Friday Night Dinners Inspired by 52 Shabbats Recipe Book by Faith Kramer
New Cookbook Celebrates Friday Night Dinners with Delicious Recipes from Around the World
Come sundown on Friday nights, Jews and their families and friends come together to celebrate with food, wine, bread, and community. It’s the start of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, the ritual that occurs once a week. For some, this dinner is just a festive meal. For others, it is part of their religious observance. For most, Shabbat is a time to celebrate, recharge, and share with those you care for.
52 Shabbats let’s home cooks create global-flavored meals for Friday night and other dinners using seasonings from Libya and Ethiopia; sauces from Morocco, Lebanon, and Yemen; and herbs, spices, and more from the Middle and Near East. Faith transforms traditional favorites. Pomegranate molasses brings a sweet-tart taste to brisket; falafel makes a crispy crust for a pizza; baked potatoes are stuffed with ground turkey, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices; roasted chicken is enhanced by fresh herbs or shawarma seasoning, and a spicy beef stew with dried fruit becomes the filling for tamales, to name just a few.
About The Author:
Faith Kramer is a food writer and recipe developer concentrating on the foodways, history, and customs of the Jewish diaspora. She has written hundreds of posts about Jewish customs and food, travel, and global ingredients with accompanying recipes. As a columnist for the j., the Jewish News of Northern California, she writes articles twice a month on food and cooking along with original recipes. Faith has taught numerous cooking classes, presented programs on Jewish customs, celebrations, and holidays, and led food-related walking tours that explore the economic, geographic, and political underpinnings of the food as well as how to use international ingredients in other contexts. A frequent contributor to other Jewish food-related projects, her work can be found in Laura Silver’s Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food (Brandeis University Press) and Molly O’Neill’s One Big Table cookbook (Simon and Schuster), plus many others. Faith lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit FaithKramer.com for links to more of her writing about Jewish customs and food, travel and global ingredients and recipes.
GRILLED LAMB CHOPS WITH BITTER HERBS SALAD
Serves 6
This recipe is inspired by the Passover customs of the Karaite Jews, a branch of Judaism founded in the eighth century that traditionally follows the Torah and not the rabbinic interpretations. Many of the Karaites lived in Egypt for centuries but were forced to leave after the wars with Israel and most now live in the United States.
The Karaites regard Shabbat as a day of joy and start Friday night prayers earlier to extend the day. In Egypt they would enjoy a glass of anise-flavored liquor with their Shabbat lunch. As the day ended, they would say blessings over wine and branches of myrtle or rue and greet each other in Arabic (“May your week be green”) or in Hebrew (“May you have a good week”). Another Karaite Seder custom is to eat a “salad” of bitter herbs, which refers to the different greens used in the Seder service to symbolically represent the harshness of slavery under the Egyptians.
FOR THE LAMB
3 pounds bone-in lamb rib or shoulder chops
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup minced fresh mint
2 teaspoons minced garlic
FOR THE BITTER HERBS SALAD
¾ cup (1-inch pieces) chopped fennel
2 tablespoons minced fennel fronds
1 cup (1-inch pieces) endive
2 cups (1-inch pieces) romaine lettuce
2 cups (1-inch pieces) chopped red leaf lettuce
1 cup (1-inch pieces) frisée or arugula
½ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup minced fresh dill
About 1/2 cup Whole Lemon Dressing, plus more if desired
3 sheets matzo broken into 1-inch pieces
FOR SERVING
¼ cup garlic sauce or pomegranate molasses, optional
¼ cup chopped fresh mint or flat-leaf parsley
TO MAKE THE LAMB
Trim any excess fat from the lamb chops. In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, mint, and garlic. Rub the mixture all over the lamb, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. Bring the lamb to room temperature before grilling.
Prepare a grill for medium-high to high heat. Grill the lamb chops, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per side, or until cooked to the desired doneness. Lamb will keep cooking for several minutes after being pulled from the grill, so it’s best
to slightly undercook. Transfer the lamb to a plate and cover with aluminum foil.
TO MAKE THE BITTER HERBS SALAD
In a large bowl, mix together the fennel, fennel fronds, endive, romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, frisée, parsley, and dill.
Just before serving, shake up the dressing, pour it over the salad, and toss until evenly coated. Add more dressing if desired. Add the matzo pieces and toss again.
TO SERVE
Transfer the lamb to individual plates and drizzle with Garlic Sauce (if using). Garnish with fresh mint. Serve with the bitter herbs salad on the side.
Garlic Sauce
Makes about 1 Cup
This lemony garlic sauce is inspired by toum, a creamy Lebanese staple. It’s definitely for garlic lovers. It makes a
nice non-dairy alternative for a creamy garnish or even an aioli-style dip for crudites.
1/4 cup peeled garlic cloves
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a blender, combine the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and purée on high speed until smooth. The sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before using.
Recipe reprinted with permission from 52 Shabbats: FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS INSPIRED BY A GLOBAL JEWISH KITCHEN By Faith Kramer The Collective Book Studio/December 2021
Food writer and recipe developer Faith Kramer shares recipes and flavors from around the world in her new cookbook, 52 SHABBATS: FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS INSPIRED BY A GLOBAL JEWISH KITCHEN. Whether you are a longtime host of weekly Shabbat dinners or just looking for new meal ideas, the recipes in this cookbook will spice up your Friday night meal.
“No matter what your Friday night custom is (or even if you don’t really have one), embracing this weekly Shabbat ritual
brings an element of understanding as the activities and food can connect us, through history, geography, and tradition,
to Jewish communities and ways other than our own,” Faith says.
Recipes are divided into chapters based on the seasons along with chapters on side dishes and accompaniments, desserts, and fundamentals. Faith outlines recipe pairing in a mix-and-match friendly format, incorporating easy substitutions throughout the book making Shabbat meals accessible for any lifestyle. Some of the recipes in 52 Shabbats include:
– Sweet and Tart Silan Roasted Carrots with Lentils
– Iraqi-Israeli Vegetable Pickles
– Tamarind Okra or Zucchini
– Matzo Ball and Pozole Chicken Soup
– Mushroom and Cheese Strudel
– Pomegranate Molasses Brisket
– Ethiopian Spiced Pot Roast
– Winter Borscht with Lamb
– Falafel Pizza with Feta and Herbs
– South Indian-Inspired Fish Cakes with Coconut-Cilantro Chutney
– Fruit and Vegetable Rice Paper Salad Rolls
– Lemongrass and Ginger Barbecued Flanken
– Chocolate and Cookie Truffles
– Mango and Cardamom Mini Cheesecakes
52 Shabbats recipe book is available for purchase on Faith Kramer’s Website, Amazon and where books are sold.
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