Recipes

PASSOVER RECIPES

Gefilte Fish Appetizer

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 2 pounds whitefish
      • 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
      • 2 pounds pike
      • 3 eggs
      • 2 pounds carp
      • 3/4 cup ice water
      • 4 large onions
      • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
      • 2 quarts water
      • 3 tablespoons matzah meal
      • 4 tsp. salt
      • 3 carrots, sliced in 1/4″ rounds

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Fillet the fish (or have the dealer fillet it for you), reserving the head, skin and bones.
      2. Combine the head, skin and bones with 3 sliced onions, 2 quarts water, 2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper.
      3. Bring to a rapid boil, lower heat slightly and keep boiling while preparing fish.
      4. Grind or chop fish and remaining onion finely in a food processor or by hand.
      5. Add the 3 eggs, ice water, sugar, matzah meal and remaining salt and pepper. Continue processing until very fine.
      6. Moisten hands: shape mixture into slightly flattened loaves approximately 3″ long. 2″ wide and 1″ high.
      7. Carefully drop loaves into fish stock.
      8. Add carrots, cover loosely and cook over low heat 1 1/2 hours.
      9. Remove cover for last 1/2 hour.
      10. Cool fish slightly before removing to platter.
      11. Strain the stock over the fish and arrange cooked carrots around it.
      12. Chill.
      13. Serve with horseradish (comes in jars). Serves 12.

Chicken Soup

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 4 pounds chicken parts
      • 3 1/4 quarts water
      • 3 onions, peeled
      • 2 cloves garlic
      • 1 bay leaf
      • 2 chicken bouillon cubes
      • 1 1/4 tablespoons salt
      • 2 carrots, peeled
      • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
      • 1 teaspoon dried dill

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Place chicken parts, onions and water in an 8-quart pot.
      2. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 2-3 hours, skimming foam off top as necessary.
      3. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT dried dill and parsley: cover and simmer for 1-2 more hours. (If desired, soup can be strained at this point.)
      4. Add dill and parsley and cook for 15 minutes more.
      5. Refrigerate overnight.
      6. Skim off fat before reheating next day.
      7. Serve with knaidlach (recipe following) Makes approximately 10 servings.

Knaidlach (Matzah Balls)

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 6 eggs, separated
      • 1 teaspoon salt
      • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
      • 1 cup matzah meal
      • 2 tablespoons chicken fat or margarine, melted

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Beat egg whites until stiff.
      2. Beat egg yolks in separate bowl until light.
      3. Add salt, pepper and melted fat to beaten yolks; fold gently into egg whites.
      4. Fold in matzah meal one spoonful at a time.
      5. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
      6. Moisten hands and form batter into walnut-sized balls.
      7. Drop into rapidly boiling soup or water.
      8. Reduce heat and cook slowly, covered. for 30 minutes. Serves 12.

Fat-free Knaidlach

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 1/3 cup club soda
      • 1/2 teaspoon salt
      • 1/3 cup matzah meal
      • 2 eggs, separated
      • 1/3 cup matzah meal
      • 1 tablespoon dried parsley

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Combine first three ingredients: form into a smooth paste and refrigerate for 1 hour.
      2. Add the egg yolks, matzah meal and parsley.
      3. Beat egg whites until stiff (but not dry) and fold into mixture.
      4. Chill 2 hours in refrigerator.
      5. Form into walnut-sized balls and drop into rapidly boiling water or chicken soup.
      6. Reduce heat and cook slowly, covered, for 30 minutes.
      7. Makes 24 small knaidlach, enough for 6 servings.

Charoseth

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 2 tart apples
      • 1/2 cup walnuts
      • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
      • 1 teaspoon honey
      • 1 tablespoon sweet Passover wine

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Core apples (it is not necessary to peel them).
      2. Chop apples and walnuts together in food processor blender or by hand until finely chopped (the size of grape nuts).
      3. With a wooden spoon, stir in the cinnamon, honey and wine until well blended.
      4. Will serve 10-12 people. Serving is 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon per person on piece of matzah.

