Passover Menu and Recipes

Stuffed Eggplant:
Adapted from Olive Trees and Honey
2 eggplants (or 8 baseball-sized eggplants)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or other fresh herb
1 cup matza meal
1 tbsp choppped chives or 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/2 tsp dried basil
1tsp kosher salt
1 cup cheese, shredded
1 cup yogurt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350.
Scoop out cores of eggplant and reserve pulp.
Cook shells in boiling water until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Drain.Chop reserved pulp.
Heat 2 tbsp oil. Add onion and garlic and sautee 5 minutes.
Add rest of oil, eggplant, and herbs and sautee until soft, about 10 minutes
Remove from heat and stir in rest of ingredients: matza, salt, pepper, chives, cheese, egg, nuts.
Place shells in greased pan and spoon in filling.
Bake covered in foil 20 minutes.
Uncover and bake until golden, 10 minutes.

Egg-Lemon Asparagus
Adapted from Olive Trees and Honey
Note: When not Passover, this is delicious over pasta...
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, cut in half.
1/2 tsp kosher salt
pepper to taste
1/2 cup water
2 tsp flour
2 eggs, beaten
5 tbsp lemon juice
2 lbs asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
In a skillet, heat the oil. Add garlic and sautee 1 minute. Add asparagus, salt, and pepper. Discard garlic.
Add water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook at medium low until tender.
Remove asparagus and save cooking liquid.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, eggs, and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in cooking liquid.
Pour mixture back into the skillet and cook with low heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken. Be careful, or you'll end up with scrambled eggs!
Pour sauce over asparagus and serve immediately.

Note: You can't reheat the sauce- unless you want scrambled eggs!!


Algerian Potato and Herb Terrine
Adapted from Quick and Easy Meals for the Vegetarian
Note: this recipe is really delicious, and it sounds a heck of a lot more complicated than it actually is. We've added, subtracted, and substituted ingredients. As long as the proportions are more or less the same, it's fine.

We've had some issues with the potatos cooking through, so you may want to try slicing them and baking them first to soften them up. Also keep in mind that you need to let this sit and cool and solidify for 2 hours before you can eat it.

1lb spinach, cooked
3 tbsp chopped fresh sorrel (hard to find, dill or basil with a little extra lemon juice tastes great too)
2 tbsp chopped fresh chervil (optional, really hard to find)
2 tbsp chives or scallions
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cardamom seeds or 1/2 tsp cardamom
2 cups sour cream
3 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp tomato puree (not necessary)
2 tsp harissa (optional, spicy!)
2 lb potatos in very, very thin slices
4 oz cheese, grated (gruyere is great, cheddar too)

In a large bowl, mix spinach, herbs, garlic, spices, sour cream, eggs, tomato and harissa.
In a loaf pan, alternate layers of this mixture and potatos, ending with mixture on top. Top with shredded cheese.
Cover and bake in a pan 1/2 full of water for 1 1/4 hours. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes until top is golden. Let stand for 2 hours before turning out.

Cod Baked in a Yogurt Sauce

From The Wednesday Chef
Serves 4 to 6

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, cut into 1/8-inch slices
2 pounds thick fillets cod
2 cups Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
¼ teaspoon garam masala
¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cubed (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. When hot, add the onions and cook over medium until translucent, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a baking dish just large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Cut the fish fillets crosswise into 2-by-3-inch pieces and lay them over the onions.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, cumin, coriander, garam masala, cayenne and ginger. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Pour sauce over the fish, tucking some under each piece. Cover with foil and bake until the fish is just cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes.

3. Garnish with lemon wedges and a shake of paprika and/or cayenne.

Toffee with Apricots, Chocolate, and Rosemary
Adapted from Cecily Celebrates! Lavender Cashew Toffee (because my mom hates lavender)
This is also a flexible recipe. You can use any kind of chocolate and any dried herb or chopped nuts. Go crazy. Or not. It's also a just good when it's simply toffee and chocolate.

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
2 tsp rosemary, crushed into small pieces
3/4-1 cup chocolate for melting
Candy thermometer (essential!)

Butter a medium cookie sheet.
Bring butter, sugar, salt and water to a boil.
Put candy thermometer in and stir constantly 15-20 minutes until candy reaches hard crack stage- 300 F. Watch carefully!
At 300 exactly, remove from heat and stir in rosemary. Pour onto baking sheet and let spread. Let it cool.
While cooling, melt chocolate in double boiler or by putting glass bowl over boiling water. Let it cool slightly, then add apricots and spread over toffee.
Let it cool completely in the fridge and then break into pieces and serve. Keeps well in fridge!

Mango, Pear and Coconut Charoset

For this recipe, chop ingredients by hand. Although it is not as easy and throwing everything into the cuisinart, ours got too pasty when we made it with a machine, with a consistency not unlike
chopped liver. But tastier. We initially used cashews, which were too sweet. Use almonds or even walnuts.

1 ripe but not mushy mango
1 ripe and soft pear
1 cup almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
juice of 1 lime
2 tsp tamarind concentrate (can be found in Indian markets- optional, but really nice)
sprinkle of Chinese 5 spice (optional, can substitute ginger)

Chop nuts and fruit and mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Chinese Tea Eggs
I adapted these from this recipe. They come out with a beautiful brown marbling and a subtle but rich taste.

Chinese Tea Eggs - 茶叶蛋 （cháyèdàn)

6-10 eggs
2 tablespoons black tea
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
4 pieces star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorn (optional)
2 to 3 strips orange peel (optional)

Put eggs in a medium-sized pot with enough water to cover the eggs. Bring water to boil, then lower heat to simmer for 3 minutes. Remove eggs from heat and allow them to cool a bit before handling (running them under cold water does the trick quickly.) Take the back of a knife and crack eggs evenly all around.

There's the fabulous brew. Return eggs to the pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring liquid to boil again, then simmer for 1 to 3 hours, longer for a more intense flavor and color, adding water if level gets too low. Remove from heat, and put into ice water. Peel when they're at room temperature.

Coconut Jello

I adapted this from this recipe. This was delicious! One problem. The first time I made it, the coconut fat rose to the top of the jello, creating an effect not entirely unlike a french manicure. So this time, I used beaters.

Coconut Gelatin Dessert

1 envelope unflavored gelatine
5 tablespoons sugar
1 cup boiling water
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Mix gelatine and sugar in a bowl, and add boiling water, beating until
dissolved. Then stir in coconut milk and flavoring. Pour into a mold and chill until set, about 3 hours.

Passover Chocolate Nut Apple "Cake"
My mom is famous for this cake, which she adapted from a passover cookbook years ago. It's thick and moist and not too too sweet. The frosting is a new adaptation this year.
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
1/2 cup matza meal
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, grated
2 apples, peeled and grated

Frosting: 3 ounces each semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate, grated finely

Beat egg yolks with sugar until lemon colored and thick. Gently stir in nuts, matza, and apple. Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold into other ingredients with a spatula. Pour into 9" springform pan; bake 45 minutes to 1 hour.

To frost, sprinkle chocolate and white chocolate on cake immediately when it comes out of the oven and let melt until shiny. When it looks shiny and soft in a few minutes, take the tip of a knife and drag it across to create swirls in the chocolate. Let harden and let the cake cool COMPLETELY before attempting to remove from pan.

Quinoa and Sweet Potato Cakes with Orange-Cumin Raita
Adapted from this recipe
2 eggs
3 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups peeled grated sweet potato
1/2 cup flour or matza meal
sprinkle of salt and pepper
2 bunches scallions, chopped (optional)

Raita (adapted from Vegetarian Planet):
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp cumin
1/4 c chopped cucumber (optional)
1 tsp orange zest

Cook quinoa according to directions on box, or use rice cooker. Mix with eggs, spices, scallions, and sweet potatos. Form into patties and fry in olive oil. Mix all ingredients for raita. Serve together.