutes to stop them from continuing to cook. 

Peel eggs (it is much easier to do right after they are cooked) and place in a bowl. Mash eggs (I usually put on gloves and mush the eggs with my hands.) Mix in some mayonnaise (I actually make my own - but that is for another day!) - I try not to put too much mayo (I feel that the mashed eggs shouldn't be swallowed up by the mayonnaise and lose their identity.) Season with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. 

Purple Cabbage - Green Grapes

Being the big fan of food that I am, I love to look through food magazines. A few months back I came across the The Food Network Magazine - and I love reading it. I always find some cool tips, ideas or recipes - and of course I just love to read about food.

Looking at their pretty pictures I always say that I am going to try some of the recipes, but of course I am usually in a hurry and fall back on my tried and true foods.

This past Friday I was flipping through the magazine while Levi drove us to BJs to shop for our Shabbat dinner at Chabad House. I came across a pretty picture of a recipe for a red cabbage and grapes salad  - my first reaction was, "who would eat that?". When I described the recipe to Levi he decided we should try it at our kiddush at Chabad House - so I agreed that we would give it a whirl.

I quickly glanced at the recipe to see what the dressing was made of. Not being a huge fan of some of the ingredients I made a mental note to use certain substitutions. In the end, I realized on Shabbat morning that I had left the recipe in my car before Shabbat. I pretty much only remembered that the recipe called for red cabbage, green grapes and dijon mustard (I used regular mustard), and so I made up the dressing as I went along.

When it was time for lunch we placed the salad on the table and hoped for the best. (I must say that the green grapes mixed in with the purple cabbage really did look beautiful.) The salad pretty much vanished and the few people I asked said it tasted good. I finally tasted it myself and was surprised to find that I loved it!

Purple Cabbage and Green Grapes Salad

Purple cabbage
Green grapes, sliced lengthwise
Scallions
Canola oil
Mustard
Rice vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Sugar

Slice purple cabbage and place in a bowl. Slice grapes and add to cabbage. Slice scallions and add to bowl. To dress the salad pour in a little bit of canola oil and rice vinegar. Then add a few squirts of mustard, salt, pepper, garlic and sugar. Mix well and serve.

Enjoy!

Honey Mustard Salmon

On Monday I decided I was in the mood for some fish. Being that nice husband that he is, Levi went off to the fish store to see what they had gotten in fresh. He came home with a super fresh, beautiful pink salmon that had come in just that morning.

When Levi brought the fish home he let me know that they said it was a sushi grade fish - so he proceeded to have some some sashimi with soy sauce. Having never tasted sushi or sashimi (I've always been terrified to try raw fish) I decided to give it a go - and ate my first piece of sashimi :)

Then I got to work on making dinner. I wanted to have dinner in the oven within about 30 minutes so that I could head out to take my kids bowling.  I quickly washed potatoes and put them in the oven to bake. Then I got to work on slicing mushrooms and onions for a mushroom sauce for the potatoes. Sauce made I quickly created a honey-mustard dressing for the salmon and popped it in the oven. Then I grabbed a bag of washed and ready to cook green beans from the fridge, seasoned them and set them to cook in the microwave. Everything in place I asked Levi to please "babysit" dinner and make the salad.

When we got back from bowling we sat down to dinner - and then I discovered that the honey-mustard mix I put together was the perfect match for the salmon. So...here's the "recipe" for the honey-mustard salmon.

Honey Mustard Salmon

Salmon fillets
Salt
French's mustard
Honey
Pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder

Preheat oven to 375. Rinse fish and place in a glass baking dish. Sprinkle fish with salt. In a bowl, mix equal parts mustard and honey. Add pepper, garlic and onion powder to the honey-mustard mixture. Mix well. Spoon sauce onto fish. Place fish, uncovered, into the oven. Bake for about 20 or so minutes, until fish flakes easily.

Enjoy!

A Wild Friday

There are Fridays, and there are Fridays. As least week headed towards Shabbat I knew that I was having a few guests in my home for dinner and began to plan accordingly. Then I found out that a friend was headed out of town to be with her mother because her grandmother had passed away. I immediately asked what I could do to help her out. She mentioned that she really needed someone to drop off Shabbat dinner for her hubby and three of her children who would remain at home - I quickly told her that I was on it and that she need not worry. Now I knew I was cooking for 15 people.

