Kosher For Passover
On The Menu
Recipes for your Passover seder.
p
assover seder menus often don't
vary. There are the "staples"
found on nearly every Ashkenazi
table: matzah ball soup, gefilte fish, meat,
chicken and something "green." And so
it goes. Just try substituting Bubbie's (or
whomever's) brisket — and there will
rebellion, or disappointment at the very
least.
The place to get creative is beyond the
expected.
Serve your traditional charoset and
introduce a second Sephardic charoset.
Serve the brisket, but add an herbed
chicken recipe, scented with bright citrus
flavors, to the mix.
Since the vegetables are seldom memorable,
sneak in roasted vegetables with fresh rosemary.
And instead of that tricky potato kugel, try an easy
and shortcut mushroom kugel made with matzah
farfel. Your menu is now complete.
Next week, we'll round off your holiday — which
this year begins at sundown Monday, April 18 —
with desserts nobody will believe are kosher for
Pesach.
Sephardic Charoset
There are likely hundreds of Sephardic charoset
recipes. This one uses almonds, dates and cinna-
mon and is sweetened with honey.
1 pound pitted dates, any variety, chopped
1 /2 pound golden raisins
2 cups water
1 cup chopped almonds
1 /4 cup sweet red wine
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Honey to taste
Place chopped dates and raisins in water in a
large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring water
to a boil, and remove pan from the heat to cool.
When the dates and raisins are cool, drain slightly,
leaving some of the liquid, and place in a large
bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir to corn-
bine. If a thicker, paste-like charoset is desired, cook
the fruit in simmering water for 30-40
minutes, and mash the mixture, with
the water, until it becomes a thick paste.
Makes 8-12 servings.
Chicken with Oranges
2 cups freshly squeezed orange
juice
1 /2 cup honey
1 cup chopped onions
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Grated zest from 1 orange
2 Tablespoons olive oil
12-16 chicken pieces (about 8 pounds)
Segments from 3 oranges
Fresh chopped parsley, garnish
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Combine juice, honey, onions and garlic in a
medium saucepan over medium-high heat and
bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for
10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Combine salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, orange
zest and olive oil in a small bowl and stir well to
combine. Rub this mixture over the chicken pieces
and place the pieces (skin side up) in a large roast-
ing pan.
Roast, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Turn the chick-
en in the oven and roast for 20 minutes more. Turn
the pieces over again (you may wish to drain the
fat from the pan at this point or you may keep it as
part of the sauce). Pour the sauce over the chicken
and arrange the orange segments over and around
the pieces.
Roast the chicken for 30 minutes more. Cover
the pan (with a lid or foil) and keep warm until
ready to serve. To serve, drizzle the collected pan
juices over the chicken and serve with orange
segments and sprinkled fresh parsley. Makes 8 or
more servings.
On The Menu 51
50
April 7 2011
ccording to Menachem Lubinsky, founder and co-
producer of Kosherfest, the largest kosher food, wine
and spirits trade show in the country, 78 percent of
American Jews will observe Passover this year.
The holiday represents 40 percent of annual kosher food
sales; and each year, more and more new products are intro-
duced to keep up with the needs of the growing and ever-
changing kosher consumer, says Bill Springer, co-producer of
Kosherfest.
"Passover used to be the holiday where you were very
limited in what you could drink and eat to maintain a diet
free of leavened bread, says Springer. "Today, the breadth of
Passover foods has become almost limitless, as consumers
demand Passover 'bagels,' 'pizza;
rolls' and everything
they eat and drink during the rest of the year while still keep-
ing the dietary laws of the eight-day holiday."
Some 400 new items will be showcased on supermarket
shelves for Passover 2011, Lubinsky says.
Here, just a few examples:
• More familiar brands that were never before kosher for
Passover are now kosher for the first time for this holiday.
They include Lipton Kosher Soup Secrets Matzah Ball and
Soup Mix and Lipton Kosher Matzah Ball Soup, Lay's Potato
Chips, Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Seasonings, Blanchard &
Blanchard Hot Sauces and Osem's Bamba and Bissli snacks.
• Gluten-free and organic continue to be popular kosher-for-
Passover items, with new introductions from Gefen (gluten-
free cakes, cake frosting, cereals and matzah squares), Shabtai
Gourmet's Yidels Devils Food Mini Chocolate Swiss Roll (win-
ner of Kosherfest's 2010 Passover Best New Product), Benz's
gluten-free gefilte fish, Noam gluten-free Passover Pizza
Bagels and Holy Cow! Passover Beef and Turkey Jerky. From
Aviv comes an entire line of organic matzahs, including mini
matzahs, matzah farfel, matzah meal and cake meal.
• Condiments, oils, jams and jellies, marinades and sauces
for Passover are more popular than ever, with some very
gourmet offerings. From Oxygen Imports come Spicy Mexican
Marinade, Kiwi & Mango Preserves, Zesty Indian Marinade,
Citrus Fusion Sauce, Extra Virgin Olive Oil First Cold Press
and a variety of marinated pickles, olives and cucumbers.
Tishbi wine and fruit preserves for Passover include Cherry
Shiraz, Mango Chardonnay, Fig Cabernet, Sangria, Strawberry
Champagne, Fruit Passion Champagne, Merlot Wine Jelly and
Riesling Wine Jelly.
• Osem, Yanovsky and Manischewitz all bring new and
expanded matzah offerings for Passover 2011. From Israel
comes Osem's value-added 5-pound whole wheat and regular
(both varieties offered at the same price). This year Osem
will enclose a free matzah freshness pouch, product coupons
and make a $2 donation to plant trees in Israel with each
purchase. Osem will also offer three varieties of chocolate
covered matzah – plain, raspberry and orange. Yanovsky mat-
zah (Argentina) offers 18-minute matzah and its byproducts,
as well as Passover farfalach (pre-cooked pasta) and cous-
cous. Manischewitz goes sweet with chocolate-covered mat-
zah crackers and chocolate egg-matzah crackers.
— Jewish News Staff
Shabtai Gourmet's Yidels Devils Food Mini Chocolate Swiss
Roll (winner of Kosherfest's 2010 Passover Best New Product)