Sunday, April 13, 2014

Recipes for Passover and Week of Matzah

These recipes have been kindly contributed by Ann Nielsen.  

Matzah Recipe Original recipe makes 8 matzah breads

1 tsp all purpose flour for dusting        1 c  all purpose flour           1/3 c water or more if needed    ½ tsp kosher salt (opt)   1 tsp olive oil or as needed

Move an oven rack near the top of oven and preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Preheat a heavy baking sheet in the oven. Dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin with 1 teaspoon flour, or as needed. Place 1 cup of flour into a mixing bowl; set a timer for about 16 minutes (18 minutes maximum). Start the timer; pour the water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, into the flour. Stir the water and flour together with a fork until the dough forms a rough ball, remove the dough to the prepared work surface, knead rapidly and firmly until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Divide the dough into four equal pieces; cut each piece in half again to get 8 pieces total. Swiftly roll each piece into a ball. Roll each piece of dough out into a 5-inch pancake, dusting the top and rolling pin with flour as needed. Gradually roll the pancakes out to a size of about 8 inches, increasing the size of each by about 1 inch, then letting the dough rest for a few seconds before rolling again to the finished size. Roll from the center out. The bread rounds should be very thin. Using a fork, quickly pierce each bread about 25 times, all over, to prevent rising. The holes should go completely through the bread. Flip the bread over, and pierce each piece another 25 times with the fork. With at least 5 minutes left on the timer, remove the hot baking sheet from the preheated oven, and place the rounds onto the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet onto the rack near the top of the oven, and bake for 2 minutes; turn the breads over and bake an additional 2 minutes, until the matzot are lightly browned and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Lightly anoint each matzah with olive oil, using a brush, and sprinkle generously with salt.  Done  in 28 mins  Footnotes *Making matzah breads kosher for Passover requires using special Passover flour that has been guarded from contact with liquids. The cook is allowed no longer than 18 minutes from the point they combine the flour and water to when they remove the matzah from the oven in order for it to be considered fit for Passover. Of course, non-kosher cooks may bake at a more leisurely pace if desired.
Ashkenazic Haroset         8 servings 

¾ to 1 cup of walnuts   2-3 tbsp of sugar          2-3 large apples peeled, halved and cored           1 tsp ground cinnamon`   2-4 sweet red wine 

Grind walnuts with 2 tbsp in a food processor until fairly fine, leaving a few small chunks transfer to a bowl Grate apple on large holes of a grater Add to nut mixture Stir in cinnamon Gradually stir in enough wine to make a thick spread Add more sugar if desired Spoon into serving bowl serve at room temp or cold as
Spread with matzos.

Sephardic Haroset                8 servings

8 oz pitted dates coarsely chopped`     ½ c of almonds, coarsely chopped     1 sweet apple peeled, halved and cored           1 tsp of cinnamon     2-4 tbsp of sweet wine
½ toasted pine nuts (optional)

Halve dates remove any pit pieces, mix in bowl with almonds, Grate apple on large holes of a grater, then stir in enough wine to make a thin spread. Spoon into serving apple, garnish with pine nuts Serve at room temp or cold as a spread with matzos


Grated Potato Kugel 6-8 servings
2-3 tbspn of oil        2 large onions chopped,     2 lbs baking potato peeled     3 large eggs, beaten     1 tsp salt   ½ tsp pepper  ¼ matzo meal
Preheat oven to 350 F  Oil in skillet add onion, and sauté over medium low heat about 10 mins or till golden brown, put in bowl Coarsely grate potatoes put in
Large strainer and squeeze out excess liquid add to onions then add the eggs, salt, pepper, and matzo meal  Generously grease a 7 c baking dish Heat in over
For 3 mins remove carefully spoon potato mixture into baking dish  Sprinkle with remaining tbsp of oil Bake 1 hr or until kugel is browned and set.