Kosher Gourmet
Pesach made easy…and tasty
By: Sharon Lurie
PRETZEL CHICKEN AND CHIPS
8 chicken schnitzel (skinless, deboned breast, butterflied, then cut in half along the dividing seam)
1 cup KLP Italian Salad dressing (I used Tonelli Italian salad dressing)
½ cup KLP mayonnaise
2 eggs
2 cups Hadar* honey pressed KLP pretzels or fine matzah meal
Crush the pretzels really well. Not as fine as powder, a little more texture. Combine the salad dressing, eggs, and mayonnaise and pour over chicken breasts, ensuring they are well coated. Marinate for 2 to 3 hours in the fridge. Remove chicken from dressing, allow excess liquid to drip off, and dip into crushed pretzels. Press breasts well to ensure chicken is completely covered. Line a baking tray with baking paper lightly coated in oil. The chicken can either be fried in oil until golden brown or sprayed/drizzled with oil and baked in the oven ensuring the baking tray is well oiled so that the crumbs don’t stick to the tray. I must admit I found it easier to fry them rather than bake. Serve with chips and a salad.
*Hadar pretzels are not Kitniyot
DIPS FOR CHIPS
SPICY EGGPLANT MATBOUCHA
1 onion chopped
1 large eggplant sliced (½cm)
Little oil for frying
4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 can KLP tomatoes chopped 395g
2 TBLs tomato paste
½ tsp sugar
1 red bird eye chilli chopped
2 TBLs fresh coriander, chopped
Fry onion until soft . Add eggplant and continue to fry until eggplant is soft. Add garlic, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste sugar, chilli, and coriander. Simmer until very soft with the lid on. Add salt and pepper and mix well. Allow to cool. Then refrigerate.
AVOCADO DIP
2 avocado pears
2 TBLs mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
1 TBL lime juice
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Pinch of sugar
1 Birds Eye chilli finely chopped (optional)
2 TBLs chopped fresh coriander/parsley
Blend all of the above together and refrigerate
EGG AND ONION MAYONNAISE
4 eggs hard boiled
1 large onions grated or finely chopped
½ cup mayonnaise
Fry onions until lightly brown. Grate/mash boiled eggs. Add mayonnaise and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
FRESH HERBED FALL OFF THE BONE LAMB SHANKS
This is one of our standard Chol HaMoed meals. For me, nothing compares to the braaied taste of a lamb shank that has been braaied first and then roasted low and slow at 160C for 2 hours and served on mashed potato with the delicious gravy the lamb has created while roasting.
4 lamb shanks
1 TBL ground black pepper
1 heaped teaspoon paprika
COOK-IN HERB SAUCE
1 heaped tsp crushed fresh garlic
1 cup loosely assorted FRESH herbs off their stems – containing mint, rosemary, and origanum
3 TBLs honey
1 beef stock cube
1 cup dry red wine
Place all of the above into a food processor or use a hand blender to blend the cook-in sauce together. Preheat oven to 160C. Rub salt and pepper onto shanks and braai until brown. You can also fry them in a heavy based pan. Once braaied, place them into a roasting dish and cover with the herb sauce. Cover and roast for 2 hours. Serve over a bed of mashed potato and drizzle with any herb sauce left in the roasting dish. If it has all been absorbed into the lamb then just add a little water to the pan and mix with cook-in sauce.
BOLOGNAISE THREE WAYS
The versatility of hearty bolognaise sauce is definitely No. 1 on my list of meals for Pesach. There is so much one can do with mince, whether used in a Spaghetti Bolognaise (I used KLP Heaven and Earth), Cottage pie, a Matzah Lasagne, tucked into tacos (I used KLP Heaven and Earth) or as a topping on baked potatoes. There’s always something magical to do with mince.
1½ kg beef mince
3 onions, chopped
1 large carrot finely grated
1 TBL chicken stock dissolved in 1 cup boiling water
1 TBL potato flour dissolved in 500ml KLP tomato juice
1 can chopped tomatoes (you can use 3 or 4 ripe large jam tomatoes peeled and chopped)
1x200g tomato paste
2 tsps crushed fresh garlic
1 bunch basil leaves (cut chiffonade style)
1 tsp sugar
Fry onions in a little oil until golden brown. This is the secret to a rich sauce. Remove from pan and set aside. To the same pan add the mince and grated carrot and fry until the meat is brown and cooked through. Add the chicken stock, potato flour dissolved in tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, and sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 25 minutes over low heat. Finally add basil and mix well.
Serve over KLP Heaven and Earth spaghetti or as a meat base for cottage pie or in Heaven and Earth KLP Taco shells with a sprinkling of fresh coriander, avocado, and tomato and onion salsa.
CRANBERRY BRISKET
This is my daughter in law’s favourite Pesach brisket. Served on a bed of mashed potato with butternut kugel, she’s in her element!
