@bookworm THANK YOU! That is an inspired idea. I’m making mandelbread and matzah crunch for my sister and am shipping them to her before we get there for the seder next week. What a lovely gift for her to have for Passover! She changes all her dishes and cutlery and containers etc so having some nice ones will be very welcome.
Just finished making the sweet kugel and the passover rolls. In our area the shelves with holiday food were remarkably bare by yesterday.
I realize we’re approaching Rosh Hashona rather than Passover but wanted to bump this while I was thinking of it so it won’t get automatically closed.
I’ll try to remember to bump again at Chanukah…
And - yes, remembered to bump. See you at Pesach!
And here we are again…
DH is almost ready to get out of the sling (rotator cuff and biceps tendon surgery six weeks ago) and brother and sister-in-law have come and gone from their first visit. It was great hosting them and we managed to hit just about all the highlights and the weather cooperated by only raining after sundown.
So - time to get ready for Passover! Luckily the house was thoroughly cleaned for the visitors so just needs a touch up and I can concentrate on the kitchen. Teeny tiny seders - just the two of us - our synagogue isn’t doing a community seder except for young folks. They did one last year which was quite nice, but we’ve only been members for two years so don’t know if it’s normal or if the new Rabbi doesn’t want to do it. So just DH and me both nights; possibly DS might want to teleseder but I’m trying to convince him to go to one in person run by Hillel U-W.
Tomorrow we’ll go through the recipes and figure out what needs to be bought at the kosher Ralphs in La Jolla (that’s what we call it; it’s the only grocery south of LA that has has more than the minimum for Passover. It’s not really all kosher like the store we shopped at in Chicagoland.).
@Marilyn, thanks for the bump! Any new (or new to me) potato recipes? I am hosting both seders this year, with 16-20 people at each. My soup and matzah balls are made (I even figured out a tolerable gluten free matzah ball) and in the freezer, as are macaroons. I tried a new olive oil cake and it is delicious. I will make that, a sponge cake and some chocolate cookies during today’s spring snowstorm, leaving the brisket (new recipe), chicken, salmon and vegetables for next week. One of my kids requested a new Haggadah this year, so we will be using a combination of the Jonathan Safran Foer version with our old versions of A Family Haggadah for transliterations. We’ll see how that goes! Anyway, I look forward to hearing what everyone here will be preparing this year.
It’ll be DH, S2 & I at home, skyping with S1, DIL, and GD from CA. We’ve done this ever since they moved to CA, but this will be GD’s first year (she’ll be around 5 months old). S2 is lamenting that he still has to do the 4 questions, but is counting the years until GD is old enough to take over.
We won’t go crazy with the menu with only 3 of us actually eating our meal. I think DH is planning to do a butterflied leg of lamb this year instead of my usual roast chicken.
That olive oil cake recipe sounds good, runnersmom. Would you mind sharing the recipe? I’ll make my chocolate brownies, but most of them will be sent with S2 when he leaves.
It originally called for Amaretto, but no one in my house likes it, so I substituted Triple Sec and it tastes great.
Amaretto Olive Oil Cake (Gourmet:2012 Melissa Roberts)
1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup matzah cake meal
1/4 cup potato starch
3/4 cup plus 1 TBSP sugar
1/4 tsp salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup EVOO
3 TBSP Amaretto (or Triple Sec)
4 large egg whites
1-Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2-Grease 9" cake pan with olive oil, then line bottom with parchment round
3-Toast almonds until fragrant and darker (about 10 minutes) - cool completely
4-Combine almonds, cake meal, potato starch, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in food processor. Pulse until almonds are finely ground
5-Whisk together eggs yolks, olive oil, Amaretto (triple Sec) and 1/2 of almond mixture
6-Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt at medium speed until they hold soft peaks. Increase speed to medium high and add 1/2 cup sugar in slow, steady stream. Beat until holds stiff, glossy peaks.
7-Fold 1/3 of meringue into yolk mixture, then fold in remaining meringue, gently but thoroughly.
8-Sprikle remaining almond mixture over batter and fold in gently. Our into prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining TBSP of sugar.
Bake until golden, top has a crust and tester comes out clean - 40-45 minutes.
Transfer pan to a rack an run sharp knife around edge. Cool in an for 30 minutes then invert pan on rack and remove parchment. Reinvent onto rack and cool completely. Serve with berries or coulis.
Thanks, runnersmom. I actually like amaretto, so I’d probably do the recipe as written. DH isn’t big on chocolate, and I’m tired of traditional sponge cake, so this would be a nice alternative.
Funny you should mention that…I made another one of the olive oil cakes today, along with a sponge cake (which I will fill with whipped cream and berries as a birthday cake for S2-his birthday is April 1), a flourless chocolate cake, and a batch of flourless chocolate chunk cookies! With the macaroons that are already in the freezer, and the raspberry coulis, macerated strawberries and whipped cream I will make on Friday, I think dessert is covered. Phew…now I am just praying that the storm we’re having today doesn’t knock out the power since my freezer is full.
Boy, you’re ambitious!
My crew likes dessert and really, what else is there to do when snow is falling, the wind is blowing, and it’s spring? 
@runnersmom, would you mind sharing the recipe for the flourless chocolate chunk cookies?
OK, now I’m getting hungry! Just finished cleaning the outdoor mini fridge so we can stage Pesach refrigeratables until the indoor fridge is clean. No idea yet what I’m making for Seder except HB eggs, charoseth, and matzoh ball soup.
For the rest of the week, I’m going to try homemade blintzes since I can’t find frozen; the crepes turned out fine last year but I didn’t have a proper filling - cherry jam sort of melted. Then I guess I’ll make all the usual suspects: matzoh apple kugel, banana matzoh farfel, matzoh brei, chocolate brownies, sponge cake, homemade pizza sauce for matzoh pizzas, Passover popovers, etc.
We’ve been much more ambitious in the past when family attended. If DH had two fully functional arms we might do more anyway.
We really miss Temptee cream cheese. And I still miss Best’s kosher for Passover bologna chubs, although they’ve been gone for decades.
Basic Matzah Bark
Ingredients
1 box plain Matzah
6 oz dark chocolate, melted
6 oz white chocolate, melted
1/2 – 1 cup assorted mixed toppings (see below for flavor ideas!)
Directions
Use a spatula to gently spread melted chocolate over each of the matzah slices. Top with assorted nuts, dried fruits etc and let dry before cutting into pieces and serving.
Flavor Combination Ideas:
Pistachio, Almond and Sweetened Coconut with White Chocolate
Dried Cherries, Apricots and Almonds with Dark Chocolate
Dried Cranberries, Candied Orange with Dark Chocolate
Sweetened Coconut, Dried Apricots, Candied Lemon and White Chocolate
Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Matzah Pizza
Ingredients
2 pieces of plain matzah
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 roasted red pepper, sliced thinly
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place two matzo pieces on parchment paper, then spread pesto evenly over both slices.
Top with mozzarella cheese and red pepper slices. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes
Bake for 7-8 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Flourless Chocolate Cookies
(NYT - Melissa Clark: adapted from “The Fearless Baker”))
3 eggs
3 cups/340 g confectioners sugar
1 1/2 C/106 g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup/140g bittersweet chocolate chunks
Flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment
1 - In large bowl, whisk eggs until blended
2- In another bowl, sift sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon & salt
3- Whisk into eggs, use spatula/spoon when becomes too thick
4-Stir vanilla and chocolate chunks into thick chocolate mixture
5- Scoop (I use small ice cream scoop - like 1 TBSP) onto cookie sheet (these don’t spread much)
6- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt
7- Back until cracked on top and slightly undercooked in middle, about 10-13 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheets
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
Notes: These are VERY dense and chocolatey…but not sweet. The batter is extremely hard to mix and you’ll think something is wrong. The vanilla loosens it up a bit and some reviews suggest adding some amaretto or other liqueur…we don’t think it needs it and I would not use more than a TBSP.
Just a quick reminder for those who are strict on Kosher for Passover ingredients and/or follow the older “rules” - vanilla extract is usually excluded because it contains fermented alcohol, and confectioners sugar contains cornstarch. Superfine sugar is fine. And there are specially certified liquors for Passover use.
Re potato recipes - no need for special Passover recipes but I do have ones for Beets and Sweets, and Maple Whipped Sweet Potatoes. I also have a horseradish scalloped potato recipe but it has cream so wouldn’t normally be served with meat.
So it snowed here yesterday and a snowstorm needs chocolate. Am I right?! I made these brownies and it occurred to me as I was reading this thread, that I think they would meet the criteria of kosher for passover. Please - anyone correct me if I am wrong.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mashed avocado (about 1/2 an avocado)
1/2 cup cooked sweet potato
1/2 cup creamy nut butter (almond, cashew, tahini, etc)
1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons cacao powder
Instructions:
Bake Time: 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 325° F, and line a regular size loaf pan with parchment paper, or grease it with coconut oil. Then, leave the chocolate chips aside, and blend all other ingredients in a blender. When they are mixed well, add the chocolate chips, and transfer the batter to the loaf pan.
Use a spoon to level the batter across the pan evenly, as it will be sticky and thick. Bake for 20 minutes.
The, leave it to cool and slice it.
The batter is very thick. I used my food processor. At the end of 20 min, it will look very uncooked in the center. Trust me - it’s fine. The key is to let them sit and cool before cutting and serving. The first time I made these, I let them cook 10 min longer and they still seemed a bit uncooked. We ate them and they were good but this time I noticed that directions stated to let them cool before serving. So we did this (well, almost. I’m just not that patient!) and they were definitely moister. So this detail is key.
Also, I used regular milk because it is what I had on hand.
I use organic confectioners sugar made with tapioca starch (not cornstarch), and there is KP vanilla extract (though we don’t strictly keep KP so I use regular vanilla extract). However, I live in a suburb of NYC so our Stop n’ Shop is fully stocked with Kosher for Passover items…I am spoiled.