Around the Passover Table (6 page)
Read Around the Passover Table Online
Authors: Jayne Cohen
Chopped Eggs and Onions
yield:
4 to 6 servings
My grandmother's chopped eggs and onions got their flavor boost from griebenes, the cracklings of fat and skin that are a by-product of making schmaltz, poultry fat. I add well-browned onions and their oil for the same effect.
For Passover, serve on soft lettuce leaves, or for a gussied-up presentation, in radicchio or alternating pale green and red Belgian endive leaves. Or pack into small custard cups or cleaned tuna cans and invert onto frilly greens.
Grated Black Radish and Endive Salad in Shallot Vinaigrette
is a superb complement.
This should be rather coarse and crumbly, not at all paste-like. Using a food processorâeven in pulsing motionâusually results in some overly large chunks and some paste. I find it much easier to chop this in an old-fashioned wooden chopping bowl with an inexpensive curved hand-chopper (like the half-moon-shaped Jewish hockmeisser or crescent-shaped Italian mezzaluna). It's much quicker to clean than the food processor, too.
3 to 5 tablespoons best-quality olive or avocado oil
1
â
2
cup thinly sliced onions plus
1
â
2
cup finely chopped onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6
hard-boiled large eggs
, peeled and cut into eighths
Olive Oil Schmaltz
or
Poultry Schmaltz
(optional)
HEAT
3 tablespoons oil in a medium skillet, and add the sliced onions. (I use sliced onion here because chopped onion can be quite watery, so it doesn't fry as well and has a tendency to burn when made in small amounts.) Sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until rich golden-brown. Salt and pepper lightly and remove from the heat to cool.
SCRAPE
the sautéed onion and all the oil remaining in the skillet into a wooden bowl, and chop coarsely. Add the eggs and raw onion, and continue to chop until the mixture is well blended but not pasty. Mix in salt and lots of pepper as you chop, or blend in the seasonings afterwards with a fork. (Using a spoon will make the mixture too smooth.) The mixture should hold together loosely; you will probably need to add some of the schmaltz or a bit more oil. Chill well, but remove from the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before serving.
Chicken Soup with Asparagus and Shiitakes, Served with Roasted Fennel Matzoh Balls
yield:
About 8 servings
Set in spring, when the earth is renewing and reassembling herself, Passover is celebrated as a sort of second New Year, reflecting the rebirth of the Jews as a free people after the Exodus from Egypt. Children start the season with new clothes, and houses are thoroughly cleaned and freshened up to make way for the new foods and special sets of dishes reserved just for Passover use.
And just as they delay until Rosh Hashanah their first tastes of the sweet new autumn fruits, so many Jews wait until Passover to savor the tender new vegetables of spring. In this delicious soup, woodsy shiitake mushrooms and early asparagus combine with delicate roasted fennelâflavored matzoh balls in a free-wheeling ode to spring.
FOR THE ROASTED FENNEL MATZOH BALLS
2 small to medium fennel bulbs (about 1 pound, weighed with 2 inches of top stalks)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1
â
2
cup chicken broth, preferably
homemade
or good-quality, low-sodium
purchased
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3
â
4
teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1
â
4
teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle (optional)
2 large eggs
About
1
â
2
cup plus 2 tablespoons matzoh meal
FOR THE SOUP
7 cups homemade chicken broth (see
Classic Chicken Soup
or
Almost Homemade Soup
)
1
â
4
pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and reserved for another use or discarded, caps wiped clean with a damp paper towel and thinly sliced
12 to 15 thin asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
PREPARE
the matzoh balls: preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut off the fennel stalks and reserve for another use (excellent for fish broths and stews). If there are some attractive feathery fronds, set aside about 2 tablespoons of them to garnish the soup. Quarter the bulbs and trim away the stems, the bottom hard core, and any tough parts. Choose a shallow baking pan just large enough to fit the fennel in one layer and put in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the fennel and toss until well coated. Roast the fennel until pale gold, about 20 minutes, then turn the fennel over and roast for 10 minutes longer. Stir in the broth, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and
1
â
2
teaspoon of the thyme. Cover the pan with foil and cook for 35 to 45 minutes longer, or until the fennel is very soft. Remove the foil, stir, and roast for a few more minutes to evaporate most of the liquid. Transfer the fennel and garlic to a food processor and chop coarsely. Add the remaining
1
â
4
teaspoon of thyme, salt (it will need about 1 teaspoon), pepper to taste, and the fennel seeds, if using. With the machine on, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil through the feed tube.