Then on Thursday afternoon we found out that another friend was going to be in the hospital for Shabbat to give birth to her first child - and her husband and mother would be joining her too. We of course offered to deliver Shabbat dinner and lunch for the next day. Now we were up to 18.

I made my menu and shopped accordingly. The menu was pretty simple and so I didn't see any great need to get started too early. Luckily I ended up with a great kitchen helper, because little did I know my day was about to just get crazier.

I spent my morning and a nice part of my afternoon dropping someone off for a dr's appt and then waiting for quite some time for him to be ready. By the time I got home and really got to my cooking it was about 3:00 pm. Then I got home and started to cook.

At about 5:00 my husband told me that he had just received a phone call that a couple from NY and their daughter were going to be in Norfolk for Shabbos as their flight to NY had landed here due to weather. They would be staying in a hotel and would love to have food prepared to go. Now I was cooking for 21. I took a deep breath in and asked Levi if he could please go buy some takeout containers because at this point I was prepping food to go for 12 people (my parents had also asked for food to be packed up because they planned to stay home Friday night). So Levi ran to buy the containers and then he called me to say that another plane had been grounded in Norfolk and that two girls from Monsey would be spending Shabbat with us. Now I had a grand total of 23 Shabbat guests - some in my home and some eating in homes, hotels and hospitals.

I looked at the food I had prepared and was still preparing and starting to panic and decided that maybe I should add some foods to my menu. I quickly looked through my fridge and found a giant bag of broccoli that I proceeded to stir fry and then I remembered that I had a container of mushroom-zucchini kugel I had frozen a few months back. I quickly defrosted the kugel and warmed it up and finally had a rounded out menu with enough food for everyone. (Lesson learned - sometimes freezing those leftovers can be a really good idea!)

The day spun out of control as Levi stopped at the airport to pick up the two girls and then brought me the containers which I quickly started to fill. Then he dashed back out the door with boxes of food for my friend's family and then off to the hospital 20 minutes away to deliver food to my other friend. Luckily my mom and the guests staying at the hotel were able to come pick up their dinners.

Levi returned with a few minutes to spare before Shabbat. I checked that everything was ready and then lit my Shabbat candles. I opened my eyes and marveled at how lighting my candles and bringing in Shabbat suddenly brought peace and tranquility into what had been a wild and hectic home just a few minutes earlier.

Here is the recipe for the Mushroom-Zucchini Kugel which I was able to just grab out of my freezer :) This original recipe comes from the Bina Cookbook: Spice It Right by Estee Kafra, I make the recipe with a few small changes  - which is the way I am posting it.


Mushroom Zucchini Kugel


3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 zucchini
1 onion
24 button mushrooms
1 clove garlic
Pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, mix eggs, oil, sugar, salt, baking powder and flour. The batter will be sort of stiff. Grate the onions, zucchinis, mushrooms and garlic in a food processor fitted with a grating disc.  Add grated veggies to the mixture in the bowl. Sprinkle in black pepper. Mix well. Coat a 9 x 13 pan with Pam and pour the batter in. 
Bake for at least two hours  - the top will start to get crispy. The kugel will cset after it is removed from the oven and has cooled. This kugel takes a really long time to bake but is well worth it! 

Time to start cooking

It has been ages since I have last posted - and there is a good reason for it too! Generally speaking my posts are inspired by the goings on in my kitchen - and as hard as it may be to believe, I have spent only a few hours in my kitchen in the past few weeks.  I just returned from an incredible 11 days in Israel and had every single meal prepared for me! While I love to cook, I have to say I loved every minute I spent out of the kitchen. This past Shabbat was really a treat! We enjoyed delicious meals at two different hotels and were thrilled to let someone else do cooking and cleaning while we just chilled out. We realized that it was the first time in our 9 years together (we celebrated our anniversary in Israel!) that we spent a Shabbat together on our own. The food was amazing and the people watching in the dining room was loads of fun. After a much needed break, we are back and I am getting right back to creating yummy foods in my kitchen:) So I promise I'll be posting some new recipes for you shortly!