[Sca-cooks] Period substitute for tomatoes?

[Judith Epstein]

On Aug 21, 2009, at 11:12 AM, Susan Fox wrote:

> A Drizzle of Honey : The Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews by
> David M. Gitlitz and Dr. Linda Kay Davidson.  Which also addresses
> Aldyth's "new challenge" thread as well, come to think of it.

I've got it on hold at the local library. Next month, I should be able  
to get my hands on it. :)

> In the meantime:  what do you usually cook at home for the Sabbath?
> Cheers,
> Selene

It varies depending on the season, what's on sale, and my mood. I'm  
not the girl who cooks the same gefilte fish (Ashkenazi, yo), chicken  
soup, and brisket or schnitzel every week!

Last week when it was so bleeding hot here, I gave standard kiddush  
(grape juice with pita; I like it better than challah), homemade  
hummous, store-bought baba ghanouj, techina, a mushroom salad, and  
some ice cream for dessert. Lunch and dinner the next day were the  
same, with the addition of Israeli salad at lunch and tabbouleh for  
seudat shlishit (third meal). Snacks were handfuls of fresh cold  
grapes from the fridge, which I sometimes put in the freezer for  
fifteen minutes first, just to give them a little more cooling power.

This week it's a bit cooler, and I'm planning on cooking for my own  
household plus a friend, her husband, and their three kids. So I'm  
baking a turkey biryani with julienned carrots, some raisins,  
sultanas, cherries, and currants. I'll get the fruits and vegetables  
out and mix them into some Iraqi style rice, and serve the turkey  
sliced on a bed of the rice. Dessert will be brought by my friend, and  
it'll probably involve a gluten-free apple-oat crumble and some soy  
"ice cream," because she enjoys making that.

If I feel lazy, but it's cool enough that I don't mind cooking, I  
often toss a frozen chicken into a cotton mesh bag in the crock pot in  
the morning. I cut a red or white onion into eighths, add about three  
stalks of celery, a couple of carrots, and chicken or vegetable broth  
(usually canned, I confess, if I'm feeling this lazy!). Then I add my  
spices -- pepper, fresh parsley or cilantro (coriander leaf), some  
za'atar, a spoonful of sesame seeds and/or sesame oil -- and let that  
cook from about noon until the next day. I also prepare millet in my  
rice cooker (1 C millet, 3 C water), and when it's done, just stick it  
right in the fridge. When lunchtime rolls around the next day, I give  
everyone a scoop of cold millet from the fridge, then pour soup broth  
and vegetables on top. The millet cools down the soup to edible  
temperature so that people don't have to blow on every spoonful.  
Saturday dinner is more soup, but this time with the meat as well.  
Leftover meat makes the basis for lunches the following week. (For  
Friday night dinner, on these lazy days, I buy kosher sushi at the  
shop three blocks from my place, YUM.)

Judith