דער מענטש טראַכט און גאָט לאַכט. Der mentsh trakht un got lakht. Man plans and God laughs.

I am beginning to believe that large kitchen appliances are like cars.  When you purchase a new car most of the time it’s great but sometimes you get a lemon.  Buying new ovens is turning out to be the same.  Most of the time it’s great but occasionally you get a lemon.  When my ovens imploded mid cooking last April it was disruptive, annoying and because I couldn’t wait months for the oven I really wanted to purchase, I went with an oven that could be delivered and installed in less than a week.  The new double wall oven had all the features I was looking for and I was happy.  That is, I was happy until yesterday.  Less than two months since the new oven was installed and both the top and bottom oven stopped working.  On Sunday evening I ran the self-cleaning cycle on the lower oven.  When I went to preheat the lower oven on Monday afternoon to bake, nada.  Nothing happened.  The oven didn’t heat up at all.  I tried the top oven.  Nada.  I tried different settings.  Nada.  True to form I had a little melt down.  Nothing major just a slightly disproportionate reaction that included snapping at my DH (the man is truly amazing, and I am so blessed).  I had three babka ready to bake.  Thank goodness for back up disposable pans.  I quickly transferred the babka into new pans and popped them into the countertop convection oven. (In my kitchen I have three ovens: the two wall ovens and a countertop convection oven. The bottom wall oven is used for Parve items, and the top is used for Fleishic (meat).  The countertop convection oven is used only for dairy items.)  While the babka were baking I called the 800 number for the manufacturer.  After answering multiple prompts, I finally got to a recording informing me that they were closed for the holiday and would reopen tomorrow.  There was a moment where I felt completely defeated but after a few deep breadths I calmed down and realized there wasn’t really anything I could do but call back in the morning.  It took two tries to reach a human being.  The customer service representative was extremely nice and understanding.  She scheduled a service call and assured me that the ovens were still under warranty so I would not be charged.  If the serviceman can’t resolve the issue with a repair the company will replace the oven with a new unit.  Now I just need to be patient. 

The next thing I needed to do was figure out how I would prepare the rest of the week’s meals and the meals for Shabbat.  BH, the weeks menus and the Shabbat menu either didn’t require cooking or could all be prepared on the stovetop or on the BBQ with only a few adjustments.  The only thing I would need to forgo would be baking parve goods.  Coming to this was such a relief.

So here it is Tuesday afternoon, and this is the New Plan:

Tuesday:

Chicken Salad Plates - Mixed Green Salad topped w/ Chicken Salad, Tomato Slices, Cucumber & Olives

Wednesday:

Chicken Pasties – Stovetop Puff Pastry Pockets filled with curried veggies & tofu served with a Mixed Leafy Green Salad

Thursday:

Fish Schnitzel w/ Cauliflower Fried Rice    

For Shabbat I have a Hawaiian Menu planned:

Shabbat Evening:

Challah

Hawaiian Ginger Vegetable Soup

Seared Hawaiian Style Salmon

Hawaiian Slaw & A Tropical Rice Salad

Huli Huli Pineapple Grilled Turkey Thighs

Grilled Sweet Potato Slices & Grilled Pineapple

Stir-fried Soy Glazed Green Beans

Shabbat Day:

Challah

Assorted Salads & Dips

Hawaiian Pulled Beef

Fresh Fruit

Stovetop Puff Pastry Curry Pockets

Ingredients:

1 Sheet Frozen Puff Pastry – Pepperidge Farms brand or brand or your choosing

1 cup Shredded Carrots

1 cup Celery, minced

2 Scallions, chopped

1 tablespoon Minced Garlic

1 tablespoon Fresh Ginger Root, minced finely or grated through a micro plane

1 Small Turnip, diced 

½ cup Snap Peas, sliced thin

1 or 2 teaspoons Tamari Sauce / Coconut Aminos

1 or 2 teaspoons Curry Powder - according to taste

Pinch or more Chili Pepper Flakes

¼ cup Veggie Broth/ Water

1 teaspoon Corn Starch

1 or 2 tablespoons Coconut, Peanut or Grapeseed Oil for stir-frying

1 recipe Baked Crispy Tofu (recipe to follow)

1Egg + 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

Defrost the puff pastry sheet.  While it is defrosting prepare your curry for the filling.  Using a wok or a large skillet heat to almost smoke point the oil of your choosing. Stir fry the vegetable starting with the carrots, celery, ginger and then the turnip.  Once those vegetables are crisp tender add the garlic and the remaining spices.  While that is cooking make a slurry with the broth/water and the corn starch.  Pour that into the pan.   Finally add the prepared crispy baked tofu cubes.  Toss to coat in the sauce and combine with the vegetables.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool so you can handle the filling.  The puff pastry should be defrosted by this point.  On a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin roll the sheet of puff pastry out as thin as you are able without tearing.  Trim the edges to create a large rectangle.  Cut the rectangle into three long pieces of the same size.  Cut each of those long strips in half.  There should be 6 equal size rectangles.  Place a scoop of the filling into the center of the bottom half of each rectangle.  In a small bowl or cup mix the egg and 1 tablespoon of egg to create an egg-wash. Using a pastry brush or your finger run a thin line of egg-wash around the edges of the dough and across the center of the rectangle.  Fold the empty side of dough over the filled side of dough and using the tongs of a fork to seal the edges all around.   Repeat with the remaining rectangles until there are 6 filled pockets.  Normally I would bake these on a sheet pan in the oven until they were crispy and golden, but I don’t have use of my oven so had to get creative.  Using a heavy stock pot or a Dutch oven with a lid a stove top ‘oven’ can be made.  Place the pot over a medium flame and preheat the empty pot with the lid on.  Once the pot has heated lift the lid and place the pastry pockets evenly spaced into the pot.  There is no need to add any oil as the puff pastry dough is quite oily.  Cover and let bake in the pot for about 10 minutes.  Open and turn the pastries over if the dough has puffed nicely.  Recover and continue to bake in the pot until the pockets are puffed and crispy.  There will be a slight difference in appearance to those that you bake in an actual oven, but they will be crispy and yummy.  Alternately the pastry pockets can be pan fried in a small amount of oil in a frying pan

Crispy Baked Tofu Cubes

Ingredients:

1 block Extra Firm / Sprouted Tofu, pressed and drained

1 cup Cornstarch

1 cup Non-Dairy Milk

1 teaspoon Cider Vinegar

Panko Breadcrumbs

½ teaspoon Paprika

½ teaspoon Ginger Powder

¼ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Ground Pepper

2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast

Directions:

Press and drain the tofu for 2 hours to overnight.  Remove from tofu press and pat dry.  Cut the tofu into small cubes or sticks (the size of a commercially made fish stick).  Using three small pans or bowls place into the first bowl a cup of corn starch.  Into the second bowl, 1 cup of nondairy milk (soy, almond, cashew, oat) mixed with 1 teaspoon of cider vinegar. Into the third bowl put Panko crumbs seasoned with paprika, ginger powder, salt, pepper & 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Dip each piece of tofu into the cornstarch to coat, then into the ‘milk’ mixture, into the corn starch again, back into the ‘milk’ mixture and then coat with the Panko mixture. Place the breaded tofu chunks or sticks onto a baking sheet generously sprayed with vegetable oil Bake at 395F for ten minutes on each side until all sides are crispy & golden. Spray additional vegetable oil spray onto the tofu while baking as needed.  (If there is no oven to be found the coated tofu cubes may be fried in oil until crisp and then drained on a paper towl)