Shalom, Guest   Login

 

Delicious? Easy? And Kosher L’Pesach?? Two Pesach Cookbooks Cure Your Cooking Conundrums

So there is good news and bad. Which one do you want to hear first?

Me? I always want to hear the bad news first. I need to get it over with.

So here goes. Purim 2013 is now something we can discuss in the past tense and that can only mean one thing.

Actually two.

The first is that we have all probably gained five pounds in the past week from tasting all those home baked treats that have mysteriously materialized on our kitchen tables. The second is that it is time to roll up our sleeves, get to work and start scrubbing dried gunk off our refrigerator shelves.

Now the good news.

While there is no way to magically deduct those extra Purim calories, not all your Pesach preparations have to involve manual labor and in fact, some of the pre-Pesach prep can actually be enjoyable. I’m talking meal planning of course, something far less stressful and labor intensive than kashering your kitchen. And while you may be scratching your head and wondering what kind of delicacies you can dream up to feed the hungry masses that perpetually pop up around your table, fear not. A dynamic duo of cooking queens has teamed up with an all new Pesach cookbook that is going to keep you smiling from ear to ear.

Passover Made Easy is what you get when you cross a cookbook author, who also happens to be the co-founder of a popular cooking website, with the managing editor of a weekly kosher food magazine. While Leah Schapira, author of the bestselling volume Fresh and Easy Kosher Cooking and co-founder of CookKosher.com and Victoria Dwek, managing editor of Whisk, published weekly by Ami Magazine, seem like an unlikely pair, the two combine their unique styles and diverse heritages and turn out a selection of recipes guaranteed to please.

It is clear from the very first page of this engaging, entertaining and informative volume that both Leah and Victoria are in touch with today’s busy women who want to serve meals that are creative, delicious and attractive yet are relatively fuss free, particularly when it comes to Pesach. In another nod to the realities of everyday life, while Passover Made Easy is a visually stunning book with recipes that just may leave you drooling, it is a soft-cover book attractively priced at $15.99 and is available both online and in stores.

“We wanted to have a book that is accessible to everyone,” Victoria told The Jewish Press. “Prices of cookbooks are often intimidating and we don’t want it to be like that.”

In fact, Passover Made Easy, which is distributed by Artscroll, is the start of a new series of lower priced cookbooks and the two are already hard at work on the next volume.

With sixty original recipes, a food and wine pairing guide, cooking tips, interesting tidbits and even a replacement index for those who observe some extra stringencies on Pesach, Passover Made is Easy is 124 pages of pure cooking goodness. (My favorite tip? Using a sealed bottle of soda as a stand in for a rolling pin. I usually use a can of cooking spray, but this works equally well.) The cookbook is broken down into six separate sections: Starters, Soups and Salads, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Brunch and Dairy and Desserts. A full color picture accompanies each recipe and plating and serving tips are interspersed throughout the book. Only four of the recipes use matzah meal, a bonus for people who don’t eat gebrokts on Pesach and for those who don’t use processed foods on Pesach, few if any are used in these recipes. Recipes for homemade mayonnaise, breadcrumbs and crepes, versatile items that can be used in many different ways, are featured prominently at the beginning of the book.

There were definitely more than a few recipes here that looked intriguing. Crispy Crackers made out of potato starch and ground almonds, with variations including paprika and basil flavored. A green salad featuring green apples, roasted butternut squash cubes, sugar and spice nuts and a shallot dressing. Russian Cole Slaw featuring not cabbage, but cucumbers. French Toast made out of a mixture of mashed bananas, eggs, sugar and potato starch which is then baked before it is dipped in eggs and fried. While I won’t be making the very intriguing Tortillas with Tomato-Mint Salsa and Guacamole because they are gebrokts, you can bet your bottom dollar that Pecan Pie with Cookie Crust is definitely going to be making on appearance on my dining room table.

Passover Made Easy. Go out and buy it. Come on. You know you want to.

***

Matzaroni and Cheese

Gebrokts  6 to 8 servings

What kids don’t prefer mac ’n cheese over anything else? This is a easy dinner that will get all the troops running to the table when the hot, cheesy, and bubbling dish emerges from the oven.

Ingredients

5 matzahs, broken into small pieces

5 eggs

1 (16-oz) container sour cream

1 (16-oz) container cottage cheese

3 Tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp salt

2 cups shredded Mozzarella or Muenster cheese, divided

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In an 8 x 8-inch baking dish, arrange ¹⁄³ of the broken matzah pieces.

2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Add sour cream, cottage cheese, butter, salt, and 1 cup shredded cheese. Pour 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the matzah. Repeat with two additional layers of matzah and cheese. Top with remaining 1 cup shredded cheese. Bake for 40 minutes. The cheese on top should be brown and bubbling.

From Passover Made Easy, by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek, and published by Artscroll Shaar Press.

* * *

Potato-Chip Zucchini Sticks with Lemon-Mayo Dipping Sauce

During the year, we coat anything we want with bread crumbs, or, my favorite, cornflake crumbs. For Passover, potato chips are the perfect replacement. Have fun playing with different flavors, including ketchup, honey BBQ, and onion and garlic chips — but use chips, not potato sticks.

