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.

Dumplings, Dumplings, and More Dumplings

Dumplings: Photographic Evidence of Delicious

As it is 10:20 and we started making them at 7:00, I am too tired to write. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Now Frying: Tofu/carrot/water chestnut/five-spice
Spinach/egg
Chicken/leek/water chestnut

Done, and ready to eat with Chinese black vinegar and homemade and dangerously spicy la jiao

Mine were steamed, for super healthiness!

And they ended up chewier, which I actually liked a lot!

We had some red bean paste in the house, so I made dumplings, pan-fried them, then mixed coconut milk, cow milk, and almond extract for a dipping sauce.

Next entry: Dumpling Hangover

Mangosteen Clafouti: Sounds like a disease; Tastes like a custard.

When my husband, mother-in-law, and I were traveling in China, she was obsessed with this fruit called a mangosteen. A friend had told her to make sure she ate a mangosteen in China. They're really rare in the states because they only grow in a certain region at a certain specific time. Chances are you haven't eaten one of these. For a long time, they weren't allowed into the US because of the fear of fruit flies. They're still rarely found fresh, but we found cans of mangosteen in a Chinese supermarket this weekend and surprisingly, there was a recipe on the web. The canned sections of mangosteen look rather like garlic, but thankfully they do not taste like it. See what I mean?
Anyway. So we went all over Chengdu looking for someone selling mangosteens. Finally, we found a woman selling them out of her baskets and excitedly ate them. They aren't nearly as exciting as the cross-continental buildup, but they have a pleasant taste and they are truly a bizarre visual hybrid of eggplant, tangerine, and shot putt.

But the dessert. Mangosteen Clafouti sounds like a disease and tastes like custard. It's a wonderful mix of mangosteen, which has a citrus-y peach mild flavor, coconut milk, and eggs. Delicious! Here's a finished product, before we poured more coconut milk on top:

Here's a link to the recipe!

Dosas!

I love these beautiful South Indian savory-sweet lentil-rice pancakes with potato-coconut filling. I have eaten them twice this week. They are a salty, sweet, sour, crunchy dish. They're low-fat and filled with protein and unusual flavors. They're not especially prep-intensive but it takes foresight, as the grains need to soak overnight then ferment for a day. What's fascinating is how well the lentil and rice crepes stay together despite having absolutely no binding agent. I improvised the filling and chutney based on dosas I ate around the corner. The key was a spice mix I picked up at an Indian market. It's called Panch Puran, or Bengali spice mix, and contains fenugreek, fennel, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and nigella seeds. It's really pretty, too, with black and yellow seeds and greenish pods.

This recipe awakened my love of fenugreek and fennel. As a self-confirmed Enemy of Licorice, I never thought I'd enjoy either of these spices, but they really made the dish. It also reaffirmed my love of tamarind. You may think you've never eaten it, but it's the runny reddish-brown sauce that comes with samosas.

So, without further ado, here it is!

Dosa Batter:
Dosa batter is made of rice and lentils and can be bought in Indian markets like Shalimar in Central Square. I made my own and when I ran out, I used the store-bought kind too. Opinions were divided. My husband and I loved the sourness of the store-bought, which probably fermented more than we let ours ferment. This recipe doesn't have as much sourness but tastes somehow richer. It's absolutely essential (I learned the hard way) to make the batter much runnier than pancakes if you want a truly thin dosa.

Here. They look like crepes, but they're sour and crunchy:


3 cups rice
1 cup black lentils
water to cover
2 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
Soak rice and lentils overnight in a bowl with enough water to cover by about 2 inches. Blend mixture in blender until liquid. Let it ferment in a large bowl (it will increase in size) for about 8 hours. Add water to make it a runny consistency. To make pancakes, oil or spray pan lightly and ladle in. Swirl pan around to spread batter. There will be holes and that's ok. When you can see it browning and peeling from the pan, flip it with a spatula and cook another few minutes.

The Filling:

1 can chick peas
3-4 potatos, peeled and cut into very small chunks
onion to taste
kosher salt
panch puran
vegetable oil

Fry potatos in a few tablespoons oil and salt until they start to soften, about 20-30 minutes. Add onion and cook until soft. Add spices and chick peas and sautee several minutes.

Coconut Chutney
Mix all ingredients in bowl to form a thick paste:

approximately 1 cup dried unsweetened coconut
drizzle of water, for texture
2 tbsp tamarind paste

We tried all kinds of condiments with this: lime pickle, pepper jelly, papaya, and more.
Here's my friend Andrew loading it all on his dosa. He's several seconds away from dosa perfection.

