Passover List Making

I love lists. I need lists. Passover is THE list holiday.

For me, it starts the previous year. While I'm cooking and while I'm putting things away I make lists:
- Buy next year - Food (so I don't have to guess how much matzah, eggs, and cheese we actually ate)
- Buy next year - tools/appliances wish list
- Don't buy/what I have already

The tricky part here is remembering where I put the list. If you don't type up your lists, I recommend scanning them and emailing them to myself. (You hear that future self!? Email me my lists! Or where I put my lists!)

Keep your menus and shopping lists from year to year. Keep a list of links to recipes. No need to reinvent the wheel!
I start here: http://nonrecipe.blogspot.co.il/search/label/Passover
And here: http://nonrecipe.blogspot.co.il/2014/03/passover-pesach-preperation-menu-recipes.html

The problem is, I think I skipped all this list making last year. And this year I was very busy with work (I'm a tax accountant.) and I was a bit lazy about inviting guests anyway, so, I was thinking - I've done this a few times. I'll just wing it. Walk up and down the aisles, buy whatever I think we need. Start cooking a day and a half before Passover and don't stop until the holiday comes in.

Just because I'm living dangerously, doesn't mean you have to! I'd like to refer you to my friend and fellow Israeli entrepreneur, Rebekah Saltzman, CEO of Balagan Be Gone.

Rebekah says, "Most people think  Pesach is a pain but it doesn't have to be, you can get it all done and still arrive at the Seder calm and collected.  Use my guide to help you get there.  It takes a little time to populate but the payoff for years to come is so helpful and time-saving.  Keep a list of all your supplies, recipes, menus and guests all in one place for all the holidays!  I raise my glasses, all four of them, to a PAINLESS Pesach!"

Rebekah designed a spreadsheet to get you started AND made a video to walk you through it! It's free for the tiny price of your email address. You still need to personalize it, but the structure is all there! I'm going to start personalizing mine as soon as I hit "post".

Check out Rebekah's "Painless Pesach"!

If you use Gmail and Google Drive:
1. Enter your name and email address.
2. Click "DOWNLOAD NOW"
3. In the Google Sheet, select File > Make a copy...
4. Watch Rebekah's video and start organizing your Pesach

If you don't use Google Drive, for step #3 above, select File > Download as > [Microsoft Excel]. But remember where you saved it!!

Improvisational Flour-less Chocolate Cake

Before Pesach I made Brownies, but I overcooked them and forgot to add nuts. They were a bit disappointing.  This week I wanted something chocolaty, but more moist and less traditional. I whipped these up:

LOL: Prunes "without a nucleus"

• 2 small carrots, peeled
• 2 red apples, peeled
• 2 bags (400 grams/ 14 oz.) of pitted plums
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 c oil
• 1 cup potato starch
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 2 bags (400 grams) walnuts, chopped
• fresh ground cinnamon and nutmeg
• Salt

Bake at 350 F/170 C for about 20 minutes depending on ingredients and thickness.

I encourage you to experiment with leftovers to make your own cakes and brownies. 

Do you have leftover cooked sweet potato, charoset, or applesauce? Over-ripe bananas, peaches, or pears? Throw it in! Add finely ground nuts for body. (Feel free to add baking soda or baking powder.)

I especially love to cook with kids and give them the reins with what and how much to add.

Please comment and tell me about your own baking improvisations.

Chewy Chocolate Almond Hazelnut Cookies - Gluten Free

These are the easiest no-fail special Passover dessert and snack. I just can't get enough!

Based on Faye Levy's Almond Macaroons, posted by Miriyummy.

For one batch, I would recommend a minimum food processor capacity of 1 liter or 1 quart.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup raw hazelnuts
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (preferably substitute some regular sugar with vanilla sugar)
• 1/4-1/2 cocoa powder (depending on your taste)
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (depending on your taste)

1. Grind nuts and half the sugar in a food processor until medium-fine.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend to a fine paste.
3. Preheat oven to 170 C/350 F.
4. Line 1-2 pans with parchment paper.
5. Dampen hands, then form small balls of "dough" and flatten slightly. (I had my kids do this. They were slow, but it kept them busy.)
6. Bake 18-20 minutes. The cookies should darken, but stay chewy on the inside.
7. Keep in an air tight container for at least a week.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

In the time I saved making this sauce (compared to traditional recipes), I was able to tell you about it! Traditional recipes involve chopping the ingredients, adding them to a pan at specific intervals, and lots of standing over the pan/pot and stirring. Sauce can also be made in a pressure cooker much faster, but you always run the risk of burning it or under cooking it, since you can't peak.

