Chopped Liver is one of those indulgences that I absolutely love but it’s a heart attack in a bowl: chicken livers, hard boiled eggs, schmaltz, OY! Given the heart and cholesterol issues that are scattered throughout my family, I’ve stopped making it (sob). Instead I’ve toyed with a variety of alternative versions.
To replace the chicken livers, I’m substituting nice meaty portobello mushrooms and sautéing them up with the onions. Rather than using schmaltz I’m using a combination of butter and oil which adds back some of the richness of the chicken fat. This mock liver is probably the first version I’ve made that contains nuts and I find that I do like the texture they add.
I’ll admit though flavor-wise it kinda tastes more mushroom pate-like than liver, but it’s tasty all the same so I thought I’d share. I’ll be bringing this to my in-laws for our Passover Seder this evening so I hope they like it.
For all those who celebrate, Zissen Pesach!
Not-Chopped Liver
Adapted from “The NY Times Passover Cookbook”
Note: To make this pareve, simply replace the butter with all safflower or another Kosher for Passover oil.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon safflower oil (or other Kosher for Passover oil)
1 medium yellow onion, cut into half moons
2 cloves garlic, smashed and coarsely chopped
6 portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, coarsely chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters
1/3 cup toasted, coarsley chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
1. Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until bubbly.
2. Add the onions and saute until they begin to wilt.
3. Add the garlic cloves and mushrooms; continue to saute until all of the liquid the mushrooms have given off has evaporated (see all of that liquid), about 7 to 10 minutes.
4. Allow the mixture to cool a bit.
5. Place the mushroom and onions into a food processor along with the eggs and process until chunky.
6. Add the walnuts and process until just shy of smooth.
7. Add the thyme, salt and pepper and pulse 3-4 times or until you are happy with the consistency.
8. Allow to cool in the refrigerator (overnight is best) and then taste and re-season as desired.
Serve cold sprinkled with chopped parsley if desired.
I love cooking for Passover. It brings back so many memories of my childhood cooking and baking and prepping with my mom. As it got closer to that time, she would pull out all her recipes and decide on which ones she would make that year. There were of course her staple items, but often she would throw something new into the mix. I think that was my favorite part and I guess that’s where I get it from, every year I look for something new and different to serve.
Anyway, I’m not hosting as I did last year so I’ll be doing some desserts and possibly an appetizer (stay tuned for that) which I will bring to my in-laws on Friday.
This year my nephew with the tree nut allergy will not be joining us for our Seder, so I’m free to use them in my recipes for the family. Welcome almond flour!
I must admit I’m kinda excited about the prospect, not that I won’t miss having him around it’s just, well you know.
As I was trolling some of the blogs I enjoy reading I came across a gluten-free Triple XXX Chocolate Biscotti recipe on EA Stewart’s blog. EA is a Registered Dietitian who blogs about healthy eating, cooking tips and is gluten free. You should check her out.
When I saw EA’s biscotti recipe, my first inclination was to step into the kitchen and make them at that instant. Then I thought, hmmm…I’m working on some dessert ideas for Passover and it occurred to me that this recipe was darn close…so I started playing.
For my first batch, I whipped up some egg whites to replace the baking soda (I know, some people use it on Passover but I prefer not to) but because the batter is so dense, it really didn’t do much.
I also used some espresso powder, which you can omit if you don’t drink coffee on Passover or if you can’t find Kosher For Passover.
For the second batch I added some dried tart cherries and nixed the egg whites.
So after few more tweaks here and there, voila!
Gluten-Free, Chocolate-Cherry Almond Biscotti for Passover!
Recipe Adapted from EA Stewart, RD
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups almond flour
1/2 cup light brown organic sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (non-alkalized)
1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
2 1/2 tablespoons potato starch
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (or Kosher for Passover extract)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup tart dried cherries
1/4 cup slivered almonds (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat you oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with a silicone liner, like Silpat.
2. Combine the almond flour, sugar, cocoa powder, expresso powder (if using), potato starch, vanilla sugar and salt in a large bowl. Whisk them together so all ingredients are evenly distributed and set aside.
3. Add the coconut oil and eggs to the dry ingredients and stir until just about combined. Add the chocolate chips and dried cherries and fold into the chocolate mixture.
