Easter Menus

[deltadoc]

I plan on taking a personal holiday on Good Friday, because they don't give us religious holidays anymore (even Xmas is Holiday Season).

I plan on "drinking Christ's blood" straight through till Easter and see if I can actually arise out of my hangover on Sunday! :0)

doc

[NYC Mike]

I plan on taking a personal holiday on Good Friday, because they don't give us religious holidays anymore (even Xmas is Holiday Season).

I plan on "drinking Christ's blood" straight through till Easter and see if I can actually arise out of my hangover on Sunday!  :0)

doc

←

You are my new idol doc.

[ludja]

I'm still fiddlng around with my menu but here is what I'm thinking:

Stuffed Eggs with Horseradish (my new favorite stuffed egg variation)

Easter Kielbasa with mustard

Sweet Butter with Minced Radishes and Lemon on thin brown bread

Tarmosalata Spread with French Bread

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Fresh Fava Bean Salad with Salami, Mint and Manchego Cheese

(A recipe I've been wanting to try from the Zuni Cookbook.)

Baked Ham

New Potatoes with butter and parsley

Fennel Gratin

Ragout of Peas, Asparagus Tips and Fava Beans

Pink Grapefruit Supremes with Port and Mint Granita (Pierre Herme Desserts)

Cream Biscuits filled with Crème Fraiche and served with a warm Cointreau syrup with Strawberries and Mangoes

I guess the minor theme this year will be fava beans (raw and cooked), mint and cream...

Edited April 6, 2007 by ludja (log)

[Chufi]

Ludja, I also have fava beans on my mind, and wanted to do a little fava bean/mint spread on bread as an appetizer.

And I'm also thinking of doing cauliflower soup, with a polonaise topping (butterfried breadcrumbs, parsley, hardboiled egg).

and then the salmon rillettes from Cooking of Southwest France.

Then braised vealshanks with honey, orange and rosemary from Molly Stevens' All about Braising.

And I'm also thinking of fennel gratin as a side dish for the main course

salad

Mille crepes cake with lemon curd and raspberries

Edited April 6, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[GreekCook]

Hi All

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

Reading all these wonderful fava recipes inspired me to make "Greek Fava"

For some reason in Greece "Fava" is a dip made with yellow fava lentils (yellow split peas)

The broad beans are known as "Koukia" here

Anyway I thought I'd share the Greek version I found it on a site but it's basically the way I make it and it's easier to copy paste rather than type

fava dip

INGREDIENTS

- 1 cup of fava to 2 - 2 1/2 cups water approx

- 1 1/2 small onion

- extra olive oil,

- 1/2 a lemon, salt

the making

- wash the fava lentils well

- set to boil in a large non-stick cooking pot, (medium

heat) adding enough water to create a thick paste.

- keep checking in case the fava has dried out

- half way though cooking time add a roughly chopped

small onion & 2 tablespoons of olive oil (optional)

- salt to taste

- when the fava is cooked, remove from fire & allow to cool

- blend or mash the mixture well

- scoop the amount you want into a serving dish & place

the remainder of the mix in the fridge to use later

- SERVE with an extra lashing of olive oil, half a squeezed

fresh lemon & 1/2 a roughly chopped onion to dress

** Fava dip can be served warm or cold

Enjoy

Greg

Edited to add

This is usually served as a starter, in the same way as you would serve Tztaziki, Taramosalata etc

Edited April 6, 2007 by GreekCook (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

wow that just solved my appetizer issue!!! ...a fava dip Greg ..absolutely wonderful!!! thanks so much for the recipe!!!

I am starting my lavash dough and making the syrup for the cherry rice today ...finding all my table clothes and more spring like dishes ..picking flowers.....I love cooking/planning and sprucing things up for anything and after all this rain we have had a spring holiday is the best!!! ..we do kind of an Easter/Passover/bunny day thing ..we are just too mixed up in my family to settle for any one holiday!!!

Edited April 6, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Sugarshoc]

Here's my menu:

Braised Beef Brisket

Jerk Chicken

Roasted Asparagus w/ Garlic

Roasted Potatoes (Fingerling or Red Bliss)

Green Salad w/ Raspberry Dijon Dressing

I haven't decided on dessert yet.

I'm going to Fairway now to get my stuff.

[ludja]

Ludja, I also have fava beans on my mind, and wanted to do a little fava bean/mint spread on bread as an appetizer.

