Overwhelmed with menu-planning

anonymrs ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 4:50 am

This is not my first time making yt but for some reason I'm just so overwhelmed with planning my menu this time. Can someone help me out please?

I'm going to be making regular shabbos and then it's just one day of yt so it's only 2 meals (no dairy meals for us.) So far, I have this:

Motzei shabbos:

some type of salmon - ideas, please. Dh doesn't like teriyaki. I usually make either poached salmon in mustard sauce or pickled salmon but I would like to try something different.
a soup - maybe cream of chicken soup? Any other ideas welcome.
garlic knots
hawaiian chicken
white rice
need another starch side dish and a veggie side.

Sunday:

I'm so lost, don't even know where to start. I bought pastry dough and would like to make something with that but I am totally out of ideas. What is wrong with me??? HELP!

kb ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 5:11 am

Salmon - I mix up oil with some spices, pour it over the fish, let it marinate a little bit - an hour or so - and bake. I don't like fish, but I've never had a guest that didn't finish it, so I guess it's good. If that's what you're looking for, let me know and I'll post the 'recipe'.

Puff Pastry Dough - you can use it for dessert or for an appetizer. You can fold it up with apple pie filling (bought or made, I have a great recipe for the apples) and bake as apple turnovers, roll it up with sugar and cinnamon for rugelach, or I'm sure there are lots of other ideas. Or else, you can fill it with sautéed vegetables and little bits of chicken and fold it over and serve with mushroom sauce. Or there are all sorts of variations of that idea - chopped meat, vegetables, etc, and different sauces. Oh, and Mishpacha just had a recipe for making napoleons - I think that also used puff pastry dough. I'd love to try it, but it has raw eggs.

Would you just do baked veggies and potatoes for the last starch/vegetable dish?

sarahd ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 5:33 am

Can I have your poached salmon in mustard sauce recipe?

kb's suggestion for turnovers is good. There are so many variations on that. I did something with shredded vegetables for Sukkos. Or else, someone here had a salmon Wellington recipe (I think Beauty and the Beast) a few years ago that was very good.

For vegetable the first night, why not sauteed zucchini or snap peas with garlic? I think those would go well with Hawaiian chicken.

Cream of chicken soup sounds good and I think that's what I'll make. Alternatively, I'm considering cream of zucchini soup. (Actually, I'm even further behind you on menu planning and have not decided on one single menu item yet. And I have to cook everything in advance, since I can't leave my stove on over YT.)

↑ anonymrs ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 6:03 am

Thanks for the replies!

I like the idea of sauteed veggies and chicken for my pastry dough. I think I'm going to do that. Should I serve it with mushroom sauce for the first course? Does that make sense? (oh gosh, what is with me? I can't even think for myself anymore.....)

sarahd, how do you make sauteed zucchini? I think I like that idea.

Here is the salmon recipe.

3/4 c white wine
1/3 c sugar
1 t salt
pepper
4 bay leaves
2-3 T lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Lay the salmon on the bottom of the pot. Cover the pot and allow to cook for 20 minutes, (should be bubbling a bit.) Turn off the fire and allow to sit for 20 minutes, covered.

Mustard sauce

3/4 c mustard
1 1/8 c sugar
3/4 c vinegar
3/4 T dry mustard
3/4 c oil
1 1/2 T chopped dill

Pour sauce over fish before serving.

↑ kb ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 6:25 am

Take a nice cold drink! Then you'll be able to think again.

Yeah, you can serve the pastry dough with mushroom sauce for the first course. I did it on Succos, and it was good, but it was my first time making mushroom sauce, and I couldn't figure out how to make it in the first place, let alone keep it warm for the meal and still a sauce. Whatever. Bachurim eat anything that tastes good, even if you can't tell that it's mushroom sauce.

(Is that salmon recipe from Mishpacha?)

Also, if you want to 'cheat' - when I made the sautéed vegetables for the turnovers, I used some for the turnovers, and some for orzo - you mix orzo with the sautéed vegetables and some soy sauce and spices, and since no one actually analyzes the insides of the turnover, they don't know that they're getting the same thing twice (you can also serve it at 2 different meals if you want so there's variety in food groups or whatever.)

I didn't figure out our menu, and I think we're having 3 days! (Unless dh asks another shaila and is told differently... but unlikely that it'll happen.)

↑ sarahd ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 7:38 am

anonymrs wrote:

Thanks for the recipe. What if I don't have dry mustard?

Sauteed zucchini: I cut the (unpeeled) zucchini into thick matchsticks (I do it with a mandolin, but it goes quickly enough without one). I sautee a few cloves of chopped garlic for a few seconds in some oil, then add the zucchini and sprinkle with salt and pepper. I sautee it just until it starts to soften, because I'm usually cooking it in advance and it will cook further on the plata, but you can sautee it till it's cooked through if you're going to serve it right away. Top with roasted slivered almonds. My recipe says to add basil but I don't usually have any and it's just as good without.

↑ anonymrs ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 7:44 am

sarahd wrote:

anonymrs wrote:

If I don't have dry mustard (which I usually don't) I just skip it.

Thanks for the recipe. Sounds great!

Thanks for all the replies. I'm working on updating my menu. Keep the ideas coming!

dutchess

Tue, May 15 2012, 3:55 pm

I made an incredible combo of salmon and puff pastry for Shabbos. Spice/ marinate your salmon accordingly ( I prefer teriyaki but you may use a suggestion posted above) I sautée mushroom and onions, and lay out a piece of salmon, the mushroom+onion onto a square of pastry dough and you can choose to make squares or I did sack like... Spice eggs and egg the pastry. Sesame seeds to dress it up. It is absolutely positively delicious, flexible ( you can adapt it to your own preferences) , easy as anything and comes out beautiful no matter how you serve it!!

muss

Tue, May 15 2012, 3:57 pm

anonymrs wrote:

With the mustard sauce one, do you cook the salmon with nothing on it - how do you do it?

chocolate moose

Tue, May 15 2012, 4:15 pm

I know what you mean.

Start logically. You need food for 6 meals, unless you're eating out, and you might need more if you host guests.

Start by courses and work back. You need milchigs. You need a fish or 2, and a few mains. What side dishes are easy or can be frozen or made on yomtov itself?

What desserts can be made in advance or bought?

Get what I mean ?

↑ sarahd ↓

Tue, May 15 2012, 4:45 pm

anonymrs wrote:

sarahd wrote:

anonymrs wrote:

If I don't have dry mustard (which I usually don't) I just skip it.

Thanks. Now I have to hope the dill isn't infested yet this season.

↑ anonymrs ↓

Wed, May 16 2012, 2:50 am

So here's what I have so far: (we're in israel so it's only one day for us.)

motzei shabbos:

Salmon - still on the fence about that one
Cream of chicken soup with garlic knots
Hawaiian chicken
Rice
Some type of potato thing, not sure what
Sauteed zucchini (Thanks, sarahd)

Sunday:

Either fruit or a deli salad, not sure yet
chicken/vegetable turnovers with mushroom sauce (Thanks, kb)
Pickled corn beef
Chicken nuggets fried in batter with red dipping sauce
jewel-toned orzo (Thanks, kb)
potato kugel (for the boys Smile

)
garlic green beans

Now I have to think about desserts.

chocolate moose, thanks:) I needed that!

Thanks for all the input!

eta: With each meal I will be putting out homemade garlic dip and tomato dip and a few salads probably cucumber salad, pea salad, purple cabbage salad, and/or some type of lettuce salad.