Blessed Pesach: Schtick and Recipes for Eight Days of Bloating
Toronto…home at last
Fifteen thousand kilometers (that’s approx ten thousand miles) of driving and deli have brought me from home to coast to coast to coast and back again. Dozens of delis, hours of interviews, countless hours of car and motel time and more goodwill than I could have asked for. It feels great to be back, great to not have to drive anywhere, great to just sit in one place for more than a day and see the same people, eat what I cook, and nosh at the local deli.
But alas, the annual dietary gauntlet begins Monday night, when the angel of constipation descends upon the houses of Israel with all manner of dry goods and mock breads to trick the mind. Some delis stay open with pesadic menus, though I challenge anyone to enjoy pastrami on egg matzo and come away with anything but grease smeared hands. Stay home, stick to mom’s chopped liver and keep the chametz out of your system. Do as I do and live on leftovers, steak, and salad for the next week.
As such, Savethedeli will be taking a pesach break, because while I have some terrific and delicious tidbits from my research in Florida, Atlanta, Charlotte and DC, I won’t dare tempt you with all those descriptions of highly un-kosher for pesach goods. To keep you happy, here are a few recipes that several of you contributed, as well as schtick from the interweb to break them up. Enjoy.
MAPLE-WALNUT ESPRESSO TORTE
from Lauren Malach, Toronto
Syrup
1 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Torte
2 cups walnuts (about 8 ounces) plus walnut halves for decoration
1/3 cup matzo meal
4 large eggs
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
Whipped nondairy topping (optional)*
For syrup:
Bring all ingredients to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil until syrup thickens slightly and is reduced to 1 generous cup, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
For torte:
Preheat oven to 325∞F. Lightly oil inside of 8-inch springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Blend 2 cups walnuts and matzo meal in processor until nuts are finely ground. Using electric mixer, beat eggs, maple syrup, sugar, and salt in large bowl at high speed 5 minutes. Add espresso, lemon peel, and cardamom and beat until beginning to thicken, about 5 minutes longer. Gently fold in nut mixture in 4 additions. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake torte until brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer torte to rack. Spoon 4 tablespoons syrup over hot torte. Decorate top with walnut halves. Cool completely in pan on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover remaining syrup and torte separately and let stand at room temperature.)
Cut around pan sides to loosen torte. Remove pan sides. Cut torte into wedges. Serve with remaining syrup and whipped topping, if desired.
Makes 8 servings.
Matzo Balls
by Caryn Hastings, Kansas City, MO
makes 8
2 TLB shortening
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 C Matzo Meal
1 tsp salt
2 TBLS soup stock
1/4 C walnuts, chopped fine
3/4 tsp ground ginger
Mix shortening and eggs together. Add matzo meal and salt which was
first mixed together.
When well blended, add soup stock.
Add ground ginger and walnuts.
Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for 20 min or so.
Bring salted water to a brisk boil, reduce heat and into slightly
bubbling watet, drop balls, formed from above mixture.
Cover pot and cook 30-40 min. When ready to serve, allow your soup
to simmer for about 5 minutes and add matzo balls to soup in bowl
before serving.
My mom sends in her best friend Ellen’s Passover Mandelbread recipe, all the way from India.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. Potato starch
3/4 C. cake meal (scant)
2 Tbsp. matzoh meal
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
3/4 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Oil
3/4C. finely chopped almonds or walnuts
1/2 C. or more chocolate chips if desired
Method:
Sift together potato starch, cake meal, matzoh meal, salt & cinnamon. Beat eggs. Add sugar gradually and beat well. Add oil, beating well. Add sifted dry ingredients and blend well. Add nuts and chocolate chips.
Allow dough to rest for 20 minutes. Shape into rolls, placed on greased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until done. Cool.
Slice and dry in low oven (275 - 300 degrees) for about 15 minutes. Leave on sheets to cool.
Suggestion: Double the recipe. Freezes well.
Chag Sameach!
Matzo Brie (aka Fried Matzo)…my own concoction
Take your matzos, I prefer the egg variety (for maximum intestinal destruction), and about 1 large egg per 2 matzos.
Beat eggs with a bissel of milk and a generous helping of cinnamon, plus a dash of maple syrup.
Recipes usually call for soaking the matzo in water before, but that generally produces a wet matzo. What I prefer is either a milk soak or soaking them in the egg for a while.
Heat some butter on medium in the skillet and toss that mazto meal in, mixing it around so it cooks, but do it real slow.
Serve with applesauce, maple syrup (Canadian style) and mountains of cinnamon/sugar.
Chag Sameyach!