And I'm also thinking of doing cauliflower soup, with a polonaise topping (butterfried breadcrumbs, parsley, hardboiled egg).  

and then the salmon rillettes from Cooking of Southwest France.

Then braised vealshanks with honey, orange and rosemary from Molly Stevens' All about Braising.

And I'm also thinking of fennel gratin as a side dish for the main course 

salad

Mille crepes cake with lemon curd and raspberries

←

We're on the same wavelength across the miles! Your earlier post made me check out the shrimp/orange/radicchio first course dish in Wolfert's "Slow Mediterranean"; I'll keep that in mind for another time. Thanks also for the Polanaise topping idea. Since I"m serving the stuffed eggs I'll probably just use the buttered croutons and parsley this time; but the full garnish sounds nice. I like to collect soup garnishes to add to my repertoire. Fennel does go nicely with ham or lamb.

I'm loving all the menus posted so far; such a nice range of styles and dishes. It always a pleasurable dilemma to decide on the Easter menu for me--lamb or ham. And then there's figuring out how to include asparagus, artichokes, fava beans, peas, mint, fennel, etc. One constant is that I almost always serve boiled new potatoes in their skin with parsley and butter; so simple but so delicious.

Thanks for sharing the dried fava bean dip, greekcook! Maybe I'll make that for the bookclub meeting I'm hosting next week.

Edited April 6, 2007 by ludja (log)

[paul o' vendange]

Pille, tere tere!

From a Gaul married to an Estonian-blooded one, thanks for this...I will pass these goodies on to her clan!

Here's what you'll find at one Easter table in faraway Estonia:

* pasha/pashka (a must-have. We'll probably have two different ones, as both myself and my bf are keen to show off their own version )

* kulitcha (have never made it before, but keen to try. Has anyone got the best recipe? Ludja? Alinka?)

* small curd cheese and orange buns

* the Greek Easter bread tsoureki, as I've made it for two years already and I really love it (it uses mastic and mechlepe, which make it really special)

* soft-boiled quail's eggs with whitefish roe

* lots of eggs: some dyed with onion skins, some with beetroot juice. These will mostly end up either in a egg salad or stuffed eggs in the days after the festivities..

(luckily, there won't be (m)any chocolate eggs, however, as these are not popular here - I still haven't spotted any prominent displays of chocolate eggs in the supermarkets yet, for instance)

* something fishy - possibly kedgeree, as I miss British food a little 

We're still discussing some other dishes to make, but basically the whole meal is focused on eggs and curd cheese and sweet pastries.

←

[ludja]

I have to work on Easter but am trying to get my kids off and over the Saturday instead ...what a logistical nightmare gathering adult children!!! argh!

My menu is very simple and very casual ..but wonderful I think and it totally defines spring to me

one traditional thing is the herbs I use in all the dishes..because this time of year my herb garden is starting to burst and it is so fun to try to get them into everything for the first spring meal gathering!

I also put plates of fresh herbs all over the table so everyone can add more if they want ...

for a starter I usually have some kind of seafood like crab or prawns (what ever looks the best) dipped in clarified garlic chive and parsley butter

the main dish is a whole fresh fish... hopefully a

wild caught salmon stuffed with herbs and cooked on the grill

asparagus bundles tied with chives and dressed with Hollandaise

rice pilaf (made of course with fresh herbs)

spring green salad with home made Green Goddess dressing (more herbs)

orange rolls with herb butter

I serve fruit spritzers, wine and beer to drink

for dessert (NO HERBS!!! LOL unless my mint sprouts before then I will of course use that for the whipping cream!) 

Caribbean black cake and brownies with whipped cream

coffee

←

This menu is so nice, hummingbirdkiss. I like the idea of the seafood appetizer and the main course fish. Instead of the fava bean/manchego cheese/salami appetizer I was thinking of making a poached salmon salad that I've made before. It's dressed with cucumber/wine vinegar vinaigrette and also includes fava beans, asparagus tips, peas, green onions, etc. The other appetizer won out this time because I haven't tried it yet and the flavors sound interesting to me.

I've always wanted to make a homemade Green Goddess dressing (Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook has what looks like a great version). Fresh wonderful herbs are also a great harbinger of spring and renewal.

Also how wonderful to have the rolls! I was thinking of making buttery, tender Parker House rolls this Easter but I don't think I'll be able to fit them in. Have you made the orange rolls before? What are they like and how is the orange flavor incorporated?

The Caribbean Black Cake is the most interesting; I wouldn't think of it at Easter but I think you mentioned in another thread that it's a family tradition; pretty cool.

