My Grandma's Chremslach

Chremslach

Over the years our Seder dinner has changed from time to time, mindful of newcomers to the family or accommodating the people who are vegetarian or who have allergies and so on.

But one dish has been a constant, from the time the Seders were at my grandma’s house, through the years when my mother hosted, continuing through when it was my turn: Chremslach. My grandma’s recipe for honey drenched matzo fritters.

This year, for the first time, one of my daughters is taking over. I’m thrilled for us and for her, to pass the torch, though, truth be told, a little sad too.

I will bring the Chremslach.

L’dor v’dor.

CHREMSLACH

• 3 large eggs, separated

• pinch of salt

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup matzo meal

• vegetable oil for frying

• 1 pound honey, approximately

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, salt and one tablespoon vegetable oil together until well blended. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the 1/4 cup sugar and continue to beat until the whites stand up in peaks. Fold the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the matzo meal. Let the mixture rest for about 30 minutes (I refrigerate). With cool, wet hands, shape portions of the mixture into disks about 1-1/2-inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. Heat about 1/4-inch vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Fry the disks for 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown on both sides (you may have to flatten them slightly with a rigid spatula). Drain on paper towels and place the fried disks in a large saucepan. Pour the honey over the disks. Cook over low-medium heat for about 10 minutes or until heated through and all the disks are coated with honey. Serve immediately or make ahead and reheat. Add more honey as tastes dictate.

*You can make these 3-4 days in advance and keep them in the honey — may need more honey as the fritters become soaked. Or you can keep the fritters and honey separate and cook them together just before you serve them. My grandma added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I don’t because of nut allergies and actually like them better without).

Makes 10-12 servings

Roasted Fruit Cocktail

Roasted Fruit Cocktail

After a huge Passover Seder meal (or any big dinner), Roasted Fruit Cocktail is an excellent choice for dessert. Roasting brings out the fruit sugars in a tantalizing way with hints of rum and molasses. The chopped mint adds color and a really fresh, perky finish.

ROASTED FRUIT COCKTAIL

• 1 ripe fresh pineapple

• 2 fresh mangos

• 3/4 cup orange juice

• 1/4 cup honey

• cinnamon

• 18-20 strawberries, hulls removed

• 1 cup seedless red grapes

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

• sorbet or ice cream, optional

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a jelly roll sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.Remove the leaves and hard outer shell of the pineapple. Cut the pineapple lengthwise into 1-inch thick strips. Discard the fibrous core. Place the remaining strips on the parchment-lined jelly roll pan. Peel the mango and cut the flesh into strips. Set aside. Place the orange juice and honey in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat slightly and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the liquid is slightly thickened. Generously brush all surfaces of the pineapple strips with the orange juice mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Roast for 4-5 minutes. Turn the strips over. Add the mango strips, strawberries and grapes to the pan. Brush with the remaining orange juice mixture. Roast for another 6-7 minutes or until fruit is soft and lightly caramelized. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool. Cut the pineapple and mango strips into bite size pieces. Place all the fruit and accumulated pan juices in a bowl, sprinkle with the mint and toss. Place into serving dishes. Serve plain or with sorbet or ice cream.

Makes 8 servings

Khoshaf for Passover

Khoshaf

My grandma always cooked stewed dried fruit and I always associated that particular dish with her generation of Ashkenazi Jewish grandmas.

But, several years ago when Ed and I were in Egypt I noticed what looked like grandma’s “dried fruit compote” on every hotel breakfast buffet.

It wasn’t compote though. It was a dish called Khoshaf and apparently is a specialty served to break the Ramadan fast (and at lots of other times too). It is made with dried fruit, like compote, but it isn’t stewed! The fruit is steeped in a sweet, boiling syrupy liquid so it stays firm and pleasantly chewy. I took one taste and was hooked! I still make stewed fruit compote sometimes but other times I have a yen for khoshaf. It’s a special treat and perfect for Passover.

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KHOSHAF

• 1-1/2 cups water

• 1 cup apricot nectar (or orange juice, peach juice, white grape juice, etc)

• 1/4 cup (or more or less to taste) sugar

• 1 tablespoon orange flower water, rosewater or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 lemon or orange cut into quarters

• 1 cup dried apricots

• 1 cup prunes or dried plums

• 1 cup dried figs, halved or quaretred, depending on size

• 1 cup raisins

• chopped pistachio nuts

Combine the water, apricot nectar and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until slightly syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the flavoring. Pour over the fruit and toss ingredients. Let rest for at least one hour, tossing the ingredients occasionally. Sprinkle with nuts and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings

Moroccan Meatballs

Check out this article I wrote for The Nosher. It's about meatballs.