4. Divide the dough in half and form in to two loaves, approximately 4 inches by 8 inches, on each baking sheet. Sprinkle with slivered almonds if using (press them down a bit) and bake in oven for about 22-25 minutes. The dough should be firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven and allow cool for approximately 20 minutes.
5. Reduce your oven temperature to 300°F. Using a thin sharp knife (like a carving knife), cut the loaves into 1/2 inch slices on the diagonal. Place slices, cut side down back onto the baking sheets and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and carefully flip the slices over and bake for about another 12 minutes.
6. Remove the trays from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.
Notes
The biscotti will keep in an air tight container on your counter for two weeks. Alternatively, you can bake and then freeze them. Allow to thaw at room temperature. If they soften a bit, toast in a 300°F oven for 10 minutes or so.
Passover is a beautiful holiday full of tradition, family gatherings and unique food. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are centered around holiday time when my mom and I would spend many a day and night in the kitchen cooking up a storm in preparation for the “big day”. She would go all out cooking and baking enough food and dessert so our guests could take some home and so we would have plenty of leftovers.
Passover was always particularly special because we had the added challenge of creating recipes that didn’t use many of the ingredients we so often used in our daily lives. Of course at the time I wasn’t the one creating, I was learning. Now, I enjoy the excitement of recreating/reinventing my mom’s recipes and developing my own which adhere to the dietary rules prohibiting the consumption of leavened bread. Instead, we eat matzoh which symbolizes the bread that didn’t have time to rise as the Israelites fled Egypt during biblical times. Being of Ashkenazi descent, in addition to avoiding the five forbidden grains: wheat, oats, barley, rye and spelt, I also do not consume items which might be ground into flour such as beans, legumes, seeds, rice, corn and soy (not an all inclusive list).
Every family has their traditions and those special Passover foods that will always be on the Seder table, for my family they are my mother-in-law’s incredible from scratch gefilte fish, my mother’s amazing chicken soup and matzoh balls and my melt-in-your-mouth brisket.
My mother-in-law’s gefilte fish recipe has been passed down through many generations of her family. Some day I will learn how to make it, but that will have to be when I’m not hosting. Hmm, I wonder if she still goes back to the Bronx to get the fish? There’s a funny story about the fish being kept in the bath tub in years past before there was refrigeration, yikes!
Then there’s my mother’s chicken soup and matzoh balls. I learned how to make this at her side many years ago and I must admit I make a mean chicken soup and matzoh ball (though this took a wee bit longer to learn than the soup), but this is one of those situations where somehow you just can’t beat mom’s; she just has to make it, even if I am hosting, like this year.
We always have two main dishes on our table, one beef and one chicken. The chicken dish varies from year to year. This time I did a split and deboned, skin-on breast stuffed with a mixture of spinach, mushrooms and onions.
The beef dish is one of our staples: my much loved Passover Brisket. This recipe evolved from my mom’s delicious twice-cooked, low and slow version and Lora Brody’s Slow Cooker Cooking slow cooker recipe which provided me with some ideas and good guidelines for conversion to the slow cooker.
I enjoy this brisket so much I thought it would be fun to shoot a video of it’s making. Please ignore the awful slippers and sweats, had I any idea that part of me would get caught on screen, I’d have put on human clothes. Guess that’s what happens when you roll out of bed to brown meat at the crack of dawn! My husband shot the video for me as I was cooking and did all the visual and audio editing. If you listen closely you’ll hear some family chatter in the background. Hope you enjoy our first foray into video. Oh and of course the recipe, which you will find below said video.
Hey and let me know if you make it, I’d love to hear how it came out!
Recipe Notes – I add salt and pepper as I go to the brisket and onions. Do so to your own taste.
– I use a 7 quart oval slow cooker for this recipe.
– Food Safety Rule: Do not open the slow cooker during the cooking process.
And now for the recipe:
Ingredients
4 Yukon Gold Potatoes, sliced ½” thick
2 Tbs Kosher for Passover Vegetable oil
6 pound flat cut brisket
2 large onions, cut into ¼” half moon slices
6 garlic cloves, minced
12oz dry red wine
½ cup beef broth (homemade if you have it)
1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste
2 bay leaves
4 large carrots cut into ½” slices
4 long celery stalks cut into ½” slices
Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Line the slow cooker with the potatoes.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
3. Season the meat with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Brown on all sides. Place the meat in the slow cooker.
