Making Shabbos for the first time! Need help!

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  • #611774
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    Hi everyone! My friend and I will be spending Shabbos together and we need to make the food! We both don’t have much cooking experience, but we can do it. All we need is Siyata D’Shmaya and a few tips and recipes. Nothing fancy, just some good food, Zemiros and a friendly atmosphere! Oh, and one more thing,

    the only cooking device we have is a two-burner electric thingy! We’ve got a frying pan and a pot and can always buy another pot if nned be.

    Here’s what I got so far…

    NIGHT

    Wine – already bought

    Challah – will buy some bilkalach/lachmaniot (no, we are not starting to bake!)

    Fish – will buy a frozen loaf of Gefilta and prepare it. (Any tips?) and throw together a salad. Maybe buy a salad or two as well Cole Slaw, how do you make it?

    Soup – Chicken, Carrots, Celery, Squash, Onion, Dill, Parsley, Water, Spices-anything else? and throw it all together, cook and trasfer to a disposable pan and place on the hot-plate. And we will make kneidalach/Matzah Balls1

    Main – Chicken from the soup, Kasha Varneshkes for Parsha Beshalach/Shabbos Shira, and maybe some veggie, any ideas? sommething simple but good!

    Desert – purchhased cake, nuts and fruit

    DAY

    Wine – already bought

    Challah – will buy some bilkalach/lachmaniot (no, we are not starting to bake!)

    Fish – Gefilta (the loaf will be big enough for all three Seudas) and Salads

    Eggs – Under control! No Liver.

    Cholent – here’s a hard one! Some Beans (don’t want alot), Barley, a Potato or two, Cholent meat or Chicken, Onions…what else and what next? I will maybe buy a ready made kishke and put it in the cholent. How about a ready made potato kugel as well?

    Desert – same as above

    THE THIRD MEAL

    Gefilta Fish, Salads and ?

    That’s what I have now. Any tips, suggestions or modifications would be very helpful! And no, I am not tbeer OR ketchup in my Cholent! And not Coke either!!!

    Thhanks!

    #998441
    popa_bar_abba
    Participant

    Get an extra bottle of whiskey. If you have enough whiskey, nobody misses the rest.

    #998442
    TheGoq
    Participant

    “And not Coke either!!!”

    Then dont invite Rob Ford!

    #998443
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    sounds good, ketchup or bbq sauce for the cholent. Or feel free to eat by us.

    #998444
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    Syag, would love to! Whats the address??

    Come on someone, this whole thing is a bit daunting!

    SiDi™

    #998445
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    I found a recipe online for cole slaw with rave reviews. It calls for celery seed. What is that??

    BTW,, sorry about the ddoublle lettterss!

    SiDi™

    #998446
    yaakov doe
    Participant

    All you forgot is the salt and pepper for the soup, gefilte fish and the cholunt. The Smilowitz C&L pareve kishka is by far the best one to put in the cholunt. A lot of paprika in the cholunt adds color an flavor, but I can’t give you all of my cholunt secrets.

    #998447
    oomis
    Participant

    I put dry onion soup mix into my cholent, lots of minced garlic, LOTS of paprika,and last week I added a little (mamesh just a little, maybe a 1/4 cup) of dry wed wine, that I had left from a bottle. I made the cholent as usual, with soaked beans (no barley, because someone in my household cannot eat it), potatoes, cubed meat, chick peas, and the usual spices. It was to die for (B”H no one did!)

    You could make chicken schnitzel in the fry pan, or take the same cutlets, pour tomato sauce (marinara works great) over them in the pan, add dried basil, a goodly amount of kosher salt, oregano, rosemary, a drop of sage, garlic and black pepper, plus some slivered green bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, and diced onion. Let it all cook until it’s soft and the chicken is done through. Perfect for Friday night.

    #998448
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    yaakov doe: and why not? I really don’t know how to make cholent! The soup, fish and others I’ll manage but the cholent? I really don’t know…

    #998449
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Whiskey isn’t enough. You’ll need opium in case of emergency.

