Every New Yorker worth their salt knows that Easter and Passover are the two most important times of year in the Judeo-Christian calendar. And as Christ has already risen according to the Christian calendar (Easter was at the end of March), I wanted to share a couple of recipes for Passover from my dear friend and fellow foodie journalist, Aly Walansky. I have mentioned her in my column before…a woman I have nothing but the utmost respect and adoration for given her talents behind both the keyboard, and the kitchen counter! And as Aly is a big believer in the Kosher lifestyle, I asked her for some Passover recipes to help our Jewish readers celebrate the exodus of Jewish slaves from Egypt!
One challenge on Passover is the restriction on grains and leavened bread. There are a lot of stories around why this came to pass as part of the Passover tradition, but it is not my place to recount those. After all, I can’t take away a Jewish Mother and Bubbe’s task for Passover! It’s their job to tell the story! Hence our first Passover recipe, which uses matzo meal to help create a “sandwich,” or as Aly calls them, rolls!
Ingredients
·1 1/4 cups water
·1/3 cup neutral oil
·1 tablespoon sugar
·1 teaspoon kosher salt
·2 cups matzo meal (my mom uses cake meal in hers, so you can use that too)
·4 large eggs
·1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
·2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Cover a large, heavy baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; add matzo meal, stirring well with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from sides of pan (about 30 seconds). Remove from heat, place dough in bowl of a stand mixer. Cool slightly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating at low speed with paddle attachment until well combined and scraping sides and bottom of bowl after each egg. Stir in chives and thyme.
4. With moistened fingers, shape about 1/4 cupfuls of dough into 12 mounds 2 inches apart onto prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 55 minutes or until browned and crisp. then let cool!
And, of course, a family meal is not complete without the best part, dessert! Aly’s Mom, Ellyn Walansky, jumped in on the Passover bandwagon at Great Bites this month with her traditional Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe:
MRS. WALANSKY’S
PASSOVER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Ingredients
·1 cup of Butter (2 sticks) melted
·1 cup of brown sugar
·½ cup of powdered sugar
·2 eggs
·1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
·2 – 2 ¼ cups of cake meal
·1 teaspoon of baking soda
·½ teaspoon SALT
·1 package of chocolate chip
Instructions
1. Mix first 6 ingredients until creamy
2. Mix in cake meal, baking soda and salt
3. Stir in chocolate chips
4. Use a small ice cream scoop to form cookies
5. Bake about 8 minutes until light brown
Thank you to Aly and Mrs. Walansky for such a flavorful and Kosher way to help our readers celebrate Pesach (Passover)!
Earth Day is April 22nd. And I cannot think of a better way to celebrate such an important day than with my friends at Move for Hunger and their Zero Waste recipes. Move for Hunger is a non-profit that mobilizes transportation networks to deliver surplus food to communities in need! Interesting fact…did you know that almost 38 percent of food grown, processed and transported in the US went to waste in 2023? Think about how much pollution that equates to, let alone how many families are facing food insecurity right now which could benefit from such a program!
NO-WASTE CAULIFLOWER CURRY
Ingredients
· 2 tbsp olive oil
· 1 large onion diced
· 5 cloves garlic minced, or 4 small cloves minced
· 3 tbsp yellow curry powder
· 2 tsp turmeric
· 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated
· 2 - 15 ounce can full fat coconut milk (search the international
section of your grocery store)
· 1 - 14 oz can of diced tomatoes drained
· 1 tsp salt and pepper - more to taste
· 1 head cauliflower chopped
· 1 large red pepper sliced
· 1 15 oz can chickpeas
· Cilantro chopped
· Basil chopped
· Cashews - optional
· Lemongrass or lemon juice optional
· Red pepper flakes - optional
Instructions
1. In a large pot/skillet over medium-high heat, add oil. Saute onions until browned, about 2 minutes.
2. Add garlic and saute for another 45 seconds.
3. Reduce heat to medium, add curry powder, turmeric and ginger. Let that heat for about 15 seconds then add coconut milk, tomatoes, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a simmer then reduce to medium low heat. Add cauliflower, red pepper, lemon grass and cashews if using. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
5. Add chickpeas, cilantro, basil and red peppers if using. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
NO-WASTE TATER TOTS
(Using scraps from the No-Waste Cauliflower
Curry recipe)
Instructions 1. Process the cauliflower scraps and then add one medium-baked sweet potato or russet potato.
2. Process with 1 egg, cheese, everything bagel seasoning, and 1/4 cup almond flour.
3. Shape into tot shapes and bake 400F for 10 minutes. Flip and bake for another 15 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with sea salt.