Elana is looking for some help with a Mother's Day menu. Here are her criteria:
I need a good Mother's Day Menu. I am having my mother and father and my mother-in-law and father-in-law over for dinner on Mother's Day. They are excited to use our new china and crystal and silver, so I need a meal worthy of serving on such nice place settings. My parents and my in-laws keep kosher, so no trief and no milk products with the meal unless I serve fish.
My mother will not eat lamb and likes her beef (if I serve that) extremely well done. I am just trying to find something that satisfies everyone and is not too difficult, as I hate to make a recipe for the first time for company. I am thinking maybe a roast of some sort, so I can cook it throughout the day. Or maybe a fish dish (although I hate salmon). I need a first course (soup or salad), a main course with sides, and a dessert (which can be dairy if it has to be).
Elana, it does seem like this might be the perfect occasion for a pot roast or a brisket. You can brown it the day before and then put it in the slow cooker overnight on low. It will be succulent in the morning! Or you can start it in the morning and cook it very low in the oven all afternoon.
I confess that I am not very knowledgeable about kosher restrictions so please forgive me if some of these suggestions don't entirely work together. But I am sure readers will have some helpful suggestions, too!
If you make a brisket, it would be simple to serve with a big green salad to start with some fresh spring vegetables, some bread, and perhaps a light pasta dish on the side. Or you could start off a little more unconventionally, like with a version of the radish sandwiches pictured above. For dessert, we are loving that dessert, too: a chocolate-peppermint tart with berries and currants. That would make a splendidly dramatic dessert on your new china!
You could also try a fish dish, like a baked flounder with rice, served with celery sticks and a bread pudding with strawberries to close.
All the recipes mentioned above can be found here:
Get the recipes
• Chocolate-Peppermint Tarts with Currants and Berries
• Radish Tea Sandwiches
• Menu: Baked Flounder with Onion and Lemon and Saffron Rice
Also check out this light, fresh menu for Mother's Day.
Readers, any suggestions?
Related: Mother's Day Cocktail: Hibiscus Mimosa
(Images: Martha Stewart)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I'm confused, if she made the pot roast, how would she be able to make the tarts or the radish sandwiches if both contain dairy?
Also, the link to the tarts goes to the sandwich page.
view moderatemoderation's profile
@moderate, thanks for the heads up. The link is fixed.
view faith's profile
If I was in your situation, I would have a menu like this:
Start out with some bread & carrot soup topped with wilted greens such as this: http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/11/carrot-fennel-soup
Main course of braised beef or lemon roasted chicken served with grilled spring veggies and starch of your choice.
Dessert would be chocolate tart with fresh raspberries on top:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chocolate-torte-with-passover-fudge-glaze?lnc=d2e4e18d786fe010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=taxonomylist_holiday_passover-holiday-recipes
view alllebasii's profile
No dairy at the meal if you're doing pot roast. You could conceivably do the bread pudding without dairy but I would recommend a flourless chocolate cake with margarine (I know, not the best but what most kosher cooks use) maybe a sorrel soup (in season now).
Otherwise, you could make tilapia - grilled maybe and the milchig sides above.
view Faith (L.A.)'s profile
Oh yeah - and the sorrel soup is fine without the sour cream. Sorry, meant to write that above.
view Faith (L.A.)'s profile
If I was in your situation, I would have a menu like this:
Start out with some bread and a carrot soup topped with wilted greens such as:
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/11/carrot-fennel-soup
For main course, I would go with braised beef or lemon roasted chicken with grilled spring veggies and starch of your choice.
For dessert I would serve a chocolate torte topped with fresh raspberries:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chocolate-torte-with-passover-fudge-glaze?lnc=d2e4e18d786fe010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=collage_holiday_passover-holiday-recipes
view alllebasii's profile
If anyone decides to make those tea sandwiches (they look so lovely!) I would suggest doing an open-faced version (very classic Danish lunch food, eaten with a knife and fork). Two slices of that pumpernickel would totally overpower the delicate flavor of radish, cream cheese and butter lettuce.
view IzzyIzzy's profile
right, after you eat meat, you must wait 6 hours before dairy. there are a few people who can wait a shorter amount of time, but no one can eat dairy immediately following.
view vhsdr's profile
For a super-easy non-diary dessert, melt one bag chocolate chips - the vegan kind are readily available at Whole Foods or other slightly fancy stores. The darker the chocolate, the richer the final product. Blend 1 pack silken tofu in a blender of food processor, add 1 tsp. vanilla, and then pour the melted chocolate in slowly while blending.
