New cookbooks offer ideas to freshen your Passover menu (Part 2 of 2)

Cheese Latkes /Marion Rosen“Passover is coming! Don’t panic!”

So begins Mindy Ginsberg’s new cookbook, “The Easy-Way-Out-of Passover Cookbook,” which goes on to say: “Believe it or not you may even enjoy this crazy week” and “I actually like to stay home” during Passover “specifically because of the delicious, special and unique dishes.”

It’s a whole new way of thinking about the holiday, reflected in many, many “new Jewish cuisine” cookbooks – instead of eight days of oppression, eight days to try out delightful new dishes. Mix and match with your traditional favorites, and you’ll hardly notice that you’re eating well and happily without pizza or pasta. In fact, many of these recipes are too good to serve just once a year and are likely to find their way onto your table all year long. Pair these recipes with the entrees presented in the March 13 Jewish Voice – and enjoy!

From The Easy-Way-Out-of Passover Cookbook (Gefen Publishing House Ltd., 2015)

 The recipe makes about 24 latkes, using 1/3 ladleful of batter each time. (One full ladle makes 3 latkes.)

Cheese Latkes

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup matzah meal

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

Butter for frying

Method

Beat together eggs, milk and cottage cheese. Combine remaining ingredients and add to egg mixture. Blend well. Heat butter over low flame. Increase flame to medium and fry batter by spoonfuls. Brown on both sides. Serve with sour cream, applesauce or jam.

From The New Jewish Table (St. Martin’s Press, 2013) by Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray, of the Equinox Restaurant, in Washington, D.C.

Yukon Gold and

Sweet Potato Latkes

2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes

2 medium sweet potatoes

1 medium yellow onion

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup matzah meal

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup canola oil

For serving (optional)

Crème fraiche, freshly grated horseradish and salmon caviar or sour cream and applesauce or fresh or frozen cherries

Mix the latkes. Grate the Yukon Gold and sweet potatoes on the large-mesh side of a box grater or in a food processor. With your hands, squeeze out any liquid and transfer the potatoes to a medium bowl. With the same grater, grate the onions into the bowl with the potatoes. Add the eggs, matzah meal, thyme, salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix together until ingredients are well blended.

Cook the latkes. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Heat a 12-inch nonstick sauté pan over high heat, add 1/4 cup of the oil and heat until it begins to smoke. Working in batches to cook three cakes at a time, shape the potato mixture into 5-inch round cakes about a 1/2-inch thick, adding each to the pan as you do so. Lower the heat to medium and cook the cakes without moving them until brown on one side – about 4 minutes; turn them over and cook until the other side is brown – about 4 minutes more. Remove the cakes from the pan and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/4 cup oil in the pan and shape and cook the remaining potato mixture.  When the first batch of latkes has drained, transfer them to a serving plate and keep warm in the oven. Serve with the topping of your choice.

Spaghetti squash

1 spaghetti squash, roughly 3 pounds  

Olive oil

Garlic cloves, minced or left whole

Coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Rinse the squash and dry. Using a sharp paring knife, carefully pierce the skin in five or six places. Wiggle the knife blade in each slit so it widens slightly to ensure the slit remains opens during cooking to vent steam.  Place the squash on a paper towel in microwave oven and cook on high 10 to 12 minutes, turning three times, or until squash gives slightly when pressed.  Let stand 5 to 7 minutes or until cool enough to touch.  Carefully cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and discard or save to clean and roast as you would pumpkin seeds. Rake flesh lengthwise with a fork – it will separate into spaghetti-like strands.

Heat olive oil in frying or sauté pan until hot. Add garlic and cook a few seconds or until lightly browned. Toss in spaghetti squash, quickly mix until coated with olive oil. Remove from heat, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Makes 6 servings. 

After preparing basic recipe, possible add-ins include: 

Chopped fresh parsley or whole basil leaves (they will wilt)

Shredded Parmesan cheese or crumbled feta cheese

Capers, chunks of cooked or marinated artichoke hearts, sliced black olives

Bite-size chunks of steamed or roasted veggies such as carrots, zucchini, broccoli, onion

Or, cook squash but do not coat with olive oil. Instead, mix with hot marinara sauce or pesto.

From The Easy-Way-Out-of Passover Cookbook

Cabbage & Pecans

1 cabbage, coarsely grated

2 tablespoons oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 onions, diced

2 teaspoons paprika

1–1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tomatoes, pureed

1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Method

In flat dish, microwave cabbage on high for about 6 minutes (to soften). Sauté garlic and onion in heated oil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add paprika a few minutes into the sautéing. Add cabbage and sauté another 10 minutes. In small bowl, combine seasoning ingredients. Add seasoning and rest of ingredients and toss.

This traditional recipe can also be used as a fruit dip (omit toppings) or a frosting

Strawberry Whip

1 cup strawberries, diced

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Coconut flakes and chopped walnuts for topping.  

Place first four ingredients in bowl of electric mixer. Turn mixer to low setting and mix for 2 minutes. Turn mixer to high and continue to mix for 15 minutes or until mixture is stiff and smooth. Spoon into serving bowl or individual serving cups or bowls. Top with shredded coconut and walnuts.

This traditional recipe was eagerly anticipated at my house when I was growing up.

Passover Teiglach

6 eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon oil

Matzah cake meal

1 pound honey

8 ounces sugar

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup candied cherries, raisins and/or chopped walnuts (optional)

Method

Beat eggs well. Add oil and just enough meal to form a soft dough. Sprinkle matzah meal on a work surface and roll out dough with hands into long strips about as thick as a finger.  Cut strips into 1/2-inch pieces and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cook in oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
     Mix honey, sugar, ginger in a pot and bring to a boil. Add pieces of baked dough, fruit and nuts, if desired. Simmer, stirring frequently, until honey barely reaches the hard ball stage (test by sprinkling a few drops of the honey mixture into cold water – it should form little balls). Quickly remove the mix from the pot and pour onto a flat surface, such as a cutting board. Flatten slightly with the back of a wooden spoon. Cool. Serve whole, so diners can pull pieces from the teiglach, or cut into squares.

 From The Easy-Way-Out-of Passover Cookbook

Cheese cake

For Matzah-Meal Crust

1–1 1/4 cups matzah meal

1/2 cup (100 g) butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and spread in springform pan. Bake for 5 minutes. 

For filling

3 cups cream cheese

2 cups sour cream

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 tablespoons potato starch

1 cup cottage cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup flaked coconut

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixer, mix all of the filling ingredients until well blended and spread over baked crust. Bake for about 50 minutes. Leave in oven to settle. 

CYNTHIA BENJAMIN is a chef, an editor at the  Profidence Journal and freelance writer. She is a member of Temple B’nai Israel in Woonsocket.