2½ kg PICKLED brisket
1 cup red wine (dry) or 1 cup water
1 can cranberry sauce (Gefen)
½ cup syrup (this is the secret to a lovely sticky glaze)
1 cup tomato sauce (Tuscanini 100% pure tomato sauce)
1 tsp crushed fresh garlic
3 TBLs onion soup mix/vegetable soup mix
1 large cooking bag
Preheat oven to 160C. Wash the pickled brisket very well to remove excess saltiness from the brine. Brown the brisket in a large frying pan or heavy based pot. Remove meat and set aside. To the same pot in which the brisket was frying add a cup of red wine/water. Scrape all the lovely meaty bits off the bottom. Add the cranberry sauce, syrup, tomato sauce (not ketchup), garlic, and onion soup. Place the meat into a cooking bag and pour the sauce over it. Tie a knot at the top of the bag. Cook for 4 hours in preheated oven. Halfway through the cooking process, carefully turn the meat over by holding the top of the knotted bag.
CUCUMBER ROLL UPS
2 English cucumbers
1 tin tuna
2 boiled eggs
100g smoked salmon
1 avocado
Drain tinned tuna and add 2 TBLs mayonnaise – mix well. Mash boiled eggs with 2 TBLs mayonnaise, salt and pepper. 1 avocado mashed with two TBLs mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Cut smoked salmon into strips. Using a potato peeler, slice the cucumbers lengthwise into ribbons. Avoid using the section with seeds. Take each cucumber strip and spread a tsp of chosen filling onto each strip and roll up as per pic. Serve with Sweet chilli sauce or Chrayonnaise (chrain and mayonnaise).
“IT’S A BREEZE” BEEF CHINESE
Feeds 4-5 people
1kg shredded beef (ask your butcher to cut the beef into strips smaller and thinner than Stroganoff)
2 tsps potato flour
Little oil for frying
2/3 cup red wine or 1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 2/3 cup of boiling water.
250 g fresh tender broccoli stems (slice into 2cm slices.)
1 or 2 tsps chopped garlic (depending on your love of garlic!)
1 TBL freshly grated ginger
1 red Birds Eye chilli finely chopped (optional)
3 TBLs KLP apple cider vinegar
¼ cup KLP soy sauce (Glicks)
1 tin Gefen mandarins (reserve juice)
Add salt and pepper to taste.
TO DECORATE
A handful of chopped fresh coriander or parsley
1 pkt Gefen wonton chips (lightly crushed), dry roasted cashew nuts or ring onion snacks (Meshubach)
METHOD
Dust the meat with the potato flour and mix well. Fry the meat in batches. Once the meat is brown, remove from pan and set aside. To the same pan, add the wine or chicken stock, and deglaze the pan scraping all the lovely meaty bits off the bottom. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilli and fry for a minute. Add the broccoli to the liquid and cook for 2 minutes over high heat, tossing all the time as you don’t want the broccoli to be soft, it should still have a little crunch to it. Remove pan from heat and return the meat to the pan, add the vinegar, soy and mandarin juice and stir lightly. Return to heat, add salt and pepper and stir carefully until it thickens up and the sauce reduces slightly. Finally add drained mandarins and gently stir to avoid breaking them. Decorate with fresh coriander or parsley and just before serving sprinkle the crushed wontons/cashew nuts over the dish.
NO BAKE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
5 sheets matzah
3 tsps coffee dissolved in 2 cups boiling water
200g hazel/pecan nuts (toasted in the oven for extra crunch)
5 eggs
½ cup sugar
Vanilla essence
1 packet chocolate pudding (Osem)
1 cup cold water
400g dark chocolate
CHOCOLATE SPREAD
Beat eggs and sugar until double in size and light in colour. While the eggs and sugar are being beaten, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water. Slowly add chocolate pudding to egg mixture while still beating on low. Slowly add cold water and continue to beat until it firms up. Slowly Add melted chocolate to the egg mixture and continue to mix until well combined. Place in freezer for 30 minutes to firm. Crush nuts and roast in oven until lightly brown. Once the chocolate filling has firmed up slightly remove from freezer. Pour the coffee mixture into a square dish large enough to dip each matzah sheet. Dip them into the coffee liquid, for no more than 30 seconds, ensuring they are well covered. Leaving them longer will make them too mushy. They will soften when the filling is poured over them and the cake is refrigerated. Place the dipped matzah sheet into a tin foil container or square dish. Don’t worry is they break, pretend you’re doing a puzzle and fit the pieces together, the chocolate mousse will hold them together. Cover the first sheet of matzah with chocolate filling and sprinkle a few nuts on top of the filling. Repeat the exercise dipping the matzah, spreading with filling, sprinkling with nuts and placing them one on top of the other, finely ending with chocolate ganache. (Melt 100g dark chocolate with ½ cup coconut oil in a double boiler). Pour chocolate over the top of the cake allowing it to drizzle down over the sides. It’s important to refrigerate overnight to achieve a soft spongy cake.
