Sunday, June 20, 2010

I Can't Believe I Used to Hate Cooking!

You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free!: 500 Delicious, Foolproof Recipes for Healthy LivingAlthough I have blogs wholly devoted to gluten-free and kosher living (the recipe blog and the review blog), I like to share my adventures in cooking on Just Call Me Chaviva because, well, food is what Jews do. Sure, food is the livelihood of all peoples, but there's something special about the flare of Jewish cooking and Shabbat preparation that is incomparable in other cultures.

This week, I decided to do a deliciously spicy Indian menu for Friday night and a light, fish-focused meal for Saturday lunch with leftovers on the menu for seudat shlishi. Tuvia and I are in the Poconos for Shabbat and the weekend, with him heading off to his new job in Newark on Monday and me staying here trying to stay sane, get organized, and get some work done. I'm also going to share with you my plans for Father's Day Brunch tomorrow with the in-laws. So let's get to it.

Friday Night
Challah
Dahl (a delicious lentil soup, it was amazing)
Chicken Tikka (I'd probably do this next time sans yogurt, which, by the way, was totally parve)
Saffron Rice (okay, this was store-bought and easily made on the stovetop)
Aloo Phujia (this was crazy spicy, but so delicious!)
Chickpea/Tomato concoction that I sort of rocked on the fly
(That is: chickpeas, olive oil, onions, garlic, tomato paste, salt & pepper)
Gluten-Free Brownies (store-bought, and they were so gooey in the middle!)

Do you ever do "ethnic" food night? I mean, beyond doing the Israeli thing with falafel and hummus. Do you get your Chinese or Greek on? How do you work your menus? Are you successful with guests, or do they prefer the usual suspects?

Saturday Lunch
Challah
Roasted Potatoes (the usual, leftover but I knew Tuvia would eat them!)
Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole (sans the nuts, oops; probably the "heaviest" item in the meal)
Corn
Gluten-Free Vanilla Rugelach, a la Heaven Mills! (perfect right out of the freezer)

I'm a sucker for cooking lots of food ... someday I'll be a master of hosting 10+ people at my home every week. That is, of course, until I have kids and my head explodes from being overworked. Luckily, this fall I have class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with an early-morning class Thursday, and that's it. I'll have Thursday and Friday to get my mad cooking skills on. I intend on using the rest of my time here in the Poconos to try out a boatload of recipes I have up over on Gloriously Gluten Free & Kosher, not to mention some other recipes (for crackers, go figure) that I haven't posted up yet. Until then, here's what I have going for brunch tomorrow for my father-in-law.

Father's Day Brunch

Some delicious OJ, Coffee, and Tea
Gluten-Free Donuts (SO GOOD! I'll have the recipe up later on my other blog)
Fresh Sliced Watermelon and Strawberries
Home Fries
Bagels (sadly, not GF) with cream cheese and/or butter

Mad props to the author of "You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free!" Roben Ryberg. Seriously, she's become my new go-to author when it comes to cooking. Her recipes are absolutely amazing, simple, and will be *excellent* come Passover (she offers her recipes in corn-based, potato-based, and oat-based options!). 

Shavua tov, friends, and happy noshing!