Passover 2002–2005

[Sandra Levine]

When my mother-in-law turned the Seder responsibility over to me, I decided to change the menu.  We were used to having  the usual Ashkenazi (middle and Eastern-European) fare:  gefilte fish, chicken soup with matzah balls, roast chicken or turkey, etc.  Passover is really hard on someone who doesn't get gefilte fish.  Like Jason on another holiday thread,  I find the Sephardic (Mediterranean) Jewish food more appealing.  For the past couple of years, I've been serving this menu:

Fennel, Leek and Spinach Soup

  Fennel is considered to be chometz (not kosher for Passover) by some Askenazi Jews, but not by my family

Salmon Rolls with Dill Sauce (wrapped in thin zucchini slices, they look like maki -- we call them "Jew-shi")

Chicken Marbella (from The Silver Palate Cookbook (using half the sugar)

Asparagus

Roasted Potatoes and Artichoke Bottoms

Chocolate Almond Torte with Strawberry Sauce or Chocolate Cake Roll

Aunt Ida's Sponge Cake (my husband's aunt's recipe -- the only Passover sponge cake worth eating)

It's really a good meal -- you'd hardly know it's Passover.

What do you make?

[Julliana]

I dont cook for passover but my family and extended friends all have the traditional Ashkenazi seders.

My mother used to make a great sponge cake that she was proud to tell everyone had 12 eggs in every cake.  She took the recipe from the back of the potato starch or some other Manis (sp) product.  She never kept the recipe and every year went thru the same ritual of being afraid they'd change the box and she'd be finished!! The cake was excellent and very very moist - how could a cake with 12 eggs be anything but? LOL  I know it had grated orange and lemon zest and some fresh orange juice. For some reason she never bought a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and used to use a hand mixer for about 20 minutes per cake, and since she gave so many of them away she would bake a few fresh cakes every single night. Every morning before she left for work she would leave 3 pieces of sponge cake on a piece of wax paper for our breakfast and whoever got up first carefully surveyed the 3 pieces trying to pick the biggest one;-)

A friend of mine makes some great Passover food but she's the type of cook who never shares a recipe no matter how close you are to her and how many times you ask for it.  She makes a great Wolfgang Puck matzo ball recipe that she got many years

ago and I've yet to find it anywhere, and I've looked.  Recently she's been making some salmon quenelles(sp) served with fresh horseradish that are great too.  Picking up clues in conversation I think I finally found her recipe for a really wonderful brisket on the Gourmet website.  Its made with lots of carmelized onions and wine and the sauce is delicious.  

Did you get your recipe for your salmon rolls from a magazine or the NYT?  This sounds exactly like something this friend made one year but since she has about 30+ guests, it was so labor intensive that she switched to the salmon quenelles.

Your menu sounds delicious and I like the idea of the roasted potatoes and artichoke bottoms.

Julliana

[Sandra Levine]

The salmon rolls and the soup were from Epicurious.

The salmon rolls are very labor intensive and I've thought of switching to quenelles, too.  

Aunt Ida's Sponge Cake also calls for 12 eggs:

12 eggs, separated

1 cup matzah cake meal

1/2 cup potato starch

1 tablespoon oil

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablesppoon vanilla extract

1 cup orange juice

1.  Sift cake meal and potato starch together and set aside.

2.  Add oil and vanilla to egg yolks.  Add sugar and salt while beating.

3. Continuing to beat, add orange juice alternately with sifted dry ingredients.   Beat some more until creamy.

4. Beat egg whiltes until stiff, and fold into egg yolk mixture.

5.  Pour batter to about 1 1/2"  from the top of an ungreased  10" tube pan (an angel-food cake pan, with removable sides.)  Bake at 325 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes. (There will be anough batter left over for an additional 8" or 9" round cake.)

7.  Invert to cool.

[macrosan]

It's really a good meal -- you'd hardly know it's Passover.