Who doesn't love meatballs?

These are slightly spicy and cloaked in a rich, chunky tomatoey sauce. So good any night of the year. Also a good choice for Passover.

Bonus: you can make them ahead!

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/make-ahead-moroccan-meatballs-recipe/

Quickie Ratatouille

So many people think ratatouille is an elaborate and difficult, time-consuming dish.

It doesn't have to be.

Sure, there are lots of vegetables to prepare. I do it all ahead and save the prepped veggies in containers or plastic bags in the fridge until I am ready to use them. The actual cooking is a cinch and doesn't take long at all.

This is a terrific side dish for Passover (it's parve). But I make this throughout the year. It goes with everything. Everything!

QUICKIE RATATOUILLE

• 1/3 cup olive oil, approximately

• 8 thick scallions, chopped

• 6 large cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 medium fresh chili pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 2 cups diced eggplant

• 1 cup diced red bell pepper

• 2 cups diced zucchini

• 8 large tomatoes, chopped

• 6-8 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

• salt and freshly ground red pepper to taste

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the scallion, garlic and chili pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for one minute. Add the eggplant and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Pour in the remaining olive oil and add the zucchini (add more olive oil if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan). Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and basil and cook, stirring frequently, for 12-15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and there is little liquid left in the pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 8 servings

Potato and Vegetable Croquettes

These vegetable croquettes are filled with veggie goodness and lush mashed potatoes, crusted with matzo meal and fried to a crisp.

Perfect for Passover (or any other time!). They go with any entree you might be serving. But we also eat these with a fried egg when we want a meatless meal.

These croquettes (like all mashed potatoes croquettes) are fragile, so be sure to refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes before frying. And be careful flipping them. Even so, they might break, but who cares? The pieces of crispy goodness are absolutely delicious.

VEGETABLE CROQUETTES

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, approximately

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 1 cup chopped cooked cabbage

• 2 chopped, cooked carrots

• 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed

• 3 cups mashed potatoes

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 cup matzo meal, approximately

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Spoon the onions into a bowl. Add the cabbage, carrots, spinach, mashed potatoes and some salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and shape the mixture into 1/2-inch patties. Place the matzo meal on a plate. Press both sides of each patty into the crumbs. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Heat 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil in the sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the patties a few at a time (leave plenty of space between each) for 3-4 minutes per side or until crispy and golden brown, adding more vegetable oil to the pan as needed.

Makes 8-10

Matzo Balls for Passover

The torch has been passed.

For the first time, after decades, I am not hosting Passover. One of my daughters is taking over (next year it will be my other daughter).

It feels weird, sad and thrilling all at the same time. Who knew that last year would be my last?

Everyone says “it’s good!” “it’s time!” And yet …. are we ever really quite ready? Those of us who never minded the preparation, the cooking, the utter exhaustion that leads to our remarkable celebration of Passover?

But I am not giving up completely! I am bringing food.

Of course.

My grandchildren, as grandchildren will do, have told their mother that only my matzo balls will do. And my stuffed cabbage and charoset. And that even when she uses my recipes, it is “not like grandma’s.”

Grand children are the absolute best. And I am so lucky to have my five.

Chag Pesach Sameach everyone. Shalom.

Here is the matzo ball recipe I use. The photo below shows the matzo balls I made yesterday.

MATZO BALLS

• 1 cup matzo meal

• 1 teaspoon salt

• freshly ground black or white pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or dill, or both, optional

• 4 whole large eggs, slightly beaten

• 1/4 cup melted goose fat, chicken fat, margarine or vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup chicken soup, water or seltzer

In a bowl. combine the matzo meal, salt, pepper and parsley or dill (or both). In another bowl, beat the eggs, melted fat and soup together. Add the egg mixture to the matzo mixture and blend thoroughly. Stir in the liquid. Cover the ingredients and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. With wet cold hands shape the matzo mixture into 1-inch balls (you may have to re-wet hands occasionally). Add the matzo balls one by one to the boiling water. Lower the heat so that the water is at a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for at least 50 minutes (do not lift the cover) or until they are tender. Remove the matzo balls from the water. Place into the soup to soak up more flavor.

Makes 14-16

Charoset Ice Cream

Several years ago I created this recipe for charoset ice cream for an article in the Jewish Week Food & Wine (which, I am sad to say, no longer has a regular food/recipe column).

