What to Serve with Rock Cornish Hens? A Menu for the Second Night of Rosh Hashana

I grew up having our major Rosh Hashana meals for lunch. My Father didn't and doesn't go to shul at night. No one wanted to eat so late so everyone gathered for lunch. Dinner was a snack. On the other hand, my husband does go to shul at night and feels very strongly about having his major meals for dinner.I think he also feels that if I don't have to worry about company for lunch, I might get to shul earlier.Oh well. Anyway, I used to make Roast Veal for second night because I could cook it right before dinner.  Over the years, I've found that we and others are so full from the night before and lunch-no matter how light it is, that I've started serving poultry the second night as well. Once the hens have been cleaned and prepared, they can be easily roasted right before dinner. The carrot pudding can be made the day before or frozen. The pears only get better if they're made a day in advance-not frozen though. You can always opt to make your own sorbet or buy one or two of the delicious sorbets available in the market. Serve the sorbet with berries and cookies and everyone will be happy.

Mixed Green Salad

Roasted Rock Cornish Hens
Rice with Sauteed Veg & Currants
Carrot Pudding
Stuffed Cabbage

Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage
Poached Pears in Red Wine & Cinnamon
Lace Cookies

Sweet and Sour Meatballs--for Shabbat or any time! (recipe, meat)

SWEET AND SOUR MEATBALLS M SERVES: 8

Make these meatballs a day in advance and let the flavors intensify overnight.

Prep time: 30 min. cooking time: about 60 min.

INGREDIENTS                    EQUIPMENT

2 pounds chopped meat                large Dutch oven

1 cup bread crumbs                    large mixing bowl

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

¾ teaspoon ground allspice

2 eggs

2 28 ounce cans organic crushed tomatoes

1½ cups instant/boxed beef stock

1 large onion

4 garlic cloves

¾ cup solidly packed brown sugar

4 teaspoons lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel and mince garlic and onion separately. Set aside.
2. Pour both cans of crushed tomatoes into Dutch oven. Add ½ cup minced onion, half minced garlic, sugar, beef stock and lemon juice to tomatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer slowly while you prepare meatballs
3. Beat eggs in mixing bowl. Combine with chopped meat and other remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly but gently.  
4. Shape meat into small balls taking care not to pack the meat too tightly. Carefully, drop meatballs into simmering sauce. Partially cover Dutch oven and simmer slowly until sauce has thickened and meatballs are cooked through. Test one meatball after about 1 hour. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Make the meatballs normal size and use them for dinner; make them very small and you have hors d’oeuvres.

Start your Rosh Hashana Lunch Off Bright: Green Pea Soup (Pareve Recipe)

GREEN PEA SOUP P YIELD: 8 servings

This soup is bright green and really tastes like peas.

Prep time: 30-35 min.  Pureeing time: 15 min.  Chilling over ice: 15-20 min.

INGREDIENTS                EQUIPMENT

2 stalks celery                    8 quart stock pot                   

1 large onion                    large colander

2 tablespoons olive oil            electric food processor/blender

8 cups peas (fresh/frozen)            large mixing bowl

8 cups pareve instant chicken broth

2 tablespoons sugar

white pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Defrost and drain peas if you are using frozen ones. Rinse fresh peas. Set aside.
2. Clean celery, peel onion and chop them both.
3. Heat oil in stockpot over medium heat. Add chopped vegetables and cook until soft. Stir often.
4. When vegetables are soft, add pareve broth and bring to a boil.

Add peas. Allow broth to return to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook (uncovered) about 15 minutes or until peas are very tender.

5. Drain peas and vegetables in a colander reserving liquid.
6. Puree peas in small batches, adding broth a little at a time. Pour pureed soup into a mixing bowl and place in a larger mixing bowl filled with ice or ice cold water.* Stir soup until it has cooled.
7. Taste soup. Add sugar and white pepper to taste. Refrigerate. Serve cold.
8. * Note: Don’t skip this step. The ice helps the soup retain its right green color so that it looks beautiful on  the table.

An elegant Rosh Hashana Lunch

This is an elegant lunch that can be prepared in advance and eaten at room temperature. 

Green Pea Soup

Baked Poached Salmon

Green Sauce

Potatoes, Peppers, Tomato & Endive Salad

Onion Tart (veg alternative)

Choc-Chip Brownie Pie

Fruit Salad

**Recipes Available on the Kosher Cookbook App for iphone**

Making a List and Checking it Twice: Getting Ready for Rosh Hashana (Plus a menu for the first night)

It's hard to believe but Rosh Hashana is fast approaching. Despite the fact, we call it "late" this year, some advance planning makes the preparations easier. 

I like to start with a check list: 

1. invite guests 

2. make menu 

3. make separate lists for butcher, fish store, grocery store, green grocer, bakery (challah, desserts-if you don't make them yourself),  liquor store (you need a lot of kiddush wine for all the holidays-buying by the case usually saves you some money)

4. any  cleaning/wait staff you might need to help clean, cook, serve during the holiday season

I've got about 20 for Erev Rosh Hashana, 12 for second night of Rosh Hashana and 8-10 for each lunch. Shabbat might also be about 12 more people. Altogether, that's about 65 meals I have to organize and cook. As I've done this for 40 years, experience has taught me that whatever I can freeze in advance saves me at the end.

My Stuffed Cabbage is already in the freezer (and has been for a couple of weeks!) Chicken Soup is a traditional first course. When I have so many people, I often opt to serve a wedge of Cranshaw or Honeydew instead and save the soup for Shabbat dinner.  Breast of Chicken with White Wine, Grapes & Mushrooms freezes beautifully. I add the grapes after I defrost it. Kugels of any kind freeze well. I freeze the Chocolate Cake in layers and frost it on the day I'm serving it. So,on erev Rosh Hashana, I just have to set the table, prepare apples and honey, make vegetables and cut fruit unless I just serve berries.

Menu (with Vegetarian Equivalent in parentheses)                                                                                                          

Chicken Soup (Any vegetarian soup/melon)                                                                                                              

Breast of chicken with White wine, Mushrooms &; Grapes (Tofu with White Wine, Mushrooms &Grapes

Stuffed Cabbage (Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage)

Asparagus
 
Potato Kugel
 
Chocolate Cake with Mocha Icing

Fruit Salad

All recipes available on the app!

Turn that Beautiful August Corn into Corn Soup!

Corn Soup P Serves: 8

Combine the creaminess of pureed fresh corn, sweet onions and potato, add the bite of sautéed corn kernels and slivered shitake mushrooms and you have a spectacular summer soup. The flavors of this soup are enhanced when eaten cold so make this soup a day in advance and enjoy having one less thing to do when your company comes.
Prep time: 30 min.  Cooking time: 75 min. Chill overnight
Ingredients
10 ears fresh corn-shucked
2 large sweet onions-peeled and thinly sliced
6 tablespoons pareve margarine
2 teaspoons sugar
1 large Yukon Gold potato-peeled and diced
½ cup dry white wine
2 sprigs thyme
Salt
1 pound shitake mushrooms-stemmed
1 bunch chives-minced
Equipment
Large soup pot with cover
Long handles tongs
Fine strainer
Large mixing bowl
Medium saucepan with cover
Medium skillet
Electric food processor
Slotted spoon

Directions

1. Fill large soup pot with 12 cups of water. Bring water to a boil and add corn to pot. Cover and boil 5 minutes. Using long handled tongs, remove corn from pot and set aside to cool. Reserve cooking water. When corn is cool enough to handle, cut off all the kernels and set them aside. Place cobs back into cooking water, cover pot, and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain liquid into mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons pareve margarine in saucepan. Add sliced onions and stir until onions are coated with melted margarine. Cover saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions have softened-about 10 minutes. Remove cover and add sugar. Stir well and cook until onions have caramelized and turned golden brown.
3. Remove one cup of corn kernels from the rest and set them aside. Pour remaining corn, diced potato, caramelized onions, and wine to the soup pot. Simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated. Add strained corn broth and thyme to this mixture. Cover pot and simmer until potatoes are tender-about 15 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs. Let corn soup cool about 15 minutes before pureeing it.
4. Using the steel knife in a processor, puree corn soup two cups at a time until it is very smooth. Pour puree into a large container. Repeat this action until all the soup has been pureed. Add salt, ¼ teaspoon at a time, until you are happy with the taste.  Set soup aside.
5. Melt 1 tablespoon pareve margarine in saucepan (the one in which you cooked the onions is fine). Sauté reserved cup of corn kernels until they have browned. Remove them from saucepan with a slotted spoon and add to corn soup. Chill soup overnight.
6. Before serving soup: wipe off shitake mushrooms and slice them thinly. Melt 6 tablespoons pareve margarine in skillet and sauté mushrooms. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
7. Rinse chives and mince them.
8. To serve soup: Fill soup bowl with chilled corn soup. Garnish each serving with 4-5 slices of sautéed mushrooms and a pinch of chives.

Julia Child's Chocolate Truffles made Pareve!

I can't imagine what Julia would have said if she had heard that her truffles were being made with --gasp--pareve margarine instead of her beloved butter.  They truly are equally delicious, but perhaps it's best that she never knew ;) 

Julia Child’s Chocolate Truffles- In My Words, and Pareve Yield: about 36 truffles

The original recipe is on page 472 of Vol. Two of Mastering the Art of French Cooking

These tiny little truffles are a chocaholic’s dream. They are rich, creamy and totally delicious! An extra perk is that these are a great treat for Passover!
Ingredients
1 tablespoon espresso powder/instant coffee dissolved in ¼ cup water
7 ounces pareve chocolate chips
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
5 ounces pareve margarine
¼ cup orange liqueur
½ + cup unsweetened pareve cocoa
Equipment
Double boiler
Hand held electric mixer
Paper candy cups
Directions

1. Fill bottom of double boiler with just enough water so that the top does not touch water. Bring water to a boil and then reduce to a slight simmer.
2. Mince the unsweetened chocolate with a sharp knife and add it along with the chocolate chips and dissolved coffee to the top piece of double boiler. Insert the top into bottom of double boiler and cover. Remove cover every few minutes and stir until chocolate has melted. Beat chocolate with electric mixer until smooth. Remove from heat and continue to beat chocolate a few minutes until cool.
3. Cut margarine into tablespoons and beat them, one at a time, into chocolate. When you have a totally smooth mixture, dribble in the orange liqueur and beat until it is well incorporated into chocolate. Chill chocolate mixture about two hours until it is firm enough to scoop.
4. Pour cocoa onto a shallow dish. Separate about three dozen paper candy cups and line them up in front of you.
5. I’ve formed the truffles two ways. 1. Take two teaspoons. Scoop a small amount of chocolate with one and scrape it out with another. Then, mold an uneven ball with your hands and roll the ball into the cocoa. Place in a candy cup. 2. Scoop chocolate mixture with a small melon baller, scrape it out with a narrow knife, roll in cocoa and place in candy cup. I find the second option quicker, easier and neater.  Keep truffles refrigerated for a few weeks or keep them in the freezer for a few months.