Shawna Goodman, a Canadian chef, who has lived with her family in Israel for the last 10 years, loves being connected to agriculture and celebrating the seasons through food.

“As a Canadian, eating local would have meant eating apples and maybe some potatoes and some onions, because most of the year we’re under mega snow,” Goodman told The Journal. “Being a chef in Israel … I really appreciate when something comes in bloom and something becomes ripened, and it’s usually from my backyard or my friend’s backyard; the sharing and the partaking in what’s around me is inspiring.”

Goodman, who graduated from the Natural Gourmet Cooking School and in pastry arts from the Institute of Culinary Education (formerly, Peter Kump’s Cooking School), both in New York City, also trained at the Cordon Bleu School in Paris.

Goodman grew up in Montreal, and came from a dedicated, committed Jewish Hamish community. Her husband, whomshe met at summer camp, had this “insatiable itch” to be part of the story.

“I really didn’t understand what that meant until we took our family abroad for a year, and that was 10 years ago,” she said. “Just realizing the gift of time and living during a period of time. where Israel is flourishing … it sounds so farfetched, but everyday just feels really like a gift.”

Goodman combines her love of cooking and living in Israel with her philanthropic work, creating culinary opportunities to highlight the social needs in Israel; she also leads Shefa, a yearly tour of Israel for women. Goodman said that most Israelis are doing a lot of cooking these days, and not necessarily for themselves.

“The incredible initiatives that are coming from everybody’s regular kitchen … and the capacity of giving is beyond,” she said. “There’s no greater comfort than someone’s home cooked meals.

She added, “So many people and families are divided with this war effort; the power of the meal is huge.”

Goodman explained that Shabbat every Friday has been an opportunity to come together as a community, process what’s going on, share food and try to rejoice.

“The cooking has just been really nurturing right now,” she said. “And as a Canadian, again, I only know apples, so to have lychees [falling off the trees] in my backyard is wild.”

Goodman attributes her love of food to her mom, who loved to cook and let her play in the kitchen growing up.

“My mother really didn’t mind the mess,” Goodman said. “She really allowed me to get my hands dirty; it was just another art room … and a nurturing space, as well.”

These days, Goodman goes to bed reading cookbooks, enjoys scrolling through food pics on Instagram and loves reading other people’s food stories.

“Food is an entrée into people’s souls,” she said. “It’s what makes them tick, what makes them cry, what makes them nostalgic, what makes them feel loved [and what gives them stability.”

Goodman believes you see a lot of character in how someone shares – or doesn’t share – their recipes.

“Every recipe under the sun is online; this is not protective material anymore,” Goodman said. “It’s a great compliment when someone asks you for a recipe.”

Chef Goodman’s recipe for overnight French toast is below.

“It’s a really comforting recipe where it’s using up challah, if you can even have challah leftover,” she said. If you don’t have challah, you can use brioche or another rich type of bread.

Mix it with milk and vanilla and eggs, press it into the bread and let it soften overnight. The next morning, all you have to do is bake it in the oven and enjoy!

While this is Goodman’s most requested recipe, she finds most joy in creating recipes with whatever she has on hand. In culinary school, they tested the students by giving them a random group of ingredients. They would be graded, based on things like texture, color and flavor.

“I happen to love cleaning out my fridge and using everything up,” she said. “I like beginnings and ends [and] I love the creativity and the challenge.”

Follow Chef Shawna Goodman on Facebook.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:

Overnight French Toast with Blueberries

SERVES: 6-8

Ingredients

Caramel:

1 cup (250 ml) packed brown sugar

1⁄2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon (5 ml) cinnamon, optional

Toast:

12 thick slices challah or brioche

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries

Custard:

5 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) milk

1 1/2 teaspoons (7 ml) vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt

For the caramel, bring the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon to a boil in a small saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon. Let boil for 2 minutes and turn off the heat. The caramel will be brown, thick and bubbly.

Drizzle the caramel evenly over the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch (3.5L) baking dish. Cover with 6 slices of bread. Scatter the berries over the top. Place the remaining 6 slices of bread on the fruit.

For the custard, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and salt in a medium- size bowl. Pour this evenly over the bread. Press down lightly with plastic wrap so that the bread absorbs the custard. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Remove the plastic wrap and bake the French toast uncovered for 40-50 minutes until puffed and golden. Cut into squares, invert to show the caramel and place on a serving platter.

Variation Sliced bananas, raspberries or a combination of both may be

used instead of blueberries.

Heat leftovers, if there are any, in the microwave.

Chef’s Tip: To clean the dried caramel from the pot, fill the pot with water and bring to a simmer. Let sit and then clean. Residue will wash away quickly.

Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.