A different kind of Holiday Dinner planning Day 2

As the day of the dinner approaches, parts are falling into place. A box arrived with plates, napkins and flatwear. Also the wet-naps.

So today slave made the Charoset so the flavors can blend.

Ashkenazi Style Charoset

This is the Charoset that is most familiar to American Ashkenazi Jews. 

 

Ingredients

• ½ cup of crushed pecans
• 2 Gala apples, peeled, cored and chopped small
• 1 Anjou pear pealed, cored and chopped
• ¼ cup sweet red wine (MD 20 20)
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup dried cranberries
  
  
  Directions:

1. Peal, core and chop the apples and pear into a large bowl.

2. Sprinkle well with the wine until coated.

3. Stir in the chopped nuts, honey, cinnamon, and cranberries. Cover and set in refrigerator overnight to blend flavors.

This charoset can be stored, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. So make it ahead of time to save effort on that day.

A different kind of Holiday Dinner planning

Recently slave was asked if he was planning to cook any thing for the holiday to share with my neighbors. This got me to thinking about what would have been served back in those days. The idea took on a life of its own. Days turned into weeks researching on the internet.

Slave figured it would be fairly easy to find out about the Last Supper. Such a central part of so many religions and denominations would have been well written about. Written, but no agreements! Then more research: the meal would have been kosher, what would that entail? What could I find today that would be sensitive to both Jewish and Christian faiths. What would my senior, Christian neighbors enjoy? Even more important how to make the evening interesting, tasty and fun! It has been a long time since putting together a meal for 15 people!

Planning makes everything work! First to set out a goal for the evening. An introduction was written & finalized. A couple of good friends: Ellen, Donna, and Rodney were talked into helping. Without them, this evening never could have happened.

A menu was decided on. Then the elements had to be tracked down. For example the local supermarkets don't stock lamb! There is no large Jewish community locally. The internet became my Jewish grandmother for recipes and guidance.

Then the guests had to be chosen! As much as slave would have enjoyed feeding everyone in the building, that is just not practical. I have neither the money nor the equipment for such an undertaking. The group of card players became the majority of invitees along with a few others known for excellent laughs and conversations! Soon they began to offer aid in support of this event, some donated money, some offered to cook!

The room had to be reserved, invites written up & printed then taken around.

More meeting with my core group of helpers. What plates would be used? A quick search of Amazon found some beautiful disposable plates designed for the Seder, along with napkins and plastic flatware. Wet-naps were ordered for ritual hand washing.

Angie & Jim offered to make deviled eggs, Joe & Peggy will roast potatoes & carrots, Ellen will provide the bread, Rodney will make his signature New York Style Hazelnut cheesecake (– to die for!) That leaves slave to make the charoset and slow roast the lamb with a gravy.

As the night approaches, there are senior health issues, hurt feelings for not being invited, every day some other hurdle to overcome. Yet in the organized chaos excitement builds. This event has the whole building talking! Nothing like this has been done here!

While sensitive to both religions, this is intended just to be a fun meal, not a religious ceremony! Hurt feelings, sacred cows, and bad tasting food had to be avoided! How do you cover all bases? Talk with co-workers! How to plan seating? There will be about 15 people, our tables comfortably hold six each. Then remember that includes three big power-chairs! Where to put 6 to 8 walkers? A Seder calls for 4 cups of wine each, no alcohol allowed in dinning room, what are they going to drink? Who walks around pouring? Anyone bringing butter? How about salt & pepper?

Then the meal. What can be prepared ahead of time and when? Time lines have to be established. When to remind and check on promises of help preparing food?

Does this sound impossible? NO, it is not. It does take effort, but then again what doesn't? Above all keep laughing! A silly meal is not worth hurt feelings.

Our event is planned for Wednesday April 12^th Check back for updates, recipes and pictures!

Bananas Foster Upside-down Cake

A Birthday Cake for Donna

One of my neighbors and dear friend, Donna had a birthday today. Slave wanted to make something special for her. She has had a rough time and just spent several days in the hospital with pneumonia. Forced to carry oxygen with her she also has heart problems. However this never gets this lady down. Donna has a wonderful sense of humor and knowledge. Just love hearing her tell about how, in her fifties, with children grown up and finding herself divorced, she back-packed across Europe! Conversations always end up with laughter that makes your sides hurt!