4. Sauté the onions until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and cook two minutes more.
6. Pour the onions and garlic over the brisket.
7. Deglaze the pan with the wine and broth, scraping the brown bits.
8. Add the stewed tomatoes and tomato paste until dissolved.
9. Pour over the onions and brisket.
10.Toss in the bay leaves and scatter the celery and carrots over the brisket.
11.Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.
Have you ever had a Larabar? Well if not, first of all, you must try them. They are 100% natural goodness. If you have, then you may know where I’m going with this. Larabars are very simply made of pureed fruit, nuts and spices that are pressed into bar shape. Simple, elegant, delicious. I absolutely love them; they are one of my favorite snacks. Oh, and they’re gluten-free.
Well guess what, haroset is made from pureed or chopped fruit, nuts and spices sweetened with a little honey and, in my case, some fruit juice rather than the traditional super sweet Kosher for Passover wine. So for those who may think you would never like such a concoction, give it a second look, you may just surprise yourself.
Anyway, haroset is part of the Passover Seder plate. It symbolizes the mortar used by the enslaved Jews in ancient Egypt to construct buildings for the Pharaoh (think “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston). It is traditionally made from assorted chopped fruit and nuts which may include apples, walnuts, honey and sweet wine. The fruit used varies by family tradition and region. Learned from my mom, I made this type of haroset for many a Seder.
In more recent years, since I met my husband and we started our own Passover traditions, I have made quite a number of changes. Okay, so my haroset is COMPLETELY different from my mom’s but there is good reason for that: I have a nephew who is highly allergic to tree nuts. It is therefore important that everything served at Passover is “safe” for him. This of course provides an added challenge to the Passover meal, particularly dessert because ground almonds are a very common substitute for flour… but I digress.
So I have been on a quest for a nut-free haroset that mimics the texture I like so much, provided by the nuts. I’ve been experimenting with the recipe ever since. Finally, last year I came up with a fruit combo that I really like. I’ve also replaced the sweet wine with apple juice (actually I did this many haroset versions ago) mostly because I’m not a fan of sweet wine and because by a day or two later the haroset seems to get this funky exposed-to-the-air-for-too-long-wine-taste…blaach.
I enjoy haroset on a piece of matzoh throughout Passover. Here is my nut-free, gluten-free recipe for Passover haroset. I hope you enjoy it!
Ingredients
15 pitted dates
5 figs, coarsley chopped
Handful of raisins (about 1/4 cup or so)
2 – 3 prunes
1 small apple peeled and chopped
1 tbs honey
1 tsp allspice
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Apple juice for consistency if needed
Instructions
1. Place the dates, figs, raisins and prunes into a food processor and pulse until coarsley chopped.
2. Add the apple, honey and spices and process until combined but still chunky.
3. If the mixture is too dry, add a little bit of apple juice and pulse once or twice just to combine.
Note: I didn’t happen to need the apple juice this time as the fruit was very moist.
Did you ever feel like somehow you were the only person not in on the secret? Well at the moment I’m feeling that way. I’d finalized my Passover menu for this year and began my work putting together the lists that will help ensure I don’t forget anything. Then I came across this:
So, what I am wondering is how Marcy Goldman’s Caramel Matzoh Crunch managed to elude me up until now? Seriously, how have I hosted so many Passover Seders over the years and never made this sweet, crunchy, chocolaty, buttery goodness? (Did I use enough adjectives you think?) I must be the only Jew in the Diaspora who has successfully missed this recipe. Why didn’t you tell me about it!?
I have to say, Marcy was so right when she called this “absolutely magnificent”. It’s easy to make and with the possible exception of matzoh, it uses pantry staples: brown sugar, butter and chocolate morsels. Isn’t melting butter and sugar just heavenly?
For the most part I followed the recipe as written (not typical behavior) but do plan to make with one little tweak: I am going to sprinkle some of it with fleur de sel (I’ll leave some without too). After a quick tasting, I just felt it was soooo sweet that I really needed that bit of salt to balance it. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. As this was just a test run, I made half of a batch which worked out just fine…I bet you could double it too without a problem.
Seems my taste testers agree! That’s my stepson Adam and his wife Natalie both of whom I love as if they were my own children. Can you tell they’re newlyweds? I suspect you will be seeing a lot of them on this blog.
I think I will make this again post-Passover and use dark chocolate and some nuts. Can’t use nuts at the Seder because my nephew is highly allergic.
knitstamatic 