Main Dishes

Carrot and Sweet Potato Tzimmes

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 4 pounds beef brisket or chuck roast
      • 10 large carrots
      • 10 medium white potatoes
      • 6 medium sweet potatoes
      • 2 teaspoons salt
      • 1/4 cup brown sugar
      • 1 medium onion, sliced thin
      • 4 tablespoons matzah meal
      • 4 tablespoons melted chicken fat or margarine
      • cinnamon

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Scrape and cut carrots into 2″- long pieces.
      2. Peel and cut potatoes into 1″- thick rounds.
      3. Sear the beef with the onion over high heat in a pot that is large enough to hold all the other ingredients.
      4. Turn the meat frequently until it is browned on all sides.
      5. Add carrots, potatoes, salt and sugar.
      6. Add water to cover and bring to a boil.
      7. Reduce flame and cook over low heat for 2 1/2 3 hours, until meat is tender enough to pierce with a fork.
      8. Liquid should be reduced by about half at this point; if it reduces too quickly, add a little more water.
      9. Remove onion from pot.
      10. Pour contents into a baking pan.
      11. Saute matzah meal in melted fat; add 3 tablespoons of the tzimmes liquid to make a thickening agent.
      12. Mix the thickening agent evenly throughout the baking pan.
      13. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top and bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.
      14. Serves at least 12 people.

Matzah Kugel with Cheese

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 4-6 matzahs
      • 4 eggs
      • 1 pound cottage cheese
      • 1/2 teaspoon salt
      • 1 cup milk
      • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
      • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
      • 2 tablespoons margarine or butter

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Break matzahs into 2″ pieces.
      2. Mix eggs with milk and reserve 1/2 cup of mixture.
      3. Mix the rest with the cottage cheese and seasoning.
      4. Dip the matzah into the reserved egg-milk mixture.
      5. Arrange these in layers in a greased 3-quart baking dish.
      6. Dot each layer with butter or margarine and the prepared cheese.
      7. The last layer should be matzah covered with any remaining milk-egg mixture.
      8. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

Desserts

Almond Macaroons

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 5 egg whites
      • 1 1/2 pounds confectioner’s sugar
      • 5 tablespoons matzah cake meal
      • grated rind of one lemon
      • 1 pound blanched almonds, finely ground

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Beat egg whites until stiff (but not dry); add sugar a little at a time until blended in.
      2. Fold in cake meal, lemon rind and ground almonds, being careful not to break down egg whites.
      3. Drop from a teaspoon onto a foil-lined cookie sheet, leaving one inch between drops.
      4. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 300° or until lightly browned on top and bottom.
      5. Let cool: peel off foil. Makes approximately 3-3 1/2 dozen macaroons.

12 Egg Sponge Cake

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 12 eggs, separated and at room temperature
      • 2 cups sugar
      • juice and grated rind of one lemon
      • 1/4 cup orange juice
      • 1 cup matzah cake meal
      • 1 cup potato starch
      • 1/4 teaspoon salt

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Beat the egg yolks until thick; add the sugar gradually until you have a rich, thick mixture.
      2. Add lemon juice, rind and orange juice, and continue beating.
      3. Sift the matzah cake meal, potato starch and salt together three times: fold in lightly.
      4. Beat the egg whites until they stand in peaks, but make sure you stop before they look dry (very important!).
      5. Gently fold into the cake batter.
      6. Line bottom of an 8″x14″ pan with waxed paper or brown paper.
      7. Pour in the batter and bake at 325° for one hour.
      8. Invert on a cake rack to cool before removing from pan.

Matzo Tash Craft

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 8 Pieces of Tightly woven fabric cut into 12″ x 12″ squares (your choice of color, –choose machine washable and pre-shrunk material)
      • Fabric paint pens or markers
      • 2 skeins of embroidery floss in complementary colors for your fabric
      • Scissors
      • Needle suitable for embroidery floss
      • Tracing paper for creating the design
      • Dressmakers carbon paper for transferring the design to the cloth
      • Straight pins for pinning
      • Iron
      • Optional: embroidery hoop

Note: This requires the use of a sewing machine. Adult supervision when using any kind of machinery (including sewing machines), as well as needles, scissors, etc. is always advisable.

