worrywart

Can anyone wholeheartedly endorse a recipe (or two or three) for Passover? I'm tired of my repertoire and my family won't eat the made for Passover noodles, cereals and other substitutes that typically taste like cardboard. We wind up throwing steaks and chicken breasts on the grill every night for a week. Help?!

Chedva

Believe it or not, take a look at Rachael Ray's "Get Real Meals". It's her low-carb 30 minute meals cookbook, so there's very little chametz in the recipes.

I'll be back when I have a few more minutes with some other recipes.

wjb

worrywart: What are you looking for? I have a wonderful matza farfel kugel(savory, not sweet) that's good paired with grilled fish or chicken. (My daughter thinks it's her birthright; when she was a freshman we overnighted a whole one to her at school.) Also a Sephardic matza lasagne made with ground beef, pine nuts and sauteed leeks. Although both recipes have some of the dreaded cardboard-y elements, both are really good, and fun once a year. I also have a sensational Passover brownie recipe. Aside from a few of these annual favorites, we do pretty much what your family does -- lots of grilled or sauteed chicken, steaks, fish, and potatoes, potatoes, potatoes in various iterations.

Let me know if any of those recipes interest you, and I'll post them.

jimbob1225

Can you eat rice? Lol.

barbara960

Have you tried quinoa? It is a grain that is K for P, for some reason. It is a nice change from potatoes. I also make a veg lasagna with matzo and grilled veg -not bad.

worrywart

wjb, I hear you re: potatoes. By the end of the holiday, we've had them baked, fried, mashed, you name it. I would love your brownie and farfel recipes. My own farfel recipe is ungashtupped with three types of mushrooms.

wjb

Ungashtupped indeed, ww!

Passover Matzah Farfel Kugel

1 c. diced onions
1 c. diced celery
3 T. KP vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. chicken broth, canned or homemade, at room temp
1 t. salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 t. paprika
scant 1 1/2 c. boiling water
3 1/2 c. matzah farfel

In a large skillet, sweat onions and celery in oil over medium low heat until soft and translucent. In a medium bowl, combine eggs with broth, then stir in salt, pepper, paprika, and water. Add farfel to vegetables in skillet. Pour in liquid and let the mixture stand until liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Turn into oiled 8 x 8 in. pan. Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes. Serves 6.Can be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13 in. pan. I always double it, because the leftovers are yummy during the "Dog Days" of Pesach.

I'll post the brownie recipe a little later.

nyumom

wjb,
The Passover kugel recipe sounds delicious and easy to prepare. I will definitely make it for the holiday.

mommusic

Moosewood has a "zucchini-crusted pizza" that calls for 1/3 c. of flour, if I recall. I just substitute 1/3 c. matzo meal and it's great.

wjb

Here's the brownie recipe, which I originally got from epicurious.com and modified slightly. It has since disappeared from the site, which is a shame, because these brownies are surprisingly good and easy.

Passover Brownies
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
1 T. brewed coffee or 1/2 t. instant coffee crystals
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powsder, sifted
1/4 t. salt
1 scant c. matzah cake meal

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 7 x 10-inch or a 9 x 9-inch baking pan.

In a bowl, beat the sugar into the melted butter, then beat in the eggs, and finally stir in the coffee, cocoa, salt, and cake meal.

Turn the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-27 minutes. The brownies should be set and seem dry to the touch, but there should not be a crust around the sides. Cool in the pan and cut into squares.

Chag sameach, everyone!

fourkidsmom

I make passover pancakes from scratch that my kids eat for breakfast ( with choc chips, of course) I have a brownie recipe that has the kosher marshmallows on it, that's pretty good. If you google passover recipes, there's a bunch. I just figure it's a week to get through. Luckily, the kids are out of school next Friday -and Thursday too for the younger set- less meals to figure out to send to school.

paying3tuitions

If your family will let you depart from Ashkenazi gefilte fish, you might attempt Muggine in Bianco, a Jellied Striped Bass, which is from Edda Servin Machlin's "the Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews." I tried this one year and like all of her recipes, the difference is subtle and delicious.

1 4-lb. stribed bass
1 small onion, sliced
1 carrot cliced,
1 stalk celery, coarsely cut up
1 lemon, sliced
1/4 tsp whole peppercorns
salt
white pepper
1 cup mayonnaise

Use striped bass if possible b/c it produces more natural gelatin. Have fish cleaned at the store, removing gills from the head. Have head & bones separated from the meat, but take them home too.

In a fish pocher or kettle, place onion, carrot, celery, one slice of lemon, peppercorns. Add fish fillets, the head & bones. Add cold water to cover and 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer, covered for l0-20 min or til done. Fish is done when the eye pops out a little and the meat flakes. (I'm sure by now I've lost all the vegetarian readers..). Remove from heat.
Carefully pick up all pieces of meat, avoiding bones or veggies, and arrange inside a fish mold or on oval serving plate. Lightly season w/ salt, white pepper, few drops lemon juice.
Strain brother, return it to stove. Let it boil down, uncovered til liquid is reduced to about a cup. Pour over fish and chill until gelatiin is firm.
Unmold, cut in half lengthwise w/ sharp knife. Then cut each half into 4 or 5 pieces diagnally so it forms a fishbone patttern. Mask the cuts under a twirl of mayonnaise for a whole-fish effect. Cut lemon slice in half and arrange around fish to resemble fins.

(Then do the Miriam dance with your tambourine.)

paying3tuitions

My other tried-and-true is to make hard-boiled eggs as "Hamindas" which are roasted in onion skins, Sephardi style. They are indescribably delicious compared to plain hardboiled eggs.

6 eggs
3 T oil
skins of 12 onions
1/8 tsp pepper

Hardboil eggs.
Crack shells and roll a bit so that some pieces of the shell fall off, while most of the shell stays on the egg in a crackle-pattern.

Place all ingredients in a saucepan, adding water to cover.

Cover saucepan and simmer on very low heat for 8 hours, adding more water if necessary.

Optional: serve with lemon slices.

UCLAri

Oy, this thread makes me wish my family had been this fun during Passover. My family didn't even try...it was matzoh and chicken...matzoh and chicken...

No wonder I'm such a bad Jew...

worrywart

I have to say I have never heard of Hamindas. Sounds interesting. Thanks all for your help and moral support. fourkidsmom, I hate for my family to feel that it's just a week to get through. It's a celebration of our heritage and I like to make it as festive as I can. In fact, when my older son returned to school this past Sunday after his spring break, I tucked a set of the Plagues finger puppets in his luggage (along with macaroons, Tam Tams, etc.)