Zucchini Bayildi

Every year, at every Passover Seder, I serve a side dish called Imam Bayildi, which is basically stewed eggplant, leeks and tomatoes, though sometimes I've made it with onions instead of leeks.

Somehow the occasion wouldn't seem right without this traditional dish.

And yet, last year my kids said that maybe it was getting a little boring. One of them doesn't care for eggplant, so -- there was no Imam Bayildi this year. 

But during the week I will serve a kind of "bayildi" (which means "fainted" -- because it tastes so good that the Imam who first tasted it fainted).

This new dish is colorful and chock full of vegetables. It's spring-like and refreshing, so it is perfect for Passover's sometimes heavy meals. But it's also an all-year round dish that goes with any meat, poultry or fish you might serve. Or serve it as part of a vegetarian dinner.

It also takes much less time than the original recipe.

Zucchini “BayIldi”

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 medium leeks, cleaned and sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, cut into bite size pieces
• 3 large tomatoes, chopped (or 10-12 campari tomatoes)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley, sugar, salt, lemon juice and water. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until all the vegetables are tender. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Makes 6-8 servings

Hurry Hurry, Eat That Curry

I know there are differences in the traditions among observant Jews as to whether certain ingredients are permitted during Passover. Like beans, which most Ashkenazy Jews won't eat, but if your background is Sephardic, well, then beans are ok.

It's the same for curry powder, which contains cumin, which can be questionable and is generally not on the kosher for Passover list for many.

And so, if you're looking to use up your curry powder here's a goodie for dinner this week.

The other benefit? This recipe has four ingredients (not counting salt and pepper, which are optional) and is so easy that you will be thoroughly grateful for this dish during the tremendously busy time right before the holiday. And also during the year whenever you're busy and need a quick-and-easy dinner.

Also, it's really really tasty. And perfect with rice, which you might be wanting to use up as well. 

Easy 4-Ingredient Orange-Curry Chicken Breasts

• 4 chicken breasts on the bone (or use whole legs)
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, preferably hot curry powder
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the chicken in a roasting pan. In a small bowl, mix the orange marmalade, lemon juice and curry powder together and spoon over the chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the chicken in the oven. Roast for 10 minutes. Baste the chicken and turn the heat down to 350 degrees. Roast for another 25-30 minutes, basting occasionally, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crispy.

Makes 4 servings

Salmon Latkes with Lemon-Scented Mayo on Matzo

Half a lifetime went by before I understood the unique wonderfulness of sandwiches on matzo. As a kid I felt awkward and embarrassed bringing cream cheese and jelly or egg salad sandwiches on matzo in my school lunch.

No matter that several other kids did the same thing. I thought it was weird and I hated it.

Nevertheless, even then I had to confess, if only to myself, that those sandwiches were really really good. The crunch and crispiness of matzo was perfection against anything soft inside. So if it was anything creamy or tender, like tuna or chicken salad, well, that was good. If weird.

Roast beef? Not so much. Too hard to chew a piece while at the same time trying to keep the matzo from crumbling into a million pieces.

My Mom sometimes made salmon latkes to eat on matzo. I would never bring this to school. Much too weird I thought. Too fishy. It might smell.

Kids are embarrassed by those sorts of things.

But at home? Well, salmon latkes on matzo (with a dollop of lemon-scented mayo) is a real treat.

Try it for yourself!

SALMON LATKES WITH LEMON-SCENTED MAYO ON MATZO

• · 2 cups mashed cooked salmon

• · 2 large eggs

• · 1/2 cup matzo meal

• · 1 small grated onion, optional

• · 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, optional

• · salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• · vegetable oil

• · mayonnaise

• · lemon juice

• · grated fresh lemon peel

• · matzos

In a bowl, mix the salmon, eggs, matzo meal, onion, if used, dill and salt and pepper to taste until well combined. Heat about 1/8-inch vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Shape the salmon mixture into 8-10 cakes. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side or until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Eat plain or with Lemon-Mayo on Matzo.

Makes 8-10

For each portion Lemon-Mayo, mix mayonnaise (2 tablespoons) with 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel per portion. Spread on a half piece of matzo, top with one salmon latke.

Orange-Honey-Nut Tart

What to do with Macaroons

In the old days we ate macaroons straight out of the can. That was dessert.

But there are so many delicious things you can do with plain old macaroons. Like use them to make a crust for cheesecake. Or crumble them to top a fruit crisp. Or break them up into a parfait dish with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Or make this fabulously rich tart. It’s sort of like a Chess Pie or Pecan pie. With a macaroon crust. 

