My wife’s got her hands full, and I love to take over at the stove. Here’s what I do.

The Man

Chaim Gold, early 30s, 5 kids, rebbe
London, England

The Plan Friday Night:

Challah, Fish Salad, Strawberry Liqueur, Soup with Kneidlach, Sticky Chicken, Potato Kugel, Apple Kugel, Marinated Salad, Lemon Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce and Crumbs

The Plan Shabbos Lunch:

Challah, Dill Dip, Salmon, Eggs and Onions, Chopped Liver, Cholent with Potato Kugel, Marinated Salad, Fudge Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Cooking comes easily to me, as does baking. I come from a family where a lot of the men cook, and do it well. I’m also artistic (not to mention perfectionist-leaning), so I enjoy patchkeh’ing and seeing the neat results. During the first years of our marriage, I watched (with some amusement) as my wife found her way around the kitchen, but as my wife has gotten busier and busier, I’m happy that I’ve been able to step up to the stove and help out with Shabbos. My favorite thing in the kitchen is to do the work once and get double the use from it.

Nowadays, my wife cooks most of the week, and I cook most of Shabbos. For Yom Tov, we share the fun.

Menu Planning and Advance Prep

One thing there is going to be at this Shabbos seudah is fish. I’m a Family Table reader, and I’m always surprised when food writers skip or swap this course on the Shabbos menu — not to speak of a nutrition feature at some point, which asked eight women about their Shabbos menus and not one mentioned fish (!). The Chofetz Chaim says that “it is best to eat fish at all three seudos of Shabbos, unless you don’t like the taste” (Mishnah Berurah, siman 242). Yup, we do that, a delicious Jewish custom. As for my father, he eats fish at Melaveh Malkah too…

Thing is, we get bored of gefilte fish, and the kids don’t usually eat it at all, which leaves us constantly looking for a fresh twist on fish. This week, I’ll go for fried fish fingers on a bed of lettuce and cherry tomatoes with a lemony dressing. The kids love the fish fingers, and the lettuce makes my wife happy, kind of compensates for it being fried.

I don’t make my own grape juice, but I will make a liqueur for l’chayim. Although we do buy Scotch and some liqueurs, our homemade ones taste way more real. I have a great chocolate liqueur recipe, but this being summertime, I’ll go for strawberry.

Wednesday morning seems like the time to start with the things that can be made in advance. First, the challah dough. I’m using my shvigger’s recipe, same as my wife always does, and because it’s a hot day, the dough breaks the banks of its bowl beautifully. I punch it down, let it rise again, then call my wife to make the brachah, which will always be her thing. I braid a few challahs, then leave the rest for my wife and the kids. It’s vacation, so the kids make themselves rolls for an easy supper, amazing.

While the dough is rising, I move on to the liqueur. My wife kindly examines a box of strawberries and rubs them under running water — ask your LOR if/how strawberries can be checked in your locale. I slice them thinly, then place in a bowl and cover with sugar to let the juices flow. Later in the evening, we’ll strain it and add vodka and a little water to the mix to create a delicious natural strawberry liqueur.

For dessert, I mix up a big batch of plain ice cream. I divide it into two bowls. Half gets lemon juice, for the Friday night lemon ice cream — my wife does this in a more complicated way, but I think store-bought lemon juice is just fine. For the other half, I mix a few ingredients for chocolate fudge cookie dough by hand (recipe on the cocoa package) and drop mini spoonfuls of it into the ice cream container. Two desserts, ready in 15 minutes.

On with the Show

On Thursday evening things get really busy. I take out the food processor, a sign that something big is going to happen. I plan on using it for a few things and quickly washing between uses before it gets harder to wash. First, I blend some strawberries into a sauce for my lemon ice cream. I always enjoy the extra sauces and crunches that take things up a level and keep life interesting, so when I buy chocolate, it won’t be a plain bar, it’ll be nuts or cream-filled (in case anyone was going to send me chocolate, just letting you know).

Next, I make my famous dill dip. My sister-in-law has been asking for the recipe, so I take care to write down what I’m doing.