You can put this in a graham cracker crust, or just in fancy little dishes. It is great with fresh strawberries or raspberries on top.
Sorry I don't have many suggestions for the rest of the meal - I'm not much for fancy meals...
view lemonadefish's profile
Tuna and swordfish are nice and meaty, and not at all salmon-y (i don't like salmon either). Marinate with lemon and parsley and grill. serve over ratatouille with crusty bread and olive oil for dipping. for dessert, go to town with the dairy.
view thinkingwoman's profile
I would suggest going with fish. If you're family is anything like mine, since Passover we've had enough brisket for a while. Plus, I think fish is very elegant and more Mother's Day-y. You could use a nice cheese plate either as appetizers or a dessert plate (did you get one of those?) or an appetizer of bellini's with caviar or salmon roe (if you've got the time, make small latkes top with sourcream & salmon roe or lox). Of course, with fish you could sever whatever dairy dessert you like.
view Carrie too's profile
My mother makes a fantastic Chicken Marbella (from the Silver Palette Cookbook - link to recipe here) - throw everything into the marinade, marinate overnight, and then bake for an hour. Easy!
She likes to make a wild rice side dish with this, with golden raisins and green onions and walnuts - something fresh and springy.
Since she usually makes this for Passover, the rice is a rarity in my house, and most of the other side dishes are pretty heavy on the eggs.
At the very least, you could serve just a simple platter of fruit for dessert. Easy and parve to boot!
Good luck!
view bloo_mountain's profile
Swordfish = non-kosher
view JENK968's profile
Mother's Day deserves a good dessert. I would choose a dairy meal.
Fava Bean puree with pecornio and salt cured olives; baguette (This is wonderful with fresh limas or you can sub fresh favas. You can also sub frozen limas but will need to amp the flavoring a bit.)
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lima-bean-puree-with-olives-and-shaved-pecorino
Best if made ahead
Fish and vegetables from the grill, maybe a salsa verde on the side
Israeli Cous Cous with Pistachios, Dried Cherries, and Herbs
(Can be made a day ahead and gently reheated in the microwave)
Buttermilk panna cotta with rhubarb & rasperries
I use Claudia Fleming's version which is quite light. I usually need to add a bit more gelatin than she calls for unless I make it a day ahead and add some vanilla paste which is the published recipe. I like it with fruit so I made a simple sauce with rhubarb and raspberries.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/buttermilk-panna-cotta-with-lemon-jelly-recipe/index.html
Must be made ahead
view JudiAU's profile
Wow! So many suggestions! Thanks.
I am liking that carrot soup to start.
I found a recipe for a horseradish and rosemary crusted prime rib that I want to do (I'll just have to cook one piece a little longer for my mother).
Sides are tough. I'm thinking maybe an Israeli couscous salad kind if as suggested that I can make ahead of time. But I need a green veggie too. Preferably something that I can cook on the stove because the oven will be occupied with the meat.
Both mine and my husband's folks will fudge the rule on eating dairy after meat, and I could probably get away with serving a dairy desert if we went into the living room and had a glass of wine for a little bit in between, but it is probably best to avoid it. Maybe a simple angel food cake? Easy to make ahead and can sit on a nice cake stand on display.
view elanaw's profile
My kosher-keeping grandma's rule is if you go outside and shake the crumbs off the tablecloth, you can eat a dairy dessert after a meat meal :)
Everyone has different restrictions, a lot of people wouldn't eat a meal even if it didn't combine meat and dairy because it wasn't prepared in a kosher kitchen.
view inertia's profile
*sigh*
People, if you're not familiar with the laws of Kashrut, do some quick googling before suggesting things that aren't Kosher.
No, I don't expect everyone to know the laws, but don't suggest things if you don't know what you're talking about. You wouldn't tell someone on here to put up their tile with Elmer's glue and then say you were just trying to help. Stay out of the discussion if it's not something you're familiar with!
view eeka's profile