Back then (2015), Ben & Jerry’s had created a charoset flavored ice cream that was all the rage — but it was only available in Israel.

The mere mention of charoset ice cream piqued my interest. So I got to work and created my own version.

I have never tasted theirs. Don’t need to. This version is quite wonderfully delicious.

Charoset Ice Cream 

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 6 dates, preferably medjool, pitted and chopped

• 2 small Golden Delicious or other sweet apples, peeled and chopped

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 cup sweet Passover wine

• 3 cups half and half, light cream or whipping cream

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 3 large egg yolks

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup chopped nuts, optional

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the brown sugar and mix it in. Add the dates and apples and stir the ingredients to distribute them evenly. Sprinkle in the cinnamon. Pour in the wine. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for 25-30 minutes or until the fruit is soft. Mash the fruit to make the mixture pasty and set it aside.  

While the fruit is cooking, heat 2 cups of the cream over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, the egg yolks and salt at medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until light and thick. Gradually add the heated cream and mix the ingredients completely. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5-6 minutes or until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour in the remaining cream and blend it in thoroughly. Stir in the fruit mixture. Refrigerate until cold (at least 45 minutes). Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’

Makes about 6 cups

Matzo Topped Turkey Pot Pie

Our first night Passover dinner always includes turkey. My grandmother served turkey on Passover, my Mom did too and so I follow our family tradition.

Also, because we are a family where some of us eat dark meat and some eat white, I roast a whole turkey (instructions here).

I change the seasonings and basting fluids from time to time. Sometimes I flavor the bird with Balsamic vinegar-ginger-pineapple and sometimes with sweet white wine and thyme, sometimes a simple sprinkle of salt, pepper, garlic and parika and a cup or two of orange juice.

My daughter Gillian is our family carver. She is so adept at carving turkey that in another century she would have had a job at some royal household or other.

There is always leftover turkey.

That means we have turkey pot pie at some point during the holiday.

Here’s my recipe for Passover Turkey Pie. Matzo crust of course!

Matzo Topped Turkey Pot Pie

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, sliced

• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick

• 2 medium all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size chunks

• 4 cups chopped cooked turkey

• 1-1/2 to 2 cups leftover chopped cooked vegetables

• 2-1/2 tablespoons potato starch

• 3 cups stock

• matzo

• 1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the turkey and vegetables and stir to distribute the ingredients evenly. Sprinkle the potato starch on top and mix it into the ingredients. Pour in the stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly. Spoon the ingredients into a casserole dish. Depending on the size of the casserole, soak one or two sheets of matzo in cool water briefly to soften the pieces. Press out extra liquid with paper towels. Place the matzo on top of the ingredients. Brush with beaten egg. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crispy on top.

Makes 4-6 servings

Potato Pancakes for all occasions

Is there anyone who doesn’t like potato pancakes?

Can’t be!

I make all sorts of versions: Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish, Peruvian, German ….. and more. I make some with raw, shredded potatoes and some with cooked, mashed potatoes ….. and more.

I love all of them.

Recently I tinkered with one of my recipes for Irish mashed potato pancakes, basically combining it with another fabulous Irish mashed potato dish called Colcannon, which includes chopped cabbage or kale.

The result was these wonderful, crispy outside, meltingly tender inside Mashed Potato and Cabbage Pancakes.

I’ve made them with both cabbage and kale. I’ve coated them with panko, breadcrumbs and matzo meal.

They all work!

So — the recipe below, which is dairy-free and has a matzo meal crust, is a winner for St. Patrick’s Day, which is fun and gastronomically wonderful even if you’re not Irish, AND is a great side dish for Passover.

MASHED POTATO and Cabbage PANCAKES 

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

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped cabbage or kale

• 1 large egg

• 3 chopped fresh scallions

• 1/4 cup matzo meal (or bread crumbs)

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 cup matzo meal, approximately (or use bread crumbs or panko)

• vegetable oil

Place the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 12 minutes or until the potatoes are barely tender. Add the cabbage and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Drain and return the potato-cabbage mixture to the saucepan. Mash the vegetables with a fork or mashing tool. Stir in the egg, scallions and 1/4 cup matzo meal. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Make flat cakes, about 1/4-inch thick out of the potato mixture. Press each side of the cake into the remaining matzo meal, to coat each side. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Heat about 1/4-inch vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet or heavy, heat retaining sautepan over moderately high heat. Fry for about 3 minutes per side or until the pancakes are golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Makes about 12