Category: Shabbat
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Lazy Chicken
I call this Lazy Chicken because it’s the recipe I reach for when I’m short on time, energy, or both—but still want a one-and-done type of chicken. I don’t claim anything about this recipe as original (aside from the name, and perhaps the optional addition of potatoes). This very combination has appeared in Jewish day school, synagogue…
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Za’atar and Garlic Challah
This challah is super savory and the perfect foil for the almost cake-like sweetness of many challahs made at home or sold in bakeries. The combination of za’atar and fried garlic makes this challah savory and moreish. When served alongside hummus and other salatim as part of an appetizer, it really comes into its own.…
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Empanadas
Makes 12–15 medium-sized empanadas Though many think of empanadas as South American savoury handheld pastries, they are in fact originally from Spain. The author of the Shulchan Aruch – Rabbi Joseph Caro (1488–1575) – writes about empanadas in his treatise on Jewish law. Empanadas travelled east with the Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, and many say that…
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Potato Kugel
Potato kugel — truly, it’s as close as I think Jews come to agreeing on nirvana. Even Sephardi Jews, who mock the Ashkenazi kitchen, see the light when it comes to potato kugel. It is the perfect combination of potato, oil, salt, and heat. The outside is crunchy, the inside melts in your mouth. It…
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Italian Hamin – Crockpot Method
The freshness of Italian Wedding Soup meets the comfort of cholent. This is the Hamin recipe I come back to time and again—beloved by my family and always a hit with guests. In my mind, it’s the Jewish take on a Southern Italian classic: Italian Wedding Soup, made with kosher ingredients and transformed into a comforting, celebratory Shabbat…
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Moroccan Fish
Our son Yoel has this incredible knack for cooking; unlike me, he effortlessly whips up dishes without following a recipe. He’s that kind of cook who just throws things into a pot, and every time, it turns out absolutely fantastic. I attempted to capture the magic of Yoel’s cooking and write down one of his…
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Water Challah
Challah is so intrinsically a part of Jewish cuisine that it is no surprise that there are a multitude of questions regarding the nature of challah within the context of Jewish law. One of those questions is whether we should make challah with or without eggs. In the past—and in some Chassidic as well as…
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Sephardi Fried Fish (Pescado Frito)
This classic Sephardi Shabbat fried fish recipe was one of my Savta’s favourite to make, but never to eat as she was allergic to fish, which always begged the question how she made the best fish in the whole world! When my family immigrated to America in 1959, my grandmother adapted her recipes to the…
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Pumpkin Challah
Pumpkin pie spice – you either love it or you hate it. I love it. I think it adds warmth and coziness to so many delicious dishes, especially in baked goods. What better way to introduce pumpkin and pumpkin spice to your Shabbat table than in the challah? The colour is just a bit more…
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Sweet and Peppery Jerusalem Kugel
My mother, Nira, is a descendant of people who have lived in the Land of Israel for generations. On her Sephardic side, her grandmother Saada Amsalem’s family has the legacy of being one of the families that, even after the expulsion of the Jews following the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70…