Citrus & Herb Roast Chicken

A fresh take on roast chicken, this recipe leaves the meat tender, moist and perfectly infused with a citrus-flavor, nicely complemented by the mingling tastes of sage, rosemary and thyme.

The colors are beautiful, and this goes really well with a side of quinoa (see Martha’s Recipe) or a dark veggie green.

This is a perfect recipe for a shabbat dinner chicken, or for a holiday, or just for having a nice, belly-warming simply delish meal. Inspired by the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten’s Roast Chicken, Shira has made a few changes to this recipe to make it her own. Bon appetit!

Ingredients

• One 5-6lb. roasting chicken
• kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• large bunch of fresh thyme
• large bunch of fresh rosemary
• large bunch of fresh parsley
• 2 lemons – cut in halves or quarters
• 1 large orange – cut in half
• 1 head of garlic – sliced in half, crosswise
• 1/4 cup of olive oil (or adjust to taste)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Rinse chicken well; pat dry
3. Place chicken on large roasting pan or cookie sheet
4. Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken
5. Stuff the cavity with most of the thyme, rosemary and parsley (no need to chop), lemons and orange; be sure to mix it around so the flavors will be distributed evenly
6. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wings under
7. Brush outside of chicken with the olive oil
8. Liberally sprinkle outside of chicken with salt and pepper
9. Roast the chicken for approximately 90 minutes; check on it occasionally
10. The juices should run clear when you put a cut between the leg and the thigh
11. Remove the chicken to a plate or serving platter; cover with aluminum foil to keep warm and let sit for 10-15 minutes
12. Carve and serve with remaining sprigs of herbs and any remaining lemon, orange or garlic slices. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.

Martha’s Chicken Soup

It’s cold outside. My space heater is on and I can hear the rush of the wind through the trees outside, who are holding on to their colored accessories – the leaves – with determination. It’s Friday today and one of those afternoons when I wish I would be home tonight for the Shabbat Crew – Martha returning from Israel, Levi and Zoe running around and Liat and Sari chasing them, while somehow, those of us that got bumped into being the ‘older’ generation, sip wine and argue politics and laugh.

A standard staple of Shabbat in the Shem-Tov setting is Martha Shem-Tov’s chicken soup. You’d never know how quick and easy it is – with the help of course of the brilliant modern-day invention of the pressure cooker. A must have. Shabbat Shalom.

Ingredients

• 3 carrots – chopped in big chunks
• 3 stalks celery
• 2 cooking onions
• garlic cloves (optional – Martha doesn’t include them, but I love the kick)
• 1 parsnip
• parsley & dill
• a slice of green cabbage (secret ingredient outed)
• chicken – I use chicken thighs – about 4. I take the skin off, but you could leave it on
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Rinse everything. Clean chicken.
2. Place chicken in pressure cooker, and then situate the veggies etc all around it – but placing the dill and parsley on top. [we don’t chop the celery parsely or dill because we remove them at the end – but you could chop up the dill and parsley and leave it in]
3. Add the salt and pepper
4. Add cold water to the line indicated on the pressure cooker; close and seal
5. Bring to a boil; wait for the little thingy to pop up ; cook for 20 minutes on med-high; once the pressure cooker makes the sounds of a “choo-choo” train (sorry – it’s the best way I can explain it) reduce the heat and cook for 15-20 minutes
6. Turn off heat; Let it cool. Once the red thing on the pressure cooker goes down it means its safe to open.
7. Strain it as you like it – taking out the things you don’t like in it and leaving in the things you do (I chop up the chicken pieces and include them in the broth)
8. Serve with Mazto Balls and the Osem Soup Croutons. I season with ground black pepper and garlic salt – but I have a bit of a garlic addiction.

DISCLAIMER: BE VERY CAREFUL USING THE PRESSURE COOKER: read and watch the accompanying video for directions if you are not experienced with it – otherwise can be rather dangerous. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll never make chicken soup without it.

Additions: you can add boiled potato (don’t cook it in the broth – makes the broth cloudy); Martha used to add lima beans, a throw back from her Poland days. But don’t knock it – they are surprisingly delicious.

B’Teavon!

Strawberry Mango Mesculun Salad

Great salad – easy and full of great flavour. I would recommend cutting down the sugar content (recipe calls for 1/2 cup – which is WAY too much!) My mom usually subs in orange juice instead of sugar in recipes.  Play around with it. I think I got this from the Netivot HaTorah recipe book, “gatherings.”

Ingredients:

• sugar (calls for 1/2 cup – but that’s outrageous!)
• 3/4 canola oil
• 1/3 balsamic vinegar (I like a lighter vinegar with this salad personally)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 8 cups mesculun mix
• 2 cups sweet & dried cranberries
• 8 ounces strawberries quartered
• 1 large mango – peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup slivered almonds

Serves 6-8 people.

Delicious Sweet Challah

This is a very slight adaptation of the beautiful recipe from Susie Fishbein’s “Kosher By Design.” This was the first recipe I ever used to make challah, and unlike many things in life, this is a sure thing. Always a hit!

The recipe calls for 5lbs of flour to make six loaves. I usually divide the dough into enough for 12 loaves, and bake two at a time. It’s a great thing to have on hand in the freezer; you can let it defrost the day of, glaze it with beaten eggs mixed with some honey and sesame seeds.

There is something very ‘zen’ about making bread from scratch, and I have gained an entirely new appreciation of the blessings we make over our food – particularly of “ha motzi lechem min ha’aretz.”

A great activity to do with others. My nephew, nieces and I have had a messy old time doing this together. Much fun!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 4 (1/2 ounce) packages active dry yeast (or 3 tbl)

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 7 large eggs

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 1/2 cups oil

• 7 teaspoons salt

• 4 cups boiling water

• 5 lbs flour

• 1 large egg, beaten lightly, with honey drizzled in

• sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Directions
1. Proof the yeast: Place the 1/2 cup warm water, yeast, 1 tbl sugar in a large glass measuring cup or bowl. Set aside until yeast gets bubbly.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the 2 cups sugar, boiling water, salt, and oil.

3. Crack eggs into large bowl (or your mixer bowl). Add proofed yeast, mix again. Add the sugar/water mixture. Mix thoroughly.

4. Add the flour in batches, incorporating well each time.

5. Knead dough for 10-15 minutes, adding flour as needed until you get that earlobe texture.

6. Place dough in a large bowl (greased), cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, punching down in the interim.

7. Turn out dough onto floured surface. Separate the piece of dough with the blessing if you make it.

8. Divide dough into 6-7 pieces, and shape into challah according to your favorite style. (You can braid three strands, four strands, six strands — whatever!).

9. (At this point you can freeze some of the shaped challot to bake later on.).

10. Let rise another 30 minutes or so.

11. Brush each loaf with beaten egg. Sprinkle with seeds.

12. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom