Recipes Shared by KC Members for Passover

Because of the need to social-distance from one another during this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the Festivals Committee was unable to host 2020 and 2021 Passover Dessert Tasting and Havdalah events.  Instead, we asked members to share favorite Passover recipes to be posted here on the Kehilat Chaverim website.  Although we only received two submissions, they both look delicious!  Enjoy!!

 

Joan Walden writes:

“My son’s grandmother, Celia Walden, gave me the “Jewish Cooking for Pleasure” cookbook in 1967, and although I do cook for pleasure, I don’t often refer to this particular cookbook.  But every now and then I do, and this is one of my favorite recipes from that book’s Passover recipes section.  The part that takes the longest is peeling the carrots, but if you have a food processor, the job goes a lot swifter even if the cleanup takes longer. Nothing is perfect, but this dish comes close!”

 

PASSOVER CARROT KUGEL

Adapted by Joan Walden from “Jewish Cooking for Pleasure” by Molly Lyons Bar-David (first published in 1966 in Middlesex, England)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

1 stick butter or margarine

½ cup matzo meal

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 Tablespoons potato flour (or other Passover flour)

½ cup wine (I use grape juice)

1 lb. grated raw carrots

½ cup raisins

chopped dates (optional, but good!)

½ cup brown sugar (original recipe calls for 3-1/2 oz.)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 lemon – juice and rind

1 egg, beaten

½ teaspoon salt

 

Method:

Cream butter and matzo meal and add baking powder.

Dissolve flour in wine or juice.

Combine all ingredients and bake in a greased casserole for about 1 hour.

 

Ellen Coffey writes: 

“I came across this article and recipe in my daily news feed from the Boston Globe when the COVID-19 quarantine was already underway making trips to the grocery store either more difficult or inadvisable.  I looked in my pantry and was surprised to find that I did indeed have all the ingredients on hand, except for the pre-sliced almonds for the garnish, which I may skip.  I am planning to make this for our Zoom Seder tomorrow night.”      

 

This flourless almond Passover cake is adaptable to what you have on hand

 

By Karoline Boehm Goodnick, Globe Correspondent, Updated March 31, 2020, 12:00 p.m.

Passover may not look the same this year as it has in years past — families will have to gather around the Seder table virtually and menus may be missing some traditional favorites — but cooks will scour their own cabinets and supermarket websites to find a few ingredients to make things feel as normal as possible. This flourless cake is very adaptable to what you have on hand. If you have almond flour (pure ground almonds) in the cupboard, use it here and skip the process of grinding almonds. Add it to the recipe when the almonds go in with the full amount of sugar called for. You can use skinned or blanched almonds or a combination; cobble together what you have as long as it equals 2 1/2 cups. And if you can’t find sliced almonds for the garnish, skip them. To flavor the cake, use orange or lemon rind; add the spices or leave them out. The fat here is olive oil, but canola is fine, too. The only rule to cooking during isolation is that exceptions are the rule. Next year’s dessert can be a masterpiece; this year’s will be homey and delicious.

 

Vegetable oil (for the pan)

2½

cups slivered or whole blanched or unblanched (raw) almonds

¾

cup sugar

3

eggs, separated

⅓

cup olive oil
 

Grated rind of 1 orange

¼

teaspoon ground cinnamon
 

Pinch of ground nutmeg

½

teaspoon salt

⅓

cup sliced almonds (for garnish)
  1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Oil a 9-inch cake pan, line the bottom with a round of parchment paper cut to fit it, and oil the paper.
  2. In a food processor, pulse the almonds with 1/4 cup of the sugar until it resembles a very fine meal or flour; do not over process.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, olive oil, and orange rind to blend them. With a rubber spatula, stir in the ground almonds (or almond flour, if using), cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
  4. In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed. When they are frothy, slowly beat in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. When all of the sugar has been added, and the whites form stiff peaks, remove the bowl from the mixer stand.
  5. Add a large spoonful of egg whites to the almond batter and stir to lighten it. Working in batches, gently fold the almond mixture into the egg whites, taking care not to deflate the whites too much.
  6. Transfer the batter to the cake pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and the center is set.
  7. Set the cake on a metal rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Gently run a small metal spatula around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan. Carefully invert the cake onto a flat plate or board. Remove and discard the parchment paper. Set a serving platter upside down on the cake and invert them together so the cake is sitting right side up on the platter. Leave to cool completely.