Don’t skip the dipping sauce! You’ll love how the tanginess of the lemon complements the zucchini. -Leah

Yield: 6 servings

 

Ingredients

3-4 Tbsp oil

2 large zucchinis

¼ cup potato starch

2 eggs

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp garlic powder

1 cup crushed plain potato chips

1 cup crushed barbecue potato chips

 

Lemon- Mayo Dipping Sauce

½ cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 scallion, white and light green parts, finely chopped

¼ tsp salt

¹⁄8 tsp coarse black pepper

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush each sheet with 1-2 tablespoons oil.

2. Slice each zucchini in half lengthwise and then widthwise to form quarters. Slice each quarter lengthwise into about 6 sticks.

3. Place zucchini sticks into a resealable plastic bag. Add potato starch to bag. Seal and shake to coat zucchini sticks in potato starch.

4. In a shallow dish, combine eggs, salt, paprika, and garlic powder. Place each type of crushed chips into a separate shallow dish.

5. Remove zucchini sticks from bag and dip into egg mixture, a few at time, then dip in either flavor of crushed potato chips. Repeat until all zucchini sticks are coated. Place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 30 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, prepare the dipping sauce: In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, scallion, salt, and pepper. Serve alongside zucchini sticks.

From Passover Made Easy, by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek, and published by Artscroll Shaar Press.

* * *

Also being released in time for this year’s meal planning marathon is an updated version of Aviva Kanoff’s stunning cookbook, titled The No-Potato Passover. Think you can’t make Pesach without ever having to peel a potato? Think again. Set against a backdrop of magnificent full color photographs, of Italy, France, England, Morocco, Israel, Jamaica, Hungary, Australia and Croatia, most of which were taken by Aviva herself, this innovative cookbook comes up with some pretty impressive alternatives to everyone’s favorite spud. The No-Potato Passover was named Gourmand Award Winner for Best Jewish Cuisine in the United States and is currently in the running for the prestigious Gourmand Best in the World Competition.

Using spaghetti squash in lieu of pasta, assorted fruits, vegetables and quinoa (check with your local rabbi on whether or not he recommends quinoa for Pesach use as well as its possible need for special certification), Aviva pulls together eighty unique recipes that simplify the exotic and quickly and painlessly add color, nutrition and an extra dose of yumminess to your Pesach meals. Exchange your humdrum chicken soup with Roasted Garlic Soup with Flanken. Trade in boring boiled chicken with mashed potatoes for Poached Peach and Chicken Salad. And then top your meal off with Raspberry Shortcake Trifle and some Viennese Crunch.

A personal chef who trained at the French Culinary Institute, Aviva’s eye for color and art really shines through in all 165 pages of The No-Potato Passover, which is available at bookstores or online at www.nopotatopassover.com.

Sit back, pour yourself a tall glass of ice water, put your feet up and pat yourself on the back. It may look like you are just leafing leisurely through a cookbook, but in fact, you really are preparing for Pesach. Sounds good to me!!

* * *

 Cabbage Soup With Matzoh Meatballs

Ingredients for soup:

1 large onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

5 tbsp. canola oil

1 tbsp. sugar

4 tomatoes, diced

1 large green cabbage, chopped

8 cups chicken stock

1 tbsp. honey

2 cups tomato sauce

 

Ingredients for meatballs:

½ cup matzo meal

½ lb. ground beef

3 eggs

salt and pepper

1 tbsp. oregano

1 tsp. cumin

 

Directions:

1.  Sauté onion and garlic in canola oil until brown.
2.  Add sugar and caramelize.
3.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
4.  Let boil for 30 minutes and then simmer.
5.  While the soup is boiling, mix all ingredients for the matzo meatballs.
6.  Form into balls, and then add the matzo meatballs to the boiling soup. Cook for 20 minutes.

 

From THE NO-POTATO PASSOVER by Aviva Kanoff   (February 2013, Hardcover, $29.99)

* * *

Poached Peach and Chicken Salad

Marinade:

¾ cup balsamic vinegar

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Kosher salt & ground black pepper

2 peaches (12 oz. total), halved & pitted

4½ tsp. olive oil

4 cups baby greens

 

Chicken:

1 lb. chicken breasts

1 tsp. salt

1½ tsp. paprika

1⁄8 tsp. garlic powder

1⁄8 tsp. onion powder

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. rosemary

Salt & pepper

 

Directions:

1.  Prepare a medium gas or charcoal grill fire. (Note: If you don’t have a grill, you can cook the chicken in a sauté pan in its marinade.)
2.  Combine vinegar and thyme in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
3.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the mixture is thick, syrupy, and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6-9 minutes.
4.  Cook peaches in the syrup for 2 minutes until soft. Remove from the heat, discard the thyme sprigs, and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
5. Season chicken and grill or sauté in a pan until cooked.
6. In a medium bowl, toss the baby greens with the remaining 2½ tsp. oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange on a platter.
7. Top with the chicken and peaches. Drizzle with about 2 tbsp. of the reduced balsamic, adding more to taste. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and remaining juice from chicken and peaches.

Tip: Substitute chicken with 1/4-cup feta cheese for a dairy meal.

 

THE NO-POTATO PASSOVER by Aviva Kanoff   (February 2013, Hardcover, $29.99)

About the Author:

You might also be interested in:

You must log in to post a comment.