The Passover Challenge

[DanM]

Passover starts tomorrow and many of us Jews are working hard cleaning up their kitchens for a week of culinary masochism. In theory, it is pretty simple, no leavened products or foods that can leaven are allowed during the holiday. In practice, it is much, much more complicated. We won't get into the whys or rules as it will take too much time and people much smarter than me to explain.

Here is the challenge I have to the non-Jewish members of the forum... Given the following limitations, what would you cook?

1. Absolutely no grains, beans, rice, or similar products; fresh or dried. No byproducts of said products either (e.g. corn starch, flour, etc). The only exemption is quinoa.

2. Matzoh is the closest you will come to bread, flour crumbs.

3. Very limited spices and dried herbs (let's limit it to cinnamon, cumin, ginger, allspice, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, bay leaves, salt and pepper)

4. Proteins are limited to beef, chicken, lamb, and fish.

5. Canned goods and prepared foods are limited and generally of very low quality. For the sake of this argument, we will forgo canned goods.

6. Cheese is available in common varieties.

7. No restrictions of fresh veg or fruit, except when the conflict with rule #1 (corn, beans, etc...)

So, whats for dinner?

Dan

Edited April 5, 2012 by DanM (log)

[Mjx]

How many and what courses... and mayn't the Jewish forum members shove in their oars, too?!

[LizD518]

Follow-up question: what about restrictions on mixing meat and dairy?

I'm thinking a simple roast chicken, served with a homemade aoili, and maybe roasted potato wedges and roasted asparagus on the side. I'm trying to think if I could do a fruit crisp using matzoh & nuts as the topping, but what to replace the butter in the topping with? Coconut oil is solid at room temp, it might work, and would taste better than margarine.

[DanM]

MJx... For as many people and courses as you would like. There are many traditional Jewish dishes out there for passover, so I asking non-Jews to give some fresh eyes and thoughts on the subject.

Liz... All other kosher rules would apply, so no mixing of meat and dairy for this discussion. Regarding your crisp... I have never seen kosher for passover coconut oil and most passover margarine is unfit for human consumption.

[jmolinari]

I've made fresh pasta from matzoh "flour". Eggs and ground matzoh, maybe a tiny bit of oil and water. It actually works. It's certainly better than no pasta

Boil and serve as pasta.

[Mjx]

For dessert, how about panforte?

Meets all the restrictions, easily made, keeps well, so can be made in advance. There's a little plain flour in it, but it only serves a thickener, and potato starch/flour would work just as well (I always use rice starch/flour, since I tolerate wheat – and potatoes, for that matter – poorly). The only fat involved is that used on the parchment/pan and dusted with confectioner's sugar (I know I've seen kosher versions without corn flour) or cacao, so margarine can be used. Best of all, it tastes really good, and isn't an 'Almost, but not quite' version of something better.

I tweaked David Lebovitz's recipe, and the results were excellent.

I've also made gnocchi using rice flour (again, I think potato starch should be usable) and winter squash, instead of wheat flour and potatoes, and they were extremely tender and delicious.

RE:coconut oil, Spectrum's is kosher for Passover.

[Kouign Aman]

quinoa/beef "one dish" meal.

Measure quinoa, water, salt per usual.

Bring to boil, stir, reduce to simmer,

Add chopped vegetables to taste (a huge amount of green leafy, finely chopped, plus smaller amounts of garlic, onion, celery) (pre-brown the garlic if you prefer that flavor, using approved veg oil in small qty).

Toss in the beef cut into appropriate size chunks to cook thru during the time the quinoa cooks.

cover.

Cook til the grain is done.

For a Tex-Mex flavor, add tomatoes, cumin, and hot peppers to taste.

Why the quinoa exemption ?

Is wild rice allowed ?

[Snadra]

Even though I was aware of the restrictions during Passover I only just realised how attractive potatoes suddenly become when grains are so restricted! That's some tough work.... Kind of fun though!

Some of the things that come to mind are:

* A dish of champ with a green salad (I love wilted greens with creamy mash)

* lazy perogies: broken up boiled potato topped with copious amounts of fried onion and sour cream, wilted cabbage on the side

* scrambled eggs with plain boiled potatoes with cold butter, sliced tomatoes and a heavy scattering of fresh mixed herbs

* sliced boiled eggs in a mustard flavoured white sauce (assuming it could be appropriately thickened with potato flour) over boiled potatoes with a green veg

* potato pancakes (yeah, yeah, but I love them!) with applesauce

* zucchini fritters made with lots of parsley and mint and green onion, served with either tomato sauce or Greek yoghurt.

