Shabbat Dinner

My *new* husband (3 months and counting!) is in school studying to be a reform rabbi. This often comes as a surprise to the people we meet. It's sort of commical in a way trying to anticipate what people's reactions will be. I'm excited to write more about this as I post but one comment we often get right off the bat is that we must be very religious. That term can lead to a lot of discussion. What does it mean to be religious? How is that different from observant? What do we believe?

One thing we hold very dear is Shabbat dinner. Hosting (or attending) Shabbat dinner is one of the best ways to end the work week and mark the start of Shabbat. For us, hosting Shabbat dinner involves cooking a delicious meal, gathering our friends and family, singing prayers and recounting favorite moments from the past week.

This past Shabbat, we hosted eight friends and family at our home in Brooklyn. Since it was our first time hosting Shabbat since returning from our honeymoon in Argentina and Chile the previous week, we thought it only appropriate to infuse our Shabbat meal with some recipes we picked up along the way.

Shabbat Menu for 1/18/13:
Challah (raisin and sesame)...This was a true partner activity. I made the dough and left it to rise when I went to work. Five hours later, while I was still at work, my husband kneaded and braided the loaves and left them to rise so we could bake them right before Shabbat.

Empanadas! We were so excited to try these out at home as our appetizer. We used pre-made pie crust and cut out circles (using the top of a tin of nuts as a cookie cutter...classy). We topped the pie discs with ground beef that we sauteed with onions, salt and pepper in olive oil, added a slice of hard boiled egg, and a sliced up piemento-stuffed green olive. Fold the pie dough in half and press the edges together tightly so the mixture stays in. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. They were a huge hit!

Vegetarian Moroccan Stuffed Peppers (sans Peppers). This is my second time making this dish and it's so delicious. This time, I decided to serve it as a side dish without the peppers.

Harisa Haddock. One of my favorite wedding gifts came from my longtime Israeli friend. We both love cooking and eating and some of the best meals I've ever had were eaten in her ima's kitchen near Haifa. She gave me the new Jerusalem cookbook for our wedding. I've loved salivating over the pictures and recipes and reminscing about the year we lived in Jerusalem. I made the haddock we made this week has so many intense flavors, especially spicy ones from the harisa paste but it truly is delicious.

Dulce de Leche Crepes. I came home from work to learn that my hubby had made crepe batter so that he could make fresh crepes with dulce de leche (Argentina's sweetest offering!) for dessert. What a guy! They were delicious!

I have to become better about documenting our meals and keeping track of the recipes. I'll post these recipes on later blogs but now, time for lunch since reliving this meal has me hungry!