My private cook (she who must be obeyed) always does the trad Ash thing. We have two married daughters, who learned from their mother, so guess what... they do the trad Ash thing.

But a few years ago the whole family went to Israel for Pesach. We stayed at a hotel in Herzlia, and had a private room for a family seder for 34 people. The deal was we got to choose our own menu! The food was Sephardic, and it was fantastic. I can't remember the details, but you'd have been happy to recommend a Michelin star. The (Israeli) wine was also very good.

Now that's what I call hardly knowing it was Passover.

[Malawry]

Me, I like always knowing it's Passover. It's the only time of year I eat stuff like matzo ball soup, matzo brei, and my elderly Aunt Fanny's delicious Pesadik jelly roll.

I did a seder for eight people out of my tiny galley kitchen in downtown DC a few years ago. It's the only time I prepared a seder meal myself. I usually spend the holiday with my folks and help my mom cook. Here is what I served at my seder, which was vegetarian and fish-free:

Hard boiled eggs with salt water

Mock gefilte fish with chrain...the mock fish was mostly potato and onion

Matzo ball vegetable soup

Mixed green salad with lemon dressing, artichokes and hearts of palm

The main course: nut rissoles, onion kugel, asparagus in balsamic vinaigrette

I don't remember what we had for dessert, but I think it included dark chocolate and raspberry sorbet

The recipes for the nut rissoles, the mock fish and the onion kugel came from Jewish Vegetarian Cooking, a cookbook my mom gave me for Hanukkah some years ago. I didn't think the nut rissoles came out so well, and I see little use for mock fish when I now eat real gefilte fish happily, but the onion kugel became an annual tradition. It's just not Pesach without it. It's a mixture of caramelized onions and matzo meal with egg yolks and seasonings...you whip the egg whites and fold them in before baking. Really really good.

I've made the vegetable soup for years now. I use a standard mirepoix, and I add a bouquet garni and lots of diced veggies that always include spinach plus a little vegetarian broth powder. It's mostly a delivery vehicle for the matzo balls, which I missed terribly after I stopped eating chicken.

I'm doing my first seder in some time away from home again this year...this time with friends in LA who just had a baby. I don't know what we will eat but I am sure it will include a lot of fish...gefilte and salmon, probably. I'll make my onion kugel and the matzo ball soup for sure.

[Rachel Perlow]

Huh? Potato is acceptable. Some friends even use boiled potato (instead of the parsley I think) on their seder plate. Sandra, do we have the same Aunt Ida? Sounds like pretty much the same recipe.

No one so far has mentioned Passover Rolls. I've never or heard of any other family having them, but they are a tradition in my family. They are basicly pate a choux made with matzo meal and they (should) come out like cream puffs, a little underdone in the middle and puffy. They are great filled with tuna or egg salad for during the week.

[Julliana]

Sandra - Thanks for that recipe. I think its close to my mother's except I dont remember any oil and vanilla.  My mother had several different tube pans for these cakes and some were a bit smaller so she had leftover batter and would make jelly rolls with it. She used kosher jam which I always thought was horrible and too sweet - then she rolled it in, or sprinkled granulated sugar over it - she was a great cook but this was not my favorite and it definitely tasted like "Passover".

Rachel - we had those rolls but she must have put a little sugar in them because they weren't savory to me - I could have put cream cheese on them but I never thought I'd like them with tuna or egg salad.  I always ate them plain.  I hated dry matzo, so anything resembling a bread product was heaven sent.

My mother also made something she called a "bagel".  The only thing that they had in common with a bagel was the shape and hole in the center. I remember it had a lot of oil in it and it also had a bit of sugar in it.  It was very very moist and I remember greasy fingers and napkins eating them. I thought these were better than the rolls but I always ate them plain - I knew it was the closest thing to bread I was going to see that week, and all things considered in those days - it wasnt bad:-)

My mother had this old fashioned flat mesh type whisk that she used to whip her egg whites for her matzo brei. The foamy egg whites made it come out high and thick which everyone liked.

Julliana

[Fat Guy]

Fennel is considered to be chometz (not kosher for Passover) by some Askenazi Jews

Interesting. I hadn't heard that one. I wonder if it's based on a botanical misunderstanding arising from the grain-like appearance of fennel fruits (colloquially called seeds). You're talking about the fennel bulb in your soup, not the seeds, right? I'm pretty sure the bulbs we use for eating come from a different variety of fennel anyway. I'd love to learn more about the thinking behind this particular stricture.

We've done a few seders, and boy is it a challenge to do a grain-free make-ahead meal for a whole lot of people. We like it to be Passover-like, but we're not committed to traditional Ashkenazic culinary awfulness as made worse by American Jewry, so we work with the general theme but try to appetize it a bit. Some of the things we've done that have worked out nicely:

Easy substitute for the gefilte fish course: A cold plate of several varieties of smoked fish slices with miniature pickled vegetables.

Labor intensive substitute for the gefilte fish course: Gefilte fish made fresh with carp only, no pike, and simmered in a nice fish fume.

Traditional matzoh ball soup, because I like it just as it is, which we do even though in my opinion it's totally chometz.

Instead of bad Ashkenazic haroset, Sephardic haroset (I made some notes on this in the latke competition thread at http://www.egullet.com/ib3....4&t=336 ).

Instead of brisket, not that there's anything wrong with brisket: Braised short ribs (braised in a mixture of veal stock and red wine, which later get reduced into the sauce) with roasted new potatoes and whatever greens are available fresh.

We've had some fun with the seder plate items and the traditional ceremonial foods, such as doing an egg salad with garlic-and-parsley mayonnaise instead of the eggs in salt water.

For dessert: Fruit only. Plus when guests ask what they can bring we usually let them bring entries for our "worst kosher candy" competition. The winner gets the worst kosher candy from the previous year.

Wine-wise, for the past few years, it has been strictly Yarden's Cabernet from the Golan Heights for the red, and Baron Herzog's amazing (for the price) Chenin Blanc for the white. Plus we usually keep a bottle of the most disgusting variety of Manischewitz or Kedem we can find on hand just to drink as a goof for the last glass.

[Sandra Levine]

I also make a "Sephardic" haroses, based on chopped dates rather than apples.  

It is fennel bulbs in the soup and for the life of my I cannot figure out why anyone could construe this vegetable as chometz, but I thought I would pass on the information, in case it mattered to anyone.

Some years I make a chocolate jelly roll, using a naturally flourless recipe.

[macrosan]

...so we work with the general theme but try to appetize it a bit

OK Fat Guy, I spotted it. Nice job  

[Sandra Levine]

Plus we usually keep a bottle of the most disgusting variety of Manischewitz or Kedem we can find on hand just to drink as a goof for the last glass.

It wouldn't be Passover without it.

[tj1616]

We've been doing a Seder for 30-40 for the past 20 years.  Some of our favorites are

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.

Scarlet Chicken and Middle East Lamb Shoulder with Saffron and Herbs from Zell Schulman's Let My People Eat are both huge crowd pleasers.  I would prefer using leg of lamb, as the shoulder can be very gristly, but it's not Kosher and I have some guests who only eat Kosher meat.  The chicken has dried cranberries and cherries with oj and sherry, yum.

After trying many different Matzoh Ball recipes over the years, we all seem to like the Manischevitz Matzoh Ball mix the best.  Good flavor, fluffy, not a lead lump.

I've tried various vegetable side dishes, but am always looking for new ones.

For dessert, I've tried some in the food magazines each year.  Has anyone else noticed that none of the March issues had any mention of Passover?  I think the editors did not bother to look at the calendar.

[Sandra Levine]

I have always felt that lamb would be the most appropriate meat to serve at a seder, but we have several family members who do not eat red meat, especially lamb -- the cuteness factor having taken hold. (The cuteness factor being, IMO, one of the most powerful reasons for making the choice to be vegetarian, even if it goes unrecognized by the vegetarian in question or disguised as the humane angle.)

