Dried Fruit and Coconut Charoset

Passover 2021. My family declared this charoset is “the one!”

Dried Fruit and Coconut Charoset

• 3/4 cup chopped dates

• 3/4 cup chopped dried figs

• 1/3 cup raisins

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

• 1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts, optional

• 1/4 cup honey

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 1/4 cup orange juice

Mix the dates, figs and raisins in a bowl, cover with water and let rest for 25-30 minutes. Drain and return the fruit to a bowl. Add the coconut, the nuts, if used, the honey, orange peel and orange juice. Mix.

Makes about 1-1/2 cups.

Chicken: Soup to Salad

Every year before Passover I think about new ways to eat the chicken from the chicken soup that I cook for my Seder. I make the soup several days ahead, strain the liquid and freeze it. 

The cooked vegetables and boiled chicken do make a good, plain, old-fashioned meal for dinner, but we don't always want that. So, with the vegetables? Best bet has always been veggie burgers.

The chicken? Salad. Made all sorts of ways.

Here's one way. Fortunately ataulfo (honey/champagne) mangoes are in season and they are easy to peel and cut for salad; they’re also not stringy like some mango varieties. Bonus: I put aside some of the dill I use to season my chicken soup and it is a lovely seasoning for chicken and mangoes.

Chicken and Mango Salad with Dill

• 2-1/2 to 3 cups diced cooked chicken

• 1 small (I used ataulfo) ripe mango, peeled and diced

• 2-3 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

• 3-5 tablespoons white wine vinegar

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the chicken and mango dice in a bowl. Sprinkle the dill on top. Mix 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar with 2 tablespoons olive oil and pour over the chicken and fruit. Toss. Season with salt and pepper. If you prefer a moister salad, add more olive oil and/or white wine vinegar to taste. Or fold in a bit of mayonnaise. Let rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 2-4 servings

Passover Shepherd's Pie with Matzo Crust

I always try to make our Seder meals as festive as possible. Most years (sans pandemic) I roast a turkey and braise a big brisket. Lots of vegetable side dishes. Sometimes the second night is vegetarian. My grandma’s honey-soaked chremslach are a must. Ditto the Manischewitz concord grape wine (along with some lovelier selections).

But during the week — not so much. It’s regular meals. So, maybe meatloaf (with matzo meal substituting for bread crumbs). Or chicken cutlets crusted with coconut. Leftover turkey made into salad. Like that.

From time to time I make this “Shepherd’s Pie” — which really isn’t Shepherd’s Pie because there’s no potato crust. I include the potatoes in the meat mix and gave it a matzo crust. That crust is a crunchy, wonderful thing together with the softer, more tender inside ingredients.

Passover Shepherd’s Pie with Matzo Crust

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 large clove garlic, chopped

• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 1 large Yukon Gold or other all-purpose potato, peeled and chopped

• 1-1/2 pounds ground meat

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, optional (or use 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)(or use 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley)

• 2 tablespoons potato starch

• 1 cup stock (beef, chicken or vegetable)

• 2 matzot

• 1 egg, beaten (or use olive oil)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots and potato and cook, stirring frequently, for 7-8 minutes, or until softened and beginning to brown. Add the meat, salt, pepper and thyme and continue to cook and stir, breaking up the meat into small pieces, for another 5-6 minutes or until the meat has cooked through. Add the potato starch and stir it into the meat mixture. Pour in the stock and cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened (about one minute). Spoon the mixture into a rectangular baking dish. Soak the matzot briefly to soften them slightly, then place them on paper toweling and press any excess water from them. Place the soaked matzot on top of the meat. Brush the surface with the beaten egg. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the top is crispy and browned.

Makes 4-6 servings

Passover Carrot Cake

One Passover, decades ago, we decided to forego Aunt Rozzie’s sponge cake, the dessert we had eaten year after year after year at our Seders for as long as I remembered.

We switched to the newer, modern, au courant flourless chocolate cake.

But after years of that we got bored again with the same old same old.

So I began to bake other stuff. Orange-Almond Cake. A Passover version of our family’s treasured recipe for butter cookies. Toasted Almond Napoleon with Balsamic-glazed Bananas. Chocolate Jelly Roll.

Then I experimented with carrot cake.

Winner!

As far as I’m concerned carrot cake is always a winner. You can add a cream-cheese frosting or top it with whipped cream, ice cream or sorbet, but it really doesn’t need any of those. It’s just wonderfully moist and delicious as is. Even this version, suitable for Passover.