This blog is honest! While this cake did not turn out pretty, it was good! Told Donna that due to her delicate condition, I didn't make a two layer cake – all I was giving her was a 6 inch-er! She looked at me with a dry expression and said: “I love you but I'm gonna have to kill you! You dirty dog!”

Since her oxygen is on full-flow it was decided not to serve this “flambe”!

Ingredients:

1 banana sliced

1 small box cake mix (tried the Duncon Hines “Perfect Sized”)

2 Tbs softened butter

2 eggs

Sauce:

• 4 Tbs butter
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 50ml bottle Capt. Morgan Spiced Rum

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Set an empty baking sheet on the bottom of the oven, or on a rack directly underneath where you will bake cake, to catch any foster sauce that may drip during baking. This package includes a 6 inch cardboard pan.

slave learned the hard way to place this paper pan inside of a regular metal pan. It was quite messy!

Slice the banana on an angle. Arrange in bottom of the un-greased pan. 

 

In a small sauce pan melt the butter and brown sugar stirring well. Carefully add the rum, it will have a tendency to foam up. Stir this until it is nice and thick! Pour over the banana slices in the pan.

Mix the cake according to the package directions adding an extra egg for richness. Pour this over the banana mixture and smooth with spatula.

Bake a good 40 minutes, test with a tooth pick all the way down to the bottom of the pan, then maybe add another 5 minutes.

Remove the pans to a cooling rack for about 20 minutes. Carefully invert onto a plate.

Note: slave made a mess of this! The paper pan had a false bottom that popped up when taking it out of the oven. That proceeded to leak the sauce all over the counter. Then when inverting, found the cake was not completely cooked on bottom and had to finish it in the microwave for an additional 2 minutes. While this is not as pretty as slave would have liked, it DID taste wonderful and Donna was so kind!

Here is a copy of the card slave wrote for her:

Donna:

Think of what it has brought you!

The laughter, the love,

the hugs,

the beautiful music,

the fantastic colors.

See yourself on a bright

Christmas morning

Surrounded by torn wrapping paper & opened boxes.

At that moment when you realize there are still much more

presents left to open!

More joy, more smiles, more love.

PS: its your birthday – let someone else clean up the mess!

======================

For our music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIl78knyIRY

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White 

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon

Citrus Sunshine Brisket

In digging out recipes for a kosher meal, slave remembered this citrus take on a beef brisket. Remember to be kosher, the beef must be certified kosher! This is very important. Also start with a plain brisket, not one already packed in brine to make a corned beef!

Even if you are not trying to keep kosher, you will find this a wonderful spring meal for your table. An interesting take on this valuable piece of meat.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 – 4 lbs beef brisket
• 2 onions, chopped
  
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp dried red peppers
• 1 29oz can of sliced peaches (with syrup)
  
• 14.5oz can sliced carrots
• 1 29 oz can of new potatoes
• 2 cups cup of beef broth divided
  

Directions:

Wipe out the slow cooker and spray, set on low.

Do your cutting: chop the onion and mince the garlic. Trim the fat off the brisket. Cooking in the slow cooker allows no way for the fat to leave the meal, so it just sits there! Always trim what you can.

In a large heavy skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, brown the beef on all sides. Remove to cooker. Set on LOW

Add onions to the drippings in the skillet. Saute over medium heat until the onions are beginning to brown. Stir in garlic and dried red peppers. Cook for 2 or 3 more minutes.

Pour over the brisket in the cooker.

In a small bowl mix 1 Tbs of corn starch into 1 cup of beef broth and pour over the browned onions and meat.

Arrange all of the peach slices on top of the soup mix. Pour juice from can (or cherry wine) around outside of meat, not on top, to almost cover the sides of brisket.

Cover the cooker and let cook on low for 8 hours.

At the 7 hour mark, drain the can of carrots and add a can of drained new potatoes with another cup of beef broth. 

Gently stir these into slow cooker for another hour at the end. You can also add ½ cup of dried cranberries if you wish.

