Mom’s Passover Brisket

March 25, 2013 · by ·

Each year without fail, the day before Passover, I make a call to my mom. Not to wish her a happy Passover. I call for cooking advice and to ask how she managed to accomplish Passover for all of these years. For the past few years, I have been making Passover at home and each year I am more and more appreciative and amazed by the amount of work she puts in to each of the holidays.

This year, like years past, I put in that call. The call where I ask my mom for her Passover brisket recipe. It’s been emailed multiple times, but instead of searching for the email, I get lazy and want to hear her voice, so I call her. I decided to finally put it down somewhere where I know it can be found quickly and easily. This brisket is always amazing. When cooked at a low heat for a long time, the brisket comes out amazingly moist and soft. So full of flavor. This brisket has pulled me from my mostly vegetarian diet several times over the past years. My mom’s brisket is what I craved when I was pregnant with my daughter.

Passover Brisket (recipe from my dear mom, Lili G.)
Ingredients:

1 – 6 lb (or so) brisket
2 onions, sliced
1 bunch celery, sliced
6 carrots, peeled and chopped
10 cloves of garlic, smashed

Marinade:
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup ketchup or other kind of tomato based sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar or honey (you could also use some wine or marmalade in place of the sugar or honey)
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 sprigs of chopped rosemary and thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

Note: This brisket yields a lot of a gravy. So good!

Directions:

Combine marinade ingredients

marinade

Place brisket over chopped vegetables.

raw brisket

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Mix marinade in a small mixing bowl.

Pour marinade over brisket and cover with foil. Allow to marinade for at least 4 hours.

marinade on brisket

If you refrigerate, remove and let it come to room temperature.

Set oven to 275.

Bake overnight – around 6 to 8 hours.

Refrigerate. When cold, remove fat and slice brisket thinly while still cold.

sliced brisket

Place brisket slices back in sauce and warm in oven at a low heat.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: brisket, Dinner, Main Course, meat, passover, pesach, shabbat · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Passover Breakfast Muffins

March 25, 2013 · by ·

Our Passover morning changed one year for the better. I can’t pin point exactly what year it was, but it was the year that my mom’s close friend Phyllis started to bring us muffins. Until that year, we were stuck with matzoh for breakfast  – or those eggy popovers. That magical year though, Phyllis brought us an amazing assortment of muffins. They tasted so good that we questioned whether or not they were actually kosher for passover.

openmuffin

Over the past few years that I have been making Passover in my own home, those muffins have been a staple. My kids depend on them. We have experimented with different add-ins, but the base has stayed the same. They mix up pretty quickly and everyone is happy.



Passover Blueberry Muffins (recipe from our good friend, Phyllis C.)
Recipe makes almost 2 dozen muffins
Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup potato starch
1 cup cake meal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup plain yogurt
2 cups blueberries or other mix-ins (we also love strawberry, raspberry chocolate chip, banana chocolate chip)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 for a standard oven and 375 for a convection oven.

Sift together the dry ingredients in small bowl – the potato starch, cake meal, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a mixer, cream the softened butter with the sugar.

Add 2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape the bowl as you go.

Slowly mix the  dry ingredients in to the eggs/sugar mixture. Fold in the  2/3 cup yogurt.

Let stand in fridge for 15 minutes.

Line muffin tins with paper muffin liners.

Place a tablespoon of muffin batter into each cup.

Mix you mix-in in to the remaining batter.  Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with blueberry batter.

muffinbatter

Bake at 400 degrees in a preheated, conventional oven or 375 in convection oven for 20-25 minutes, or until done.

lotsofmuffins

The Muffins freeze well. Makes 20 to 24 muffins.

muffin

*If you are looking for something gluten free or non-gebrokts for Passover, I highly recommend these muffins over at My Wife the Chef.

Filed Under: baked, Breakfast, passover, pesach · Tagged: , , , ,

Passover Recipe Roundup

March 22, 2013 · by ·

It’s the final countdown to Passover! The food has been purchased, the counters have been covered and chicken soup has been made. I’m ready for Passover to start. Who’s with me on this? I decided to get a head start and kashered my kitchen a few days early. I get a bit neurotic when it comes to planning and tend to be an early bird with everything. I feel like I can breathe now.

I wanted to share with you some Passover friendly recipe ideas that may be of interest to you. I will be sharing more Passover treats with you throughout the week so stay tuned!

