Last week I attended Kosherfest, the kosher food industry’s annual extravaganza, where I witnessed a cooking demonstration by New York chef Avi Roth of Gotham Burger. Roth’s subject was Shabbos cooking-updating it and simplifying it at the same time and he demonstrated a delicious and oh so hip menu, grilled Ahi tuna steaks in place of gefilte fish, bulls eye soup instead of chicken soup with kneidlach, grilled steak instead of brisket and mashed potatoes with mustard instead of potato kugel. Cool!!!!

I liked Roth’s menu appealing because it was tasty, fresh and quick -a meal you could put together in under a hour! I especially liked the soup and I wanted to replicate Chef Roth’s bullseye made from two chicken stock based vegetable purees plated to look like a bullseye-as in dart board . The trick is to pour one of the soups into a mould ring. (you can improvise with a disposable coffee cup and cut off the bottom) for a circle within a circle effect and drop a dot of pesto in the center for the bullseye. Neat.

And so I headed off to the makolet in search of fresh basil frozen cauliflower-the bulleye is a combination of a tomato, basil puree and cauliflower cream but I couldn’t find fresh basil or frozen cauliflower. Instead of sulking in disappointment, I embraced what I did find which was California mix a combination of frozen broccoli, carrots and yes cauliflower.

Following Chef Avi’s instructions I baked the mix in a hot oven , added two garlic cloves and sprinkled a bit of olive oil on top (Chef Avi uses a dozen cloves plus shallots but I omitted the shallots (another ingredient my makolet doesn’t stock and I limited myself to two garlic cloves) I roasted the vegies until they were soft and starting to toast(about 40 minutes) At the same time I boiled up a pot of instant consomme-I didn’t have homemade chicken stock and then I blended them both to create a surprisingly tasty soup and no peeling, chopping, grating or dicing anything at all. The perfect warmer upper for lazy people on cold rainy days.

By the way, it’s exquisite with croutons. For this. Make your own-Slice up any leftover homemade challah-cube it and saute it with three tablespoons of olive oil a clove of garlic and a pinch of salt adding more oil as needed until the cubes are crunchy )(about five minutes). Store them in a tightly closed jar and they will keep for a month in your pantry or freeze for up to three months. Yum.

Winter Soup for Lazy People with apologies to Chef Avi Roth

1 bag Bodek California mix

8 cups of chicken stock, Home made is always best but consomme powder will do in a pinch

Roast the California mix. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of olive oil and add one of more garlic cloves

Bake at 400 F for 45 minutes or until the vegetables start to toast

Then using a stick blender, regular blender or food processor puree the vegetable and add to the consomme. Adjust seasonings adding a pinch of black pepper.

Eat right away or freeze

Serves 8

Garlic Croutons

Dice left over challah or any good quality left over bread (preferably home made) into cubes (this recipe works for about a half a challah sliced)

Head three tablespoons of olive oil and one of more garlic cloves in a frying pan. Add the cubes and saute together until the challah pieces are toasted. Add kosher salt to taste.

Eat right away or store in a tightly closed jar for up to a month or freeze for up to three months.