Last night was the first time we have had a shabbat dinner in MY home with my mom, my brother and I around the table.
Even though Paul and I have had our own home together for the last 10 years, its only been in the last 2 years or so that we have been kosher. My brother Matt came to Israel about 10 years ago and is strictly kosher so when he did come to South Africa we always had shabbat dinner at my moms house.
Last night, our family of four was joined by my brother, his wife, his mother in law and my nephew, my mom who is here visiting and my sister from another mister and her other half. 11 people around my table. Naches. It just doesnt get any better than last night!
My mom and I spent the afternoon cooking a feast and I think we really outdid ourselves.
Our menu:
- Challah
- Slow pot roasted beef with onions and potatoes (recipe below)
- Teriyaki chicken wings and legs with chopped cashews
- Rice
- Chickpea and red onion salad
- Roro brought her famous Quinoa salad (click the link and scroll down for the recipe)
- Peppermint crisp tart
- Chocolate mousse
- Diabetic friendly apple crumble
- Diabetic friendly choc vanilla ice cream
Supper was amazing. We ate so much I had to literally sleep on my back last night 🙂
The best part though was having my entire family around me. Those I was born to and those I chose. Thats what makes shabbat special.
- 1.2kg chuck roast (or any meat that can be slow roasted)
- Brown onion soup powder
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters or eighths
- salt
- pepper
- Heat your oven to 200C
- Dissolve two tablespoons soup powder in a litre of boiling water and set aside
- Place your sliced onions in the bottom of a large roasting dish (preferably one with a lid, you can cover the dish with foil though)
- Place your meat on top of the onions, fat side up
- Liberally sprinkle the salt and pepper over the fat of the meat
- Place the potatoes around the meat
- Put the dish in the oven, uncovered at 200C for 20 minutes
- Remove the dish from the oven and pour the stock mix over the meat and potatoes, cover the dish with the lid or with foil
- Turn down the oven to 140C and place the dish back for 2 hours 30 minutes
- Uncover the dish and cook for a further 30 minutes to an hour (until the fat has gone brown and crispy) at 180C
- Remove meat from dish and allow to sit for 20 minutes, then slice and return to the dish to serve
- In my opinion the fat makes this dish. A piece of meat with a nice thick slab of fat on top is ideal. Not healthy but ideal. For a healthier version get a piece without too much fat on top.
