Passover Bagels and a look at a Vintage Cookbook

During the Passover, when we are bereft of bread, I find I am craving anything that is a facsimile of leavened food. Yes, I know, it seems like cheating, but Passover rolls and bagels are a time honored tradition. About day four I desperately needed something other than Matzo.

While looking for a recipe to quell my yeasty yearnings, I came across this lovely vintage cookbook, A Russian Jew cooks in Peru, by Violeta Autumn, published in 1973. Amazingly, it is Available on Amazon through 3rd party sellers. I am not sure where I got this book, Friend of Food Kelly maybe? If so, thank you, Kelly. This is a beautiful book

The recipes are lovingly illustrated and hand lettered.  Every detail is well thought out and preciously laid out on the page.

Even the dedication page is phenomenal.

Close to the end of the book, I found this recipe for Passover Bagels. 

If you click on the image a larger version of this picture will appear.

You can try this recipe for yourself. 

It is fairly quick and easy, especially when you follow these pretty directions. These bagels are pretty tasty right out of the oven.  They don't seem to last much beyond that as everyone eats them right up.  I have already made this recipe twice this Passover.

Passover Spinach Muffins

Happy Passover everyone! 

Last night I went to a lovely Passover Seder given by Friends of Food. 

I made Aunt of Food's Passover Spinach Muffins which are one of my favorite Vegetable based dishes at any time of the year.  This recipe was the inspiration for the topping on my sausage blinis, now featured on the ATK Foods website and, of course, on this blog. 

This dish is vegetarian, but not vegan; however, if you can find a substitute for the eggs, you may be able to make this dish vegan.

Here is the recipe as I make it:

2 TBSP Margarine (or Butter)

Olive Oil for Pan (About 2 TBSP)

1/2 Green Pepper

1 Medium Onion

1 Celery Stalk

2 Raw Carrots

10 oz package of Frozen Chopped Spinach

3 Eggs Beaten
1 1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

3/4 Cup of Matzo Meal

Use the margarine to generously grease a metal 12 count muffin pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate the Pepper, Onion, Celery, and Carrots in the Cuisinart with the grating disk, or chop by hand.

Heat some Olive Oil in a large Pan and put chopped fresh veggies in the pan.

Sauté vegetables stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, until the veggies are soft.

While the vegetables are cooking on the stove, microwave the frozen spinach according to package directions, draining when done.

Take the pan with the fresh vegetables off of the heat and add the spinach to the mixture.

Combine beaten Eggs with Salt, Pepper, and Matzo Meal. 

Combine that with the vegetable mixture in the big pan.

Spoon the mix into the greased muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the muffins are firm.

Matzo Ball-o Loco

I had a craving for Matzo Ball Soup last night so I stopped by Junior's in Westwood.
It didn't dissapoint. Even my 18 month old twins were crying zzzooooup, more zzzzoooup.
What they wanted was more matzo ball.

Junior's is at:
2379 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064-2109
and can be found on the Family of Food Map

For those too far from Los Angeles to make the trip to Juniors, here are some links to Matzo Ball Soup recipes.

Good all around recipes and tips:
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Matzo-Ball-Soup/Detail.aspx

Vegetarian:
http://euler.ecs.umass.edu/pass-veg/#Matzo%201

Entertaining:
http://blacktable.com/gillin040407.htm

Scientific:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/177/Matzo-Matzah-Ball-Soup

Video Matzo Ball Soup:
I love these videos. The lady in this, Evelyn Igdaloff, is so sweet and she takes so much care in making this soup. Also, she has the same apron I have!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10lFumlVQms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff9jr0as_e4

A Lighter Kind of Passover Recipe

I tried something different for one of my passover meals this year, a Weight Watchers recipe. There was nothing particularly Passover about this recipe other than it broke no Passover rule, but it works for the holiday, so why argue? It was fresh, simple, and low in calories.
I loved it and will surely make it again at any time of the year.

I am reprinting it here for convenience, but the original and many other great recipes can be found at:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/

Here's a direct link to the recipe:
Passover Chicken with Tomato-Mint Salsa

Ingredients:
2 cup grape tomatoes, halved (opt for small tomatoes)
1 small jalapeno pepper(s), cored, seeded and minced (do not touch seeds with bare hands)
1/2 cup red onion(s), finely chopped
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste, divided
1 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste, divided
1 Tbsp mint leaves, fresh, chopped
1 sprays cooking spray, lemon-flavor recommended
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 medium lemon(s), cut into 4 wedges

Instructions:
To prepare salsa, in a small bowl, combine tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper; sprinkle on mint and set aside.
Coat a large heavy-bottomed ridged grill pan with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
Sprinkle chicken with remaining teaspoon each of salt and pepper; place in a single layer on prepared pan. Cook until chicken turns white around edges, about 1 to 2 minutes; flip chicken and grill until chicken is cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes more.
Arrange chicken in overlapping slices on a serving plate; spoon on salsa and garnish with lemon wedges.
Yields about 3 ounces of chicken and 1/2 cup of salsa per serving.

Passover recipe - Matzoh Brie

Thia reipe is from SAM THE COOKING GUY.

Matzoh Brie

3 sheets matzoh 2 eggs
Kosher salt, duh
Fresh ground pepper
Grape or raspberry jelly, seriously
Butter

Break matzoh sheets into quarters and cover with very hot water for about a minute then drain well
Beat eggs with salt & pepper and add softened sheets, and break sheets into smaller pieces
Melt butter and small amount of oil in large pan and add egg mixture
Cook over low heat until lightly golden on one side, then flip and cook the other side
Remove to a plate and serve with a little jelly on the side

Passover recipe

SWEET & SOUR MEAT BALLS
ingredients:sauce

2 medium onions, chopped

1/2 head cabbage, grated

1 cup raisins

2 tbsp. brown sugar

16 oz. tomato sauce

1 can water, add more as needed

1 tsp lemon juice

ingredients: meatballs

1 lb ground beef

2 tbs. onion powder or one onion, chopped

1 tbs. garlic powder or one garlic clove, chopped

salt & pepper

1 beaten egg

1 grated potato

directions

1. Combine sauce ingredients and cook while preparing meat balls

2. Combine meatball ingredients and make into meatballs.

3. Add meatballs to simmering sauce.

4. Lower flame and cook for 1 to 11/2 hours.

The Food that Killed More Jews than Hitler

Since the pediatrician has ordered Grandson of Food, now a toddler, to keep up his calorie count, and I was just making a batch of chicken stock, the byproduct of which is a batch of schmalz (chicken fat), I thought I'd try making something so unhealthy that my uncle used to say that "it killed more Jews than Hitler": gribenes. Gribenes, or chicken cracklings, is chicken skin fried in chicken fat with onions and a little salt and pepper until it's all browned and crispy. Father and Mother of Food can remember their parents making it when they were little, but I can't remember my grandparents making it. It was just a sort of taboo food that might be mentioned at Passover, which was traditionally a time when gribenes might be made as a byproduct of the schmalz that was a byproduct of the chicken stock used in the matzo ball soup, but I'd never actually seen it served.

One reads about people eating gribenes like potato chips, which is tempting and I suppose no worse than pork rinds, but I don't eat those either, and my doctor would be horrified if I were to follow the dietary recommendations of Grandson of Food's doctor. Gribenes does make an excellent garnish, though, like those salty crispy onion rings that came in a can and that people used to put on casseroles back in the '70s, except that gribenes is a fresh homemade thing with a rich chicken flavor that you can make yourself to your own taste with fresh sweet onions.