Sunday, August 16, 2009

Shabbath Leftovers - Re'eh 5769: Esser Agaroth Should Be Listed In Zagats

26 of the Fifth Month 5769

As a Californian, I had no clue what Zagat's Restaurant Guide was until I heard a reference to it on Saturday Night Live. Chris Farley and Adam Sandler played the Gelfands, whose only nighttime excitement seemed to be reading from the popular restaurant guide. I guess they never went out. Chris Farley's character Beverly would read a passage, comment with "Doesn't that sound dee-lish?" or something similar. Then Adam Sandler's character Hank would invariably respond with, "Won't somebody please just shoot me?" or something similar.

Well, since I have started this "Shabbath Leftovers" series, I have begun to hear Beverly Gelfand in my head, raving about my creativity. However, she seems to bet the only one....

Today I am having leftover chicken soup, or as some would insist on calling it, chicken vegetable soup, the vegetables being onions, garlic, carrots, qishuim, and kolrabi. It could have used a stick of celery to tone down the richness, but no matter. I'll rate it a (B plus). It was seasoned with turmeric, parsley, and my secret ingredient, a couple table spoons of soy sauce. For that "soup is the entire meal" convenience trick, remove the pieces of chicken after boiling for no more than a half an hour, and set aside, so that all of the flavor does not leave it. Add a cup and a half of rice. Don't worry if it overcooks. Add the final herbs and spices. When getting ready to serve, replace the chicken. It will have plenty of time to absorb the various flavors from the soup.

There you have it, chicken, rice, and vegetables all in one!

Now, because I live in such a tiny apartment, one room with a closed mirpeseth (balcony) serving as the makeshift kitchen, I would suffer with a plata on all Shabbath. So, this is what I do. I unplug my electric burner right before sheqi'ath hahamah (sunset), leaving the covered and insulated soup on. There is just enough heat to keep it warm for dinner.

Make sure to see A Mom In Israel's tips for preventing your apartment from getting too hot in the summer, without compromising your Shabbath cooking.

Dessert was my regular morning "fruit shake," with a Shabbath Leftovers twist.

1 banana, chopped
nutritional or vitamin supplement, your choice
leftover grape juice (or wine, or synthetically flavors liqueur, or whatever turns you on)

For good measure, I added a scoop of the disgusting parve ice cream leftover from an event I attended and had to bring something to last night. (I recommend sticking with Strauss, Nestle-mehadrin, or Tofuti.)

Only after adding 2 teaspoons of powdered cacao (not instant hot chocolate mix, for goodness sakes!) was it drinkable. I rate it a C.

Keep those Shabbath meal invitations coming!

4 comments:

mother in israel said...

Thanks for the link and have a good week!

Esser Agaroth said...

:-}

You, too.

Devorah Chayah said...

Is there a reason I don't know about that precludes putting the platta on a timer?

Esser Agaroth said...

Yes.

Not having a plata. It's still in Tapu'ah.

;-}

I still only have one timer. I will probably get a second one, one of these days. When it gets cold enough, the plata's heat will be welcome.

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