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)