Make it ahead and keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days. You won’t be sorry.

Orange-Honey-Nut Tart

18-20 macaroons

2/3 cup honey

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cream (light, whipping or half and half)

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon grated fresh orange peel

1 cup medium-fine chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Crumble the macaroons and press them onto the bottom and sides of the greased pan. Set aside. Place the honey, butter, sugar and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, mixing constantly. Cook for about a minute or until the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly. In a bowl, beat the cream, eggs and orange peel together until well blended. Pour in the honey mixture and blend ingredients thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the macaroon crust. Scatter the nuts on top. Place the tart in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.

Makes 8 servings

Linda Gratt’s Gefilte Fish

Gefilte fish was never one of my must-have foods. Maybe it’s because the only kind I had growing up was the jarred kind and, like most foods, jarred, canned or otherwise, packaged stuff is not generally the best example of kind. My mother never made fresh gefilte fish and neither did my grandma. Maybe it had something to do with where my ancestors were from.

Or not.

My mother always did say that my other grandmother — my father’s mother — was a terrible cook, except for her gefilte fish and challah, neither of which I remember ever tasting because I don’t remember ever eating in that grandmother’s house.

But I actually made gefilte fish once, many years ago, when I was doing some catering and a client wanted a batch. That’s when I realized that gefilte fish, properly made and called by another name — say, fish quenelles — could be tender, delicate and fabulously tasty, which they were. I also decorated them with tiny carrot-and-leek tulips. They took forever to make, hours of work and I swore I would never make them again. Which I didn’t. Which is fine in our house because my daughter Gillian is allergic to fish and we never have gefilte fish at our Seders or any other family dinner.

But my friend Linda decided to make some this year using her Grandma Kate’s recipe. She got the fish from New Wave, a shop in Stamford, CT., and told me it got to the store just hours before she picked it up and “was so fresh that it could have jumped into the pot itself….wasn’t the least bit fishy smelling..as a matter of fact, there was no odor at all.” 

She told me that “word from the assemblage was that the gefilte fish was the right texture. My sister Gail thought there should be less onion and Susan thought more salt and pepper.”

She used her Cusinart to grind the fish a bit (3 pulses) but never let it puree, which would have made the texture mushy. She finished it to the right texture the old fashioned way, using a bowl and chopper.

She said the fish was light, sweet and tender and concluded “it was delicious……I don’t know if I can go back to the stuff in the jar!”  

As for the time consuming process, she said that although “it was a great adventure,” next year she will have the fish filleted so she doesn’t have to do that herself. 

Wish I could taste a piece right now. It looks looks so delicious. Here’s her recipe:

Linda Gratt’s Gefilte Fish (from her Grandmother Kate) (adapted instructions)

2-1/2 pounds white fish

1-1/2 pounds yellow pike

3 big onions, chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

salt and pepper

2 large eggs

1 cooking spoonful matzo meal (about 3 tablespoons)

3/4 cup cold water

1 carrot, cleaned and sliced

1 additional onion, sliced

Filet the fish, but save the bones and skin. Slice the fish, then chop it using a meat grinder or bowl and chopper (or pulse a few times in a food processor, then finish it to a small grind using a chef’s knife and cutting board. Place the fish in a mixing bowl. Add the chopped onions, sugar, salt and pepper and eggs and mix thoroughly, continuing to chop the ingredients while working them in to the mixture. Add the matzo meal and water and mix in thoroughly. Line the bottom of a large pot with the fish bones, the sliced carrot and onion. Form the fish mixture into ovals the size of a “healthy hamburger.” Take a piece of the fish skin and wind it around each oval (wet your hands with cold water to make this part less messy). Place the fish inside the pot. Continue, using all the fish mixture. Fill the pot with water, pouring the liquid down the side so as not to injure the ovals. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan partially and cook for 2-1/2 hours. Let cool. Remove the ovals, without the skin, to a platter. Garnish with the carrot pieces. Refrigerate until cold. Strain the broth (it will gel when cold). Serve the fish with some of the gel and some horseradish if desired. 

Passover Birthday Cake

Passover Birthday Cake

My daughter Meredith’s birthday sometimes falls during Passover, which means that in certain years she isn’t able to have a “traditional” birthday cake.

Which didn’t bother her one bit when she was a kid because she absolutely loved the flourless chocolate jelly roll cake I made for her and for years this is what she asked me to bake even when it wasn’t Passover. I always thought it was an interesting and glamorous choice considering her age.