    #998450
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    first get to chicago, then we’ll figure out how to get you here.

    #998451
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    🙂

    How about giving me some of your amazing tips so that I can have a little idea of your food?!

    SiDi™

    #998452
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    we use LOTS of garlic. I put almost a whole head of garlic in most things I make (including omelets, but not in chocolate chip cookies) I grew up eating cholent from the blech and I think it tastes better but we use a crock pot here so this is what I do that makes it awesome:

    sautee onion and garlic (lots)

    add meat to pan and brown it ALL over.

    I let it sit on the fire for a little bit and then dump it into the crock pot with the barley potatoes etc.

    I also make rice using soup instead of water and cut chicken into little pieces and mix it in.

    #998453
    goofey
    Member

    Chulent:

    Saute a medium onion in oil with lots of paprika, black pepper, garlic powder & salt. Saute for 10 min.

    Add meat and brown. (Optional)

    Add soaked beans and saute for another 5-10 minutes.

    Add water and cook till beans are soft. Taste if more spices needed. Lower flame and cook for another hour or two to get this good chulenty consistency.

    #998454
    Mammele
    Participant

    Unless you’re a major fan of gefilte fish I don’t think you’ll appreciate eating it at all 3 seudos. I’d suggest you buy some herring, lox/sable instead, or make a plain old tuna salad. Good luck!

    #998455
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    SL, goofey and Mammele: Finally, some normal answers!! Thanks so much! I would never have known to fry the onion and meat! I think we’ll be okay with the Gefilta.

    SiDi™

    #998456
    interjection
    Participant

    The only way I enjoy eating gefilte fish is when it’s breaded and fried.

    This is what I do:

    one of each

    loaf gefilte fish

    green pepper

    onion

    heart of garlic

    box mushrooms, sliced

    can tomato sauce

    let fish defrost about 10-15 minutes just so you can cut it.

    crack egg in one bowl and whisk, bread crumbs in another.

    slice the gefilte fish into however many slices you like (anywhere from 7-20, or more, or less)

    dip in the egg, dip in the bread crumbs.

    Heat oil in a skillet. add the slices of breaded gefilte fish. Fry on both sides and lay to rest on a paper towel.

    For the sauce:

    cut up onions and green pepper into whatever sized pieces you like.

    heat a skillet with oil. Place in the onions with some sugar so it caramelizes. When it starts getting softer, add the green pepper and garlic and if you want add oil. When it starts getting soft, add the mushrooms and saute for another minute or two.

    Turn off the heat.

    Add the tomato sauce. Add about 1/4 cup of either vinegar (regular or apple cider or rice wine) or lemon or lime.

    Add either a minced chili pepper (I use jalepeno’) or some chili seeds. add more reg sugar or brown sugar, if you think it needs. Add black pepper if you think it needs. Add salt if you think it needs.

    Btw this recipe is the furthest thing from an exact science. I make it up as I go and it is a lot less complicated than it looks but it is delicious.

    #998457
    agent
    Participant

    To make Gefilte Fish:

    In a pot put in the fish, onion sliced into 4, a few pieces of garlic, salt, pepper, and little sugar. Pour the water 3/4 of the fish, once it boils but on low to medium heat for an hour and 45 mintutes.

    To make Chulent:

    Saute onion and some garlic (a few pieces)-carmelize it.

    Once done, take out and put into the crock pot. Then brown the meat with the leftover oil in the pot and put that in. Add in Barley and Beans (I boil the beans twice) and add salt and pepper and water. That’s it!

    Sometimes I put in a little honey but not always up to you.

    Good Luck 🙂

    #998458
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Sorry for hijacking, but did you know I hate ketchup?

    #998459
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    rebyidd23: are you sure about that??!

    Thanks guys for the tips. Still looking for a good vegetable side dish. Something SIMPLE.

    What is celery seed?

