Another Batch of Challah in New Kitchen

My first batch of challah and rolls pretty much lasted until the end of the Jewish Holiday Season. Between being invited out for meals and buying just a few rolls to supplement, I only restocked/baked more challah yesterday.

My new Electrolux oven is large enough for me to get all the challot in at once, spread over two trays. I used the lower heat plus fan and just kept the upper tray in a bit longer. I experimented a bit with the recipe. This time I didn't add eggs to the batter. We'll see if the challah is less crumbly.

You must understand that my husband and I don't eat a lot of challah or bread. One smallish roll suffices unless we have guests. So, most of what I bake as challot are round rolls. Yesterday between the challot and rolls, there were about sixteen 16 pieces. That should hold us for awhile. I would have baked a bigger batch, but I don't have freezer space. We only have the refrigerator freezer. That's also why I didn't make cakes, too, when I was baking. Since I have plenty of the two types of 1, 2, 3 cookies I had made when the family came, I don't need cake to serve on Shabbat.

All we need now are guests.

Easy Recipes and Enjoying The New Kitchen

Yesterday we had guests for a Succot lunch. They had been great fans of my new kitchen during the years I just talked and complained. I got a lot of support from them, so it was very exciting to host them. I served a fish meal, mujadarra, eggplant, baked vegetables, salad and salmon.

Mujadarrah:
1 cup brown rice
1 cup lentils
small/medium onion cut
a bit of cooking oil of your choice
4 1/2 cups boiling water

Put all but water in pot, saute a bit, then add boiling water, cover, bring to boil, lower to a simmer until you can't see any water. Leave covered at least another 10 minutes. Serve.

"Impressive" Eggplant:
eggplant
tomatoes
onion
fresh garlic
vegetable oil

Slice eggplant partially, so it opens like a book.
Fill with sliced tomato. Sprinkle diced onion and garlic, then oil. Bake in medium-high (or whatever is recommended by your oven manufacturer) oven until cooked.

"Fancy" Salmon:
Filet of salmon
lemon slices
fresh garlic
mustard
Decorate your salmon. Wrap in foil, if you're baking it at the same time as the other dishes, so it won't overcook. Otherwise just bake in a medium-high (or whatever is recommended by your oven manufacturer) oven until it seems ready. You can check that the salmon has changed color and is flaky where thickest. Yes, it's that simple.

I enjoyed the meal and hope everyone else did, too.

PS It was so much fun being able to cook so quickly. I could fit all three baked dishes in the oven at the same time. I love my new kitchen!!

Cooking in New Kitchen, B"H

Yesterday, although it's still a mess in my house, I began cooking for Shabbat. I used both ovens, though not simultaneously. Since they are large and have a turbo setting I could even use more than one tray at a time. That's a timesaver for sure. I bought Electrolux which is larger inside than the Sauter.

Some of the cooking/baking was done in bulk so I won't need to do it weekly. Challot and cakes freeze well for sure. I may have enough challah rolls to get me through most of the fall Jewish Holidays, Rosh Hashanah, pre/post Yom Kippur meals, Succot and Simchat Torah, depending on how many guest we have and meals we're invited out. The cakes will be enough for a few weeks, especially if I make my traditional Rosh Hashanah Applesauce Cake. And I already froze some of the baked chicken breasts.

So, yesterday's cooking/baking was truly a time investment, besides learning how to use the new ovens.

For those wondering about oven temperatures, something I never paid attention to with my old oven,* I sort of followed the guidelines on the inside of the oven doors:

To whet your appetite, here are some photos of my cooking/baking experiments from yesterday:

Challah recipe

Simple Basic Cake**, with blended banana and mango rescued from the freezer

These Chicken Breasts were simply layered over sliced onion and topped with tomatoes, dehydrated basil and coarsely grated pepper. I baked them covered with foil. I could see their cooking progress, since I used a pyrex baking pan. (Recipe)

Oven Baked Chicken, the food my kids consider my specialty

Besides enjoying the ovens, I'm super happy to be finally cooking on gas after almost two years of using an old two burner electric "hot plate."

The kitchen is almost completely organized. I think that all of the chametz dishes and pots are stored, but I will need help with the Passover things which will be on higher shelves. More updates, Gd willing, in future posts.

Bottom Line:

Was the expense and chaos of a new kitchen worth it?
YES!

*The numbers had long been rubbed/cleaned off the old oven, so it was like telling time from a sundial. 

**I made a few small changes, cinnamon instead of vanilla, and the blended banana and mango instead of some of the water. That's the beauty of the recipe; it's very adjustable.

Baked Onion Omelet and the Story Of Course

The other day in the middle of cooking I realized that the time had come to change gas canisters.  In Israel most of us  have individual arrangements with gas companies.  The gas company hooks up each home to a pair (or more if water and heating are done by gas) of canisters aka "balloons."  You're supposed to keep only one open at a time and then close it when it's empty, open the waiting full one and quickly call the gas company to order a new one. 

Of course there are periodic foul-ups, usually planned by "Murphy's Law," just when there's about to be a holiday and the gas can't be ordered.  It has happened to me that either we forgot to order or somehow both were open and then empty out simultaneously.  When that happens I have to get immediate help from neighbors.

Well this time when I went to change balloons, yes, the canisters, I noticed that the "full" one seemed a bit on the light or empty side.  I also smelled gas and discovered that the nob attaching it wasn't fully closed.  I closed it and then called the gas company to order more gas and complain.  I was told that I'd have to wait as few days, and he'd send an inspector to check that all the connections were good.

But in the meantime I was afraid that I'd run out of gas, so any cooking that could be done in the oven was done in the oven, including my morning eggs.

I placed a sheet of parchment paper for baking on our handleless frying pan.  As you can see above, I put the cut onion and eggs on it and dripped a bit of oil to mimic "frying."

I placed the frying pan in the oven on high with the fan going to speed things up.  It almost looks "fried."  Doesn't it?  And of course I added the usual seasonings.

My Baked Onion Omelet really tasted good!

PS the gas canister did arrive on the day promised, and so far the "almost empty canister" is still cooking...