Even a food editor can find feeding a crowd a stress.
This year’s Rosh Hashanah catering is a double whammy of worry.
My daughter turns 12 this weekend and not only expects a pâtissier-style birthday cake but we will be helping her celebrate with four of her closest friends with pizza and garlic bread.
On Erev Rosh Hashanah (her actual birthday) we’ll be taking her out for a posh breakfast, which takes me out of the kitchen for half a day WHEN I HAVE TWELVE PEOPLE FOR DINNER THAT NIGHT!! Urgh.
I’m sure you’ll have your own menu megillah, so thought it might be helpful for me to share what I’ll be serving in case it inspires.
No starters Chez Fresser. No need to dilute their appetites. There will be plenty to fress on with the main course and desserts plus birthday cake and tea at 4pm ish.
The main course will be two sides of salmon baked with a honey harissa crust (pictured above) a recipe I developed for Shabbat UK. It’s super quick to prepare and needs only 15 – 20 minutes in the oven. I will be cooking it without the rainbow veg in my original recipe. It also is just as tasty at room temperature so no panic to get everyone seated in time to serve.
As I still have a couple of young guests who aren’t so keen on ‘pink fish’ as they term it, my lovely mother-in-law will be bringing her fabulous fish balls/salmon rissoles. Always a hit.
On the side: oven baked chips – not overly glamorous sounding, but it’s Miss Fresser’s birthday and she adores chips. Had it not been for the birthday girl, Lisa Roukin’s gorgeous Hasselback roast potato salad would be perfect. ( Or simple roast baby potatoes with garlic and rosemary would be.
Claudia Roden's recipe is simple and delicious
On the side, this most simple of salads from Jewish food doyenne, Claudia Roden, combines green olives, walnuts, spring onions and juicy, pink pomegranate arils in a simple olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Gorgeously colourful and refreshing. And most of all, simple to prepare.
I also like to serve a simple leaf salad with a mustardy vinaigrette to cut through the sweetness of the other dishes and a huge dish of garden peas — again at the request of my birthday girl.
Next up are my honeyed harissa carrots with dukkah and yoghurt tahina. More roasted sweetness tempered by the tartness of the yoghurt and smooth creamy tahina sauce. It also looks beautiful on the plate. Carrots are perfect for Rosh Hashanah — not only meant to be lucky, but in season.
There’s more honey and tahina (one of my top favourite ingredients as you may have guessed) in my honey sesame tahina challah, which tastes like a sort of peanut butter halva mash up. Honestly so moreish and it also looks (and smells) divine.
We’ll be following up with a range of desserts. The birthday girl has requested Grandma’s chocolate pavlova — a Nigella recipe that has become Miss Fresser’s favourite. Berries have had their day so the fruit plate will be filled with seasonal figs, purple grapes and if I can find any lingering plums, preferably Victoria. I love colour coordinated produce. Safta – Miss K’s other grandma — will be bringing an apple cake and I’ll put out slices of my honey cake which is already in my freezer but which I’ll get out a couple of days before to mature to perfection.
After that I'll have a lie down! Shana Tova to everyone who will be celebrating Jewish New Year!
