How do you find recipes that are suitable for shabbat?

I have more cookbooks than one person should be allowed to own by law!

So WHY do I keep buying more?

Well...one could say that I'm addicted...(Is there a 12-step program for that?)

Another reason I keep collecting recipes and cookbooks is simply that good recipes for shabbos are hard to find!

I am trying to articulate the requirements for a shabbat recipe -- perhaps you can help me? I'd love to make a list of the factors that go into determining if a recipe will "work" for shabbat, but I qualify them so automatically, that it's hard for me to get clear about the requirements.

Here's what I have so far:

1) In order for a recipe to be suitable for shabbat, obviously, you must be able to make it in advance. The words "Serve immediately" at the end of a recipe, means "NOT FOR SHABBOS."

2) You must be able to serve the dish cold or at room temperature OR the dish MUST be able to be heated for several hours without losing flavor or texture.

3) Assuming that you are serving meat for shabbos (as most Jewish Families do) the dish must be either meat or pareve. So when I am looking at a recipe I always look to see "Is this dish pareve OR can I adapt it and make it pareve?" (It's hard to find a healthy pareve equivalent for whipping cream or condensed milk!)

After that...I'm drawing a blank...could that be all or am I missing something? How do YOU determine if a recipe will be suitable for shabbat? Let me know by leaving a comment...

Please help! This is is really bugging me...

Comments

[Shoshana]

For dishes being served (reheated) on saturday, you need to add the consideration that they don't have liquid/sauce base (at least if you're Ashkenazi and hold by not putting liquids on the plata). This is the one that really kills me for lunch.

shoshana

[Sarah Zeldman]

Right, I was thinking about that but didn't include it because we usually end up not reheating ANYTHING on Saturday because of the "no liquid" rule! (My husband is very concerned that pretty much NOTHING is ever totally dry enough!)

Which is why I say need dishes that are good cold or room temperature (for shabbos day) OR be able to stay warm for several hours without losing flavor or texture. In our house, about an hour before Shabbos we turn the oven at about 350, put our food in to warm up and then turn the oven OFF right before shabbos so the food is warm when we are ready to serve. As you can imagine, this would kill the flavor and texture of some more delicate dishes.

Thank you for leaving a comment shoshana!