Passover 2002–2005

[sagestrat]

I too used real butter for the buttercrunch and the butterscotch came together quickly. My only regret is not making one tray (I made two) with almonds. This is good stuff, but awfully sweet (meaning it will definitely be a hit with my kids and my diabetic mother-in-law!). I think the nuts would help tone down the sweetness. And I was very thankful for the recipe direction to cover the cookie sheet with foil. Cleanup was a breeze.

[bushey]

I've had lots of trouble in general with Passover pareve margarine -- there's just too high a water content. Even matzo brei comes out kind of yucky with it.

I made my usual desserts: a divine chocolate roll w/whipped cream filling and almond cookies. Both came out wonderful and are pretty light.

[Malawry]

My devotion to buttah is well-documented here, but my folks' Pesach dishes are fleishig, and our meal was fleishig, so I figured I shouldn't use real butter. But then one of our guests appeared bearing rich confections covered in whipped cream for dessert and nobody objected. Next year with butter!

[mrsqft]

Now I know what happened to the chocolate glaze. i had to make it with pareve margarine and it would not harden.First, I put it in the fridge and it nothing much happened. By this time I was getting nervous so I put it into the freezer and that seemed to do it. However the pecans looked very strange since I could not really coat them in chocolate. Next year, I will either make something else or go back to butter. The almont clusters , however, were sensational. They are just toasted almonds, currents and orange peel held together with egg white and sugarand baked. Looked great as well.

[joiei]

from Tom Fitzmorris

PASSOVER

I'm not Jewish, but last night was the first beginning of Passover in

about ten years during which I wasn't present at a Seder. (I forgot to

put feelers out for an invitation.)

Nevertheless, I thought about it even while we had our Eat Club dinenr

last night. That Jews all over the world are all eating essentially the

same meal that evening is, on even a moment's reflection, amazing

and beautiful. That's why I'm always happy to be a part of it.

* * *

GOOD FRIDAY

The first Passover Seder I ever attended was, coincidentally, on Good

Friday. It rained like hell and flooded large sections of Uptown. I

thought that was pretty heavy, too.

There is an ancient and nearly-dead tradition in some of the oldest

New Orleans restaurants to serve bacalao on Good Friday. I

understand this fully, if the idea is to do penance. There are few foods

less rewarding to eat than dried, salted cod.

What I've never understood is the way chefs (most of them European

chefs) who would not consider serving anything other than fresh fish

will make an exception for this most aggressively non-fresh item. It

has no taste. Its texture is horrible. It's. . . penance. You can eat all of

mine.

[LARRY WIENER]

Gefilte Fish made 1/2 with salmon and 1/2 with mixed white fish.  Being in the Pacific NW, we get great salmon and it adds a wonderful flavor.  I've been using the Raymond Sokolow recipe from the Jewish American Kitchen.

Ours was made from 80 percent red snapper and 20 percent salmon. The salmon was mainly for the color. We are originally from the Pacific NW, and my wife says that salmon always was an ingredient in all of her relatives' gefillte fish. We used recipe no. 1 in the NYTimes cook book.

[rozrapp]

I made the buttercrunch recipe after all the rave reviews on here. I used unsalted pareve Pesach margarine (ick!) and regular light brown sugar. When I cooked the margarine and sugar the whole mixture looked separated the whole time despite constant stirring. These ingredients just would not emulsify, even temporarily. It simmered quickly but never really "boiled" as the recipe said so I had a hard time figuring out the timing of the dish. I tried to pour it as evenly as possible over the matzah but it was difficult since the mixture was separated. I didn't feel too optimistic about it by the time I was sticking the matzah in the oven. But the finished product was pretty good as Pesadik desserts go. I enjoyed picking at it, as did everybody else. I wondered if the recipe works better using real butter. I also got to musing about problems with recipe writing as I was cooking it; I really needed more information about what the mixture should look like.

Next time I hope to use real butter and better chocolate. Which reminds me, are any of the better chocolate brands available in Kosher for Passover formulations? That'd be nice. I'm not too into Barton's or Elite.

Malawry, I was the one who originally suggested this recipe. I have never made it with margarine, only with butter. I use Land O' Lakes, Brownulated Sugar, and plain old supermarket brand semi-sweet chocolate bits. (This year, it was Foodtown.) The finished product is always sensational!

As to your question about the consistency of the butter and brown sugar as they cook, they do remain "separated" for quite some time, but, eventually, with the constant stirring, they come together into a smooth, caramel mixture, which boils nicely. I then let it boil for however many minutes called for -- don't have the recipe in front of me -- still stirring constantly. When it is poured over the matzohs, it spreads easily. If every inch of the matzohs is not perfectly covered, once the baking starts, the caramel spreads out, evenly covering the entire surface, and then becomes bubbly.

Butter is definitely the way to go here, but I don't think that better quality chocolate is all that important.

[Suzanne F]

There is an ancient and nearly-dead tradition in some of the oldest

New Orleans restaurants to serve bacalao on Good Friday. I

understand this fully, if the idea is to do penance. There are few foods

less rewarding to eat than dried, salted cod.

What I've never understood is the way chefs (most of them European

chefs) who would not consider serving anything other than fresh fish

will make an exception for this most aggressively non-fresh item. It

has no taste. Its texture is horrible. It's. . . penance. You can eat all of

mine.

Joiei, for your friend Tom: you should read Mark Kurlansky's book about cod. It gives a full explanation of how dried salt fish (esp. cod) was instrumental in the world-wide spread of Christianity. Totally fascinating. Thus are traditions, however seemingly bizarre , born.

