Cooking for Shabbat in middle of week

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 7:34 am

Well the time has come. DH and I married not too long ago, and we've been doing Shabbat dinner at his family members who live close. It's sweet actually; we all get together with his parents, and SIL and BIL and their kids. We need to start hosting and I need to figure out how to juggle this with my job, where I have just enough time to leave work and get home on time.

I'll leave out the part where I feel like Amelia Bedelia in the kitchen and MIL is like Top Chef. Also where I know basic Ashki dishes and MIL cooks flavorful Sephardi dishes.... Add to that that we live in a warm climate so things like potato kugel and chicken soup are not always desirable over here, and I think lighter foods are a bit harder to prep in advance because you don't freeze them....Despite my own hang-ups, family is very open-minded to whatever people cook, but lighter food is probably preferable.

What are relatively easy dishes that I can cook/prep during the week for Shabbat dinner?

If you were in my shoes, how would you prep this? We're six adults, two small children. What prep would be needed on Friday? I don't think I have more than a half hour from getting home from work and DH doesn't touch the kitchen. I might might might be able to get him to put things to heat if it's simple directions....

All guidance appreciated!!

avrahamama

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 7:45 am

What kind of flavorful Sephardic dishes? Maybe we can help you reproduce that.

Also when I first married I went to my mil and asked her how to make certain things. She was sooooo happy. (And my husband doesn't really like his mom's cooking. But I wanted shvigger points ;-)

I also went to my aunt and got some lessons from her. And I entered one of those recipes in a contest and won!

amother

Seafoam

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 7:46 am

You don’t start hosting right away. That’s not normal especially for someone who doesn’t know how to cook much yet.
You start with making shabbos just for yourselves.
After a while, you can include others.
I bake challah on Tuesday and freeze.
Wednesday I put up a pot of soup, make kugel and Gefilte fish.
Thursday is the rest...
I save very little for Friday because no matter what, it’s always a hectic day.
This is what works for me. Eventually you’ll figure out what works for you.

amother

Silver

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 7:47 am

Do you start the meal with lots of salatim? Those can all be sliced/ cooked on Wednesday or Thursday and refrigerated. Don't season until right before the meal (do this while they're in shul). If you're making challah you can freeze it in airtight freezer bags. Take out of the freezer, wrap each one in aluminum foil, and heat in the oven at 350 for twenty minutes before shabbos. If you don't have time, you can place on top of the crock pot for thirty minutes on each side. Meat that is not served rare can be cooked Wednesday or Thursday and reheated before shabbos. Same for cooked vegetable dishes. Fish is best prepared fresh. Do a simple recipe: drizzle a side of salmon with olive oil and sprinkle heavily with trader Joe's chili lime spice. Bake at 425 until cooked through. You can do this early Friday morning before work, and then refrigerate.

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 8:10 am

Maybe I undersold my capabilities... We're married over a year, I do have some cooking experience under my belt, just not really hosting formally (even though my ils would probably freak out if they knew I thought of this as formal....)

When we really first got married and I wasn't working, I did used to bring a dish over but it was always an extra, not as a main dish. They liked the Ashkenazi cooking actually, whether it was a potato kugel or gefilte fish (that I made from scratch). Once I started working, that stopped but we kept going over.

I had totally forgotten until now, but back in my single post sem days, I'd definitely hosted some Shabbat dinners. But that was truly informal, a bunch of singles, and I was really just cooking the classic gefilte fish, chicken soup, chicken and some dips/sides. I also had all Friday afternoon to sit around and cook.... So it's not like I have zero experience. It's just time for me to start hosting at this stage in my life.

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 8:19 am

amother [ Silver ] wrote:

Thank you. Any chance you have recipes for the salatim, meat dishes, cooked veggies? How do you reheat things without overcooking/burning? Is there a way to reheat things so that everything can be turned off before Shabbat? Ideally I don't want to leave gadgets/burners on.

Thanks for the Friday morning tip for the fish- sounds good.

On the topic of salads, why does making salads take me ages? I'd probably rather prep a roast than do a salad.... What are your easiest salads?

ra_mom

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 8:21 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

You can make easier salads using shredded cabbage or carrots.

Raisin

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 9:10 am

You can prep chicken on thursday night and have your husband stick in the oven before shabbos.

Make a rice dish. Persian style rice is pretty easy. Rice reheats well.

You can do roast veggies ( Make this thursday night) or green beans with almonds or mushrooms or shallots.

For the first course, chummus and techina and babaganous can be prepped on wednesday. Probably also stuff like morrocan carrots or matbucha. For salads I don't make too many. You can make these on shabbos, just have ingredients ready. I do lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, hearts of palm if I have. Broccoli salad is nice - I never make it since I can't get bodek but I have had a yummy one with craisins, almonds and I think a mayo based dressing. I often cut aubergines (eggplants) in half lengthways, criss cross surface with a knife, roast in oven with evvo until nice and brown. Serve drizzled with techina.

Other salads I have had include quinoa with sweet potatoes and roasted chickpeas, red cabbage salad, potato salad, egg salad.

Personally I would do 2 salads and a few dips - but you can buy some of these to start. Don't make yourself too crazy.

Morrocan style fish is yum. Make the sauce on thursday and you can pop the fish in to cook when you get home on friday. You can make this with white fish, salmon or even gefilta fish balls. Or just bake some salmon with a spicy sauce like matbucha.

baltomom

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 9:22 am

Some really easy salads that can be assembled on Shabbos:

Crunch coleslaw--I keep a container of homemade dressing (vinegar, oil, sugar-type) in the fridge, then before the meal put some cole slaw in a bowl, add diced red onion (prepared before Shabbos) and crushed chow mein noodles plus dressing.

Tomato-avocado-hearts of palm: Mix tomatoes (can use grape tomatoes or cut up larger ones), cut up avocado, can of hearts of palm, diced red onion with bottled Italian dressing (or lite Italian dressing).

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 9:40 am

Raisin wrote:

Thank you so much raisin! This is gold Smile

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 9:42 am

baltomom wrote:

Thanks, baltomom!

mlc

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 12:02 pm

I had very similar situation, and Miriam Pascals blog became my go-to. Her recipes are SO doable but amazing. Whenever I host And want something more than kugel etc I check out her recipes.
(No I do not know her or have any connection whatsoever lol)