    SiDi™

    #998460
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    I just wanted to hijack in return.

    #998461
    OURtorah
    Participant

    SayIDidIt- one thing thats very important I know this seems obvious but often we take for granted our mothers or wives lighting the shabbos candles. If you plan on doing it (becuase it seems you are lighting at home and eating there too) make sure you leave enough time to light before the 18 minutes!!!! and you will have to daven mincha before (unless you have in mind that you are not ccepting shabbos upon urself with the lights) (Ask your rabbi lol)

    Hatzlacha it sound slike you will have a beautiful shabbos!!

    dont forget divrei torah!!

    #998462
    oomis
    Participant

    Interjection, that sounds SO interesting.

    #998463
    oomis
    Participant

    Thanks guys for the tips. Still looking for a good vegetable side dish. Something SIMPLE.

    Steam a package of French cut string beans, toast some slivered almonds for a few minutes in the oven til golden brown, toss with the beans, with some garlic salt and a little nutmeg (not too heavy, you need to taste-test). You can toss with a little olive oil too, if you like.

    #998464

    You can find celery seed in the spice aisle. Do try it; it’s one of my favorite spices and much underappreciated! (Just don’t overdo it– the flavor is stronger than you might expect).

    #998465
    kapusta
    Participant

    FYI, some of the foods you mentioned (specifically celery, onion, garlic, dill, barley) need to be washed/checked for bugs. A few of the Kashrus organizations have info online. Or find a store that sells things pre-checked.

    *kapusta*

    #998466
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    Thanks everyone! Looking forward to a nice Shabbos!

    kapusta: thanks!

    SiDi™

    #998467
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    Now this might sound silly, but I have a recipe for cole slaw which calls for wine vinegar and celery seed. Celery seed I have not found yet and could only find a big bottle of WV which was a bit expensive. Here’s the Q: can I skip the CS (I do have reg. celery, though, can I use that instead and how?) and can I use reg. vinegar?

    SiDi™

    #998468
    oomis
    Participant

    You can skip the celery seed, if you can’t find it. Try the spice section, though, there should be dried celery seed there. Wine vinegar has a specific flavor, but other types wouold probably work, too. What about Balsamic Vinegar? Regular vinegar works in most cole slaw recipes.

    #998469
    interjection
    Participant

    With cole slaw and celery seed I would sooner use regular vinegar than balsamic. You can’t really substitute celery seed. Maybe use nutmeg or coriander if you have it anyway. It’s that kind of flavor even if it tastes nothing like it. Or just skip it. It’s a spice though.

    #998470
    oomis
    Participant

    I love balsamic vinegar in sweet salads. Most cole slaw IS on the sweet side, so I would try it, in the absence of other vinegar. Plain white is the best bet.

    #998471
    notasheep
    Member

    gefilte fish – I put the log in a pan with a carrot and an onion (whole), and onion powder, salt and black pepper. Pour boiling water in the pan and let it bubble on a low flame for about an hour. I slice it and the carrot once it’s cooked, and I don’t keep the onion.

    Cholent (on Thursday night) – fry onions till soft, then add cholent meat, LOTS of: paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper and brown the meat together with the onions. In the crockpot I put cubed potatoes, boiling water. Then I add the browned meat and pre-soaked beans (but I don’t put a lot of beans in). On friday I add the barley, otherwise it dries out the cholent.

    #998472
    TheGoq
    Participant

    How did it go Sidi?

    #998473
    SayIDidIt™
    Participant

    Hi everyone and thanks for your amazing help! As you can tell, I haven’t been around awhile and could not report back.

    Well, the Shabbos was GREAT! Everything worked out so well, B”H! And the cholent can out AMAZING!!

    Thanks to all members who assisted in making Shabbos so perfect, including: Syag Lchochma, yaakov doe, oomis, goofey, Mammele, interjection, agent, OURtorah, jewishfeminist02, kapusta, notasheep, and of course Master Goq™!! Thank you all!!!!

    SiDi™

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