Belated Weekly Review

On My Blog

Easy Indian Flatbread

Friday Fictioneers – Old Shot

Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere

Lorri reviews The Jump Artist

Great tips from Leora: Traveling with an iPad in Israel

Freya shares her writing: The Fabric of this Land and Tapestry

That Big But: Builds Or Burns Bridges? – Amichai Lau-Lavie dewells on the weekly portion

Shelach lecha – fear of the unknown – Zivah reflects on this week’s parashah

Web articles

The Boy in the Orthodox Bubble – a Tablet Magazine article

In the Jewish Week: Orthodox Women Reach A Milestone

French ‘old boys’ network’ far worse than Britain’s, book claims – a Guardian article

Shabbat Shalom!

Friday Fictioneers – Old Shot

This is my second entry into the weekly challenge brought to us by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and pointed out to me by Freya. Just follow the rules: Write a one hundred word story that has a beginning, middle and end. (No one will be ostracized for going over or under the word count.) Comments are welcome!

I saw that red dress as I was cycling to work, hanging on a balcony, idly floating against a backdrop of red stones. It haunted me all day. I knew I had seen it before.

Once at home I checked several boxes of unclassified photos and there it was, staring at me from decades ago. The polaroid shot had been taken at my parents’ wedding. I had to phone mum.

– Yes, darling! Lisa was my bridesmaid. Rumour has it she has not been quite herself since then. You see, after the party, her boyfriend announced he had met someone else and flew to Rome the next day. Tragic really!

Easy Indian Flatbread

Ingredients for eight flatbreads:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp ajwain (or cumin seeds or thyme)
salt to taste
2 potatoes cooked until soft, peeled and mashed
water as needed
a little oil or clarified butter to apply on the cooked flatbreads (optional)

In a large bowl mix together the flour, ajwain and salt. Add mashed potatoes and mix into the flour.

Add water as required to knead into a soft and non sticky dough. This does not require much water since potatoes contribute some moisture too.

Divide the dough into equal golf-ball sized balls. With the help of a little extra flour, roll out dough into an even circle of even thickness of choice. Heat a flat pan/ griddle on medium heat. Place rolled out dough on the heated pan.

Cook for a little time, then flip over and cook the other side until it gets light golden brown spots. Apply oil or clarified butter if using on the side facing upwards and flip over, cook just a few seconds.

Remove and serve hot with dhal or curry of your choice.

Weekly Review with Chinese Chess Players

On My Blog

Ginger-Glazed Halibut

Making Paneer

Friday Fictioneers – Memories

Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere

Leora shows a Drawing: Boy Talks to Fisherman

Lorri reviews The Golem and the Jinni

The Knicks Lost and I Won:Reconnecting to Judaism One Mitzvah at a Time – a blog post at Black, Gay and Jewish

Rabbi Jeremy Gordon shares his thoughts: The Rabbinic In-Tray – A Masorti Attitude Towards Non-Jewish Partners

Beha’alotcha – gratitude in short supply – Zivah reflects on this week’s parashah

The Red Dress and Holiday Flash Fiction – Freya shares her stories

Web articles

Happy Birthday, Mr. Kissinger – a Tablet Magazine article

Rabbi David Wolpe writes about Time And Tide in the Jewish Week

Mikveh and the single girl – a piece by Rabbi Dr Haviva Ner-David

What’s Jewish about Going Green? – 614HBI-eZine has a series of article on the issue

Shabbat Shalom!

Friday Fictioneers – Memories

This is my first entry into the weekly challenge brought to us by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and pointed out to me by Freya. Just follow the rules: Write a one hundred word story that has a beginning, middle and end. (No one will be ostracized for going over or under the word count.) Comments are welcome!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

There I am in front of the phone box. I bite my nails and shuffle my feet. I keep checking the time. I am too early. I know this but I check anyway.

I pull the letter out of my pocket again and read it for the hundredth time:

Be at the phone box in Kennedy Street at 3 pm, the one with the funny sticker. By then I’ll have told my mum and we can finally move in together. I’ll ring you and you can come and pick me up.
Love S

This was 39 years ago. I have just passed the spot where this phone used to be after reciting kaddish for you for the first time. The first of a long series. You’ll never phone me again.