SCRAPE
the mixture into a large bowl. You need 1 cup of puree, so nosh on any extra. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the matzoh meal and stir well. If you can form a lump into a very soft walnut-size ball (the batter will become firmer when you chill it), don't add any more matzoh meal. If necessary, add just enough matzoh meal to enable you to do so. Refrigerate for at least 2 or up to 4 hours so the matzoh meal can drink in the liquid and seasoning.
WHEN
ready to cook, bring 4 quarts water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a rapid boil in a large, wide, lidded pot. Dipping your hands into cold water, if needed, roll the batter into walnut-size balls. When all the balls are rolled and the water is boiling furiously, turn the heat down to a gentle boil. Carefully slide in the balls one at a time and cover the pot tightly.
TURN
the heat down to a simmer, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, without removing the cover. (They will cook by direct heat as well as by steam, which makes them puff and swell, and lifting the lid will allow some of that steam to escape.) Take out a dumpling and cut it in half. It should be light, fluffy and completely cooked through. If it isn't, continue cooking a few more minutes. Remove the balls gently with a skimmer or large slotted spoonâthey are too fragile to pour into a colander.
WHEN
the matzoh balls are almost ready, start the soup: bring the broth to a simmer in a large pot. Add the matzoh balls, the mushrooms, and asparagus and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
USING
a slotted spoon, transfer the matzoh balls to shallow soup bowls and ladle the hot soup and the vegetables over them. Garnish with the reserved chopped fennel fronds.
COOK'S NOTE
: You can cook the matzoh balls up to 2 to 3 hours in advance. Drain them and cover with some broth to keep them moist before setting them aside until you are ready to reheat them.
Experiment with making matzoh balls with a puree of other vegetables, like beets, carrots, leeks, mushrooms, or shallots. Roasted vegetables absorb less moisture than boiled or steamed ones (and, therefore, require less matzoh meal, making them lighter). They are also more flavorful.
For Your Vegetarian Son, Your Vegan Niece
Many families need to accommodate a son returning home from college, a mother-in-law, or other diners who are vegetarian or vegan. Whenever possible, serve them foods your other guests will enjoy too, or make use of ingredients already prepped for other dishes.
Preparing a dairy seder (see suggested seder menus) or even an egg-rich one at a meat meal for a vegetarian guest is not difficult. For a pareve menu, start with Chopped Eggs and Onions or Huevos Haminados; make and serve any of the matzoh ball recipes with vegetable broth, adding extra flavor to the matzoh balls with Olive Oil Schmaltz. Latkes, kugels, and special matzoh bries, such as artichoke, can be made without meat or dairy products and work well as festive vegetarian main courses. And all of the Passover desserts are appropriate for vegetarians.
But creating food in holiday dress that is not just meat-free, but dairy and egg-free as well and conforms to Passover hametz and kitniyot restrictions is a real challenge. Some suggestions:
Start with a pâté: slowly caramelize onions in oil, and set aside. Sauté sliced mushrooms and chopped carrots with garlic until deep gold. Let cool slightly, then combine all the vegetables together with toasted walnuts or almonds in a food processor, and puree until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, fresh thyme, and more oil or Olive Oil Schmaltz, if needed. Serve in endive, radicchio, or butter lettuce leaves or with matzoh.
A plate of spinach and roasted potatoes will never pass for a main course: add complexity to vegetables with textural contrast, and layer or stuff them to make them taste more substantial. For example, fill zucchini or cabbage with potatoes, walnuts, and mint, or make matzoh-crusty gratins of pureed cauliflower or squash. Top sautéed vegetables with a shepherd's pie layer of mashed potatoes combined with toasted nuts or sautéed herbed matzoh crumbs. Or make burgers of mushrooms, finely chopped onion, and mashed potatoes.
Other main course suggestions: prepare dairy-free “pizzas”: fashion a crust of broiled sliced eggplant or a thin layer of well-seasoned mashed potatoes, and top with roasted tomatoes and portobellos sprinkled with slivers of garlic and fresh basil. Or make “pappardelle” of very thinly sliced zucchini (use a Y-shaped vegetable peeler to cut wide strips) lightly cooked then tossed with matzoh crumbs fried crunchy in oil and garlic. Or serve pasta-like spaghetti squash with a marinara sauce or top a melange of roasted vegetablesâpotatoes, red peppers, carrotsâwith a spicy tomato sauce. Or try quinoa, the ancient Inca stand-in for grain that is not considered kitniyot by many Orthodox authorities. On the side, include either the
Rhubarb-Prune Tsimmes
or the
Caramelized Onion and Carrot Tsimmes with Candied Ginger
.
For dessert, serve
Spring Compote
or dates, pitted and stuffed with toasted walnuts, pecans, or almonds, lightly rolled in walnut oil, then in cocoa or coconut.
