Bin Laden Killed

Although Passover has already passed, today I remember a stirring passage from the Haggadah where the Israelites have escaped and the Red Sea envelops and drowns the pursuing Egyptians. The Israelites are cheering but G-d tells them not to celebrate because all people are His children.

So, maybe we should not cheer that Bin Laden has been killed but we can be satisfied that justice has been done, be thankful that this monster is dead and be very grateful for our splendid American forces and our president, who have done such a spectacular job in getting this done.

And yet on Purim don’t we celebrate Haman’s death, another who sought to destroy a portion of mankind?

All of these thoughts are especially important today, Yom Hashoah, on which we remember the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Would that American forces had captured Hitler before the genocide.

All stirring thoughts.

On Purim we celebrate with Hamantashen. On Passover we celebrate with matzo.

What shall we celebrate with this time?

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

Strawberries Romanoff

Need a quick Passover dessert? Need a quick springtime dessert?

One of my favorites is Strawberries Romanoff, an old old recipe from long ago that’s so good it has endured for almost two centuries.

Supposedly Strawberries Romanoff was created in the mid-19th century by world-famous chef Antoine Careme for the Czar of Russia (Nicholas I). But it may have been invented by Prince Michael Romanoff, who once owned a restaurant in Beverly Hills, wasn’t related to the Russian royal family, wasn’t a prince and whose real name was Hershel Geguzin. Whatever — the Hollywood elite loved his place.

And I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love Strawberries Romanoff. It’s a mixture of fresh springtime strawberries — try to get the small, local ones instead of those wintery, huge, cotton-textured berries from who knows where — mixed with orange juice and brandy. It takes just a couple of minutes to mix together.

Strawberries Romanoff is usually served with whipped cream, but you can serve them plain or with sorbet.

Strawberries Romanoff

• 2 pints strawberries

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1/4 cup orange flavored brandy

• 3 tablespoons orange juice

• sprigs of mint, candied orange peel, etc. as garnish

• whipped cream or sorbet

Wash the berries and slice them into a bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar and pour in the brandy and orange juice. Toss the ingredients and let rest for at least one hour, tossing the ingredients occasionally. Serve plain with a garnish or mint leaves or candied orange peel. Or serve with whipped cream or sorbet.

Makes 6 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.

Hard Cooked (Boiled) Eggs. Yolks or whites?

sprinklefingers:

a sweet little white or yolk story ran in the ny times this week. seeing as how i made a chocolate custard containing 9 yolks yesterday, i’d say i’m voting yolk.

but if you’re into whites, there’s this.

Yolk or white? It’s an ongoing conversation I’ve had with my cousin Leslie since we were kids. Now I have the same conversation with my grandchildren, all of whom eat the whites and leave over the yolks of a hard-cooked egg.

That’s just WRONG!!

The yolks are dry and crumbly but they melt like velvet on your tongue. And they taste rich and full of wonder.

The whites are tasteless and rubbery. And if they’re not rubbery, they’re often too soft and reminiscent of junket, which I think is —- well, let’s leave that for another day. 

But I realize that reasonable minds may differ about egg yolks and whites. Which is why, at our Passover Seder, when the hard cooked eggs are served, few of us actually eat the whole thing. Plates go back and forth and yolks roll around (and sometimes fall onto the table) and chunks of egg white wiggle and there’s lots of exchanging of yellows and whites so that we all wind up eating the part of the egg that we like better.

But whatever the answer to the question (yolk or white?), there’s the matter of actually cooking the eggs.

I have been cooking for many many years and yet the question of HOW TO COOK A HARD COOKED EGG comes up every Seder meal. That’s because some people like it really really cooked, so much that the yolk surface has turned slightly green. And some people prefer it undercooked, with the center darker, moister yellow. And of course there’s always the one relative who has just read something in a food magazine and just has to tell you that are cooking the eggs all wrong.

Here’s how I cook hard cooked eggs — and by the way, lest anyone tell you that you are cooking the eggs all wrong just because the shells don’t come off perfectly, hear this: no matter what you do, you may have some problems peeling the eggs perfectly. Make extra (I use the awful looking ones for egg salad). The membrane between the white and the shell can be stubbornly clingy.

It’s best not use not-so-fresh eggs. Also, before you cook them, take them out of the fridge at least an hour ahead so that they are at room temperature.

Also, never BOIL the eggs. That makes them rubbery. Keep the cooking water at a simmer, not a full boil. 

Hard Cooked Eggs

large size eggs

water

Place the eggs in a deep saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. When the water comes to a boil, turn the heat to low, to keep the water at a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Drain the water. Fill the pan with the coldest water you have. Let the eggs cool. 

Quinoa has become the hot new Passover dish. Most authorities agree that it’s okay to eat it during the 8-day Passover holiday.

Quinoa is okay because even though it looks like a grain, cooks like grain and has the taste and texture of a grain — it ISN’T a grain. It doesn’t rise. It doesn’t grow near grains that are forbidden during Passover. 

Wow, this opens up whole categories of recipes that my grandma never even contemplated! Or my mother. This is new. There are no “traditional Ashkenazi” or “traditional Sephardic” recipes for Passover quinoa dishes.

You just have to make stuff up, which is fine when it comes to food.

I have made up lots of quinoa recipes because we like grain-like side dishes and we also like vegetarian dinners on occasion — quinoa is filling enough to use for a main course (it also is loaded with protein).

Cooked quinoa is the perfect salad base: add vegetables of all sorts, add cheese if you like, or nuts, dried fruit, and so on. Use a good, homemade vinaigrette. By mixing it up you’ll end up with dozens and dozens of side dishes or main course salads. 

Here’s one of the dishes I plan to serve during Passover and all-summer long, in one variation or another. 

Quinoa Salad with Asparagus, Tomatoes and Zucchini

1 cup quinoa

1 cup cut up asparagus (1-inch pieces)

1 cup diced zucchini

1 cup cut up cherry tomatoes

2 scallions, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the quinoa in a strainer and rinse under cold water for about one minute. Let drain. Bring 1-1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan, add the quinoa, stir, lower the heat and cover the pan. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the grains are tender. (If you prefer crunchier quinoa, cook for less time and drain any excess liquid.) Spoon the quinoa into a bowl. Bring more water to a boil in the saucepan. Add the asparagus and cook for 15 seconds. Add the zucchini and cook for another 15 seconds. Drain the vegetables and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Add the asparagus and zucchini to the quinoa. Add the tomatoes, scallions, dill and mint and toss ingredients to distribute them evenly. Pour in the olive oil and wine vinegar. Toss and taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4-6 servings