The dry heat of the oven gives the ingredients a deep flavor without the need to stand over a frying pan.

Ingredients:

Basic:

• tomatoes, preferably ripe
• onions (I used sweet and purple onions)
• olive oil

Optional:

• bell peppers (I used red and green)
• garlic (whole cloves)
• mushrooms
• chili peppers
• fresh or dried herbs
• salt and pepper
• vinegar or dry white wine
• sugar or honey

1. Cut up all the vegetables into relatively similar sized chunks - about quarters for the tomatoes.
2. Remove any tomato seeds which come out easily and quickly, but without wasting a lot of time.
3. Toss with olive oil in a large pan, or pans.
4. Roast on high or broil until the edges are browning, probably at least half an hour. Stir/toss/flip or rotate at least once.
5. Add spices to taste and let cool.
6. Use a hand blender or pulse in a food processor to desired consistency.

This batch is mostly for shakshuka which I plan to serve for supper on Wednesday this week during Passover. I will serve it with homemade fermented chili sauce on the side. And maybe some fresh lemonade.

You might also enjoy: Creamy Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup with Cauliflower

Make Tri-colored Freezer Pops with Disposable Popsicle Sticks

Today I want to teach you how to do two things: 
A. Make striped posicles, which are just more fun for kids and adults.
B. Get craft sticks right in the middle if the homemade pops.

Why would you want to use craft sticks?

• Maybe you lost the sticks that came with your ice pop molds.
• Maybe you don't have ice pop molds.
• Maybe you want to make a lot of popsicles.
• Maybe you want to share your homemade pops without worrying about the sticks being returned.

You will need:
- Juice, or another liquid like flavored yogurt or chocolate milk -preferably 3 colors/flavors
- Ice pop molds or small cups
- Clean, un-died craft sticks or tongue depressors

Turn Failed Meringues into Killer Cookies PLUS Passover Dessert Link-up

NOTE: Feel free to skip trying to make meringues and go straight to the super easy cookie recipes below.

Other Passover Desserts (all gluten-free, non-gebroks):
Blintzes
Fudgy Brownies
Banana Ice Cream
Fruit Compote

I've had a rough relationship with meringues. For years I would try making meringues and encounter one of several problems:

• My cheap hand mixer was insufficient or the motor would overheat before I had "stiff peaks."
• My own hand with whisk got tired before I reached "stiff peaks."
• I added the sugar too fast.
• I tried to make too big of a batch.
• My "stiff peaks" collapsed when I added cocoa powder.
• I got too creative "folding in" other ingredients and my meringues collapsed or turned to soup.

There's no reason to dump perfectly good egg whites just because they didn't 'peak'. With just a little encouragement and support, those whites can grow up into some very unique cookies that your family and guests will go NUTS over!

Chocolate Walnut Cookies

If you haven't already added cocoa powder to your whites, do it now. I usually start with about:

Pre-Pesach Kosher Cooking Carnival

Chodesh tov! I've been hearing people mentioning Pesach for over a month, and until recently, it hadn't quite clicked why. According to my daughter, the families of all her friends in our building are already done cleaning for Pesach! When she interrogated me about my Pesach cleaning, I assured her that I had begun... by cleaning out a couple boxes of cookies.

Well, the month of Nisan has arrived! I now give you all permission to begin your Pesach preparations, and even mention the 'P' word without me growling in return.

This week I am giddy with excitement to welcome a new member into our home, specifically, my kitchen - a Magimix food processor. It only cost half a years worth of diapers! I just can't stop thinking about it. It actually makes me want to clean faster so I'll have more time in the kitchen to chop and whip  things up like Pesach brownies, Homemade Gefilte fish, Cauliflower Tabouleh, Banana Ice Cream, quick tomato sauce for Shakshouka (pictured), and "Fresh" Sriracha - Homemade Hot Sauce.

I'm also going to make lots more of Faye Levy’s Almond Macaroons posted by Miriyummy.


Then after Pesach I hope to make more bread, like Easy Awesome Onion Challah (where I can use the Magimix to chop the onions and knead the dough) and stuffed focaccia like the Focaccia Hamentashen I made for Purim.

I love the idea of Schlissel Challah, Key Shaped Bread Baked After Passover (pictured) made by Creative Jewish Mom Sarah Rivka.

I could whip up Chaviva's No-bake Peanut Butter Mousse Pie or make a giant batch of Lavash/Laffa Bread posted on Challah Maidel.

