There is a famous Midrash that Rav Shimshom Dovid Pincus, zt”l, brings down in the sefer Shabbos Kodesh. Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi (Rebbi) and the Emperor Antoninus were friends. Once, Rebbi invited Antoninus for a cold Shabbos afternoon meal. Antoninus found the food especially delicious despite the fact that it was cold. The next day, Rebbi invited him for another meal of warm food. Antoninus reported that he liked the Shabbos food better. Rebbe told him that the weekday foods were missing a certain seasoning called Shabbos.
One part of the mitzva of keeping Shabbos is the “zachor” aspect, to remember the upcoming Shabbos during the week. In practical terms, this means buying the best food, or new foods, for Shabbos, cooking and baking especially for Shabbos, and similar activities. We build up to the Shabbos ahead of us, and if we prepare for Shabbos we can enjoy the products of our work on Shabbos. Rav Pincus said that eating is the best way to allow our natural feelings to draw us closer to Hashem. He explains that we eat because we are starting to feel weak. Eating replenishes our vitality, and it is easy to feel the connection between eating and feeling alive. We can use the eating experience, particularly on Shabbos, to have a sense of how we absorb life straight from Hashem. The Zohar also teaches that each weekday receives its sustenance due to the blessing it receives from the food served on Shabbos.
So, the question is this: What happens to the leftover food from Shabbos? Does it retain its special seasoning status? (I have never heard that that seasoning leaves the way the neshama yeseira does.) Shabbos food is certainly in a special category because of the work we put into making it or the expense of buying it. How does Shabbos food, which represents the sustenance we will have in the upcoming week, end up being regarded as somewhat undesirable leftovers? Is there anything more sad than leaving challahor other Shabbos foods until they spoil and must be discarded?
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Like many people, most of my serious cooking is done for Shabbos. I cook more than I need for Shabbos, and plan to use what is left for the upcoming week. My kids laugh, but I call the process “transformation,” transforming Shabbos leftovers into meals that no longer feel like leftovers. There is a good feeling in doing this, and one can use it to remember that Shabbos is the source of our sustenance for the week.
Here are some of my favorite transformations:
GEFILTE FISH WRAPS
This is the most surprising transformation, and the most recently discovered. The wraps actually taste good, and it would be worth making the gefilte fish just for them! I prepare the gefilte fish, based on the Gottdieners’ recipe:
Unwrap two frozen gefilte fish loaves (do not defrost) and put them in a 9x13-inch pan. Spoon salsa over the top of the loaves, using about 1/4 cup for each loaf. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, until loaf starts feeling somewhat firm.
For the wraps, take your choice of spinach, tomato, or whole wheat, etc. Mash the gefilte fish and spread on the wrap. Add lettuce and other vegetables, if desired. Roll up and enjoy!
ALPINE POTATO-VEGETABLE
SOUP
(modified from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book) We love chicken soup, but variety is nice. This also is a great soup to put up on erev Shabbos, and have hot for Shabbos lunch instead of cholent.
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 T. oil
8 c. chicken soup
3 medium raw potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium celery stalks, sliced
3 zucchini, sliced
11⁄2 tsp. dried dill
1 T. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt, if desired (omit if you use chicken soup powder)
1⁄2 tsp black pepper
1 T. cornstarch dissolved in 3 T. cold water (use potato starch for Pesach)
Sauté garlic and onion in oil for a minute or two. If soup is still in a pot, pour the garlic and onion into it. Otherwise, pour soup into garlic-onion mixture. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, zucchini, dill, parsley, salt, and pepper. Bring soup to a boil, and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes or more. Add cornstarch/water mixture to thicken, and simmer 10 more minutes. Place in crockpot or on blech and serve for Shabbos lunch.
CHALLAH KUGELS
(modified from the first Lubavitch Spice and Spirit cookbook) We love these kugels. They serve both to carry Shabbos into the upcoming week, and to link the Shabbos on which they are eaten with the original Shabbos when the challah was used for a bracha.
APPLE-RAISIN CHALLAH KUGEL
Leftover challah, cut or torn into large pieces (I use whatever I have; the quantities of the other ingredients work for about a pound of challah. Add more as necessary.
4 egg whites
1⁄3 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1⁄4 tsp. salt
2 apples, peeled and sliced or cut into pieces
1⁄2 c. raisins (soak in hot water for a few minutes to plump them, then drain)
Soak challah in hot water, then drain and squeeze out water. Add egg whites to challah. Mix sugar, cinnamon, and salt together, add to challah, and mix together until well distributed. Add apples and raisins and mix. Spray two or three 6x8-inch aluminum foil pans with nonstick cooking spray, pour mixture into pans, and bake for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Freezes well.
Variation: When you don’t have time to cut apples, replace apples and raisins with one large can crushed pineapple, drained. Use a total of 3⁄4 c. sugar and 11⁄2 T. cinnamon. The rest is the same.
CHICKEN A LA KING
(modified from The Art of Jewish Cooking by Jennie Grossinger)
2 T. oil or chicken soup
1 eight-oz. can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
4 T. flour
1⁄8 tsp. salt
1⁄8 tsp. pepper
13⁄4 c. chicken soup (or use chicken soup powder)
3 to 4 c. diced cooked chicken (or as much as you have left)
Heat oil or chicken soup, add mushrooms, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Gradually add the rest of the chicken soup, stirring until the mixture reaches the boiling point. Cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Serve over challah or toast.
CHICKEN IN TRADER JOE SOUP WITH GARLIC BREAD
Cut up chicken and heat with Trader Joe’s Latin Black Bean Soup. To make garlic bread, slice challah and spray both sides with nonstick spray. Sprinkle both sides with garlic powder. Bake in 350-degree oven for five minutes, until a little crisp.â—†