[KateinChicago]

Sausage stuffed Mushrooms

Crostini di fegatini

Spinach, roasted red pepper & feta stuffed leg of lamb with Pinot Noir reduction sauce

Asparagus and parmesan flan

Herbed gnocchi (from Keller's Bouchon) with brown butter and lemon

Rosemary & onion focaccia

Pecan crusted ice cream and lemon meringue pie (the one on the cover of April's Bon Appetite)

Made the lamb stock for the Pinot Noir Sauce and partially reduced earlier today. Put the pie together (without the meringue) also today. I'm making the fegatini tonight because it tastes better after a day or two of melded flavors. The gnocchi was made a while back and frozen. I picked up the lamb today so that I could season it. I made the mistake of ordering it from not my usual butcher as I was house/dog sitting for a friend in the suburbs. UGH! The butcher is a not so good butcher. Lots of holes, left on lots of silver skin. This leg is going to require LOTS of twine.

Tomorrow I'll start the focaccia and stuff the mushrooms. I'm not usually this far ahead of the game before a holiday but I anticipate trouble with stuffing and rolling the lamb.

Happy Holidays!

Kate

[percyn]

I usually make brunch on easter Sunday, with the typical fare of :

Deviled eggs

Boiled eggs w/caviar

Crab Eggs Benedict

Omelets

Quiche (can you tell I like eggs?)

Ham

Sausages

Smoked Salmon

Hash browns

Pastries

etc

Oh and lots of champagne, mimosas, bloody marys and other cocktails

[GreekCook]

I usually make brunch on easter Sunday, with the typical fare of :

Deviled eggs

Boiled eggs w/caviar

Crab Eggs Benedict

Omelets

Quiche (can you tell I like eggs?)

Ham

Sausages

Smoked Salmon

Hash browns

Pastries

etc

Oh and lots of champagne, mimosas, bloody marys and other cocktails

←

LMAO Percyn I have never seen so many egg dishes in one meal...you seem to have covered every possible cooking variation

Happy Easter

Greg

Edited April 7, 2007 by GreekCook (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

I am sorry I did not see this ..my entire menu changed except the use of tons of herbs and the black cake!

to make orange rolls you add 1/4 cup of orange juice and heaping tsp of finely grated fresh orange rind 1/3 cup sugar ...to any good butter/egg yeast dinner roll recipe ..then before the final rise I roll them out into fat snakes cut them in about 6 inch sections and tie them in a knot ..let them rise ..brush with milk before and once during baking ...these make the house smell wonderful!!!

I have to work on Easter but am trying to get my kids off and over the Saturday instead ...what a logistical nightmare gathering adult children!!! argh!

My menu is very simple and very casual ..but wonderful I think and it totally defines spring to me

one traditional thing is the herbs I use in all the dishes..because this time of year my herb garden is starting to burst and it is so fun to try to get them into everything for the first spring meal gathering!

I also put plates of fresh herbs all over the table so everyone can add more if they want ...

for a starter I usually have some kind of seafood like crab or prawns (what ever looks the best) dipped in clarified garlic chive and parsley butter

the main dish is a whole fresh fish... hopefully a

wild caught salmon stuffed with herbs and cooked on the grill

asparagus bundles tied with chives and dressed with Hollandaise

rice pilaf (made of course with fresh herbs)

spring green salad with home made Green Goddess dressing (more herbs)

orange rolls with herb butter

I serve fruit spritzers, wine and beer to drink

for dessert (NO HERBS!!! LOL unless my mint sprouts before then I will of course use that for the whipping cream!) 

Caribbean black cake and brownies with whipped cream

coffee

←

This menu is so nice, hummingbirdkiss. I like the idea of the seafood appetizer and the main course fish. Instead of the fava bean/manchego cheese/salami appetizer I was thinking of making a poached salmon salad that I've made before. It's dressed with cucumber/wine vinegar vinaigrette and also includes fava beans, asparagus tips, peas, green onions, etc. The other appetizer won out this time because I haven't tried it yet and the flavors sound interesting to me.

I've always wanted to make a homemade Green Goddess dressing (Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook has what looks like a great version). Fresh wonderful herbs are also a great harbinger of spring and renewal.

Also how wonderful to have the rolls! I was thinking of making buttery, tender Parker House rolls this Easter but I don't think I'll be able to fit them in. Have you made the orange rolls before? What are they like and how is the orange flavor incorporated?

The Caribbean Black Cake is the most interesting; I wouldn't think of it at Easter but I think you mentioned in another thread that it's a family tradition; pretty cool.