Or maybe I'll mix up a giant batch of cookies and freeze some! Batya shared a simple cookie "nonrecipe" in Not Exactly The Recipe, But....

Gluten-free 3-cheese Vegetable Lasagna

This dish is heavy on the prep, but very rewarding. My husband and I decided we liked the leftovers even better, hot or cold.

Avi watching me slice eggplant

Fried eggplant

You will need three cheeses:

• Something salty (I used Bulgarit)
• Something soft like ricotta or cottage cheese
• Something stretchy and melty like mozzerella (I used "gvina tzuba", something like Edam.)

Shakshouka

I never understood what the big deal was with shakshouka - a tradition middle eastern dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. It seems like a staple on every breakfast buffet, from the watery sauce to the over-cooked eggs.

Then my friend Tzippy took me to Shvil Izzim restaurant. We shared (among other things) the best shakshuka I've ever had. Sweet bell peppers in a flavorful sauce with fresh tomatoes and not too much spice. And the eggs! Not the baked-to-death eggs I'd experienced in my previous shakshouka history. Delicate, gently poached, with rich, runny yolks!  And, of course, fresh bread to soak up all that rich tomato-y goodness. (See my post on Shvil Izzim and my photo restaurant review on Facebook.)

When I saw heaping piles of brightly colored, inexpensive peppers on sale, I immediately had an itch to recreate this traditional dish.  Shakshuka is the perfect nonrecipe meal. You make it how you like it. I didn't use a recipe and I didn't have an Israeli (or Algerian or Tunisian) grandma to teach me how to make it. But whatever I did, it was yummy AND EASY!

Fruit Compote Intuition

Last month my husband requested that I make fruit compote for dinner on the first night of Passover. It was a tradition in his house growing up. I emailed his mom for the recipe, but her version had too many packaged foods that we don't use on Passover. I'm not a huge fan of fruit compote, but I threw some things together in a simmering pot and it was delicious!

Enjoy it on it's own or use it as a filling for Pesach Crepes.

I used:

• Pitted prunes (dried plums), coarsely chopped
• Dried apricots,  coarsely chopped
• Chopped fresh apples
• Sweet red wine
• Fresh orange juice
• Orange zest
• Freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• (optional) fresh or crystallized ginger

Stuff I Love - Spring 2012

For today's "Kitchen Tips Tuesday" I wanted to give a little shout-out to some products and foods I enjoyed this Passover. (In no particular order.)

Parchment paper baking pans - Lightweight, cheap, stackable. You can cut in them without ruining the pan or your knife. No need for extra oil, they are totally non-stick. I used them for all my kugels and brownies.


Homemade chocolate syrup - I used Alton Brown's recipe with honey instead of corn syrup, and with homemade vanilla sugar.

What's In Season - Spring - Artichokes

There is a beauty to produce that is not available year round. This morning my husband actually seemed excited that we had artichokes. "We haven't had those since you were pregnant!" Yup, that's how seasonal food works!

I went to the shuk this Tuesday and got four artichokes, two packages of strawberries, chard, giant pink lady apples, and a bunch of flowers (among other less exciting things).

Right now I have the artichokes roasting in the oven. I've never made them in the oven before, but I used Chef John's technique for Simply Roasted Artichokes.

Is it Kosher for Passover?

During the week of Passover (around the end of March or beginning of April) Jews abstain from all leavened grain products, including things that may have come in contact with the five grains. Laws, traditions, and family stringencies can be more complicated, but this generally includes all breads, crackers, cereal, cakes, and anything else made with wheat, barley, spelt, oats, or rye, except for kosher for Passover matza.

Jews use potato starch, matza meal, and other creative cooking to make filling and festive food during this week. Can you guess which of the items below cannot be eaten by Jews on Passover?

Passover Ideas

My friend Tammy just emailed me, "Any ideas for Pessah lunch?" Here are some ideas off the top of my head.

I love Passover crepes. I make the crepes in a pareve (not meat or dairy) nonstick pan with minimal oil. Then I can put cheese on them and let it melt. Fillings include:

• Tuna with melted cheese and lettuce
• Homemade tomato sauce* with melted cheese and (optional) basil
• Fried or baked bananas with (optional) honey
• Sweet cheese ("gvina levana" and honey)
• Sardines (my kids LOVE sardines and my favorite brand is kosher without kitnyot.)
• Avocado and tomato salad

Potato Kugel

I just got this email from my mom: "The friends who are hosting the Passover seder we are going to attend requested that I make a potato kugal. I really loved the kugal that I've eaten at your house (made by Aaron last Passover). Could I please get the recipe from you?"