Guess it all comes down to how it tastes. Mer was never one to pick something just because it was “the thing” or because someone else liked or wanted it. She liked how this chocolate roll tasted and I don’t blame her. It’s de-lish. Passover-friendly too. But you can make this any old time.

Here’s the recipe.

Flourless Chocolate Jelly Roll Cake

6 ounces semisweet chocolate

3 tablespoons cooled coffee (or brandy or rum)

5 large eggs 

1 cup sugar

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 pint strawberries, sliced

cocoa powder or (Passover) confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 15-1/2”x10-1/2” jelly roll pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving several inches hanging over each of the short edges. Butter the portion of the paper that fits inside the pan. 

Melt the chocolate and coffee together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Mix the ingredients well and remove the top part of the pan from the heat. Let cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed (or use a hand mixer), beat the egg yolks and all but 2 teaspoons of the sugar together for 3-4 minutes or until thick and pale. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend it in thoroughly. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Mix about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold the remaining whites into the chocolate mixture. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it to make it even. Bake for about 10 minutes or until “set.” Remove the cake from the oven. Cover it with a slightly dampened kitchen towel. Let cool.

Loosen the cake by pulling the overlapping ends of parchment paper. Invert the cake onto a clean sheet of parchment paper or kitchen towel and roll it up starting with one of the long sides. Set aside. 

Whip the cream and remaining 2 teaspoons sugar and vanilla extract until thick (use an electric mixer or hand mixer). Unroll the cake and spread the whipped cream on top of the cake, leaving about 1-inch at the edges. Top with the strawberries. Roll the cake starting on the long side. Place on a serving platter, seam side down. Dust (using a strainer) with cocoa or confectioner’s sugar.

Makes 10-12 servings

Crunchy Matzo Brei

Crunchy or soft? What’s the right way to eat matzo brei?

In my last blog post I said that my husband thought it was weird that I ate matzo brei with yogurt, not maple syrup. His mother had served it with maple syrup, or, more likely, with “table syrup” like Log Cabin.

Well that’s not the only point of disagreement we have on the subject. The other one has to do with texture. Sometimes food can taste terrific but the texture isn’t right.

Right?

When I made made matzo brei for him the first time he said it wasn’t at all what he expected. My version is soft and tender, the way my mother made it and the way my grandmother made it.

His mother made it crunchy. She hardly soaked the matzo, so matzo brei in the Fein household was more like an eggs and matzo flat omelet. It tastes fine. But I prefer the soft, tender kind. But I realize that good people can have different opinions on this, so here’s how to make Crunchy Matzo Brei:

Crunchy Matzo Brei

1-1/2 matzos

warm water

1 large egg

salt to taste

butter

Break the matzos into small pieces into a bowl. Cover with warm water and let it soak for 20 seconds. Drain any non-absorbed water, then squeeze the pieces to extract as much excess water as possible. Add the egg and mix the ingredients. Sprinkle to taste with salt. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the egg-matzo mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Makes one serving (but you can double, triple or even quadruple the recipe and use a bigger pan)

Soft Matzo Brei

“There’s no French Toast during Passover.” That’s what I told my grandkids when they were here for a few days for Seders and sleepovers. They’re used to French Toast when they come to grandma’s house because I always have a spare challah in the freezer, or we make one and then have leftovers, and everyone on earth knows that the best French Toast is made with challah.

But never mind that. “Israeli Toast” is on the menu, is what I told them.

You know. Matzo Brei. It’s the same thing as French Toast but instead of using bread, you use matzo.

But here’s a dilemma. Topping for French Toast is easy: either maple syrup, cinnamon sugar or jelly. A lot of people do the same for Matzo Brei. But when I was a little girl my grandma served Matzo Brei sprinkled with salt and topped with a big blob of sour cream. Sometimes applesauce.

My husband Ed always thought this was weird. But it’s how I served it to my own daughters too, who think it’s weird to drizzle matzo brei with anything as sweet as maple syrup. If I had sour cream in the fridge, that’s what they would choose. But we’ve switched to fat-free Greek yogurt instead.

“Israeli Toast” or Matzo Brei is so easy to make. And a delicious switch from every other cereal-based breakfast. So if you want to give it a try, here’s my recipe:

Matzo Brei

• 3 pieces of matzo

• hot water

• 2 large eggs

• salt

• butter

• sour cream or plain Greek style yogurt

Break the matzot into small pieces into a bowl. Cover with hot water and let it soak until the pieces are soft. Drain any non-absorbed water, then squeeze the pieces to extract as much excess water as possible. Add the eggs to the soft matzo pieces and mix until the matzo and egg are well combined. Sprinkle to taste with salt. Heat the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the egg-matzo mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt, or, if you must, with maple syrup.