Making Paneer

Having yet another long weekend (Whitsun Monday is a national holiday over here) is wonderful, except when it pours. The weather was so dismal yesterday that walking was out of the question – and believe me I have walked in the rain before.

One way for me to keep busy, when I am not reading, is cooking. So I made Paneer, for the first time.

To be honest, I had no intention of making Paneer when I set out to cook. During my holiday in Hong Kong I had eaten a lovely Paneer Curry based on an Indian recipe. Since I had been given a recipe that looked authentic as it came from an Indian family, I had been tempted to make it again at home. Except that it is impossible to find Paneer on this side of the English Channel so I had used tofu instead.

I can’t possibly be the only one who is not overtly fond of the bland and chewy stuff – if you like it and know how to hide both the taste and the texture, feel free to add suggestions and links in the comment section. Therefore I decided to try the curry again but without tofu. I searched the Internet for an acceptable substitute for paneer but to no avail. What I found though were numerous posts where different people mentioned how easy it is to make homemade Paneer.

Who doesn’t like a little challenge on a rainy Sunday? I then resolved to try, using the wikihow link. I just followed the various steps with only minor changes and it worked.

I used half a litre of semi-skimmed milk instead of the recommended one litre. I had just opened a bottle to top up a cup of tea and always find that small failure are less damaging for the ego than big ones! I then played it by ear, or rather by eye, to bring the milk to boiling point since I do not have a food thermometer and then added lemon juice.

Since I did not have cheesecloth and still have no idea where I can find it – here again suggestions are welcomed – I used two layers of gauze sponges to strain the mixture and was glad I only had half a litre of curdled milk to strain.

I then put it in the fridge for the night and since it had only yielded 100 g of Paneer (weight was something the website had not mentioned), I added it to egg curry and ate it with homemade Indian flatbread. In the end, it proved to be much better than tofu and yes, making Paneer is easy!

Ginger-Glazed Halibut

Ingredients for 400g of fish:
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
salt (optional if the soy sauce is already quite salty) and pepper

Mix the honey, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and garlic and add 1 tbsp of cilantro. Lay the fish in a dish and cover with the marinade. Season with salt and pepper. Turn over the fish after 20 minutes and leave aside for another 20 minutes.

Carefully lift up the fish and cook in a frying pan with a little olive oil until it is no longer translucent. Set aside the fish and keep warm. Warm up the pan again and pour the marinade into the pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until the marinade has reduced.

Pour over the fish, add the remaining cilantro and serve immediately.

Post-Shavuot Weekly Review

On My Blog

Fruity Red Lentil Curry

Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere

Fishing at the Raritan River: Man and Boy – Leora shares a bit of art

Rabbi Fink advises a book: Everyone Must Buy This Book: Let’s Stay Safe!

Lorri reviews Country of Ash: A Jewish Doctor in Poland 1939-1945

Family and This Time – two stories by Freya

This week’s parshah inspires Zivah: Naso – raising us up

Web articles

The French elite: where it went wrong – a FT article

In the Jewish Week: Rabbi Riskin Permits Women to Read Ruth for Men in Orthodox Shul

Shabbat Shalom!

Fruity Red Lentil Curry

Serves two:

1 glass red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp curry powder or paste
5 dried apricots, cubed
1/2 cup of frozen spinach
1/2 glass of coconut milk
fresh coriander, chopped

Put together in a saucepan the lentils, onion, curry and apricots. Cover with two glasses of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and add the spinach and coconut milk. Simmer for about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with coriander.

Serve with Basmati rice or naan bread.

National Holidays Weekly Review

On My Blog

Thai-Style Dressings

Interviewing a Writer – Cari Hunter

Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere

Leora shows Robin, Red Buds, Tulip

Lorri reviews Where She Came From

What is Eco Kosher and Why Does it Matter? – a guest post by Anabelle Harari on Rivki’s blog

A Friend Who Gets it All – a blogpost by Liza Rosenberg

Solitary and Forever: two stories by Freya

Bamidbar – the journey is the destination – Zivah reflects on this week’s parashah

Web articles

A Sweet Deal for Honey & Co. and The Ultimate Blintzes – two Tablet Magazine articles

When A Meltdown Lasts Five Hours, A Mom Needs More Than A Break – Rabbi Rebecca Schorr writes in the Jewish Week

Shabbat Shalom!