Tag Archives: leftovers

Engagement Chicken

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AKA Jeffrey’s Roast Chicken.

Apparently we’ve been on a chicken kick lately! But all of these recipes serve different purposes, and really, you can never have enough chicken recipes! Here’s our latest obsession from our favorite Ina Garten:

There aren’t many recipes that are this easy and yield so much flavor like this roast chicken. Ina definitely knows how to take simple ingredients and add that wow factor! This chicken was moist and juicy, with just the right amount of aromatics to make bring the flavor of this chicken to the next level. Next time you’re having company, impress them with this roasted chicken. You won’t be sorry. Continue reading …

Chicken and Spaghetti

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Chicken and spaghetti was always a Friday night staple in our home. Though Poopa Dweck’s book states that it’s a Syrian custom to not eat this dish for Shabbat dinner because it’s a sign of bad luck, my family’s been eating it for years, and I don’t think we’re any less lucky than other people out there. So If you’re superstitious, make it on a weeknight. It’s a good meal with just a small side salad or vegetable. If you’re not superstitious, or just want to make a main course that consists of a carb and a protein (does the tomato sauce count as a vegetable?), then make this for Shabbat dinner. Your guests and family will fight over the crispy burnt edges.

When my mother makes this, she always leaves the chicken pieces whole. This way, it’s easier to eat just the spaghetti, which I often like to do (especially when there’s chili on the table – chicken and spaghetti chopped with some chili is awesome). I sometimes shred the chicken into the spaghetti, so that every bite has a little bit of chicken and a little bit of spaghetti. I find that the chicken also stays more moist this way and soaks up the flavor of the sauce more. Try it both ways and let me know which you prefer. Remember if you’re shredding to be careful to remove all the bones and stuff. No one wants a mouthful of spaghetti and chicken bones!

And Spaghetti!

  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 1 chicken, cut into eighths (bone in, skin on)
  • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Place chicken on baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 35 – 45 minutes, until cooked. Then let cool and shred, cut, or leave whole. Save the chickeny oil and juice!

3. While chicken is roasting, boil spaghetti in very salty water for one minute less than stated on the package.

4. Drain the spaghetti.

5. Place spaghetti in roasting pan and add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, spices, salt, and some pepper. Mix well.

— Now you have what we like to call “And Spaghetti” which is the BEST Friday afternoon snack ever.

6. Add the chicken (pieces, shreds, whatever you decided) and the chicken juice and mix well.

7. Cover and roast in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour, until the edges are crusty and the middle is soft.

Meatless Monday: Roasted Corn Salad

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Summer corn is here! That means that we eat lots of corn and get it stuck in our teeth. Yuck! This corn salad is a better way to eat that same corn without getting anything stuck in your teeth!

This recipe has quite a few steps, but ones that you can skip and have the store do for you, like roasting peppers and shucking corn. I did it all myself, but no one will know if you buy roasted peppers and use canned or frozen corn that you just roast in the oven for a while. Actually, what a great way to make this recipe in the winter when fresh corn isn’t available. As long as you don’t skimp on the fresh cilantro, I won’t tell anyone.

The flavors just get better when this sits, so make this ahead of time. Having company? Make it the day before and let it sit in the fridge. It’ll make your life much easier and it will make the salad taste better. I was going to add some black beans to this, but didn’t have any in the pantry. Turns out, I think it was perfect this way, but add the beans if you want to (a great Meatless Monday way to get some protein). Then let me know how it is. Maybe I’ll add those next time.

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 ears white corn
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • Chili powder
  • About 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro.

Directions:

1. Season the corn with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Roast or grill the corn for about 15 minutes. Let cool.

2. Roast the red pepper over an open fire, rotating when the skin is black. When blackened, place in plastic bag and let steam for about ten minutes. Remove from bag, peel the black skin off, and cut into strips. Cut the strips into small pieces (about the same size as the shallots).

3. Combine the shallots, roasted peppers, salt, pepper, chili powder, and cilantro in a bowl.

4. Remove the corn kernels from the cob – using a sharp knife, hold the corn so that it is standing, and cut downwards. Don’t worry about all the kernels separating from each other, that’s part of the fun of homemade corn salad!

5. Add the corn to the bowl, and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you like cilantro as much as I do, add more!

See the bowl I used? It’s my favorite! I have it in three sizes. They make it in red, too, but I haven’t seen it since Adelaide’s closed.

Leftovers – Dill Sauce

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Like Lori said, this recipe makes way too much dill sauce! So here’s my not-as-fancy version of eggs benedict. Okay, so it’s nothing like eggs benedict: no hollandaise, no canadian bacon, and a sunny side up egg instead of a poached one. At least there’s a toasted English muffin involved. Continue reading …

Mejadra, or Rice and Lentils

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It is customary to eat lentils in a time of mourning, based on the food that Yaakov cooked when Avraham died. (Another customary mourning meal is a hardboiled egg with a loaf of bread, which symbolizes the circle of life.)

Rice and lentils is a popular Syrian dish. It’s often served as a weeknight meal along with jibben or a light fish, but that’s not why we’re posting it now; it is a one-pot meal and is it’s our custom to eat this on the night before Tisha b’Av (which is tomorrow!). Serve it with some plain yogurt and you have a pretty balanced (and simple) one-pot meal. Serve it alongside a million other dishes, like pizza, jibben, salad, knishes, sambusak, etc, and you have yourself a typical Syrian dairy meal. Continue reading …

Lentils

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Lentils are boring. I think the only way I’ve ever even eaten lentils is in soup (and that’s the red variety, the kind that Esav traded his birthright for) and in rice and lentils. But when Ina made her salmon with lentils and everyone about the lentils on the bottom, I knew I should try it. Continue reading …

Another Short Ribs Recipe

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My favorite thing to make in the dutch oven is short ribs. They’re so good! They get soft and flavorful from the braising and are easy enough to cook while busy with other things in the kitchen. The more you cook them, the more flavorful they become, so make them on Sunday and eat them on Monday. Plus, people love to eat short ribs on Monday nights. Better yet, make them tonight and eat them for Shabbat dinner!

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Mini Shells with Mushrooms

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I used to think I didn’t like mushrooms, but here I am posting yet another mushroom recipe. I’ll admit it, I hate raw mushrooms. But when cooked, they have an amazing flavor that goes really well with pasta.

On my birthday I went for dinner and ordered a pasta with portobello mushroom sauce. It was delicious, but way too creamy and rich. I decided to recreate the intense mushroom flavor in my own pasta dish, without adding loads of cream. Here’s what I came up with.

Continue reading …

Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables

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This simple dish is a healthier version of mac and cheese. I adapted it from Giada’s version, but she uses way more cheese and adds sauce. I decided to omit the sauce and make it more like mac and cheese, less like baked ziti. Her recipe also calls for 4 mushrooms, which is nothing. I left them out, though they probably would have been a great addition to the meal. Next time I’ll definitely use them.

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