Asparagus and Pasta with Egg-Lemon Sauce

I've already mentioned my love of asparagus. I finally got Jonah into it, and now he can't get enough. My friend Beth (of the pizza dip recipe, see February) got us a wonderful vegetarian Jewish cookbook called Olive Trees and Honey. We've made a couple of the recipes, including Cheesy Stuffed Eggplant and the abovementioned asparagus, and although both have benefited from our tinkering around, I'm sure they're quite good as is.

Here's the asparagus recipe. The sauce is essentially a hollandaise. The first time we made it, we found that it makes wayyyyy too much sauce for the asparagus, so we put the rest on pasta. It won't keep for more than a day since it has partially cooked egg and can't be reheated, so make and eat. It's so good there won't be leftovers anyway.

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2-3" pieces.
2 tsp flour
2 eggs
5 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped

2 cups pasta, cooked

Sautee garlic in oil. After several minutes, remove and add asparagus. Sautee several minutes, then add water to pan. Bring water to a boil and let cook until asparagus is softened. Meanwhile, beat 2 eggs. Add flour and then lemon juice. When asparagus is done, remove from pan and pour cooking liquid into egg mixture. Pour both back into the pan and cook about 3 minutes on low heat, until the sauce starts to thicken up. Remove immediately from pan and pour over pasta and asparagus.

This is a great side dish!

Savory Hamentashen

Every Purim I find myself kind of disappointed by the hamentashen at the Jewish day school where I work. The school orders about 1000 huge, doughy, dry pastries and this year they were filled with chocolate. Not a bad idea, but I really prefer jam. They were delicious when dipped in tea, but after two of them I was so sugared out that I really needed an anecdote. So, I went home and improvised some savory hamentashen. You can invent your own, too- I sauteed onion and garlic in oil and white wine, put in nearly equal parts vegetable and cheese, and added an herb and an egg or two. A formula that works every time.

For the dough, I made a pie crust that my husband found on Cooks Illustrated. It was pretty easy and astoundingly delicious. Please note that the recipe contains vodka. This cooks off, and my husband the alchemist insists that it has something to do with preventing glutinous formation. I don't know what that is, but I don't like the sound of it. Anyway. I, Erica Smiley, will never use store-bought pie crust again. Here's the recipe for this wondrous pie crust. One recipe makes enough for one recipe of one filling.

Fillings:
















Mushroom Parmesan Sage

1 package mushrooms, chopped
olive oil
cooking wine
1/4 cup or so parmesan cheese
3-4 dried sage leaves
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
Sautee onion and garlic in oil and wine until onions are translucent. Add sage and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms shrink. Remove from heat and let cool. Add parmesan and egg. Nibble.
















Spinach Feta Rosemary

1 package pre-washed spinach
1-2 tsp rosemary
olive oil
cooking wine
2 eggs, beaten lightly
3/4 cup feta, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped onion

Sautee onions and garlic as above. Add rosemary and sautee several minutes. Pile up the spinach and cook until wilted. Let cool and then chop and add cheese and egg.

Coat your hands with flour and flatten small handfuls of dough into patties. Place about a tablespoon of filling in each one and pinch three corners. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, until browned.

Spinach Patties with Orange-Cumin Raita

First, an apology. I was so hungry when I was making these, I didn't even take pictures. And I couldn't put down my fork long enough to take pictures when they were done.

These hot, crunchy, chewy, salty spinach patties are from the cookbook Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons- but we always tweak her recipes a bit. We add eggs to this one to make the dough stay together a bit better. They're not altogether easy to make because there are a lot of steps, but they're all easy steps. They have lots of protein and don't taste spinach-y.

Raita is a yogurt sauce that is amazingly refreshing on top of the hot spinach patties. It's usually made with cucumber; go ahead and add some if you want. These would probably be excellent over rice, but it's not necessary. Just a thought.

12 oz spinach
1 cup chopped onion
8 slices bread
olive oil
20ish almonds
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup lentils
2 eggs

3/4 cup yogurt
2 tsp cumin (or more, to taste)
1 tsp orange zest

Combine lentils and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer until lentils are soft.
Meanwhile, toast the bread and put it in the food processor to make crumbs. Sautee crumbs in a dry pan until toasty. Transfer them into a bowl.

When the lentils are done, put in food processor with almonds and form a chunky paste. Add to bowl with breadcrumbs.

Chop onion and sautee in olive oil until soft. Add cider vinegar and sautee one more minute. Add to bowl with breadcrumbs.

Now it's time to wilt spinach. Just pile it in the pan and watch it shrink. Cook spinach in a dry pan. Chop it up when it's all done and add it, plus the 2 eggs, to the bowl and stir everything.

Prep a plate with flour. Put flour on your hands and make about 8 patties. Dredge each patty in some flour and lightly fry in olive oil until they brown.

To make the raita, add all the ingredients together in a bowl. It's as simple as that.