PESACH PESTO SALADS
PESTO POTATOES
500g baby potatoes
1 red bell pepper finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
Boil potatoes in their skins until soft (check with a toothpick). Allow to cool. Combine 3 TBLs pesto ( recipe below) with 1/3 cup vinegar and 2/3 cup oil and whisk together. Pour over potatoes, sprinkle with chopped bell pepper and onions.
PESACH PESTO
½ cup crushed pine nuts or walnuts
4 cloves garlic
70g basil
35g Italian parsley
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
Blend the above ingredients with hand blender or in a food processor until smooth. Store in a jar with a tightly fitting lid and stand it on its head in the fridge – this will help it last longer. Turn it over every so often.
PESTO PASTA
250g KLP penne pasta (Heaven and Earth) cooked as per instructions on packet.
Combine 3 TBLs pesto with 1/3 cup vinegar, 2/3 cup oil, 1 tsp crushed garlic, salt and pepper and whisk together. At this point you can add mayonnaise as well. Pour over pasta. Refrigerate until ready to serve
TRADITIONAL CHICKEN SOUP AND BITE-SIZE KNEIDLACH
When I make chicken soup I make sure that every nutrient possible is extracted from every ingredient in that pot. This is Bobba’s Penicillin at its best. Nothing needs fine chopping as we’re going to strain it and add finely shredded carrot, and baby marrow at the end for freshness and colour.
4 chicken carcasses + giblets and neck
4 large carrots.
500g pumpkin peeled and cut
3 onions cut in half
4 leeks (white part only)
4 sticks celery whole
A bunch of parsley
4 litres of water
5 TBLs chicken stock powder
1 large bay leaf
Salt to taste
1 cup shredded carrots (grated on fine hole of grater)
1 cup shredded baby marrow
Little dill
Place everything (except last three ingredients, shredded carrot, marrow, and dill) into a large soup pot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and let the soup simmer on low with the lid on for at least three hours. You may have to add another litre of water to your chicken soup, depending on how much has evaporated. You’ll be able to see on the inside of the pot, where the original liquid line was to where it is after 3 hours of cooking.
After 3 hours, strain and add shredded carrots, baby marrow and a TBL of fresh dill.
BITE-SIZE KNEIDLACH
4 extra large eggs
½ cup sparkling water
4 TBL shmaltz or vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 cup matzah meal
In a bowl, whisk the eggs until well combined, add sparkling water, oil, salt and pepper and continue to whisk. Slowly add matzah meal until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. Bring a large pot of water and 1 TBL of salt to the boil. Wet your hands and roll the balls into tiny marble sized balls (they will increase in size whilst boiling). Cover the pot and bring the water to the boil again. When the steam starts escaping reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes with the lid on all the time.
TIP: I take a little of the uncooked kneidlach mixture and spread it over the lip of the pot and on the lid, this way the pot will be tightly sealed whilst cooking the kneidlach.
BASQUE BURNT CHEESECAKE
YES THE TOP IS MEANT TO BE DARK. HENCE THE NAME.
My son went to Spain and visited Basque. He came back and said, “Mom, I have a challenge for you – make a Basque burnt Cheesecake.” Who can refuse such a challenge? Not me!
This would definitely work for Pesach too, I thought. So here goes with my version.
INGREDIENTS
3 X 250g tubs GOOD quality cream cheese (during the year I would use Philadelphia cream cheese, during Pesach, whatever we can get!!)
250ml sour cream or 250ml regular cream and 2 TBLs lemon juice.
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 TBLs almond flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
Preheat the oven to 200C. Yes it’s high, but that’s how a Basque cheesecake achieves its dark golden top unique to Basque (Burnt) cheesecake. Using an electric mixer, whisk, combine all the ingredients (except eggs) in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one area time until well combined. Don’t over mix and if using an electric mixer beat on low speed until all is well combined. Line a 25cm spring form tin or round baking pan with enough baking paper that it extends past the edges of the pan. This will help you remove the cheesecake from the pan later, and will prevent it from sticking, especially since there’s no biscuit base. Bake on the centre rack for 30-35 minutes. The cake will rise quite a bit but don’t worry, it will settle when it’s out of the oven. I like my cheesecake at room temp, so I baked it for 35 minutes, didn’t refrigerate, and tucked in after it had cooled to room temp. If you’re going to refrigerate, I would only bake for 30 mins, the refrigeration will set it. Remember, the cake does have a dark brown top, because you’re not turning the temperature down. It will wiggle a lot when you move it around. Leave to cool at room temperature before refrigeration and refrigerate in the spring form tin.