Now, I hope he will register on his own. And you keep posting on your own, too, please!!

[Sandra Levine]

OK, Purim's over. It's time to bring this thread back to the top. Share your ideas, recipes, techniques and coping mechanisms, please.

[alacarte]

My devotion to buttah is well-documented here, but my folks' Pesach dishes are fleishig, and our meal was fleishig, so I figured I shouldn't use real butter. But then one of our guests appeared bearing rich confections covered in whipped cream for dessert and nobody objected. Next year with butter!

....or this year with paper plates!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Share your ideas, recipes, techniques and coping mechanisms, please.

Coping mechanisms .. that is a great term for it!

and, yes, we have been chatting among ourselves about whipping up a festive Pesachdik "Matzoblog" ... sure beats cleaning the house ...

Edited March 12, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[bloviatrix]

It seems like the supermarkets put out their Passover goods earlier every year. They already turned over the kosher aisle at Shop-Rite last week - that's BEFORE Purim!! All the coconut covered marshmellows will gone before I have a chance to shop.

[alacarte]

grumble grumble grumble I HATE PASSOVER grumble grumble grumble

[slkinsey]

Hey... when you think about it, it's better than not getting passed over, right?

[clothier]

Sorry to be the spoil sport, but I love Passover. The cleaning, the food, the matzo, the ritualness of the holiday.

My eldest (he's 6) asked yesterday if he could let his friend from down the street keep our breadbox for the week.

"it's fair, dad, remember, we watched his turtle when he went on vacation."

[hillvalley]

"it's fair, dad, remember, we watched his turtle when he went on vacation."

[KatieLoeb]

My article, Savoir Pair: Matching Great Kosher Wine and Food appears in today's Passover Palate supplement to the Jewish Exponent. Unfortunately, there is no link since the supplement section is not available on their website, however, as soon as I get the edited text back in its entirety, I'll cut and paste it and pin it in the PA forum.

With many thanks to my editors, Barbara and Greg, the article reads far better than I wrote it. It came out very well, and I'm quite pleased wih the end result. Although the recommendations are specific to one wine shop here in the Philaldelphia area, I think the text of the article mentions enough producers to be helpful to anyone seeking out some higher quality kosher wines for the holidays. There are also several great Passover friendly recipes that I weaseled out of some of Philadelphia's better chefs, so I hope that willl be useful to everyone as well.

Will post as soon as I'm able...

[bloviatrix]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to reading it.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I think the text of the article mentions enough producers to be helpful to anyone seeking out some higher quality kosher wines for the holidays.

This must mean that there are other wines available besides the traditional, cloyingly sweet, thick and chewy, Mogen David Extra Heavy Malaga?

Although it did pair nicely with the various and sundry Passover dishes at our seders .... kinda all purpose and all sacrament-friendly? One size fits all pantyhose for the palate??

[KatieLoeb]

This must mean that there are other wines available besides the traditional, cloyingly sweet, thick and chewy, Mogen David Extra Heavy Malaga?

Um - yeah. This was kind of the point of writing the article.

[bloviatrix]

Will you all promise not laugh if I admit to sticking with Kedem grape juice for my 4 cups? Blovie is a real stickler for draining the cup, and I like remaining coherent for the entire evening (plus I don't want to drop any of the food platters). We do break out the real stuff for the meal.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Will you all promise not laugh if I admit to sticking with Kedem grape juice for my 4 cups? Blovie is a real stickler for draining the cup, and I like remaining coherent for the entire evening (plus I don't want to drop any of the food platters). We do break out the real stuff for the meal.

No one will laugh at the use of Kedem grape juice for the Four Cups, I assure you ... we have been known to "cut" the real stuff with grape juice from time to time, for a wide variety of reasons ... sobriety is one, of course! Other than that? Pancreas poopout is sometimes a concern ...

[DrewS]

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a vegetarian passover? In the past I have mostly lived off of chopped liver and brisket during passover. This year I am living with my vegetarian girlfriend and we don't really cook meat at home. To make things more difficult, I follow the Ashkenazi tradition of no rice, legumes, etc.

I know there are lots of vegetarian dishes I can make, but I'd like to get a healthy amount of protein during the holiday. That could be tough with no meat or beans.

Any ideas?

[afoodnut]

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a vegetarian passover? In the past I have mostly lived off of chopped liver and brisket during passover. This year I am living with my vegetarian girlfriend and we don't really cook meat at home. To make things more difficult, I follow the Ashkenazi tradition of no rice, legumes, etc.

I know there are lots of vegetarian dishes I can make, but I'd like to get a healthy amount of protein during the holiday. That could be tough with no meat or beans.

Any ideas?

Drew,

Are you concerned about a vegetarian seder, or about eating vegetarian during all of Passover?

Either way, you shouldn't have any problem. For Seder ideas, do a google search for "vegetarian passover seder." There are many sites with many suggestions.

But there's really no need to worry about getting enough protein. Eggs, nuts, and dairy products are all allowed. And remember, since you're not including meat, even your seder can include dairy products.

Simply choose your foods from the dairy and pareve sides of Passover possibilities.

Edited March 19, 2004 by afoodnut (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Unless he is a vegan ... then it gets more complicated ...

http://www.vegsource.com/passover.htm

How about starting here? There are both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Seder suggestions ...

and using "vegetarian Passover" on a search engine elicits many, many more options ...

are you a vegan??

Edited March 19, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)