Makes 2-3 servings

Pavolvas

Once I had a meringue race with a KitchenAid mixer and I WON! I was teaching a class and we were making Pavlovas. I used a big copper bowl and balloon whisk. The KitchenAid mixer had a stainless steel bowl and whisk attachment plus 10 speeds.

Now, I am NOT saying it was worth the effort. Just because I CAN do something doesn’t mean I want to. I wouldn’t ever want to be without my standing mixer. And I always make meringues in the stainless steel bowl (there is a copper bowl attachment but I never bought one).

Just thought I’d mention it. Ahem.

Pavlovas, which are hard meringue shells filled with fruit, lavished with sauce and topped with whipped cream, are sugary sweet and you can do a lot with them. And they’re so easy to make. They’re also a good dessert for Passover because there’s no flour and stuff we can’t eat during the holiday.

They are named after a famous Russian ballet dancer named Anna Pavlova (1881-1931). Food historians say that a hotel chef in either Australia or New Zealand named the dessert after her visit there in 1926. The white meringue shell is said to mimic her tutu and in the original recipe, the shells were filled with kiwi fruit, in imitation of the cabbage rose decorations on her outfit.

Anyway, Pavlova meringues are quick enough to put together and they are perfect containers for springtime’s wonderful profusion of berries and other fruit. I usually use strawberries and kiwi, but any soft fruit will do.

Pavolvas

Meringue Shells:

4 large egg whites at room temperature

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Beat the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment set at medium speed until the mixture is foamy. Add the lemon juice and salt and beat, gradually increasing the speed, until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat, gradually increasing the speed to high, until the mixture stands in stiff, glossy peaks. Stir in the vanilla extract. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread 6 equal amounts of the meringue mixture onto the sheet. Flatten the mounds with the back of a large spoon, leaving the edges slightly higher. Bake for 45 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 250 degrees. Bake for another 15 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet to a cake rack to cool. Gently release the meringues from the parchment. Makes 6

Filling and Sauce:

2 cups raspberries

1 tablespoon brandy or orange juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1-1/2 to 2 cups cut up strawberries and/or kiwi fruit, bananas, mango, papaya, blueberries, etc.

mint leaves

Place the raspberries, the brandy and all but one teaspoon of the sugar into a food processor and puree the ingredients. Set aside. Whip the cream with the remaining one teaspoon sugar until it is thick. Spoon the raspberry sauce onto 6 dessert plates. Place the meringue shells on top. Fill the shells with the cut up fruit. Top with the whipped cream. Garnish with mint leaves. Makes 6 servings

Haroset with Pistachios and Pepper

Charoset (Haroset) is more than a blob of stuff that sits on the Passover Seder plate. Sure, we talk about it during the Haggadah reading. It’s there to symbolize the mortar used between the bricks that Jewish slaves used to build the pyramids for the ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

But it’s also food. In our family, another fabulous side dish, more like a relish, that we eat plenty of during the meal.

None of us ever really loved the old fashioned apple-wine mixture that most of us Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern European descent grew up with. It always tasted a bit sour and it got brown and ugly and besides, my daughter Gillian can’t eat walnuts and somehow almonds didn’t taste right in the mixture.

So, years ago I experimented with lots of recipes and found one I liked. It was a “Persian” recipe that I changed over and over until I got it the way I liked. At first my kids refused to eat it saying they would rather eat real mortar than this new charoset. But over the years they gradually came to love it and now insist they always did or at least can’t remember when they didn’t.

I double the recipe I am going to post here because it’s so good we eat a lot of it and besides, this relish lasts a while in the fridge so you can keep on having it all during Passover.

Haroset with Pistachios and Pepper

• 1 cup chopped dried apricots

• 1 cup chopped dates

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 cup shelled pistachio nuts

• 1 cup chopped almonds

• 2 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped

• 2/3 cup sweet red Passover wine

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/2 cup orange marmalade

  Combine the apricots, dates, raisins, pistachio nuts and almonds in a bowl and toss ingredients to distribute them evenly. (You can prepare this much a week ahead). Add the apples, wine, vinegar, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne and marmalade and mix ingredients. Let rest at least 4 hours before serving. May be made 3 days ahead.

Makes about 6 cups.