Main Dishes:

Baked Salmon with a Cumin Rub
Baked Salmon Patties
Braised Chicken in White Wine Sauce
Braised Turkey with Root Veggies
Caramelized Mushroom and Onion Quiche
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia – (substitute Passover bread crumbs)
Passover Brisket
Quinoa Veggies Burgers – (In place of the rice flour, use Passover bread crumbs)
Spinach and Walnut Pesto
Vegetable Casserole – (substitute Passover bread crumbs for the panko)

Zucchini Pasta with Pesto – (Substitute other veggies for the peas)
Zucchini Ribbon Pasta with Veggies

Soups:
Chicken Soup
Potato Leek Soup
Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup

Side Dishes:
Caramelized Onion Dip
Cauliflower Cutlets
Creamy Mashed Parsnips
Jalapeno Poppers
Oven Roasted Kale
Roasted Butternut Squash

Breakfast:
Passover Muffins


Sweet Treats:
Gluten Free Raspberry Tart
Macarons

Filed Under: passover · Tagged: , ,

Gluten Free Raspberry Chocolate Tart

March 18, 2013 · by ·

So much about Passover, the customs and my memories – revolve around food. It goes beyond the foods that we aren’t allowed to eat. I’m always thinking about what we do and can eat. I find that the easiest part about Passover are the main and side dishes. It’s the desserts that are tough. What do you do when it seems like you can’t eat anything? We adapt. There’s always chocolate and fruit to fall back on.

raspberry-tart

Every special meal must include chocolate. I feel like that is a written rule in my book. This tart that I am sharing with you reminds me of my mom’s flour-less chocolate cake that she often serves at the seder,  along with some other chocolate treats I grew up with. One of my favorite flavor combinations is raspberry and chocolate. Growing up in Minneapolis, if someone brought the fabulous Raspberry Chocolate Torte from Gelpe’s Bakery to the house on Shabbat – everyone was happy. Another favorite that I remember as a kid, was the Raspberry Chocolate Chip ice cream from Sebastian Joe’s. All three of these fabulous treats were inspiration for this raspberry chocolate tart I am sharing with you. This tart will be served at one of our Yom Tov lunch meals, where we tend to feast on dairy. Happy to have a dairy dessert.



Gluten Free Raspberry Chocolate Tart
Ingredients:

For the crust:
2 cups almond meal
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. sugar

For the filling:
1 cup raspberry jam
10 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped, or use good quality chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt

raspberries for garnishing


Directions:

For the crust:
Preheat over to 350°F.

Melt the butter.

Mix the almond meal, sugar and butter together in a small mixing bowl. It will be pretty crumbly.

Press the mixture in to a tart pan. Try to get up the sides as much as possible. I use a non-stick pan and do not need to butter or spray the pan. I would recommend buttering the pan a little if it doesn’t have the non-stick coating.

Bake the crust in the oven for about 18-20 minutes. Check to see if the crust gets too brown.

Remove the crust from the oven and cool completely.

Note: If you want to make the crust pareve, I would recommend using coconut oil in place of the butter.

crust



For the filling:
Heat up the heavy cream in a small sauce pan. Heat it until it just starts to boil and then remove from heat.

Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Let it sit for a few minutes. After a few minutes, whisk the chocolate completely. It should be shiny. It will thicken as it cools.

Warm the jam in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Spread the jam along the bottom of the tart crust.

Pour over the ganache filling and spread evenly with spatula. Chill in the fridge to set.

Once set, garnish with some fresh raspberries.

Serve.  Enjoy!

Note: If you want to make the filling pareve, I would recommend using coconut milk or the non-dairy whipping cream in place of the heavy cream.

tart

Filed Under: almond flour, chocolate, Dessert, Gluten Free, passover, raspberry · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

The No-Potato Passover: Cookbook Review and Giveaway

March 14, 2013 · by ·

It was another cookbook mail day in this house. Another day of excitement. I recently received the The No Potato Passover cookbook by Aviva Kanoff. Before this showed up at my door step, I had heard many good things about this cookbook. Just the title alone had me intrigued.

Aviva Kanoff uses this cookbook to take us on a tour of her various travels. Her food spans all cuisines, and just happens to be kosher for Passover. The book stresses that you don’t have to eat a dozen eggs and a pound of potatoes to have a good and filling meal. Using whole veggies and proteins,  you will not miss the potatoes. When looking for a starch, Kanoff turns to spaghetti squash and quinoa – two fabulous and healthy alternatives.