[Rachel Perlow]

Why is leg of lamb not kosher, but shoulder is?

[Fat Guy]

It's not the leg per se that isn't kosher. It's the sciatic nerve that is not considered kosher in traditional Judaism, on account of Jacob's injury in that area. It is possible to remove this nerve from a leg of lamb or from the hindquarter of a steer, but it's a pain in the ass -- so to speak. So you will rarely see a leg of lamb or a short loin cut of beef in the United States that has been processed so as to be kosher. But you see them at butcher shops in Israel all the time.

[Sandra Levine]

Similarly, because a deer is a ruminant (chews its cud) and has a cloven hoof, venison is kosher if the deer is slaughtered according to the laws of kashruth.

[heyjude]

The April Bon Appetit has a nice, if brief,Passover article. You are right,I think they did forget to look at the calendar.

[Fat Guy]

Sandra, as I understand it the problem with venison traditionally was that you had to hunt it to kill it. And hunted food by definition is not killed according to the dietary laws. So yes, now that venison is for the most part raised just like any other farm animal, it can be kosher if all other requirements are met.

One of my favorite sources for interesting discussion of such issues, "Reb on the Web," points out that there is a gray area when it comes to trapping. Theoretically, you can trap an animal and then slaughter it according to the kosher laws. You don't have to just shoot it with a .22 (or, in days of yore, I suppose a bow and arrow). But I think the consensus is that trapped is no good either, for various reasons.

[stefanyb]

For years I made a veal brisket, much in the manner of beef brisket,  braised with carmelized onions, potatoes and carrots.  Recently I have been unable to obtain the required veal and the last butcher I asked looked at me as if I had two heads.  Does anyone know where I could obtain said veal?  It doesn't have to be kosher but the ones I managed to get in the past have been.

[Rail Paul]

Stefanyb -

you might call Mark Bergman at Alle Processing, which does a lot of the Kosher meat processing in NYC. The firm is in Maspeth 718-894-2000

Also, a firm in Scranton specializes in glatt kosher flash freezing

Blatt Meats

If you're interesting in picking your own live calf and watching the slaughter, there are several vendors in The Bronx and and Queens who will provide the venue.

Paul

[stefanyb]

RailPaul-   You certainly are a treasure trove of information.  Thanks, I'll let you know what comes of my search.

[Fat Guy]

Stefanyb, when you say you asked a butcher, do you mean an actual butcher or just some schlepper working behind a supermarket butcher counter? Because it is extremely difficult for me to imagine a real butcher who has not heard of veal brisket! Now a supermarket butcher-counter schlepper, that's another story. A couple of years ago, we asked for lamb shanks and got the same may-as-well-be-from-Mars reaction.

[macrosan]

But I think the consensus is that trapped is no good either, for various reasons.

I guess the reason for this is that for meat to be kosher it must contain no significant blemishes, specially bruises. A bruise contains congealed blood which cannot be removed by salting, which renders the meat non-kosher. I suppose that any trapped animal is likely to be injured in the process.

[macrosan]

My mother also made something she called a "bagel".  The only thing that they had in common with a bagel was the shape and hole in the center. I remember it had a lot of oil in it and it also had a bit of sugar in it.  It was very very moist and I remember greasy fingers and napkins eating them.

These sound like what my mother (Litvak) called "bubbelehs" and my wife's mother (Polack) called "latkes".

[franklanguage]

Aunt Ida's Sponge Cake also calls for 12 eggs:

<snip>

Wow; I'm not thrilled about the prospect of  using 12 eggs for the sponge cake, but I imagine this is a good recipe and I know everyone there will like it.

I'm going to Judith Malina's seder for the first time this year, and have agreed to bake either the sponge cake or the honey cake. So my question is: does anyone have any other recipes for either the sponge or the honey cake? I have a couple of weeks to try different recipes before I decide.