Passover Carrot Cake

• 8 large eggs, separated

• 1-1/4 cups sugar

• 6 tablespoons orange juice (or use mango or apple juice)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup finely chopped almonds

• 1 cup very finely chopped carrots

• 1 cup matzo cake meal

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper. Beat the egg yolks and 3/4 cup of sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer set on medium-high, for 3-4 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Stir in the juice, vanilla, almonds, carrots, cake meal, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and blend ingredients thoroughly. In a second mixer bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until they are frothy. Continue beating, gradually adding the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Beat until the whites are glossy and stand in peaks. Stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the yolk mixture. Fold the remaining whites into the yolk mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake on a rack.

Makes 10 servings

Butternut Squash Salad with Feta Cheese and Pepitas

This is the time of year (where I live, anyway) where one day it can be winter: cold, windy and snowy. OR spring: warm, sunny, go-for-a-walk weather.

This salad reflects the season: some roasted winter squash with young, tender greens in a salad that’s light, a first course to a spring meal.

Butternut Squash salad with Feta Cheese and Pepitas

• 1 medium butternut squash

• 2-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

• kosher salt

• Aleppo pepper or cayenne (optional)

• 2 cups packed baby spinach or other greens

• 5-6 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

• 4-5 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh. Peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler. Slice the squash into 1/2-inch slices. Place the slices on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Coat the slices on both sides using one tablespoon of the olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and Aleppo pepper if desired. Bake the squash for 15 minutes. Turn the slices over. Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the squash from the oven. Place equal amounts of the spinach leaves on each of four serving plates. Place equal amounts of squash slices on top. Sprinkle with equal amounts of feta cheese and pepitas. Mix the remaining 1-1/2 tablespoons of olive oil with the white wine vinegar. Sprinkle over the salad. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings

Braised Short Ribs with Harissa

Yes, it’s March already! But it feels as if it’s been March for a year.

Doesn’t it?

Hasn’t it been?

Somehow this past year of endless March I’ve been less motivated and felt less creative. Or maybe it’s just that I feel safer, more comforted with the known, even when it comes to food.

So I’ve been less adventurous than usual with recipes.

And yet, the other day I went to prepare my tried-and-true recipe for short ribs and thought I’d do a little something different. Also, I had no tomato paste. I substituted ketchup and decided to jazz the dish up with some harissa.

What a difference! This dish is a wow! It might become the tried-and-true.

Braised Short Ribs with harissa

• 1/3 cup flour

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or a few sprigs of fresh thyme)

• 4 pounds bone-in short ribs

• 5-6 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 medium onions, cut into thick slices

• 4 carrots, cut into chunks

• 3 stalks celery, cut into chunks

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 2 teaspoons harissa paste

• 1-1/2 cups beef stock

• 1 cup red wine

• cooked noodles, rice or mashed potatoes, optional

Combine the flour, salt, pepper and thyme in a dish. Coat all surfaces of the short ribs with the flour mixture. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the meat and cook, turning the pieces occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until lightly crispy on all sides. Remove the meat and place the pieces in an oven casserole. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 5-6 minutes or until lightly crispy. Add the ketchup and harissa paste and stir them into the vegetables. Pour in the stock and wine, Stir and bring the liquid to a boil. Turn off the heat and pour the vegetables and liquid over the meat. Cover the casserole. Place in the oven. Turn the heat to 275 degrees. Cook for 3-4 hours or until the meat is very tender. Serve the meat with the vegetables and sauce by itself or over noodles, etc.

Makes 4 servings

Green Bean Salad with Orange

Green Bean Salad with Orange

Historians tell us that Queen Esther was a vegetarian, that in order to keep her Jewish identity secret and stay within kashrut, she ate only fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds and grains. Perhaps some dairy products as well.

On Purim we honor this extraordinary woman, who outwitted the evil Haman and saved the Jews of ancient Persia from complete annihilation.

This is often a time when even meat-eaters have a vegetarian meal.

Here’s a salad that would be a delicious starter to any meal, vegetarian or not (the grated cheese is optional). It also makes a nice transition dish to spring — it’s coming!! Serve this dish at room temperature.

Green Bean Salad with Orange

• 1/2 pound green beans

• 1/3 cup chopped red onion

• 1 orange, peeled; segments cut into pieces

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or ground almonds, optional

Cook the green beans until they are just fork tender, drain under cold water and let dry on paper towels. Place the green beans in a bowl and add the red onion and orange pieces. Pour in the olive oil and toss the ingredients to coat them with the oil. Pour in the white wine vinegar and Balsamic vinegar and add the rosemary. Toss the ingredients to coat and distribute them evenly. Sprinkle with cheese or nuts if desired. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Shortbread Hamantashen

I was heartbroken when my favorite bakery, the one that had the best hamantashen ever, closed a few years ago. It was The Bakery, in Plainview, Long Island, across the street from my contact lens eye doctor. They also had the best Mandel bread and the best Russian coffeecake, babka (both cinnamon and chocolate) and almond horns.