Carefully remove the brisket with slotted spoon to a platter and tent with foil to rest for 7 minutes.
Stir gravy again, and add more broth if the gravy is too thick. Cut across grain to serve.

Serve it with fresh asparagus.

(For a Danish touch, this is fabulous with prunes instead of peaches.)

The peaches give this meal a bright spring taste!

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U&list=RDEhZba-P7R18&index=10

A great way to serve my Master Indy.

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon 

Better than Burger Doodle Casserole

When trying to fix a healthy dinner night after night, there are times you just want something fun! So this handy cheeseburger casserole will come to your rescue.

Be sure to drain the meat and really this is not too much of a break from your healthy pledge. Honest! The secret to making this taste great is Don't “worry” the ground beef, so that is stays in bigger chunks. Also don't forget to add the yellow mustard and let it cook, then let the Worcester sauce cook. These will add the spices to make the meat stand out!

Ingredients

1lbs lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
2 stalks of celery chopped fine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 Tbs yellow mustard
1 Tbs Worcester sauce
½ can diced tomatoes
2 slices of American cheese
1 cup shredded white cheese (Used Gouda)
2 cups frozen potatoes (from a 20-oz bag of tater tots)

Directions:

Heat oven to 450°F.

Chop the celery and onion

In a large skillet, heat 2 tbs oil and cook the onions & celery. About 3 minutes is all this will take. It is called “sweating” the vegetables and this releases the flavors.

Add the ground beef and continue to cook over medium-high heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, but not too often. The more you stir the smaller the bits of beef will be. This meal tastes better with hunks of hamburger. Drain all but about 2 tbs of grease.

Generously add the yellow mustard as the meat cooks – the aroma will be fantastic! Stir and let cook for a few minutes. Then do the same with the Worcester sauce!

Stir in the diced tomatoes and sprinkle with the flour. Stir this as it cooks for about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and spread beef mixture in un-greased 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Lay strips of American cheese across the beef. Pour the shredded cheese over. Arrange frozen potatoes evenly in single layer on top. Give this a quick spray to help it brown.

Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with a simple green vegetable.

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hge6FqAQlR8

Happy to serve this silly little casserole for my Master Indy!

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon 

Poco Pinot: a Piccata Pretender

Poco means chicken. Pinot for Pinot Grigio wine. In cooking“Piccata” refers to a meat (usely veal or chicken) sliced, often breaded, sautéed, and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter and spices”. This fancy dish is not that complicated. You can do this!

The aroma of the chicken, onions, garlic, butter and wine roasting in your oven will flavor the kitchen in a most superb way! Enjoy!

Ingredients 2 - 3 lbs boneless chicken breast

¼ cup butter (at room temperature)

¼ tsp thyme

¼ tsp sage

pinch garlic powder

salt and white pepper to taste
2 lemons
1 yellow onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup Pinot Grigio (a dry white wine)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix the herbs into the softened butter with a fork until well incorporated. Add salt & white pepper.

Zest one lemon into a small bowl and set aside. Cut off the white pith and slice it into ¼ inch slices. This will take both lemons.

Cut the onion and garlic. Remember when using fresh garlic, hit the clove with the side of the knife, the skin will almost fall off.

Then make a cut lengthwise. Pry out any green part you see. The green will leave a bitter taste you don't want.

Distribute the lemon slices in a baking dish that has been sprayed. Sprinkle with the onion and garlic.

Dry the chicken pieces well with paper towels (important).

Rub about half the butter herb mix on one side. Turn the chicken over and rub the rest all over the chicken.

Roast uncovered for 25 minutes. Pour the wine into the dish around, not over, the chicken!

Roast for another 25 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 155 to 160 degrees.

 

Remove the chicken from the oven, sprinkle it with the lemon juice & zest, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with the juices, cooked lemon, and onion.

If your chicken doesn't brown to your liking, it may be that you forgot to dry it before smearing butter-herb mix. Just let it brown & crisp up under the broiler for a few minutes to make this beautiful!

Slave fixed this with some roasted potatoes and a nice green vegetable.

Reminiscent of a piccata but different.

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdoI4udLOxs

So happy to serve my Master

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon