When we bought our condo, my only requirement was that we had space to host our families for the holidays. We bought a big dining room table, and enough dishes and cutlery to comfortably host up to 16 people. I was so excited to finally be able to have the space to have everyone gather together.
Well, I got one big holiday dinner here. Last year, at this time, I hosted my whole family for Rosh Hashana, which is the Jewish new year. I was beyond excited to have this honor (it is an honor to host) and was looking forward to the many years to come. Sadly, with COVID, there will be no big dinner this year. We will all be getting together on Zoom or Facetime, instead of the big family gatherings I love.
I am not feeling sorry for myself, I’m grateful to be able to see my family in any way that I can, and I still plan to make a small meal for me and the hubs to enjoy together. If I had been hosting a big crowd, the menu would have been a little bit of everything, with hints of sweet in order to welcome in a sweet New Year.
My typical menu for the holidays is:
- Homemade Chicken Soup to start
- Brisket, turkey or chicken as the main, with roasted potatoes of course
- Honey roasted carrots
- Meat Balls
- A green veggie (usually beans or broccoli)
- Pickles
- Apple cake, apple crumble or honey cake for dessert
Since I won’t be doing the big shabang, I figured the least I could do was share some recipes with you guys! So here they are- my rosh hashana brisket (family recipe) and the honey roasted carrots
Brisket Recipe- this recipe is my step-mother’s Rosh Hashana Recipe. It was tradition for her to make it if we were ever hosting the holidays. Taking no credit here, just want to share the yumminess with you guys!
Ingredients
- Brisket- you want to choose one that allows for roughly 1/2 lb per person you’re serving, which is typically 5-7 lb
- 1/2 cup yellow mustard + some extra
- 2 white onions
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 cup of beef stock
Recipe
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove your brisket from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before preparing the meat.
- Line a large baking pan with tin foil. Cut your onions into rounds, and place on the bottom of the pan (the brisket will rest on top of the onions, like a nice little onion bed!)
- In a small bowl combine the mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Rub your mustard mixture generously over the brisket, so that the meat is completely covered.
- Put your brisket into the roasting pan on top of the onions. Cook uncovered for an hour in the oven.
- Remove the brisket and lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
- Add 1 cup of beef broth to the baking pan.
- Cover your baking pan tightly with tin foil, put the brisket back in the oven and continue cooking for another 3-4 hours, basting every 20 minutes or so. Cooking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the meat. You should allow yourself roughly 1 hour of cook time per pound of meat.
- The brisket is done when the temperature reaches 180 degrees to 185 degrees F internally or when a fork slides easily in and out of the meat. Remove the brisket from the oven at this point and allow the brisket to rest for about 10- 15 minutes.
- Slice, serve and enjoy!
To make gravy for the brisket- take the pan drippings (yes, that’s everything left in the pan after the brisket is done) and add to a medium pot on the stove. Turn the heat on low and add some beef stock or water (1/4 cup roughly). Add in 1 tsp of cornstarch and stir in until completely dissolved. Allow the gravy to thicken, add more salt if needed, then serve with the brisket.
Honey Roasted Carrot Recipe
Ingredients
- 10-12 carrots, peeled and cut in half
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Recipe
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you are making these at the same time as the brisket, leave the temperature as is, you will just need to cook the carrots longer.
- Combine the honey, olive oil, garlic powder salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Line a baking sheet with tin foil and line the carrots on the sheet
- Cover the carrots in your honey mixture. Toss to ensure everything is generously coated.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 400. If you are cooking at the same time as the brisket, you will need 25-30 minutes. Toss the carrots halfway through to avoid the honey burning to the pan.