Also Jewish corn bread. And Chinese cookies.

I would call them in advance to place an order and after the visit to the eye doctor, would go get my stash, place it all (except for one hamantashen) in the trunk of my car and head home to Connecticut. I bought two freezer shelves worth, which was enough for six months (to time the next doctor visit).

I now buy hamantashen at Cafe Dolce, in Norwalk, CT. They’re awesome, like from The Bakery. Similar dough, same apricot and prune lekvar filling (but alas, no Mandel bread, babka, etc.)

Every year I bake a new hamantashen recipe to see how close I can come to those memorable ones. This year I came really close — these have a soft, crumbly, flavorful dough with just a hint of citrus. There’s a good balance of dough to filling. Lekvar of course. I didn’t have any jarred lekvar so I made my own (recipe is below the recipe for hamantashen, although I have made lekvar before using the recipe here.

But - this is a dairy recipe. My next venture is to try this dough using vegetable shortening. I’ll let you know how it turns out,

Meantime, these are delicious. All my tasters have said so.

Shortbread Hamantashen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons grated orange or lemon peel

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 10 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• lekvar (about half cup) or other filling

Combine the flour, orange peel, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a food processor) beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thoroughly combined. Add the egg and beat the ingredients to blend it in. Add the flour mixture and mix for 2-3 minutes until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 35-40 minutes or until cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough on a floured surface to a thickness between 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch. Cut out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Place a heaping teaspoon of lekvar in the center of each circle. Pinch the sides to close the filling and shape into a triangle. Pinch tight so the cookies won’t open during baking. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate again for at least 30 minutes. Bake for about 18 minutes or until beginning to brown.

Makes about 18

Prune Lekvar

• 1/2 pound pitted prunes

• 1 cup orange juice

• 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Place the prunes, juice and honey in a saucepan, bring to a boil over low heat, lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for about 20 minutes until the prunes are very soft. Puree the ingredients. Stir in the lemon juice.

Makes about 2 cups

Chinese Chicken with Peanuts (Kung Pao Gai Ding)

It just so happens that Chinese new year and my husband’s birthday (February 12) fall on the same day this year. And that’s grand because there is nothing he would like better than to have Chinese food for his birthday dinner.

Kung Pao Gai Ding — Chicken with Peanuts — is one of his favorites, so that’s what he’ll be getting.

CHICKEN WITH PEANUTS

sauce:

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon rice wine

• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 2 teaspoons water

the chicken:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 4-6 dry red whole chili peppers

• 4 large scallions, chopped

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger

• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts

Mix the soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, kosher salt and sesame seed oil in a small bowl and set it aside. Mix the 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl and set it aside.

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and place them in a bowl. Add the 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch and mix thoroughly to coat all the chicken pieces. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a wok or stirfry pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stirfry for 2-3 minutes or until all the pieces are white. Dish out the chicken and set the pieces aside. Heat the remaining tablespoon vegetable oil in the wok. Add the chili peppers, scallion, ginger and stirfry briefly. Add the chicken and stirfry for about a minute, distributing the ingredients evenly. Stir the sauce and pour it into the pan. Stirfry for about a minute. Add the peanuts and mix them in evenly. Stir the cornstarch mixture and pour it into the pan. Stirfry until the sauce has thickened. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

Braised Flanken, Just Like Grandma Used to Make

We got over a foot of snow this week. That’s flanken weather. And I’m in the mood for plain old. No frills, no riffs.

This recipe is tried (many times) and true. No fuss, no bother. Good old fashioned eats. For cold weather. For comfort.

If you don’t have flanken, you can make the same recipe using “English cut” short ribs, large chunks of chuck or really any “stew” type beef.

Braised Flanken

• all-purpose flour

• salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic salt and paprika

• 6 pieces flanken

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 medium onions, sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 4 large carrots, cut into chunks

• 2 large all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

• 2 cups red wine

• 2-3 fresh thyme sprigs

Mix the flour with some salt, black pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Coat the meat with the flour mixture. Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat and cook on both sides for 5-6 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the meat and set it aside on a plate. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil into the pan. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Mix the tomato paste into the ingredients. Return the meat to the pan. Add the carrots and potatoes. Pour in the wine. Place the thyme sprigs on top. Turn the heat to low. Cook for about 3 hours or until the meat is soft and tender.

Makes 4-6 servings