←

Edited April 7, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[rooftop1000]

OK

Lasagna is made, sausage and meatballs are simmering away, house is almost clean. Should go and cut the celary and hold in cold water. Borrowed enough chairs, tables and tablecloths...purchased the brown and serve dinner rolls (oh the shame) lamb is defrosting (SLOWLEY) ....had chili dogs for dinner on the way to pick up the borrowed tables

dog is glaring at me because I vaccumed his couch and wont let him back on it

tracey

[prasantrin]

For Easter dinner I had pot roast (based on a recipe posted by Russ Parsons here on eGullet) with potatoes, carrots (the carrots from the pot roast which were supposed to be discarded), and asparagus. The pot roast was amazingly tender. I did a very good job, if I do say so myself. I didn't know what kind of wine to use (I rarely drink wine), so I got a half-bottle of 2004 Mouton Cadet Bourdeaux because I liked the label. Luckily, it worked quite well with the pot roast.

I also had some no-knead bread--the first loaf I've baked in more than 3 weeks, and vegan chocolate cake with mocha icing from a recipe a friend sent me. I liked the cake, though I quibble with calling it vegan or chocolate (calls for "sugar", which implies any old white sugar, in my opinion, and it uses quite a bit of coffee, which makes it a touch more mocha than just chocolate, though it's still very chocolatey).

[Mallet]

I'm having a few orphaned grad students (myself included) for Easter supper tonight, here's the plan so far:

asparagus soup with herbed cream

pancetta with goat cheese and apple

roast leg of lamb (sides = dupuy lentils, smashed potatoes, turnip gratin)

salad

raspberry and chocolate sorbets

The A&P near my place had no rosemary yesterday (wtf?), so it's going to be a bit of a scramble to find some today...

[SuzySushi]

The A&P near my place had no rosemary yesterday (wtf?), so it's going to be a bit of a scramble to find some today...

←

Probably sold out... that happens quite a bit around here at holidays. If it's not too late, why not try a garden store and buy a tiny plant?

[Mallet]

Thanks suzy, I ended up bumming a few sprigs from a local bakery

[judiu]

Actually making two dinners - Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.

This isn't complete, but so far:

Lemon, Poppy Seed Waffles served with Smoked Salmon, Capers and Onions.

Fried Calamari with Anchovy Mayo

Green Olives stuffed with Piquillo Peppers and Anchovies with Orange Zest

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Sour Cream and Salmon Roe

Eggs Diana

Wild Mushroom Turnovers

Panini

Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Crostini

Roasted Marinated Lamb Loin

Pork Loin with Mushroom Fricasse

Steamed Asparagus with Miso Butter

Roasted Cauliflower with Onions & Fennel

Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Roasted Garlic

Chocolate Mousse

Homemade Ice Cream (haven't decided on the flavors, though one will proably be espresso).

Looking at an Imperial of 2002 Amarone Valpolicella

2004 Windsor Vineyards Gerwurztraminer

1978 Chateau Margeaux (with the Lamb Loin)

I will probably add another vegetable and two-three more apps. Still looking for something different to do with Shrimp. Considering the Shrimp in Brik Pastry from last week's NY Times. We'll see.

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I'll bite; what the heck are Eggs Diana? Guarenteed to hatch out little princes?

[Pille]

Pille, tere tere!

From a Gaul married to an Estonian-blooded one, thanks for this...I will pass these goodies on to her clan! 

Here's what you'll find at one Easter table in faraway Estonia:

lots of eggs: some dyed with onion skins, ....

←

←

Nice to 'meet' you too, Paul!

I said we'd have lots of eggs Here's a snapshot:

[SuzySushi]

Thanks suzy, I ended up bumming a few sprigs from a local bakery 

←

That's even more creative!

[arriba!]

Chufi--I would love to see a picture of your Mille Crepes cake or hear about it. I have had that on my "to do" list for a year and have not made one yet. Is this something you make regularly or was Easter an experiment?

[Marmish]

Chufi--I would love to see a picture of your Mille Crepes cake or hear about it.  I have had that on my "to do" list for a year and have not made one yet.  Is this something you make regularly or was Easter an experiment?

←

I'm not sure if Chufi made one in this old thread, but a number of us did - Mille Crepes

[arriba!]

Thanks for the link Marmish! I had followed that thread, saved the recipe then forgot about it for awhile. Chufi's post reminded me--I will re-read the thread and make a note of baker's hints.