Passover Friendly Foods

Passover is a Jewish holiday that lasts for 8 days when we remember the exodus from Egypt. The most significant observance related to Passover involves the removal of chametz (leaven) from our homes. This commemorates the fact that the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry, and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the "puffiness" (arrogance, pride) from our souls. For more details and explanations about Passover please visit the website. I'm pooped from educating my co-workers all week! So on to the good part: FOOD!

My good friend Gayle sent me an awesome Mandel Bread recipe that's kosher for passover:

Ingredients:

3 eggs

¾ cup sugar

½ cup oil

1 ½ cup matzo cake meal

1 tablespoon potato starch

Methods:

1. Beat eggs and sugar until thick and lemony looking.
2. Stir in oil
3. Fold in cake meal and potato starch
4. Add chocolate chips
5. Form 2 long loaves on greased cookie sheet
6. Bake at 350 forf 30 minutes
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar when taken out of oven-slice it and put back for 10 more minutes-if want crispy pieces

The Mandel bread recipe is super easy to make and so delicious too!

This year, we went to our dear friends' home for Passover Sedar. Here is a picture of the beautiful sedar plate:
...and the parsley and salt water to symbolize all those tears
What's passover without matzo?!
My absolute favorite passover treat: Charoset.

Recipe for Charoset

This fruit, nut and wine mix is eaten during the seder. It is meant to remind us of the mortar used by the Jews to build during the period of slavery. It should have a coarse texture. The ingredient quantities listed here are at best a rough estimate; I usually just eye-ball it. The recipe below makes a very large quantity, but we usually wind up making more before the holiday is over. Other fruits or nuts can be used.

• 4 medium apples, 2 tart and 2 sweet
• 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1/4 cup sweet wine
• 1/4 cup dry wine
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon

Shred the apples. Add all other ingredients. Allow to sit for 3-6 hours, until the wine is absorbed by the other ingredients. Serve on matzah. Goes very well with horseradish. Courtesy of Judaism 101

Matzo ball soup
The infamous gefilte fish - GROSS. This year I was able to get through the first bite.. but the second one induced my gag reflex!
Must have many many glasses of red wine at the sedar.
Ronnie's famous Macaroons. Simply the BEST!
Her almond apricot cookies - these are good too, but it's hard to compare anything to those macaroons.
Happy Passover! And thank you to the C's for another great sedar together!

La Bete Noire - "The Black Beast"

This take on a flour-less chocolate cake definitely lives up to its translation: The Black Beast

**DISCLAIMER** While this cake is incredibly rich, chocolatey, and delicious, as an RD, I do not recommend consuming more than a tiny wedge. Note the nutrition facts are not included for a reason...

This cake is gluten-free and a great dessert choice for those with a gluten intolerance.

Ingredients:

Cake

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, diced

18 ounces (2 1/4 cups) bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

6 large eggs

Ganache

1 cup heavy whipping cream

8 ounces (1 cup) bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

lightly sweetened whopped cream

Preparation

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350*F. Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment round; butter parchment (I used cooking spray). Wrap 3 layers of heavy-duty foil around outside of pan, bringing foil to top of rim.

Combine 1 cup water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk sugar syrup into chocolate; cool slightly.

Add eggs to chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Bake until center no longer moves when pan is gently shaken, about 50 minutes. Remove from water bath; transfer to rack. cool completely in pan.

For ganache:

Bring whipping cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cake still in pan.
Gently shake pan to distribute ganache evenly over top of cake. Refrigerate in pan until ganache is set, about 2 hours. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release sides. Whip cream and add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release sides.

Cut cake into wedges and serve with whipped cream
This cake is mouthwatering, rich, and delicious! It is best served cold and if you leave it out of the fridge for too long it can get mushy. It is so satisfying for chocolate lovers and is perfectly paired with cold, skim milk. This is a great dessert for entertaining or even as a weeknight indulgence, but may not be the best choice for those watching their waistline... check out those ingredients again! But then again, those ingredients are what make it taste so wonderful. Always remember: portion control!

ENJOY!!

Recipe courtesy of epicurious: September 2006

Lil Kaplan's Rugelach

The second cookie we made for our holiday party is Rugelach - I had to add a little Jewish pride to mix of Christmas themed cookies.
My good friend Ronnie makes the best Rugelach I have ever had, so I used the same recipe.

Again, I used my apricot jam in this recipe. We filled some with just sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon, and some had all of the fillings. We added mini chocolate chips to some because who doesn't love chocolate?! The picture below is filled with cinnamon, sugar, walnuts, apricot jam, AND mini chocolate chips - YUM.
Again, this dough needed to be chilled for an hour, but was MUCH easier to work with than the Linzer cookie dough, and the process was a bit easier too. It was so much fun to roll all of the ingredients up into pretty swirls.
The Rugelach came out of the oven with a crispy outside and a sweet inside. I didn't think this recipe made enough cookies, so I may double it next time. I am traveling to Israel next month and hear they have the best Rugelach EVER - so keep an eye out for round 2 of Rugelach making in February.
My Rugelach didn't come out quite as great as Ronnie's, but they were quite delicious! With some practice I may be able to give her a run for her money!

Recipe to follow...

Pastry:

2c flour

1/2lb. unsalted butter

3/4c sour cream (I used 'light' sour cream like a good dietitian)

1 egg yolk

Combine all ingredients in food processor (I used a mixer) until it forms a ball. Chill for 1 hour.

Filling:

3/4c sugar

3/4c finely chopped walnuts

1tsp cinnamon

(I added mini chocolate chips too)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl

Procedure:

Cut ball of dough into fourths. Roll each piece into a 1/4 inch thick circle and cut into sixteenths (wedges). Put about 1/2tsp filling on fat end of each wedge. Roll towards the point.

Place rolled rugelach on an ungreased cookie sheet and back for 30 minutes at 375*F until lightly browned.

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies

As I walked past a bakery this weekend, I had a serious craving for chocolate chip cookies. Before stopped in to buy one, I remembered my blog and decided to bake my own!

I found this recipe in my Cooking Light cookbook and it looked pretty quick and simple, so I tried it! I didn't have any pecans or mini chocolate chips, so I substituted raisins and regular chocolate chips. Otherwise, I followed the recipe dead on and I think they came out great. The cookies were perfectly crunchy on the outside and a tiny bit chewy inside... the perfect treat for a rainy day.

Not only did the cookies completely satisfy my craving, but they ended up being a combination of my favorite (chocolate chip) and boyfriend's favorite (oatmeal raisin). I will definitely be making these cookies again soon!

See Recipe below...

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
• 1 cup regular oats
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk; set aside.

Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in pecans and minichips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

Nutrition Information

Yield: 3 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Calories: 81 (33% from fat) Fat: 3g (sat 1.4g,mono 1g,poly 0.3g) Protein: 1.1g

Carbohydrate: 12.9g Fiber: 0.5g Cholesterol: 10mg Iron: 0.5mg Sodium: 76mg

Calcium: 12mg

Julianna Grimes and Ann Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2007