– If you do not have access to a sewing machine or you want to simplify the project and avoid machine sewing and cutting fabric, you may purchase 4 identical square shaped solid color woven cloth napkins (damask if you want to be fancy). Create your design and execute it on the top of one napkin first, then pin the napkins together and whip stitch them together as directed, leaving one edge free for the pockets.

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Sketch the decoration for the front of the matzo tash on a piece of paper roughly the size of the fabric squares. You can find ideas for specific designs related to Passover in Jewish Holiday books or Jewish art books. Tracing paper works well for copying the original design. If the design you like is too small, you can enlarge the motif by using a copy machine, till you get the size you desire. Keep the design simple — especially if you chose to embroider it.
      2. Transfer the design to the centre of one of the right sides of a fabric square. Use either fabric paint pens, or fabric markers to colour your design. If you would prefer, you may use an embroidery hoop, floss and thread to decorate your fabric.
      3. Pair up your fabric square with the RIGHT sides together and pin them in place. The wrong (or unfinished) side of the fabric should be facing you.
      4. Use your sewing machine to sew a 1/2 inch seam all the way around but leave a 2 inch gap. Make sure that when you reach the corners, you turn the fabric so that you get a “true” square corner. Stitch around twice.
      5. Trim the seams and clip the corners. Turn the piece right side out and press, tucking in the part that was not machine sewn. Slip stitch that part closed using an invisible stitch. Repeat this with all the squares. You will have four closed squares when you are done.
      6. Make a stack of the pieces, and fasten with pins with the decorated square on the top.
      7. Use embroidery floss to whip stitch the layers together around three sides, leaving the bottom side free. This creates the pockets for your matzo tash. To care for this after the Seders are over: Machine wash this in the gentle cycle of your washer and dry it on low. A little touch up with an iron is all you’ll need.

Paper Matzo Tash (for younger children)

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • Four 12×12 pieces of heavy weight paper or 4 ready made placemats
      • Hole punch
      • Pencil
      • Non-toxic markers, crayons, or various construction paper to cut-out
      • A glue stick
      • Scissors
      • A piece of yarn about 4 feet long in a coordinating color

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Draw and decorate a suitable Passover design for your matzo tash, onto the top piece of paper. Use the scissors to cut out various pieces of coloured construction paper to enhance your design, if desired. Use the glue stick to attach them to the paper.
      2. With a pencil, make dots on 3 of the 4 sides of the top paper about an inch apart, and about an inch from the edge of the paper.
      3. Use the hole punch to punch out the holes all the way around on each of the four papers. Make sure that they match properly (the holes are in the same places respectively on each of the 4 pieces.
      4. Use the yarn to weave the pieces together.
      5. This creates the three pockets needed — put a piece of matzo in each and celebrate together!
      6. This matzo tash is only good for one or two uses as it is made out of paper, — but using a matzo tash that your child has made himself/herself adds something special to the celebration, as it enables your child to make a significant contribution to making Passover, something they will never forget!

Matzoh Kugel with Cheese

WHAT YOU NEED:

      • 4-6 matzohs
      • 4 eggs
      • 1 cup milk
      • 1 pound cottage cheese
      • 1/2 teaspoon salt
      • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
      • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
      • 2 tablespoons margarine or butter

WHAT YOU DO:

      1. Break matzohs into 2" pieces.
      2. Mix eggs with milk and reserve 1/2 cup of mixture.
      3. Mix remaining egg/milk mixture with the cottage cheese, salt, brown sugar and cinnamon.
      4. Dip the matzoh into the reserved egg-milk mixture.
      5. Arrange these in layers in a greased 3 quart baking dish.
      6. Dot each layer with butter or margarine and the prepared cheese.
      7. The last layer should be matzoh covered with any remaining milk/egg mixture.
      8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Makes 4-6 servings.