What should I make for Shabbat dinner tonight?

[Ellen Forradalom]

I didn't get out to the store earlier because I was doing some work, and now I'm at home with the kid. (Don't worry, I get my challah at my son's school--the kosher bakery sends down a truck Friday morning.) So what's a special dinner menu that doesn't take too long to prepare?

Nominally kosher ideas please. We don't keep kosher but it seems gratuitously disrespectful to dish up pork chops & bacon on a Friday night.

[Colorado Blue]

1. Are you familiar with Israeli food? It's really delicious. Or

maybe a North African couscous? I had one recently; the rice was flavored with nuts, onions, garlic, raisins and dates.

Meanwhile I also love simple but elegant things (kosher by default since they're vegetarian), such as a subtly flavored mushroom omelet with a fresh spinach salad on the side. The salad has slices of sweet red onions, plus pecan halves and a garlic vinaigrette dressing.

Or, tonight I am making chickpeas flavored with cumin, ground cloves, and yogurt and served over basmati rice.

Not typical but yum! We live near Little India, which is also Little Pakistan, Little Turkey, Little Arabia, and Little Hassidic Jewish, plus Little Sweden and Little Korea, go figure; and have picked up a lot of recipes.

On the other hand if there are kids who might object I make pasta:)

Shalom shabbat:)

[Lithos]

2. Sounds interesting.

Or, tonight I am making chickpeas flavored with cumin, ground cloves, and yogurt and served over basmati rice.

Sounds like a vegetarian Biryani for the most part (though the chickpeas would be novel). Can you share your recipie (or a rough apx. of what you did?)

L-

[Ellen Forradalom]

3. Oh yes, all of the above

I'm in Chicago, ethnic dining capital of the universe (I don't care what anyone else says.) I've made vegetable stews and couscous recently. I go to our Indian neighborhood and pick up awesome spices for homemade chana masalas, biryanis, etc.

Tonight, though, I went with a London broil and mashed potatoes, and Ben & Jerry's for dessert. Simple.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. I wish I had been there!

I forgot how much I love London Broil!!! And, mashed potatoes I could eat all the time (and when I had a job that had a buffet, I did!). It is 1am Okie time and now I am all hungry! :(

[Colorado Blue]

5. Yes, Chicago!!! Me too.

I will see if I can write some more down but for the chickpeas, here's an approximation.

My bobbe was one of those cooks who threw stuff in the pot and it came out ok, which baffled me. Ditto my friend Effie's mom, a Greek lady whose cooking I tried to learn. My husband is the same, he did the cooking until A Catastrophe happened and I had to stay home, then I had to cook. It was a Learning Curve, he is SO FUSSY. But, eventually I made so many bad dinners I got better. This is good because I still have the Old Man:)

So now I am one of those cooks who throws stuff in the pot. So my measurements aren't real exact! But here goes:

I start by getting the rice together. If I am not extremely methodical I get confused! So, I use brown basmati rice which takes about an hour, white about half that. If you use brown, go ahead and get it started. Then, you will need approximately:

1/3 to 1/2 of a good sized onion, chopped
several cloves of garlic, don't be shy
1 can chickpeas
4 -5 good sized tomatoes
olive oil
salt, black pepper, ground red pepper, ground cumin, ground cloves, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, ground coriander

In a large skillet, put olive oil and turn on the stove to a fairly high flame. Add salt, black pepper, dash red pepper, 3 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander - the Indian cookbook says to roast the spices, it prevents indigestion, so I do it this way. Be careful not to burn though!

Then, add the chopped onion, saute until it starts getting transparent, then add the garlic. At this point you might want to lower the flame slightly. Saute.

Then, add the tomatoes. I slice them right into the pot so as not to waste any juice. I add a dash of the red wine vinegar, a teaspoon or two brown sugar, and the chickpeas. Ahead of time you'll want to rinse and drain the chickpeas, so there won't be any funny tastes, so forth.

Then, cover the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer, and wait until the timer goes off for the rice. It should take brown rice about 45 minutes, then the heat will go off and the timer go on for an additional 10 minutes so the rice can sit with the lid on and the heat off. During this time, the beans will cook. Just before you are ready to serve, put in about 1/2 cup of yogurt and stir. This makes it richer. If you feel it needs more liquid you can add a bit of water, or a bit more red wine vinegar or even an extra tomato - it's a very forgiving dish (with me cooking it had better be!)

You can make this somewhat hotter or somewhat less so, this recipe is warm but not scorching and the yogurt blends and cools it a bit. It will serve at least four. We just put the chickpea sauce right on top of the rice and serve with a salad plus whatever. It goes very well with flatbreads or nan. Basically my W. adapted the recipe from something we ate at an Indian restaurant.

Ta dah!

[Colorado Blue]

6. I think I might have made a misleading statement - the

beans cook the WHOLE time the rice is cooking and steaming - about 45 minutes total - not JUST while the rice is steaming.

Oy. I get confused:)

[Lithos]

7. Thanks for the recipie

Does remind me of biryani which is a very tasty dish.

Am gonna have to try this sometime soon. (Next time wife goes out on a trip - she's not very adventuresome in eating).

L-

[Colorado Blue]

8. Good luck with it! You can fool around with the ingredients

so that it suits your tastebuds:)