The cookbook itself is sure to please many of you. It is filled with recipes and photos. A photo is available for each recipe in the book. The book covers everything from salads to desserts. The most complicated ingredients in this book are imitation soy sauce and imitation mustard. For the most part, the recipe ingredients are easy to find. You don’t need to have a specialty kosher store to make these dishes. I especially loved the variety of salad recipes. Many of the recipes are ones that I would use year-round.

One recipe that intrigued me was the Poached Peach & Chicken Salad. I definitely see myself serving this for an upcoming holiday lunch meal. I am including the recipe below.

Poached Peach & Chicken Salad
(The No Potato Passover by Aviva Kanoff, February 2013, Hardcover, $29.99)

Ingredients:

¾ cup balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Kosher salt & ground black pepper
2 peaches
(12 oz. total), halved & pitted
4½ tsp. olive oil
4 cups baby greens

Chicken:
1 lb. chicken breasts
1 tsp. salt
1½ tsp. paprika
1⁄8 tsp. garlic powder
1⁄8 tsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. rosemary
salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare a medium gas or charcoal grill fire. (Note: If you don’t have a grill, you can
cook the chicken in a sauté pan in its marinade.)
2. Combine vinegar and thyme in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium
heat.
3. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the mixture is thick, syrupy, and
reduced to ¼ cup, about 6-9 minutes.
4. Cook peaches in the syrup for 2 minutes until soft. Remove from the heat, discard
the thyme sprigs, and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
5. Season chicken and grill or sauté in a pan until cooked.
6. In a medium bowl, toss the baby greens with the remaining 2½ tsp. oil and season to
taste with salt and pepper. Arrange on a platter.
7. Top with the chicken and peaches. Drizzle with about 2 tbsp. of the reduced
balsamic, adding more to taste. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and remaining
juice from chicken and peaches.
Tip: Substitute chicken with 1/4 cup feta cheese for a dairy meal.

I am thrilled to let you know that I have one cookbook available for a giveaway. Don’t forget to enter! You will love this book!


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Filed Under: cookbook, passover, product review · Tagged: , , , , ,

Creamy Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup & Zucchini Ribbon Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce

March 13, 2013 · by ·

This year, Passover falls out very early in the calendar year. Most years, I am pretty put together with my Passover plans, but this year, I have put off a lot of my menu planning. The opportunity to write some recipes featuring Temp Tee cream cheese for JoyofKosher essentially got me to wake me up.  Passover is right around the corner.

My seder menus are pretty easy to plan. The menu has been pretty much the same since my childhood. It’s those days in between that really get you. I usually work during the intermediate days of Passover, so just like any other day, I need to come up with a fast and easy dinner. Because it’s still March and we are still feeling bits of winter, we are still eating nice and warm foods right now.  My Creamy Roasted Garlic & Potato Soup and my Zucchini Ribbons with Veggies and Cream Sauce are the perfect dairy dishes for weeknight dinners or lunch.

souptemptee

The Creamy Roasted Garlic & Potato Soup comes together easily and pretty fast. The toughest part is having to wait for the garlic to roast, which takes about a half hour. Once you have that done, it’s smooth sailing. I always have vegetable broth on hand to make soups like this. The combination of the use of the immersion blender while adding the cream cheese, gives this soup an amazing creamy texture and flavor. Check out the recipe over at JoyofKosher.com.

Zucchini-Strips

The Zucchini Ribbons with Veggies and Cream Sauce is my answer to lack of good pasta on Passover. Nobody in my house will eat the packaged Passover potato pasta, so we improvise. Instead of making a noodle out of eggs, we look to our veggies for that texture. By using a peeler or cheese slicer, you can easily get a thin ribbon of zucchini. If you have a julienne peeler, you can achieve more of a spaghetti look and feel. I paired this dish up with whatever veggies I had on hand. The dish is easily adapted. In the past, I’ve simply sautéed the squash in olive oil and herbs. I wanted something richer this time around, and the Temp Tee cream cheese was the perfect addition. The cream sauce really turned this vegetable from a side dish to a dinner meal. You can check out the recipe here.

