for Passover

Past Monday we began celebrating Passover. It is challenging week in the kitchen as well as my chance to brush up on some of my favorite recipes and few dishes I only cook about once or twice a year, or even less frequently. Celebrating Passover is not only a chance for a discussion about history and traditions, and meaning of being Jewish but a look at what we eat every day. We are not a kosher family but we try to follow the traditions and rules that come with being Jewish, like fasting on Yom Kipur or not eating bread on Passover. It is not an easy task for someone who did not grow up with Jewish education. Having said that I do not want to make any excuses for anything. My husband and I were really amazed at the number of restrictions that Jews abide by according to the Torah.  During Passover Jews do not eat Hametz or food made from "five grains": wheat, spelt, barley, oats and rye. Ashkenazi Jews, however go further and expand the prohibitions to other food that called Kitniyot and include rice, all legumes like soy and its derivatives, and corn. So, naturally you eliminate pretty much everything that is sold n the supermarket. That is what got my family in a conversation about what we eat, and what really is in our over processed foods. High fructose corn syrup is in everything... even in ketchup. To reinforce my point: sending lunches for my kids to school is a new task - I had to get creative this week.

For first dinner - Seder, we got together with my parents-in-law and their very good friends Sabina and Arkadiy. We read the Haggadah, drank the wine, asked the questions and ate. Naturally, our guests did not come empty handed. Sabina cooked the most traditional Jewish food - Gefelte Fish. She did it the way it was done in Eastern Europe by Jews long time ago. What many American Jews call Gefelte Fish and is sold in the supermarkets in glass jars as little cutlets of fish is not at all what I ate growing up. My grandma, like Sabina made real gefelte fish. I only hope one day to attempt to cook it but so far did not have the guts to. The way this fish is made is by peeling the skin off the fish, then removing the flesh, to  make the ground fish mixture that is then placed back in the carcass of the fish. Then the whole fish is cooked with onions, carrots and beets with spices. As the fish cooks in small amount of water, the gelatin from the fish bones makes a thick stock, that upon cooling will solidify. That is what we enjoyed with horseradish this Passover, thanks to Sabina.

My absolutely favorite salad from Passover is Haroset. It is simple and easy dish that is a must at the Seder. I get it done in food processor. I first chop walnuts, then switch the blade and shred apples over the walnuts. then mix the rest in a bowl. I mix and match my apples and add more honey if it needs to be sweeter. Sometimes I add raisins.
6 apples shredded
1 c walnuts chopped
2-3 tblsp honey
1/2-3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c of sweet kosher wine or grape juice




Chopped chicken liver - never photographs well.

  The chicken chopped liver is something that I love but only cook about twice a year for Rosh Hashana and Passover. It is really simple and delicious dish I love from childhood. I bake the livers and pulse in food processor with other ingredients.
2 lbs of chicken livers
6 hard boiled eggs
1 onion
Salt and pepper
Bake livers on the  baking sheet lined with foil at 400F for about 25 min. Meanwhile saute finely chopped onion in oil and rendered chicken fat - schmaltz. I actually found that in NY you can buy it in the supermarket, but in CA one would have to make it. It is easy to do. Remove chunks of fat from the chicken and melt it in the frying pan over medium heat until it is liquid. Ideally, the  whole onion is sauteed in it, but about a spoonful will give the dish the necessary flavor without the unwanted cholesterol. When the chicken is cooked you will notice a that the is some liquid that is in the baking sheet. I reserve that liquid, since the livers sometimes turn out to be dry and if the broth that leaked out is added back in, the dish gets better texture. I pulse all ingredients in the food processor. My husband prefers this dish to have a chunky texture with some bits distinguishable. I personally like it smooth and creamy, well blended. This time I made it so that husband will appreciate.



Aspic from chicken with jar of horseradish

This next dish was a debut for me. Although I always enjoyed this dish as a kid and helped my grandma and mom make it, this time I cooked it all by myself. This is definitely very Eastern European dish that is not easy to describe and may be somewhat shocking -  it is meat jelly. I did not know how to translate it but my husband helped, and now I know that it is Aspic. I remember my grandma cooking it in a pressure cooker and that always gives me warm childhood memories of hanging out in her tiny kitchen. Back then to make aspic, the parts of chicken were collected in the freezer over some time to make that dish. These days I can just get the necessary ingredients in one shopping trip. In order for the soup to solidify it needs gelatin, that is naturally occurring in bones and joins of the chicken. I can get the bones and chicken feet and winds at my local oriental store and the dish will be ready the next day. Sometimes I think that I will buy myself a pressure cooker, but always talk myself out of it. This concoction of chicken bones, wings and feet along with onion, carrot and celery rib cooks for a very long time to get the most gelatin to leach out. Literally 18 hours or so on the small fire on the back burner of the stove. My mom taught me that in order for the dish to solidify it has to have small amount of liquid to begin with. The way to measure is to use the same 2-3 dishes where you are planning to make the final presentation and fill it with water . Mom says that no more than that. I, however, take account for the water that will inevitably evaporate during cooking and add one or 2 more dishesfulls of water. It is hard to measure exactly. From what I gather there where 2 lbs of chicken feet and 3 lbs of wings plus few more bones from the leg quarters. when the broth is cooked it has an oily and thick texture if you touch the broth with your fingers. That is in indicator that it is likely to solidify.  There is always a way to make this dish less complicated, and it's by adding plan unflavored gelatin.  The clove of garlic is pressed in the dish with  some salt, then the meat is pulled of the bones and added to the bottom of the dish. the liquid broth is added over the meat and garlic. For extra flavor and decorations sliced hard boiled egg is placed on the top. Not sure how it was possible for my grandma, but when she made the dish the hard boiled eggs floated on the top, unlike my that sunk to the bottom and rested on the meat. The dish then carefully placed in the refrigerator and solidifies over few hours. It is best served with grated horseradish.

I do not think one can survive with all the matzo eating during Passover without a beet salad. I made it out of boiled beets, shredded with roasted pine nuts (or sunflower seed but not for Passover)  and mayonnaise. I also marinated some cooked and sliced beets in a sweet and salty marinade. As a main course a chicken dish was prepared that deserves a separate post and is coming later.

I think we never eat so many eggs as we do during Passover week. It is used by me frequently as I make fried matzos with egg. More on it in my next post.