Fridays From the Heart

Love is in the air in February and here at OneTable we are spreading it around with Fridays From the Heart, a partnership with Save a Child’s Heart. Since 1995, Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) has treated more than 4,600 children suffering from congenital and rheumatic heart disease. These children come from more than 55 countries where certain types of medical care are unavailable.

Jewish tradition has always stressed the importance of Hachnasat Orchim, or “welcoming the guest.” We are instructed to greet guests at the door and escort them inside, make them feel comfortable, and offer them food and drink. At OneTable we witness this mitzvah each week when hosts across the country open their doors and Shabbat tables. We nourish our hosts and our hosts nourish their guests, providing comfort after long weeks of work. There is just something about good food, good wine, and good company set with intention that makes Shabbat dinner so magical.

SACH has a similar model of hospitality. When the children arrive to Israel for their life saving cardiac care, they stay at the SACH Children’s Home before and after surgery. The home is filled with children from different countries, mothers, nurses, and international volunteers. SACH welcomes each child by serving them a meal from their home country in order to help them get settled. This act of hachnasat orchim goes above and beyond to make the children feel comfortable. Throughout their stay everybody eats meals together and shares a bit of their own cooking with one another.

Food is such a powerful tool for community building. Both in the SACH Children’s Home and around our Shabbat tables, we can nourish our bodies and our souls while building relationships with one another. OneTable and SACH want to inspire you to partake in Fridays From the Heart. This is a unique opportunity to use your Shabbat dinner as a platform for exploring the extraordinary work that SACH has done to treat children with congenital and rheumatic heart disease from around the globe.

How to host a Friday From The Heart:

Post a dinner on our platform
Invite your friends – Try hosting an “open” dinner to spread the love and expand your community
Add this photo as the banner so guests know they are coming to a OneTable / SACH meal
Check out the SACH Meal that Heals Tool Kit for some tips to get the conversation flowing at your dinner
Download and print photos and stories of SACH children
Share photos and highlights from your meal on social media. Be sure to tag #myonetable and #saveachildsheart
Try out one of the recipes below that the SACH house uses to make their guest feel at home

INJERA WITH KEYWOT (ETHIOPIAN FLAT BREAD AND BEEF STEW)

Injera
1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups club soda

Berbere Spice Mixture:
½ teaspoon each: ground cumin, black pepper, garlic powder, ground cloves, ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon each: ground nutmeg, turmeric, ground allspice
1 teaspoon each: ground fenugreek, dried ginger, ground coriander
¾ teaspoon cardamom
2 teaspoons: dried onion flakes
2 tablespoons: paprika
4 tablespoons hot red pepper flakes

Keywot:
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons Berbere spice mixture
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cups beef stock
750 gr beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 teaspoons sea salt

To make Injera:
Preheat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the club soda and mix until a smooth pancake-like batter is reached.
Lightly coat skillet with oil. Ladle in batter. Let cook until all the bubbles on top burst and begin to dry out, 2-3 minutes.
Flip the injera and cook for one minute.
Repeat until all the batter is used.

To make the Keywot:
Add the oil and ghee to a pan over medium heat.
Gently fry the onion until it is soft and begins to caramelize. Add the next four ingredients. Mix well and cook until thickened.
Add the stock and meat cubes. Season with salt and cook on low for 1 hour.

PUFF PUFF (NIGERIAN FRIED DOUGH)

2 cups white flour
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups lukewarm water
Canola or Vegetable Oil for frying (enough to fill 3 inches of a medium sized frying pan)
Powdered sugar for dusting

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, ground nutmeg, dry yeast, sugar, and salt. Add lukewarm water, a few drops at a time until there are no dry spots of the flour mixture. Keep mixing until the batter is smooth and doughy.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure it is airtight by pressing down on the edges of the bowl. Leave to rise for 45 minutes to an hour. The Puff Puff batter should have nearly doubled in size and have air bubbles. Knead dough with your hands until all the air bubbles are gone and the dough is smooth.

In a medium frying pan, heat up the oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, form the batter into small balls, roughly the size of golf balls. Fill the space of the pan with the dough balls, but do not to overcrowd the pan. Raise the oil temperature in order to brown the Puff Puff. Once the underside of the Puff Puff has turned golden brown, about 2 minutes, flip and fry another 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from oil and set on a cooling rack, allowing excess oil to drip away from the Puff Puff. Dust with powdered sugar.