Creamy Roasted Garlic & Potato Soup               Zucchini Ribbons with Veggies & Cream Sauce

Filed Under: guest post, passover, Soups, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Passover Made Easy: Cookbook Review & Giveaway

March 10, 2013 · by ·

The most exciting mail days in my house are when cookbooks happen to show up at my door. I get jittery with excitement at the prospect of new recipe ideas. I quickly open the door, put everything down and rip open the package.  The excitement of a Passover cookbook is no different.

When I heard that Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek, the women behind CookKosher.com and Whisk Magazine, would be creating a Passover cookbook, I got excited. I have a few Passover cookbooks on my shelves, but nothing terribly new and innovative has joined the ranks in the past few years. I was so curious what would await. Leah Schapira’s earlier cookbook, Fresh & Easy, is a fantastic cookbook with bright photos and easy to follow recipes that covered all bases. So I had high expectations. Once again, Leah Schapira did not disappoint.

This cookbook, Passover Made Easy, is filled with bright photos for every recipe in the book. It includes simple step-by-step recipes, along with plating suggestions and wine pairings.  I love that this cookbook covers all bases that is sure to make the week of Passover easting much easier.

Beginning with a section on “Building Blocks,” there are recipes for basics like Passover crepes and mayonnaise  These simple items show up in various recipes, tweaked in to different forms, with amazing outcomes. I for one was excited about the mayonnaise. I am always disappointed by the mayo on the store shelves during Pesach. It always disappoints. Making it at home is so simple and tastes so much better!  The crepes too, can be used for so many different recipes – as a noodle or sandwich wrap – or even a brisket egg roll! Fantastic!

The plating recommendations are extremely helpful. So much of Passover is spent entertaining guests at meals, that the recommendations for artfully plating the food is extremely helpful.

The recipes in this cookbook are varied and run the gamut from perfect Seder dishes like Eggplant Wrapped Chicken to casual weekday dishes like the Matzaroni & Cheese recipe. This cookbook is sure to have something for everyone. I for one am especially pleased that most of the recipes use whole ingredients, and not the processed jarred and boxed stuff on the shelves. Using fresh veggies, herbs and proteins, with very little matza meal involved is a welcome treat in my house.

I highly recommend you go out and get this cookbook. You will be happy you did.

I am pleased to be offering a giveaway of this cookbook, Passover Made Easy: Favorite Triple-Tested Recipes by Leah Schapira & Victoria Dwek. The giveaway will end next Sunday morning, March 17, so be sure to enter!

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Filed Under: cookbook, kosher for passover, passover, product review · Tagged: , , , ,

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Quiche with an Almond Crustlut

March 5, 2013 · by ·
IMG_2656

Just the other day, I participated in this fantastic Hamentaschen contest. I spent the early evening hours rolling out dough and shaping hamentaschen – over and over and over. So you could understand that I will not be hanging out with any rolling pins for the next long while. It was a fun day though, and the Hamentaschen were fantastic. I went the untraditional route with a caramelized onion, mushroom, garlic, thyme and gruyere filling. It just so happens that I over prepared. I made about twice the filling than was necessary. Oops. After brainstorming a bit, I decided to make a quiche with some of the leftover filling. Easy enough. But there’s that pesky rolling pin involved with quiche. I don’t like buying prepared crusts. I decided to put together an easy almond crust. It’s gluten free and also kosher for Passover. Perfect timing. This came together very quickly and I will definitely be making this again for Pesach.

Gluten Free Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Quiche (Kosher for Passover)
Ingredients:

Filling:
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. ground pepper
5 cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 tbsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. ground pepper
1/3 cup shredded swiss or gruyere cheese
4 Eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground pepper
Crust:
1.5 cups almond meal
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. ground pepper
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.

For the filling, heat up the butter and olive oil in a pan.  Add in the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes and let the liquid from the mushrooms evaporate. Add in the spices and turn heat down to medium low. Cook for around 20 minutes and let everything caramelize.  Once done, set the pan aside.

Start preparing the crust. Mix all of the crust ingredients together in a small bowl. Spread the almond meal mixture in to a pie plate.

Crust Stuff

Bake the crust for 10-13 minutes.  Remove from the oven.

Beat the eggs and the milk with a whisk in a small bowl. Mix in the salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the cheese on the bottom of the crust.
Top with the onion mixture.  Pour the egg mixture over the onions.
Return to oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Quiche2

Serve quiche with a nice and hearty salad or a warm bowl of soup. Enjoy!

Quiche1

Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Gluten Free, kosher for passover, passover, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
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