Chanukah may be over by the time we light candles on Friday night, but I want to extend the Chanukah feel for one more night with our main entree this Shabbat. A few years ago I saw a
recipe on the Kosher Trader Joe's Facebook Group. I gave it a try and it was a hit so now it's in my repetoire. I call it Trader Joe's Latke Chicken (recipe below.) So, while it's not really parsha-themed, it's holiday themed, latkes are always delicious and I'm going with it!
Sticking a bit closer to the parsha, Miketz opens with the reports of Pharoah's dreams - seven healthy cows standing by the Nile then seven gaunt cows ate them up, but didn't get any bigger. Then seven healthy ears of corn were swallowed up by seven not healthy-looking ears.
As Andrew Lloyd Weber says in his musical, as sung by Joseph, "All the things you saw in your pajamas are a long-range forecast for your farmers" and leads to Joseph's taking charge of the planning for the famine. To honor this part of the story, I will be making an appetizer of corn chowder.
Finally, as I read through the parsha for the purpose of a parsha inspired menu, I was suprised and excited to see some foods mentioned that I never noticed before. At this point in the story, there is famine in Canaan and Jacob has already sent his sons (minus Benjamin) to Eygpt to get food once. Due to Joseph's demands (it's a whole story!), they have been told not to return without Benjamin. They are once again out of food and Jacob tells them to go down again. In addition to bringing Benjamin (which takes some major convincing), Jacob (aka Israel) also wants them to bring gifts to the man in charge (who happens to be Joseph, but, of course, Jacob doesn't know that.) As it says:
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֜ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל אֲבִיהֶ֗ם אִם־כֵּ֣ן ׀ אֵפוֹא֮ זֹ֣את עֲשׂוּ֒ קְח֞וּ מִזִּמְרַ֤ת הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ בִּכְלֵיכֶ֔ם וְהוֹרִ֥ידוּ לָאִ֖ישׁ מִנְחָ֑ה מְעַ֤ט צֳרִי֙ וּמְעַ֣ט דְּבַ֔שׁ נְכֹ֣את וָלֹ֔ט בׇּטְנִ֖ים וּשְׁקֵדִֽים׃
Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, do this: take some of the choice products of the land in your baggage, and carry them down as a gift for the man—some balm and some honey, gum, ladanum, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
So, I searched for something that would call to mind these gifts and found: Almond Honey Cake with Orange and Pistachios! That's a pretty good match (and gluten free, by the way, so they wouldn't have needed any of the grain from Eygpt!)
Trader Joe's Latke Chicken
2 boxes of frozen potato latkes
6 chicken thighs
1 onion
your choice of herbs and spices
Take boxes of latkes and shingle them into a 4x4 rectangle in a veg oil-sprayed 9x13 pan.
Slice an onion into half-moons and sprinkle over the latkes. Lay 6 chicken thighs on top. Sprinkle the chicken thighs liberally with your herbs and spices of choice. (I’ve done seasoned salt/pepper/onion powder/garlic powder/paprika and I’ve done zahtar/sumac/salt/ pepper, but really any combo of spices would work.)
Bake uncovered at 350 for two hours. Don’t skimp on the time because it’s not as good.
Corn Chowder (no potato, no gluten)
Serves 8
2c. chopped onion 12c corn kernels (frozen is fine)
6c chicken stock 1c. chopped bell pepper (red or green)
1 tsp rosemary 1 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper 4oz of sour supreme
Saute onions in large pot until translucent. Add 8 c of corn and saute until it softens (this will take longer if coming from frozen). Add 4c chicken stock and cook until corn is very soft, about 20 minutes.
Use immersion blender (or transfer to blender) and puree until smooth. Return to low heat. Add the pepper, rosemary, thyme, perpper and 2c of stock and 4c corn. Stir and cook for about 10 minues until chowder is thick and creamy. Add sour supreme and cook until mixed in.
Shabbat Shalom and B'Tayavon!
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