* salmon patties flavoured with dill or oregano and lemon, served with boiled potatoes and a chunky and spicy zucchini, capsicum and eggplant tomato sauce

* ricotta and spinach dumplings (using meal or potato flour in place of wheat flour) with tomato basil sauce

* grilled or roasted meats with salads

- lemon and olive oil potato salad

- warm sweet potato slices with herbed vinaigrette

- green salad

- slow roasted plum tomatoes with thyme

- roasted capsicum

- quinoa with herbs

- asparagus with lemon

- wilted cucumber with dill

- roasted pumpkin with sumac, pine nuts and parsley leaves (I usually add croutons and shaved Parmesan, but obviously that bit won't go)

* finally, the traditional Aussie roast dinner: leg of lamb with roasted potatoes and pumpkin, carrots and other assorted veg. Gravy is traditional, but I think you could use potato flour to thicken.

As far as desserts go, I don't know what the restrictions are about following meat meals, but I assume most of the following would be for dairy meals:

* This

* tapioca pudding with fruit compote

* kissel

* Apple snow

* banana "ice cream" made from blitzed frozen banana

* queens pudding thickened with matza meal instead of breadcrumbs

* fruit and cheese plate

* I commonly do a shared dessert plate for company that has pieces of candied ginger, broken up chocolate, nuts and dried fruits

[IndyRob]

Even though I was aware of the restrictions during Passover I only just realised how attractive potatoes suddenly become when grains are so restricted!

Those were pretty much my thoughts and then I scrolled down and saw that you'd already nailed it.

I only recently learned about the dairy and meat thing. Is it okay if they're not mixed, but are on the side? Steak with Baked Potato w/ butter & sour cream? Potato Gratin? Creamed Spinach? The whole steakhouse vibe?

Apparently, Transglutaminase can be kosher, but I suspect that Wylie Dufresne's shrimp pasta is out. Perhaps a fish-based version could bring some pasta.

The thought of inventing a proper grainless bread is the sort of Holy Grail project (oh, wait, is that reference at all appropriate in this context? ) that's going to be bugging me for the next few days.

[Snadra]

The thought of inventing a proper grainless bread is the sort of Holy Grail project (oh, wait, is that reference at all appropriate in this context? ) that's going to be bugging me for the next few days.

That probably calls for brazillian cheese bread, which is made with tapioca!

As far as mixing dairy and meat, my understanding is that it cannot be done in the same meal. I'm not sure how long you must wait after a meat meal and to have dairy.

Which reminds me, what about a potato-topped fish pie? Fish is parve, isn't it? So it could be eaten with the dairy in a fish pie.

And in a meat meal a shepherds pie with non-dairy mash would work too.

[Doodad]

Quinoa in a rissoto style topped with a braised meat in the spices you mentioned.

[SylviaLovegren]

Since we eat mostly lo-carb not being able to use grains doesn't seem like a huge problem. It seems like banging your head against the wall to try to invent pasta -- why not skip it and have potatoes or just another veg (like beets, or baked squash).

Why not do a Mediterranean/North African take?

A Spanish tortilla with eggs and potatoes.

A tomato/eggplant/onion casserole (slow baked, so the veggies get sweet)

Baked lamb with garlic

Greek style baked potatoes with lemon, if you feel the need for starch

Warm carrot salad Moroccan style, with lemon, parsley and Tabasco (or similar)

Dessert of baked fruit with walnuts and honey.

Who needs grains?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Why the quinoa exemption ?

Quinua is not technically a cereal grain; it's weed seeds and hence falls outside of the grains and legumes prohibition....

I'd be making savoury Quimbolitos, which are steamed quinua dumplings filled with your choice; I like the leftovers from roast chicken tossed with feta or ricotta and some green onions, and a hint of cumin. But that only applies if you have access to / can grind some quinua flour.

[DanM]

Lots of really good ideas... Thanks! Quimbolitos do sound interesting. I will need to find a good recipe and play with it... maybe for next year. One of my plans for this week is a quinoa and veg stuffed chile rellano with salsa verde and plenty of cheese.

Potato pancakes with Bissli crusted chicken schnitzel, tartiflette (I found a wheel of "fromage pour tartiflette" at the store!), cedar planked salmon with asparagus are all on my hit list for this week.