The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Flavors of Passover
Updated recipes add flair to holiday
Passover begins at sundown on March 30 with the first Seder. Why not add new dishes to your Passover repertoire?
One thing I remember from my childhood is the same menu year after year. Experimenting with new recipes was not something my family did, keeping to the tried and true. Then again, in those days, not many cookbooks featured Passover recipes to add variety to the menu.
Those who don’t celebrate this holiday can try these recipes, too. I know many who are not Jewish and have a box of matzo in their cupboard. Matzo, spread with butter, cream cheese or jelly can be appreciated.
“A Taste of Pesach 2: Trusted Favorites, Simple Preparation, Magnificent Results,” is a project of Yeshiva Me’On Hatorah in Roosevelt, N.J. (2018, Artscroll/ Shaar Press, $29.99). The book brings home delicious recipes, great serving ideas and ways to make Passover (and the rest of the year) delicious.
I particularly enjoyed the “Plate It!” chapter, where the photos and captions show how to dress up plates and make the food look beautiful, using ingredients to garnish that are probably in your refrigerator or pantry.
The first “makeover” in this chapter is gefilte fish (prepared from a mix of ground and deboned fish, usually poached whitefish, pike and carp), usually served as a first course. It is commonly served sitting on a leaf of lettuce or other greens with a slice of cooked carrot on top. This makeover bends slices of cucumber over strips of gefilte fish with a skewer holding the cucumber in place. Using a squeeze bottle, dots of a mixture of pureed beets, horseradish and mayonnaise top the cucumber slices. To add color, spiralized beets are placed on the side.
The dozen makeovers show each completed plate, the components and step-by-step instructions. You can try your hand at food styling with these handy techniques; a springboard for further creativity.
The dishes, many gluten-free, from appetizers — potato stuffed eggplant, duck crepes with apricot sauce, tuna tartare, deli chunk soup — through main courses — sea salt potato chip encrusted tilapia, horseradish rib roast — and sides —. doughless potato knishes, apple-apricot kuge l— and desserts — pears in custard, mini chocolate trifles — are beautifully photographed in an easy-to-follow format.
This year, break your traditional menu with these recipes for spinach nests and a new take on matzo kugel.
Spinach potato nests
4 large Yukon gold potatoes 2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs, beaten
4 teaspoons oil
Spinach filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, diced
16 ounces fresh baby spinach
leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Prepare the nests: Using a food processor fitted with the shredding blade, shred potatoes into “strings.” Add salt, pepper, eggs and oil, and then let rest in a colander set over a bowl to drain for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the spinach filling: Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until translucent but not brown. Add spinach and garlic; sauté until spinach is wilted, about five minutes. Stir in salt and pepper and beaten egg.
Generously coat a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add potato mixture to each muffin cup, pressing it against the bottom and up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly browned. Remove from oven; fill each nest with spinach mixture. Bake for 10 minutes.
To serve, loosen the edges of each nest with a narrow metal spatula or butter knife; unmold onto individual plates or a platter. Makes 8 nests.
Matzo kugel
The headnote says, “Every family that eats gebrokts seems to have their own matzo kugel recipe that they make year after year. If you are ready for a change, this recipe is a great option. As a bonus, you can use the mixture to stuff chicken or veal pockets.”
(Gebrokts is matzo that has absorbed liquid).
Oil for sautéing
2 onions, peeled and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
3 stalks celery, sliced
10 mushrooms, sliced, optional
1 pound matzo
2 cups hot water
4 eggs, slightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat one 9-inch by 13-inch pan or two 9-inch round pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions; sauté for seven minutes. Add carrots, celery and mushrooms (if using). Continue to sauté until softened, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.
Break matzo into mediumsized pieces; place into a bowl. Pour the hot water over matzo and let stand for 5-10 minutes, until soft. Drain water completely.
Add vegetables to bowl; mix to combine. Add eggs, salt pepper; mix well.
Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake for 1 hour or slightly longer, until firm. Yields 20 servings.
Culinary calendar
⏩ Wine and Cheese Pairing with Caseus Fromagerie, Thursday, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Fletcher Cameron Kitchens, 91 Orange St., New Haven, 203-777-7707. $45. Fletcher Cameron has invited New Hav1en’s well-known Caseus Fromagerie to its Come to the Chef’s Table series. Learn the secrets of curating a flavorful and enticing artisanal cheese board paired with the perfect wines provided by The Wine Thief. Guests will leave with their own, beautiful custom cheese board made by Fletcher Cameron that they can use to entertain at home. Tickets at http://bit.ly/2FDbZR2
⏩ Consiglio’s Cooking Demonstration and Dinner: March 29, 6:30 p.m., Consiglio’s Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven, 203-865-4489 (reservations required), $75 (beverages, tax and gratuity not included). Learn how to make saffron crab cake, winter fennel salad, three-onion soup, pesto-rubbed skirt steak pinwheels, chocolate pastry ravioli.
⏩ Consiglio’s Murder Mystery Dinner — “Earth Based Crime” April 13 or 20, doors at 6 p.m., dinner and show at 6:30, Consiglio’s Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven, reservations at 203-865-4489, http://bit.ly/2cyB02Y. $55 includes dinner and show (beverages, tax and gratuity not included). An interactive comedy show that goes on as you dig into a three-course dinner. About to celebrate Earth Day, this group of “peace loving” crazies takes things too far. To them, it’s not political, it’s personal.
⏩ Fifth Annual Saison Day: April 14, 4-8 p.m., Blackhog Brewing, 115 Hurley Road, Building 9A, Oxford. 203-262-6075. Allagash Brewing partners with Blackhog Brewing to celebrate saisons. They have put together a curated tap list of the best farmhouse-style ales. In addition to the rare and special saison-style beers, Black Hog will reveal a collaboration beer.
⏩ Worth Tasting Culinary Walking Tour: 10:45 am. April 28, the first guided, four-hour culinary walking tour of the season of downtown New Haven. Reservations required, 203-4153519, 203-777-8550, $64. Tickets at http://bit.ly/2FjiwMP.
Send us your requests
Which restaurant recipes or other recipes would you like to have? Which food products are you having difficulty finding? Do you have cooking questions? Send them to me: Stephen Fries, professor and coordinator of the Hospitality Management Programs at Gateway Community College, at gw-stephen.fries@gwcc.commnet.edu or Dept. FC, Gateway Community College, 20 Church St., New Haven, 06510. Include your full name, address and phone number.
Due to volume, he might not be able to publish every request. For more, go to stephenfries.com.