Pesach is one time of year where I use recipes, at least as a starting point. I highly recommend The Spice and Spirit Kosher Passover Cookbook. It goes beyond recipes and tackles every practical aspect of Passover. It's also great for gluten-free cooking, because most of the recipes don't use matzah meal or any manufactured products.

My Spice and Spirit Passover Cookbook is my Passover hub. Every year as I put away my passover things, I make lists: "What I have," "Buy next year," and tips like what not to make, and what to buy more or less of... more eggs and bananas, no more than 2 kg of matzoh. I stick my lists in my cookbook so they're all ready when I'm ready to shop and plan the next year.

Cauliflower Tabouleh

In honor of my Father-in-Law's arrival this evening I want to share a raw food salad made with his favorite food - cauliflower. I got the idea from the Good Eats episode "The Caul of the Flower." I combined it with my recipe for quinoa tabouleh, and got a delicious and very healthy salad, which only gets better after a day or two in the fringe.

Start with the dressing:
Using the chopping blade in the bowl of your DRY food processor, put salt and other seasonings of your choice like red pepper flakes and cumin. (I didn't use cumin this time because I was making it for someone with celiac disease and I wanted to be extra careful that none of my ingredients were contaminated with traces of gluten.)  Turn on the food processor and drop two cloves of garlic through the chute. Add the juice of two lemons (close to half a cup) and almost 1/2 cup olive oil.  Set aside in a large bowl for mixing. You do not need to wash out the food processor or the blade, but set aside this blade.

Gluten free "bulgur":
Using the shredding blade on your food processor, feed in only the florets (the outermost inch) of one head of cauliflower. Dump it into the mixing bowl with the dressing.

Roated Veggie "Chips" PLUS Quinoa

A friend wrote to me:
"i'm sure you know this and might already prepare it but...this is a wonderful treat we have been feasting on. we got an extra virgin olive oil infused with roasted garlic ... not a cheap overpowering one...we've been slicing eggplant very thin (especially when it's the long lavender ones) brushing them with olive oil, sprinkling some seasoning and baking them on an olive oil brushed cookie sheet. some come out like chips and others are softer and all are addictive!

 on the bigger fatter and darker eggplants we put the kosher salt on the thins slices until they sweat, wash that off to kill any bitterness and then bake at 350 like the aforementioned ones. they are filling and fabulous."

Libyan Meatballs - Simplified "Mafrum"

There is a lovely tradition in many communities that after a women has a baby, people bring her family meals for a week or so.  One of the meals I received after our little guy was born included the most amazing turkey meat balls.  Below is the recipe from my friend with my notes and pictures.  Note there are two cooking options.

In "non-recipe" style, this dish is modified from Tripolitanian "Mafrum," a more complicated dish made with minced beef sandwiched in potatoes.  It is the traditional Erev Shabbat (Friday night) meal of the Libyan Jewish community.  It is usually served with couscous, but for a lower glycemic option, I recommend whole wheat couscous, bulgur wheat, or barley.

Pan Seared Salmon

We have a little issue with the electricity in our apartment.  If we have more than three major appliances on besides the fridge, we overload the circuit and half to go outside to the fuse box.  So we can't have the washer,  heater, hot water heater, and oven on at the same time.  This has caused me to cook more things on our gas stove top.  I recently made this delicious and very easy salmon from some odd shaped fresh salmon steaks.

I used my silicon brush to paint both sides of the salmon with a squirt of Hellmann's Mayonnaise garlic sandwich dressing, some dill, and coriander.  I cooked it in a non-stick pan until the flesh was light pink and opaque.  Then I removed the meat from the bone to make it easier for my family to eat.  I transferred the boneless, skinless fish back to the pan and reheated before serving.

You may also like Tarragon Salmon.

Roasted Beet & Walnut Salad

I love beets!  I got the original recipe through my mom from Marilynn Clark in Florida.  This is a great autumn salad, and I love dishes you can mostly prepare long before guests arrive or just keep in the fridge until you get hungry.

8 to 10 med beets (2 lbs) rinsed, trim stem ends to 1”
2 Tbls. Cider vinegar
1-½ teasp Dijon mustard
½ teasp sugar
Salt & pepper to taste
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
(optional) 4 oz. Blue cheese, crumbled
(optional) Mixed baby greans, Belgian endive, or greens of your choice